MoNsTeR MeRinGuEs

MoNsTeR MeRiNgUeS

I have only attempted meringues once before and they were not a success.  This time, I discovered the awesome fun these little treats are!These are crazy fun and the kiddos love them!  I wanted to do something different for my son, Keebryn's fall festival class party, so meringues made their way into my mind :)

My Niece,  Teah wanted monster cupcakes for her last B-day, so she researched and found some cute ones. We piped some awesome hair on those babies last August. But I didn't want to do cake, so why not meringues.?  I was very afraid the idea in my mind would not work... but they turned out cute!
I started with a very simple meringue recipe and went from there with colors, piping spikes and eyeballs!  The funny thing that happened was my mistake in adding Kool aid to the purple and green ones... waayyy to much sour!  But I have to say, it's a perfect way to play a joke on someone if u I u want to send them running to the trash can.
So this recipe will be for the regular vanilla flavor of the orange ones.  The color is achieved by food coloring.  Let's get going with these.

What Ya Need:

Meringue recipe of any kind.   You can find a recipe for meringues just about anywhere.   I found some on the internet, my old cookbooks and the back of powdered egg whites.  You can make meringues using your own egg whites or from powdered egg whites found in the baking section of grocers. The final recipe I used was from the can of powdered egg whites and is below.

To Create the Meringues:
Recipe found on the can of Deb El Just Whites

* 3 Tbsp Powdered egg whites
* 1/2 Cup Warm Water
* 1/2 Cup powdered sugar
* 1 tsp. Vanilla flavoring
* 1/4 tsp cream of tarter

Mixing the Meringues:
1) Mix water and powdered egg whites until clumps are gone, using a fork.
2) Allow to sit until dissolved.
3) Pour into mixer and beat at medium speed until  peaks begin forming.
4) Add vanilla and cream of tarter.  Mix
4) Add sugar in 4 portions and mix on high between each addition.
5) Whip until very stiff peaks form. About 5-7 minutes.

Now let's begin the MoNsTeRs!!

What Ya Need:
* Neon Food Colors
    (Lime green, orange, purple, black)
* Piping Bags or storage bags (5)
* Parchment paper
* Three piping tips... Star tip, large round tip and grass tip.

What Ya Do:
1) Prepare your piping bag with round tip and grab your coloring.
2) Prep a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
3) Preheat oven 220 degrees.
4) Take 1/3 of meringue and color in a bowl. Add to piping bag.
5) Pipe a blob appx. 3/4 inch circumference.
6) Repeat for 15-20 cookies.
7) Now pipe spikes with round tip on top and sides.
8) Repeat by coloring two remaining portions and piping blobs.
9) Each color will require round large tip for the base, but use the star and grass tips to create monster spikes.
9) Squeeze and pull up!! It's that easy.
10) When all have been piped, slide into oven for 2 hours.

Meantime, work on the eyeballs because they require some drying/ hardening time. Eyes made with royal icing. Use your own recipe or the one I've used forever in my old cake decorating days :)  Found this recipe on net somewhere and made minor adjustment by omiting flavoring and halfjng the portion. It works well.

To Create the Eyeballs:

What Ya Need:
* 1 Tbsp. powdered egg whites
* 1/2 box powdered sugar
* 2.5 - 3 Tbsp warm water
* two piping bags and small round tip

(Royal Icing Recipe online)
1) Mix powdered egg whites and powdered sugar. Add water by tablespoons.
2) Mix on medium speed wile scraping sides apx. 4 minutes.  They are ready when the mixture is very white and thick like elmers glue.
3) Spoon 2/3 white royal icing in bag with small round tip.
4) Pipe different sized white dots on to wax or parchment paper.
5) Allow to dry apx. 30 minutes
6) Save the white icing in bag to make a glue.
7) Color remaining royal icing, black.
8) Place in piping bag and use smaller round tip to pipe centers to the white circles.
9) These should dry within 2-3 hours.

ALMOST FINISHED!!

When meringues are hardened and cooking time is complete, pull them from the oven and let them cool.
The eyeballs should be hardened by this time.
Using royal icing, pipe small dot on meringues and place an eyeball, or two. .. or three!!

Now go make some kiddo's day!!!!

