A couple of months ago, I saw that Marie at Make & Takes had read the book How To Eat Fried Worms with her 5 year old and then they watched the movie and ate gummy worms. Some of the comments left on her post were ideas of other worm-related activities or treats. This gave me an idea. There are quite a few children's books that have been turned into movies and knew this would be something that Daisy would really enjoy doing. We started with "How To Eat Fried Worms" and Daisy liked it a lot and surprisingly didn't eat very many gummy worms during the movie. I wonder if it's because it grossed her out. . .
Hershey's TAKE 5 is my favorite candybar right now. It's got everything. Pretzels, caramel, peanuts, peanut butter, and milk chocolate. YUM. Sweet and salty, nothing overpowering any of the other ingredients.
I'm usually willing to try something different. I had brussel sprouts for the first time. YUCK. I tried to like them. I ate a bunch. But YUCK. But of course being the good mother I am, I said, "MMmmmm" with every bite. Just for my kids. I don't think it worked anyway. They look like little cabbages, but they taste like pungent, nutty, rottenness. Maybe they would taste good if they were prepared in another way. What is it with my family and their Belgian cooking?! I feel healthy as a horse since being here though.
First we placed the desired amount of marshmallows on a broiler pan and placed in the broiler for a few seconds until nice and toasty brown. There's no picture of what they looked like when they came out, because I don't like to take my time when something's ready, I like to eat.
We sliced up fresh strawberries and placed a few slices on a graham cracker half and then topped with a toasted marshmallow and squished it down nice and firm with the remaining graham cracker half. Doesn't that look good?
We like to get in touch with our Jewish (not really) roots and make Matzo Ball Soup every now and then. It's so simple, yet hearty, and the kids totally gobble it up. You should be able to find Matzo meal at your grocery store. You might have to go to a specialty or international store. The scans above are from a recent-ish Martha Stewart magazine, but I don't know which one. I just tore the pages out. These are great recipes. The first is how to make your own stock from scratch, and then there's a recipe for chicken noodle soup, chicken and rice soup, and lastly, chicken soup with matzo balls. You can add chicken, carrots, etc., to the recipe, but we just do broth and the matzo balls. We don't follow the above recipe exactly, like we use vegetable oil in place of the chicken fat. Here's the general recipe with my changes added in parentheses:1. Whisk yolks, fat, 1/2 cup stock, and the salt in a medium bowl; season with pepper. Stir in matzo meal and parsley. (we mix: 4 Tbsp. veg. oil, 4 whole eggs, 4 Tbsp. water, salt, matzo meal, and parsley)
2. Put egg whited into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on medium-high speed until stiff peaks form. Add to matzo mixture; whisk until smooth. Refreigerate until slightly thickened, about 30 minutes. (when you skip the egg white process, you only need to refrigerate for 15 minutes or so).
3. Bring remaining stock to a boil in a large pot. Scoop out 1 1/2-inch balls of the matzo mixture, and add to stock. Reduce heat. Cover, and simmer until matzo balls are slightly firm and cooked through, about 15 minutes. Garnish with dill. (We cover and simmer for 40 minutes)
Of course, our version is less time consuming than Martha's, but whose wouldn't be? Here's how our's turned out. Delicious!
I saw this post on Ali's blog about Hillary Clinton's Chocolate Chip Cookies and I remembered that I had the recipe for Laura Bush's Cowboy Cookies. So we made them. It was Luke's first time helping to cook something and he really enjoyed himself. We only had one major spill and that was the oats. Do you think that these first ladies really came up with the recipes on their own? I don't buy it. I think they had some help, like from their White House chefs, but it's kind of fun to have cookies like these anyway. I don't remember where I got the recipe. Maybe it was her biography or something.
I've been reading this Betty Crocker cookbook from 1957. I've noticed in these old cookbooks that people used to make some strange things. In the breakfast section, it has something called Toast Toppers. Have you ever tried any of these?
image taken from media.canada.com
A sliced Carrot looks like the human eye The pupil, iris and radiating lines look just like the human eye...and YES science now shows that carrots greatly enhance blood flow to and function of the eyes.
