Make and Take Is All a Flurry This Month!

Today we gathered at Pam's house early in hopes of having our fun before the snow hit. Well, flakes were falling outside as inside we were all a flurry putting finishing touches on our fun and yummy Valentine projects! Soon it was a flurry outside as well and we packaged our dessert up, cut our lunch short, bundled all the treats and made our way to the cars. Jean almost blew away! We all arrived safely home, but not without some treacherous roads to cover. As I sit typing to you, it looks more like a frosty blender outside my window. Hard and heavy, the snow is piling up. The good news is the family is home safe, we have electricity and a chicken pie, and Mississippi Mud Pie from Pam's Make and Take. Life is good!

So Pam took us on a tour of several projects we would be creating, all adorable! Of course we began the morning with Tea, handsewn into little hearts with tags that read "Tea-riffic" accompanied by the most delicious Banana Lime Coconut Cake. No kidding, it sounds out there, but it is amazing!

Just when we thought it could not get any better, we discovered that our projects were all care package friendly for our college girls. We made the rice krispy dessert foil wrapped Kisses, a valentine cookie-butter popcorn Pam has perfected using cookie butter as the base for the glaze; and finally heart shaped Mississippi Mud Pies!

Best part was Pam had all the ingredients premeasured and laid into separate baskets so we could get right to work!

Using your favorite Rice Krispy dessert recipe, create the "Kiss" by shaping the mix into a well oiled funnel. Find just the right one to achieve that recognizable shape. Then turn your Rice Krispy Kiss out onto foil or waxed paper. Allow to set awhile. Then splatter chocolate across and valentine sprinkles and candies. Wrap in foil creating a swirl as you wrap and tuck in a Valentine message flag before sealing off the top.

 

 

Next we got our Mississippi Mud Pie basket and got to work. See recipe below. The trick here is to only fill your mold or pan 1/4 of the way so you have plenty of room for the other layers of gooey goodness. Start with the brownie mixture and bake. Cover in mini-marshmallows and bake until just turning brown.Whip up the amazing fudge frosting and cover the marshmallow layer then sprinkle with toasted, chopped pecans. Serve warm with Vanilla ice cream! Yummers!

Our last project was the Valentine Cookie Butter Popcorn. Take a lot of your favorite candies and make sure they are red, pink, white, and chocolate for a beautiful pop of color with the popcorn. For this project we found it best to coat the popcorn thoroughly and then add candies. Do this by spreading the coated popcorn on a silpat and then sprinkle candy on top and press in. The candy is quite ugly if you mix it into the coating, so better to tuck it in. Pam had some cute cellophane bags and these darling yarn hears to decorate the bags.

By this time we had worked up quite the appetite and snowbanks were beginning to build. Outside looked like a huge white blender as Poh and I began to get nervous about our drive home. Then we sat down at Pam's darling table and delicious lunch and the outside storm was forgotten while we enjoyed a chicken chili, grilled heart cheese sandwiches and bacon heart salad. Life was good and are tummies were full and warm. Half way through Pam was called to work where she helps get the kids at school looked after until their parents could get there to pick them up. We grabbed our goodies and bulbs she had planted in cute red pots and headed to our cars.

 

Thank you Pam for a wonderful and memorable Make and Take!

RECIPES

Banana Lime Coconut Bread

By Ninja 

Ingredients:

Cooking spray

Grated zest and juice of 2 limes

1 cup all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

Pinch salt

4 tbls butter

1/2 cup sugar

1 egg

1/2 ripe banana, mashed

2/3 cup skimmed milk

1 tsp vanilla

4 cups water

1/3 cup chopped toasted pecans

1/3 cup sweetened toasted coconut

1/4 packed brown sugar 

1. Spray multi-purpose pan with cooking spray. Stir flour, baking soda, and salt in a bowl.

2.Beat 2 tablespoons butter and sugar in another bowl with electric mixer until mixture is creamy. Beat in an egg.

3. Stir in banana, milk, half lime zest, half the lime juice, and vanilla into butter mixture. Repeat with remaining flour mixture and butter mixture.

4. Pour water into pan to create a bath. Place bread pan into bath. Set oven 375degrees and bake 40 min. with foil over top of bread pan and bath lightly situated.

