Thursday, May 13, 2010

A Country Path in Late Spring







A Country Path in Late Spring
by Mark R Slaughter

The path of mossy ground nestled
In between maternal hedgerows,
That overgrew atop, dimming out
The brilliance of the day.
Embosomed, a calm-cool vision –
Abstract takes of nature, in
Leaf-spattered green shades;
Stem-speckled brown hues;
Shards of sunlight percolating
Through the random flaws to
Up glittering sprites upon the leaves.

And avian chatter bounced along the burrow,
Smattered by the crosstalk
Of busybody insects;
But outside the green comfort zone,
Other worlds of other sounds of other life
Otherwise gave a hint of
Other dozy goings on.

Hawthorn filled the air,
Filled the nose,
Filled the head –
Pungency had overpowered all –
Gave the late-spring-early-summer haze.

Here and there a break of colour:
Odd bluebells – escapees from nearby woods –
Blue-blushing bell faces glancing down,
Aware of their erectness in the stem;
The flaming wing of red admirals
Broke through a hedge hole to
Break up the calm backdrop,
While flitting blue tits gave
To greater-bodied animation.

Nature’s warm narration –
The undertones of life.



Copyright © Mark R Slaughter 2010

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Umbrella Cookies


From: Family Fun

Ingredients:
Sugar cookie dough, store-bought or try our Easy Sugar Cookie Dough
Cookie sticks (available at craft supply stores)
Frosting
Food coloring
Tube of white icing
Bendable straws


Instructions:
Roll out the cookie dough into a 1/4-inch-thick disk. Use a plastic cup or round cookie cutter to cut out dough circles.
With a knife, cut each circle in half, then scallop the straight edge. Cut raindrop shapes from the dough scraps.
Lay cookie sticks on an ungreased cookie sheet and gently press a half-circle of dough on top of each. Place the raindrops on the sheet and bake the cookies according to the recipe directions.
Once the cookies have cooled, frost them. Pipe on icing lines and make vertical grooves by dragging a toothpick up to make one groove and down for the next, as shown.



For a special presentation, add a colorful handle by trimming a bendable straw and sliding it over the stick.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Spring Celebration Punch

I love when Kraft has a mix and match style recipe...here's one for a spring punch.


prep time 15 min
total time 15 min
makes 16 servings, 1 cup each


what you need:
Take 1 (2-liter) bottle carbonated lemon-lime beverage and mix & match your recipe from these options...
Option 1:
Tropical Punch KoolAid
cranberry raspberry drink
1 cup each sliced strawberries and raspberries
Option 2:
Orange KoolAid
pineapple-orange-banana juice blend
1 cup pineapple chunks, 1 sliced seedless orange
Option 3:
Cherry KoolAid
prepared KOOL-AID Lemonade Flavor Unsweetened Soft Drink Mix
1 cup watermelon chunks, 1 sliced lemon
Option 4:
Lemon Lime KoolAid
pineapple juice
1 each sliced lemon and lime
Then follow our 2 simple steps:
COMBINE 2 pkg. KOOL-AID Unsweetened Drink Mix and 2 qt. (8 cups) liquid in large punch bowl. Stir until Drink Mix is completely dissolved.
ADD lemon-lime beverage and fruit just before serving; stir until well blended
From:

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Mother's Day Poem

Another Mother's Day is here, Bringing joy and pleasures new, On this special day, Mother dear, I want to remember you. I cannot give you costly gifts, And I've told you this before, No matter what I give to you, You give back much, much more. I'm giving you a pure, sweet rose, Gathered in the early morn, This rose you planted in my heart, The day that I was born. In kindly, loving thoughts of you, And with the faith you still impart, The rose I give to you today, Is the love that's in my heart.

Raspberry-Stuffed French Toast with Custard Sauce

Raspberry-Stuffed French Toast with Custard Sauce

(Kraft has a video on their website for this recipe)

prep time: 15 min
total time: 1 hr 25 min
makes: Makes 9 servings

What You Need!

