7th Grade

I have pictures of Dylan and Max too but they are trapped in my camera with a bad cord situation going on. As are the photos of some recipes, ummmm, yeah.

At any rate, Alanna was my stand in Mommy again this year and she got photos of Claire getting on the bus. It was a little easier for me this year and I was happy to get the photos.

I thought we were settled, I thought we were ready. Supplies, backpack and new lunch box purchased. Shoe shopping for just the right fashion statement with the boring uniform she is required to wear. But turns out, we had a dilemma. The night before I was reminded that I needed to cut the uniform knee length shorts to the "allowed" finger tip length. I didn't get it quite to the finger tip so I got the egg face as she climbed the stairs. She seems to have cheered up a bit by the morning.

She said her first day was pretty good.

Good Morning

I haven't forgotten you. I have just been kinda busy and kinda lazy. I have a few new recipes to share soon and a bunch of photos from stuff we've done. BUT this week, it's all about school...Getting ready for it.

Lots of changes this year.

Dylan will be dropped off at Bemidji State this weekend. I can't believe our baby is heading to college?!? I have a feeling Tina and I won't be making much eye contact because we'll set each other off.

Max is heading to high school~gulp! Minneapolis is doing something very cool this year for all freshman. Today he is at an orientation getting to know his school. Tomorrow he is going on a paddle board trip down the Mississippi with freshman from all over the city to "bond". School starts Monday and he is nervously excited.

Claire is heading to 7th grade. First time she will EVER walk to a bus stop alone and attend a school as the only "Kj". No older brother looking over her shoulder. I think we're both a little nervous but she's also excited. Claire has never shrunk into anyone's shadow but not being referred to as, "Max's sister", I think will brighten her smile a little more.

And, I am starting my 19th school year with the district, 17th at the same site. I know what you're thinking and you're are absolutely right, I'm not old enough;)

Scotch Egg on a STICK

We're getting closer. The State Fair is almost here!!! I can smell the grease heating up and can't wait to see the new creation on a stick. This is one of Craig and Max's favorite things so if you can't make it to the fair (I can't wrap my brain around that;), make this at home.

What you'll need:

1 lb of Pork Sausage
3 hard boiled Eggs
3/4 C Bread Crumbs
Crisco for frying
Maple Syrup for dunking

Pat out a patty of Pork...say that 5 times fast;)

Put your egg in the middle

Wrap the egg with the sausage, essentially making a big meatball.Roll in breadcrumbs

Heat your Crisco. I used a smaller pan so I wouldn't waste oil and it worked fine doing a little over half at a time for about 2 minutes per side.

Cut and serve with maple syrup

IF you cut it in half and the sausage is pink around the egg~that happened only 1 out of 3~I just toothpicked it back together and fried for another minute.

Chocolate Cake Toppers

A couple of years ago I melted some white chocolate and hand made letters and numbers for Cody's birthday cupcakes and it was a hit.

My free hand skills are seriously lacking so I thought I would take it up a notch and try something different for Garrett's cake. He didn't care what his cake looked like, surprise him he said and he likes the color blue. Those are not my favorite cakes to make, I stress that it won't be "cool" enough. But, I like a challenge!

Since he plays football I decided to go with that as my theme. I made chocolate footballs, number 16s and I tried helmets but they didn't look right to me so those ultimately got tossed into my mouth. That's the best part of this, eating your mistakes:).

First things first...

What you're going to do is run off some photos on your computer. Make sure to consider the size of your cake so the scale is correct.

Buy some chocolate at Michael's (they have all kinds of colors) or you can just use a bag of milk chocolate chips. Michael's also sells little squirt bottle that look like this

you're going to want one of these. It gives you directions on how to melt the chocolate in the bottle but I found it easier and took less time to melt in the microwave and pour into the bottle.

At any rate, put some waxed paper over the papers you printed off. Use your squeeze bottle to trace the designs. You can simply pull the paper down the waxed paper and make as many as you want while they dry so you don't need to print a lot of sheets.

Let them harden and gently peel off and attach to cake you've just frosted. Or stand them up on the cake and hear the "OHs and AHs".

Let's get the party started. You'll want to make your chocolate designs before you frost the cake. You don't want the cake frosting to be hard because the chocolate won't stick. If you forget this tip and frost first, just put a small blob of frosting on the back of the design and attach.

Claire wanted to do the tracing. See how she's pulling the sheet of paper with the design as she goes.

Cake done

And, he liked it:)

Cherry Dump Cake

I have a confession. I LOVE those old church cookbooks. You know the ones that everyone submits their favorite recipes. The one with the recipes that have Oleo and lard.

At any rate, I've seen this recipe in several variations over the years and I thought since it was so easy, I would give it a go. I brought it in as my "random act of kindness" for the engineers at work. They said it was wonderful:) I'll have to take their word on that. And, you'll have to take my word that it was EASY!

What you'll need:

White or Yellow Cake Mix
1/2 C Milk
1/3 C Oil
2 t Vanilla
2 eggs
Can of pie filling...I used cherry

Mix the cake mix, milk, oil, vanilla and eggs. Pour into greased 13x9 pan. Drop spoonfuls of fruit on top. Swirl a spoon around the top a few times and bake 22 minutes at 350.

Top with:
3/4 C Powdered Sugar
2 t Vanilla
2-4 t Milk

Mix together until it's a runny glaze. Drizzle over top. ENJOY!
Dollop

Swirl

Glaze

Gift of Money

Giving money is my least favorite gift to give BUT it is also a gift that I know once a kid hits 12..it's what they want. It's all they want.

I try to make it fun. I've put money in plastic eggs, photo albums, taped it into a long roll, money tree, cold hard cash, pinned it to t-shirts...you get the idea.

This time for Claire's birthday, I bought her a bulletin board that she wanted for her room. I pinned money and her favorite treats to the board. I also spelled out HBD (Happy Birthday) and the number 12. It was a HIT!

Funnel Cake

AUGUST is my favorite month of summer! Even though I go back to work in a little less than a week, it's my favorite because it's the month of NO sports, NO obligations and the STATE FAIR!!

Let's kick this month off with one of my kids favorite things...FUNNEL CAKES

If you don't want to use a pastry bag because it is a little messy, I have also used a small pitcher.

3 C Flour
2 C Milk
1/2 t Salt
3 Eggs
1/4 C Sugar
1 t Vanilla
1 T Baking Powder

Mix all the ingredients well. Heat Crisco (I use half butter flavor/half regular. I think oil makes them greasy). I put the batter in a pastry bag that I've pinched the end off of, release pinch and drizzle the batter into the hot oil. Cook until puffed up and golden, give a flip and cook until other side is golden. Remove to paper towels to remove excess oil, then to plate. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. Makes 8-10 funnel cakes.
Drizzle into the hot oil.

YUMMY!