We’ve been super busy this holiday season, getting in lots of family fun time. Sooo, this week we’re re-sharing our New Year’s episode from last year. These recipes are perfect for a New Year’s party and kid’s love to make and eat ‘em.

We hope you all have a Happy New Year!

Enjoy the show.

Happy Family Cooking Everyone!

Alex, Sophia and Kelly

Christmas time is about giving and here in the 2 Kids house, we think the furry family members deserve gifts too! If you saw our Kids in the Kitchen: Making Festive Food for Fido & Fluffy, you already are aware of this fact.

This week we’re going to demonstrate just how easy it is to whip up a batch of Dog and Cat treats. Oh, and Alex also provides his expert opinion on the taste of the Pet treats–he had to taste them for some odd reason, and since they’re all just ‘regular food’, they are perfectly safe for human pets too!

The dog treats we made can be found at Bullwinkle.com and the cat treats can be located at www.PetPlace.com (it’ the Tuna Tidbits).

Enjoy the show and have a Happy Holiday!

Happy Family Cooking Everyone,

Alex, Sophia and Kelly

So on Friday, December 10, this die-hard Minnesotan know it was gonna snow on Saturday. When my boyfriend asked me if he thought we might want to leave for the craft show on Friday instead of Saturday, I thought, why? It’s just gonna be a little snow…I can drive in snow. Then on Friday morning, my mom’s husband called me and wondered if we were coming on Friday because of the snow. My feelings hadn’t changed, but I told him I’d check the weather sites and let them know. Then my ex-husband called and asked if I was leaving on Friday and informed me that I wouldn’t make it if I left on Saturday–My ex-husband would’ve actually enjoyed it if I had gotten stuck in a snow bank somewhere in the plains of western Minnesota. I know I should trust those who actually care about me more than someone who would take joy in my struggle, but once the ex called, I knew we better leave on Friday, and so we did.

The craft show was on Sunday, so coming on Friday meant a whole extra day in the sleepy town, sans kiddies (they were at their dads). We woke up on Saturday to a blizzard. Along with my boyfriend, mom and step-dad, we did manage to trudge our way down three blustery blocks to the local cafe for some breakfast (yep, they were open ). The rest of the day was spent getting ready for the show on Sunday between rounds of Scrabble Flash
–(side note: this game is seriously addictive and fun…my boyfriend ordered one while we were there and will probably be happily playing it in a couple of days in the comfort of his own home. I think my kids would love it, too, great for family game night).

This brings us to the real purpose of this post, the craft show! It was sooo fun! I guess part of it, for me, was being back in my hometown, but I also love sharing our fondness for cooking and the awesome Curious Chef products we promote. My boyfriend filled in for Alex and Soph, helping booth visitors make either a 3 Bean Soup, or Russian Tea, ‘Gifts in a Jar‘. And, lots of lucky boys and girls will be receiving a Curious Chef kit of one sort or the other this Christmas–the Cookie, Measure and Prep and Cupcake Kits were the hot purchases of the day.

Oh, and we just started offering Barbara Beery’s line of Princess Cookbooks (which are going in our Online Shop as you read this). We offered one as a give-away in a booth drawing and a couple will be under Christmas tree’s in western MN soon The winner of the drawing for the Spa Princess Cookbook was….drumroll…Tammy Hennen!!! Her cookbook will be in the mail this week and we thank her, and everyone stopped by our booth!

The kids and I are looking forward to visiting more locations around the state of Minnesota next year and spreading our enthusiasm for getting the whole family in the kitchen together. I’m working on our travel calendar for next year in the coming weeks and will be sure to let you all know where we’ll be.

In the mean time, have a fun holiday season, filled with lots of family-time and delicious food!

Happy Family Cooking Everyone,

Alex, Sophia and Kelly

You may have seen my recent ‘Kids in the Kitchen’ post on Gifts in a Jar…well in addition to writing up that post, the kids and I have been busy at work planning Christmas gifts for their teachers, bus driver and a few other lucky select friends and family. In this weeks episode, we show just how easy and fun it is to put together a soup mix in a jar.

Plus, the fun doesn’t end when you finish putting the soup mix contents inside the jar, the kids also get to decorate the outside of the jar with the cooking instructions and any other holidays sparkle they want–this is one of Sophia’s favorite parts of the process

We based the recipe we used in the show on Jane’s Three Bean Soup Mix.

Enjoy the show and have a wonderful holiday season!

Happy Family Cooking Everyone!

Alex, Sophia and Kelly

P.S. Make sure to give us a ‘Like’ on Facebook!

My kids love to make every conceivable concoction in our kitchen. They also love dogs and cats (go figure). Putting the two ideas together makes a wonderful Saturday project that will benefit the local animal shelter or your own special Fido or Fluffy. (Pets love Christmas, too!)