4 oz. (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) PHILADELPHIA Neufchatel Cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 whole eggs
2 egg whites
1-1/4 qt. (5 cups) fat-free milk, divided
1 loaf French bread (16 oz.), ends trimmed, cut into 18 slices
1 pkg. (12 oz.) frozen unsweetened raspberries
1 pkg. (3.4 oz.) JELL-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding


Make It!:

BEAT first 4 ingredients in large bowl with mixer until well blended. Add whole eggs and egg whites, 1 at a time, mixing well after each. Gradually beat in 2 cups milk.
ARRANGE 9 bread slices on bottom of 13x9-inch baking dish sprayed with cooking spray; cover with half the berries and remaining bread slices. Pour Neufchatel mixture over bread. Let stand 30 min.
HEAT oven to 350°F. Bake French toast 40 min. or until golden brown. Meanwhile, bring remaining milk just to boil in saucepan; gradually add dry pudding mix, whisking until well blended. Remove from heat; let stand 5 min. Meanwhile, microwave remaining raspberries in small microwaveable bowl on HIGH 15 to 20 sec. or until warmed.
SPOON pudding over individual servings of French toast; top with berries.

From Kraft

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Bugs in a Blanket

I guess you can probably use these for Halloween too.


INGREDIENTS

1 can (11 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated breadsticks
24 cocktail-size smoked link sausages (from 14-oz package)
3/4 cup shoestring potatoes (from 1 3/4-oz can)
Ketchup, barbecue sauce or mustard
DIRECTIONS

1. Heat oven to 375°F. Unroll dough; separate at perforations into 12 breadsticks. With knife or kitchen scissors, cut each breadstick in half crosswise, making 24 pieces.
2. Wrap each piece of dough around center of each sausage, pinching to seal and leaving each end of sausage showing. Place seam side down and 1/2 inch apart on ungreased large cookie sheet.

3. Bake 11 to 14 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately remove from cookie sheet; place on serving plate or tray. Cool 2 minutes.

4. Insert shoestring potatoes into baked dough to resemble legs and antennae. Decorate "bugs" with dots or stripes of ketchup.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Recycled Bird Feeder

I got this from my favorite craft blog...."No Time for Flash Cards."

Such a simple idea and it goes along with the Spring theme

What you will need: "an empty Milk Carton, a bamboo skewer, dowel or chopstick , scissors, ribbon and birdseed.

For complete instructions click here: http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2008/04/b-is-for-bird.html

Monday, April 26, 2010

RITZ Spring Flower




prep time
5 min
total time
5 min
makes
4 servings, three topped crackers each


what you need
12 CRACKER BARREL Cracker Cuts Vermont Sharp-White Cheddar Cheese
12 RITZ Crackers
12 slices OSCAR MAYER Pepperoni
3 stuffed green olives, cut into 4 slices each

Make It
CUT cheese slices into flower shapes using 1-1/2-inch cookie cutter. Reserve scraps for snacking or other use.
TOP each cracker with 1 pepperoni slice and 1 cheese flower.
PLACE 1 olive slice in center of each flower.


From: Kraft

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Slipper Cookies



Ingredients:
2 halves of an oval sandwich cookie
1 doughnut hole
frosting
shredded coconut tinted with red food coloring
pink decorators' gel

Instructions:

To make a pair, first separate the 2 halves of an oval sandwich cookie (we used a Cameo) and remove the filling with a butter knife.

Next, slice a doughnut hole into thirds. Coat the rounded sides of the 2 end pieces with frosting (you can eat the middle piece), then roll them in shredded coconut tinted with red food coloring to create a pair of fuzzy slipper tops.

Use a dab of frosting to stick each slipper top to a cookie sole, then adorn the edges of the cookies with pink decorators' gel stitching

From: FamilyFun