Life is Sweet: Dec 1, 2009

Dec 1, 2009

Sams rice krispy house.....

Well....the local store didn't have Rice Krispies, so we went with cheerios ;) But the effect was the same!

This was one of the activities at Sams Pre-K Christmas party today!! He had soooooo much fun - and came home really happy - one of the highlights was that the teacher taught him to curl ribbon with a pair of scissors :) He thought that was the BEST!!!! :)

See what I mean?????

Kitty/ Boots was VERY patient and let Sam tape a 'superhero' cape to him this afternoon!

The rule in this house - don't sit still for long or Sam will tape you up ;)

Sams plane.....

Sam is sooooo much like his big brother Laurence!! He loves to build with bricks and blocks and

K-nex!!

Laurence helped Sam build this huge aeroplane out of K-nex at the weekend, and then Sam transformed it with duct tape!! Sam's other obsession is TAPE!! He gets through rolls and rolls of gift wrapping tape/ selotape, masking tape and duct tape!!! He uses it for all his little 'projects'!!

He is hoping this plane will fly when he throws it out of an upstairs window (his plan) but he wanted to take it to Pre-K first for 'toy share' time.....he was sooooo proud of his plane and was telling everyone there about it! I must admit that the dads waiting there were VERY interested in Sams plane lol and thought it was cool - the Moms and teachers probably thought Sam was a little nuts ;)

Must be a guy thing ;)

More cat love.....

After (Christmas) tree climbing all day, Kitty curled up with his best friend Grayson for a nap......

Day 1 - Christmas album!!

I'm doing a blend of JYC and December Daily.....I just want my album to be a record of our Holiday season 2009. The point of the album is to NOT feel stressed about having to keep up or have it perfect - it's simply to record your memories and get a little creative during the rush of December and the Holidays!!

MY Banoffee pie ;)

So here are pictures of MY banoffee pie! A layer of base made from crushed cookies and melted butter. Then a layer of caramel made from boiled condensed milk (I would have used 2 cans if I had had them because I made a BIG tray of this).

Then a layer of banana (I used 4)

Then a layer of whipped cream.

Then grated chocolate all over the top :)

It was a BIG hit for dessert tonight!!!! If I had to say anything bad about it, I would say that the layer of caramel wasn't thick enough - because I only used one can and then made a bigger tray of pie. I should have used two cans to have a thick enough layer.

Mind you, having a thinner layer of caramel made it a less sickly pie!!

We have another half of the tray for dessert tomorrow :) Perfect!!!

Loving this!!!

Doesn't he sound like Jason Mraz? I heard it on EZ Rock!! I'm just loving the Christmas music they are playing :) You can't fail to be in a good mood when listening to Christmas music :)

Banoffee Pie - recipe!!

Ingredients

Tin (~400g) of condensed milk (NOT evaporated milk!)
Three large bananas
One packet of McVities Chocolate Hob-Nobs (or similar-digestives will do)
Half-pint of double cream, or whipping cream
2 tablespoons margarine (or butter)

Method

Crush the biscuits in a freezer bag with a rolling pin until they are reduced to crumbs. Gently heat some margarine in a saucepan until liquid (or just leave some out at room temperature to soften). Pour crumbs and liquid/soft margarine and mix in with the crumbs until they start to bind together. Transfer the biscuit crumbs to a round dish (a large Pyrex dish is good) and pat with a spoon so that they cover the base. Place in the fridge to set. Put the tin of condensed milk in a pan of boiling water (NB- don't open the tin first!) and allow to boil for 2 hours . You should put a lid on the pan to prevent all the water boiling off. When done, remove the tin and leave to cool a little (you could pour cold water on it to cool the outside). When cool enough to handle, open the tin carefully - the condensed milk will have caramelised and may well shoot out the opening. Pour/spoon the toffee from the tin onto the biscuit base of the Pyrex dish. Place back in the fridge to cool. Slice the bananas and arrange them on top of the toffee. Whip the cream until peaking, then fold on top and smooth out. Dust with chocolate powder for effect. Keep in the fridge until needed, covered with cling-film.

Tips

You may want to make the biscuit base with a lip (a bit like a flan or pavlova). Start the condensed milk boiling, then do the base. Have a rest for a while, then pour out the toffee and start on the cream and bananas. Serve cut into wedges in a bowl.

Apologies but I don't remember where I found this recipe online!!! Thanks to whoever wrote it :) The image at the top is NOT my pie - I'll post pics of mine later ;)

Baking fest....

We have a bit of a baking fest going on today! It's Sams last day at PreK before Christmas - he has his Christmas party today and they are decorating rice krispy houses!!! I can't wait to see what he does with his :)

After dropping him, gifts for the teachers, fruit loops for the craft, his lunch, backpack, AND the giant duct-tapes K-nex plane that he chose to take for toy share time, Abby and I headed to Save On to pick up some supplies for todays baking! Abby requested that we cook all day!

Firstly we got dinner in the crockpot - chicken pot roast in a yummy gravy.....

Then we made some pumpkin squares (a packet mix from Costco)....

Then we made the base for Banoffee Pie.....and we have a can of condensed milk boiling on the stove - turning it to caramel ready for the pie!!!! YUM!!!

Then Abby made cupcakes which are in the top oven right now!!

It smells GOOD here :)

I had Banoffee Pie years ago at an old boyfriends parents house - and fell in love with it! In fact the pie was MUCH nicer than the boyfriend ;) I made it a couple of times back then....but then forgot all about it!!

Last week I heard it mentioned again and thought I HAVE TO MAKE THIS!!! So today is the day :)

I found a recipe online and it seems easy - except I don't remember boiling the can for two hours last time!!! I will post the recipe next!!! I will also add pictures later ;)