Peppermint Bark

I discovered a new Christmas treat....peppermint bark....and the best part....it was very easy to make.

I always melt our Wilton "melts" in hot water in our neat little "squirty" bottle.
After the light cocoa melts were ready, Gracie squirted the chocolate into a Christmas tree mold.

Now we needed to wait for the chocolate to harden.

While the chocolate layer was hardening, Luke helped us smash up some candycanes.

I sifted the smashed candycane pieces so that we could use the bigger pieces.

When the chocolate layer is hard, top it with white melts.

Top immediately with the candycane pieces.

So yummy, and so easy!!!!

Kids in the Kitchen--Christmas Rice-Krispie Balls

You can't get much easier that these yummy little Christmas treats!

We mixed up the regular rice-krispie treat recipe, and then turned them into something for Christmas.

Of course, butter is a favorite part of these treats...
along with the marshmallows.

It is tough stirring , but Gracie got the job done.

We mixed some pretty Christmas candy sprinkles into the rice-krispie treats at this time.

Now is was time to butter our hands--a very important step in the process of these messy balls.

I gave each child a bunch of goo and they formed it into a ball.

A perfect face

Messy and sticky--but a lot of fun!

I finally decided that I need to make the balls, hand them to the kids and they rolled them into sprinkles.

This would be the clean-up commitee!

Enjoy!

Author Fiesta-Tasha Tudor-Christmas Cookies

This month's author, Tasha Tudor, greatly enjoyed Christmas as seen in many of her books. The joy she found in Christmas is also very evident in the biographical video, Take Peace-A Corgi Cottage Christmas.

Her Christmas themed books always show the many old fashioned traditions that she enjoyed as a child and, later, with her own children.

One tradition that is portrayed in all her Christmas books is making Christmas cookies.

So what better activity for a hot summer day. Make Christmas cookies, listen to Christmas carols, and read aloud Tasha Tudor's Christmas books.
(The themometer is misleading, the predicted high today is only 85 degrees, this thermometer is in the direct sun-bt I liked the picture)

I decided that it would be fun for the kids to paint the cookies today. We make "paint" by using egg yolk and Wilton frosting food coloring. It makes very bright colors.


Everyone got busy stirring--my kids seem to love stirring.
Becky made the dough last night. This saved a lot of time and frustration for the morning activity. Mark and Grace cut out a few cookies, but then Becky took over and finished up the rest. We just handed out new cookies when the littles finished with the one they were working on.
"painting" busily
I guess you need to always be armed when you are making Christmas cookies in August.
Luke did a great job!

We paint them and then sprinkle with sugar.
a gingerbread man
ready for the oven
Mark make "Corgi Cottage" from Lincoln Logs for our lovely display.
Yummy! Yummy!