Saucy coconut shrimp

---

• Prep Time : 10 min
• Cooking time : 10 min
• Makes : 2 servings, 1/2 recipe (178 g) each

What You Need!

• 1 tsp. oil
• 1/2 lb. (225 g) uncooked deveined peeled medium shrimp
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp. crushed red pepper
• 1/4 cup canned light coconut milk
• 3 Tbsp. Kraft Crunchy Peanut Butter
• 3 Tbsp. lime juice
• 2 tsp. lite soy sauce
• 1/4 cup thin mango slices

Make It!

1. Heat oil in medium skillet on medium-high heat. Add shrimp; cook 1 min. Stir in garlic and crushed pepper; cook and stir 1 to 2 min. or until shrimp turn pink. Transfer to bowl; cover to keep warm.
2. Add all remaining ingredients except mangos to skillet; cook on low heat 3 to 4 min. or until peanut butter is melted and sauce is well blended, stirring frequently. (Do not bring to boil.)
3. Stir in shrimp and mangos; cook 2 to 3 min. or until heated through, stirring frequently.

Chocolate Cookie Ice Cream Slice

 

What You Need

5 cups chocolate ice cream, slightly softened

14 Chips Ahoy! Cookies, crushed (about 1-1/4 cups)

1/4 cup non-hydrogenated margarine, melted

1-1/2 cups thawed Cool Whip Light Whipped Topping

1 square Baker's Semi-Sweet Chocolate

Make It

LINE 9x5-inch loaf pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides. Spread ice cream onto bottom of pan. Mix cookie crumbs and margarine; sprinkle over ice cream. Cover with ends of foil; gently press crumb mixture into ice cream.

FREEZE 6 hours or until firm.

INVERT dessert onto plate when ready to serve; remove pan and foil. Frost dessert with Cool Whip. Coarsely grate chocolate square; sprinkle over dessert.    

Mint Chip Ice Cream Pie

 

Serves 8| Hands-On Time: 10m | Total Time: 2hr 25m

Ingredients

• 8 ounces chopped semisweet chocolate, melted
• 4 cups crisped rice cereal (such as Rice Krispies)
• 2 pints mint chocolate-chip ice cream, slightly softened

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine the chocolate and cereal until the cereal is completely coated. Transfer to a 9-inch springform pan. Press the mixture into the bottom and 1 inch up the sides of the pan. Freeze just until firm, 5 to 10 minutes.
2. Spread the ice cream in the prepared crust and freeze, covered, until firm, for at least 2 hours and up to 3 days.

Ribbon Lanterns

Martha Stewart Living, July 2007http://www.marthastewart.com/268402/ribbon-lanterns

3.525

For each, you'll need 1 paper box lantern and 4 lengths of ribbon, each measuring 9 times the height of the lantern.

We used satin and grosgrain ribbons, 1 to 1 1/2 inches wide.

Ribbon Lanterns How-To
1. On one top corner of the lantern, measure 1/2 inch from top and 1/2 inch from side; mark with pencil.

2. Using a craft knife, make a horizontal cut at marked point, toward center, equal to ribbon's width. Make another cut, 3/4 inch down.

3. Repeat process to make pairs of cuts on all corners of lantern (except on top and bottom panels).

4. Starting at one bottom corner, thread ribbon through the 4 cuts on that side, loop ribbon over lantern, and thread other side, leaving an equal overhang on both sides.

5. Place another ribbon parallel to first; repeat threading.

6. Give lantern a quarter turn; thread remaining 2 ribbons, looping over first pair.

7. At each bottom corner, knot the 2 adjacent ribbons together, about 3 inches down. Gather all ribbons, and knot together, about 5 inches down from first knots.

8. Trim bottoms of ribbons at an angle. String hanging light through lantern, following manufacturer's instructions, or hang lantern as is.

© 2011 Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. All rights reserved.

Easy Ice Cream Cake

Marcus Nilsson

Serves 6 to 8
Hands-on Time: 10m
Total Time: 1hr 10m

Ingredients

• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
• 6 ice cream sandwiches (3.5 ounces each)
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips, chopped

Directions

1. Line an 8½-by-4½-inch loaf pan with a piece of wax paper or parchment, allowing the paper to hang over both long sides.

