Lisa: Caprese Chicken with Balsamic Reduction

Hello, again!  Anyone else ready for fall and cooler weather?  I cannot wait!  We just had our Fall Festival at my children's school and I was going to post pictures of the Bake Sale portion that I was in charge of but, unfortunately, I didn't get any taken because almost right away, my youngest son broke his arm while getting out of the bounce house!  I won't give you details because it still makes me queasy but we spent part of the night at the ER.  He was really brave and didn't cry or make a fuss.  At one point, though, when he had to sit up for an x-ray he turned pale and he told us "Um...I kind of feel like I'm going to fall asleep right now!"  We took him right away to lay down so he didn't pass out!  Needless to say, I'm ready for no drama!  I'm ready for cool, snuggle-down-with-a-warm-blanket kind of days.  For stay-indoors-and-avoid-bounce-house kind of days!  Hopefully fall comes really quickly and brings those sorts of days! 

As summer is winding up around these parts, I thought I would share with you a recipe that my sister-in-law made for me once: Caprese Chicken with Balsamic Reduction.

 

 It sounds fancy but is really quite easy and so tasty!  If you like balsamic vinegar, then this is the recipe for you!!  You can find the recipe here. 

Well, that's it for me this week.  Next week I'll try to be more creative!!

Lisa






 

Lisa: Moving and Eating!

Well, here we are.  What a difference a week makes!  My family and I have moved from our little house in the wilds and back into suburbia.  I have to keep reminding everyone not to yell and be to wild since we have neighbors now.  We like our little rental and are glad to be done lifting, packing and moving but we also long for permanence.  I guess, though, with all this moving about, we are creating adventures for ourselves and our children!!

This weeks post is another easy one but such a delicious salad, I just had to share!!  Here at my house, we have certain days in the week for certain foods: Mondays and Thursdays are fish, Tuesdays are salads or soups, Wednesdays are meat free, Fridays are fun days like tacos or burgers or pizza, Saturdays are the days my husband and I go out so the kids make their own meals and Sundays are our big dinners of the week with a roast or something like that.  I like to try to find easy but delicious salad recipes, since that sometimes doesn't seem like a meal (at least to my teenager!).  This one is perfect and such a good light summer meal. 

Teriyaki Chicken Salad with Avocado and Mandarin Oranges

1 bunch cilantro, chopped
1/2-1 bunch green onions, chopped
2-3 head of Romaine lettuce, chopped
1/2 bag of coleslaw mix cabbage

*Combine and chill.

1c. Teriyaki sauce
1 lb. chicken breast

*Marinade the chicken for at least 15 minutes.  Cook on grill or in a pan until cooked through.  Set aside.

1-2 avocados, peeled, pitted and diced
1-2 cans of Mandarin oranges, drained
your favorite sesame dressing
slivered almonds, optional

*To serve, place the lettuce mixture on a plate and top with chicken, avocado, mandarin oranges, and almonds, if desired.  Pour over your favorite sesame dressing and serve. 

It is delicious!  All of my family loves this one, although some don't like the avocado.  If I serve this for lunch for my hubby and me, I usually don't have it with the chicken and it still is so good.  The lettuce mixture of cabbage, Romaine, cilantro and green onion is perfect for a side for the rest of the week, as well.  It's an all around great meal!!  I hope you enjoy!!

Lisa

Sara Jane: Summer Quesadillas

It has become a tradition, on both my side of the family and my husband's side of the family, to have our annual family reunions during the summer on the Oregon Coast.  This past week, we went to the coast for my in-law's family reunion.  It was the perfect vacation.  We built sand castles, played in the freezing ocean water, went to the touching ponds, watched a meteor shower and ate delicious food.

Penelope touching a giant sea cucumber (slug) and star fish at the Hatfield Marine Science Center.

Uncle Doug helping Ash in the touching pond.

 While on the family reunion, we each take an evening to make dinner.  For my dinner, I made hominy curry (since we have several vegetarians in the family). It was fantastic!  I'm not sharing that recipe yet but I will.  Instead I am sharing my SIL, Olivia's recipe.  She made the most delicious quesadillas with sweet potatoes, goat cheese and chard (I know at least one sister is gagging at this point).  I don't usually like sweet potatoes and never like chart but LOVED this meal.  In fact, I made it again last night only I used kale instead of chard because that's what came in our CSA.

Here we go...

