Friday, February 25, 2011

Simple Woman's Daybook

Today I am trying a post I've not done before, but I saw on other blogs and liked it. I'll try to do this every once in a while, as a sort of journal entry. 

It's called the Simple Women's Daybook.  And they go a little something like this : )



For Today... February 25, 2011


Outside my window... the sun is shining brightly, the temp is a lovely 43 degrees.


I am thinking... that a house full of kids is a wonderful thing, even when they are busy and crazy!


I am thankful for... a warm, cozy bed, a hot shower and a warm home.


From the learning rooms... Caleb and I are starting a new week talking about Spain and The Story of Ferdinand, and Rebekah is getting ready for CSAPs in her writing. Mallory and I are working on a Corduroy (book) lapbook.

From the kitchen... breakfast is cleaned up, and meat is out for dinner!


I am wearing... A short sleeve sweater, a pink long sleeve shirt, jeans and new flower socks!


I am creating... a B that I bought for Bethany to hang in her bedroom. I need to paint it in a fun way soon... I also may start a cross-stitch, to show the girls in my co-op class.

I am going... hopefully nowhere today... it's an at home day.


I am reading... mostly magazines. I am in between reading books...

I am hoping... that my co-op class goes well tomorrow, I am excited about it! Should be a FUN class!


I am hearing... the kids playing and rough-housing during their school break for a few minutes. 


Around the house... taking down Valentines Day and February decorations, and getting out the March/ Spring decos today and tomorrow.


One of my favorite things... Warm days in the end of winter that show signs that Spring is coming!


A few plans for this week... School, co-op classes, grocery shopping while kids are at club night, maybe a family night and my niece's birthday party on Saturday!


A picture thought that I am sharing with you... My Mallory smeared my lip stick all over her face before church yesterday morning. What a goofball! That's NOT what I meant when I said she could have some...


The Simple Woman's Daybook is brought to you by Peggy over at http://www.thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com/ 
Check it out if you, too are seeking the simple life.


Enjoy,


~Jill

More chicks!

Some of you may remember last fall that we got some chickens and Joshua made a chicken coop. Well, we are finally getting some eggs, usually one or two a day! This is what our eggs look like...


 And this is what our chickens look like now... two hens and one obnoxious rooster!
Penny, Josefina and Rosie...

Well, we'd like to have more than two eggs in a day, so we decided to get more chicks.  We went to Montrose this past weekend, and we stopped in Olathe on the way home. There was a man who listed on Craiglist that he had chicks for sale. He was quite the chicken farmer! He had over 1,000 chicks in this building, smaller than a garage. They were organized by breeds in small pens, maybe 10-12 in a pen. He also had supplies for sale, such as lights, chicken starter feed, scratch for the bottom of the coop, and lots of feeders. He had cute signs outside that said, "A great place to pick up chicks" and "Chicks for sale, cheep!" He had over 20 breeds of chickens, "all the top layers", he said. So we came home with 6 more chicks! They are all different breeds and very cute! The kids have been naming them... 

Caleb holding "Gonzo"...

The other five little chicks...I think their current names are Rhonda, Clarice,
Angel, Goldilocks, Jenny...

All six chicks together!
We're hoping that all six of these chicks survive, and the man assured us that they were hens! We are looking forward to watching them grow, and when they are bigger and it is warmer outside, we will put them with the other chickens in our coop. For now, they're in a bin in the garage. Maybe we'll have more eggs in the summer....

Thursday, February 24, 2011

American Girl class-Kaya- week 6

We had another great class discussing Kaya, and we discussed the final book in the series! Next week we will begin discussing FELICITY!

Here are the highlights from our class:
My daughter's doll in her new Kaya dress...

I have a friend from our church that is part Pawnee Native American, (which is a different tribe from Kaya, she is from the Nez Perce tribe...)  and she came to show the girls a traditional dress and jewelry that she had made or been given. Her name is Mrs. Cheryl Brown, and she did a great job! She made most of her clothing, did the ribbon work on her skirt, made her fan with imitation eagle feathers, and her intricately beaded purse (which took 2-3 months to make!). She said she did not make her shawl, she bought it. Her necklace and earrings and moccasins were beautiful!!  She got several jewelry pieces which were silver from her aunt, who is a silversmith.