2. In a large bowl, beat the cream and sugar until stiff peaks form.

3. In the bottom of the pan, arrange 3 of the sandwiches in a single layer, cutting them to fit as necessary. Spread with half the whipped cream. Repeat with the remaining sandwiches and whipped cream.

4. Sprinkle the top of the cake with the chopped chocolate chips. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze until firm, at least 1 hour and up to 1 week.

5. Holding both sides of the paper overhang, lift the cake out of the pan and transfer to a platter. Discard the paper and serve.

Tip

Upgrade this kid-friendly treat with chopped candy bars in place of the chocolate chips. Try 2 bars of Heath, Snickers, Butterfinger, or Nestlé Crunch.

Nutritional Information
Calories 440; Calories From Fat 53%; Fat 26g; Sat Fat 15g; Cholesterol 64mg; Sodium 155mg; Protein 6g; Carbohydrate 47g; Fiber 2g; Sugar 31g

Celebrate: Lolipop Centerpiece

Candy Buffets are all the rage. In fact, they have become a bit of a Cabrera Celebration favorite. For my sister’s wedding, I created this fun centerpiece. Super easy, and great for any occasion.

To create one of your own just follow some of these simple tips.

1. Use floral foam at the bottom of your container to hold the candies.
2. A little hot glue at the bottom of each stick before you stick it through the foam will help secure the pops.
3. Gumballs and jellybeans make a great filler to cover the foam. I glued the gumballs in place and just poured in the jellybeans into the center.

Here is how it looked on the table, fun and simple!

basket weave vases

Salvaged some cartons and jars from being thrown into the landfill and woven the cartons into this pair of bright vases.

I made them in theme of the beautiful colors of our globe: the warp and weft are in cool blue and vivid green hues, and the vases are topped off with beautiful white clouds of hydrangeas. Just the kind of décor my kitchen table needs this spring!


For each vase, you will need two milk or juice cartons of the same size and a jar, some paint and a hot glue gun.


1. Cut the cartons to preferred height, making sure that they are taller than the jar for containing the water for your bouquet. Paint the cartons. If you want your vases to be a single color, you may skip this step for now and paint after the cartons are woven.

2. For each vase: cut one carton into 1/2″ strips vertically, making sure not to cut out the bottom, and cut the second carton into 1/2″ strips horizontally.

3. Start weaving by sliding the horizontal strips into alternating vertical strips.

4. Continue weaving until you reach the top and glue the top pieces together so the basket weave does not come undone.

5. Fill your jar with water and place inside the woven carton and arrange your favorite spring blooms.

Winnie the Pooh Invitations

 

I actually had another uber cute, 3-D invitation idea, but these little guys are being mailed far and wide, and these bottles seemed sturdier. I'm using the other packaging idea for the favors.
The invites are always the first peek into how an event is going to be, and I want people to want to come just to see what will follow the invitations!

I found the jars on this website. They are only 50 cents for the bottle and the cap. The shipping was as much as the bottles, so they ended up being a dollar each. It's not a bad price, and it was the best I could find when shipping/bottles were combined.

I 'lifted' some clip art using google imaging, and added these to address labels. I'll add the guest addresses to the labels. I put my return address on a small sticker on top (I blotched out the addresses, not because *you* aren't totally on the guest list, but.....)

The jars have a smooth belly, and a smooth back. I'm going to place the mailing stamps on the back. (2 regular priced stamps, I'm going to see if I can find one that sort of kind of goes with my theme, and I'll share the final invites pre-mailing in a few months).

For the innards, I bought this bee punch for 'confetti' from Michael's, it's Martha Stewart...in my head, she'd approve. I printed off a simple invitation with info from the front using a 'food quote from Pooh.'

"It's more fun to talk with people who doesn't use difficult words, but rather short easy words like How about Lunch?"

 

On the back, I found a bunch of sweet quotes from pooh, and a little square with a bee. I inked both of the edges, and then glued them down to a larger sheet of brown paper (5x7). You can click to read those, but they will be on a lot of other shower related things in the the future as well.

I added a little hive I cut out free hand, and a bee from a stamp with a little buzz I dotted onto the back.

I rolled it up, tied it up with some ribbon from Hobby Lobby, and slipped them inside the bears with the bee confetti.

teddy bear cookies

Need a fun rainy day project for the kids? Here’s some black and white teddies from Land O’Lakes. Just roll up all the sizes of balls from the dough, stick them together and you’ve got cute little teddy bears! Fun lunchbox treat, too!