PuMpKiN - SpiDaChiO Bread

Spidachio.... that's my son's word for Pistachio!  And that's way too cute not to use :) So that's why we named this awesome bread.... Pumpkin- SpiDaChiO Bread!!  And let me say, it is too good,  with a load of whipped cream cheese, spread on top. 


I used a recipe for banana bread, I found in a cook book for breast cancer fundraiser.  Then made some changes with the pumpkin, sugar, type of nut and spices.  It worked very well!

What Ya Need:

1 .1/2cups white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup shortening
3 cups all purpose flower
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp Pumpkin pie spice
3/4 - 1 tsp Cinnamon
2/3 cup sour milk ( milk with 2/3 tsp vinegar added)
1 Can pure pumpkin
1/2 cup Pistachio nuts, chopped
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt

What Ya Do:

1) Measure all ingredients and mix vinegar into milk and the baking powder, cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice into your flour.
2) Prepare two loaf pans by rubbing them with shortening and powdering (coating) them with flour.
3) Preheat oven to 325.
4) Mix the shortening with the sugars until well blended on lo speed.
5) Add eggs and mix while scraping sides of the bowl until well blended.
6) Add half of flour mixed with baking powder and spices to the mixture, and mix on lo, scraping sides of bowl for remainder of procedure.
7) Pour in the milk (with vinegar)
8) Pour in remaining flour (with added ingredients)
9) Place the canned pumpkin in mixture and mix until blended. 
10) Add the vanilla extract and pinch of salt. Mix until blended well.
11) Stop the mixer and add Pistachios to batch with a wooden spoon. 
12) Pour into two prepared pans. 
13) If pans are thin and disposable,  place both on cookie sheet.
14) Bake at 325 for 1 hour.
15) Bread is done when a toothpick inserted, comes out clean.

I Hope you enjoy this fall bread!  It's now a fav of ours :)

FaLL FloWeR Basket - D.I.Y.

So I did not know what to do with my mums. Bought em really cheap of course, and I didn't want them to die. I found this old apple basket and figured I would toss them there. Super simple and perfect for outside decoration.

Because the basket is wood ... it will eventually rot :/  BUT I will replant hopefully, before it turns to dust! The good news is that if you want yours to last, there is a simple solution...

Line the bottom and sides by stapling a black plastic bag or clear drop cloth to the inside, with a sample gun.  Staple all around the inner rim before filling it with dirt. The plastic will prevent the wood from being so quickly consumed by the dirt and rain. On the outside of the basket, you can spray two coats of clear sealant.  This will make the degrading process slower on the outside of the basket.

For now, the simple toss the flowers in, worked for me :) I would love to try the preservation method...eventually.

What Ya Need:
1 Basket
2 Medium Mums or other flower
Potting Soil
Tulle (any fall color)

What Ya Do:
1) Fill the basket with Potting soil or mix of soil and a little degraded mulch.
2) Plant the mums and cover around the base with soil.
3) Measure Tulle , enough to wrap the perimeter of the basket and enough for a bow.
4) Wrap and secure Tulle with a bow in the front.
5) Smile :)  You're finished!

RoCkiN' Crockpot RoAsT

I am not as much a cook as I am a baker.  My husband usually is the meat man, but I getting better at boring cooking with boring meat.  My dad had secreted to me a simple two ingredients that an old friend had told him.  It is the base of this recipe - one can of cream of mushroom soup and one can of golden mushroom.  But that's not all!  The flavor comes by the other little toss-ins added over the years!   This crockpot dish is a winter staple in our home. It has a great flavor and the gravy is perfect over rolls or biscuits.

What Ya Need: ---------------------------------------------
1.25-1.55 lb of pot roast (top round sirloin)
1 Can Creamy Mushroom soup
1 Can Golden Mushroom soup
2 Cloves garlic - chopped fine
1.5 tsp Dales Seasoning (liquid)
1 Tbsp. Worshtershire Sauce
Season salt
Garlic powder
Montreal Steak Seasoning ( powder)
Black pepper

What Ya Do: --------------------------------------------------
1) Turn on your crockpot to lo setting. Pour both cans soup into pot.
2) Place the roast on top of soup.
3) Poke holes with a fork in the meat.
4) Sprinkle on top of roast all other ingredients, beginning with the two liquids. Portions of the powdered ingredients are at your discretion.  I basically powder the top of roast with the different spices as desired.
5) Sprinkle the chopped garlic on top of meat.
6) Cook on lo setting 5-6 hours. Storring occasionally to cost the roast. Turn on high near the last 1.5 hours if meat is not cooking fast enough.
7) Roast is finished when the meat in brown throughout and tears easily apart with a fork.

