Friday, February 25, 2011

Petite (or not so petite) Vanilla Bean Scones

I absolutely LOVE the mini vanilla bean scones from Starbucks, so I began my hunt for a recipe online to make my own.  That is when I found a great recipe from The Pioneer Woman called Petite Vanilla Bean Scones! 


Ingredients

  • SCONES
  • 3 cups All-purpose Flour
  • ⅔ cups Sugar
  • 5 teaspoons Baking Powder
  • ¼ teaspoons Salt
  • 2 sticks (1/2 Pound) UNSALTED Butter, Chilled
  • 1 whole Large Egg
  • ¾ cups Heavy Cream (I used 1 cup) 
  • 2 whole Vanilla Beans
  • GLAZE
  • 3 cups Powdered Sugar, Sifted
  • ½ cups Whole Milk
  • 1 whole Vanilla Bean
  • Dash Of Salt (I didn't use salt)

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Split the vanilla beans down the middle lengthwise and scrape out all the vanilla “caviar” inside. If you have not scraped the "caviar" out of vanilla beans before, I found it to be a little tricky. Oh and the vanilla beans come two in a jar and they are $6 a jar. OUCH!!!!  Stir caviar into cream. Set aside for 15 minutes.
Sift together flour, 2/3 cup sugar, baking powder, and salt.
Cut cold butter into pats, then use a pastry cutter or two knives to cut the butter into the flour. Keep going until mixture resembles crumbs.
Mix vanilla cream with egg, then combine with flour mixture; stir gently with a fork just until it comes together.
Turn dough onto a floured surface and lightly press it together until it forms a rough rectangle. (Mixture will be pretty crumbly.) Use a rolling pin to roll into a rectangle about 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch thick. Use your hands to help with the forming if necessary.
Use a knife to trim into a symmetrical rectangle (I didn't do this part), then cut the rectangle into 12 symmetrical squares/rectangles. Next, cut each square/rectangle in half diagonally, to form two triangles. I had a little trouble cutting the dough symmetrically because I ended up with more and they weren't so petite! Oh well the bigger the better, right?
Transfer to a parchment or baking mat-lined (I used a silpat mat and it worked GREAT) cookie sheet and bake for 18 minutes, removing from the oven just before they start to turn golden. Allow to cool for 15 minutes on the cookie sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
VANILLA GLAZE
To make the icing, split one vanilla bean in half lengthwise and scrape out the caviar. Stir caviar into milk; allow to sit for awhile. Mix powdered sugar with the vanilla milk, adding more powdered sugar or milk if necessary to get the consistency the right thickness. Stir or whisk until completely smooth.
One at a time, carefully dunk each cooled scone in the glaze, turning it over if necessary. Transfer to parchment paper or the cooling rack. Allow the glaze to set completely, about an hour. Scones will keep several days if glazed.
These were soooo scrumptious, many thanks to The Pioneer Woman for the recipe and your inspiration!

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Helpful Chore Tips for Your Kids!

I received this article in an email from Focus on the Family.  


Age-Appropriate Chores

Do you know which chores your child can do?

by Sheila Seifert

What chores are important for your children to learn, and what are they capable of doing?
First, recognize the difference between a chore (an ongoing task that benefits the household) and a life skill (an activity that children should know how to do before living on their own, such as managing a checking account). The following list does not include life skills. It is a list of chores.
Second, remember that every child matures at a different pace. Adjust this chart to what you know about your children's skills and talents, and realize that no child should do all of the chores listed below every day.
With those two qualifiers in mind, here are some general guidelines for personal and family chores. This list is only meant as a guide and reflects the types of chores that many children in these age ranges are capable of completing:

Ages 2 and 3

Personal chores
  • Assist in making their beds
  • Pick up playthings with your supervision
Family chores
  • Take their dirty laundry to the laundry basket
  • Fill a pet's water and food bowls (with supervision)
  • Help a parent clean up spills and dirt
  • Dust

