Easter Marshmellow Nest

Yesterday, my kids and I polished off our fifth bag of Cadbury Mini Eggs since February. What is it about those things? Pastel candy-coated chocolate. They just make us happy.

And they work well as payment. The kids cleaned the entire living room the other day in exchange for a handful of them. I’ve been thinking about making these nests for weeks, and how they’d make a perfect Easter treat, whether as a gift, or as a favor for guests to take home at the end of dinner. Of course, you can always just eat them yourselves, like we did.

Marshmellow Nest

3 cups sweetened coconut

4 packets (28g total) unflavored gelatin

2 cups granulated sugar

1 tablespoon corn syrup of honey

1 tablespoon of pure vanilla extract Cadbury Mini Eggs or jelly beans

1. In a nonstick skillet set over medium heat, toast the coconut (stirring frequently) until it begins to turn golden brown. Spread out on a baking sheet to cool.

2. In a medium saucepan, combine the sugar, 1/2 cup of water, and corn syrup. Bring to a boil over medium high heat and boil until the sugar mixture reaches 230 degrees (the soft ball stage).

3. While the sugar mixture comes to a boil, sprinkle the gelatin over 1 cup of water in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, and let it dissolve.

4. When the sugar mixture comes to temperature, turn the mixer on low speed, and slowly pour in the sugar mixture. Slowly raise the speed to high, and beat for 10 minutes. Beat in vanilla.

5. Spoon marshmallow into a large pastry bag fitted with a star tip (such as Wilton 1M), and pipe a 3 inch solid circle onto the toasted coconut. Pipe another circle of marshmallow on the outer edge of the bottom circle to create a nest. Sprinkle with more coconut to coat. Place Cadbury Mini Eggs or jelly beans in the center.

Enjoy !!!

Indonesian Layer Cake - Kueh/Kek Lapis -

When growing up in Berlin, Germany, my mom would bake with me this incredible Indonesian layer cake, also known as Kueh/Kek Lapis and those super tasty miniature Chinese Peanut Cookies (花生餅) for our Chinese New Year. I treasured every single moment - from preparing this layer cake until pealing each layer off to eat + on top of it, my mom would hardly cook or bake in the kitchen since my dad was the professional chef. So I loved every single moment whenever she decided to bake/cook with me.

This year I decided to do the same thing with my little Wan boys. They are old enough now to help me here and there in the kitchen and they love it. You might end up with more mess or even need more time but it's all fine. When I was in Hong Kong this year, I asked my mom for her recipe. She has this old hand written cake recipe book as she use to work in a bakery in Jakarta as a little girl trying to earn some pocket money. Can you imagine how old this little book is ?? It is 50 years old. My gosh, it's older than me ... lol ... trust me, if I ever get my hands on it, I would have to get a professional translator first as I don't know how to read Indonesian. Such pity. Don't even get my mom heat up with this topic, she still gets angry at me for not willing to learn how to speak/read Indonesian. So hush ....

The Chinese year of rabbit is approaching within few days .... are you all ready for it ?? I am not. I am hanging in there with a thread, as I started coming down with a cough, a slight ear infection and finally have lost my voice on Saturday. Thank god, I had some anti-biotic standing by. My Doctor knows me too well not to give me any. I always end up with the same thing whenever getting a cough. Don't worry .. I am fine - at least for now. Fine enough to blog, that should tell you something right ?

Together with my three Wan boys, I would like to wish you — my reader, my family and friends, blogger-friends and anyone else who celebrates Chinese New Year ...

恭喜發財！揚眉「兔」氣！ (Or “gong hey fatt choy!” in Cantonese, which means congratulations and be prosperous! May the Year of the Rabbit do you proud — very, very proud!)

Indonesian Layer Cake - Kueh/Kek Lapis -

6 egg whites
1 tsp vanilla essence
250g icing sugar, sifted
15 egg yolks
390g unsalted butter, room temperature, softened and beaten
120g aall purpose flour
½ tsp baking powder
2 tsp all spice powder
2 tbs brandy

Step 1:
Whisk whites and vanilla to soft peak.

Step 2:

Gradually add icing sugar till stiff peaks form.

Step 3:

Add egg yolks one at a time, beating well between each yolk.

Step 4:

Add butter and beat till well incorporated.

Step 5:

Sift the flour, baking powder and spice powder together.

