Just in time for Halloween, here is how to make Swamp and Snake Dessert:

You will need:
1 cup of pre-made vanilla pudding (we made a larger quantity and served ours as dessert for the whole family)
3-4 drops of green food coloring
Gummy snakes or worms
Crushed vanilla wafers

Instructions:
1. Mix the pudding and food coloring in a bowl until well blended.
2. Spoon the pudding into a dessert dish.
3. Sprinkle the top of the pudding with the crushed vanilla wafers.
4. Add gummy snakes or worms and serve.

Lori had fun stirring, scooping and, of course, tasting her wormy dessert! EWWW!

Another cute idea we found in the Halloween section of the Kid Concoctions book is to make little ghosts by tying a tissue around a lollypop. We added little googly eyes to make them happy ghosts!

Do you have any creative Halloween ideas to share? Or maybe some spooky surprises planned? I would love to hear all about them!

The only problem with the way Mom cooked was that she liked to do it alone. Part of it was classic Debbi Control-Freakiness, but cooking was also my mother’s down time, her chance to relax. Once in a while she would happily accept my offers to help, but eventually I’d get a gentle nudge out of the way so she could take over. This is why, when I moved out on my own, I realized I could barely fry an egg without setting off the smoke detector. It took a number of years of trial and error (including a soup that tasted like “burning”) before I became the rocking cook I am today, as my husband and children will attest.

For this reason, I try to include my kids in most of my culinary adventures. Not only is it fun and exciting for them, but they also gain important life skills in the process. There’s the math component: measuring cups and weighing, counting, multiplication when you halve or double recipes. There’s science: watching materials change when you mix them together and add heat or cold. And, of course, there’s Language Arts: reading recipes, making grocery lists, finding all the ingredients they need at the store. With one pan of brownies, you can cover an entire school day’s worth of lessons.

Personally, I consider teaching my kids how to cook an investment in my future peace of mind. One day down the road, when one of my kids tells me he wants mac and cheese for dinner, I can kick up my feet and say, “Go right ahead. You know how to make it”.

Now to teach them to clean their rooms…

Here is the recipe for Shake & Make Ice Cream:

2 tbsp. sugar
1 cup of milk (or half and half) – we used 2%
½ tsp. vanilla
6 tbsp. rock salt
Ice cubes… lots of ice cubes!
1 pint-sized re-sealable bag
1 (or more) gallon-sized re-sealable bag

First, we filled the gallon-sized bag halfway with ice cubes and then we put in the rock salt. Next, we put the sugar and vanilla in our pint-sized bag and added the milk last. We sealed the pint-sized bag, put it into the gallon-sized bag and sealed that, too. Then we shook! Lots and lots of shaking, for at least 5 minutes – the longer the better!

Since we had three girls making ice cream, we experimented with three different variations. Malka wanted her ice cream to be blue so we put in a few drops of blue food coloring. Lori wanted chocolate chips so we sprinkled some mini chocolate chips into hers. For Julie’s, we put in ½ tsp. of peppermint extract instead of the vanilla – yum!

We ended up doubling up the gallon-sized bags, because with all the ice on a hot day they became a little drippy. After shaking for a few minutes the girl’s hands got a little cold so we brought out the mittens (we are so silly) to keep our hands from freezing! I helped out with the last few minutes of shaking and… drum roll please… it worked like magic! I spooned the finished ice cream into cones and let the girls enjoy.

They devoured it! Total success!

Try this recipe out and let me know how it goes! Can you come up with any other flavors we should try out?

Here is the recipe (it’s SUPER EASY):
¼ cup cornstarch
¼ cup water
6-8 drops of food coloring

Since we wanted to have a few different colors for rainbows, we quadrupled the recipe (1 cup cornstarch & 1 cup water). The girls mixed the cornstarch with the water – it’s really fun to touch – and poured it in into smaller cups. Next we added the drops of food coloring and voilà… we’re ready to paint!

The colors came out so nice and bright! We used sponge brushes, which are inexpensive and easy to find at craft stores (ALEX also has reusable sponge painters). The girls didn’t have to worry about their hands getting dirty or their fingers getting scratched by the cement – hooray!

It was a total success! The paint that got on their clothes washed right out with water, and the driveway designs we painted completely washed off the next day (a hose easily washes it away, too). I rinsed off the cups and brushes and kept them in a re-sealable plastic bag for next time. The girls loved this fun sidewalk paint recipe and we will definitely be making some more soon!

Do you think your kids might enjoy sidewalk and driveway painting? Let me know and be sure to post pictures of your new art on the ALEX Facebook page – I would LOVE to see what you and your kids paint this summer!

Eggnog is one of the most popular holiday drinks in the United States, Canada and many other parts of the world. It is usually served from November through New Year’s Day. But where did this creamy beverage come from? ALEX is here to shed some light on the mysterious concoction.

Most trace eggnog back to England and was a descendant of “posset” a medieval English drink made with hot milk. Many experts believe that the “nog” of eggnog comes from the word “noggin,” a small, wooden carving mug served in taverns. Wherever it came from, eggnog quickly became a favorite wintertime beverage throughout Colonial America.

Kid-Friendly Eggnog Recipe

1 quart softened French vanilla ice cream
2 cups milk
2 teaspoons eggnog extract
1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground nutmeg
Additional nutmeg

Combine all of the ingredients in a large punch bowl until the ice cream melts just enough to form a very thick drink. Immediately pour or ladle into glasses and dust with additional nutmeg. Serve cold.

Makes 8 servings.

From PerfectEntertaining.com