Book Cooks, Week Six

For our final week of Book Cooks, we read The Doorbell Rang and If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and made cookie bars in a heart-shaped pan.

Outrageous Chocolate Chip Cookies

Beat until creamy:

1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 t vanilla
1 egg

Mix in:

1 cup all-purpose flour (or whole wheat pastry flour)
1/2 cup oats
1 t baking soda
1/4 t salt

Stir in:

6 oz chocolate chips

Cookies:

Drop by rounded tablespoons two inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 10-12 minutes at 350. Cool one minute before moving to cooling rack.

Cookie bars:

Spread dough in a greased 8x8x2 pan. Bake 25-30 minutes. Cut into 2x1 inch bars. Makes 36.

Book Cooks, Week Five

This week we read Thunder Cake and made thunder cupcakes with chocolate butter frosting.

Recipe from Patricia Polacco's website (with several variations):

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream together one at a time:

1 cup shortening
1 3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs (you do not need to separate the eggs)
1 cup cold water
1/3 cup pureed tomatoes

Sift together:

21/2 cups cake flour
1/2 cup dry cocoa
11/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

Mix dry mixture into creamy mixture.

Bake in two greased and floured 8 1/2 inch pans at 350 degree for
35 to 40 minutes. (We made two dozen cupcakes and baked for 20-25 minutes.)

Frost with chocolate butter frosting. Top with
strawberries.

Book Cooks, Week Four

Our co-op was canceled several weeks ago due to a bug that made its way through the group, affecting students and teachers alike. The following week, we read Jamberry and Bread and Jam for Frances and made butter and no-cook strawberry jam.

No-Cook Strawberry Jam

Ingredients

2 quarts strawberries
¼ cup lemon juice
1 cup light corn syrup
1 ¾ to 2 oz. package dry pectin
4 ½ cups sugar

Directions

1. Crush strawberries using either a potato masher or food processor. Place in a large bowl.
2. Add lemon juice and pectin and mix thoroughly. Continue mixing every five minutes for ½ hour in order to allow pectin to completely dissolve.
3. Add corn syrup and mix again.
4. Slowly add sugar and continue stirring well.
5. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Butter

Ingredients/Equipment

Heavy cream
Jar with a lid

Directions

1. Fill jar half full of cream and screw the lids on tightly.

2. Shake the jar. After about several minutes, the cream will be whipped and after another minute or so, lumps of yellow butter will form.

3. Rinse off the liquid whey and add a little salt, if desired.

4. Spread on bread or biscuits and top with jam. Will keep in the fridge.

Book Cooks, Week Two

It was fairy tale week! We made Cinderella's Pumpkin Tartlets and Snow White's Applesauce. I didn't get any pictures again (the class is far too short and chaotic), but here are the recipes:

Cinderella’s Pumpkin Tartlets (from Fairy Tale Feasts)

Ingredients

Filling:

2 cups pumpkin

½ cup evaporated milk

2 eggs

½ cup brown sugar

½ cup sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

¼ tsp. ginger

¼ tsp. ground cloves

¼ tsp. nutmeg

Topping:

¼ cup ground walnuts

¼ cup brown sugar

1 tbsp. cold butter

4 pie crusts

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 425.

2. Mix all the filling ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

3. Grind walnuts in a food processor. Add the brown sugar and butter cut into small pieces. Grind until crumbly.

4. If your muffin pan is not non-stick, butter the insides or spray with cooking spray.

5. Lay out the pie crusts and cut them into rounds.

6. Gently press the rounds into the muffin tin.

7. Put 1 tablespoon of filling in each shell.

8. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of the topping.

9. Bake for 10 minutes.

10. With the tartlets still in the oven, lower the temperature to 350 and cooking for 12-15 minutes more, until a toothpick comes out clean.

11. Cool for 5-10 minutes before removing from the tin.

Snow White’s Applesauce

Ingredients

4 apples - peeled, cored and chopped

3/4 cup water

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

In a saucepan, combine apples, water, and cinnamon. Cover, and cook over medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes, or until apples are soft. Allow to cool, then mash with a fork or potato masher.

Back to Co-op!

After a hiatus of a few months due to the birth of the baby and our move, we were back at our homeschool co-op Friday. The group is made up of around 60 families and offers a variety of classes from preschool to high school. We love it! This session, I am teaching "Book Cooks," a cooking class that draws inspiration and recipes from favorite books. Big Brother is also taking chorus and and arts and crafts class. During this session, I'm planning to share the plans and recipes from my class for your enjoyment and inspiration as well. (The picture shows everything I had to bring with me! The kitchen is fairly well stocked for equipment, but I still needed a hand mixer, blender, two saucepans, containers for the kids to take food home, not to mention all the food!)

Since March 2 is Dr. Suess's birthday, this week was of course devoted to Seuss! I wanted to do something different than the standard green eggs and ham and since Fox in Socks is the current favorite in our house, I looked there for inspiration. What did I find?

BLUE GOO!

It took me a bit of time to figure out how to translate blue goo to my class, but I settled on goo you can eat and goo you can play with.

Blue Goo (to Eat)

Ingredients
4 envelopes unflavored gelatin
1 cup cold blueberry juice
3 cups blueberry juice, heated to boiling
Blueberries

Directions
1. Sprinkle gelatin over cold juice in a large bowl; let stand one minute.
2. Add hot juice and stir until gelatin completely dissolves.
3. Pour into 9 x 13 pan or individual serving cups.
4. Once the juice feels cool to the touch, add the blueberries.
5. Refrigerate until firm, about three hours.
6. Enjoy with whipped cream or plain!

Blue Goo (to Play)

Ingredients
2 cups cold water
1 packet of blue drink mix (such as Kool-Aid)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 cups flour
1 cup salt
4 teaspoons cream of tartar

Directions
1. Mix together the water, the drink mix, and the vegetable oil.
2. In a sauce pan, mix together the flour, salt, and cream of tartar.
3. Slowly add the liquid to the sauce pan and stir.
4. Cook the mixture over medium heat until it looks like mashed potatoes. Remove from heat and cool.
5. When the dough is cool, knead it until it’s smooth. This will last a long time if you store it in a covered container.
Noodles from the tweetle beetle battle may have been easier, but this was much more fun!

I also adapted a recipe from Green Eggs and Ham Cookbook for Cat in the Hat Comes Back tub cakes. Enjoy!