2 medium eggs.
2 cups of flour.
1 cup of buttermilk.
1 ½ cups of sugar.
½ cup of butter.
2 tablespoons of cocoa.
2 tablespoons of hot coffee.
1 teaspoon of red food coloring.
1 teaspoon of baking soda.
1 teaspoon of salt.
Frosting.

Preparation Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 325°F (160°C).

Cream the butter; then add the sugar, beating thoroughly.

Add the eggs and beat well.

Combine the coffee, cocoa and red food colouring; then to creamed mixture and beat.

Dissolve the baking soda in the buttermilk, stirring thoroughly.

Combine the flour and the salt; then add to creamed mixture alternately with the buttermilk mixture.

Pour the batter into 2 greased and floured eight-inch round cake pans.

Bake for 35-40 minutes.

Allow to cool in pans for 15 minutes.

Remove from pans and allow to fully cool.

Spread frosting between layers and on top of cake.

Be sure to also check out our Photo Valentine Cards .

Combine all ingredients, adding ginger ale and berries just before serving (the strawberries can get slimy if left in for a while, you can omit them if the serving time is long).

• Chai Mulled Apple Cider
• Hot Orange Chocolate Cocoa
• Almond Joy Steamed Milk
• Warm Gingered Green Tea
• Hot Grape Punch Recipe
• Hot Caramel White Chocolate Milk

There are a couple of ways to do the reindeer’s head. First, you can use a footprint with the toes up and the heel where the nose will be placed. Do that footprint first … then do the handprint antlers slightly overlapping it (use both hands in doing the antlers … left for left, right for right). Second, just draw on a head for the reindeer using fabric paint – a fairly simple oval shape, colored in with the fabric paint. Then paint on the eyes and a nose (red, of course)

You can then draw a simple string of Christmas lights (bulbs of various colors) winding through the antlers if you wish.

Other cute holiday shirts to do are Christmas trees made out of upside down handprints .. a row of 3 handprints on the bottom, two in the middle, one on top. You could even draw on a star and ornaments (or use fingerprints for ornaments). Also, you can use an upside down handprint in white to be Santa’s face, with the fingers being his beard … draw on his eyes, nose, mustache, hat, etc. Or you can make a simple angel figure … just do a basic triangle for the body, a circle for the head and two handprints for the wings. You can obviously add more details if you want.

We are doing something fun for this holiday – Tell us your Peep stories. Time to confess what you do to these adorable little critters.

From the drying them out in desk drawers to making them explode in the microwaves – which we don’t recommend by the way .

Share your story and make us all laugh!

Add 1 quart of water and 2 tablespoons white vinegar to a large pan; if more water is necessary to cover the ingredients, proportionally increase the amount of vinegar. Bring to
a boil,then lower heat & allow the ingredients to simmer for 30 minutes. Strain dye into a bowl, and let cool.

Add eggs to the strained dye and boil 10 minutes, turn off the heat and let the eggs sit for another 10 minutes. Take out and cool on paper towels, refrigerate.

Let us share some ideas we have used and please, share your suggestions as well – you are a most creative group!

Ways for Children to Say Thank You…

1. Draw a picture of the toy. Have the child draw a picture of the toy and let their imagination run with the idea. If they are too young, label the picture and any comments the child made while creating this unique thank you. Be sure this is immediately given in person or mailed – a thank you not given isn’t much good…

2. Have several people to thank for this one picture? Take a photo of the drawing (get as close as possible, fill the whole picture frame with the drawing and do not tilt the drawing – this will give you the best photo quality. If it is digital, you could email it, otherwise, print right away and send promptly.

3. Schedule a play date with the giver so the child and the giver can enjoy the gift together.

4. Photograph your child playing with the gift and send to the giver. Have several gifts to thank a giver for? Make sure several of the gifts are in the same photo, even if only in the background – maybe it seems staged, but it works for a busy mom!

5. A family tradition in my husband’s family when he was young, was to gather all his gifts after opening for Christmas or a birthday, and take a photo. Of course as a child, he complained, but now it is one of our favorite type of photos in his scrapbook – brings back many memories.

6. When you have a list of people to thank, the most efficient method might be to order one of our multi-photo thank you cards and you can share the joy with the photos taken at the gift opening.

7. If your child is chatty, have them call the giver. We always liked to have the children call when they had drawn or written the thank you since their enthusiasm was bubbling over and, hopefully, this is communicated.

Please remember to show your children there are various ways to express appreciation and most importantly, that appreciation needs to be expressed, otherwise what good is it?

Please share ways you have your children say “thank you” – I know you have creative ideas to share!