Encouragement Toast

As parents, we do everything we can to support our children and encourage them to do their best. Next time your kids have a big test, an important interview, or stressful tryouts or auditions, serve them up a delicious breakfast of Encouragement Toast.  

I dreamed up Encouragement Toast in the cereal aisle at the Safeway by my house. I noticed something I hadn't had since early childhood, Alphabits (affiliate link), and my mind was flooded with ideas for edible crafts. What fun! I tossed the box into the cart, excited to get started. 

As an aside, I absolutely love the design of this box. The notebook paper and fonts are perfect for this kid-oriented cereal. I adore the little bee, ice cream, turtle and space designs on the Bits letters. And using the cereal itself for their motto ("a story in every bowl!") is very clever. Good job, anonymous graphic designer!

I washed my hands, poured a cup of Alphabits onto a plate, and started sorting letters. About 10% of the letters were too misshapen or broken to use, so those went into a container for future breakfasts. As I sorted, I started spelling out my message. 

Then it was just a matter of toasting some bread, spreading peanut butter on top, and adding the letters. I surrounded the toast with orange segments and banana slices. Served with a glass of milk, this is the perfect way to fuel kids for that important test or presentation.  

Expect to see an Alphabits-inspired edible craft from me again. I've got a whole box of possibilities!

Orange Juice Mocktail and Felt Orange Slice Coaster

In the deRosier house, special occasions call for Orange Juice Mocktail. It's pretty much a guarantee that we'll make it for birthday and holiday breakfasts, and it sometimes shows up when we host lunch or dinner. I love how it looks on my latest fruit coaster. (Here are the lemon and the lime.)

I've actually shared our 'secret' recipe for Mocktail before (Trevor looks so little!!!), but I'll repeat it here: Fill a glass 2/3 full of orange juice, then pour in Sprite or 7-Up until the glass is almost full. Add a tablespoon of grenadine and serve. If you pour the ingredients in a different order, you don't get the beautiful ombre, but it tastes just as good. 

The orange slice coaster is essentially identical to the lime slice, other than the color. Both have 10 segments. Instructions and affiliate links below.

Orange Slice Felt Coaster

Materials:

• felt (orange, white)
• microtip scissors
• needle
• thread (orange, white)

Steps: 

Cut out a circle of orange felt, approximately 4" in diameter. Cut out a circle of white felt that is slightly smaller than the orange circle. Then cut out another orange circle that is slightly smaller than the white one. 

Set the large orange circle and the white circle aside. 

Fold the smaller orange circle in half. Cut along the fold, then cut each half into 5 triangles. They don't need to be identical, as they definitely aren't in nature. Snip off the corners of each triangle so they are rounded. Space them evenly on the white circle, trimming if necessary until they resemble the segments of an orange. 

Use a orange thread and a very short running stitch to sew the orange segments to the white circle. Start at the tip of one segment, work around the edges until you reach the tip again, then move over to the next segment. 

When all the segments are attached, use white thread and the same short running stitch to attach the white circle to the orange circle.

When your coaster is done, make yourself an Orange Juice Mocktail. A delicious reward for a job well done!

Whole Orange Cake

I've mentioned our prolific orange tree many times.  This year, there are more oranges than ever before, which just didn't seem possible.  We eat oranges morning, noon and night. We've given dozens away.  The tree is still full.  It's May.  As far as problems go, it's a great problem.  

Last year, I discovered a recipe for Blender Quick Orange Bread that literally uses the whole orange, peel and all.  I was extremely wary about a bread made from orange peels and pith, but it was delicious and I've made it several times since.  Then I discovered another whole-orange recipe, Orange Cookies. Also delicious.

Now that I know that orange peels and pith do indeed make delicious baked goods, I was really excited to find a recipe for Whole Orange Cake in the March 2013 issue of Sunset Magazine.  I went outside and picked some good-sized oranges, washed them, cut them into chunks, and threw them in the blender.  Then I measured out 1.5 cups.  

 

The batter came together quickly and easily and smelled really good.

 

The house smelled amazing while it was baking.  The cake looked perfect when I removed it from the pan.  It was hard to wait to add the glaze.  

 

The verdict?  Absolutely fantastic!  Another great recipe to add to my file of what to do with a bumper crop of oranges.  

Anyone have any other great recipes using oranges?

Orange Sherbet

Orange bread, orange sorbet... what else could I make with the many oranges from our tree? How about orange sherbet?!

I checked the recipe booklet that came with our ice cream maker. There was an orange sherbet recipe, but it called for melted orange juice concentrate instead of fresh juice. I turned to Google to read through some recipes. I'd planned to get a general idea of what goes into a sherbet then invent my own, but that was before I found Alton Brown's recipe for orange sherbet. We're big AB fans and I knew his recipe would be great.

I mixed up a batch and added it to the ice cream maker. Here are Steve and Trevor, checking on the progress of the sherbet:

And here is the finished sherbet. I realize that this photo looks like scrambled eggs, not sherbet, but you'll have to trust me. It was dark when I took the picture and my sherbet was melting rapidly, so I didn't take the time to take a proper picture.  

I decided to put the leftover sherbet into popsicle molds, which we enjoyed after dinner the following day. (Trevor was sick and stayed in jammies all day. This photo cracks me up, because it looks like the dinosaur is trying to eat the popsicle before Trevor does.)

Alton Brown's Orange Sherbet

                                   7 ounces sugar                                          1 tablespoon lemon juice
                                   1 1/2 tablespoons orange zest                   1 teaspoon vanilla extract
                                   1/4 teaspoon kosher salt                           1 1/2 cups very cold whole milk
                                   2 cups orange juice

In the bowl of a food processor combine all of the ingredients except the milk and process until the sugar is dissolved, approximately 1 minute. (I didn't use a food processor. I just stirred the ingredients in a bowl and the sugar dissolved just fine.) Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl and whisk in the milk. Cover the bowl and place in the refrigerator until the mixture reaches 40°F or below, approximately 1 hour.

Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker and process until it is the consistency of soft serve ice cream. You may serve now or transfer to a lidded container and place in freezer until firm, approximately 3 hours.

Lemon and Orange Sorbets

You know what is REALLY good on a cold winter's day? Lemon sorbet. OK, it's good no matter what the season or temperature. My parents have a lemon tree, so we're blessed with tons of free lemons. I use them fresh, of course. I also freeze the juice and the zest so that I can have a supply year-round.

You know what else is REALLY good? Orange sorbet. Our orange tree is out of control this year, so I'm juicing and zesting oranges frequently too. 

You know what is REALLY hard to photograph on a dark winter's evening? Sorbet. Any flavor. 

(Lemon on the left; orange on the right.)

I love how easy it is to whip up a quick sorbet with the ice cream machine. I also love that I can control the amount of sugar I add.

To make lemon sorbet, I combine two cups of simple syrup (equal parts water and sugar, boiled, then cooled) with 1 1/2 c. lemon juice and 2 T lemon zest. To make orange sorbet, I combine one cup of simple syrup with 2 1/2 cups of orange juice and 2 T. orange zest. After about 20 minutes in the ice cream maker, it's ready to eat. Delicious!