Christmas is nearly here, and depending on where you live, the weather is getting colder (unless you are in the Southern Hemisphere, where you are getting ready for the summer). At this time of the year, thanks to Bing Crosby we think of snow on the ground, a red-cloaked Santa Claus, presents, and ornately decorated trees. In fact, Christmas has become very much a celebration of the winter, and even if you are not a religious Christian – or not a Christian at all – its motifs have become a regular part of western life.
The reality is that a white Christmas can often be buried under several feet of snow. If you are holed up with your kids with nothing to do, you better find something to stave off a big bout of boredom. Instead of watching TV, you need some activity that you can do together and have fun while you’re at it. There are only too many good shows out there and no matter how many people say it, “It’s a Beautiful Life” can get quite old after you’ve watched it almost a dozen times.
One idea to keep the kids happy at home is to do some baking with them. And one of the best ways to entertain them is to bake some cupcakes for Christmas with them. This will keep them busy, give them something nice to eat, and provide a great creative outlet for them. Of course, it’s not just the actual baking that is the fun, but also trying some of the many cupcake decorating ideas that are out there.
Apart from the usual frosting and topping, you should consider making a snowman cupcake. After baking the cupcakes and letting them cool, place a snowman made out of a stack of marshmallows placed one on top of another on top. If the marshmallows are proving to be uncooperative, use pretzel sticks to keep them together. You can use toothpicks too, but you have to warn guests so that no mishaps occur.
You can use more pretzel sticks for his arms. Candies that are shaped just right can be made into a cute snowman hat. For the face, use icing or chocolate fudge to draw features and expressions. Alternatively, you can arrange candied fruit or chocolate chips to draw the lines that make up the mouth, eyes, and nose. A piece of licorice can be fashioned into a little scarf. You can literally raid your pantry for supplies and still end up with edible art.
This is where your imagination can take off, and by the time you have finished, your snowman cupcake will look so good that you will probably forget that he is edible. He will just look too good to eat! But on the other hand, with all these delicious ingredients, you may hardly get any time to look at your creation before you decide to eat it! And you can be guaranteed that it will taste absolutely great … and will also keep your bored kids very quiet for quite some time!
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.