Flea Market at School

Today there was a Flea Market at school where all the children had items for sale.  This was a learning lesson about business.  They had to fill out a bank loan application to get there business started and have money on hand to give change to their customer.  They also had to come up with a store name and sign explaining what they had for sale.   The Cisco Kid loves these special cookies we make.  They are Oreo cookies that are covered in chocolate. 

 Some of the 1st and 3rd grade classes came to our Flea Market to purchase items. As the children entered the class we gave them play money to spend in our class flea market. There was only one rule, they had to spend all their money. They could not save it or take it with them. For some of the third graders this was shocking. They have been taught to save their money and hearing the words spend it all, was shocking to them.  

  They had two hours to sell their items. He started out with 65 cookies and he sold every one of them.  

 

Cream of mushroom soup

This cream of mushroom soup is so easy and full of flavor.  

1 lb of fresh mushrooms cleaned, diced and sautéed

2 cloves of garlic, Remove skin and leave them whole

½ gallon of whole milk

32 oz. Vegetable broth

1 small onion diced

2 tablespoons of butter

1/8 cup of olive oil

4 tablespoons of flour

Salt and pepper to taste

1 teaspoon Cayenne pepper

First make a roux.  A roux gives lots of flavor to the soup and thickens it. 

To make a roux you add 2 tablespoons of butter in a small pan and melt.  Then add 4 tablespoons of flour and cook on low heat for approximately three minutes.

 Add ½ cup of milk to the roux mixture and blend, making sure there are no lumps.   

In a separate shallow pan add 1/8 cup of olive oil.  Once olive oil is hot add 1 small diced onion and cook until tender.   Then add 1 lb. of clean, fresh sliced mushrooms and cook until tender.     

Take all the ingredient and add them to a large soup pot including whole garlic cloves.   Simmer for 45 minutes, string occasionally.  Before serving remove the garlic and throw away.   

This is the best Cream of Mushroom soup.  

Scalloped potatoes

Scalloped potatoes are one of my favorite side dishes. You can prepare them a couple of days in advance and just pop them in the oven 1-1/2 hours prior to dinner.
You will need an 8x 11 baking dish at least three inches deep. Peel and cut your potatoes into 1/8th inch slices. Put some milk and a table spoon of butter on the bottom of the baking dish.
Now you can start layering all your ingredients. Lay down a layer of potatoes then sprinkle with flour, add a small amount of pepper and salt. Then sprinkle a layer of cheese. Every other layer spread one tablespoon of butter.  Repeat this process ½ inch from the top of the baking dish.  Once all the ingredients are layered put ½ cup of chopped fresh parsley on top and full with milk. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 1-1/2 hours. 

Ingredients: 
5 lb. bag of potatoes peeled and sliced 1/8 inch thick
Flour
2 cups colby jack shredded cheese
Milk
3 tablespoons of butter
Salt and pepper to taste
½ cup chopped fresh parsley

 

Bread pudding with vanilla custard sauce.

For Easter Sunday I made a Bread Pudding that turned out very delicious. I have come across many bread pudding recipes and they all use Italian bread. I thought it would be a better tasting bread pudding if the bread itself was full of flavor. I went to Publix and they sell a Cranberry walnut loaf that is very delicious.

Start with a 3 QT. baking dish and cut the loaf of bread into one inch cubes and put them in the baking dish. Add 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts and 1/2 cup of dried cranberries. Set aside.

In a separate bowl scramble four eggs with 2 cup of cream and 2 cups of milk. Add 2 teaspoons of vanilla and one cup of splenda brown sugar or if you are not sugar conscience use one cup of regular light brown sugar. Beat the ingredients together well. Pour the liquid mixture over the top of the bread and refrigerate overnight.

When you are ready to bake the bread pudding preheat the oven on 350 degrees and bake for 40 to 50 minutes, depending on how dry you like your bread pudding.

 Ingredients:

One loaf of Publix cranberry walnut loaf.
2 cup's of cream
2 cups of milk
4 eggs scrambled
2 teaspoons of vanilla
1 cup of splenda brown sugar or one cup of light brown sugar
1/2 cup of chopped walnuts
1/2 cup of cranberries

Vanella custard sauce:

1/2 c. splenda brown sugar or light brown sugar

1 tbsp. all-purpose flour

dash of nutmeg

1 large egg

2 tbsp. butter

1 1/4 c. whipping cream

1 tbsp. vanilla extract

if you would like to make this a rum sauce just add 1/8 cup of rum.

Mix all ingredients in a saucepan and cook on medium heat until thickened. 

Easter and what it brings.

The Cisco Kid had his day full. He woke up to a large Easter basket full of toys and candy. He immediately started digging into the candy. He spent hours looking through his basket for all the little cheesy Easter toys. Then he came to the big egg. We told him that egg was not from the Easter Bunny but it was from us. He opened the egg and he started to scream and jump around giving us multiple hugs each. He got an iPod Touch. Now he can listen to his music, watch movies, play games, take pictures, take movies and download apps. One of the apps he loves to check in on is the weather app. He woke up this morning and opened up his  iPod and checked what the weather will be for the day. Next he is going to be just like his dad and check the news every morning.

Later that morning we had our friends come over and have a Easter Egg hunt then we ate dinner.  After dinner the kids went in the pool. 

All our friends arrived and the kids are having fun. 

The dessert table.  Since the Chief has to watch his sugar I made sure there were some guilty pleasures for him.  Sugar free cup cakes with sugar free icing and sugar free bread pudding.   

The Menu

Main Course

Ham

Roast Beef and brown gravy

Scalloped potatoes

Creamed Spinach

Glazed carrots

Fresh veggie tray

Salad

My Easter bread

Sandy’s Deviled eggs

Kimberly’s baked beans

Dessert

Easter Bunny cake

Cheese cake with blueberry & strawberry toppings

bread pudding

Easter cookies

Pool

It was a wonderful Easter spending it with friends. We enjoyed the company and conversations.

Thank you so much to Kimberly and Tony and Sandy and Dick for bringing The Cisco Kid a special gift bag filled with Easter goodies. Also thank you for the wonderful beans and eggs. Loved them!

I can't forget about all the wonderful pictures you both took. 

Thank you.