Finger Jello

This finger jello recipe is my absolute 'go-to' recipe for any potluck/party/get-together. I can't tell you where this recipe originates from, but it was passed onto me from my mom. I've looked in many 'Jell-O' recipe books and have never come across this exact recipe. I can tell you that this finger jello is always a hit at the parties. And it is SO easy to make.

What you'll need:
3 small (3oz.) boxes of Jell-O (any flavor, I usually use strawberry or raspberry)
4 envelopes of Knox Unflavored Gelatin
3 cups boiling water (notice my kettle on the stove-top...that was the only way I could think of to visualize boiling water!)
1 cup whipping cream

First, pour all of the jello and gelatin into a bowl:

Next, mix it all together (isn't this complicated?)

(if you're fortunate like me, you will have a 4 year old assistant to take care of the above step)

Next, get rid of the 4 year old assistant and add the 3 cups of boiling water yourself. You need to mix this carefully until there are NO crystals left. This will take a couple of minutes. Don't rush this step, just keep on mixing.

Next, add the 1 cup of whipping cream. Just pour it right in:

Then pour the mixture into a 9x13 pan (I find that a glass pan works best):

And you just have to let it sit. And sit. I usually leave it on the counter for an hour and then transfer it to the fridge (so I don't heat up the fridge with all the hot steam!). As the jello sets, it will start to separate and form 2 layers.

Once it is set, you can just cut it up into squares (which I usually do), or if it is a special occasion, I use cookie cutters to make shapes. I brought this finger jello to our Easter dinner yesterday, so I made these shapes:

Just keep on cutting out shapes, trying to stay as close together as possible so not to waste too much jello. You will be left with some scrapes, but my kids and hubby never have a problem eating them up.

The result:

This is what the jello looks like from the side-notice the layers.

I found this picture of a "flag" that I made a couple of summers ago for the 4th of July.
This is the same kind of finger jello, just without the whipping cream so it doesn't form layers. I actually make this finger jello more often. All you have to do is add 4 cups of boiling water instead of just 3, and omit the whipping cream.

Caitlin (2 1/2 years old) with the 4th of July Jello:

Level of Difficulty: This may just be the easiest thing to make ever. 1 out of 5 for difficulty.

Taste Test: 5 out of 5. Tasty, refreshing, and there are never any leftovers!!

Blueberry Muffins

This past summer I received over 60 pounds of blueberries, which I froze and have been enjoying ever since. However, 60 pounds is a lot of blueberries so I am always on the look-out for recipes to use them. I came across this recipe for blueberry muffins in a recent issue of Family Circle.

What you'll need:
2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar (plus a few tsps. for sprinkling on top of muffins)
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk
2 eggs
1/2 cup veg. oil
1 tsp. grated orange zest
1 cup fresh blueberries (I used frozen and they worked just fine)

Heat oven to 375, coat muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray. In a large bowl, whisk flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Make a well in the center. In a separate bowl, whisk together milk, eggs, oil and orange zest. Pour milk mixture into well in flour mixture:
Stir until combined. Fold in blueberries. Spoon batter into muffin pan and fill each cup about 3/4 full. Sprinkle each muffin with sugar:

Bake at 375 for 22-25 minutes, until lightly brown. Remove from pan and cool on wire rack. Makes a dozen.

Level of Difficulty: Super easy and quick! 2 out of 5 for difficulty (you do have to zest an orange:)

Taste Test: These muffins are good. My kids loved them, as did I. These may be my new favorite blueberry muffin recipe. 4 out of 5 for taste.

Cupcake bites

This idea comes entirely from bakerella (she has the cutest ideas...you need to go check out her website if you haven't already!). I saw these cute little cupcake bites that she made and thought "I must try these." And so I did. I'm not going to go through all of the instructions on how to make them because bakerella has already done that on her site, but I will show you how mine turned out:

Not too bad, right? Well, they were a lot of work. It took a good part of an afternoon for me to make these. And then there were all the dishes to clean up. Ugh!

Level of difficulty: Like I said, these were a lot of work. Hours worth. It wasn't so much that they were hard to make, it's just that there were a lot of steps. So on a difficulty level of 1-5, I'll give it a 4.

Taste test: I thought they tasted okay. They were very moist and stayed that way for several days. Overall, I'd give them a 3 out of 5.