Fall Leaves
Friendly Ghost Family (thanks SD Mamas for the idea!)
Of course I was chosen to be the foot!xxoo
I did manage to remember to take pictures of us making "Moons" since my big little is in LOVE with the Moon. We talk about it every morning, noon & night. Reading the book "Goodnight Moon" until we have it memorized and the cow jumps over it and the old lady whispers "hush".
Here is us using store bought pie dough, cutting circles with a glass ("_ircles Mama"), filling them with some strawberry jam, folding them over and making "pinches". Baked them until they were brown and crispy. Thought these might be fun to bring to the park the next day for a picnic, but they didn't last the night. The M_O_O_N_S were just too good.
On Sunday we had a BBQ potluck to attend, so I made two new salads to try. Both really yummy. Again, no pictures of the actual food that we brought, I barely had time to get us out of the house on time and in the car in one piece. CONFESSION: I showed up at the "event" with my shirt on not only inside out, but backwards. Gotta love that Mommy-brain. So, no there are NO photos of the salads I made, nor the dessert. Use your imagination.
The first was a Waldorf Salad. Since it is the fall and apples are in season, I thought it would be a nice change. This recipe was adapted from the The Food Network.
1/2 cup toasted walnuts
1/2 cup plain yogurt (I used greek yogurt)
2 TBSP mayo
Minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 tsp honey
1 lemon zested and then juiced
fresh ground black pepper
2 large crisp apples
2 ribs celery chopped
1/4 cup golden raisins
1 head Boston lettuce
Whisk the yogurt, mayonnaise, parsley, honey, and lemon zest in a large bowl and season with pepper. Halve, core, and cut the apples into 3/4-inch pieces, leaving the skin intact. Add the apples, celery and raisins to the bowl, and sprinkle with the lemon juice; then toss with the dressing. Cover and refrigerate if not serving immediately. When ready to serve, toss walnuts into the salad. Arrange the lettuce leaves on a large platter. Spoon salad on lettuce. Enjoy!
The second was a Cucumber Salad. Sounded like a "pickled" type that my hubby likes. This recipe was also adapted from the The Food Network. It was still tasty the next day. I actually made this up the night before the BBQ.
3 large cucumbers sliced very thin
1 TBSP salt
1/2 cup water
3 TBSP apple cider vinegar
1 tsp sugar
paprika, as much as you wish for flavor & color
minced green onions
Place sliced cucumbers in a bowl. With your hands, mix the salt into the cucumber. Cover and let stand for at least thirty minutes.The Dressing: While the cucumbers are marinating, prepare the dressing which consists of water, vinegar, sugar and paprika. Squeeze out all the juice from the cucumbers AND RINSE WELL to remove excess salt. Mix the dressing into the cucumbers. Sprinkle the green onions over the cucumbers. This will keep for several days in the fridge.
We also brought Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Squares which I knew would be a hit with the kids at the BBQ, young AND old. I should have made these earlier in the day so they had a little more time to cool and set up. I ended up bringing them in the pan that I baked them in. If you want to be able to remove them from the pan and serve them in squares, make sure that you allow them enough time to cool completely in the fridge. So so so good. This was a recipe that I had gotten when I worked at FCH in Boston. A really good fake-out and perfect bake sale treat.
2 rolls of re-fridge slice & bake cookie dough
3/4 cup sugar
two 8oz pkg softened cream cheese
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
Grease and flour a 9X13 pan. Spread 1 roll of dough on bottom of pan (don't worry if it seems thin, do as best as you can without leaving holes). Cream together sugar, cream cheese, vanilla & eggs. Pour on top of 1st layer of cookie dough. Press 2nd roll of cookie dough out flat on wax paper to a 9X13 shape. Place on top of cream cheese layer. I "flip" it over, don't worry if it is a little messy, it is very forgiving. Bake @ 350 degrees for 35 to 40 min. Cool, then refrigerate completely. Cut into squares. Serve with plenty of milk!
Sending Love,
Twin A
Have fun out there on the trails. My littles are loving their hand-me-down ride (thanks Toronto crew)! We LOVE NY in the fall.
