Homemade Playdough

My mom used to make homemade play dough a lot when I was a kid. I think the funnest part was helping her make it because it seemed like we were helping her bake but then afterwards we actually got to play with our creation. It is very easy to make, a lot less expensive, and if they sneak the occasional "nibble" that the ingredients are edible. I will often store the homemade playdough in old brand named "Playdough" containers so the kids won't really know the difference.

Ingredients:

2 cups flour
¼ cup salt
1 ½ teaspoons cream of tarter
1 pkg. Lime Kool-aid (use different flavors to make the color you want)
1 cup boiling water
1 ½ Tablespoons cooking oil

Method:

Mix all dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Add water and oil. Stir quickly.

Pour out on a clean surface. Knead until well blended and not sticky. You may need to add flour as you knead! Let cool and store in an air-tight container.

Homemade Marshmallows

For my neighbor girl was having a Purple themed birthday party and really wanted purple colored marshmallows to dip in their chocolate fountain. So for her birthday present I made her some homemade "purple-colored" marshmallows. They were actually pretty easy to make and tasted "out-of-this-world." You could also experiment with cutting out different shapes other than regular squares.

Ingredients:
675 g (1 1/2 lbs) granulated sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp liquid glucose

14 gelatine leaves

3 medium egg whites

vegetable oil

icing sugar (powdered sugar) for dusting

corn flour (corn starch) for dusting

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

food coloring (opt)

Method:

Put the sugar, glucose, and 200 ml (7 fl oz) water in a heavy-based saucepan. Add a sugar thermometer. Bring to a boil and cook until it reaches 127 C/260F.

Meanwhile, soak the gelatine in 150 ml (5 fl oz) cold water and beat the egg whites until stiff. Lightly oil a shallow baking tray (9x13" pan). Dust it with sieved icing sugar and corn flour.

When the syrup is up to temperature, carefully slide in the softened gelatine sheets adn their soaking water. The syrup will bubble up, so take care not to burn yourself.

Pour the syrup into a metal or high-heat capable jug.

Continue to beat the egg whites with an electric whisk while pouring in the hot syrup from the jug. Do this very slowly, or the heat will cook the egg whites too much. The mixture will become shiny and start to thicken.

Add the vanilla extract and continue whisking for about 5-10 minutes, until the mixture is thick enough to hold its shape on the whisk.

Spoon the mixture into the prepared baking tray, and smooth it with a wet palette knife if necessary. Leave for at least an hour to set.

Dust the work surface with more icing sugar and cornflour. Loosen the marshmallow around the sides of the tray with a palette knife, then turn it out on to the dusted surface.

Cut into squares and roll in the sugar and cornflour. Leave to dry a little on a wire rack, then pack into an airtight box or jar.

Dry Mix "Good Seasons" Italian Dressing Clone

This is a new recipe I found for the "Good Seasons" Italian Dressing mix and it is more like the real deal. I actually tripled the recipe and stored it in an air-tight container. I've tried it out in my Angel Chicken Pasta and it was great. Yes, it's a little time intensive with the drying out of the carrots and peppers, but all of these ingredients do seem to line up with what is really in the mix packets. Remember that 2 Tbsp of dry mix is equivalent to one 0.7oz packet when adding to recipes!

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon carrot, grated and finely-chopped
1 teaspoon red bell pepper, finely-minced
3/4 teaspoon McCormick lemon pepper
1/8 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
1 teaspoon salt or salt substitute
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
2 teaspoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoons dry pectin
1 pinch ground oregano

Dressing:
1/4 cup vinegar
3 tablespoons water
1/2 cup oil

Method:
Place the carrot and bell pepper on a baking pan in an oven set on 250 degrees for 45 to 60 minutes, or until all of the small pieces are completely dry, but not browned. Combine the dried carrot and bell pepper with the other ingredients in a small bowl. The mix can be stored in a sealed container indefinitely until needed.

When ready to use for dressing, pour 1/4 cup of vinegar into a jar. Add 3 tablespoons of water, then add the dressing mix. Seal and shake vigorously.

***Note: Remember to multiply your recipe if you want extra for storing.

Zesty BBQ Sauce

I remember back to my childhood when my mom used to make homemade BBQ sauce loaded with ketchup, Worchestershire sauce, onions and some other secret ingredients. Craving a good BBQ sauce to use myself I turned to my trusty Betty Crocker Cookbook. It is great...better than anything you can buy in a jar or bottle! Plus, you can make as much or little as you want when you make it from scratch so no half full bottles of the other stuff just sitting around in your fridge.