The "StOnE"

It's hiking time! Just the other day, my husband (Keith) my son (Keebryn) and I chose a Sunday hike for our day's agenda after worship and lunch.

I am the runner of the family. Keebryn is the soccer player. Keith... Well apparently, he's the hiker.
When we left cozy home with water-pack and hiking boots, I didn't grasp the reality that my idea of a leaf stroll would be Keith's idea of a Mountaineer's Quest ...along half of the Blue Ridge Mountains! Have mercy!

Keebryn, up for anything in the woods and totally resolved with being far from civilization, jumped and bounced his way along the trail. And often times off the trail :) Grabbing and climbing onto anything he could discover! Our little 9 year old was perfectly at - home among trees and rocks.

Me? I enjoyed watching the adventurers, adventure. I love the woods, but found myself after trecking far, day dreaming about pizza for supper.

Keith,  who has a bad ankle, bad shoulder, and bad blood pressure... tapped into energy and ability of a Wilderness Warrior! Many times, leaving us in the leaves as his hiking boots turned into rocket jets.

Somewhere along the trail, he ran over something unexpected. Being the first ahead, he was our scapegoat. I watched him in the path ahead, holding his ankle with the face that declared pain and gave light to what had happened. He had turned his ankle on a rock.

Along this portion of the woods, were scattered rocks that required intent focus in order to dodge. But something about this particular one was unexpected.  This rock grabbed his attention because it caused him to stumble. His size 11 boots did not prevail against this stone of stumbling that would not budge.

In Isaiah, the coming Messiah is referred to, as a corner stone, elect and precious. But He is also described as a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence..."

This coming Messiah would be, to our walk on earth, as this leaf covered rock in my husband's path.Forcing us to question our own humanity and thus, our need for and BeLiEf in the StOnE himself.

1 Peter 2:6-8 records, in short,  that we have a ChOiCe in what this "stone" becomes to us.

A corner stone is the foundation of a strong building. It stands to support and give strength. The metaphor gives us insight to Christ himself. If we choose to see him and accept his complete perfection, He becomes our Chief Corner Stone. Our RoCk in which we can be assured is a steady and sure absolution.

Was Keith offended that this rock, hidden under leaves had grabbed his attention. You bet. It was written all over his face. He was not a happy hiker for a couple moments :)

Christ did the same. Hidden under the humble title of a carpenter from little ol' Nazareth, He spoke with more undeniable wisdom than any Pharisee could comprehend. They were quite offended. As well as many will be until the return of Christ, Messiah.

They stumbled over His perfect simplicity.
"How could THIS be from God?"
They stumbled over their law in place of grace.
"How could grace of one Man be made available greatly enough to cover the law?"
They stumbled over a StOnE they refused to accept.

Many still question. They face a path of reluctance which refuses to acknowledge the absolution of this Messiah that prevails over humanity...Continuing to bruise their feet on something that doesn't budge. The StOne, disallowed, therefore becomes a continual place of falter.

Some will recognize this pure and perfect StOnE . The humble, loving Christ who came to earth, shook up the law and then left grace in its place!  To those, He is recognized as "Precious". He becomes the absolute and unshakable foundation in which we build our lives.  The Chief Cornerstone.

The only tipping of the scales between "The Stumbling Stone" or The Chief Cornerstone" is bElieF and aCCePtAnCe in the Messiah.

Two options:
A solid and sure foundation to life for this life and eternity OR a plaguing disbelief to stumble over and reject.

Which one He becomes to us, is up to us.
"To you who believes, he is precious." (1 Peter 2:7)

Can you sweetly confess...
He is my PrEcIoUs StOnE?

The "StOnE"
Devotional:  www.bloomingbygrace.blogspot.com

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Scripture References:
Isaiah 8:14
Isaiah 28:16
1 Peter 2:6-8
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