Sun Tea

The sun is finally out here in Oregon, and that means more time outdoors and less time indoors. It is the perfect time to enjoy a refreshing glass of iced sun tea. This is a simple recipe that kids love to help with, from picking out the tea to watching it change colors. Our house goes through so much tea when the weather is hot and sunny, it is nice not to have to boil water every few hours to make more ice tea. This is the method of how we made tea growing up on a farm in the country.

Supplies:

Glass Jar (I used an old canning jar)

2 Tea bags ( I used Mango Passionfruit herbal tea)

Cold water

Directions:

1.      Place 2 tea bags of choice in a glass jar making sure to hold the tags on the rim.

2.      Fill glass jar with cold water and seal with lid making sure the tea bags are hanging from the rim.

3.      Find a place outside in direct sun light and place jar in the sun

4.      Come back in 2-4hr depending on sun and tea strength

5.      Pour over glasses of ice and enjoy

Pretzel Delights

These little yummy treats are mine and my families new favorite dessert. If you love something salty and sweet, than these treats are for you. They are the perfect combination of salt and sweet. They fulfil two cravings all at one time. Happiness in your mouth! They are also relatively simply and quick to put together. My oldest daughter actually chose to have me make these for her school birthday instead of the traditional cupcakes or cookies and they were a big hit with all the kids.


Pretzel Delights:

 - 1 bag mini pretzels

 - 1 bag m&m's (or a few bags with the colors you want picked out -    for these I used Easter m&m's and picked out the pink and purple)

 - 1 bag candy melts (any color you want - I used white for these)

 - a pipping bag with size 5 round tip

 - wax paper and paper towels

 - bags and ribbon for decoration (optional)

1.) First place approx two to two and a half feet of paper towels down on your work surface and then cover the paper towels with wax paper. Then you will take a bunch of your mini pretzels and lay them out flat on the was paper.

2.) Next place the candy melts in a double boiler (or you can follow microwave directions on the bag) and heat them until they are completely melted.

3.) Then you will take your pipping bag and place it in a tall glass folding the bag over the edge of the glass. This makes for easier filling of the pipping bag if you don't have an assistant. Then fill the pipping bag approx two-thirds full. BE CAREFUL with this next step the bag will be hot. grab a towel if that helps. Take your pipping bag out of your glass and fill the holes on the pretzels.

4.) Gently press m&m's into the places where the three holes in the pretzels used to be. If you have a helper one person can fill the holes with the pipping bag while the other one puts the m&m's in place, but if you are doing it on your own you will have to do it 5-10 pretzels at a time.

5.) Let them dry approximately an hour or until they are hard. You can then place them in decorative bags as I did for my daughters birthday or just store in a zip lock bag.

Greek Layer Dip

Now that the sun is starting to come out, so are more veggies, grilling, and get-togethers. This is such an easy dip recipe to make- very unique with lots of flavors. It is a great vegetarian appetizer or potluck dish. It is a perfect dish to use up the vegetables from your garden.

Ingredients

1 ½ Tzatziki if you cannot find tzatziki I will include a recipe at the end
1 1/2 c. hummus
1 c. seeded, diced cucumbers
1 c. seeded, diced tomatoes
1/2 c. chopped Kalamata olives (black olives work also)
1/3 c. chopped green onions (about 3 green onions completely chopped)
1/2 c. crumbled Feta cheese

Directions:
1.Spread tzatziki in the bottom of a shallow dish.
2. Spread a layer of hummus.
3. Sprinkle and even layer of cucumbers, then tomatoes, then olives, then onions, then Feta cheese, making layers.

4. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours.
Serve with pita, baked pita chips, and fresh vegetables

Tzatziki Sauce
 1 (8 ounce) containers plain yogurt

1 cucumbers - peeled, seeded and diced

1 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 lemon, juiced

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill or Greek seasoning

1-2 cloves garlic, peeled

With an electric mixer mix all ingredients until light and fluffy.



