From the Kitchen

It’s that time of year again! Time to bring out the pumpkins ~ for decorating, eating, and creating!

This tip is for a cute treat for the kiddos to help make to enjoy at home or at school.

The idea is to tweak Rice Krispies into pumpkin shapes, and decorate for fall or Halloween.

Here’s the “How To”:

Make your regular batch of Rice Krispie Treats.

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons butter
1 (10 oz.) package regular marshmallows
6 cups Rice Krispies
Orange food coloring or use yellow and red to get the shade of orange you desire.

Directions:
1. Melt margarine in large saucepan over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat. Add food coloring until mixture is the desired color.

2. Add rice krispies. Stir until well coated.

3. Using buttered spatula or waxed paper, spoon mixture into mini bundt pan and press evenly. Fill each area of the pan, press firmly so the Krispies mold against the lines of the bundt pan. Place pan in the freezer until Krispies are cool and somewhat solidified. Pop the Krispies out of the pan. Press the flat sides of two Krispies together. Make sure to align the bundt lines so the crease goes all the way from the top to the bottom. Voila! You have a very tasty pumpkin!

At this point I usually pop them back in the freezer for a bit just to firm them up. Once they are firm you can use tubes if icing and assorted candies to decorate your pumpkins as you desire with a Fall theme, or with a Jack-o-lantern face.

I have done this with all sizes of bundt pans. I used the mini/cupcake bundts for Woody and Tigger to share with friends. I made several Krispie batches and used the pan with 6 small bundts for Hubby to share with co-workers. Years ago, I made so many batches of Krispies I lost count with the large cake bundt to make a huge pumpkin treat to take into the office.

***Tip*** If you are making multiple batches and want the colors to be the same for each batch, count how many drops of food coloring you add, that way you can be consistent through each batch.

For other incredible ideas check out Shannon’s Works For Me Wednesday post at Rocks In My Dryer.

I discovered this magazine through a friend about two years ago. Kraft Foods publishes Food & Family quarterly. It’s a freebie, which makes it great. But even better than that, it’s a USEFUL freebie! The production schedule of the magazine perfectly suits each season, so the recipes you want, for back-to-school or the brunch you host every Spring, arrive just when you want them.

You can sign up on their website: http://www.kraftfoods.com/kf/FoodandFamily/

Each issue has tons of great recipes. I usually want to try at least 10. The recipes I have tried, turned out beautifully. This is a magazine that definately works for me!

For other great Works for Me Wednesday ideas, visit Rocks in My Dryer. The ideas that are posted are incredible!

WFMW is “Basically, the idea is that on Wednesday you post a little tip you’ve learned on any (G-rated) topic–anything that has “worked for you” in making your life easier.” It was created by another blogger Shannon, at Rocks In My Dryer. She has some great ideas, and there are tons of ideas from folks who’ve left comments.

So, here’s my wfmw tip:

Multipurpose Italian Salad Dressing

1) I use it as a salad dressing, usually for the kids but I’ll use it too.

2) I use it as a marinade for chicken breasts. Put the chicken in a plastic container, and pour on enough dressing to coat the chicken (no more than 1/3 cup for 4 chicken breasts), shake it around so the chicken gets coated, let it sit for 15 minutes or more, then grill. They’re always great.

3) I use it as a marinade for beef fajitas. Place fajita meat in a gallon ziploc bag (I use “flap meat” from Costco), pour in 1/2 cup or so of dressing. Squish it around, so the meat gets coated. Then you can pop it in the freezer to cook another day, or let it sit for 30+ minutes, then grill. We all love it, anyone I’ve ever served it to loves it. I took it on our last camping trip. When I placed it in the ice chest Friday morning, it was frozen solid, so it helped to keep other items cool. By dinner time Saturday, it was thawed (but still cold) and ready to cook. Something about cooking them over a campfire grill made them taste even better than usual, they were absolutely fabulous!