Ages 4 and 5

Note: This age can be trained to use a family chore chart.
Personal chores
  • Get dressed with minimal parental help
  • Make their bed with minimal parental help
  • Bring their things from the car to the house
Family chores
  • Set the table with supervision
  • Clear the table with supervision
  • Help a parent prepare food
  • Help a parent carry in the lighter groceries
  • Match socks in the laundry
  • Answer the phone with parental assistance
  • Be responsible for a pet's food and water bowl
  • Hang up towels in the bathroom
  • Clean floors with a dry mop

Ages 6 and 7

Note: This age can be supervised to use a family chore chart.
Personal chores
  • Make their bed every day
  • Brush teeth
  • Comb hair
  • Choose the day's outfit and get dressed
  • Write thank you notes with supervision
Family chores
  • Be responsible for a pet's food, water and exercise
  • Vacuum individual rooms
  • Wet mop individual rooms
  • Fold laundry with supervision
  • Put their laundry in their drawers and closets
  • Put away dishes from the dishwasher
  • Help prepare food with supervision
  • Empty indoor trash cans
  • Answer the phone with supervision

Ages 8 to 11

Note: This age benefits from using a family chore chart.
Personal chores
  • Take care of personal hygiene
  • Keep bedroom clean
  • Be responsible for homework
  • Be responsible for belongings
  • Write thank you notes for gifts
  • Wake up using an alarm clock
Family chores
  • Wash dishes
  • Wash the family car with supervision
  • Prepare a few easy meals on their own
  • Clean the bathroom with supervision
  • Rake leaves
  • Learn to use the washer and dryer
  • Put all laundry away with supervision
  • Take the trash can to the curb for pick up
  • Test smoke alarms once a month with supervision
  • Screen phone calls using caller ID and answer when appropriate

Ages 12 and 13

Personal chores
  • Take care of personal hygiene, belongings and homework
  • Write invitations and thank you notes
  • Set their alarm clock
  • Maintain personal items, such as recharging batteries
  • Change bed sheets
  • Keep their rooms tidy and do a biannual deep cleaning
Family chores
  • Change light bulbs
  • Change the vacuum bag
  • Dust, vacuum, clean bathrooms and do dishes
  • Clean mirrors
  • Mow the lawn with supervision
  • Baby sit (in most states)
  • Prepare an occasional family meal

Ages 14 and 15

Personal chores
  • Responsible for all personal chores for ages 12 and 13
  • Responsible for library card and books
Family chores
  • Do assigned housework without prompting
  • Do yard work as needed
  • Baby sit
  • Prepare food — from making a grocery list and buying the items (with supervision) to serving a meal — occasionally
  • Wash windows with supervision

Ages 16 to 18

Personal chores
  • Responsible for all personal chores for ages 14 and 15
  • Responsible to earn spending money
  • Responsible for purchasing their own clothes
  • Responsible for maintaining any car they drive (e.g., gas, oil changes, tire pressure, etc.)
Family chores
  • Do housework as needed
  • Do yard work as needed
  • Prepare family meals — from grocery list to serving it — as needed
  • Deep cleaning of household appliances, such as defrosting the freezer, as needed

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Organizing IT!

 Well, I decided that my storage room needed another overhaul, so that is what I did today! I sorted through the "stuff".  I made 3 piles, 1. Keep, 2. Trash, & 3. Garage Sale!  I try and do one garage sale a year and it is getting close to the time of year for my sale, so my garage sale pile is pretty BIG!
 So this shelf is my solution to my problem.  It now stores my totes for gift bags, tissue paper, bows, boxes and my girls' keepsakes.  I have a hard time throwing out the many treasures that my kids create at school and church!  So, I take pictures of some of it and put it into a digital scrapbook and then I keep some of it as well!  Anyways, my shelf also stores the many baskets and organizational tools that I may "need".  Ironic that I need a shelf to store my empty organizational items!
Well, my passion is definitely in organizing! I definitely had fun doing this!  I know strange!  Thanks MIL for playing with my kids while I worked on my storage room!