Cupcakes!

Maggie and Ella wanted to make cupcakes like Little Bear. So, I found a super-easy recipe and off we went! Ella gave up after the eggs were added, but Maggie stayed through the whole process. I wimped out on the frosting, just making blue (for Ella) powdered sugar glop for the top. We have a few left... maybe some buttercream is in our future. Click the title below for website.

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Simple White Cake

By: SCOTTOSMAN

"This cake was sent home from our children's school. It is the simplest, great tasting cake I've ever made. Great to make with the kids, especially for cupcakes."

Prep Time:
20 Min

Cook Time:
30 Min

Original Recipe Yield 12 cupcakes or 1- 9x9 inch pan

Ingredients

• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 cup milk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x9 inch pan or line a muffin pan with paper liners.
2. In a medium bowl, cream together the sugar and butter. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Combine flour and baking powder, add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Finally stir in the milk until batter is smooth. Pour or spoon batter into the prepared pan.
3. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven. For cupcakes, bake 20 to 25 minutes. Cake is done when it springs back to the touch.

Ye Olde Banana Bread (Mark Bittman) for Recital

OK, he doesn't call it Ye Olde, but it's a chestnut. We like this recipe (but Daddy likes the West Indian recipe for bread machine even better).

1 stick butter
3 old bananas, mashed
2 eggs
1 1/2 C white flour
1/2 C whole wheat flour
3/4 C sugar
1 1/2 t baking powder
1 t salt
1 t vanilla
1/2 C coconut
(1/2 C pecans or walnuts--we left this out because Maggie refused to even take a bite with nuts!)

Cream butter (we used the mixer). Add bananas and eggs. In separate bowl, mix dry ingredients. Add wet to dry (we added 1/2 wet to dry and then put the whole thing in the wet bowl--it was bigger). After mixed just until wet, add coconut and vanilla (and nuts, if you're using them).

Bake 350 45-60 min in a 9x5 bread pan. Toothpick should come out clean.

Orange Applesauce Cupcakes

We made these for Ella's Easter-time birthday party. We added mini chocolate chips (Maggie's idea). We colored the frosting in three batches: purple, sherbet orange, light green. Yummy but they seem like muffins rather than cupcakes. Not that that's a bad thing.

Orange Applesauce Cupcakes (full credit to the website Taste of Home)

ingredients

• 6 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon grated orange peel
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 
  FROSTING:
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1-1/2 teaspoons grated orange peel
• 2 to 4 teaspoons orange juice

Directions

• In a large bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg. Beat in applesauce, vanilla and orange peel. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Stir in pecans.
• Fill paper-lined muffin cups half full. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack to cool completely.
• For frosting, in a small bowl, cream butter and confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy. Add orange peel and enough orange juice to achieve spreading consistency. Frost cupcakes. Yield: 1 dozen.

Nutrition Facts: 1 serving (1 each) equals 315 calories, 14 g fat (6 g saturated fat), 43 mg cholesterol, 267 mg sodium, 48 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 2 g protein.

Home Soup

Maggie wanted to make soup last week. She decided on the ingredients so Daddy could shop for them. Here they are:

Carrots
Chicken broth
Beans (chick peas)
Rice
Broccoli




Essentially, we just cooked those things together, in order. Always add broccoli last (it cooks very quickly). We added just a few dried spices (thyme, oregano) and one garlic clove. Maggie's jobs were to separate the broccoli crowns into small pieces, rinse the chick peas, and of course create the recipe! The result: YUM!

Waffles

OK, Daddy makes these all the time. But this time Maggie, Ella, and Mommy made them (from Mark's recipe, of course). Here is what we did:

Mark's Quick and Easy Waffles

oil/butter spray
2 C AP flour
1/2 t salt
2 T sugar
3 t powder
1-1/2 C milk
2 eggs
1/2 stick butter, melted and cooled (we didn't cool it all the way, oops)
1 t vanilla extract (optional--we used it)

Mix dry. Add wet. Let waffle-maker do work.

Ella stirred ("slowly"), Maggie added ingredients (getting good at measuring ingredients--sugar, in this case), and Mama supervised. Ella tasted it (oops!), dropped the spoon in the batter (ick!), and finally ate it. We all did. Yum!

Sweet Potato Pancakes with a new helper

Ella decided to help on this one. It took longer and was messier, but everyone was happy.
Not sure if this recipe is a keeper (got it online from cooks.com)--we'll make it again and see. Also, depends how the leftovers do.

1-1/2 C flour
3-1/2 t baking powder
1 t salt
1/2 t nutmeg
1/2 t cinnamon (we added this)
1-1/4 C mashed cooked sweet potato
2 eggs
1-1/2 C milk

Mix dry. Add wet. Cook 'em up.

Kids gobbled them up! Maggie determined that they needed maple syrup. Ella ate the syrup with her hands. Maggie tried.