A Snow Cone in January

Maybe I am just pining for sunshine and beach days during this cold gray winter, but I a little color is just what I need lately.

These little treats came about through a special request from a customer, and I got a little crazy with colors and letting my nostalgic tastebud fantasies go a bit wild. I started out with solid colors, but then remembered my summers as a kid - when no less than 3 syrups were lavishly dripped over my snow cones. So, with those memories in mind, I recalled my favorite color and flavor combinations from those days.

Of course I was treated to several "licks" of the first felt versions by my 2 year old daughter, who insists she sit on my lap as we share the new treat together. She always gets my first prototypes for her felt food collection, and if they pass her inspection - meaning, if they survive her, the next in the batch go in my shop. She is a great product tester! I love her little imagination, because after I had my 20 minutes of taste-sharing, her snow cone was then lovingly jammed down the throat of her all-too-willing squeaky tub-toy shark. I am sure he liked it too.

My FAVORITE Treat

Ok, those of you who know me well know that I am a bit of a health freak. Granola. Crunchy. Whole-foodie. Whatever. Anyway, it is hard for me to find snacks and treats that taste good and that are acceptably good for me. I present to you my favorite.

This is a modified recipe I found in "Five Star Recipes" from Jeffrey L. Anderson. His version calls for 2/3 cup of sugar which makes them too sweet for me. I replaced the sugar with Stevia and let the natural apple, carrot, raisins and Stevia sweeten the cake much better than the sugar does.


 Apple Carrot Cake - serves 9, or 12 muffins
2 Stevia packets
1/3 C. Canola Oil
2 Eggs or 1/2 C. Egg substitute (if Vegan, add 2 Tb. Flax meal & a little water)
1/2 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Cinnamon
1/3 C. Soymilk (or Buttermilk/Milk)
1 C. Whole Wheat Flour
3/4 tsp. Baking Soda
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 C. Carrots - Finely grated
1 C. Apple - grated
1/3 C. Nuts (Almonds, Pecans etc)
1 C. Oats, Museli or 6 Grain Mix
1/4 C. Raisins

Grease an 8x8" pan OR 12 muffin tin, preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix Stevia, oil, eggs, salt, cinnamon and milk until thoroughly blended. Stir in remaining ingredients. Pour into greased pan and bake for about 20-25 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Movie Night

We love movies at our house. Escaping everyday life into worlds of intrigue, thrills and quite often, a sweet love story. The lights go down, we don jammies, toe socks and warm blankies and mix up a batch of our favorite snack - POPCORN.

My husband and I love the old-school popcorn popper we received for Christmas 2 years ago (thanks Mom and Dad!), especially because it makes the best cinnamon kettle corn ever! So, in tribute to our favorite movie nights, I decided to make a felt version of our favorite movie treat.