Vanilla Bean Ice Cream/Rhubarb Pie -- AGAIN

My mom wanted to make some more ice cream today, and this time it was going to be vanilla bean. Last time, it was avocado. She bought some vanilla beans, and so I scraped the seeds from the pods, which is harder than it sounds.

Next, we had to boil cream and milk, adding cornstarch and corn syrup together, and then let it cool over an ice bath.

Then we strained it into the ice cream maker. Of course, I had to recommend another rhubarb pie to go with the ice cream, so I decided to make it more on my own this time. I made the crust, picked the rhubarb, cut off the leaves, and then sliced the rhubarb.

We used orange zest again and this time I sealed the edges of the crust with a fork instead of crimping it with my fingers. It turned out delicious!!! We always make cinnamon pie crust treats with the leftover dough.

Spaghetti Puttanesca

This wasn't in the candy book, either. My mom asked me to make dinner, so I suggested Puttanesca, a sauce that I read about in the book "A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Begining". It sounded good, and it was (even though it calls for anchovies)! It also had Kalamata olives, capers, and fresh basil in it. It was funny because we found the same recipe on the box that came with the anchovy paste! We made a big batch, so there was a lot left over, so I can have some more any time I want!

Pumpkin Doughnuts

This recipe wasn't in the candy book, but it was delicious! I made cake doughnuts with pumpkin pie filling. Then I plugged in the deep-fryer and plopped them in. I also made this delicious glaze, but I like mine thick like frosting.

Rhubarb Pie

When I came home from school the other day, I saw my mom in the garden. She told me she was picking rhubarb and that she was going to make a pie out of it. Obviously, I wanted to help. She made the crust, and I chopped the rhubarb.

We mixed the rhubarb, sugar, flour, and orange zest in a bowl, laid the crust on the pie plate, and dumped the mixture in and dotted it with butter.

I laid the other crust on top, crimped the edges and cut slits in the top. I brushed the top crust with some cream and sprinkled it with sugar and put it in the oven. After it was baked, we all enjoyed the marvelous pie together.

Of course it's always better the next day.

Sponge Candy--AGAIN

I made sponge candy for the second time, and this time we added vinegar to the sugar and corn syrup. After we poured everything into the pan, it made the shape of a funny face! It tasted great, and I got to share some with my friends. We had to make many adjustments: 1 cup of corn syrup instead of 3 tablespoons, sifting the baking soda, and waiting until the mixture reaches 300 degrees instead of 280. Next time we will dip it in chocolate!

Oreo-Cheesecake Cupcakes

For my mom's birthday, she got the Martha Stewart's Cupcakes book, and we decided to make some for our neighbor's birthday. It's called Cookies and Cream Cheesecakes. I made the batter of cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, eggs, sour cream, salt and crushed Oreos. I put Oreos at the bottom of the cupcake liners and then filled them with the batter and baked them.

They were really easy to make and tasted delicious!

Homemade Hot Cocoa Mix

I ran out of my Swiss Miss cocoa powder, so I wanted to try making it my own this time. We had a lot of extra powdered milk from the candy corn, and that's what it needed.

So, I mixed together the milk, cocoa, powdered sugar, salt, and cornstarch and poured it in my giant, five-pound container of the Swiss Miss. I tried it, and it was like dark chocolate hot cocoa mix. It was really good!