BRAIDED EASTER BREAD

Itz a wonderful braided bread .  I use to love tiz bread not only bcoz it tastes delicious, but because it also reminds me of my childhood.


Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups áll-purpose flour, dívíded
1/4 cup whíte sugár
1 teáspoon sált
1 (.25 ounce) páckáge áctíve dry yeást
2/3 cup mílk
2 táblespoons butter
2 eggs
5 whole eggs, dyed íf desíred
2 táblespoons butter, melted

Method:

ín á lárge bowl, combíne 1 cup flour, sugár, sált ánd yeást; stír well. Míx mílk ánd butter ín á smáll sáucepán; heát untíl mílk ís wárm ánd butter ís softened but not melted.
Gráduálly ádd the mílk ánd butter to the flour míxture; stírríng constántly. ádd two eggs ánd 1/2 cup flour; beát well. ádd the remáíníng flour, 1/2 cup át á tíme, stírríng well áfter eách áddítíon. When the dough hás pulled together, turn ít out onto á líghtly floured surfáce ánd kneád untíl smooth ánd elástíc, ábout 8 mínutes.
Líghtly oíl á lárge bowl, pláce the dough ín the bowl ánd turn to coát wíth oíl. Cover wíth á dámp cloth ánd let ríse ín á wárm pláce untíl doubled ín volume, ábout 1 hour.
Defláte the dough ánd turn ít out onto á líghtly floured surfáce. Dívíde the dough ínto two equál síze rounds; cover ánd let rest for 10 mínutes. Roll eách round ínto á long roll ábout 36 ínches long ánd 1 1/2 ínches thíck. Usíng the two long píeces of dough, form á loosely bráíded ríng, leávíng spáces for the fíve colored eggs. Seál the ends of the ríng together ánd use your fíngers to slíde the eggs between the bráíds of dough. 
Preheát oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Pláce loáf on á buttered bákíng sheet ánd cover loosely wíth á dámp towel. Pláce loáf ín á wárm pláce ánd let ríse untíl doubled ín bulk, ábout 45 mínutes. Brush rísen loáf wíth melted butter.
Báke ín preheáted oven for 50 to 55 mínutes, or untíl golden. Mákes 1 – 1 pound loáf.

Octopus Dogs

Tiz iz a fun way to liven up that ever-present kidz food. Gr8 for bad weather days, cranky kids (or momz!), birthday parties, or just because. My daughters think I'm really cool when I make these for them.

Ingredients:

6 Hot dogz
6 Hot dog bunz
1 can Chili

Method:

1.About 1" from one end of a hot dog, start a slit in the hot dog that goes vertically to the other end.
2.Turn a quarter turn and make another slit. Keep making slits until you have eight "legs" for the hot
dog.
3.Boil and the hot dog will look like an octopus.
4.Serve with head up and legs spread out over an opened hot dog bun that has chili on it.

Fish in the River

Ingredients:

2 Celery stalks
1/4 c Cream cheese; or other cheese spread (tinted green if desired)
8 Goldfish crackers

Method:

1. Fill prepared celery stalks with your choice of cream cheese or cheese spread
2. Add the goldfish crackers on top of cream cheese or cheese spread to look like fish swimming.
3. For fun, you could always use a flavored cream cheese or add something to it for your choice of flavors. To make it even more fun, try tinting the cream cheese with a little blue food coloring to make it look like water.

Cat's Eyes

Make serves for two.

Ingredients:

1/2 c Peanut butter
8 Ritz crackers
1 Banana; cut into 8 slices
8 Raisins

Method:

1.Spread peanut butter on crackers and top each with a slice of banana.
2.Place a raisin in center of each banana to form a cat's eye.
3.repeat for all banana topped crackers.

Spooky Witches' Fingers

http://pariasid.blogspot.com/

Original recipe makes 60 cookies

Ingredients:

 1 cup butter, softened
 1 cup confectioners' sugar
 1 egg
 1 teaspoon almond extract
 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
 2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
 1 teaspoon baking powder
 1 teaspoon salt
 3/4 cup whole almonds
 1 (.75 ounce) tube red decorating gel


 Directions:

1. Combine the butter, sugar, egg, almond extract, and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl. Beat together with an electric mixer; gradually add the flour, baking powder, and salt, continually beating; refrigerate 20 to 30 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Lightly grease baking sheets.
3. Remove dough from refrigerator in small amounts. Scoop 1 heaping teaspoon at a time onto a piece of waxed paper. Use the waxed paper to roll the dough into a thin finger-shaped cookie. Press one almond into one end of each cookie to give the appearance of a long fingernail. Squeeze cookie near the tip and again near the center of each to give the impression of knuckles. You can also cut into the dough with a sharp knife at the same points to help give a more finger-like appearance. Arrange the shaped cookies on the baking sheets.
4. Bake in the preheated oven until the cookies are slightly golden in color, 20 to 25 minutes.
5. Remove the almond from the end of each cookie; squeeze a small amount of red decorating gel into the cavity; replace the almond to cause the gel to ooze out around the tip of the cookie.

Halloween Big Apple Teeth Treats

Original recipe makes 16 snacks

Ingredients:

 4 Honeycrisp apples - cored and quartered
 1 teaspoon lemon juice (optional)
 1 (2.25 ounce) package blanched slivered almonds



Directions:

1. With a small, sharp paring knife, cut a lengthwise wedge from the skin side of each apple quarter, leaving the peel around the wedge for lips. If desired, rub the cut portions of the apple quarters with lemon juice to prevent browning. Poke 5 or 6 slivered almonds into the top and bottom of the cut-out area to make snaggly teeth.

Caramels

Original recipe makes 4 to 5 dozen caramels

Ingredients:

 2 cups white sugar
 1 cup packed brown sugar
 1 cup corn syrup
 1 cup evaporated milk
 1 pint heavy whipping cream
 1 cup butter
 1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

1.Grease a 12x15 inch pan.

2.In a medium-size pot, combine sugar, brown sugar, corn syrup, evaporated milk, whipping cream, and butter. Monitor the heat of the mixture with a candy thermometer while stirring. When the thermometer reaches 250 degrees F (120 degrees C) remove the pot from the heat.

3.Stir in vanilla. Transfer mixture to the prepared pan and let the mixture cool completely. When cooled cut the Carmel into small squares and wrap them in wax paper for storage.