SUMMER QUESADILLAS

Ingredients:

2 purple onions, thinly sliced
2 sweet potatoes
1 T garlic
4 ounces soft goat cheese, at room temperature
1 package tortillas (I used the ready-to-cook kind you can buy at Walmart), cooked
1 bunch of kale, chopped (any green will work)

Directions:

Slice your sweet potatoes into 1-inch thick medallions.  Place on a baking sheet and bake at 300* for 30 - 45 minutes, until soft enough to smash.  They should look something like this when they're done...

Cook your sliced onions in a tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat until the onions are soft and translucent (about 10 to 15 minutes).

When your onions are ready, add another tablespoon (or 2) of oil and add in your kale.  If it looks like a lot, don't worry.  It will cook down.  Add a few tablespoons of water and cover with a tight fitting lid.  Occasionally stir.  Cook for about 5 - 10 minutes.  It should look something like this when its done...

Take the potatoes out of the oven, peel off the skins and smash, like you would regular mashed potatoes.

Cook your tortillas.

When tortillas are finished, spread goat cheese over one side of two tortillas.  Next, on one tortilla, spread a thin layer of sweet potatoes over your goat cheese.  Then add a generous helping of the kale/onion mix on top of the sweet potatoes.  Finally, add the second tortilla, goat cheese side down, on to the top.

Slice with a pizza slicer and serve warm.

Enjoy!

Lisa: Bruschetta

Welcome to another week at Five Crafty Sisters!  I am very happy because I finished two projects this past weekend!  This is big for me because usually I get 3/4 of the way into a project and get distracted or bored and don't finish.  Well, that might be a bit of an exaggeration but not too much!  I will show you the finished project maybe on Friday but for sure by Monday.  I first have to mail them to their prospective recipients.

For today's post, I thought I'd show you a terrific use for all those summer tomatoes that are in abundance this time of year: Bruschetta.  Now, this is a dish that I think everyone has a recipe for but this is so fantastic that I thought I'd share it with you anyway!!  Most recipes I've seen don't have garlic in the tomato mixture so if you don't like raw garlic feel free to leave it out!

Bruschetta
5 Roma tomatoes, chopped
1 medium onion, diced
5 large leaves basil, diced
salt and pepper to taste
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1 French baguette, sliced to 1/4"-1/2" slices
1/4-1/2 c. shredded Parmesan cheese

Place sliced bread onto a cookie sheet cut side up.  Place under broiler until bread is lightly toasted.  Take out of oven and turn bread slices over.  Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and put back under broiler until bread is lightly toasted.  Set aside.
Combine chopped tomatoes, minced garlic, diced onion and basil in a bowl.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Stir to combine.  Serve tomato mixture over your bruschetta for a delicious and light summer treat! 

Hope you have a fantastic week!

Lisa

Sara Jane: A Bavarian Feast and Outdoor Waterbed

I will apologize in advance.  This is going to be a LONG post.  We have had a really fun week and I wanted to share all of it with you.

First up...the food (of course!).

For this week's Olympic meal, I made German food.  Normally, we wouldn't eat this type of a meal in the summer (we're mostly veggies around here) but we HAD to for the Olympics, right?

For our Bavarian feast, we had sausage, latkes, fondue and pretzels.  This is another rather time consuming meal but if you're up for it, I would recommend it all the way.  It was absolutely delicious!  

Here we go....

LATKES 

(Potato Pancakes)

Ingredients:

2 large potatoes, peeled and shredded (I use regular baker potatoes.  After I shred the potato, I set them aside in a bowl of cold water to prevent them from changing color.)

1 medium onion, diced

1 egg

2 Tablespoon flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 Tablespoon vegetable oil, plus 1/2 to 1 cup more for cooking

Directions:

Combined oil, onion, egg, flour, baking powder, a pinch of salt, and about 1/8 teaspoon pepper in a large bowl.  Add drained shredded potatoes until combined.

In a skillet, add enough oil to be about 1/8 inch thick on the bottom.  When the oil is hot, using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, drop cup fulls into the oil.  I usually only cook 2 or 3 at a time as to not overcrowd my skillet and lower the oil temperature.

Cook the latkes until they are a deep golden brown (about 2 to 3 minutes per side).  When they are done, remove them from the oil and drain on a paper towel.  Sprinkle with salt.

If you are not going to eat them right away, keep them warm in a 200* oven.

