It's a fun word to say and keeps the kids busy

We are in our final days of summer for the Bacon kids.  School starts back up next week. I'm not sure what Bacon Bit will think of the empty and quiet house. I'm pretty sure he'll miss his playmates.  But since this is the last week before school starts, I think the kids have kicked up the 'I'm bored' a lot more.  It was time for a fun science experiment.  Thankfully it requires very little to wow the kids and it kept them busy for quite a while!  Digging though the pantry I found a box of cornstarch. I never really used this stuff in baking but for some reason there sat a box in my pantry.  Having remembered a recipe from when the kids were in  ECFE I decided to show them the fun of Ooblek. What you say? Surly you've heard of ooblek? No. Well learn along with us. The kids were just fascinated by the name of this stuff, but I told the to wait until they saw what it does!

First you need to start off with equal cornstarch and water.  And a big bowl to mix it up in.  Now if you want to make fun colors I suggest putting a drop of two of food coloring into the water before mixing.  Pour both water and cornstarch in the bowl and start mixing.  The goal is to mix it until it runs off the spoon easy. Clumpy like the green stuff here needs a little more water. Add small amounts until you get a runny consistency like the pink stuff below.

Now the fun part, go ahead, knock on it. Cool hun? It's hard.

Now rest your fingers just on the top of it and watch them magically sink in.

The kids were in awe!  They had a lot of fun. Bacon Jr. had fun getting it to stick to his hand and picking up the bowl.

Little Miss Bacon had fun watching it drip off her fingers.

Even Bacon bit had a bowl to play in. It was a great activity to do on one of those 'I'm bored' days.  Or rainy days or days you just want to be the cool mom!

And you can add a lid and save it for fun the next day too! I did find that it only lasts a few days though before it starts to smell and go bad but the kids can have fun while it lasts!

Birthday Busy

 It was that time of the year again, both Bacon Jr. and Little Boy Bacon's birthdays come 4 days apart from each other in July. That means a lot of cake at the Bacon house!  This year since we've been so busy I actually thought about buying their cake from the store bakery.  That was until I glanced at the prices, $19.99!! I about fell over right there. I promptly headed for the baking aisle instead.  Bacon Jr wanted a Lego star wars cake this year.  Gosh these kids keep me on my toes with ways to wow them with my very armature cake decorating skills!  But I try to not disappoint them.  I found an idea a while back how to copy characters right from a coloring book page with frosting onto cakes that I thought I'd give it a try for this challenge.  First find our character, Bacon Jr. wanted Jedi Luke for his cake. I quickly scanned a copy with my computer scanner and got started. If it was just from a coloring book I wouldn't have scanned it, I would have just used the page but we couldn't even find a free online color picture he liked so we choose one from his book.

 Next I whipped up some homemade frosting.  Then I grabbed a Ziploc type baggie and inserted my cake tip to the inside, snipped the bag and added the other tip pieces and viola! instant disposable cake decorating baggie.  These work great for small amounts of frosting. Trust me I've tried it to decorate sugar cookies with lots of frosting and all I got was busted bag seems!  Ahh... it's the little tips that save others headache!

  Then take some wax paper and place it over your color sheet.  I taped mine to the sheet to make sure it wouldn't move as I frosted it.

Then I took one color and outlined the picture. It's a good tip to remember when you are doing this that the frosting you put on first will be the top layer of the design when you lay it on the cake. Also this will be a mirror image when it's on the cake if you're ok with that!

 Then take a new color and add that to the picture.  I filled in the body with black, mixed up some peach for the face and hand, yellow for the hair and a nice green light saber.  Normally after I outline I would have made sure to put the face on before filling in over the top, however I was working with a picture that was only 3.5 inches in size. I do not recommend this!  It was very hard to do, but that was the size I needed for the cake. The bigger the picture, the easier it is to make the fine details on it. 

   Now that my Luke was complete it was time for him to 'chill out' in the freezer for a while. I left it in there for about an hour just because I was busy decoration the house. I'm sure 15 minutes would have been enough. 

