Let It Snow

We had quite the winter storm over the weekend and we were quick to get outside and play.

Pink cheeks.

Snow angels.

We capped off the fun by making Snow Ice Cream with the freshly fallen snow.

We use this recipe but I add 10 cups of snow instead of 8.

You just have to love a recipe that lists cups of snow in the ingredients!

Sugar and Spice

Every year my incredible mother bakes individual gingerbread houses for each of her grandchildren to decorate. Here are our two beauties.

Now, I know that I am biased but I think my boys did a pretty amazing job.

And they smell wonderful!!

Thank you Mom!!

Gingerbread Lane

Tiny gingerbread chickens with poppy seed chicken feed!

A tropical gingerbread island on a blue hard candy sea.

What a completely fabulous idea.

The Charlie Brown house complete with sad little Christmas tree.

The Grinch down in Whoville.

The Franklin Park Conservatory, which just happens to be one of my favorite places to visit, holds a gingerbread house competition every year. They have several catagories-youth, teen, adult, etc. The last one of the Worthington Inn is my favorite. It looks exactly like the real one, flowers and all!

Games and Prizes

My little H turned 6 last week on Thanksgiving day. The day before we took him to Chuck E. Cheese to celebrate. While it may not be my favorite place, it is a child's paradise. We played games and H got to ride lots of silly little rides that don't really go anywhere. I got to play skee ball, my favorite even though I lost terribly. Then we cashed in our tickets for prizes-stickers, Tootsie Pops and one pair of green, plastic vampire teeth. We capped off the day with cinnamon rolls fresh from the oven.

Sweet Potato Fries

It is quite a challenge to get my boys to eat vegetables. So when I saw a bag of frozen sweet potato fries at the grocery store, I decided to try them. I hopped on the computer and found this wonderful recipe from the Neelys. I made several alterations so I thought I'd write my version out here.

1 bag of frozen sweet potato french fries

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1/2 teaspoon of salt

2 tablespoons of brown sugar

Mix the olive oil, paprika and cinnamon in a large bowl. Add the frozen fries and toss to coat. Place on a foil lined baking sheet. Mix brown sugar and salt together and sprinkle generously over fries. (It's a lot of sugar but it tastes really good). Bake according to package directions (usually about 30 minutes) turning every 10 minutes. The turning is important. Once they are done, broil on high for just a few minutes to help them get a bit crisp. Remove from the oven and let cool for just a few minutes. Then, gobble them up warm because the deliciousness fades as they cool.

Oh my, are these good. And the big bonus? My kids LOVED them.

Hooray!!!

Photo via: FoodNetwork