We made these in class recently and because they are so easy and fun, I’m showing you how! Since this coming weekend is Cinco de Mayo, you should definitely make this for your family and friends!

 Cut the bottom off of a disposable cup and put it in the center of a plate, cut side up.

Add drained chopped tomatoes.  You guessed….spread all around

Clean up any little spills if you have some.  I had several

Happy Cooking

Here’s a simple version of guacamole.  Please try not to eat it all at one time.  Please.

The lovely ingredients:  avocados, lime juice, cilantro, garlic powder, salt

Pick the cilantro leaves off the stems and chop ‘em up.  Chop Chop Chop

Slice open an avocado

and remove the seed.  These seeds just fell out…no prying needed!

Use a spoon to scoop out the pulp.  You can also just squeeze the skin and the pulp will come out.  I like the spoon method.

Mash up the avocado

Add some lime juice

Then some of your chopped cilantro.

Garlic powder goes in next

A little salt

Stir it up and taste.  Does it need more lime juice? Salt?

Once it taste just like you like it, give yourself a hug for being so awesome in the kitchen!

snack

Holy Guacamole

Ingredients

Print Recipe

• 2 Avocados
• 2-3 Tablespoons Cilantro, chopped
• 2-3 Tablespoons Lime Juice

• Pinch Salt
• Pinch Garlic Powder

Directions

• Chop the cilantro and set aside
• Slice avocado open and scoop out the pulp. Put it into a bowl and mash it up till smooth and creamy.
• Cut lime in half and squeeze on half into the avocado
• Add cilantro, lime juice, salt and garlic powder to mashed avocado
• Taste and adjust if needed.

Servings: 1 cup

Prep Time: 15 Minutes

A couple of weeks ago, I went to a Pie Social and have not been able to shake the images of all those adorable and yummy pies.  I wanted to make them all!  But how could I do that, I wondered, when I am not really a pie baker?

Then it hit me…make an easy mini pie!  We all have to start somewhere, right?

 I really am curious if kids make pies, especially after seeing Luci’s Blue Ribbon Pie. So I’ve decided to do another giveaway. More on that in a minute. First I want to show you how mine turned out.

My first one was a Strawberry-Banana Pie

 Put a few slices of banana into a graham cracker mini-crust

add some strawberry yogurt

smooth it out with the back of a spoon

Slice a strawberry but not all the way through

then, using both hands, gently spread the strawberry into a fan

and place on top, right in the center

Add a slice of banana.  I put mine vertically, you can do it another way if you want to.

Then I added a tiny piece of mint.  Kind of looks like a little hair pie-bow…cute huh?

Easy, right?  By this time, I was feeling confident so I decided to try something with chocolate.

This one is inspired by the niece and nephew who love S’mores!   Aren’t they cute?!

Preheat the oven to 350. Then put a few chocolate chips in a graham cracker crust

add a few mini marshmallows

Top with more chocolate chips and a few marshmallows.  Bake for 3-5 minutes until chocolate is kind of melty and marshmallows are beginning to brown.

Let it cool for a few minutes and then dive in.  You are in for a chocolatey, gooey, yummy treat!  So good and sooooo easy!

After that one, I was really on a roll.
So I made a third one inspired by my love of Sonic’s Cherry Limeade.

Put your favorite cherry ice cream and limeade concentrate into a mixing bowl.

Whisk till it’s all smooth and creamy.  Taste it and see if it needs a little more lime or cherry flavor.  Mine needed a teeny bit more cherry.

So, I added a drizzle of cherry juice.

Pour it into the pie shell and stick in the freezer for about an hour or so.

Top with a slice of lime and a cherry!

Now, back to other people’s pie baking days.  I thought it would be fun to hear from you and reward those pie memories with a giveaway.  The prize is an adorable monogrammed kid’s apron from Bundle of Stitches

All you have to do is leave a comment answering this question:

“What kind of pie have you made?”

Once there are lots of great pie stories, I will do a random drawing for the kid’s apron winner from

I love this time of year; berry season! Especially, blackberries.

April-May is blackberry picking time!  Have you ever eaten blackberry cobbler?

It is one of my family’s all-time favorite treats!  So simple to make and so easy to eat!

Go berry pickin’, and see for yourself what fun it is!

When you get home with your fresh berries, wash them really good 2-3 times and then try this amazing cobbler: (the printable recipe is below)

First, preheat your oven to 350.  Then, add a little sugar to your berries and set them aside while you make the batter.

Second, add sugar, flour, and baking soda to a mixing bowl.

To get the exact amount of flour, scoop & level.

That means, scoop, or spoon flour into measuring cup until it is heaping (piled up high) and then level with back of butter knife.

Level, starting near your thumb, by sliding knife across top of measuring cup.  The extra flour will fall off the sides, giving you a perfect measured amount of flour!

all the way to the edge.