Step 6:

Fold in the flour, baking powder, all spice powder in three batches.

Step 7:

Then stir in the brandy.

Step 8:

Grease a 20-22 cm square cake tin with a lift-up base and line the outside of the tin with foil so batter does not leak through any gaps.

Step 9:

Turn the oven to grill/broil function.

Step 10:

Put about a third of a cup of the cake mixture onto the base of the cake tin and spread it evenly over the base.

Step 11:

Put the tin under the grill for about five minutes or the top is a golden brown.

Step 12:

Remove from oven and scoop the same amount of batter for the second layer. (There is no need to wait for the cake to cool between layers). Repeat the same process. Keep going until you have finished all the batter.

Step 13:

Once finished baking all your layers, remove cake immediately from the cake tin and let it cool on a rack.

Step 14:

Slice into thin portions and enjoy !

Ham Frittata

Since I have introduced this Ham Frittata on the Chinese radio show, I thought, I better publish the recipe on my blog as well. This is my all time favourite brunch dish. An easy make ahead dish, that pleases anybody from "older" to very young. Everyone should have this recipe as their basic repertoire. The beauty about this frittata recipe is you can substitute the ham with anything that you have as leftovers in your fridge. I made it several time with leftover roast chicken and broccoli and it tastes just as good. If you are a vegetarian, just add all the veggies you love and you will have a vegetable frittata. See how easy it is ??? Why don't you try it out now yourself !!!

Ham Frittata

1 medium onion, diced
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
12 extra-large eggs
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup shredded cheese
1/2 pound ham, chopped
1/4 cup packed chopped fresh cilantro & green onions

Salt & freshly ground pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Step 1:

In a large bowl, beat the eggs.

Step 2:

Add the rest of the ingredients and combine.

Step 3:

Pour the mixture a lightly greased 9 x 13 square glass pan and place the pan in the center of the oven.

Step 4:

Bake the frittata for about 50 minutes, until it puffs and a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Serve hot directly from the pan.

Enjoy !

Chinese New Year Almond Cookies

I am amazed how fast 2010 flew past by me and here I am, gearing up for our Chinese New Year. To be honest, I am not in a very festive mood since we just got back from Hong Kong. I am just too exhausted from everything. I haven't even really recovered yet and can't believe that the year of the rabbit is knocking on our door. Oh my gosh, that means my niece, Caitlin, is turning 12 soon as she was born in the year of rabbit. It all makes sense to me now, I was starting to wonder why she behaves different lately. Caitlin is a teenager now, WOW.

I won't be doing so much this year but I did bake with my two little boys these Chinese New Year Almond Cookies and they were devine. They helped me rolling each cookies into tiny balls and we had a lot of fun !!! So from me to you, I wish you all a very happy and healthy Chinese New Year !!!

Chinese New Year Almond Cookies (makes 70 cookies)

3/4 cup (175 mL) butter, softened
3/4 cup (175 mL) shortening
3/4 cup (175 mL) granulated sugar
1 egg
2 tsp (10 mL) almond extract
1/2 tsp (2 mL) vanilla extract
3 cups (750 mL) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (125 mL) ground almonds {also called almond “flour”}
1-1/4 tsp (6 mL) baking powder
70 blanched (skinless) whole almonds (about 2/3 cup/150 mL)
1 egg yolk
{Note: If you can’t find any blanched (skinless) almonds, you can easily blanch the almonds yourself.}

Step 1:

In a large bowl, beat together the butter, shortening and sugar until fluffy. Beat in the egg, almond extract and vanilla.

Step 2:

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, ground almonds and baking powder; add to the butter mixture and stir to form a stiff dough.

Step 3:
Roll dough by tablespoonful (15 mL) into balls. Place each ball on a greased or parchment paper-lined rimless baking sheet, 2 inches (5 cm) apart.

Step 4:

Top each ball with a whole blanched almond, pressing into the dough. Mix the egg yolk with 1 tsp (5 mL) water; brush the egg wash over the cookies.

Step 5:

Bake in the centre of a 350°F oven until the edges are light golden, about 15 minutes.

Step 6:

Transfer to a rack; let cool completely.

Enjoy !

* These cookies will stay fresh in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days, or frozen for up to 2 weeks.

