Teacher Gifts - Cookies in a Jar

Instead of putting the burden of making gifts for Yanic's teachers all on myself, I decided to look for something that he could get involved with, too. And I found the perfect solution: Cookies in a Jar.

I found this really great tutorial and recipe on Bakerella's blog. I adapted it to the season and used red and green M&M's and did not add the chopped nuts. Initially, because I personally do not like nuts, but in the end it turned out they would not have fit into the jars anyway.

I had Yanic measuring and filling the jars. He had a blast. I mean, which kid doesn't like playing with food and making a mess at the same time?! ;-)

We will start passing them out tomorrow. Hope all his teachers will like them.

Also, this past weekend the kids saw Santa at the Mall and got their picture taken with him. I only mention this because I need to share what the girls told him they wanted for Christmas!
Anika: Candy and a yellow duck.
Kordula: Candy and a pink duck.
Who's kids are these???!!! Well, I guess, I will be making ducks next....

Have a happy week, everybody.

Happy Easter

I personally cannot wait for the long weekend to start: four days in a row that I do not have to deal with Corporate America. And we are expecting temperatures in the upper 70s to low 80s. I cannot remember when it has ever been this warm on Easter. Typically, we are hunting easter eggs on snow dusted grass.

If you are still looking for some special Easter treats, try this:

Absolutely yummy and super easy to make. The lovely Nerida pointed me to the recipe: Chocolate, Chow Main noodles and Jelly beans; that's i!

And who can ever have enough of these.....?!:

Happy Easter everybody.

Sweet Temptation

So, allthough I am typically the ultimate anti-kitchen-appliance-gift-giver-and-wanting-to-receive-for-any-special-occasion person, I was quite happy that my Hubby gave me a Belgian Waffle Maker for Christmas, no less one of the rotating ones.

It is perfect! It makes the yummiest looking waffles you can imagine. I LOVE it. I have used it a few times already, trying different recipes. My absolute favorite so far is one for Buttermilk waffles. If it was me, I could make them every weekend.

But, you have to know, that it appears I am the only one with a really sweet tooth in my family.

Go figure: John will not touch anything that looks remotely like it could be called a desert (unless it has peppermint chocolate in it) and the kids prefer the no-name-brand-frozen-put-into-the-toaster-waffles. So, I happily get stuck with 90% of the waffles I make.

If you like waffles, you really have to try this recipe for some really yummy, fluffy Belgian Waffles (makes about three big ones):

2 eggs

1/2 cup sour creme

1 1/4 cups buttermilk

1/4 cup veggie oil

2 tablespoons sugar

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

dash of salt

Mix the wet ingredients first, then add the dry ones slowly. The batter will be thick and a bit lumpy. I bake mine for between 2 min 45 sec and 3 min. I like them when they are light golden brown. And, they are super easy to freeze: just place them inbetween layers of wax paper, let them cool down and place them in ziplog bags (including the wax paper).

Top with whipped cream, strawberry sauce, etc.

PS: The girls only agreed to eating some of the waffles because it was almost lunch time and they were really, really hungry...