Our special guest, Mrs. Brown...
She had a cool jeweled/ metal piece down her back!
She explained about her fan...
She explained that they wore these shawls when they swayed and
danced and the tassels moved too!
Before she left, she sang "Amazing Grace" in Pawnee, it was so pretty! THANK YOU for coming, Mrs. Brown! She answered the girls' questions too! So fun to have a guest! :-D

 Then we enjoyed Corn Griddle Cakes for snack, you can find the recipe here.

Girls enjoying the Corn Griddle cakes -YUM!
 After snack, we talked about Salmon, since we didn't have a chance to do that last week. I gave the girls a page from the internet that talked more about salmon. You can find the page here.
You can find and download info about salmon here: http://library.stjosephsea.org/salmon.htm

We also talked briefly about parfleches, which Kaya's sister was making in the book. Here is an info page about them: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parfleche

Girls making the fringe on their no-sew dresses!
 This was a very simple pattern that I made by looking online at my friend Jamin's posts about making dresses. I bought WAY too much fabric, but hopefully I can use it again! (I realized it on the way home from the fabric store, oops!)

Here is the "pattern": 
I cut each piece of fabric 15" X 22" and folded it in half (so it was 11"). Then each of the girls cut a hole in the top middle for the neck, approx 4" across with a small V in the middle of their own dress. They fringed the bottom on both sides, and a little (5-6 times) around the arms. We tied the dress around the waist with an 18" piece of hemp cord. I forgot the beads, but I was going to have each girl string 5 or 6 beads onto the hemp and tie knots on each side before they tied it in the back. It was a fun and easy craft!

Since we had extra time, I read some information about the Nez Perce tribe, found here.
more fringe-makers...
The group of girls with dolls in front!
Two more girls added in... cuties!

I loved seeing the dolls in their new, simple dresses! Not all of the girls have dolls or brought them, so I told them that they could put it on another doll or even a bear! :-D It was a fun class and I'm looking forward to changing gears and talking about Felicity next week!

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

WFMW: Organizing shoes

In this edition of Works For Me Wednesday... organizing shoes! 

When I was a kid, my mom allowed us to have a place by the front door to keep our shoes. If we took our shoes off in the middle of the hallway, or left them in a spot where she would step on them or trip on them, she threw them out the front door! Then later, when we'd ask her where our shoes were, she'd say... "Hmm, I don't know..." and we'd look outside. There the pair of shoes would be, tossed out onto the front porch! (and cold too!)

My brother posted (on Facebook) last week that he always has a hard time finding his twins' shoes before school, and my response was, "Put them in the same place every time you take them off... this works in theory." And it does... but it does help organize our home when everyone knows where shoes "belong"!

When we moved into our new house, we tried to do without a basket for shoes, but it didn't work very long. There was no "place" to put shoes, so they were put anywhere and everywhere! I like having a basket or bin to corral some shoes that get worn daily. So, the basket came back to its place near the door again.

I like using wicker baskets. They hold up well, and they look nice. Now these baskets do not hold EVERY pair of shoes in the house. These baskets are to hold one or two pair of shoes per person. My kids' Sunday shoes do not go in this basket. Those go back into their closets to be worn once or twice a week. This is also not the place for sandals in the winter, or boots. Boots are just bigger, take up too much room, and are worn infrequently here, so they go in our coat closet or garage. (Especially Caleb's stinky boots-- off to the garage they go! Pee- you...) Summer shoes go in the closets until winter is over and sandal season returns. I like keeping a little rug under the basket too, makes for easy clean-up from the inevitable grass, sticks and dirt that come off the shoes' soles...

Our shoe basket in the front hallway, behind the front door...
In addition, each of the kids has a bin in their closet for their shoes. This is where their sandals, and Sunday shoes, or extra tennies can go. When you have four kids that each have to have 2 pair of Sunday shoes, sandals, tennies, crocs, or slippers, the pile can get HUGE! Six pairs X four children = 24 pair of shoes just for them! My hubby and I also have at least six pairs that we wear frequently! It can get overwhelming!

Mallory's shoe bin from her closet....
When they grow out of their shoes, we put them into a bin in the garage. (for the girls) Some shoes get passed on to others right away (my son's, and my youngest daughters'). But I have big girls that pass their shoes down, so we have a place to keep them in the garage- and the bin is ONLY shoes! (which is amazing to me, but there are lots of styles and sizes to choose from!)