5. In pan on top storve, cook on high remaining butter, pecans,coconut,brown sugar, lime zest, and lime juice. Cook uncovered for 1 minute or until sugar is dissolved. Spoon mixture over bread.

Cookie Butter Popcorn

(By: iheartnaptime.net)

Ingredients:
16 cups air popped plain popcorn
1 16oz pkg Krogers vanilla candy coating (or candyquick)
3 TB Cookie-butter (found at Trader Joes)
1/2 cup colored candy of your choice
1 package M&M Valentine chocolates
Sprinkles

1. Pop your popcorn and place in large bowl. Melt your vanilla candy coating in the microwave according to the package directions. Then add the cookie butter to the melted chocolate. Stir until combined. Drizzle the coating over the popcorn. Stir until evenly coated. Spread over a cookie sheet lined with silpat or waxed paper. sprinkle candy selection and pat into popcorn mixture. Allow to set for an hour and then break apart and bag to give as gifts or fill a bowl to share.

Hoot Owl PB & Chocolate Cookies for Thanksgiving!

This month's Make&Take was hosted by Pam, and as always she dazzled us with her baking creativity! Are these the cutest cookies ever! Our Halloween Day session was complete with every detail to get us into the Fall spirit! A touch of Halloween and a cookie recipe to carry us through to Thanksgiving!

Hoot Owl Cookies

From Joann's recipes 

1 cup of brown sugar

1 cup of white sugar

3/4 cup of peanut butter

3/4 cup of margarine or butter

Cream the sugars and butters together

Add :

3 eggs (one at a time)

2 teaspoons of vanilla

Blend well.

Add:

4 teaspoons of baking powder

1 1/4 teaspoons  of salt.

4 and 1/2cups of flour

(1 cup of flour at a time)

Mix well and  then make into a ball.

Take off 1/3 off the ball and add 5 tablespoons of cocoa with it to make the chocolate part of the owl.   Blend well.

Roll out the chocolate cookie dough into a log that is 20 inches long.  

Make the vanilla dough into a log and then flatten it out into a 4 inch by 20 inch long rectangle.

Lay the chocolate cookie dough in the center of the vanilla dough and wrap the vanilla dough around the chocolate dough.  Then roll the dough on the counter gentle until it is rounded and smooth.

Cut in  1/8 to 1/4 inch slices.

Take two slices and lay them side by side on cookie sheet.  (place them tightly together).  Pinch the top corners to form the ears of the owl.

You will need a can of cashew nuts to use for the beak of the owl.

Put a cashew in the center of the two cookies to form the beak.

For the owls eyes.  You will need 4 ounces of cream cheese.  I put the cream cheese in a pastry bag and use a # 3 tube to put a dot for the white of the eye.

You will need a bag of chocolate chip for the pupil of the eye.  Place one chocolate chip on the dot of cream cheese and press down gentle.

Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes.  Remove from heat and cool on rack.

Make 3 dozen.

While we were waiting for the owls to bake up, Pam provided a wonderful Fall lunch. It was Halloween Day so we had black and orange cheese ravioli with her famous pumpkin ragout sauce, delish! Then darling brownie ala mode with chocolate spiders.

  

These cute little favors are Halloween s'mores. Package 2 graham crackers, 2 small individual snack size Hershey bars, a one darling ghost marshmallow peep on top. The perfect party favor! 

Pumpkin Sauce Recipe for Pasta

Original recipe makes 4 servings Change Servings

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 3 tablespoons minced sweet onion
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, chopped

• 1/3 cup low-fat milk
• 1 teaspoon ground sage
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 pinch ground cinnamon
• 1 pinch ground nutmeg

Directions

1. Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat, and cook and stir the onion and garlic until the onion is translucent, about 3 minutes. Whisk in the chicken broth, and bring to a boil; whisk in the pumpkin puree, chipotle peppers and their sauce, milk, sage, salt, coriander, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Allow sauce to come to a simmer, then lower heat to hold at a simmer until serving time.

Snowman Candy Wraps for Holiday Gifting!

The Make and Take Gals have been busy with underground activities this month. Here is a darling and affordable gift for teachers, neighbors, hostess, or to tuck some cash into for that favorite service person. How about these darling faces poking out from your Christmas socking on Christmas morning?

