My youngest son and daughter in law went skiing and my son, Mike, and I watched Harper and Hayden for a few days after our frigid shutdown in Texas. It was a busy time of tea parties, baking, cookie dipping, slushies from the neighborhood Ice Cream Truck, and gnome making out of socks. My son made them an Olaf snowman and drew pictures of Olaf for them to paint. Harper had kindergarten upstairs with three other little girls and a wonderful teacher. Hayden was a busy ballerina and tap dancer.
These were our candy dipped Oreo cookies that we had for a tea party. You can purchase molds at Michael's or JoAnn's for making these quick and easy treats.
This was our rainbow bread dough. I made this several years ago and you can see some of my other grandchildren here.
I love looking back on the grands' younger pictures of fun times in my kitchen.
Yield: 2 loaves
Rainbow Bread
This is a fun activity for young ones and the recipe was given to me from my friend, Mary, who had been a preschool teacher.
Ingredients
- 2 packages active dry yeast
- 1 T granulated sugar
- 1 c warm water [100° to 115° F, approximately]
- 1/3 c olive oil (or vegetable oil)
- 3/4 c hot water
- 2 t salt
- 5 1/2 to 6 c AP flour (start with 5 cups)
- cornmeal or semolina flour
Instructions
- Stir the yeast, sugar and warm water together in the bowl of a stand mixer; let sit until yeast dissolves and starts to proof.
- In the meantime, add the olive oil to the hot water and let cool to lukewarm. Add the salt, and combine with the yeast mixture. Stirring vigorously with the dough hook attachment, add the flour 1 c at a time, until the dough almost comes away from the sides of the bowl. [The dough will seem rather soft and sticky at this point.] Continue kneading the dough with the dough hook, adding a couple tablespoons of flour as you go along. Alternatively, you could turn out the dough onto a lightly floured board and knead with your hands. Continue kneading until the dough has absorbed enough flour that it is easy to handle, about 2 to 4 minutes.
- When the dough is soft and smooth, let rest for 5 or 6 minutes and then divide into two. (At this point, you add your food coloring to dough that has been separated into as many colors as you would like. You can have the child then put them together and stack and twist them). Without food coloring, you roll each half into a rectangle about 12″ x 8″. Starting from the wide end, roll the rectangle up quite tightly, pinching the seams as you roll. Let the rolled loaves rise on a piece of parchment paper, that has been sprinkled with cornmeal or semolina flour, in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in bulk, about 50 to 60 minutes. Place a baking stone* on the middle rack of the oven and preheat to 425° F while the bread proofs. (At this point, I slashed the of the loaves).
- After the dough has doubled in bulk, place the loaves on top of the hot stone, parchment and all (I use a rimless cookie sheet to transfer the loaves). Bake 30- 40 minutes (directions said 40, but this was too long for my oven!), or until the loaves are a rich, golden color and make a hollow sound when you tap the crust with your knuckles, top and bottom. Cool on a rack and slice when fresh.
- *If you have no baking stone, butter one or two baking sheets well and sprinkle with cornmeal. Place the just-rolled loaves on the sheets, and then let them rise until doubled in bulk. Bake the loaves on the sheet[s] on the middle rack, the same as you would with the stone.
Thank you for visiting! xo
I am sharing this with:
Full Plate
Love Your Creativity Link Party
Meal Plan Monday
Those candy covered oreos look fantastic and I think I have to add rainbow bread to our spring bucket list!
ReplyDeleteWhat a Wonderful time you must have had with the grands there. And, you had wonderful helpers with a kindergarten and dance classes. The Oreo cookies look so pretty for your tea and the rainbow bread is so special. What wonderful memories you have made. Happy March Kitty.......
ReplyDeleteRainbow bread...how fun. I have a feeling your grands would think your place, Kitty, is always full of good times and fun. Those candy dipped Oreos look delicious!
ReplyDeleteThat rainbow bread looks amazing. How nice to spend the time with the grands while your son went away. I know they all enjoy spending time with you. Thanks for the recipe to make the bread Kitty. Enjoy the rest of the week and weekend.
ReplyDeleteYour grands can count on you for good, creative fun!
ReplyDeleteAdorable pictures!You have a great time together. Family is all! Great recipe too. Hugs!
ReplyDeleteKitty, such a treat, Rainbow Bread, just in time for St. Patrick's Day. Your grands are the cutest and I know their Nana loves being with them. You always create such fun with food. The candy dipped oreos are so cute. Thanks for sharing Kitty.
ReplyDeleteKitty, Harper and Hayden ahd to have had a really fun time with you & Mike! From the sounds of it, I bet you two were worn out after the weekend of all those activities. So cute. Please tell me that was not your Marine in that post from 2013?? Time has wings, doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness - yall have been very busy! Love the bread and no doubt the grands love all the memory-making time with family. What a terrific post! =)
ReplyDeleteI love those covered Oreos for a little girls tea party! (Well, and big girls too for sure!)
ReplyDeleteYour grands are so beautiful.
Reading this post and my bread baking hubs walked into the office and said your rainbow bread was gorgeous - and said he is sooooo planning on making that with Viv one of these days soon. Thanks for the idea. What FUN that had to have been for them, Kitty!
Thanks for always inspiring - and sharing your life with your family with your readers. It's so special, and what blogging is all about for me. Big hugs.
Such an adorable collage and activities with your sweet grand girls Kitty… I bet Uncle Mike is their favorite uncle! :) The rainbow bread and candy dipped Oreos are SO cute!! ♥
ReplyDeleteAw, you are such a fun grandmother! I know those kids had a ball and will forever remember those special times with you and your son. May the Lord bless you all, sweet friend!
ReplyDeleteLovely to see your photographs.
ReplyDeleteThat rainbow bread looks so good :)
Happy March Wishes.
All the best Jan
Good times at Nana's house!
ReplyDeleteThe candy covered Oreas look great! Of course, I was drawn to the purple and yellow cookies. LOL.
OMG, I love the Olaf snowman! So cute. What a great experience for you and your son to help take care of the grands. The rainbow bread and oreos are beautiful! I'm sure a good time was had by all! ♥
ReplyDeleteHi Kitty,
ReplyDeleteOh my I just love this bread and what a fun project for the kiddo's. We are finally getting back to normal whatever that is after the big storm. It has been so nice to enjoy some beautiful weather for a few days. Hope you are doing well. Thanks so much for sharing with us at Full Plate Thursday,526. Have a great week and come back soon!
Miz Helen