I am one proud mama, my 3 year old made this cake!
I am currently enjoying a new book, Bringing up Bébé by Pamela Druckerman. Its unlike other parenting books I have read; an easy read about her very interesting life as an American mommy in France. She compares her American parenting style to that of the French in a humorous and insightful way. I wish I had this book when my boys were infants, they may have better sleeping habits now.
UPDATE – Got a little farther on this book, I’m quite depressed by it all.. I feel like I’m doing everything wrong! Are the French really such wonderful parents? Do all their babies sleep through the night? Sigh.
ANOTHER UPDATE – My thoughts on a similar book with another great French baking recipe (Spice Bread).
You may have heard of Panda Bread, the Japanese white bread made with matcha “green tea” powder and cocoa powder shaped to resemble a panda bear? If not, check out this Taste for Adventure, they have a great tutorial for this adorable looking bread. (It’s where I got the recipe for this too.)
Well, panda bear bread has been on my to do list for some time now, so what better time to do it than to give my son a special sandwich for his first day of preschool?
I can’t believe my baby is going to school, where did the time go? I’m getting teary eyed just thinking about it. To make his first packed lunch a special one, I wanted something really awesome, something he can show off to the other kids, maybe a conversation starter for him, or at the very least something that will make him smile.
So I told my 3 year old that I was going to make panda bread for him. He told me nooooooo, he didn’t want panda bear bread. He said he wanted Lightning McQueen bread. Why not panda bread? Because he wanted to be super fast of course! So, race car bread it was. It was time consuming, but fun, kind of like the adult equivalent of play dough time. I thought it came out pretty well, and even though its not quite clear that its Lightning McQueen, to my 3 year old its the coolest bread ever.
To see step by step instructions on how to make this bread and many other examples of bread art, check out my new eBook!
Heat the milk with the egg yolk in the microwave for 30 seconds.
Add everything to the bread machine (except the cocoa powder and food coloring). Set and start the dough setting.
When its over, pull out the dough, separate into 3 balls. The white and red I made equal, the black for the wheels was smaller. Use your judgment.
Now mix the cocoa powder with water to become a paste. Knead into one dough ball. Knead for about 10 minutes, you can do this in your food mixer with the hook attachment or do by hand (your arms will hurt!). But knead until its evenly colored. Do this for the red ball as well.
Cover all 3 balls with greased plastic wrap and also a kitchen towel for another 40 minutes until it rises again.
now use your rolling pin and your imagination to create all the pieces. Follow my photos to see how I did mine. When finished, place into the bread loaf and cover again with the plastic wrap, kitchen towel. Place into microwave oven or in an enclosed area. Let rise for another hour.
Preheat oven to 350. Bake for 30 minutes. Cool then Slice.
You can learn about ice. You can learn about mice.
Mice on ice. And ice on mice…
Nice ice for sale. Ten cents a pail.
From I Can Read with My Eyes Shut!
If you saw my last post about Blueberry Bumplings, you know we have been making wonderful concoctions in the kitchen from the The Green Eggs and Ham Cookbook, all recipes inspired by Dr. Seuss books. Nice lime ice is a really great recipe that I wanted to share because it was fun to make and its pretty versatile. The kids loved the ice pail tower (my son ate them right off the toothpicks). This recipe would make yummy popsicles just use in popsicle molds.
Everyone can enjoy this ice in sparkling mineral water with slices of lime. The ice provides non-stop limeade power… so as you drink toward the bottom your beverage gets a little sweeter. When your drink gets low, just refresh with more sparkling water. I drank 3 glasses during dinner before needing to refresh my ice! Adults could spike the drink to make a lime spritzer.
ATTENTION: GET YOUR FREE YOGURT
If you haven’t read my 2nd to last post, then you probably haven’t gotten your free yogurt sample yet. But fear not, its still not too late! Visit the Activia Selects Facebook page to get your FREE yogurt coupon. Take it with you to any local super market to redeem.
Nice Lime Ice (Hold the Mice!)
Adapted from the Green Eggs and Ham Cookbook by Geogeanne Brennan
In a saucepan, combine water, sugar and salt. Bring to Boil over medium heat, stir often. Boil until sugar has dissolved and light syrup has formed (about 2 minutes).
Remove from heat and let cool, refrigerate covered until chilled.
Combine syrup with lime juice in a pitcher, stir well.
Pur into ice cube trays and freeze for about 45 minutes. Then stick in toothpicks (if desired). Freeze for 4 hours more.
Make the towers by sticking the cubes together using the toothpicks.
I saw a ship a-sailing,
A-sailing on the sea;
And oh, it was all laden
With pretty things for thee!
You may have heard of Panda Bread, the Japanese white bread made with matcha “green tea” powder and cocoa powder shaped to resemble a panda bear? If not, check out this 
You can learn about ice. You can learn about mice.