Easy Salmon Wellington

A very happy and healthy new year to you all !!! I know, I am late with all my wishes and it has been a very long time since I have posted a new recipe. What can I say ? I have been on vacation with my three Wan boys and that has taken a long time of mine. Starting with all the preparation, the packing, dealing with little issues here and there, all three Wan boys got sick and then I had to deal with all their jet lags. I can finally say, we are almost back to the regular routine and I have survived everything including my very first radio recording. I must say, it was a lot of fun. I was invited to be a special guest on a Chinese Radio Show which is hosted by two funny and very kind personalities. Although my Chinese is not up to par, they never made me feel uncomfortable. I spoke most of it in English anyhow - at least the recipe part. I have introduced them four of my most loved recipes: the fresh tomato cream soup, pizza bread, ham frittata and my easy salmon wellington. I thought I better upload my recipes I had introduced otherwise they would be looking all over place and not finding it.

I love to cook twice a week a meal without any meats in it. Those days I choose to cook seafood. One of my families all time favourite is a super easy salmon wellington. It is really not that difficult, you will see. It is a crowd pleaser and kids love to eat it as well. I like to serve it with a salad on the side and some German egg noodles. If you have guests coming over to your house, try to make this dish one time ... you can prepare it ahead and pop it in the oven just before they arrive. Just keep things simple !! You don't have to do your's like mine, that picture was taken when I did that for my three Wan boys for our Thanksgiving Dinner. Please don't feel pressured by that.

Easy Salmon Wellington

1 costco's slice of fresh salmon fillet, rinsed and patted dry
1 pack of costco's sliced cremini mushrooms
1 - 2 sliced carrots
1 tablespoon minced garlic/ginger mixture
1 can of cream of mushrooms mixed with 1/2 cup of homo milk
1 slice of frozen puff pastry, defrosted
1 egg, beaten

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Step 1:

Stir fry cremini mushrooms and carrots with your minced garlic/ginger mixture, be careful of not overcooking it.

Step 2:

Place salmon in a lightly greased 9 x 13 glass pan.

Step 3:

Pour stir fried mushrooms and carrots over it. Skin side down, if your salmon fillet has a it.

Step 4:

Cover it with the cream of mushroom milk mixture and place the frozen puff pastry over it.

Step 5:

Brush the top of the pastry with beaten egg and use a fork to punch several holes in the pastry in a decorative manner.

Step 6:

Bake in the oven for 45 minutes.

Enjoy !

Pizza Bread

The weather has been super cold here in Vancouver ... and believe it or not, it has started to snow too !!! You would normally find a very mild pacific winter weather here in Vancouver. Those kind of weathers ask for comfy food you can whip up in no minutes. Sometimes I call them pantry food as I will make sure all my fridge, freezer and pantry are stocked up as there is no way, I will be going out in snow unless I really have to or have cabin fever.

One of my kids favourite pantry food is their all time favourite Pizza bread. You can basically use any kind of bread but if you happen to have a whole loaf of garlic bread in your freezer that would be even more ideal. Most of the time I would just use regular french bread or sweet Italian bread. I get my kids involved in this, as they love to be mommy's little helper and I find that it is a good family activity.

Pizza Bread

1 loaf sweet Italian bread
pizza sauce (from a can)
pepperoni (or toppings of choice)
shredded cheese – mozzarella, cheddar, American, provolone – it’s all good

Step 1:
Slice the bread in half length-wise.

Step 2:

Spread with pizza sauce (use as much as you like).

Step 3:

Layer on the pepperoni or whatever other toppings you may like.

Step 4:

Top with lots of shredded cheese.

Step5:

Bake for 8 - max. 15 minutes until cheese is melted and the bread is heated through @ 350 degrees.

Step 6:

Sprinkle with green stuff (basil, oregano, parsley) if you want to feel healthful.

Enjoy !!

Green Beans with Mushrooms & Almonds !

I remember having this dish as a side dish at my girlfriend's house in Berlin. It was just divine. I loved it every time I ate it. I would always bug Kerstin's mom to cook it for me whenever I went over for a play date when we were little. Mrs. Meyer gave me her recipe just before I left Berlin, and now it's time for me to pass it on to YOU !! I always make this dish with some steaks or roasted chicken ... you will see, you will end up loving it - just like me !!!

Green Beans with Mushrooms & Almonds

1 pound green beans, trimmed
6 slices bacon
2 cloves minced garlic
1 medium red onion, sliced
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 cup shaved Parmesan cheese

Step 1:
In a large saute pan, cover the green beans with water. Boil for 5 or so minutes. You still want them to have a little crunch. Drain and set aside.