Traditionally, these are served with apple sauce.  I prefer mine by themselves.

These pretzels are delicious.  I searched and searched for a good recipe for pretzels and found one several months ago.  It is mostly the recipe I am about to give you but I can't remember where I found it.  I changed a couple of the amounts of ingredients.  It is a very basic recipe that I have never had turn out badly.  Try it.  You won't go back to your old method...I promise!

HOMEMADE PRETZELS

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups warm water

1 Tablespoon of yeast

1/3 cup brown sugar

4 to 4 1/2 cups of white flour

1/2 cup baking soda

Directions:

Preheat oven to 475*.

In a large bowl, combined the water, yeast and sugar.  Let proof for 3 to 5 minutes, or until frothy.  Add flour, one cup at a time.  If, after you have added the 4 cups of flour, the dough seems too sticky, add another 1/2 cup.  Knead dough for a few minutes until nice and smooth.  You can let the dough sit or use it right away.  

In a large pot, boil 4 cups of water (or about half a pot full) and 1/2 cups baking soda.  Add the soda to the water BEFORE you turn on the burner.  If you add the soda to the water after the water is boiling, you will have a huge mess.  Trust me :)

When you are ready to begin, cut off small (about golf ball size) pieces of dough.  Shape them how you like (sometimes we just do pretzel sticks, especially if we are dipping them into cheese) and drop them into the boiling water/soda.  Boil them for about 30 seconds.  Most of the time they will float to the top when they are ready.  Again, do not put too many in the pot at once.  A few at a time.  Once they are done boiling, place them on a greased cookie sheet.

When your sheet is full, cook them in your preheated oven for 8 to 9 minutes, until golden brown.  When they come out of the oven, you can brush them with butter (or not) and sprinkle salt (or cinnamon sugar) on them.

My kids love pretzel dogs.  If you want to give those a try, simply wrap a regular hot dog in a rope of dough, boil for 30 seconds and cook for 8 to 9 minutes.

Sorry folks.  I don't make my own sausage.  I wish I did but...I don't.  We buy our favorite sausage at our local grocery store and cook it until it is ready.  Its that simple.  

As for my fondue recipe, I simply used the cheese from my mac and cheese I made here.  

Just in case you were wondering what was going on while I was making this delicious dinner....

Bea found some water AND dirt! Lovely!

Next up...I've seen the outdoor waterbeds all over Pinterest lately so I thought I would give it a try, too.

Here's what I used for my waterbed.  Gorilla tape (next to the duct tape at the store), 2 heavy duty shower curtains and a pair of scissors.

If you have an old water toy that has one of these nifty hose hook ups, cut it out and use it on your waterbed.  It made filling it SO much easier!

To start, I laid my shower curtains out flat on my family room floor, one on top of the other, and then I started taping. It took about 30 minutes to tape the entire thing together.  After taping each side, I would then tape the inside too to prevent too much leaking.  When I got to the fourth side, I cut a small hole out for my hose hook up, placed the piece in the hole and taped all around the hook up.  Then I finished taping the fourth side.  Before I began filling the bed, I went back over my tape job to make sure I didn't miss anything.  Then I started filling.

After a good 20 minutes of filling, the bed was finally ready for the kiddos to play on.  

At first, the kids just enjoyed laying on the bed.  I purposely put the waterbed in the shade so it would stay cool.  It was perfect.

 Then a leak sprang.  No worries, Bea was there to catch all the water.

 After a few hours, we did need to refill the bed but it was totally worth it.  If you have the time, I would definitely recommend making your kids one of these before the summer ends.  It provided hours of fun for my babies.

Sara Jane

Friday Favorites: Cold Treats

Hello, hello!  What a week this has been!  Lisa and I were trying to brainstorm ideas for today, and "cold treats" popped into my head.  Probably because I'm 35 weeks pregnant and melting here in Arizona.  It's been crazy hot and I'm currently restricting my sweets intake until this baby comes.  That makes for a VERY grumpy pregnant lady.  And what's the one thing you want when you're trying not to eat sweets?  SWEETS!   So... It looks like I'll be torturing myself a little while reading about all the yummy, cool treats my sisters have found.

My treat is one I think I can actually eat!  I didn't even realize that it was a low-sugar treat until I read through the ingredients.  These orange creamsicles looked amazing, when I first saw them on Pinterest. You can find the original recipe here.  I love that the recipe uses honey or agave instead of sugar.  As I'm writing this intro, I still haven't made them yet, but my mouth is watering in anticipation.


