Two colour swirl

Ever wonder how to make those cute cupcakes even cuter? Two coloured swirl does it for me. In a pinch you throw some icing on your cupcake with a knife. If you have a little more time you pipe it on. A little more and you can do a two colour swirl.

So it was my eldest's birthday over the weekend and we went away on vacation, she got a frozen icing cream cake on her actual birthday. BUT the day before we left we gave her her presents and had some home made cupcakes. Instead of sharing a recipe today, I'm sharing a technique. Let's face it, in a real pinch Betty Crocker does just fine. :)

So start by making and cooling your cupcakes. These ones were vegan Mango. I made a regular Butter cream icing.

I took two disposable piping bags (they are recyclable) and put them in a tall glass, just to hold them still as I filled them. So much easier this way.

Then I tinted the icing using Wilton's Gel paste, one pink and one purple. (unlike me, my daughter really is a girlie girl)

Then I tied the top with these.

They are like those old school elastics we used to wear in the 70's early 80's. It basically just helps to keep the icing from coming out of the top of the bag.

Then snip the point of your bags, and place them both in your bigger piping bag like so.

If you have a 16" bag it really works best. I used the Wilton 2D tip for these. Twist the top of the bag to keep it all together. These take a little more elbow grease to get out, but it's still pretty simple. Just keep constant equal pressure.

I practiced on a plate to make sure that the two colours were blending. Then started on the cupcakes.

Cute like this? Yes. But wait. Fun activity find. I was at Winners and saw these:

So without telling my kids what they were for I got them to colour them.

Then after supper we put it all together. Pretty cute no?

Challah Bread

Oh my bread machine, how I love thee, let me count the ways. I don't know why I only tried this for the first time recently. Why did I over look it for so many years???

To all my bread lovers out there. You must MUST try this one.

Place in your bread machine:

3/4cups water
1 egg (beaten)
3 tbsp shortening (I used butter)
3 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/4 tsp bread machine yeast

Set the machine on the dough cycle and let it do it's thing.

Once it has finished remove the dough from the pan and split it into 6 equal parts,

Roll them each in a ball

Then into a snake shape.

Then attach the snakes at one end.

Next you braid the 6 "ropes"

Voila, it's a little tricky, I'm not going to lie.

Let it rise for about 30 minutes

Combine 1 egg yolk and a splash of water, Brush over the bread.

Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes.

Let's just say that my kids ate all their Quinoa salad so they could get a piece of bread.

Mom's always love something home made. Right?

Inaya came home from school yesterday with the first piece of art that I actually said "I will never throw this out." You know they come home with scribbles on a paper from day care, they call it a flower, your like "What the heck??". Well not this. This one is a keeper. So I thought I would share the mothers day preparations that have been going on here for my mom, mother-in-law, and grandmother.

Let's start with the supper cute craft from Inaya. Simple to make for any of you scrambling around to get your kids to make something. So simple even a Dad could help his kid do this. (feel free to forward it to him).

Ok serious how cute is that. I know my pics are lack lustre, but still you get it right?

I then packed up the 4 kids for a trip to the basement to do, yes I'm going there, crafts. I am not a crafty person. I bake, pretty good at that... crafts, not so much. Patience... not so much. But here is what we did.

Finger paint hand flowers. Now you can't really see,but each of the 3 older kids dipped their hands in one particular colour, then stamped for hands, Inaya, Isa, then Zayan. I was going to do a single hand print from Layth in the middle, but he was not amused with this exercise.

Then I let them free style.

Isa called this a spirit. I'm not going to lie, he kinda creped me out.

So this morning it was my turn to bake up some treats.

Snickerdoodles, Coffee chocolate blondies, and Mango loaf.

Click *here* to get the snickerdoodle recipe. I'll share the blondies another day. But today I will share the Mango loaf.

Whisk together:
4 tbsp canola or other flavorless vegetable oil
3/4 cup sugar
Add 2 tbsp flax seed powder and beat in.
Add 2 cups mango pulp and beat until well mixed.
Then Add
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 level tsp powdered cardamom seeds
1/4 tsp salt
I wish I would have had sliced almonds and shredded coconut to add, next time.

Bake in a parchment lined loaf pan for about 45 minutes at 350, or until tooth pick comes out clean.

Wrap in up with a cute little bow.

Happy Mother's Day to all you fabulous Moms!