Teddy Bear Cookies

• 1 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup Land O Lakes® Butter, softened
• 1 Land O Lakes® All-Natural Egg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 (1-ounce) squares unsweetened baking chocolate, melted

Heat oven to 375°F. Combine sugar, butter, egg and vanilla in large bowl. Beat at medium speed, scraping bowl often, until well mixed. Reduce speed to low; add flour, baking powder and salt. Beat, scraping bowl often, until well mixed.

Divide dough in half. Place half of dough into medium bowl; stir in chocolate until well mixed.
For each teddy bear, use either vanilla or chocolate dough or a combination for two-toned teddy bears.

Shape 1 large (1-inch) ball for body.

Place onto ungreased cookie sheet; flatten slightly. Shape 1 medium (3/4-inch) ball for head, 4 small (1/2-inch) balls for arms and legs, 2 smaller balls for ears. Attach head, arms, legs and ears by overlapping slightly onto body. Add additional small balls for eyes, nose and mouth, if desired. Use fork to make claws on paws.

Bake for 7 to 8 minutes or until body is set. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet; remove to cooling rack.

Cool completely.

How to make Pink Fuzzy Slipper Cookies out of Nutter Butters

 

How fun would it be to serve Pink Fuzzy Slipper Cookies on Mother's Day
or for a slumber party, spa party, or even a baby shower?

One of my friends is a cooking magazine junkie and I benefit from her habit. She really can't walk by a magazine rack without making a purchase. The glossy covers emblazoned with mouthwatering photos of the newest recipes captivate her attention and before she is even aware, at least one magazine is in her shopping cart. Whenever she comes to my house, she has a few magazines in hand to show me some new discovery. The other day she brought along a Better Homes and Gardens magazine filled with cupcake ideas and she was so excited to show me how they turned Nutter Butter Cookies into flip flops to top a summer themed cupcake. My friend continued to flip through the magazine talking about various cupcakes, but all I could think about was different ways to use the peanut shaped cookies to make some other footwear. I went down the list of shoes - sneakers, pumps, clogs, cleats ... then it hit me. Slippers! Pink fuzzy slippers. Since slippers have a fairly simple design, I was certain I could replicate them using the cookies. I was so excited to get started working on my new project as I thought it would be a perfect idea for Mother's Day. How cute would they look when served with breakfast in bed?

That afternoon I ran to the store, bought a package of cookies, and got busy in the kitchen. Each slipper would only require one half of the cookie, so I split the cookies and scraped out the filling. The creamy peanut butter centers tasted very similar to that of the peanut butter fudge used to make buckeyes (a traditional candy popular in my home state of Ohio), so I whipped up a batch of the fudge and mixed in the cookie filling. Yum. It had the perfect flavor and a small scoop of the fudge set on top of each cookie was easily molded into a little slipper.

The next trick was getting the slippers to look fuzzy. I melted some pink candy coating, dipped two slipper cookies, and used a fork to spike the wet coating. They looked odd. They just weren't fuzzy enough. I thought about using coconut tinted pink, but tasted the cookie with some coconut. Not good. Next I tried sprinkling the pink candy coated slipper with pink sanding sugar. Too shiny. Then I sprinkled on some pink jimmies. Nope. As I was looking around for inspiration, I came across a bowl of shaved dark chocolate that I had used earlier that week to coat some truffles. The chocolate shavings had a nice fuzzy quality, so I grabbed my rotary cheese grater and grated some pink candy coating and sprinkled it over my pink slipper cookies. It was the perfect fit.

Before you begin, if you don't have any experience melting chocolate, read my my tutorial on chocolate making. If you can't find pink confectionery coating / candy melts, you can follow the directions in the tutorial to add pink coloring to white candy melts. To make the "fuzz" for the slippers, you need to be able to grate some of the confectionery coating. So, you'll need to pour 2 ounces of the colored candy into a parchment paper lined rectangle container then place it in the freezer to harden. Allow it to come to room temperature, then grate it using a box style cheese grater. You can use this technique if you do have pink candy melts, but don't have a rotary cheese grater.