Okay... through the magic of blogging, it's now 6 hours later.  I've made the creamsicles, and my husband and I have both tested them...AMAZING!!  I'm pretty sure it's the heavy cream that makes these to die for.  And the best part: they're low in sugar!!  I think I'll probably be living off of these for the next 5 weeks.  I even used the 50 calorie orange juice to reduce the sugar and calories even more.  I might try half and half next time to see if it affects the taste at all.  

A little cautious at first, but then she dug right in!

Final evaluation: you must try these,  especially if you like Orange Julius or orange-flavored treats.  They're the perfect combination of citrus and cream.  Obviously from the pictures, you know one 22 month old who agrees.  :)  Enjoy!!


Allison


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My cold treat isn't usually one that I make in the summer.  I usually make it throughout the fall and winter but sometimes a little Fudge is all one needs to get through the day (can you tell its been one of those weeks???).

This isn't a picture of my actual fudge (pic from
Allrecipes) but it is similar to what the end
result looks like.

My fudge recipe is probably the simplest one you will find.

Ingredients:  a 14 ounce can of sweetened condensed milk, one bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips and vanilla (optional).


Directions:  In a medium size sauce pan, stir the sweetened condensed milk and chocolate chips until the chocolate chips have completely melted.  I tend to like all my chocolate rather bitter but if you don't like it like that, add 1 teaspoon of vanilla and stir.


Line a 9x9 (or 8x8 if you want them thicker) pan with parchment paper, pour in the chocolate mixture and put in the freezer until set.  When set, cut into bite size squares and enjoy.

Sara Jane
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Lisa: Easy Art and Sloppy Jose`s!!

Hello, once again! Summer is cruising right along at our house!  We are trying to squeeze all the fun we can out of our short break time here!  Between camps and parties and road trips, we are sure enjoying the warm weather and all the chances to be outside.  But on the days we can't be outside, my children (at least most of them) enjoy crafts and creating!  One of the things that we have found to be fun is using the bright summer sun to trace pictures.

 It is super simple and helps my children who don't think they are very good artists to be creative!  What we do is to tape a picture onto a window that has a lot of sun coming through.  Then place a thin paper over the top and also tape it to the window.  (We used a piece of paper from a sketch pad but I think printer paper or most plain white papers would work.)  Then just have the children trace the outlines of the picture and presto change-o, you have art!

   
I wish I had a picture of the originals!  It is fun to see how they compare but oh well!!  It is fun for the kids to color these in like they would a coloring book.  Using water color paints is fun, too! 

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As I said on Friday, I really hate to turn my oven on in the summer so I thought I'd show you another recipe I came up with that helps to keep our poor air conditioner from over heating in the summer: Sloppy Jose`s!!  I can't exactly remember how it came to be but there was some discussion about Sloppy Joes and I thought that I could probably come up with something that had a Mexican flavor to it!  And thus was born the Sloppy Jose`!

Sloppy Jose`s
1 lb. ground turkey, browned (you could use ground beef but we prefer ground turkey!)
1/2-3/4c. salsa
2 t. cumin
1t. chili powder
salt and pepper to taste
1c. shredded cheese (cheddar, monterey jack, etc)
1/2 c. cilantro
1/4c. sliced green onions
6-8 large burrito sized tortillas

Combine in the same skillet used to brown the meat the salsa, cumin, chili powder, and salt and pepper.  Let simmer for a few minutes.  Add cheese and let cook until cheese is melted.  Remove from heat and add cilantro and green onions.  Take a tortilla and place about 1/2-1 c. of the meat mixture in the center of the tortilla. Fold up one half and then fold over the edges all the way around the meat until you have encase the meat in the tortilla shell.

 Repeat with remaining meat and tortillas.  Next, heat a skillet to 300-350 degrees.  Spray the skillet with a cooking spray like Pam and place meat filled tortillas on the skillet seam side down.  Spray the tops of the tortillas.  Flip when they are golden brown (about 5-7 minutes).  Serve with sour cream and salsa or just eat plain. 

These are such a hit at our house!!  I hope you enjoy!

 Lisa

Friday Favorites: Recipes

Hello!  Welcome to another Friday Favorites!  This week we'll be concentrating our posts on favorite recipes or dishes that we've discovered/stolen from others.  Isn't that how it works?  You find some amazing dish and it slowly becomes your own, though it originally came from someone else.

