8th Annual New Year's Eve Family Party

 

Our 8th Annual New Year's Eve Party is ready! 

Each balloon is marked with a time. The kids take turns popping the balloon to see what activity is inside. This keeps us busy the whole day! The activities are listed below. 

This year we decided to build our own ball drop. Using Little Bits, I was able to construct a ball drop that moves on its own. 

I added a fan and a light circuit as well as an added touch. To make the ball move, I ran a piece of thread through the sytrofoam ball and brought both ends up through the top of the box. I connected that thread to the servo little bit and when the arm moves up and down behind the box, the styrofoam ball does as well. 

Activities: 

9:00 AM: Eat a stack of pancakes: France

12:00 PM: Make Rice pudding with a hidden almond: Norway

1:00: Put on your red underwear: Italy

3:00: Burn the bad--Have a campfire

4:00: Find round things to eat/wear/carry coins in your pockets: Philippines 

5:00: Jump off chairs: Denmark

6:00: Run around the house with empty luggage: Puerto Rico/Colombia

7:00: Make a marzipan pig

8:00: Open red envelopes: China

9:00: Family friendly fireworks--sparklers: Australia

10:00 Open the front door and sprinkle salt-Turkey

11:00: Eat 12 grapes: Spain

Cotton candy "champagne" toast 1:10

Make resolution board: 1:17

Puppy chow: 2:20

Cookie clocks: 3:21

Spa Masks: 4:10

Confetti slime: 4:45

Concession stand: 5:!0

Do New Year's questions: 5:22

Cheese bread: 5:35

Fireworks in a jar: 6:14

Milk Experiment: 6:25

Ping Pong Game: 6:43

Fire ice cream: 7:07

Play Blackjack: 7:36

Balloon cup game: 8:08

Make Pretzels: 8:45

One Word Painting: 9:24

Ivory Soap challenge: 9:45

Elephant toothpaste: 10:08

Photo Shoot: 10:35

Streamer ball: 11:05

Glow ring toss: 11:32

Baked Apple Fritters

 Ingredients:

1 roll of Grands biscuits

2 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1 cup diced and peeled apples

2 Tbsp butter, Melted

Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

1/4 tsp vanilla

4 tsp milk

Cut each biscuit into 8-10 pieces. Add biscuit pieces to a bowl with the sugar, cinnamon, and apples. Stir together. 

Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Separate the dough into 12 apple fritters. Put melted butter on the top of each fritter. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-17 minutes. 

While the fritters are baking, make the glaze. Mix the powdered sugar, vanilla, and milk in a bowl. Pour the glaze on the fritters when they are done baking. 

Outdoor Halloween Scavenger Hunt

I found some Scavenger Hunt clues on Pinterest for this Outdoor Scavenger Hunt. The props either came from Dollar General or were things I already had in my Halloween decorations. I did not use all of the clues from the website because I didn't have all of the supplies, but here is a link to all of them: https://www.scavenger-hunt-fun.com/halloween-clue-hunt.html

The kids took flashlights and lanterns and did this in the dark. 

Clue 1: 

I put the next clue and a key in a separate bag that was placed inside of a bag of slime. 

Clue #2: They say that bats come out at night

But don't be overcome with fright

A bat hangs in the shed somewhere

And your next clue is hidden there

Clue #3

Clue #4

Clue #5

Clue #6

Look on the yard, look all around

Or your next clue will not be found

Beware the woman dressed in black

Your clue is hidden in her hat

Clue #7

I had cauldrons of treats waiting for them inside. 

A Book, a Cake, and a Craft Celebration

Rachel has loved all of the Jan Thomas books since she was a toddler. Four years ago, we realized that one of the books featured a birthday party for one of the characters. We decided it would be a fun tradition to celebrate the birthday every year with a cake and a craft. This year we made turnip tissue paper crafts with the book and cake.

Taco Bell Enchirito Copycat Recipe

 

Ingredients: 

1 pound hamburger

1/4 cup flour

1 Tbsp chili powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp dried, minced onion

1/2 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp onion powder

pinch garlic powder

2/3 cup water

1 can refried beans (although I didn't use the whole can)

soft shell tortillas

1/4 onion, diced

1 can enchilada sauce

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Mix the flour and seasoning together in a bowl. Add the hamburger.

 Mix the two together with your hands. 

Brown the hamburger mixture with the 2/3 cup water. Cook until the meat is fully cooked. It does resemble the paste-like meat mixture you will recognize from Taco Bell. 

I warmed up the refried beans in the microwave. Then scoop a layer of beans on your shell. Add a layer of the cooked meat and top with diced onions. Roll the shell and place in a baking pan. Fill the shells until your meat mixture is gone. Top with the enchilada sauce and cheddar cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for about 8-10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted. 

Pumpkin Bundt Cake with Cinnamon Glaze

 For National Pumpkin Day, David and I decided to try a new recipe from the website Just So Tasty. We added our own glaze to the original.  