A Tomato has four chambers and is red. The heart is red and has four chambers. All of the research shows tomatoes are indeed pure heart and blood food.
Grapes hang in a cluster that has the shape of the heart. Each grape looks like a blood cell and all of the research today shows that grapes are also profound heart and blood vitalizing food. 
A Walnut looks like a little brain, a left and right hemisphere, upper cerebrums and lower cerebellums. Even the wrinkles or folds are on the nut just like the neo-cortex. We now know that walnuts help develop over 3 dozen neuron-transmitters for brain function.
Kidney Beans actually heal and help maintain kidney function and yes, they look exactly like the human kidneys.
Celery, Bok Choy, Rhubarb and more look just like bones. These foods specifically target bone strength. Bones are 23% sodium and these foods are 23% sodium. If you don't have enough sodium in your diet the body pulls it from the bones, making them weak. These foods replenish the skeletal needs of the body. 
Eggplant, Avocadoes and Pears target the health and function of the womb and cervix of the female - they look just like these organs. Today's research shows that when a woman eats 1 avocado a week, it balances hormones, sheds unwanted birth weight and prevents cervical cancers. And how profound is this? .. It takes exactly 9 months to grow an avocado from blossom to ripened fruit. There are over 14,000 photolytic chemica l cons tituents of nutrition in each one of these foods (modern science has only studied and named about 141 of them). 
Figs are full of seeds and hang in twos when they grow. Figs increase the motility of male sperm and increase the numbers of Sperm well to overcome male sterility. 
Sweet Potatoes look like the pancreas and actually balance the glycemic index of diabetics. 
Olives assist the health and function of the ovaries 
Grapefruits, Oranges , and other Citrus fruits look just like the mammary glands of the female and actually assist the health of the breasts and the movement of lymph in and out of the breasts.
Onions look like body cells. Today's research shows that onions help clear waste materials from all of the body cells They even produce tears which wash the epithelial layers of the eyes
[photo source]: cooksillustrated.comLast night we made The Best Key Lime Bars from the July/August 2006 issue of Cook's Illustrated magazine. They were FABULOUS. Seriously. They use animal crackers instead of graham crackers for the crust. The toasted coconut topping is optional, but I think it is a must. I'm not a lime or key lime kind of gal, but these were so great. I think it really makes a difference to use fresh lime juice as opposed to the bitter bottled stuff. Oh, and if you use salted butter instead of unsalted, do not add salt to your crust.
Cook's Illustrated is probably my favorite cooking magazine. These are the cooks from America's Test Kitchen. The tv show and the cookbook. You know, the guy with the bow tie? They review the best kitchen products and appliances, and they make/test so many variations of one recipe until they find "the best". I think it's a very useful and educational magazine.
You know you're getting old, when you start to like Grandma G.G.'s nasty Mayonnaise Date Nut Bread. Seriously, I've always despised when my parents would put nuts in cookies, and fruit in things that shouldn't have fruit. In recent months, my taste buds are starting to truly enjoy nuts and fruit where they don't belong!! One of the "perks" of getting married, is that you now receive Grandma's bread at Christmas. I've always graciously accepted this bread and then thrown it away or given it away. I sound like a brat, but I just hated this bread. Well, this year, when we got our bread by delivery, I tried a slice of it because I was starving, and we didn't have any other food in the house. I LOVED it. I pretty much ate the entire loaf. Dates? Who cares. Walnuts? Not a problem. I am now happy to have this Date Nut Bread recipe and get it each year from Grandma G.G. It's another one of those special recipes that has been passed from mother to daughter since who knows when. Early 1900s? 1800s? And I will hold on to it and pass it along as well. And my kids like it too. I love how food can also be a link to our family's past. Oh, and did you know that supposedly December 22 is National Date Nut Bread Day? Well now you know.
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