While it's in the freezer it's a great time to frost the cake too!

 Now it's time to take out your frozen character. You can lift off the wax paper and tada! Magic right?

 Gently flip your frosting image over and place it on your cake where you'd like it. Then gently peel the wax paper away. 

 There you have it! A very happy birthday boy! I finished making the face by using edible pens. Ok so the pen isn't edible but the 'ink' is. YUMMY and FUN!

 

 And no I didn't forget about Little Boy Jr.'s birthday cake either, his was a bit less complicated.  All he wanted was a bobber cake!  He loves fish and fishing even more.  I took two 1 quart bowls and baked my cake in there, bake a small ramekin too and assemble and frost! He loved his special cake too!

 Now what is the best way to end the perfect birthday when your a kid? With a campfire you got to help build of course! Complete with blue and green flames thanks to Grandma Bacon!  Whew, it's over and I was an exhausted mama, but I had two very happy boys and two awesome birthday cakes for very little money!

I'm Shining!

 Yes I'm just beaming!  For a few reasons.  First off I found these pictures that were lost in camera space. What is camera space you ask? That's when you download your pictures to your computer and shove them all in a folder because you are in a hurry and forget about them for months until you randomly open it! Surprise, pictures you forgot about.  I was so happy to find these I headed right over here to post them.
But the other reason I'm beaming tonight is from all the love I found from my fans at Pinterest!  Over 3000 views in the past two days! WOW!  Thanks everyone for checking out my little blog.  I hope you all stick around and find helpful stuff.  And as always 'pin' away as long as you give credit back to Ma Bacon and the blog! One other reason to beam, I had such a nice email left for me when I woke up this morning from a blog reader.  It was so nice to be told how much someone else appreciates my blog. Really you guys just amazed me with all the love you sent! Thank you!!

So now back on to these pictures.  Do you have stainless steel appliances?  I will say I told Mr. Bacon many times in the three and a half years we've had these appliances that I would NEVER buy another stainless steel appliance again!  Especially a fridge with a water/ice maker.  They leave horrible water spots (it could be from the 4 bacon kids trying to help themselves too!)

 And it seems like they are always covered with finger prints, those tiny little joys I'm sure I'll miss when they move out, but they seem to love to touch the fridge after I polish it.  I had tried everything to get those water stains out, heck even the finger prints were getting tough to get off with the polish I was using. Oh and it wasn't just the fridge, nope the dishwasher and stove were covered in them too!  So it was off to do some research again. 



I'm happy to say I found something and fell in love instantly thanks to a tip from another mama I know!  She recommended Bar Keepers Friend and I haven't picked up any other polish in over 6 months since.  This comes in a can and it's in a powder form.  And a bonus, it's cheap! Under $1.50 for this bad boy!  So once you get this stuff, what do you do with it?





First you will need a small container. I used an old baby food cup, but anything will do.  Pour some bar keepers friend in it. Honestly I guessed, maybe a 1/4 cup at first. Then add water 1 tsp at a time to the powder and mix until you get a paste.  Then dig out three towels.  I used one rag to put the paste on, one to wash it off and then a microfiber towel to buff afterwards.   

 Work in small sections as you do this. I would do a 8"x8" or so square and then wash it off.  Now there is a trick to putting this on.  First you want to be GENTLE when you put it on or you'll scratch the stainless steel (take it from me first hand!)  Also work in the same direction as the 'grain' of the steel.  This will help minimize any scratches too.  Once you get it on, wipe it off with a rinse rag.  I kept an ice cream pail of water to help rinse too.  Then buff it dry.  It's that simple!  And check out how great it works!  The left half of the fridge has been cleaned, and no more water stains!

 

 It was amazing. I don't think I've ever been so happy to clean before! Yes I'm sure Mr. Bacon thought I was a bit odd when he heard the squeals of delight as I washed the fridge, but he was happy to not see the ugly water stains too.  Check out how the fridge and dishwasher turned out, pretty amazing I think!