Yields: 1 cup of sauce

Ingredients:

1/2 cup ketchup

3 Tbsp white vinegar

2 Tbsp chopped onion

1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

2 tsp packed brown sugar

1/4 tsp ground mustard

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

Method:

Heat all ingredients to boiling in 1-quart saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly; reduce heat. Simmer uncovered 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

****Other recipes that use this sauce:

• BBQ Chicken Stromboli
• Grilled BBQ Chicken
• BBQ Chicken Sandwiches (crockpot)
• Chicken Wings

Homemade Applesauce

My mom used to make homemade applesauce all the time when I was a kid and freeze a year's supply. We can't get the big jars of applesauce here in the UK like in the US so when British apples go on sale in the fall it's great to make up a batch of homemade sauce. I love to eat it warm right after it's cooked. I keep some refrigerated for a few days but the rest of it I freeze in small containers.

Ingredients:

8 medium cooking apples, peeled and cut up into fourths

1 cup water

1/2 cup brown sugar or 6-8 Tbsp granulated sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

Makes 6 cups

Peel apples.

Core the apples and cut into quarters or you can use a special tool that does both for you.

Put apples in large pot and add water. I also add the brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg, but you can also wait to add them after you cook the apples if you want to add to taste.

Heat apples and water to a boil over medium heat and stir occasionally. Reduce and simmer uncovered for 5 - 10 minutes until apples soften. Use a masher to smash up the apples and simmer for another 1-2 minutes. (You can add cinnamon, sugar, and nutmeg now if you didn't earlier.)

For chunkier apple sauce, leave as is. If you like a smoother consistency, allow mashed apples to cool slightly and then puree in a blender.

Homemade Pumpkin Puree

One thing that is hard to find in the UK is canned pumpkin. In the States it is a staple for the Halloween and Thanksgiving holidays for us to make pumpkin bars, pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie, pumpkin strudel and so much more. Halloween is celebrated it is not as popular as in the States, but the holiday's popularity is growing so fresh pumpkins are available at the end of October. My mom was over from the States last year during Halloween, so she taught me how to make homemade pumpkin puree so that I could make my holiday favorites.

First, you wash the outside of the pumpkins to remove any dirt from sitting your pumpkin outside for the past few weeks. Next with a HUGE knife, cut the pumpkin in half, empty out the seeds and gunk. Lay the pumpkins cut side down in a large baking dish with a bit of water. Bake the pumpkin for about an hour at 350F.

Once it's done you'll really start to smell the yummy pumpkin smell and you can poke your fingers (carefully - it's really hot) in the side of the pumpkin and it will feel soft. Once you take it out it may deflate like this one...it's pretty cool to see it shrink!

Once the pumpkin cools down a bit, start scraping out the cooked pumpkin into a blender and let 'er rip!!!

Next measure out amounts that you would typically use in a recipe into freezer bags. A can of pumpkin is now about 15 oz so that is 1 2/3 cups. Most recipes call for 2 cups of pumpkin because cans used to hold 16 oz (2 cups). According to my Betty Crocker Cookbook with fresh pumpkin you don't need the full two cups I guess since it is more "liquidy."

Lastly you seal it with a smile and let cool in the fridge before you put it in the freezer. My large pumpkin yielded about 5 bags (1 2/3 cups) and the small pumpkin gave me 3 bags (1 2/3 cups).

Homemade Marshmallow Cream

Living overseas has created many moments that I have been unable to find some prepackaged ingredients to make some simple recipes. One day I was really wanting to make that fruit dip that you mix a jar of marshmallow cream with a container of cream cheese. I couldn't find marshmallow cream in any of the stores so I searched out a recipe to make it from scratch that tastes great and you can freeze it for future use. The best thing about this recipe is that I know exactly what is going it. I've used the disposable plastic containers to measure out what I would need for a recipe of fruit dip or other recipes I like using the cream and stick it in the freezer for up to a year. Enjoy!

Homemade Marshmallow Cream

(Yields: 2 cups)

3/4 egg white
1/2 cup white corn syrup (1/2 sugar + 2 Tbsp of water if you don't have corn syrup)
1/8 tsp of salt
1/2 powdered sugar or icing sugar
3/4 tsp vanilla extract

Combine egg white, corn syrup, and salt. Beat with mixer on high for 10 minutes or until thick. Add icing sugar and beat on low until blended. Beat in vanilla until blended. Use in any recipe that calls for marshmallow cream. This recipe yields 2 cups and the cream can be frozen if you don't need all that you make up.