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Chonky Boys: The Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches that Scream Summer!

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Featuring my thick and nuggy Chonky Boy Chocolate Chip Cookies, these ice cream sandwiches are the stuff that summer dreams are made of.  If you've ever had the Cookie Ice Cream Sandwich at Disneyland , you are going to LOVE these!  These big and bold chocolate chip cookies are based on a recipe from my culinary school studies at Auguste Escoffier, but with a few modifications to give them that Jennuine touch.  They make the perfectas book for a fat slice of real vanilla bean ice cream.  And those mini chips?  You just gotta have that extra cronch! Thank goodness this recipe only makes 8 sandwiches, otherwise I would be eating them for breakfast lunch and dinner.  This way, my big family can help save me from my inner child diet-saboteur.   Print With Image Without Image Chonky Boy Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches Yield: 8 Author: Jenn Erickson Loaded with chocolate chips and buttery, brown-sugary vanilla flavor, these mall-sized cookies form a perfect partnership with a

Crafting with Kids and with Children's Artwork -- A Little Birdie Told Me... No. 24

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"It doesn't make much difference how the paint is put on as long as something has been said.  Technique is just a means of arriving at a statement."-- Jackson Pollock Welcome to  "A Little Birdie Told Me..." Tuesday! If you're here to share a craft, recipe or project post, you'll find the linky and the specifics on how to  join the party after the features below. ------------------------------------------------ Last weeks link-ups were AWESOME! It was, by far, the best collection of creative projects and recipes yet! (Which made it so, so hard to choose the features.) Luckily, there was a recurring theme running through several of the posts : Arts & Crafts for Children --AND-- Crafts to do with Art made by Children ------------------------------------------------ Arts & Crafts for Children Jen of Domesticated Nomad shared her passion for Abstract Expressionis

You-Need NO-KNEAD Bread

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Who doesn't love the taste of home-baked bread?  Even better, how about a homemade bread that tastes like it came from the experienced hands of an artisan boulanger, yet takes mere minutes and only four simple ingredients to get started?  This is the beauty of the No-Knead Bread recipe from Jim Lahey of Sullivan Street Bakery, that was published in the NY Times.  No special culinary skills are required.  If you can measure, stir, and preheat an oven, you've got what it takes to bake a beautiful loaf of glorious, golden bread. I was introduced to this recipe several weeks ago by my friend Kelly, and my family meals on Fridays (and a few other days in-between) have not been the same since.  My family is crazy for this bread that I've come to call my "9-5 Bread".  What I've done is timed the recipe so that I stir the ingredients together around 9:00 p.m. before I head off to retire for the evening, cover the bowl, and leave it till the next day.  The dough get

Glittering Shoes -- Wizard of Oz and Cinderella Themed Storybook Boxes

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A little bit of glue, glitter, and some dollar store trinkets is all it takes to whip up a whimsical Storybook Box. A few months ago, one of my daughter's friends caught sight of a bag of little plastic shoe favors I had picked up from the Dollar Tree sitting on my desk.  She asked what they were for and I showed her the Glittered Gift Boxes I had made to accompany charitable gifts back in December.  I promised her that at some future point, I'd show her how to make one. An overcast day and a house full of kids this week presented the perfect opportunity to glitter up some crafty magic and fun. The banner reads, "A dream is a wish your heart makes" My daughter's friend came up with the idea to do a Cinderella themed box bearing a clock just about to strike midnight, beneath a glittering "glass" slipper.  My daughter liked the idea of using green glitter and came up with an "Emerald City" theme.  My youngest daughter and her

Slow Food and Slow Crafts - A Little Birdie Told Me....No. 23

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We downloaded the PocketBooth app and enjoyed our own retro photo booth down by the river! "Slow down and enjoy life.  It's not only the scenery you miss by going too fast.  You also miss the sense of where you are going and why ."   ~Eddie Cantor Welcome to  "A Little Birdie Told Me..." Tuesday! If you're here to share a craft, recipe or project post, you'll find the linky and the specifics on how to  join the party after the features below. ------------------------------------------------ Today I said sayonara to the laundry pile, turned my back on a stack of papers and blew a raspberry at my computer. I packed up the kids, a few of their friends, a basket full of sandwiches, and spent the day by the river. There's a lot to be said for taking it slow, doing it "the old fashioned way" and for simple pleasures... --------------------------------------------

Snow Cone Cupcakes!

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These nostalgia tickling treats combine my love of baking cupcakes in unusual containers and an unrequited childhood desire for a Snoopy Snow Cone Machine. They're easy to make and you don't need any special equipment. I think my favorite thing about this experiment was the discovery that the snow cone spoon/straws actually work as a spoon for eating the cupcake! Here's how to bake up your own batch of melt-free snow cones: Snow Cone Cupcakes (makes 1 dozen) Ingredients/Supplies 1 dozen snow cone cups 1 dozen snow cone spoons I found a kit at Target for $3.49 Your favorite cake recipe --or-- A pudding-free cake mix like Duncan Hines Classic Yellow (puddin-in-the-mix types are too moist for the paper cups) Vanilla Frosting Colored Sanding Sugars 2 bags of dried beans or rice Step 1:  Fill a standard cupcake pan with dried beans or rice.  Tightly cover pan with aluminum foil.  Poke the pointy end of each snow cone cu