Ta-dah: perfectly measured flour!

now add it to the bowl,

then add the baking powder and stir it and mix it really good.

Now, add milk and mix well.  Then set it aside for minute while you melt butter.

Melt butter in your baking dish

Now it’s time to pour the batter you just made into the baking dish. Pour it right on top of the butter and don’t worry about stirring it.  Just pour it in the middle.

Here come the berries!  Lay (don’t stir!) the berries on top of the batter. Just like this:

It’s time to put it in the oven for 35-45 minutes.
When it’s done, add a scoop of vanilla ice cream (Blue Bell if you’ve been REALLY good) and enjoy while you read a good book.

Here are a couple of my favorites!

or

Have fun and let us know if you make this cobbler!

Happy Cooking!

Dessert

Lori's Berry Cobbler

Ingredients

Print Recipe

• 3-4 cups fresh berries (blackberries, mulberries, strawberries, etc)
• 1 stick butter, melted
• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 cup milk

Directions

• Rinse berries and add 1/2 cup sugar and stir. Set aside
• Mix the flour, sugar and baking powder.
• Add the milk and stir well. Set aside.
• Melt butter in an 8"x8" baking dish. Then pour the batter in the middle of the melted butter. Don't worry about stirring.
• Lay, (don't stir), the berries on top of the batter. If the berries have any juice, pour it all over the batter too!
• Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes. Enjoy with your family!

Servings: 6-8 servings

Prep Time: 15 Minutes

Cook Time: 45 Minutes

A couple of our “agreements” in cooking class are

• no yuk, gross, or ewwwww talking
• be willing to taste everything.

For our Seed to Plate lesson, we make Radish chips.  Everytime I mention the word, radish, some of the kids think yuk, gross, or ewwwww.  They don’t say it, but they think it…I can feel it!

You’re probably thinking the same thing right now.  Don’t judge radishes.  They are special, they are crunchy, they are good…especially as radish chips.

Start with one of these cute little spring veggies.

Then have an adult slice it into rounds for you.

Get out some cream cheese.  You can get the cream cheese out earlier and let it get soft.  That makes it a little easier to spread.

Using a spoon or your fingertip, spread a little cream cheese love on each radish slice

Then put a drop of honey.  Not too much or it will schmooze off the sides and be drippy.

And there you have it; spicy, crunchy, creamy, and sweet Radish Chips.

I hope you try these and love them as much as the kids in class did!

As Sam said, “Whoa, these are amazing! Can we have some more?”

Happy Cooking!

Tonight begins Passover.  I love a good non-fiction story especially when the good guys win and God gets the credit.  That’s what the true story of Passover is about.  God helped the good guys, (the Israelites), win their freedom from the bad guy (Pharoah).

Every year, Jewish people celebrate Passover with a special dinner called a Seder (Say-der) to remember how God gave them freedom and victory many years ago.  Kind of like Americans celebrate Thanksgiving with a special dinner; remembering to be thankful for our free country that happened many years ago.

Today, even some Christians celebrate Passover with a Seder dinner to remember how God gave them freedom and victory through Jesus Christ.

So to celebrate all this wonderful freedom, we’re making Charoset (Hair-o-set), a Passover treat.  A sweet and nutty mixture that is part of the Passover Seder meal to remind us of the bricks that Pharaoh forced the Israelites to make.

Here’s a picture of the Seder plate.  There is a place for certain foods used in the celebration dinner. The Charoset is on the bottom right side, can you see it? You may have to zoom in a little.

Here’s the ingredients and how to make Charoset: (the printable recipe is at the bottom)

Ingredients: Apples, walnuts, lemon juice, honey and a little red wine

Step 1:  Peel and grate the apples, then place in a mixing bowl.

Step 2: Add lemon juice and  honey

Step 3: Chop the walnuts.  You can use a handy dandy chopper like the one below or place walnuts in a ziploc baggie and bang with a rolling pin or wooden spoon.

Step 4: Add to the apple mixture.  Then add a little red wine.

Step 5:  Mix well and enjoy with family and friends.  It’s sweet, tangy and crunchy…a real treat!

Try this yummy treat and celebrate freedom.  Be sure to tell God thank you!  :)

Happy Passover!

dessert

Passover Charoset

Ingredients

Print Recipe

• 3 apples
• 1 cup walnuts
• 2 teaspoons lemon juice

• 2 teaspoons honey
• 2 teaspoons red wine

Directions

• Peel and grate the apples. Place into a mixing bowl
• Add lemon juice and stir well.
• Chop walnuts and add to apple mixture
• Add honey and red wine. Mix well and enjoy!

Servings: 3-4 cups

Prep Time: 15 Minutes

Total Time: 15 Minutes