Step 2:
In the same pan, cook the bacon until crispy. Drain most of the fat and add the onions and mushroom.

Step 3:
Cook the onions and mushrooms until soft.

Step 4:
Add the almonds, salt. pepper, and oregano.

Step 5:
Toss in the green beans and cook until heated through. Taste for seasoning and add more salt and pepper as needed.

Step 6:
Top with the shaved Parmesan.

Enjoy !

German Apple Almond Cake

I love the smell of baked apple in my house especially when it's cold outside. I bake all sort of apple cakes. I've made this cake at least 100 times. It always comes out perfect and delicious. It is one of my family's favourites and I made this one for my girlfriend, Joleen, who came by for dinner with her little son, George. This cake is wonderful with a hot cup of coffee or tea.


German Apple Almond Cake

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
2/3 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
3 apples, peeled and thinly sliced
1/4 cup almonds, sliced
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:
1. Preheat your oven to 350F. Butter and flour a 9 inch springform pan.

2. In a bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

3. In a separate bowl, beat eggs. Stir into the eggs, yogurt, butter and almond extract.

4. Stir wet ingredients into the flour mixture just until combined.

5. Pour batter into prepared pan. Arrange apples over the batter.

6. For the topping; combine almonds, sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle the topping over apples.

7. Bake for 1 hour or until cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

Enjoy !

Spiderweb Brownie Cake

Wherever you are, I hope you are able to enjoy the day. This weekend has been big for parties galore-for both grown-ups and children alike. I’ve definitely done my fair share of celebrating this year already. But now I’m looking forward to spending the afternoon today with my boys, Ethan & Timothy and their friends. What are YOU dressing up as this year?

This Spiderweb Brownie Cake came at the perfect time. I had originally planned to make some red velvet bleeding heart cupcakes for one of the parties, but my schedule at home last week was incredibly hectic. I wasn’t able to devote as much time to it (who does, really?) as I wanted to, so I scratched the whole idea all together…and then I saw this. Simple, but still festive. Not too much preparation needed. Not too much creativity, endless frosting colors, or crazy ingredients. In fact, I had all that I needed. I wanted it to look festive….but I really wanted it to taste even better. In fact, if you want….you still have time to make this today in time for your Trick or Treaters!

So, from me to you…. Happy Halloween!


Spiderweb Brownie Cake

Ingredients

For the Brownie:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 and 1/4 cups sugar
4 large eggs
1 and 1/4 cups Double-Dutch Dark Cocoa or Dutch-process cocoa
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon espresso powder
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 and 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 cups chocolate chips

For the cream cheese “web”:
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon unbleached all-purpose flour
1 large egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon almond flavoring (optional)


For the brownies:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9″ x 13″ pan, or 9″ springform pan. (You can also use 2 8-inch cake pans.)

2. In a medium-sized microwave-safe bowl, or in a saucepan set over low heat, melt the butter, then add the sugar and stir to combine.

3. Return the mixture to the heat (or microwave) briefly, just until it’s hot (about 110°F to 120°F), but not bubbling; it’ll become shiny looking as you stir it.

4. While the sugar heats a second time, crack the 4 eggs into a bowl, and beat them with the cocoa, salt, baking powder, espresso powder, and vanilla till smooth.

5. Add the hot butter/sugar mixture, stirring until smooth.

6. Add the flour and chips, again stirring until smooth.

7. Spoon the batter into pan.

For the spiderweb:

1. Combine the cream cheese, sugar and flour in a small bowl, and mix until smooth.

2. Add the egg yolk and almond flavoring (if using), mixing until smooth once again.

3. Transfer the mixture to a disposable pastry bag fitted with a standard piping tip (I used Wilton #1).

4.Place a small pool of the mixture in the center of the brownie batter. Draw circles around this pool, about 1 inch apart, moving out from the center each time.

5. Once the circles are drawn, take a table knife, wet the tip, and draw it back and forth through the circle.

6. Use the remaining filling to trace the path where the knife travelled, to create the spokes of the web.

7. Bake the brownies for 30 minutes, until the brownies just barely pull away from the edge of the pan. The center will rise while baking, but will sink back level once the brownies are cool. Remove them from the oven and cool before cutting.Decorate with fake plastic spiders from the Halloween store (since you don’t have time to make cute ones by hand…….) and pretend it’s scary!

