Jelly? Nope! Jell-O!

My dad loves Jell-O. And he really loves Jell-O with bananas in it. So I made him that kind of Jell-O for Father's Day. It was very good, though it got kinda flat. Mom said it was because I didn't use a Jell-O mold. But who cares what it looks like as long as it tastes good? So we didn't care. It was a two-layer Jell-O, with lime with the bananas in it on top, and cherry on the bottom. I liked how the bananas looked when I was eating it, like it was a three-layer Jell-O instead of a two layer one. On another Jell-O note, Dad told me about this really cool website called The Jell-O Mold Mistress of Brooklyn. It's really cool some of the stuff she can do. I got this recipe from Kids' Kitchen, by Amanda Grant

Here it is! The whole time I was making it my mouth was watering. I love Jell-O.















                                                           Two-Tone Jell-O
                                                                    Ingredients


Some sort of fruit, such as strawberries, raspberries, or blackberries (On the Jell-O box it says not to use pineapple, kiwi, gingerroot, papaya, figs, or guava)

1 package strawberry Jell-O

1 package blackberry Jell-O (As you know, I used lime and cherry instead.)



1. Pick over the fruit, removing any stems. If you are using strawberries, cut any large ones in half. Put the fruit into a large bowl or Jell-O mold

2. Put large saucepan of water on the stove. Using kitchen scissors cut the strawberry Jell-O  into pieces. Put it into a large pitcher and carefully pour over one cup of boiling water. Stir continuously until the Jell-O is completely dissolved. Add one cup of cold water to the pitcher and stir well.

       *I guess they used some sort of pre-made Jell-O, but I used the powdered stuff and edited it a little bit.

3. Leave to cool for ten minutes then carefully pour the liquid Jell-O over the fruit. All the fruit will float to the surface.

4. Leave to cool completely, then cover with plastic wrap and put into the refrigerator and leave to set-this will take about two hours depending on how cold your refrigerator is.

5. When it is set make the blackberry Jell-O. Put the large saucepan with water in again. Cut the next layer of Jell-O into pieces and using kitchen scissors and put into a clean large pitcher.

6. Carefully pour over one cup boiling water. Stir continuously until the Jell-O has completely dissolved. Add one cup of cold water to the pitcher and stir well. Leave to cool for ten minutes.

7. Take the already set strawberry Jell-O out of the fridge and remove the plastic wrap. Carefully pour the blackberry Jell-O over the strawberry Jell-O. Leave to cool completely, then cover with plastic wrap and put back into the fridge and leave until the Jell-O is completely set.

8. To turn it out, dip the bottom of the bowl into a sink full of hot water for a few seconds. Lift the bowl out and place it on a dish towel. Put an upside-down wet plate on the top of the bowl, the quickly turn it over so the Jell-O comes out onto the plate.

This doesn't really have anything to do with cooking, but.........

This doesn't really have anything to do with cooking, but I thought it was cool. First strawberries of the season! Our strawberries normally get ripe before now, but this year they didn't for some reason. But we picked our first three strawberries today! Nice plump ones, too.

Plump, red and sweet. Perfect. I hope more get ripe soon!

Creamy, Yummy, Fruit Smoothie

I am normally picky about my smoothies. Mine tend to be strawberry-something, with more strawberries than anything else. But then I though I might try this one. The name of this post pretty much says it all. It is very creamy, and very good. One of the better yogurt-berry smoothies, I think. The yogurt is not over-powering, but you can still taste it a tiny bit, and it blends together very fast. In the cookbook I got it from, it says that this is a good breakfast smoothie. Next time we have friends over for breakfast, I'm making this smoothie. I got it from Kids' Fun and Healthy Cookbook, by Nicola Graimes.

 Everything in the blender, waiting to become a yummy smoothie.

 I thought that different layers of fruit and yogurt were cool looking, so I took a close-up.

The finished thing. I cut the recipe in half because I wasn't sure I would like it, but I'll give you the full recipe. Just FYI, I love the color.













                                                                        Yogurt/Fruit Smoothie
                                                                                Ingredients


3/4 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
3 bananas, sliced
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (Optional. I added it but didn't really taste it)
2 cups thick, plain yogurt
1 cup milk

1. Peel the bananas and then chop them into small slices. Put them into the blender and add the blueberries, vanilla extract, yogurt, and milk.