Cobblestone Bread

Probably the most used appliance, aside from my oven, in my kitchen in my bread machine. I got my first one 9  years ago for my wedding.  I'm on #3. I literally use it twice a week, from Pizza dough, to random breads, to cinnamon buns, this thing can do it all.

So I really wanted to share with you a new favourite in our house, Challah bread. But I didn't get to do groceries yet, on the count of 4 sick kids, so I have no eggs... For the same reason I'll have to wait to share with you my awesome recipe for French bread...

Instead I made an old classic Cobblestone. It is like little puffy, fluffy buns that melt in your mouth. As do most fresh breads. Oh I love bread. Bread and potatoes. mmmmm. Anyways enough about my weaknesses.

I'll share the recipe for a 1 1/2 lb machine, since even if you have a bigger one you should be able to use it.

Place in your machine the following in this order:

1 cup of water
2 tbsp butter (or margarine)
3 cups of flour
1/3 cup grated parmigiana (optional)
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp crushed Italian seasoning (optional)

Set it to the dough cycle and let it do it's thing.

Once it's finished you need to get the pan ready. So grab a 8X11 dish and either spray it with nonstick cooking spray, OR if you are like me and love butter, I grease it with a generous amount of butter.

I find that when it bakes it ends up like that yummy bread you can get at Jack Astor's, you know the kind.

Ok so pans ready. Take the dough out of the bread machine and start cutting it in chunks, yup with scissors.

You can either leave them in chunks,

Or roll them into balls.

Cover and let it rest for at least 30 minutes.

Melt some butter and stir in, if you want, 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning and 1/4 tsp garlic salt. For this one I just did butter. about 2 tbsp. (I'm serving with a curry soup, so plain will be best tonight).

Brush the butter over the buns and pop in the oven for about 30 minutes, until golden brown.

Voilà!

They just pull apart.

OH Yum!

What are those green specs?

My daughter came home from school yesterday bragging about how she loves the Sens. Where did this come from? How does she know who the Sens are? From birth we have been brain washing our children that you must be loyal to two sporting teams. 1- the Habs, and 2- Detroit Lions. (FYI, it took my husband 9 years of marriage to finally get me on board with the Lions). Point being how easily can these little minds be influenced by their peers.

This brings me to a request that she made last week. "Mommy, Owen and Gavin's mom make them chocolate chip muffins for a snack". "Inaya you don't like chocolate?" (I know weird, call Maury I need a maternity test). "No mommy, I would like it if you could make me some chocolate chip muffins too." OK.

To me a chocolate chip muffin sounds more like a treat. BUT if you can get some fruit or veggies in there... now we are talking snack.

Here is a great recipe for Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins.

You will need:
1 3/4 cups flour (feel free to use a combo regular to whole wheat)
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup finely chopped zucchini ( I used my trusty food processor)
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips (as I explained to Inaya, if you add the mini ones there are actually more pieces of chocolate)
(if you aren't sending these to school you can add about 3/4 cup walnuts)

Whisk the eggs and sugar until smooth, add in the oil and the vanilla until blended. Stir in the dry ingredients. Mix to incorporate.

Stir in the zucchini, chocolate chips and walnuts if your using.

Bake at 350 for about 20-23 minutes for regular muffins, about 15 ish for minis.

The zucchini did not go undetected. I got a "mommy, what are all the green things in here?" after a moment of hesitation trying to figure out if I lie or not I answered "sprinkles!"

Enjoy!

You don't make friends with salad. Or do you?

Any time I serve salad my husband runs around singing "you don't make friends with salad, you don't make friends with salad". To be completely honest it drives me nuts. I know it is one of those things that you love to hate, if I made a salad without that song... well it just wouldn't be a salad.

Speaking of my hubby, I thought I would pass along his favourite salad (asides Caesar which he has been eating all the time lately like some kind of weird pregnancy craving).

It could be eaten as a side, it can be eaten as a meal, you can throw anything in it that is left in the fridge, my kind of salad.

Here is what I threw in;

3/4 cup quinoa, cooked in 1 1/2 c chicken broth

1 can (19 oz) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
a couple of handfuls of cherry tomatoes, cut in 2 
1 English cucumber chopped  
3 green onions, thinly sliced 
1/2 cup chopped walnuts 
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint 
1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese 

Dressing: 
3 tbsp lemon juice 
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil 
2 tsp ground cumin 
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

I literately threw all the salad components in a bowl, and mixed up the dressing ingredients in a Tupperware and poured that on top, Served it next to some steak one night, and home made pizza the next!

Enjoy!