That's how I feel about my favorite recipe.  Sometimes I think my husband and I ultimately ended up together because we both LOVE plain New York-Style Cheesecake.  No strawberries, no topping, no swirled flavor inside... just PLAIN cheesecake.  He even added it to his mental list of "reasons I love my wife".  There you go.  :)

So a couple of years ago, when I was trying to think of a really special dessert to make for Valentine's Day, I decided to venture my first cheesecake.  I looked up a recipe on allrecipe.com for "plain cheesecake", and found this recipe.  I have no idea who Chantal is, but I've mentally thanked her many times for this recipe.

If any of you are like me, you're probably intimidated by the idea of making a cheesecake that takes close to 8 hours.  It's not that bad, and I'm going to share my tips/tricks to make it PERFECT!  Most of them I found online, or from others that have tried this recipe, but I'm taking credit for applying them.  I'm not going to brag too much, but I've used this recipe 4 times now, and they've all been amazing.  No splits or cracks... just perfect!

TIPS/TRICKS
-I'm not going to retype the recipe here, but I'll list what I changed about the actual recipe or the steps given.


#1- If you like a sweeter graham cracker crust, add just a little sugar to your crushed crackers and butter.  The cheesecake itself is plenty sweet, so it's not really needed, just depends on preference.


#2- I didn't change any other ingredients, but I did reduce the oven temp to 325 degrees and altered the baking time to 45 minutes.  When the 45 minutes is up, turn the oven off and forget about it for a couple of hours.  For real.  Don't open the oven every 5 minutes, just let it set.  (This part is hard to do, as you'll want to make sure it's not cracking.)  Just walk away...

#3- I used a water bath.  I think it's the reason that my cheesecakes have never cracked.  It's not too difficult.  I use the heavy duty tin foil around my springform pan (though regular would work... just double it up/overlap it), to make sure the water doesn't get in. I wrap it almost to the top of the springform, and place it on a cookie sheet.  Once they're both in the oven, pour enough water to fill the cookie sheet, but not too much that it'll overflow (duh).  I only had water seep into my pan once, and that was because the springform wasn't completely "closed" before I added the crust.  Oops.  Check that.  Ironically, it still turned out fine.  Just with crust a little more "moist" than usual.  :)


#4- DON"T OVERMIX YOUR CHEESECAKE FILLING!  That will create bubbles, and won't make it as pretty.  Make sure your cream cheese is room temperature before mixing with a hand blender.  After that, I only used the blender to add the sugar and milk to the cream cheese.  The rest I mixed by hand.  It's a bit of a work out but not too bad.  


#5- After your cheesecake has been in the cooling oven for hours, you can leave it on the counter (I put mine on a cooling rack) for awhile longer.  But you can also just leave it in the oven until it's completely cooled.  I usually venture to remove the springform pan edge then.    If the edges look a little ragged, you can smooth them with a wet table knife (if you're a crazy perfectionist, like me).  


#6- This part is tough.  It will be so tempting to try a slice, but it really is best overnight in the fridge, or at least for a few hours.  To me, it seems to get better the longer it cools.  Mmmm... my mouth is watering just thinking about it.  

#1- I think I took the springform off too soon. #2- I discovered the wet knife technique... much prettier.  I also doubled the graham crackers, but the crust became a little too much.  #3- My best by far!  Yum!  No picture of #4.

Okay.  That was a lot of info, but really not as crazy as I made it sound.  The actual prep for this recipe doesn't take too long and the results are AMAZING!  My husband says this recipe rivals any cheesecake he's ever had, including The Cheesecake Factory.  That's pretty high praise from someone who would choose cheesecake over almost any other dessert.  I hope you venture this amazing recipe.  If I left anything out, please feel free to ask.  Good luck, and happy baking!!



Allison

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I have an obsession with bread.  

Not just plain old bread but fresh-out-of-the-oven-covered-in-butter (and-sometimes-honey) bread.  When we make it, whether it be by hand or in the bread machine, the loaf is gone within an hour.  My mouth is watering just thinking about it.....