For a basic treat recipe (for dogs), look at Bullwinkle.com. There are recipes there for basic biscuits, gourmet treats, and a whole variety of cleverly named snacks like Mutloaf, Puppy Pretzels and Liver Chip Cookies–We made the ‘Peanut Butter Puppy Poppers’ for the kids dog Cliffy–but all of them should whet the appetite of any canine! Holiday snacks are also on the menu there, making it an all around doggy-do-dah.

For cats, check out some treat recipes at:
• www.PetPlace.com (we made the ‘tuna tidbits’ for Snoopers, our cat)
• Free Cat Health Tips

Once you have the idea of how you want to proceed, try subbing in ingredients to make your own unique brand. Combine recipes you like (to cook) or combine some of the following:

Never, ever use onions, raisins or garlic for cats or dogs. Corn, grapes and raisins are also no-no’s for pets (corn is not digestible by dog and the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center doesn’t recommend giving grapes or raisins to pets in any amount). Stress to your kids that human treats are for humans, only.

Once your child mixes your doggy-dough or cat cookies, help them spread them onto a flour- or wax-papered surface. Kids can easily cut the treats out with cookie cutters, although it’s also fun to free-hand with a butter knife. Dog Bone Cookie Cutters are available online, or there are a ton of cute cutters at craft stores. Venture out and don’t use only the bone cutters for dogs and fish cutters for cats. I love the dog house cutters, the various breeds represented…Too cute! We actually used a dog for Cliffy’s treats and Hello Kitty shapes for Snoopers. Bake until they’re golden brown. Some biscuits will be soft, some crunchy, depending on ingredients.

If you’re giving the treats as a gift, get a little snazzy! Purchase an inexpensive wreath (I get mine at garage sales) and a spool of dog or cat-themed ribbon. Cut the ribbon into strips and have the kids tie the treats around the wreath. (Use a bow-knot so they can be removed for pet-snacking.) Fill it up with biscuits, tie a hanging ribbon and wrap it up. Any dog owner will know to hang this wreath HIGH, but it never hurts to remind them on the gift tag or card. Include the recipe and cutter, if desired, so that they can bake for their beloved four-legger in the future.

If you decide to make a donation to the animal shelter this year as part of your holiday donations, make up a box of treats (non-refrigerator variety) and donate them along with a large bag of dog or cat food. Shelter workers always appreciate the thought, and treats help distract animals, dogs in particular, with fear-of-fireworks on New Year’s Eve.

Pets are an integral part of the Two Kids Family with our cat Snoopers, and the kid’s and their dad’s dog Cliffy. Even though we don’t let them help us cook the food in the kitchen, we love sharing what we make with them and hope other family pet owners out there do to!

Happy Family Cooking Everyone!

Alex, Sophia and Kelly (oh, and Snooper the Cat too )

One of the first kitchen experiences many children have is helping Mom or Grandma make Kool-Aid or some other drink mix. They love to measure, pour (usually not so neatly), stir and watch as water from the tap magically changes into their favorite flavor drink. (If you still have small children and haven’t crossed into the making Kool-Aid stage, let me suggest putting the pitcher in a large pan to capture spilled sugar and water…It will save you quite a bit of clean-up time!)

Home-made drink mixes also make great gifts. Giving them to family members is an excellent way to get kids into the kitchen, and it gives them a personal input into the gifts they give each year. While dry mixes can vary from brownies to soups (I even saw one for dog biscuits!), something about drink mixes is satisfying. It invites a cup of cocoa or spiced tea on a cold winter night, or a mug of Santa’s favorite waiting for his arrival by the fireplace.

Before you begin, ask kids to help decorate mason/canning jar lids to match the intended contents. For spiced apple cider, for example, children may choose to cover the lid with an apple-print fabric, mount a small plastic apple with Gorilla glue or make an apple and worm combo out of clay. Allow them to then write the recipe on a decorated note card. Take the card to the copy shop, or scan and copy on your computer. Cover them with clear Contact paper to preserve. Don’t give away the original – you’ll want that for your own jar.

Notice that not all of the jar recipes are dry ingredients only. For gifts that need to be refrigerated, you’ll need to plan ahead. While these make super gifts for cross-country folk, refrigerated mixes should be given to in-town friends or family members.

There are so many jarred gift recipes online and in publications that finding the right ones to use won’t be a problem. To get started, check out the following:
1. Gifts from Your Kitchen
2. About.com>Busy Cooks

Once you’ve picked the recipe(s) that will be perfect for your family and friends, pull out the mixing bowls and decorated jar. Let the kids measure, mix (and don’t forget taste!), pour into jars and seal. Assist them in attaching recipe tags to each jar.

Alex and Soph love giving these as teacher’s gifts, but they’d make wonderful stocking stuffers or gifts for friends and neighbors, too. Best of all, nothing will top the pride your children feel as they hand-deliver the gift – homemade by them!

Happy Family Cooking Everyone!

Alex, Sophia and Mom