Enjoy !!!

Halloween Cheddar Crackers !

Is it really Halloween already? I have been so busy ever since Damian's aunt from Singapore came to visit us and Ethan started Grade 1. Things just get out of hand. To all my dear ones following my blog, I apologize for not having post anything in the last few months. Please forgive me !!!

Halloween is creeping up and I suppose it’s time for some Halloween treats. Making crackers at home is like magic and these are the most magic of all as you watch them puff up into cute little Halloween shapes. Cut this recipe into any shape you prefer to enjoy homemade crackers year round.

Halloween Cheddar Crackers

1 1/3 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon onion powder
6 tablespoon unsalted butter, diced
8 ounce package shredded triple cheddar cheese, or cheddar of choice
2 egg yolks
2 tablespoons water

1. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Set aside.

2. In a food processor pulse together the flour, salt, paprika and onion powder. Add the butter and process until combined. Add the cheddar and pulse until finely chopped. Process in the egg yolk and water until the mixture forms a ball.

3. Remove the dough and knead in your hands for a few turns. Divide in half and roll one part between two pieces of wax paper to 3/8 inch thick. Peel off the wax paper and stamp dough with cookie stamps or cut with cookie cutters. Place the crackers on cookie sheets.

4. Freeze the crackers on the cookie sheets for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Move the cookie sheets to the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Cool crackers on cooling racks. Store in an airtight container.

Yields 54 3/8 ounce cookies. Prep time 30 minutes. Baking time 20 minutes.

Enjoy!

Mentaiko Spaghetti (明太子スパゲッティ)

Mentaiko Spaghetti (tarako spaghetti) is a very common and popular Japanese yoshoku dish or in other words a Western-influenced dish. It's simple preparation and full flavour makes it a very easy weekday supper. The preparation is very simple and hard to mess up, with pollock roe adding a wonderfully salty and savory flavor, butter doing its usual thing of making everything taste good, and spaghetti serving as the carrier.
I use spaghettini instead of spaghetti since it's thinner and picks up the flavors better. You can typically find pollock roe in the frozen section of Asian grocery stores - it comes in several flavors (mild, spicy, etc) - experiment and see what you like best.

Mentaiko Spaghetti (明太子スパゲッティ)

300 grams of spaghettini, or about 2/3 of a box of spaghetti
2-3 sacs of pollock roe, or mentaiko (明太子)
4 tbsp of dashi (optional)
3-4 tbsp of butter
1/2 lemon
10 shiso leaves (紫蘇)
1 sheet of roasted seaweed, sliced into thin strips (or you can use the precut kind)

Recipe Steps:

•Cook the spaghettini al dente.
•Split the sacs of roe down the middle, then slice in half. Take a teaspoon and scoop out the eggs, leaving the sac. Chop the shiso leaves into thin strips, and also chop the roasted seaweed similarly (unless you are using the pre-chopped strips).
•Melt the butter on low heat in a large wok or saucepan. Turn off the heat. Add the roe into the pan and stir thoroughly.
•When the spaghettini is done, strain and add immediately to the pan with butter. Add the dashi (or if you don't have dashi handy, then use 4 tbsp of the water that the spaghettini was boiling in). Mix well so that the roe is evenly distributed. Taste and add salt if needed. (I tend to like things pretty salty to I actually used salted butter). Squeeze the lemon over the and toss again well.
•Split into serving size portions, then garnish with shiso and seaweed -- serve immediately so the seaweed strips don't get soggy.

Enjoy !

Strawberry Jogurt Popsicles

With this weather finally getting warmer, it is very natural that my boys want ice cream or popsicles. One is very tempted with the heat getting higher and higher. Why bother buying some popsicles filled with tons of sugar and weird colours, when you can do it yourself !! I had bought some very sweet strawberries from Costco, so I decided to make some strawberry yogurt popsicles. Ethan and Timothy both were part of this project and loved adding things like watermelons into it. Since they are the one eating it, I thought: Why not ? No harm right ?? Honestly, you could add anything to it ... as long as you enjoy it.

I don't own any fancy popsicle molds and I remember, how my dad always made mine in a loaf pan. It works out just perfect and honestly, I think it looks way nicer. Kids don't really care what form it is as long as they get to eat something icy and kind of sweet. This recipe is perfect for some parent-kid-project .... and you will be very surprised, how healthy it is !!!