Sure was a beautiful sunset!

There have been way too many hot days for this mama!  The 90's can go away any day now. I know that's a cool down where some of you live, but just remember in January when it's 30 out we still wear shorts and only once it gets below 0 do many of us wear winter coats in MN! With all the hot days that leaves little clouds in the skies, and leaves for quite nice sunsets.  Mr. Bacon and I have been enjoying quite a few of them outside around the campfire with the kids running around. But I also found an new sunset to enjoy, the adult kind! And I wanted to share it with all of you. It might just be the perfect sunset to enjoy while watching fireworks tomorrow.


Here is what you need:
1.5 oz UV Whipped vodka
3 oz sours mix
2 oz Orange juice
1/2 oz grenadine
cool whip (optional)

First if you don't have sours mix, don't worry you can make it easy enough I found out.  It's all equal parts which makes it even Mr. Bacon poof at goofing up!

First take 1 cup water and mix it with 1 cup sugar.  Now the fun part and the part I let the kids help with, squeezing the lemons and limes.  Little Boy Bacon actually likes to eat lemons so he always sneaks in a few bites!  You want fresh lemon and lime juice for the best tasting sour mix. I have been buying lots of them this summer to slice and enjoy in my water too so I did have these on hand.  You will need 1 cup of lemon and one cup of lime juice.  I have to say this can take a lot of lemons and limes!  I actually cut this recipe in 1/2 when I made it so I didn't have to use quite so many.  And It was just Mr. Bacon and myself drinking it so we didn't need a ton.  I found even for 1/2 cup each took about 2 lemons and 3 limes to get.  

Once you get your cup of each,  mix them all together and put them in a fridge safe container.  Next grab your shot glass and a larger cup to mix the drink in.  You can also use a drink shaker and shake this up.  Mix in your cup orange juice, sours and vodka.  Mix or shake well.  Next pour it into your fancy glass (optional but doesn't it look so nice!) Once that is in the glass, you can add your 1/2 oz of grenadine. Because it's heavier than the other mix it will sink to the bottom. (yes the Bacon kids got a science lesson after they squeezed the lemon and limes!) Add a dollop of cool whip to the top of the drink and a few cherries on a toothpick (optional also!) and ENJOY!

 

Now you didn't think I'd leave out the kids did you?  After all this is a family blog!  Here's a fun drink you can mix up for the kids to enjoy for our Independence day too.  And bonus, they get the same science experiment out of it.

Red, White and Blue:
4oz blue kool aid or Gatorade
4oz lemon lime soda
1 oz grenadine
Ice
Glass or clear plastic cup

Fill cup with ice.  Pour in the grenadine.  Next very carefully pour the soda over the ice and then the blue kool aid.  The grenadine will stay at the bottom until it's mixed in. Red, white and blue!! Once you mix them together you get a purple drink. Great for the kiddos!

 Have a Happy and Safe 4th of July to all my American friends!

Well that's the pits!

 

You know what's the pits?  Having been gone for so long!  Thankfully I had a loyal reader email me asking to come back and with school out I'm able to find a little more free time.  You know when things get busy, a Mama has to take care of her family first. But I will try to find a few minutes for all of my fans too!  You know what else is the pits?  Having a big ol' bag of fresh cherries and no cherry pitter!

Not a problem for Ma Bacon.  I found out that Bacon Jr. and Bacon bit share my love of cherries.   So I found a good sale and decided to treat us to a yummy and healthy snack.  I was able to describe to Bacon Jr. how to not eat the pit inside, but there is just no way to give a toddler a cherry and have him not eat the pit!  But my dilemma was that I didn't have a cherry pitter.  And honestly I didn't want a tool I'll only use a few times. I knew there had to be a way to pit all the cherries without one and you know I found it!  I searched online and found some people using paper clips.  When I tried that I just couldn't get the pit out right and it took FOREVER.  When you have a toddler who thinks he's starving waiting on a bowl of cherries even a minute is forever!  So to make the process go faster- I found a trick using a pastry tip, which thankfully I happen to have lots of.