Supplies List

1. Knit Gloves
2. Hershey’s 4.4 oz. milk chocolate bar
3. Double sided tape
4. Snowman paper wrap
5. Regular scotch tape
6. Ribbon
5/8” for belt
1/8” for bow on “glove” hat
7. Decoration for the front of the belt.
8. Hot glue gun

Instructions
1. Print out snowman paper wrap on a color printer. Trim to 7-1/4” high by
9-1/2” wide, keeping the snowman print in the middle.
2. With regular tape, tape down the corner flaps of the chocolate bar, so that they do not stick up over the “wrap”.
3. Center snowman on chocolate bar, fold and crease edges. Using double sided tape, tape the wrap securely.
4. Put one glove on the snowman’s head. Use a small piece of double stick tape under the front of the glove to hold in place.
5. Tuck second glove in the back of the first glove. Fold glove over from sides so that it does not show from the front.
6. Wrap the 5/8” ribbon around “Snowman” waist. Make sure that the ribbon goes over the back glove to hold it in place. Pull securely and affix in the front with a small dot of hot glue. Be careful not to burn your fingers.
7. Affix the decoration to the front of the belt with a small dot of hot glue.
8. Tie a bow on the glove to make the snowman hat with the 1/8” ribbon. Measure and cut the ribbon. Pull the ribbon taut so that all of the fingers some together to form the hat.
9. HAVE FUN!!! THEY ARE SO EASY AND SO CUTE.

September Make and Take Warms Up With Jean's Homespun Fall Treats!

 

 Fall has rolled into Portland with a chilly change to the season. After a deliciously long and hot summer, the brisk pumpkin weather took us by surprise. Our hostess, Jean, however planned for the transition in this month's Make and Take. With her skillful direction we revisited the cozy fleece blanket project and produced a splash of fall color blankets to cover our families in.













In addition we made a festive and beautiful Autumn Nut Bark that is insanely good!

No visit to Jean's house would be complete without testing out some delicious new salad recipes. Lunch was devine! Thank you Jean!

 Recipe can be found at http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bobby-flay/greek-quinoa-salad-recipe/index.html

Make and Take Gals Magic: Chocolate Covered Oreos with Transfer Designs!

Make and Take was at MJ's place this month. A scorching 85 degree day in Portland and we were able to relax and enjoy the beautiful breeze coming through the window. We caught up with the summer happenings over coconut milk parfaits, then on to a yummy project.

Chocolate covered Oreos with cocobutter design transfers. They work just like our childhood tatoos that we applied with water, but these of course are with chocolate. We tried a couple methods. Our cookie molds had a raised image: LOVE. So we tried some with and without. To have a flat surface we simply put a round disk of the transfer plastic with the design on the bottom, cocobutter facing up so that it would transfer onto the hot tablespoon of chocolate that went in next.

Once the chocolate was put into each mold the pounding commenced. This ensured no air bubbles and a level top surface where the design would be imprinted.

Finally to off the mold with more chocolate and give another tapping to get the air out. Place in freezer 10 minutes until set.

Once solid, pop out onto a cookie sheet and remove the plastic backing from the transfer. Walaa, beautiful Oreo cookies for any special occasion. 

Lunch time! We liked the chocolate off our fingers and sat down to a vegetarian quinoa medley with Pear and Blue Cheese Flat bread. My bad, I forgot about dessert so baked a pumpkin pie and served with ice cream. A bit early for fall dessert, but there we are... loved every bite!

Make and Take Chocolate Dipped Strawberry Meringue Cupcakes!

Make and Take was at Pam's house this month, so we knew we were in store for some creative dessert making. Mission: Top Up Cupcakes! Yummers! Never seen one, never ate one. It was a rich and dreamy adventure! This recipe requires patients for the many steps, but it is worth it in every bite!

 1. Start by pureeing the fresh strawberry's. Leave little chunks for a beautiful texture and visual sensation.

 2. In a double broiler, whip the 1 1/2 cups sugar and 6 egg whites constantly until the candy thermometer reads 160 degrees. Test the mixture to ensure no grainy feeling in the meringue. If so keep over steam another minute.Then transfer to a mixer and beat until stiff peaks form with a nice glossy finish. The bowl should now be a slight warm, much cooler than when you started... about 8 mins.