I hope this post will help you get your shoes organized somewhat, so they are not overtaking your entry-ways and closets! It Works For Me!

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Chocolate chip cookie recipes (2 for 1)

 In 2003, I went on a quest to find the best chocolate chip cookie recipe that worked in my house. My grandma had a good recipe that she made for MANY years, but the cookies always turned out flat in my house. So I tried 4-5 recipes until I found a good one, and that is the one I make whenever we want chocolate chip cookies! I got this recipe from a free Alpha-Bakery Children's Cookbook that I ordered from Gold Medal Flour many years ago.
The Alpha- Bakery Children's cookbook, filled with recipes
 from A to Z! I don't know if you can still get it...

The recipe in the cookbook... 
A full cookie jar= happiness!

YUM- they're SO good!!

I had another one in college that I made, and it had pudding in the mix. It is my 2nd favorite, because you have to have the pudding to put in the mix. Sometimes that is just more fore-thought that I have... so I don't make it too much anymore. But I like it because you can put any kind of pudding in it, butterscotch, chocolate, vanilla, and they are all good!

I'll post both of them here for you to see & use....

Chocolate Chip cookies
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup of butter (or margarine) softened
1 egg
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 cup of coarsely chopped nuts
1 package (12 ounces) of semisweet chocolate chips (2 cups- I usually do 1 cup)

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Mix both sugars, butter and egg in large bowl with a wooden spoon. Stir in flour, baking soda, and salt (dough will be stiff). Stir in nuts and chocolate chips.
3. Drop dough  by rounded tablespoonfuls about 3 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet.
4. Bake until light brown, 8 to 10 minutes (centers will be soft). Let cookies cool slightly, then remove from cookie sheet with a spatula. Makes about 48 cookies.



Here is the 2nd recipe...

"The Best" Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 cup butter (NOT marg.)
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
3oz pkg instant vanilla pudding
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 bag choc. chips (I usually do 1/2 bag)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cream first four ingredients together.
3. Mix in next two ingredients.
4. Stir in last three ingredients
5. Bake for 10 min.

Variations:
-Use butterscotch pudding and butterscotch chips
-Use choc pudding and peanut butter chips
-Use choc pudding and choc chips


Let me know if you try either one and how you like them!

Monday, February 21, 2011

Birth Order Book

Where do you fall in the birth order in you family? Are you the oldest child, middle, youngest? How does this effect the way you are? It is quite interesting to think about...

One of my favorite topics that I've discovered in the past ten years is birth order. I find the topic to be a fascinating one, and I thought I'd share about it here. I gave a presentation for our MOPS group several years ago and these are some of the notes that I made from the book, The New Birth Order Book by Dr. Kevin Leman. If you don't know Dr. Kevin Leman, he's wonderful! He's a Christian author that has written many wonderful books, such as A New Kid by Friday, Making Children Mind without Losing Yours, as well as the Birth Order Book.

The New Birth Order Book- By Dr. Kevin Leman  NOTES
When talking about birth order, all general statements are indicators, not rules!
Which Traits fit you best?
A. Perfectionist, reliable, conscientious, list maker, well organized, hard driving, natural leader, critical, serious, scholarly, logical, doesn’t like surprises, loves computers

B. Mediator, compromising, diplomatic, avoids conflict, independent, loyal to peers, many friends, a maverick, secretive, unspoiled

C. Manipulative, charming, blames others, attention seeker, tenacious, people person, natural salesperson, precocious, engaging, affectionate, loves surprises

D. Little adult by age seven, very thorough, deliberate, high achiever, self-motivated, fearful, cautious, voracious reader, black-and-white thinker, uses “very,” “extremely,” “exactly,” a lot; can’t bear to fail, has very high expectations for self, more comfortable with people who are older or younger
Birth Order Variables
-spacing-- number of years between children

-the sex of each child- and in what sequence males and females are born

-physical, mental, or emotional differences-- yes, genes are important

-sibling deaths- which, if occurring early, cause the child below to be “bumped up” to the next birth order
adoptions- which may or may not have an effect on birth order, depending on how old the child is when adopted