Strawberry Yogurt Popsicles

2 cups vanilla yogurt (not non-fat)
2 cups fresh strawberries, sliced
Juice and zest of 1 lime
Watermelon cubes (about 20 cubes, 1/2-inch each)
8 to 10 wooden popsicle sticks

Step 1:

Prepare a loaf pan by lining it with plastic wrap. Have your popsicle sticks on hand.

Step 2:

In a blender combine the yogurt, strawberries, lime juice and zest. Puree until well combined. Pour the yogurt blend into your prepared pan. Drop the watermelon cubes into the mixture, making sure there are a few cubes in each pop. Place the popsicle sticks into the pan, spacing them evenly. Freeze for about 6 hours, until the pops are completely frozen.

Step 3:

When you want to serve your pops, take the pan and run warm water over it to loosen the edges. Take the plastic wrap and lift the frozen "loaf" out of the pan. Use a sharp knife to cut in between the popsicle sticks. There you have it, Strawberry-Watermelon Yogurt Ice Popsicles!

Note: If you use a yogurt with a low-fat content the popsicles will be a bit icy and have a tendency to break easily. They're just as good, just a bit fragile.

Enjoy !!!!

Oven-Baked Chicken Tenders with Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce

Does it scare you when you buy frozen meat packages ?? It totally freaks me out as I have no idea what they put inside. Most items contain such high salt content in them, it turns me off right away. So what do I do when kids scream for chicken tenders ?? You whip up some of your own. Here is a simple recipe, you can follow even on work nights. If you double the batch or happen to have too many, freeze them unbaked on baking trays layered with some parchment papers. Once they are frozen, you can transfer them into zip-lock bags.

Oven-Baked Chicken Tenders with Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce

For the Chicken Fingers:
1/2 pound chicken breast fillet strips
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup panko

1/4 teaspoon paprika powder

1/2 teaspoon Parmesan cheese powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

salt & pepper to taste

For the Honey Mustard:
1/3 cup mayonnaise
2 tbsp mustard
2 tbsp honey

For the Chicken Fingers:
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Place the beaten egg with all the seasoning powder on one plate for breading, and the panko on another plate. For each chicken tenders, dip it first in the egg, and then in the panko, and place it on a wire rack over a baking sheet (like what you would use to cool cookies). If you don’t have a rack, just place the chicken directly on a baking sheet, but you will need to turn them halfway through baking.

Bake the chicken tenders for about 10 minutes, and then increase the heat to 450 degrees and bake for another 10 minutes. Serve warm, with honey mustard dipping sauce.

For the Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce:
Whisk together the mayonnaise, mustard and honey, and serve immediately or chill until ready to use.

Enjoy !!!

Birthday Dirt Cake !!

As you all know, Ethan celebrated his 6 year old birthday the past Saturday. Today, he is going to celebrate his birthday at his daycare with all his little friends. He requested an Oreo cookie cake and since he already had his Oreo cookie ice cream cake on his actual birthday, I am not going to buy one more. Instead, I found this super cute recipe for a birthday dirt cake made of Oreo cookies. Even better, something homemade and something really cute to enjoy. This birthday dirt cake requires no baking at all and was assembled within 30 minutes. Super easy and fool proof. So if you are looking for a simple and yet cute kids birthday idea, here is one for you !!!!

Birthday Dirt Cake, adjusted & adapted by Dianasaur Dishes

1 box Oreo Cookies
2 cups whipping cream
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 small package instant Oreo pudding
2 cups milk
Gummy worms
Fresh herbs or flowers

Step 1:

Place the cookies in a food processor and grind until finely crumbled and looking like dirt.

Step 2:
In a mixer bowl, whip the heavy cream with sugar and vanilla until thick. Remove to another bowl and chill while you make the pudding. Use the same mixer bowl and whisk again to whisk the milk and pudding. Chill for 5 minutes.

Step 3:

Fold the cream into the pudding gently.

Step 4:

Assemble the cake: Put a layer of cookie mixture in the bottom of the flower pot or beach bucket, add the cream mixture, and then another layer of cookie crumbs. Repeat the same with your remaining flower pot or beach bucket.

Step 5:
Chill for a few hours. Decorate with gummy worms, herbs and/or flowers and serve with a shovel if you decide to use beach buckets.

Enjoy !