3. Add the 3/4 pounds of butter cut into small pieces and incorporated as you go. Once all butter in the meringue, beat for 2 minutes until smooth.Now incorporate the fresh strawberry's into the meringue.

4. Fill a piping bag and build layers of the meringue on top a frozen cup cake. Use a little curl on the top for best look. Place the sheet of cupcakes in the freezer and have lunch :)

For lunch Pam made a fresh fruit salad, a chicken, orzo and roasted chickpea and cauliflower salad, and some fresh baked rolls. Delicious! To finish us off, ooooh I meant to say, for dessert, she made chocolate brownie waffles with hot fudge and ice cream. 

 

After our delicious lunch we retrieved the frozen cupcakes, which helps the meringue from falling off when you dip them in chocolate, we set to the task of dipping and adding sprinkles.

 

 

 These chocolate dipped mini-cupcakes pack a powerful flavor! One young man was quoted to say upon tasting them, "This is what angel poop would taste like"! Huuu, not sure about that, but we got the idea... Heavenly!

Thanks Pam for a wonderful day!

RECIPES

Summer Orzo Salad with Roasted Cauliflower and Chickpeas
Vegan, Gluten Free option; Serves 6 as a side, 3-4 as a main
Inspired by: Naturally Ella's roasted cauliflower, and taken from The Fresh Connection Blog

For the chickpeas:
2 cups cooked chickpeas, rinsed
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp fine grain sea salt

For the cauliflower:
1/2 large head cauliflower, cut into bite size pieces
1 tbsp olive oil
salt + pepper

For the salad:
1 1/4 cup dry orzo (I used gluten free orzo, but regular works too)
2 1/2 cups baby greens (I used a combo of arugula and baby kale)
1/4 cup sundried tomatoes, chopped
1/3 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 tsp dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp agave or maple syrup or honey
pinch, cayenne (optional)
salt + pepper, to taste

1. Preheat your oven to 400F.  Toss chickpeas with oil, lemon juice and salt.  Arrange on a single layer on a baking sheet.  Toss cauliflower with oil and salt/pepper.  Arrange on a single layer on a separate baking sheet.  Place the chickpeas and the cauliflower in the oven.  Bake for 15 minutes.  Stir both, then bake for another 15-20 minutes, or until desired doneness.
2.  While your chickpeas and cauliflower are roasting, prepare your orzo.  Boil water in a large pot. Add orzo and stir.  Boil for about 8 minutes (or follow your package directions).
3. Whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, mustard, garlic, syrup and cayenne pepper.  Set aside.
4.  Rinse baby greens and place in a large bowl.  Add the sundried tomatoes and parsley.
5.  Drain your orzo and add to the bowl with the greens.  Once the cauliflower and chickpeas are done, add these to the bowl as well.  Toss everything with your dressing.  Season well with salt + pepper.  Garnish with additional parsley, if desired.

Notes: This dish is delicious served warm or cold.  Kale and Arugula both hold their shape fairly well under the warm orzo and vegetables, however if you use spinach it will wilt more so I recommend adding an extra couple handfuls or waiting until the orzo, cauliflower and chickpeas have cooled slightly before adding them to the dish.

Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cupcakes taken from Smells Like Home Blog

Yield: 12-15 cupcakes

The recipe below will yield 12-15 cupcakes, enough frosting (about 5 cups) to liberally frost those cupcakes, and plenty of chocolate for coating them. All recipes can be doubled to yield enough for 24-27 cupcakes. The instructions for these cupcakes may seem a little long and somewhat daunting but I made sure to include some helpful tips. These cupcakes would be a super fun project to do with your kids (especially the dipping part), with a group of girlfriends, or by yourself if you need some baking solace, like I often do.

Ingredients

For the cupcakes:
• 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp hot tap water
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• rounded 1/2 tsp coarse salt
• 12 tbsp (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 1 cup + 1 tbsp granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup sour cream (light is fine), at room temperature
For the strawberry Swiss meringue buttercream frosting:
• 1 1/2 cups diced strawberries
• 4 egg whites, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• pinch of table salt
• 1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons, at room temperature
For the chocolate coating:
• 12 oz good semi-sweet chocolate, finely chopped
• 3 tbsp canola oil

