Recipe: Coconut Granita with Lychees

While out to eat, I discovered a wonderful dessert, coconut granita. I've had various fruit granita desserts before but never coconut. So as usual, I decided to recreate it. Granita is possibly one of the easiest desserts to make and this recipe is no exception. Enjoy!

Coconut Granita with Lychees

Ingredients:
One Can of Coconut Milk
1 1/4 cup Water
1 cup Sugar
Lychees for garnish - You could use any fruit you like. Strawberries and blueberries would be great for the 4th of July (red, white, and blue)

1. Over low heat in a small pan, dissolve sugar into water until clear. Basically you're making a simple syrup.

2. Pour coconut milk into a large shallow container such as 9 x 13" glass pan.

3. Add sugar/water solution to coconut milk. Mix well.

4. Place in freezer. Mix every 20-30 minutes with a fork. This will create that flaky texture granita has. Do this until mixture is completely frozen. It will take about 2 -3 hours. Done.

While I was taking the photos, the granita started to melt. Usually it doesn't look so mushy.

*Granita can be stored in the freezer for a couple days before serving.

Kid Craft: Paper Fans

Change of plans or should I say fans? I had planned on posting a different project for today but it still needs some tweaking. I've got my fingers crossed that I'll be able to share it next Monday. In the mean time, I offer you this easy paper fan tutorial. It's made out of one of my favorite craft supplies, popsicle sticks. Creating something amazing with popsicle sticks and toilet paper rolls is like the holy grail of craft projects for me. I'm always striding to make something exceptional. And I truly believe if you can make something great with these two supplies, you can conquer the crafting world. Am I getting a little dramatic here? Okay, lets move on then.

On to the fan tutorial. This project is good for ages seven and up. If you want to make it into a preschool project, I recommend letting the child decorate the paper used for the fan, that would be their contribution.

Supplies:
Drill
Sand Paper
2 Popsicle Sticks
Paper - 4 1/4" x 7"
Glue
Embroidery Thread
Sewing Needle
Beads - optional

Click on images for a larger view.

1. Have an adult drill a hole at one end of each popsicle stick. Sand around hole.
2. Fold paper accordion style. Make sure the thickness of the folds is no larger than the width of the popsicle sticks.

3. Once you completed folding the paper, punch a small hole through the bottom of all folds.
4. Glue edge of paper to popsicle stick. Make sure to line up the holes.

5. Glue a popsicle stick at the other end.
6. Thread needle through all the holes of the popsicle sticks and paper.

7. Tie a tight knot at the bottom. And some beads to the ends for decoration. Done. To keep closed, use a tiny child hairband to wrap around the top.

Easy Rainbow Frosting

After I made the tea cakes and they were gobbled up, I noticed the plates looked like they were smeared with rainbow frosting.

Yes, only I would be inspired by a dirty plate. And so, this dirty plate gave me the idea to make rainbow frosting.

I generously covered some cool whip with sprinkles. You probably could use any kind of frosting, I just had cool whip on hand so that's what I used. Let sit for a couple minutes. Fold sprinkles into frosting. Don't mix too much or it will just turn purple.

I think this might be fun to serve with strawberry shortcake. What would you use it for?

*Keep in mind that the sprinkles will not completely dissolve, your frosting will have a little texture to it.

Easy Tea Cakes for Kids

Now that we've got the picnic blanket made, there's a lot of tea parties going on. And you know what makes a good tea party, right? Cake! So I whipped up a few of these petite tea cakes for the party. They only take about five minutes to make, promise.

Tea Cake Recipe

Ingredients:

Pound Cake - the kind you find in the frozen section is best because of the texture. They're easy to cut and even carve into shapes.

Strawberries

Cool Whip

Here's what the pound cake looks like.

Cut into thin slices, trim crust, cut into small rectangles ( about 1 1/2 inch long).

Filling: Cut up a couple of strawberries and mix with some cool whip. Just enough to coat the strawberries. You can also use jam for the filling.

Spread filling on one slice of pound cake. Place second slice on top of filling.

Frost cake with cool whip. Decorate any way you wish.

Invite guests.

I think this guest's eyes are bigger than his stomach.

How To Sew a Picnic Blanket Tote

Unfold your tote into...

...a picnic blanket.

Well, most of you guessed it, it was a picnic blanket tote. Either those gingham handles gave it away or I have really smart readers. I'll go with the latter.

As promised here's the tutorial on how to make a picnic tote. When I was younger I used to have one of these bags made out of towels. For the longest time I kept it with the hopes of recreating the tote. I must of given up on the idea because I finally got rid of it. Now some ten years later, I wish I had the tote to compare. Isn't that always the case?

Supplies:
2 fabric squares 33" x 33" - this will be for the blanket
2 fabric rectangles 14" x 13" - one rectangle will be the outside of the bag and one will be the lining
2 fabric strips 3" x 25" - for the handles
matching thread
sewing machine
scissors
pins

For the handles - fold one strip of fabric in half length wise. Sew down the length of the strip with a 1/4 inch seam. Press open seam. Turn inside out. Repeat for second handle. Set aside.

Face squares (33" by 33") right sides together. Sew all along the edge with a 1/2 inch seam leaving a 5" opening at the center bottom. Trim corners and press open seams. Turn right side out. Sew around the perimeter with a 1/4 inch seam.

Place both rectangles right sides together and sew a 3/8 inch seam along the perimeter leaving a three inch gap at the bottom (refer to red line). Trim corners and press seams open. Turn right side out.

Pin rectangle to square, right side of fabric to wrong side of picnic blanket (refer to picture). Sew along the edge with a 1/4 inch seam (refer to red lines). Make sure when you sew the rectangle to the blanket you sew up the three inch opening that was on the bottom of the rectangle.

Pin the handles three inches in from the inside of the rectangle. Sew on to the rectangle only, making sure not to attach the handles to the blanket. Use red lines as guide for sewing.

Line up second handle just above the first handle. This handle will be sewn on the blanket only. Refer to red lines for sewing guides.

Here's a close up view of the handles to see how they were attached.

Done. The other side of your tote will be part of the blanket.

How To Fold Your Blanket Into a Tote

1-Fold in one side. 2-Fold in other side. 3-Flip over.

4-Turn bag inside out. 5-Fold down. 6-Tuck into bag. 7- Done.

Sneak Peek

Okay, so I thought I was going to have this tutorial ready for Monday but it's just not going to happen. Well, maybe Monday night it will be ready. I made the item and took all the pictures, I just need to do some writing and editing. In the mean time I thought it would be fun for you to guess what this is. Just a hint, it's not as obvious as it looks. There's a twist to it. Have fun guessing. I'll be back this Tuesday with the tutorial.

Will Return Signs for Your Blog

Every so often, I feel like taking the week off from blogging and wish I could just hang up a "will return sign". So with that thought, I decided to make a few signs to have on hand. I'm not actually taking a week off, I just decided to make some signs in case I ever do.

I made signs for every day of the week and you're welcome to use them. First click on them for the larger image. Then just right click, copy, and save.