-the birth order position of each parent- first-born parents usually run a much tighter ship than later- borns
the relationship between the parents- and the parenting style they use as they pass on their personal values to their children

-the “critical eye” of a parent- constant criticism takes its toll

-the blending of two or more families due to death or divorce- in a step family certain birth orders usually get stepped on

A Quiz for all spouses

1. Do I nitpick? Do I find fault with what my mate wears, says or does? How often?
2. Do I take the time to encourage my mate?
3. So we talk things out? Have we set aside time”just for us”?
4. When was the last time that we took a weekend away from the children?
5. When was the last time I gave my mate a compliment?
6. When was the last time I gave my mate a special present for absolutely no particular reason except to say, “I love you”?
7. Speaking of “I love you,” when was the last time I said those three little wonderful words to my mate?
8. What is the one thing I know my mate would love to have me do? Am I planning to do it this week?
9. Do we worship together? Or are we like too many couples who seem to have decided that God is like the Edsel, obsolete?
10. Do I take the time to find out what my mate is really interested in? Do I take the time of understand the “ins and outs” of his or her favorite past-time or activity?
11. When was the last time I “kidnapped” my mate from the office (or maybe from the ironing board), taken him or her away on an overnight?
12. When was the last time I came home early from work to take care of little "Buford" or "Festus" and let my mate go window shopping or run some errands?
13. When was the last time I said, “I am sorry. I was wrong. Will you forgive me?”

Answers to above quiz: You are probably...
A= Oldest child
B= Middle child
C= Youngest child
D= Only child


This book was so interesting to me, that I "examined" all of my family members, and I had most of my family members read this book. My family fits into this model, and I found what Dr. Leman says to be quite convincing!  I still have a copy, and have loaned it out many times to others. There are also a few copies of this book in our MOPS library at my church. If you haven't read it, try to find a copy at your local library or church library, it is worth a read!

Friday, February 18, 2011

Popover Pizza recipe

When I got my first apartment in college, I went home and copied down some of my favorite recipes of my mom's on pastel-colored recipe cards. This was one of my favorite recipes growing up, so this was one of the recipes that I took copied down to take with me. 


I make it several times every winter and it's another family favorite! It is easy to make, and it is made with ingredients that I usually have in my home...I put this recipe in my church cookbook too, and had lots of good response from others that tried it!

Popover Pizza

1 lb Italian sausage (ground beef or turkey ok too)
1 medium onion, chopped
mushrooms (optional)
1 green pepper (or yellow, red, orange)
15 1/2 ounces spaghetti sauce
1/2 tsp oregano
8 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1 cup flour
1 tbsp cooking oil
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Put the cooked meat, onions & peppers in bottom of pan...

Top with mozzerella cheese...
Pour on egg mixture, top with parmesan cheese...


All baked and melted... looks delicious!

Serve upside down, like a pizza with dough
on bottom and meat on top!

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Cook sausage and vegetables until tender. Drain.
3. Stir in spaghetti sauce and oregano.
4. Pour into ungreased 13” x 9” pan. Place mozzarella cheese on top.
5. Combine flour, salt, oil, milk, and eggs in bowl.
6. Beat until smooth. Pour over cheese. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
7. Bake for 30 minutes or until brown.


YUM! Enjoy--Let me know if you try it!

Thursday, February 17, 2011

True Confessions

Normally today I would do a post about my American Girl class, but I've been sick this week, so I had to cancel my class! :( I really missed it, but I think I am on the mend now, the extra rest has helped! Here is a preview for the craft we were going to do this week, but will do next week!
Her new Kaya dress!
Totally unrelated to that, here is my post for today... I'll be posting about my class again next week, I hope!

I've been thinking about some silly things in my life that I am really particular about and thought it would be a fun post-- like a get to know me/ true confessions/ all about my quirks post... and see how many of you have some of the same!

1. I do not like pineapple except on pizza. I had it once grilled and that was ok.

2. When I get the hiccups, I know then I will get three separate episodes in 24 hours. Happens every time...

3. I have to sleep with my closet doors closed every nap and at night. I've been that way since I was a kid. It started when I'd be scared of the white clothes (ghosts) in the closets. My hubby thinks it's weird. I always close my kids' closet doors too.