Lego Cakes

Over this last weekend I was asked to make a Lego cake for my nephews Birthday the following day. My sister then handed me a 4 page recipe, I browsed through the recipe and though “are you kidding me”, I don’t have time to that. I personally had never seen a Lego cake, but I had seen many Legos. So I took matters into my own hands, and made a Lego cake my way. I was pressed on time, so I used prepackaged supplies, but if you have the time make your favorite cake and frosting recipe.

Supplies needed:

1 Box cake mix (I used confetti) prepared as directed

6-8 mini bread tins

Red, blue, green, yellow food coloring

2 cans of white frosting

Mini Marshmallows

Tooth picks

How to:

1.       Prepare cake mix how directed on box

2.        Divide batter into desired amount of bread tins (I used 8)

3.        Bake for the cupcake- bunt cake time on the box checking for doneness

4.        Remove cake from tins and fully cool.

5.       Wrap the cooled cakes in plastic wrap and put in the freezer for 4hr

6.       Divide the 2 cans of frosting into 4 bowls

7.       Add food coloring to each bowl- mixing well (add milk to help thin)

8.       Remove cakes from freezer one by one, cutting half of the cakes in half to make squares

9.       Frost cakes with desired color of frosting

10.    Take mini marshmallows and put them on a tooth pick- cover with frosting

11.    Break the toothpick holding the frosted marshmallow in half and place into cakes (4 for squares and 6 for rectangle)

Silk Dyed Eggs

I have been seeing all of these creative ways to dye eggs, so I thought I would get in on the action this year and try something new. This is my first year trying this out, so my eggs did not turn out perfect like Martha Stewarts but for my first try they turned out well. It is helpful to have two sets of hands for this project, extra large eggs so it is easier to tie the silk tight onto the egg.

You need 100% silk for this to work.  Check the labels to make sure you’re not buying polyester, which can look similar. I grab old ties at the thrift store, but little did I know ties were not the way to go, grab shirts, large scarves, or even boxers that way you have material to work with.  The brighter and more hideous the silk, the prettier eggs!

Tools and Materials:
Large or extra-large raw eggs
Glass or enamel pot
Scissors
Pieces and scraps of 100 percent silk -- including cut-up silk ties, blouses, or boxers -- large enough to cover an egg
Squares of un-dyed cotton or pieces of old white sheets, pillowcases, or tablecloths that are large enough to cover silk-wrapped eggs
Twist ties
3 tablespoons white vinegar
Warm water
Tongs or spoon
Cooling rack
Vegetable oil
Paper towels

Directions

 1. Cut silk into pieces large enough to wrap around a raw egg.

2. Tightly wrap a raw egg with a piece of silk, making sure the printed side of the material is facing the egg. Secure with a twist tie.

3. Place the silk-wrapped egg in a piece of un-dyed cotton and secure tightly with another twist-tie.
4. Place egg(s) in an enamel or glass pot. Fill the pot with enough water to cover eggs completely. Add three tablespoons of white vinegar to the water.

5. Bring water to a boil, turn heat down, and simmer for 40 minutes or longer.
6. Remove eggs from water with tongs or spoon, place on a cooling rack, and let cool.

7. Remove silk from cooled egg.
8. For shiny eggs, wipe with a paper towel dabbed in vegetable oil.
  (Martha Stewart)

Safety Note: The dye that is transferred to your egg is not food safe dye.  Who knows where the silk came from our how it was colored. To be on the safe side, I don’t recommend eating the eggs if the eggs show any dye on them when cracked open.

 

Cake Bites

If you have never seen or eaten a cake bite, let me introduce you....they are a wonderful ball of cooked cake and frosting all mixed together and covered in melting candies, almond bark or chocolate. You can use any combination of cake and covering that you would like. The only thing that ever is constant when I make these, is that I use cream cheese frosting.