2. Blend in the blender until the mixture is smooth, thick, and creamy. Pour smoothie into four tall glasses and enjoy.

Lemon Shortbread. Yum X 2

These were very good. I think they would have went well with fresh strawberries, but we didn't have any on hand. I have never been a huge fan of shortbread, but these lemon shortbread cookies were yummy. I wish I had made more of them. On a scale of 0-5, I'd say they were a 4. So yeah, pretty good. They look nice, too. They would have looked nicer if I had cut them all the same size, but if you're going to eat them, who cares about that? I did have a hard time zesting the lemon, and mom had to help me with the last few bits, but other than that, it was a easy recipe and now one of my favorites I've done so far. I think I'll make them again this summer for a picnic. Note to self, when you do that, bring fresh strawberries! I got this recipe from the Healthy Lunchboxes for Kids, also. And if you didn't catch it the first time, it's by Amanda Grant.



                                                  

  Light brown and dusted with sugar on our cooling racks. Just be warned, these cookies are very crumbly.





                                           






                                                 


                                                    Lemon Shortbread Cookies

                                                                   Ingredients


3/4 cup butter, softened.
1/3 cup sugar, plus extra to dust.
Zest of one unwaxed lemon. (Yum. Waxy cookies. Make double sure it really is an unwaxed one.)
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornstarch

An 18 inch baking pan, greased and lined with baking parchment (Or dusted with flour)

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees, farenhight.
2. Beat the butter and sugar together until soft, pale, and fluffy.
3. Add the lemon zest, flour, and cornstarch and mix it again until it comes together.
4. Cover the bowl and chill for ten minutes
5. Press the dough into the prepared pan and bake for fifteen minutes.
6. Remove from the oven and dust with sugar, if liked. Cut the dough into about twelve sticks, and let cool completly in the pan.

Flat Breads = tortillas

This next recipe is neither easy, or fast, or (in my opinion) yummy. I thought that Indian Flat breads sounded good, and that it would take maybe an hour. Nope. It took me about two and a half hours to make and cook, and when it sat for half an hour, I spent that whole time cleaning. It tasted like plain old tortillas that you could buy in any store. So yeah, not worth three hours of my time. Now, the cookbook I got it from had many other recipes, and I am longing to try some (Brazilian chocolate birthday candies!), but I will not make this again. The cookbook I got it from The Second International Cookbook for Kids, by Matthew Locricchio. Again, I am not saying the whole cookbook is bad, just that recipe.

So, these were the finished thing. The yellowish stuff on top was melted butter, then it cooled down and got weird. They don't look all that impressive for something that took three hours.

Cheese-y Snacks

I also don't have any pictures of this project, but that doesn't really matter. These were fast, easy, and yummy. I had to add a little bit of water to make it stick together more, so the cooking time was longer, and I sprinkled Parmesan cheese on top. But other than that, I did the recipe just like it said to. They were a quick snack, but got a bit stale after three days. I was storing them in a zip-lock sandwich bag, but someone left the bag a bit open. I think they would have been fine if that didn't happen. So next time I make them, I'll put them in something that you can't shut half-way.



I got this recipe from Healthy Lunchboxes for Kids, by Amanda Grant. The recipes in it are a bit easy, but the ones I've tried are good.



                                                          Cheese Straws

                                                              Ingredients


A heaping cup all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting.
3 tablespoons butter, chilled and cut into small pieces, plus extra for greasing.
1/3-1/2 cup strong Cheddar, grated. (I used Parmesan instead)
1 small egg, beaten

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, fahrenheit

2. Sift the flour into a large bowl. Rub the butter into the flour using your fingertips until the mixture looks like fine bread crumbs. Add the grated cheese and mix together.

3. Add the beaten egg and stir the flour into the flour until the mixture starts to come together. Then us your hands to work it into a ball.

4. Sprinkle some flour onto the counter and onto a rolling pin. Roll out half the dough into a rectangle about 1/8 of an inch thick. Cut widthwise into straws. Carefully lift them onto a greased baking sheet, leaving a little space between each one. Bake for ten minutes, until golden.

5. Let the straws cool for a couple of minutes on the baking sheet and then carefully transfer them to a wire rack. Eat warm or let cool completely and store in an airtight container.

Hi, All!

As the title says, hi all! And thanks for reading Kid's Kreative Kitchen. I am the main chef, though once a month my friend comes over and cooks with me. Our first project was a yummy coffee cake with a cinnamon topping. We didn't take a picture, though. Oh well. It was a bit lopsided anyway. :) This month we'll be doing noodles with alfredo sauce or a fruity Jell-0. Anyways, back to Kid's Kreative Kitchen. So, I had intended to start this two weeks ago, so for the first few posts it's going to be cooking projects from the last two weeks. I'll try to do all of them today, but if I don't, they'll be up in a few days. I'm also hoping to get at least one recipe up each week. I hope you keep reading!