4. I do not like to be cold, and so I don't like to ski (and I'm not too coordinated either). I should go sledding more with my kids, but fortunately my hubby will... I'm working on that.

5. I don't watch a lot of tv. There is not much good on tv when you don't have cable... so I just hardly bother. I do watch the news occasionally, and "Extreme Home Makeover" on Sunday nights (aka MY show). My hubby and I like "Parenthood" on Tuesdays nights too.

6. If I stay up too late, I get the giggles and don't stop too easily.

7. I have a hard time falling asleep. It takes me at least 1/2 hour to fall asleep each night. I think I get this from my dad. My siblings are mostly the same way. My hubby thinks we're all high-strung. I wish I could fall asleep in 5 minutes like my mom or my hubby!

8. I don't like to eat mushrooms. If they are in something and I can't pick them out, I'll eat them. I've also eaten them to save face among family members. (That's a true confession!) I think they are a fungus! YUCK!

9. I have naturally curly hair and I am not ever truly happy with the length that it is... when it was long, I pulled it back a lot and didn't like taking time to style it. Now that it's shorter, I'm not sure I like it. Maybe I'd like it long one day and short the next...

10. I have an easy gag reflex. I gag easily at the dentist and when they check my throat at the doctor. I have been known to gag on pills and when I brush my teeth, but I did that most often when I was pregnant!

That's all for now, ten is enough! What are some of your true confessions? Let me know if you post about it on your blog!

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Wordless Wednesday!

(Well, almost wordless!)

Here are some cute pics of the kids from this past week...

Mal in her crazy outfit that she wore 3 days in a row...

Caleb & the cool block tower they made
while we were on a date...

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Stuffed shells recipe

This is another recipe that I got from my mom. I like it because it is something different from spaghetti which we have often in our home. It is easy to double and make another pan as a gift for a new mom or to put in your freezer. My kids LOVE this recipe, and most of the ingredients are things I have around the house (except ricotta and maybe mozzarella cheese). Enjoy!


Stuffed Shells
1 lg. package pasta shells, (will use half of box)
2 lb ricotta cheese
1/2 lb shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup cracker meal (aka bread crumbs)
48 ounces spaghetti sauce

Pour spaghetti sauce to coat bottom of pan...

Mix cheeses, eggs, bread crumbs as filling...

Shells boiled and ready to be filled...




1. Add 1 tbsp salt to 4 quarts boiling water.
2. Gradually add shells so that the water does not stop boiling.
3. Boil, uncovered for 15 minutes. Stir occasionally.
4. Drain most of the water, allowing shells to remain in a few inches of warm water.
5. Preheat oven to 350.
6. Mix cheeses, eggs, parsley, salt and cracker meal. 
7. Remove one shell at a time (handle carefully, they are still hot!) Stuff each shell with  mixture, using a tablespoon.
8. Pour 1/2 of spaghetti sauce into a large shallow pan.
Ready to go in the oven...
9. Arrange stuffed shells in pan, add remaining sauce on top.
10. Cover, and bake for 30 minutes.
All done, melted and ready to enjoy!


Serves 6-8. Serve with salad and/or bread. YUM! They make great leftovers! 
Let me know if you try it! 

Monday, February 14, 2011

Valentine's day party 2011

One of my favorite holidays is Valentine's Day, and with my kids being homeschooled, they couldn't experience a Valentine exchange without getting together with friends. When Rebekah was in kindergarten or first grade, we invited some friends over for lunch on Valentine's Day and traded Valentines. Then last year, I was talking to another homeschool mom in our church, and we thought it would be fun to have a party for homeschoolers from our church. So we had the party at our church last year and again this year. While the place and friends have changed from year to year, we still enjoy trading Valentines and expressing our love and friendship to others on Valentine's Day!

We had our Valentine's Day party this past Friday at our church with homeschoolers. We all had a wonderful time! We played group games, traded Valentines, (even Bethany got some!), ate lunch, and decorated heart cookies. For lunch we had sandwiches, chips, pink lemonade, fruit salad and cupcakes, with heart shaped cookies for dessert!
Girls playing heart bingo...

Mom helps Mallory trade her Valentines...
Kids reading their Valentines...

More kids reading their Valentines...

Beth made these cute and delicious cupcakes!