Photo from recipeschezmoi.blogspot.com

My only issue with fresh-out-of-the-oven-covered-in-butter bread is that by the time I think about actually wanting it, I don't want to wait the 3 hours it takes to make it.  Soooooo, when I found the following recipe, I thought I had died and gone to heaven.  (Honestly, this bread isn't as good as the 3-hour bread BUT it is perfect when, if you're like me, you decide at 4:00 PM you want to have bread with your dinner which is supposed to be at 5:00 PM.)  The original recipe I found was on the Recipes Chez Moi blog.  I, however, after making it many times, have changed several things and want to share the recipe with you.

 1(ish) Hour Bread

Ingredients:

5 1/4 c. white flour (if you feel the dough is too sticky, you can add another 1/4 cup)
1/4 c. sugar 
1/2 T. salt (I think I actually added 1 T. on accident and it was still great)
1  T. yeast

1/3 c. oil 
2 c. hot tap water

Directions:

Mix together the flour, sugar, salt and yeast in a large mixing bowl (I used my Kitchen Aid).  Add oil and hot water to the dry ingredients mixture.  Mix for one minute, scraping the bowl once (this is where if you think the dough is too sticky, you may add the additional 1/4 cup of flour).  Mix dough for five more minutes on a medium high speed without scrapping the bowl.  When you finish mixing, the dough will be sticky.  ITS OKAY :)  On a floured surface, divide the dough into two equal portions.  Shape the dough and put into a greased (I used Pam spray) bread pan.  Let sit, covered, for 1/2 hour (I accidentally left mine for 1 hour the other day...still perfect).  Bake in a 375* oven for 35 minutes.  Makes 2 loaves.

I hope this delicious bread finds its way to your home soon.  

Sara Jane

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Lisa here!  One of my favorite things in summer is to not use my stove.  At all.  I love food that my family and I can eat raw, grill or cook in the crock pot.  One of our favorite crock pot recipes is a very simple pot roast on Sundays.  We have a late church and we often don't get home until 4:30pm and we are all super hungry!  To walk in and smell the roast is heaven!  And this one couldn't be simpler!  I've seen this recipe a lot of places but I orignially got it from a friend when we were living in Arizona (talk about hot!).

Courtney's Pot Roast

3-4 lb Chuck roast (mine was frozen and it was perfectly alright!)

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 pkt. Lipton onion soup mix (or Walmart brand)

1 large onion, sliced

3 large potatoes, chopped

a handful of baby carrots

Spray the inside of the crockpot with a non-stick cooning spray, like Pam.  Place roast in bottom and vegetables on top of the roast.  Mix soup and soup mix together and pour over everything.  Cover.  Cook on high for 6-8 hours. 

It really is such a favorite with my family.  The meat is super tender and the vegetables are perfectly cooked.  Thank you so much my Arizona friend!!!

Lisa

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I've gotten into the habit of making a big breakfast every morning to feed my growing boys (that includes the husband).  One of my favorite things to make are pancakes with homemade buttermilk syrup.  It is especially fun because Clark is starting to help out now.

Pancakes

2 cups flour
2 tbsp sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 large egg
3 tbs unsalted butter, melted
2 cups buttermilk

Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl.  In a separete large bowl mix all wet ingredients together.  Add the dry to the wet ingredients and mix till a few lumps remain, be careful not to over mix.

Using a buttered hot griddle, pour pancake batter according to the size you prefer and flip once bubbles appear on top.  Serve hot with your favorite syrup!

 

Enjoy!

Allison: Patriotic Treat and Kids' Craft

I LOVE THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!  It's true... I consider myself to be a very patriotic person, and LOVE any holiday that celebrates my country.  I lived in Spain for 18 months as a missionary for my church and didn't realize just how much I loved my country, until I was away from its soil.  Every time I would see an American flag, I would get emotional and instantly homesick.  That being said, I'm excited to share a patriotic-themed dessert/appetizer recipe and kids' craft with all of you today.

I took my inspiration for these cute little cupcakes from here.  I loved the idea of a bite-sized dessert that wouldn't be TOO messy.  They were surprisingly easy to assemble and even easier to snack on in the process (tee hee).  Here's what you'll need:

Duh.  You could probably figure out those ingredients.  But I'm going to share the whipped cream cheese frosting recipe that I discovered, and you are going to thank me (or curse me)!  Of course I found it through Pinterest, on this site , as a cinnamon roll topper.  I may never make another cream cheese frosting again.  It is amazing!  I had to stop myself from sampling it too much, before it was all gone.  This would work great for a standard size cupcake too, but I liked the idea of a bite-sized treat, so I used the mini cupcake tin.  The adorable little pinwheels I found in Target's dollar section, and worked great to secure the stack.  I love them!