Sweet Pink Fuzzy Slipper Cookies (Makes 15 pair of slippers)

Ingredients:

15 Nutter Butter Cookies
1 cup creamy peanut butter (I choose Jif)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon heavy whipping cream
1/8 teaspoon table salt
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
20 ounces pink confectionery coating / candy melts
Special Equipment Needed:

#70 mini ice cream scoop (or a spoon)
rotary-style cheese graterparchment paper lined baking sheets that fit in your freezer
paper towels

Instructions:

Pull apart the two peanut shaped cookies. Scrape the peanut butter filling off of each cookie using a knife or spatula, not your teeth:) Reserve filling.

Combine peanut butter, unsalted butter, whipping cream, and salt in a large microwave safe bowl. Heat in microwave on high for 30 seconds. Stir. Heat for 20 seconds. Stir. If butter is not completely melted, heat for 10 second increments, stirring after each, until melted. Stir in powdered sugar. The fudge will become very thick. I usually finish stirring in the powdered sugar with my hands.

Notes:

• I know most buckeye recipes don't call for heavy whipping cream, but I have been using it for a while and like how it effects the texture of the fudge. It is perfectly creamy.
• Don't pack the powdered sugar into the measuring cup or you will have more sugar than needed. If this happens, your fudge can be come too thick and dry. To fix this, knead in a bit of heavy whipping cream until the mixture is malleable but still stiff.
• If your kitchen is very warm, you may need to refrigerate the peanut butter fudge for about 30 minutes before trying to mold it into the slipper shape.

Use a #70 mini ice cream scoop or a spoon to scoop out 30 balls of fudge (about 2 teaspoons each.) Roll each scoop into a ball. Place a fudge ball on one end of a cookie. Use your finger to press around the edge of the fudge ball and the edge of the cookie sealing the two together. Repeat with the remaining fudge balls.

Use your finger or the end of a wooden spoon to make an indentation in each fudge ball. Pinch around the edge of the indentation creating the opening of each slipper.

Grate 4 ounces of the pink candy melts using a rotary cheese grater. Pour grated candy onto a plate.

Melt 16 ounces of pink confectionery coating/candy melts. Hold onto a slipper cookie by the sides of the Nutter Butter. Dip the cookie, peanut butter fudge side down, into the pink candy coating. To ensure that the top of the cookie and the indentation get covered in candy, move the cookie back and forth a few times in the melted candy. Lift the cookie out of the candy melts and allow the excess candy to drip off. I suggest you dip the cookie back into the candy melts, then quickly pull it out, then dip just the top of the slipper cookie back into the candy melts, then pull it out. Repeat this process three or four times. It will help pull the excess candy off of the slipper cookie. Lift the slipper cookie up out of the candy melts. At this point you may need to tap the cookie to remove any excess candy or you may have to use your finger to move some melted coating into the slipper's opening.

I tried dipping the entire cookie using a candy dipping fork, but found that the slipper cookies are awkwardly top heavy and difficult to dip. Also, I ended up with misshapen cookies if excess candy pooled around the bottom. I thought they looked much better when the bottom of the cookie was not coated in the candy.

Set the slipper cookie on the plate filled with the grated pink candy. Wipe your fingers on the paper towels because you will have candy coating on them. This is a messy job! Immediately sprinkle grated pink candy over the cookie, coating the entire thing. Let the cookie sit in the candy shavings for a minute. Then remove it and set it on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Repeat, dipping and coating each of the slipper cookies. Freeze slippers for 5 minutes to set the candy coating. Remove from freezer and allow to come to room temperature before serving. Store in an airtight container.

These adorable little slipper can be made in a rainbow of colors.

These fuzzy slipper cookies can work for so many different occasions: Mother's Day, slumber party, baby shower, spa party, get well soon, retirement party, and even...

FATHER'S DAY!

These adorable little brown slippers were dipped in tempered milk chocolate and sprinkled with milk chocolate shavings. Whether you use tempered milk chocolate or light cocoa candy melts, you can create these brown fuzzy slippers using the method above.

Have fun making these slipper cookies, and be sure to send me some pictures of your creations. If you post pictures of your slippers on a blog, please let me know so I can add your picture here, and link to your site. I just love to see how other people interpret my ideas and use them for their own parties.

These cute slippers are one of my favorite ideas. If you like it as much as I do, please share it with others by clicking on the share buttons below. I'd be grateful to anyone who adds this recipe and reviews it on Stumble Upon. THANKS