Girls frosting heart shaped cookies...

More cookie decorating...
 It was a very fun day, one I look forward to every year! An extra thanks to the Moms who helped make this fun event possible! The kids love getting together!

Friday, February 11, 2011

15 minute chicken chili recipe (corn bread too!)

Do you need a quick & easy chili recipe for a cold winter evening?
Try this, I think you're gonna love it!

Tried in the crock pot- still delicious!! (but Joshua likes
the chicken browned on the stove better!)
This is one of my favorite winter recipes. It is a quick & easy chili recipe that I got from my mom and I changed it up to our tastes a little bit...(see the options!)

15 minute chicken chili
1 Tbsp canola or olive oil
10 oz boneless. skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 1/2 Tbsp chili powder
1 1/2 Tbsp cumin
1 14.5 oz cans (no salt added) diced tomatoes
4.5 oz can diced green chiles
1 cup yellow whole kernel corn (frozen or canned)
Salt & cayenne pepper to taste

Optional: Add red or black canned beans, onions, garlic

In med. saucepan, saute chicken in oil over medium high heat for 3 mins or until white. Stir in chili powder and cumin to coat chicken. Saute 3-4 mins. Add remaining ingredients, heat through.

Serve with cheese and sour cream. Serves 4-6.


And you can't have chili without corn bread on the side- YUM!

So here is my mom-in-law's corn bread recipe... (Thanks, Mom!)

Corn bread
1/2 cup yellow corn meal
1 1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp sugar
1/4 cup oil
1 cup milk
2 eggs, beaten

In large bowl, combine corn meal, flour, baking powder, salt and sugar; set aside. In another bowl, combine oil, milk and eggs. Add to dry ingredients all at once, stirring just until moistened. Pour into greased 8 X 8" baking pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until light brown on top and edges. Serve warm with butter or honey-butter.

Variations: Exchange soy milk for milk in this recipe, and bake for approx. 10 minutes longer.
OR Make into waffles in waffle maker- a fun way to change things up!


Let me know if you try it!

Thursday, February 10, 2011

American Girl class-Kaya- week 4

We had another fun American Girl class this week! We were missing a few girls, one I knew would be out of town and a few others out too, hope they aren't sick... come back soon, girls! Here are the crafts we made...

My sample of the teepee on a "buffalo hide",
glued onto construction paper.

Printed and punched pieces ready for Tuesday's class...
The bummer this time is that I forgot my camera! I was lamenting about this to some of the girls, and they were not sympathetic to me... Oh well!  I did take some photos of the projects we made when I was at home...

You can find the link for the teepee coloring page here. This is the page with the idea to make a buffalo hide from paper here.

These are the directions for the Native American pendant that we used. You can find the printable designs I used here. I printed them on cardstock and punched them out, and the girls placed them on another punched piece of cardstock for stability. Then we punched holes in them and put a piece of black hemp through the hole. I made the hemp too short to slide over their necks though. Note: make the hemp longer than 18-20 inches if you want to be able to slide it over your head!

My sample necklace, cardstock printed & glued onto another punched piece,
punched & placed on a length of hemp cord.

For snack we had Maple Popcorn balls. I got it from www.recipegoldmine.com, but it won't let me load the page. So in case you can't get it, I'll type it here:

Maple Popcorn Balls (This is an old Algonquian treat-- the original cracker jack.)
1/4 cup popping corn
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
1 cup maple syrup
1 1/2 teaspoons butter


Pop corn according to package directions. Season with salt, if desired. 


Heat syrup and butter in a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring constantly until temperature reaches 250 degrees on a candy thermometer or until a few drops form soft balls when dropped in cold water. 


Remove pan from heat and pour mixture over popcorn. When mixture is cool enough, (5-7 minutes) toss popcorn with syrup and mold into balls, and cool on a buttered baking sheets. Store cooled popcorn balls in an airtight container. Makes about 8.


I found the same recipe herehttp://www.reciperewards.com/recipe/maple_popcorn_balls.html

The snack was really good, a little hard, but I got to have one this time and it tasted really good! It was another fun class. I am looking forward to the last two weeks of Kaya and then we'll begin Felicity!!

I hope the girls have a doll to bring to class next week, I have a fun craft for them...
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