Let's Get Cookin'

Some of the creations we have made the past couple weeks...

Hot Dog Spaghetti

We got the idea for this from here, which we heard about from some fellow unschoolers. The girls quartered some hot dogs and inserted dried spaghetti into them. They got pretty creative with this and we ended up with some alien-octopus-human results.

After the spaghetti and hot dogs were boiled, this is what they looked like.

Next time, we'll break the spaghetti in half as it will probably be easier to cook and eat!

Marshmallow Connectors

Olivia used mini colored marshmallows and toothpicks to build some 3-D shapes, buildings, and creatures. (she ate them afterwards, too!)

Juice Popsicles

The girls can't get enough popsicles! And with them running around outside, and with the temperatures rising, I encourage it since it helps keep them hydrated. But we got to thinking about how many popsicles they go through, and all the packaging that is thrown away with each individually wrapped popsicle, as well as the box they come in, not to mention the costs of transportation involved in delivering the pops to the store. We decided we could make them ourselves. This would reduce energy costs, as well as give us more control in what we put into the popsicles as far as nutrition is concerned. So we have been experimenting. We have made popsicles from juice and pudding (fudgcicles). We want to try layering different flavors creating our own type of "bomb pop" some time.

What we found works good for us are the small bathroom cups, and our own collection of popsicle sticks that we saved. We put the cups on an old baking sheet and fill them 3/4 full. After about an hour in the freezer we insert the popsicle sticks. After another hour or so we put all the frozen cups in a gallon freezer bag. Everything can be washed and used again.

KitchenAid Visit

We visited Gramma at KichenAid and checked out the posters with the girls' pictures on them. They were used as a part of a Mother's Day promotion at the store.

Georgia in front of her poster, it is a picture of her making her famous pancakes...

Olivia in front of hers, and a close-up of her poster. Olivia is making zucchini bread in the picture.

And Dad tries to steal the pie that is on another poster...

Rainy Day Cupcakes

On one of the rainy days we've had recently, the girls wanted to make some cupcakes. They both measured and mixed to create the batter. Olivia likes to crack the eggs, and Georgia likes to read the directions and mix it all together.

They frosted and decorated....and then taste-tested!