Caesar Dip

1 package (8-oz) cream cheese, softened
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup Caesar dressing
1 cup chopped romaine lettuce
1/2 cup Caesar croutons

• Beat cream cheese, Parmesan cheese and dressing with electric mixer until well blended.
• Spread onto bottom of 9-inch pie plate; top with lettuce and croutons.
• Serve with crackers.
  

Whole Wheat Cinnamon Rolls

We got this out of an old Family Fun magazine. We were almost out of bread-flour and were looking for an alternative recipe. I still like my cinnabon-clone recipe better, but this one is good if you want to use whole wheat.

For the dough:
1 cup milk
1/4 cup sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1-1/2 cups bread flour
1 package or 2-1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
1 large egg, beaten

For the filling:
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1 tablespoon cinnamon

1. Combine the milk, sugar, salt and butter in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high until it's hot (about 1-1/2 to 2 minutes). Set it aside and allow the butter to melt and the mixture to cool until it's just warm.
2. In a large mixing bowl, use a wooden spoon to combine the flours, then stir in the yeast. Stir the egg into the milk mixture, then stir the milk mixture into the flours. Continue stirring until the mixture forms a soft dough.
3. Transfer the dough onto a floured surface. Sprinkle it with more flour and pat into an oval shape. Fold the dough in half and knead it. Give a quarter turn and repeat. Keep kneading, sprinkling with flour when necessary, until the dough is smooth, not sticky and elastic (it should bounce back when poked), about 10 minutes.
4. Oil a clean bowl, add the dough, turn to coat it with the oil. Cover the bowl with a damp cloth, place it in a warm spot and let it rise until it has doubled (about 45minutes to an hour).
5. Make the filling. Combine the soft butter, brown sugar and cinnamon with a fork until well blended.
6. Grease a 9x13-inch pan and set it aside. Transfer the dough to a floured surface and sprinkle it lightly with flour. Roll it out with a floured rolling pin into a 12x16-inch rectangle.
7. Using your fingers, spread the filling over the dough, leaving a 1-inch strip uncovered at one of the short ends. Beginning at the opposite end, roll up the dough to make a cylinder. Pinch the ends and the seam closed with your fingers.
8. Using a serrated knife, cut the cylinder into 12 rounds. Place each in the prepared pan. cover the pan with a damp towel and let the rolls rise 45 minutes.
9. Heat the oven to 375. Bake the rolls until light brown, about 18-20 minutes. Allow them to cool in the pan on a rack for 15 minutes.
10. Frost using your favorite glaze or cream cheese frosting.
    

Coconut Cream Pie

Emerson really wanted me to make a coconut cream pie for his birthday. I found a recipe on allrecipes and I think it turned out great.

3 cups half-and-half
2 eggs
3/4 cups white sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup flaked coconut, toasted
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 (9-inch) pie shell, baked (we almost forgot to do this)
1 cup frozen whipped topping, thawed

1. In a medium saucepan, combine half-and-half, eggs, sugar, flour and salt. Bring to a boil over low heat, stirring constantly.
   
2. Remove from heat, and stir in 3/4 cups of the coconut and the vanilla. Pour into pie shell and chill 2-4 hours or until firm. (We chilled our's overnight)
3. Top with whipped topping and the remaining coconut.

To toast coconut: Spread it in an ungreased baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 5-7 minutes or until golden brown, stirring occasionally.

Glitter Candles

Materials:
candle
double-sided tape
glitter (any color you want)

• Cover the entire candle with double sided tape. If you want to get fancy you could so stripes instead. We kept it simple since 4-year-olds were making the candles.
• Put candle on a surface like a shoe-box lid that can catch excess glitter. Sprinkle glitter all over the tape. Shake all the loose glitter off. We used Christmas colors, but you can use whatever colors you want.
  
• Display or give as a gift.