'Tis the Season

Now it is time to work on the shark. Cut about a quarter length off of one of the ends of the watermelon for the platform. Make sure the cut is even because the watermelon will be sitting on a plate.

Flip it over so that the cut area is standing on the plate. Now we have the the uncut dome shape on the top. Pick one side of the watermelon and cut a straight line four inches from the bottom in a horizontal line also about four inches.  From the top, at a 70 degree angle, cut a slice of the watermelon for the mouth of the shark.

Carve about one inch of the inside of the watermelon to make room to carve the teeth. Be sure to keep all of the excess watermelon because we will use it later.

Around the cove that is carved, peel one inch off the skin of the watermelon. The carved piece will be the white part. Before we make the teeth, use a fork to scoop out all of the excess watermelon so the teeth will be visible and not touching the inside.

Now it is time to cut the teeth. This is very tricky so be sure to use a small knife because you will be carving. Carve the white peel in a V-shape for the teeth. Just throw away the excess peel. If you accidentally cut the teeth off, just put a tooth on the end and stick it back into its spot. Repeat this for the bottom teeth as well.

With the piece of watermelon that we cut off in the beginning, cut a small triangle out and carve the watermelon off. The peel will be for the shark’s fin. To place the fin on the watermelon, place three toothpicks into the back of the watermelon where you want to place the fin. The triangle piece should just slide right onto the toothpicks.

For the eyes, carve a small indentation out of the skin of the watermelon. Get the two blueberries with toothpicks on the end and place them in. For looks, carve as many gills on the sides of the shark depending on how big the watermelon is.

Now it is time for the Jell-O. Cut the Jell-O into small little squares to act as the water. Scatter the cubes around the watermelon. Once all of the Jell-O is used, use the Swedish fish and place them in the mouth of the shark and in the Jell-O to make it look like there are fish in the water.

With the excess watermelon, you can place small cubes back into the mouth and put the swedish fish on top.

8 cups of boiling water

12 eggs

1/2 cup of mayonnaise

1 teaspoon of mustard

Paprika 

Food coloring 

Vinegar 

(Salt and Pepper)

We are going to boil 12 eggs. Because we cut the eggs in half, that makes a total of 24 deviled eggs. 

Then we are going to boil another 4 cups of water in a separate pan for the food coloring. 

Once the eggs start to boil, set your timer and let the eggs boil for about 8-10 minutes at the same temperature. 

While your eggs are boiling, your separate 4 cups of water should be boiling by this time. 

If you have plastic bowls to use for the dye, that is perfect.

With your 4 plastic bowls, put 1 cup of boiling water into each. 

The food coloring box says to use about 1 teaspoon of vinegar for each half of a cup of water. Because we are using 1 full cup, make sure you use about 1 teaspoon per bowl. 

Then it is time to make your colors!

Usually there are only four colors to a box, but of course you can make your own colors. For example, yellow and blue makes green. 

Make sure you stir the food coloring around!

Now that we have our four colors done, we can check on the eggs. 

If you boil the eggs over 8-10 minutes while you’re making the food coloring, that is OK but just be sure to turn the the burner off and let the eggs sit in the hot water. 

Now that the eggs are ready to go, just run them under some cold water so you don’t burn your hands when you touch the eggs. 

Now it is the fun part, peeling all of the 12 eggs!

Here is the secret to peeling eggs: slightly crack the egg all around then run it under warm water while you peel the egg. 

Now that we have all of our eggs peeled it is time to transform them! 

So now we have 12 eggs that are all naked without their shells, it is time to line them up and cut them in half. You will need a seperate bowl to scoop all of the yoke into. 

Once all of your eggs have no filling, it is time to color them. Because we cut the 12 eggs in half, we have 24 eggs now and four colors. To ensure an equal amout of eggs, place six in each bowl. Make sure all of the eggs are completely covered by the multi-colored water to ensure no spots on the eggs for the ending results.

While our eggs are soaking in the multi-colored water, lets move on to finishing the yoke.  Now, we have to use a fork and a steak knife to chop all of the half yokes into very small pieces.

Once the yoke is cut into very small pieces, we are going to add about a 1/2 cup of mayonnaise and stir it around. Use small amounts at a time so you can taste the yoke throughout and see what the yoke is missing.  While you are mixing it, put a little bit of spicy mustard (about the size of a quarter). Also add a little bit of salt and pepper if needed. Do not be scared of spices! Hopefully by this time your yoke should be whipped and ready to go! You should probably taste it with your pinky finger just to make sure it tastes good! It is time to take the eggs out of the food coloring. Double fold some paper towels so you do not have to worry about getting dye on your countertops. Lay the eggs so that the cove indentation is facing the floor. Let them dry for about five minutes.  Once your eggs are dry, flip them over so you can put the yoke back into the eggs.  Michael’s Craft Store is a great place if you want to go and get an effective insert machine for the yoke. The machine I am using was $14.99 and if you go on Michael’s website, they usually have coupons if you scroll all the way to the bottom!

Who said you can’t coupon while making eggs? Hello, we’re in a recession.  Now you are going to fill the machine up with the egg yoke. The machine just takes a couple of pumps straight into the middle of the egg indentation. Be aware, you do not have to have a machine;  a spoon is fine.  Now that all 24 of your eggs are filled, it is time to put the ending touch on it! Paprika. Drizzle a bit of paprika to give the eggs some extra color. 

That’s it! Now we have 24 multi-colored eggs! You did it! Great Job!

My family has done this recipe for years but there are plenty of other people who make multi-colored eggs. Attatched is a link to making the same deviled eggs.