Instructions

1. To make the cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 1 1/2 standard cupcake pans with paper cupcake liners. In a small bowl, whisk together the cocoa powder and hot water until smooth; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together; set aside
2. In a medium saucepan set over medium heat, combine the butter and the sugar. Heat, stirring occasionally to combine, until the butter is melted. The butter may not fully incorporate into the mixture but that's ok. Remove the mixture from the heat and pour it into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat on medium-low speed, 4-5 minutes, until the mixture is cooled. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed. Blend in the vanilla and then the cocoa mixture and beat until incorporated. With the mixer on low speed add in the dry ingredients in two batches, alternating with the sour cream, beating just until combined. Using a rubber spatula, scrape up the bottom of the bowl to make sure no stray streaks of flour remain - quickly mix them into the chocolate batter.
3. With a large cookie/ice cream scoop, fill each cupcake liner about 3/4 of the way full. Overfilling the liners will cause the cupcake tops to bake onto the pan - you don't want that. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the cupcake is "springy" when gently pressed on the top. Allow the cupcakes to cool in the pan for 3-5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
4. To make the strawberry Swiss meringue buttercream frosting: Puree the strawberries in a food processor until small chunks of strawberry remain and the mixture looks like jam; set aside.
5. In the well-cleaned and dried stand mixer bowl, place the egg whites and sugar. Set the bowl over a pan of shallow water and bring the water to a simmer - the bottom of the bowl should not touch the simmering water. While the water simmers, lightly whisk the egg whites and sugar constantly. Once the mixture has reached a temperature of 160 to 165 degrees F on a candy thermometer and is completely smooth (i.e., there is no gritty sugar remaining when you rub a little of the mixture between your fingers), remove it from the heat and attach it to the stand mixer with the whisk attachment fitted. Gradually increase the speed up to medium-high, whisking until the mixture is glossy and completely cool, about 8 minutes. The bottom of the bowl will be nearly cool as well.
6. With the mixer on medium-low, plunk the butter into the bowl two tablespoons at a time, allowing each addition to incorporate completely before adding the next two tablespoons. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and increase the speed to medium, beating until the buttercream comes together about 10 minutes. The mixture will be very loose at first and then it will curdle. Keep beating until it smooths out into a thick buttercream frosting. Once this happens, switch to the paddle attachment and mix the frosting on low speed for 2 minutes to release any air bubbles. Gradually stir in the strawberry puree until thoroughly combined.
7. To make the chocolate coating: Add the finely chopped chocolate and canola oil to a medium bowl and set the bowl over a small pan of shallow water. Bring the water to a simmer - the bottom of the bowl should not touch the simmering water. Stir the chocolate and oil together while the water simmers until the chocolate is completely melted. Alternatively, you can melt the chocolate and oil together in the microwave for 30 second intervals, stirring after each interval. Pour the chocolate into a wide and short cup (mine was 12 oz, about 3 1/2" wide by 3" tall). The cup should be wide enough so that you can dip the cupcake inside without rubbing against the sides - check the cup size before you pour the chocolate in! Allow the chocolate to cool for 15 minutes.
8. To frost and dip the cupcakes: Transfer the frosting to a disposable piping bag fitted with a large pastry tip (I used Ateco 809) or a zip-top bag with a corner snipped off and a pastry tip slipped in the corner. Pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes in large stacking swirls. Be sure to press the first swirl of frosting somewhat into the cupcake to make sure it sticks to the cupcake - this is important when you go dip the frosting into the chocolate coating as you don't want the frosting falling off into the chocolate. Set the cupcakes on to a wire rack with a piece of parchment or wax paper or aluminum foil underneath the rack.
9. Take a cupcake, turn it up-side-down, and steadily dip it down into the chocolate up to the point with the frosting meets the cupcake. Pull it straight out of the chocolate, allowing the extra chocolate to drip off into the cup. Turn the cupcake right-side-up and place it on the wire rack. The frosting should be completely covered with chocolate but if any shows, use a knife to drizzle some chocolate into the spots where the frosting shows. Repeat with remaining cupcakes. Allow the chocolate coating to set-up - this can be done at room temperature or in the fridge for 15 minutes. Store finished cupcakes in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days.

Notes

source: cupcakes adapted from these chocolate cupcakes, strawberry Swiss meringue buttercream adapted from Martha Stewart Cupcakes via Pink Parsley, chocolate coating adapted from Martha Stewart