These yummy little bundles of cake are always a big hit, no matter what flavor and decorative combination. They also make great little gifts. The ones pictured in this post I made for my four year old daughters teacher for her birthday. I just placed them in a small candy box that I bought at the local craft store and tied a pretty bow around them.

Cake Bites:

Yield: 3-4 dozen depending on the size of the ball

Ingredients:

1 box of cake prepared according to box directions (or 1 recipe of homemade cake prepared) and cooled

1 can of cream cheese frosting (or 2cups of homemade cream cheese frosting)

1 bag melting candies (or you can use almond bark or chocolate chips)

your choice of decoration for the top (sprinkles, melted chocolate, melting candies etc.)

2 baking sheets

wax paper

Directions:

Line two baking sheets with wax paper and set aside. Prepare and cool cake. The above cake bites were made with a box of chocolate cake (I always use whatever is cheapest at the store or you can use whatever brand you prefer). I baked it according to the directions on the box using two 9inch cake pans. I then placed the cakes on a cooling rack and allowed them to cool completely (about 30 minutes).

You then place your cooled cake and cream cheese frosting in the bowl of a stand mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment, and mix starting on the lowest speed and gradually increasing to medium speed until well incorporated.

Take the frosting/cake mixture and roll it in your palms into 1-1.5inch balls. Then place on your prepared baking sheets covered with wax. Put in refrigerator and allow to cool for approximately an hour.

Once are nearly cooled, begin melting your covering. Place whatever covering you desire in a double boiler and melt completely. To do this I use a 2 quart saucepan filled 1/3 of the way with water and place a glass bowl over the top. I heat on medium high heat stirring the melting candies, chocolate or almond bark constantly until completely melted. Remove melted covering from heat and then get your cake balls from the refrigerator. Dip each ball in the melted covering,making sure to cover each one completely. Then place back on the wax paper to cool. I hand dip each ball, but you could also use a fondue fountain which may be less messy.
Once the cake bites are sticky to touch you can add sprinkles to the top for decoration. If you do this you will have to dip a few cake bites, then put sprinkles on them before they dry completely, then dip a few more and so on.
If you just want to drizzle with chocolate (which I did with the cake bites in this post) or with a different color of melting candies, then you can dip all your cake balls and allow them to cool completely. Once they are cooled completely, melt your chocolate or melting candies and pour into a squeeze bottle. The drizzle the balls with a quick back and forth motion. You could also just dip a spoon in the melted decorative topping and drizzle with a quick back and forth motion if you don't have a squeeze bottle.

 Another idea is to place a stick in the bottom of the cake ball, then dip in covering and drizzle making it a cake bite pop.

Cherry cake bite pops made by the Cook for her daughter's 5th birthday. Katie used cherry box cake, with a small jar of marchino cherries diced up and added to the mix before baking. Covered with white melting candies and drizzled with red. She placed her cake bite pops in a vase making them look like gorgeous flowers.

The idea is that your options are limitless. Use whatever cake, covering and decorative topping your imagination can dream up.

Yazdi Cake Bites

This is a mildly sweet cake with a rosewater aroma, and cardamom flavor. Dipped in white chocolate and sprinkled with chopped pistachios on top.
 

This recipe is adapted from Azita

Method:
1.Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.

2.In a mixing bowl combine dry ingredients, flour, rice flour, baking powder, baking soda and cardamom, set aside.

3.In a large bowl beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
4.Add eggs one at a time, beating each egg for a minute before adding the next one. Add vanilla and rosewater mixing well.

5.Beat in the yogurt one scoop at a time.
6.Slowley mix in all dry ingredients, into wet mixture and mix well.
7. Spray and add batter to 10x13 pan or 2 8x10 pans.
8.Bake for 30-35 minutes until light golden brown or when the inserted toothpick comes out clean. Remove pan from the oven and cool.

9. Once cooled, cut into squares and dip in white chocolate, while the chocolate is still wet garnish the tops with chopped pistachios.

10. Let cool/harden for about an hour