Pinterest

Put the eggs, vegetable oil, and water into a bowl and mix it around. The secret to making the best cupcakes is adding  a half of a teaspoon of vanilla extract into the mix. The vanilla extract brings out the flavors and keeps the cake very moist and fluffy.

Next, put the actual cake mix in. Whip everything together until it is clump-free.

Get a cooking cupcake pan and put cupcake liners into the coves. Double up on the liners so when the cupcakes are done, the liners will not be wet and greasy. Fill the cake mix into the liners all the way to the top. Shake the pan lightly up and down and side to side so the cake mix is even in the liners.

Bake for about 12 minutes. After the 12 minutes are up, put a small toothpick into the middle of two cupcakes.

When pulling out the toothpick, if there is cupcake mix on the toothpick, they are not done. You will have to put the cupcakes back in for about 2-3 minutes depending on how uncooked they are. If the toothpick is dry, then your cupcakes are done. Now it is time to take the cupcakes out of the oven and out of the pan. Let them sit to cool off for no less than 30 minutes before putting any cake frosting on.

When applying the frosting, you can use a machine or just use a knife. Spread the frosting over the top of the cupcakes in a clockwise rotation.

Now that you have your frosting on, it is time to sprinkle the sprinkles on top for decorations. Remember you can decorate it anyway you would like. Now they are ready for serving! When making the best cupcakes, do not forget to add some TLC (tender, love and care).

(Serves 4)  

  Start out by preheating your oven to 350 degrees for the chicken breasts. While the oven is heating up, marinate your chicken with a couple of spices. You may use as many spices as you wish, but because it is a barbecue chicken, less is more. Sprinkle salt, pepper, and some garlic salt on both sides of the chicken breast. Once the chicken breasts’ are seasoned, place the chicken in the pan and place it in the oven for 30 minutes. To make things simple and to keep the kitchen clean, open the can of Bush’s Baked Beans and place it into a pan, but do not turn the burner on yet. Cut the freshly baked French Bread in half so the middle part is facing upward and place it on a cooking sheet. Lather the bread with butter then sprinkle garlic salt as a topcoat. This will be placed in the oven once the chicken is almost done.

Dice the zucchini, squash, and bell peppers into bite size pieces. Be sure to dice the red onion into very small pieces because it is made for bringing out the flavor of the vegetables. Throw the vegetables into a pan and slightly drizzle olive oil over them. Place the all-ready-diced mushrooms into the pan. Drizzle salt, pepper, and a tiny bit of garlic salt on top to give it some flavor.

By this time, the 30 minutes of baking the chicken should be up. Now it is time to flip the chicken breasts over, but before we do that, lather the chicken with some Sweet Baby Ray’s Barbecue Sauce on both sides of the chicken. Do not be afraid to put a lot of sauce because it will not harm the taste in any way. Make sure the side that was facing downward initially is facing on the opposite side, so both sides of the chicken are cooked. Place the chicken back in the oven for another 15 minutes.

Once the 15 minutes are over, we are going to flip the chicken breasts one more time and apply a little bit more barbecue sauce. Bake for another 15 minutes.  At this time, place the French bread into the oven, which will become garlic bread, for the remainder of 15 minutes. Now it is time to turn the burners on for the vegetables and the beans to cook. Everything will start cooking and finish within the last 15 minutes. 

The Bush’s baked beans just need to be heated on a low burner to be warmed up. Heat the vegetables on high until the squash, zucchini, mushrooms, and bell peppers are soft. Once the vegetables are soft, place the burner on a low temperature to keep them warm.

Now it is time to take the chicken and the bread out. Double check the chicken with a knife and fork and make a small incision on top to ensure the chicken is cooked all the way. 

Be sure to slice the bread into pieces so it may be served.  Now it is time to serve the food.   

First you need to freeze ice cubes of cranberry juice. The longer they freeze, the better. The ice trays from target are perfect. The ice trays in the photo above were about $8 as a pair.  As for making the Country Time Lemonade, put four cups of cold water into a bowl. Add a half of a cup of the Country Time Lemonade mix into the cold water. Be sure to mix it all up so there are no floating particles left. That completes the first half of the punch. 

  Let the lemonade sit over night in the refrigerator so it is nice and cold for the next day. 

If there is not enough time to let the lemonade sit over night, that is fine. Just as long as the cranberry ice cubes are ready.

Now we are ready to complete the lemonade. 

Cut up the oranges, lemons, and limes into very thin slices. These slices are meant for decorations, not for flavor.   

It is time to put everything together. 

Get the lemonade and put it into a big crystal bowl if you have one so the colors of the punch are showing. 

Dump all of the cranberry ice cubes into the lemonade for flavor and looks. Once all of the ice cubes are in, place the fruits in carefully so it is a mixture of colors.

With the left overs of the lemons, oranges, and limes, squeeze the juice in a clockwise rotation and drizzle it over the lemonade. 

Be sure to stir the lemonade for about 15 seconds. The cranberry ice cubes will eventually melt, but as long as the lemonade is kept in the refrigerator all night, the cubes should last a while.  That completes our fruit punch!  The reason why this punch is called "MotherLicious Tropical Punch" is because Mother's Day is in the month of May. April showers, bring May flowers. It is only necessary that there is a colorful punch that tastes good at this event.   For the mothers who are old enough to have alcoholic beverages, this punch is fantastic with some Bacardi Razz .  For a serving of four for this drink, it would be very tasteful with 4 full shots of Bacardi Razz.  Enjoy!