First start off with washing your cherries. I think you can figure out how to do this right?! Next I had to find my pastry tip. I had a lot of these cheap plastic ones. It seemed to be the right size and it had the little 'teeth' on it so I used that.  I think a metal one would hold up better, but I made due with what I had.

 Once I got the pastry tip, I took a cherry and picked off the stems. This is an excellent job for all those little helpers around my house!  All the stems off? Can you tie them in a knot with your tongue? Not many people have this talent that Sis Bacon and I have!  It's not easy.  And not necessary to pit your cherries either!  Take a cherry with the side you removed the stem down and place it on the top of the pastry tip.  Then gently, that is a key word because if you push too hard you will get cherry juice everywhere, down on the cherry.  The pit will jump right out.  No not all of them come out as nice as this one. It all depends on how ripe your cherry is.  Some split apart, and some jump out from the side.  It makes it all the more exciting!

Take the pit and toss it on your pit pile and start again.  This actually goes really fast. I was able to pit my whole bag of cherries in under 10 minutes. 

Now since I used a plastic pastry tip it did bend a little.  That's ok, I just bent the prongs back and kept going. This is where a metal tip might work a little better. 

 

 See all better again!  A few other tips, Once if you don't like cherry stains on your counter, make sure you wipe up the cherry juice right away.  Also if you don't want to explain where your red fingers came from, gloves are a good suggestion too!  There you go. Now you can enjoy your bowl of pitted cherries.  These didn't last long, Bacon bit was all too eager for me to be done!

 

Well it works!

If you have a baby or toddler I'm sure you've seen those cute little food pouches they sell.  Bacon Bit loves them!  And so do I.  They are quite handy when we are in the van traveling or out and about.  Just twist off the top and hand it over.  Bacon Bit can drain one in under a minute I believe, I'm not complaining since he gets a dose of fruit in his diet.  He still prefers mostly veggies and that's ok too!

 There happen to be a few problems with those cute pouches that I'm not overjoyed with however.  The biggest is the cost, for a 3-4 ounce pouch of baby pureed food costs between $1.35-$3!  Not quite budget friendly.  But I have to admit even convenience of them has over ruled our budget a few times.  I was talking to another mom with a toddler the same age as Bacon Bit saying how I wish they made something re-usable like the pouches. Especially since I have a whole tote full of baby food that was given to us that needs to be used up and Bacon Bit makes a HUGE mess with a spoon and bowl of sauce.  She told me that she simply refills them.  I have to admit I had my doubts of messes trying to refill the darn pouch, but she told me to just try it. So I did and I was happily surprised!  Want to refill your own pouches? Here's how!

What you need:
empty baby food pouch with cap
medicine syringe (bigger the better!)
baby food sauce or any kind of pureed sauce





First take your pouch and rinse it out.  I held mine under the water and let it fill up a few times.  You can even add a small drop of dish soap to it.  Once it's filled I hold my finger over the opening and give the pouch a few shakes really good.  Repeat this a few times until the water runs clear. 

Next flatten out your pouch. Make sure there is no air in it.  If there is, I was told when you go to fill it, the puree will spray out of the pouch making a bigger mess!

Now take your syringe and fill it full of your puree.  Hold it over the opening and squeeze the sauce inside.  Repeat until you filled up the pouch.  It's just that simple!

Once it's full, twist the cap back on and either hand it to baby or place it back in the fridge.  I just saved myself a whole lot o' bacon for my pocket!!  And Bacon Bit is very happy to get his favorite pouch sauce more often. 

Now I'm not sure how many times you can refill the pouch, but even if you refill it a few times before tossing it will save you money.  And time wise I am able to refill a pouch in less than 2 minutes.  So not bad at all.  I'm so happy my friend shared this tip with me! I hope it helps some of you too.