Easy to enter cooking competition

This really cool competition from "Love With Food" is very easy to enter - simply choose a photo of you or your child cooking, or alternatively a photo of a meal you've prepared. Here's the link for the competition:

http://on.fb.me/Cooking4FamilyPhotoContest

The prize is an autographed cookbook, "Family Meal" by Tyler Florence. Subtitled with the great sentence "Bringing People Together Never Tasted Better", Tyler's cookbook is all about fresh, local food cooked in a simple yet delicious style. Ideal for beginners and seasons chefs alike!

The competition closes on December 5th, so be sure to enter as soon as you have found a cute or interesting photo to submit!

UK update a bit about Valentine's Day and Kids.

Well it is about that time again, time to post an update on my ticker for my trip to the UK, but I will leave that until the end.

Wow can you believe it is Valentine's Day tomorrow. That special day when love is in the air if you are a couple and if you are not well maybe not so much. Don't let that keep you from celebrating the day because you are not with that special someone. When I was a single parent I still enjoyed Valentine's Day because I would celebrate it with my children. We would order in or we would work together to cook something really special for dinner and we would always have an ooey gooey chocolate cake for dessert. After that we would cuddle on the couch together and watch a movie. I have many fond memories of the time we spent together and even now my hubby and I may go out to dinner but we always bring home a cake to share with the kids later, it is tradition.

All children need to feel that they are special and you really want to spend time with them. In our hurried lives we often make everything else a priority and now is the time to change that. Make Valentine's Day for the kids you will be making some wonderful memories and also helping to build your child's self esteem, how awesome is that!!!

Happy almost Valentine's Day

Now for the ticker update







Monicka

Christmas Cooking With Your Kids

Christmas is a special holiday for families to spend quality time together, and making Christmas goodies can be a good excuse to get the kids away from the computer and video games, and a chance for you and your children to bond. Let your older kids create this beautiful Christmas Wreath that is totally edible that requires hardly any work and the results are soooooooo yummy!! You even let your toddlers in on the fun by having them help to decorate the wreath with cherries.

FUDGE WREATH
12 oz. semi sweet chocolate chips
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 c. walnuts, chopped
Red and Green Maraschino cherry halves (for decorating wreath)
Walnut halves to form a circle on plate

In double boiler,or heavy saucepan combine chocolate chips and milk. Stir over low-medium heat until melted and thick do not bring to a boil. Take off heat; add chopped walnuts and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and stir. Cover with tin foil and set in refrigerator for 1 hour. Place walnuts halves in circle on plate. Spoon fudge on plate to form a wreath. Fudge should not be smooth. Add cherries around wreath in threes to form berries.

To make in a microwave oven, use glass microwave safe bowl with microwave on high for 1 1/2=2 minutes minutes, stir, microwave 30 seconds longer if needed, then follow directions for stove top method.

Enjoy!!!
Happy Holidays,

Monicka