Tales of a Crafty Mommy

I originally intended this dish for my daughter thinking she would like the idea of eating 'jungle cakes.' We've been talking about jungles for a couple of days, so I figured this would be a good dish to make in light of our conversations.  She had a fun time helping rinse the spinach leaves and cutting them up with her fingers so I could puree it in the blender. I gave her and her brother some to try. They both had the cutest green faces! (wish I had gotten a picture of that!)   You see, spinach is one of my personal favorite vegetables. My Grandma' used to make it for me all the time when I was growing up. I really want my children to like it too. I guess it's work in process, right?  My sweet little boy, on the other hand, had a blast eating this dish. I mashed a little bit (it turned as a really smooth texture) and put some on his tray. He did great feeding himself.   So one child loved it and the other one hated it. Either way, I had fun making this

My husband and I are both huge fans of our pressure cooker. We use it for cooking beans, some meat dishes, and now to make chicken stock.   Here's what we did.  Ingredients:  (yields 1 gallon / 4 liters) 1 tray of drumsticks (family size) 1 bunch of leeks 2 carrots  Mrs. Dash 1 head of garlic  2 onions (we used white onions) Thyme Salt and Pepper  1 green apple  Steps:  Using extra virgin olive oil, sauteed carrots and onions.  Add chicken and season with Mrs. Dash  Add leeks, thyme Add enough water to cover all the ingredients Seal in pressure cooker and let it cook on high for about 50 minutes. Take off lid, add more water or salt if necessary.  Slice an apple and cook it with the chicken stock Continue cooking everything down for another 45 minutes.  Once everything is cooked and desired consistency is reached, drain stock onto cheesecloth.  Hope this recipe is useful to you!  Do you make your own stocking? How do you make it?  ~ F

This Strawberry Chocolate Napoleon dessert has got to be one of my favorites. MMm chocolates, strawberries, and cream. Perfect. Combination!  The best part is that I get to share this recipe with you! Ingredients: Mascarpone Fresh Strawberries Puff Pastry Sheets Heavy Whipping Cream Confectioner's Sugar Fresh Vanilla Beans Steps: Prepare puff pastry according to instructions on the box. Rinse and slice strawberries Make a mixture of mascarpone, heavy whipping cream, confectioner's sugar, and vanilla beans. Once the pastry sheets have cooled,  prepare the napoleon in layers.  Each layer consists of puff pastry, with sliced strawberries, and cream mixture. Then start a new layer following the same steps.  Drizzle some chocolate sauce.  Enjoy!