Easy Manger Food Craft

My husband and I were discussing how much we like to create "something out of nothing". 
Meaning, I would rather have an idea and try it than googling and copying something another person has already done. I like to brave new waters, to go where others may not have traveled. (In all other aspects of life I am actually on the cautious side and don't enjoy unpredictable outcomes)

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When my daughter's first grade teacher asked me if I'd like to do the food craft for our upcoming Christmas party, I gladly said yes.

I then thought, what about making an edible manger and filling it with something similar to the shredded wheat "nest" material? We could use graham crackers for the structure and as long as the "hay" was sticky, it should all hold together!

I then thought, but what about the baby in the manger? All the first ideas I had were easily perishable and required refrigeration (wrap the baby in a soft cheese slice like mozzerella, or a slice of meat with an olive for the head). I asked my husband, what about a "baby" carrot? That was good for a chuckle, but still I was on the search.

While at the grocery store, I spotted a bag full of perfect candidates!

As I chose ingredients, I tried to limit the sugar content and knew that paying a little more for better quality was okay. The cereal? 0g sugar. The graham cracker? 3.5g per cracker. The peanut butter? 1g per serving. And the roll-ups? 10g per roll-up, but you need only 1/8 of a roll.

 To assemble these, I also tried to plan for a classroom setting. Each student will need 5 to 6 wheat "bites", one graham cracker separated into four whole pieces, then break one of those in half for the ends.

Add 2 Tbsp peanut butter (I used Adams Natural which has 1g natural sugar per serving).
Place the wheat and peanut butter in a sandwich bag for easy mashing. 

Once mashed together (wheat is soft and easily broken by hand), turn bag inside out and dump it onto your first piece of graham cracker. (You may decide to add some honey to make this mix a little sweeter and even stickier)

You then take the side pieces and place them around the "hay" so they all form a box.

For the "swaddling cloth", I took the fruit roll-up and cut it while still rolled into 8 strips. 

 I only needed one strip to cover my little peanut.

And, there you have it! A totally edible food craft for Christmas time that is humble in appearance, mildly sweet, and has some protein to prevent a total crash. Not to mention? Very little prep time required.

For those with peanut allergies, I would recommend purchasing "butterscotch" chips and melting them, mixing in the shredded wheat, and then using the orange candy "circus peanuts" which are not nut-based at all, and wrapping them. This will be a lot sweeter, but still a fun craft.

Remember, anything worth doing is worth trying.
~Tammy

Bread and Butter

My oldest daughter is in the first grade. Just before Thanksgiving, their school celebrated "Colonial Days". I will have a post about her costume soon, but one of the activities the students enjoyed was making their own butter. 

In a small baby food jar, the teacher poured "heavy whipping cream", then sealed the jar and had the students begin to shake it. In about thirty minutes, the white cream became whipped cream, then separated into a watery "buttermilk" and a yellow butter. The sides of the jar became perfectly clear and you could see the lump of butter inside.

When we sampled the butter at home, it was unsalted, of course, but much sweeter and creamier than the butter we purchase at the store.

I thought, why can't I try that? We consume almost a pound of butter weekly between the morning meals and the other cooking I do.

I had a pint jar (the quart jar was intimidating and I didn't know how long the shaking process would be), with fresh canning lids and rings, so I filled it 3/4 with heavy whipping cream and began to shake it vigorously.

I'll be honest, the kids were not in bed yet, and I became distracted at some point, setting the jar on the counter. When they were in bed (maximum distraction time was twenty minutes), I found the jar and went to task once more. So, I cannot tell you exactly how long this took me, but the temperature rising may have made the separation easier.

The "buttermilk" did not taste of butter, but of thin cream, so I used it in my coffee the next few mornings. I was surprised that rather than one large lump, I had many small dollops or pats of butter in my batches. (Yes, it was good enough to keep doing, and I had purchased a half-GALLON of whipping cream for this purpose)

My own butter was so delicious, I thought I'd make some fresh bread to go along with it. After all, said first-grader is in love with peanut butter and honey and we go through loaves of bread in a rapid manner!

I used King Arthur's Flour, followed their recipe to the letter for sandwich bread, and began the task.

This was not an easy task, because I chose to bake bread in the middle of November, when my house is not exactly warm. Our town is 4,000 feet above sea level, but we had our woodstove insert burning nicely and it made a good radiant source for the yeast to work.

Here is a photo of the finished sandwich bread:

Though the bread was moist and delicious, I believe I will have to adjust my ratios for altitude next time. It was not as held-together as I needed to be durable for my daughter's sandwiches. It fell apart more like a moist dessert bread.

Remember, anything worth doing is worth trying.
~Tammy

I don't know if I can...

I am a full-time mom. Most of us are. Whether we work at home or away from home, we are always "Mom".
With motherhood come those once-in-a-lifetime sparks of creativity that save you time, energy, money, or simply save you from going crazy.
Some women have posted them on the internet. Others have found them, pinned them, and others yet find the pins and then go to those original posters.

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I hope to become part of the first category. It's not that I don't appreciate Pinterest and all that it has done to organize thoughts and ideas, it's just that I want a quick idea from which to begin. If I spend my time collecting many ideas, I become overwhelmed by the choices.
And? A lot of times, I have to come up with ideas on the spot.
Also, it feels great to come up with a new idea, one that hasn't been used but will be used by many.
For others, perhaps your strengths lie not in the creating, but sharing those creations with others. I appreciate you greatly, and hope I can become a source of creative energy for you and those who follow your boards!

Not only will the posts include edible crafts (the best kind!) but do-it-yourself projects as they come along. I'm a bit of a handywoman, the eldest of four daughters, and my father and husband are both handymen, so they have shown me my way around the toolbox. I can perform maintenance on our vacuum and refrigerator and have disassembled more than one electronic toy to fix it.

Remember, trying is the most important part of the process. You won't fail, but you also won't succeed if you don't at least attempt it. And who knows? You may be more skilled than you had thought.

~Tammy