Ingredients: 

2 1/2 cups flour
1 Tbsp pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup canola oil
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla
3 eggs
 1 15 oz can pumpkin

Glaze: 

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla

2-3 Tbsp milk or coffee creamer

Put the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Whisk together. 

In a separate bowl, mix the canola oil, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, eggs, and pumpkin. Use a hand mixer until smooth. Add the dry ingredients 1/2 cup at a time until mixed fully. 

Pour in a greased and floured Bundt pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 55 minutes. 

Mix the glaze ingredients in a bowl and spread over the cake after it has cooled about 10 minutes. 

Chocolate Cupcakes with Cream Filling

 

For National Chocolate Cupcake Day, we decided to make some special chocolate cupcakes. 

Ingredients: 

1 box of chocolate cake mix plus the eggs, oil, and water to make the cupcakes

Cream filling: 

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/3 cup water

2 egg whites

1/4 tsp cream of tarter

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

Ganache

1 cup chocolate chips

1/4 cup heavy cream

I started by making a batch of box chocolate cupcakes. Take them out of the pan and let them cool on a wire rack. 

Meanwhile, make the filling. 

In a metal bowl, mix the sugar, egg whites, water, cream of tarter, and salt. Place the bowl on top of a small saucepan that has a small layer of boiling water. Make sure the water doesn't touch the bowl with the sugar mixture. Using a hand mixer, beat the sugar mixture for about 7 minutes. The water should continue simmering while you are mixing the sugar mixture. When the mixture gets glossy, pull it off the heat and add the vanilla. Beat for about 2 more minutes. 

Core out the center of the cupcakes. I put the cream filling in a Ziploc bag and cut the tip off the bag. Squeeze the filling into the centers of the cupcake. Top with the tips of the cored pieces of the centers. 

To make the ganache, I just put the chocolate chips and cream in a bowl and heated it in the microwave for 30 second intervals until it was melted. Dip the cupcakes into the ganache. Then use the remaining cream filling to put swirls on top. 

Pumpkin Coffee Cake

 

Ingredients: 

Streusel Topping: 

1/4 cup melted butter

2/3 cup flour

3 Tbsp brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Cake: 

1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp ginger

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/3 cup oil

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt (or sour cream)

1 cup can pumpkin

Optional Glaze:

1 Tbsp milk

2/3 cup powdered sugar

Mix the flour, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a small bowl. In a separate bowl, beat the oil, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, yogurt, and pumpkin. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix with a spatula. 

Pour into a greased 8x8 inch pan. In a small bowl, combine the streusel ingredients, mixing with a fork. 

Put the streusel on top of the cake and bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes, or until the middle is set. 

You can top with the optional glaze if you would like. We ate it without the glaze, but that would be a nice addition. 

Air Fryer Potato Wedges

 

Ingredients: 

5-6 Russet potatoes cut into wedges

3 Tbsp olive oil

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp parsley

1 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp pepper

Put the potatoes in a large bowl. Add the olive oil, chili powder, paprika, parsley, sea salt, and pepper. 

Stir until the potatoes are evenly coated.

Put half of the wedges in a 400 degree preheated air fryer for 10 minutes. Shake them after 10 minutes. Cook for another 4 minutes. Repeat with the second batch. 

Pumpkin Bread

This is such a delicious pumpkin bread: it was gone within an hour. 

Ingredients: 

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/4 tsp nutmeg

2/3 cup sugar

2/3 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup milk

3 egg whites

1 cup canned pumpkin

Combine the flour, soda, powder, salt, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and nutmeg in a bowl. 

In a separate bowl, whisk the sugar, brown sugar, milk, and egg whites together. Add in the pumpkin. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Stir until just combined. Pour into a greased bread pan. Bake at 350 for about 55 minutes. 

Let the bread cool on a wire rack after taking it out of the oven. 

 

Mulan Dinner, Movie, and Craft Night

 For our family movie night featuring Mulan, we decided to add dinner and a craft to fit the theme. 

I made a quick Mongolian Beef Noodle dish, cut up some meat and cheese to practice our chopstick skills, cut up Swiss Cake Rolls and Strawberry Cake Rolls, dipped some fortune cookies in chocolate, and had mandarin oranges. 

We also made paper fans out of two pieces of 12x12 cardstock. Rachel drew a design on the fan, we folded it accordion style and hot glued it together with two popsicle sticks on the end. 

Mongolian Beef Noodles with Ground Beef

 Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef
3 tsp ginger
6 cloves of garlic

1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup beef broth
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup hoisin sauce
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
pepper

1 tbsp cornstarch mixed with 1/8 cup water
1 14 oz package of lo-mein noodles (or spaghetti) 

Boil water and cook your noodles while preparing the sauce. 

Brown the hamburger in a pan. Drain the grease. Add the ginger and garlic.

Add the soy sauce, brown sugar, beef broth, hoisin sauce, red pepper flakes, and pepper to a separate bowl. Whisk until combined. Add the sauce to the meat. Mix the cornstarch hand water in a cup. Add to the pan and let the mixture simmer while the noodles finish cooking. 

Add the noodles to the sauce, Stir and simmer for about a minute.