Here's the frosting recipe:

Ms. Humble's Whipped Cream Cheese Frosting

16oz cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup heavy cream, cold

Beat the cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth and fluffy. In a separate bowl, beat the heavy cream to nearly stiff peaks, then add the whipped cream into the cheese mixture and quickly and briefly beat to combine. Do not over beat.

Mmmm... So good...

This patriotic craft came from a cute blog I came across called "Random Thoughts of a Supermom".  This mom is so creative and I loved that she involved her kids in the project.  I planned to replicate her version of this windsock but wouldn't you know it... I got lazy.  So instead, I thought I'd share my version.  Maybe not AS cute, but still a little cute and definitely kid-friendly.

You'll need these things:

* blue plastic cups
* red & white crepe paper
* tape
* star stickers


This little guy was so easy to assemble!  I just taped alternating red and white crepe paper to the inside of the cup, and poked a little hole in the top to string some white ribbon to hang it up.  Next, grab your star stickers and stick them on.  Done!  I didn't think my two-year-old could handle this yet, but I think this craft would be so fun for kids!


The blog I "borrowed" the idea from used empty baby formula canisters and spray painted them blue.  She also used ribbon instead of crepe paper.  Either way, I think they're a great way to decorate the outside of your house for patriotic holidays.  

Before I end this post, I wanted to advertise to our faithful readers and friends the special I'm offering this week on our Etsy page.  I'll be selling my 9" Patriotic Rag-Tie Wreath until the 4th of July for only $10 (instead of the $15 it sells for on Etsy).  Any local orders can be hand-delivered also, saving on shipping.  For any out-of-state orders, I'll give you a discount on shipping (only $3, instead of $5).   Message me or leave a comment and I'll create a posting for you where the discount is applied. 

Get your wreath now!!  :)

http://www.etsy.com/shop/fivecraftysisters

Well, I hope you enjoyed my easy dessert and craft!  Even more, I hope you enjoy celebrating our freedom this 4th of July.  May we always remember those that have fought and continue to fight for that freedom.  Happy Independence Day!!

Allison

Lisa: Summer Parties!!

I hope everyone had a terrific Father's Day! We had a lovely day here saying thanks to our Papa!!  We went around the dinner table and each of the kids said things that they loved about their dad.  It was very touching and sweet!

On to a new week!  With the first day of summer coming up this week, we thought our theme this week should be Parties!  Around here, summer means a lot of outdoor parties and get togethers.  I have a birthday party, water party, field day, end of school party, family get togethers and neighborhood parties all coming up within the next month!  So much fun!  In the past, we have done a lot of fun games and activities at our parties but I thought I'd show you some ideas from around the web that are going to be incorporated into our parties this coming month!!

Birthday Party: This site has an awesome idea for a Messy Boys' Party.  They are going to go crazy with this!!  Shaving cream, water balloons, cold spaghetti, water guns, finger jello!!  Awesomeness!


Water Party:  At the end of the school year, my daughter's whole grade goes to a local party and has a water party.  These games will be perfect for them!  Freeze-Water Tag, Beach Towel Toss, and more!!


Field Day:  What better way for kids to end their school year and kick off summer than with a field day!! Here's a site with a lot of fun games that are perfect for a field day!


End of School Party:  Mostly the kids just want to hang out with their friends and have pizza for their end of school party but it is always good to have some activities!!  Here's a couple I've found that I want to give a try!!
Lawn Twister


Noodle Darts

Family Get Togethers:  At our last family get together(on my husband's side, sorry sisters!!), we had a "Minute To Win It" Party.  It was a huge hit!!  There was much laughter and fun had by all!!  Here's a site with a few of the games but the games can be found all over the web!!  These would be great for teenager parties, as well!

Neighborhood Party:  For our neighborhood parties, we usually just invite people over to have a good dinner and a lot of get-to-know-you talk!  This tablescape looks perfect for that!



But this is what I ususally end up with!!  (And yes, I know this is from a tv show but mismatched chairs, a sheet for a table cloth, and random plates, cups and bowls.  That is my sort of tablescape, unfortunately!!)


There you have it, our summer party ideas!!  Have any ideas you'd like to share??  I'm always looking for new ideas!!  On to you, Allison!!

Lisa