peanut butter birds nests.

soo... my mom decided to get all creative and stuff for Easter. Therefore, we made these adorable little birds nests. and she really wanted to put it on pinterest (seriously, not joking), so here it is!

We used my mom's peanut butter rice crispy recipe (a million times better than regular rice crispy treats) and added in a few broken pretzel sticks.

First, you'll need these ingredients:

1 cup sugar
1 cup karo syrup
1 cup peanut butter
lots of rice crispies cereal
pretzel sticks

Add together the sugar, karo, and peanut butter in a  large pan on the stove.

turn on the heat to melt it all together.

 (this is an inbetween picture.) stir it a little bit.

until it looks like this:

don't let it get all the way to boiling. at this point, take it off the heat, and add rice crispies until it's the consistency you like it. also stir in a few broken pretzel sticks so that it looks more bird-nest-like.

using an large ice cream scooper, put mixture on wax paper, and press down the inside to form the nest. do this quickly, because the mixture drys pretty fast.

we broke more pretzels and stuck them on the outside of the nests, also.

let them cook for a few minutes, then add a couple Whoppers Robins Eggs.

then add Peeps!

and there you go! adorable, edible nests!

One batch made 13 nests, but that would vary depending on your ice cream scoop size!

no-bake cookies.

sooo... I was thinking during church about Zach, and how I really miss his no-bake cookies (the only food he would make, that is) so I decided to come home and make them! First, let me tell you, I've tasted a lot of no-bake cookies in my day, and nothing beats the ones that Zach would make. Well, enough bragging about my brother's limited baking skills, I'm here to share the best recipe for no-bake cookies ever!

It's from an old (I mean OLD) ward cookbook!

No-Bake Cookies

2 c. sugar

2 T. cocoa

1 cube margarine

1/2 c. milk

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 c. peanut better

3 c. quick oats

Pretty simple huh?

1. gather all of your ingredients and tools:

On top of the ingredients themselves, you'll also need measuring cups and spoons, stirring utensils, and a large pot.

2. Lay out your wax paper
(do it now, because when the cookies are done, they dry pretty quickly and you don't want to be stuck still trying to get out wax paper)

3. Measure out all your ingredients (but don't add them together)

 4. Add your sugar, cocoa, margarine and milk into the pot. turn the heat of a setting somewhere between medium and high (on my stove it was at 7). bring this to a hard boil for 90 seconds... NO LONGER. I stirred it occasionally.

after the 90 seconds, it should be a very very dark brown liquid. (I forgot to take a picture of this step)

5. Take off heat. Add vanilla. Give it a quick stir. Then add peanut butter and quick oats. Stir until it looks something like this:

6. Using a spoon, drop mixture onto the wax paper... you can do any size you want! you can also use cookie cutters, but remember that you have to wait until the cookies are cool to take off the cutters. Also, don't forget that this mixture will harden pretty quickly... don't leave it sitting on the counter in the pot while you go watch TV!

I used a BYU cookie cutter for one cookie, and a USA cookie cutter for another... other than that, I just used a spoon to drop the cookies on the wax paper!

7. Let cool for a few minutes, then enjoy!

*the whole process took about 20 minutes, and made about 26 cookies (amount of cookies would vary by how big you make them, however!)

These cookies just reminded me of Zach... not to mention that they were delicious!!

Sincerely,

Erica Michelle

mutual crafts.

sooo... i know i might have complained about the ward change... but since the wards all split, we have had fantastic activities!!
Here are the last few!

making paper ornaments:

 the cut out paper (sister thun had a paper stamp thing...)

 fold them in have so the edges match.

 glue them together so the edges match.

 add a string before you put in the last paper circle, and walah!


Dipping Caramels, Making Truffles.

 caramels on the left, mint truffles on the right.

 dipping chocolate! (melted in a saucepan)

 learning how to dip!

 i love my young women(:

 ...because they're messy...

 

 

 

 the chocolates on wax paper drying!

Super Easy Mint Truffles.

 Recipe (Sister Armstrong's)

1 1/2 pounds dipping chocolate (lyndt, etc.)

1 cup cream

4 or 5 drops peppermint oil

In one saucepan, melt chocolate completely, do not let it burn. In second saucepan, heat up cream. In bowl, blend together chocolate and cream, then add peppermint oil. pour into 9x9 buttered pan. let cool in refriderator for at least 5 hours. (a day or two is even better!)

Sunday lesson.

so, i was in charge of teaching the {entire} lesson on sunday... this was my handout!! best quote ever.

Sincerely,
Erica