Grasshopper Milkshakes

Our family recently moved from a quaint little town that was home to a little drive-thru shake and burger joint, called Daylee Freez. That place was the place we stopped by with our realtor to get a quick treat, when we were looking for houses. We ordered Grasshopper Shakes, and I remember thinking they were the best thing on earth! During the next 3 1/2 years of living there, I would frequent Daylee Freez to get my kids rewards for behaving well at the doctor, or while on a date with my hubby. I loved those grasshopper shakes!

This past St. Patrick's day, I wanted to recreate those shakes, but after looking up recipes online, I found most recipes called for a sort of liquor, called Creme de Menth. We don't drink alcohol in our family, so I looked up substitutions. I found that most people just use mint extract. There were a variety of recipes for Grasshopper shakes, but I decided to combine them in my own way. I decided to use brownies instead of Oreo cookies, because they give it a good chewy texture. After making them and taking that first taste, my mind instantly shot back to that little town and the taste of the best shakes on the planet! This recipe is a keeper! We've already made it twice in one week!

Grasshopper Milkshakes:

4 cups vanilla ice cream
2-3 brownies, broken in bits
1 cup milk (less if you want 'em thick!)
1/4-1/2 tsp mint extract
20 drops of green food coloring

Add the ingredients in this order to your blender: milk, ice cream, brownies, mint extract, and food coloring. Carefully blend up to the desired consistency. You can have them thick (use less milk) with lots of brownie chunks, or silky smooth (more milk). Enjoy!

Fruit Rainbow

I saw this on Sister's Stuff, and I just had to share! This looks so easy, and....HEALTHY! It seems like the world is being taken over by sugar, don't ya think? Not to contradict myself on that last sugar statement, but vanilla wafers or chocolate coin candies would be cute for the pot-o-gold too!



St. Patty's Day Fruit Rainbow:

Strawberries, halved
Mandarin Oranges, drained
Pineapple, fresh and cubed, or Tidbits from the can and drained
Green Grapes
Blueberries, fresh and whole
Purple Grapes
Bananas, sliced in pennies (dipped in pineapple juice to prevent browning)
Mini Marshmallows

Other Options for the Gold:
Gold Chocolate Coins
Vanilla Wafers

Assemble as pictured above, starting with the strawberries on the outer line of the rainbow, and following with the Mandarin oranges, pineapple, green grapes, blueberries, and purple grapes. Place the mini marshmallows at both ends of your rainbow for clouds. Arrange your "gold" of choice in a small dish at one end of your rainbow. Cute huh?!

"Mom's Crescent Rolls"

I have been searching for a good roll recipe for a while and I try different kinds all the time. I found this one a little while back on the blog: Get off your Butt and Bake! Let me just tell you, I think I have found "the one" roll recipe.
You can use this dough to make any type of shaped or non-shaped roll. Last time I just put little balls of the dough straight in the pan and let them rise, and they were great! Today I tried my hand at shaping them into crescent shapes. It was fun to have the kids help with that.
The taste and texture of these rolls remind me of my Grandma's at Thanksgiving and Christmas. I urge you to try them. It's not very hard! A couple tips I learned with bread is to make sure your water is not too hot, otherwise you kill the yeast and it doesn't rise. This recipe calls for one cup warm water that you dissolve the yeast in, and then one cup boiling water to melt the butter in. Don't get them mixed up! Also, scoop your flour from the container with one measuring cup and dump it from there into your measuring cup you are actually measuring with. Then put it into your bowl. This helps with the fluffy consistancy you want from any bread! Have fun and ENJOY!!!

"Mom's Rolls"
by: Gett off Your Butt and Bake

Ingredients:
2 packages (1/4 oz. each) Active Dry Yeast
1 cup warm water
1 cup boiling water
1 cup shortening or butter
3/4 cup sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
2 eggs, beaten
7-1/2 to 8 cups all purpose flour (I used bread flour)

Directions:
In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water (just a little warmer than luke-warm). Meanwhile, in a large mixing bowl, combine boiling water, shortening, sugar and salt. Allow to stand 3-4 minutes or until shortening is melted and sugar is dissolved (this standing time will also allow the boiling water to cool a little so it will not kill the yeast). Add the yeast mixture and beaten eggs. Mix well.

Add 2 cups of flour and beat until smooth (I do this in half-cup intervals, adding slowly as the beaters mix it in). Add enough remaining flour to form a soft dough (again, adding very slowly). Place in a greased bowl and cover. If you are making these ahead of time, stick in the fridge overnight. If not, let the dough rise for 30 minutes. When it's ready to use, take half the dough and shape it it as desired.* Place dough in pans or greased cookie sheets. Cover and let rise again in a warm place for 30 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes until golden. Brush with butter and serve hot!

*To form crescent shaped rolls, roll out a large circle, about 20 inches in diameter and brush melted butter over top. Cut into pie-slices pieces. Take a slice of the dough and roll it up starting on the widest side and rolling toward the point. Tuck the point under the roll so it won't come loose while rising. You can curve these inward a little to give them the more crescent shaped look. Arrange these on a cookie sheet to rise and bake.