St Patrick's Day Activities for Tweens: An End of the Rainbow Party

We were thrilled when our friends at Club Chica Circle asked us to write a guest post for them on ways to celebrate St. Patrick's Day with tweens. We had a ball creating an End of the Rainbow party in honor of the day - check out our post for ideas and how-to's here.

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What We're "Pinning" This Valentine's Day

 We found some REALLY cute Valentine's Day craft and recipe ideas for your tween to make, and we "pinned" them to our board on Pinterest. Our favorites include the tinted milk hearts, the roasted potato hearts, and cinnamon heart rolls. Today we made meringue hearts and pink marshmallows for teacher gifts.

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The Perfect Summertime Treat For Tweens To Make

Today is officially the first day of summer, and we stumbled upon a new twist on an old-fashioned summertime treat that we thought would be perfect for tweens to make.

Ice with flavorings exist in multiple forms: in Hawaii they're called shaved ice, at state fairs they're known as sno-cones, on the East Coast there are Italian ices, and in New Orleans, they're called Sno-Balls.  A new New York City spot just opened with a fabulous name: Imperial Woodpecker Sno-Balls, and they make this New Orleans-style icy treat. Sno-Balls are not in the shape of a ball at all - they come as lighter-than-air containers of shaved ice that are drenched in neon-bright flavored syrups. We love how they are served in Chinese takeout boxes with a straw and spoon and come in flavors that range from Root Beer to Pink Bubblegum to Peaches N' Cream.

They're super easy to make at home but do require one piece of special equipment: an ice shaver (not just an ice crusher - you won't get the air ice texture you need). From there, you can add any flavorings you like - we're partial to the all natural line of syrups from Monin (our tweens' favorite is the blue curacao - a non-alcoholic orange/vanilla flavor).  You can mix the syrups with half-and-half to make any flavor a cream-style flavor.

Happy Summer!

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Celebrating Flag Day With Tweens

Our tweens are celebrating Flag Day today by making red, white and blue Jell-O (click here for this super easy recipe) and crafting fun ribbon barrettes in patriotic colors (thanks to our friends at Chica Circle for sharing the instructions). Bonus: these accessories can be used again on the Fourth of July!

Because they're on summer break now, nail polish is back in their repertoire - so of course their nails are red, white and blue (check out these instructions for doing a patriotic manicure inspired by Beyonce in her "Telephone" music video - very fun!).

Does your tween know the essentials about the American Flag? Our girls earned their United We Stand badge in Girl Scouts, and whether or not your tween is a Scout, this is a great guide for learning about the flag.

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Happy Chocolate Chip Day!

It's National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day, and our tweens are celebrating with homemade cookies and cookie dough ice cream. Another fun recipe to try is this Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake from Martha Stewart - it looks delish!

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Reaching Out to Japan With Tweens: A Fun and Thoughtful Project

Our tweens' Girl Scout troops are making 1000 origami cranes to send to a sister Girl Scout troop in Japan as a show of support and friendship in the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami. The significance of the origami cranes comes from the story of Sadako Sasaki, a young girl who was a victim of the Hiroshima atomic attack and suffered from leukemia as a result of the nuclear fallout. Japanese legend promises that anyone who folds 1000 cranes will be granted a wish by a crane such as long life or being cured of a disease. Sadako died when she was only 12 years old from the disease and folded 644 cranes before her death. Her classmates folded the remaining amount after she died as a sign of their love and support. There is a statue in Sadako's memory in Hiroshima, and the tradition of sending 1000 origami cranes is recognized today as a symbol of world peace and solidarity.

Our project began with a local librarian attending our troop meeting and showing the girls how to fold these beautiful animals out of colorful origami paper. Particularly for younger tweens, this took some doing, but all of the girls got the hang of it after a while. This is a complicated origami project to do as an introduction to origami, and it is a testament to the librarian's patience that all of the girls in the troop were able to successfully make their cranes. Each girl went home with origami paper, an instruction sheet, and an empty shoe box and will return to our next troop meeting with the shoe boxes full of origami cranes to mail to our sister troop in Japan.

To help sustain the girls' efforts, our tweens made candy sushi as a snack for the troop. This was a fun but sticky project involving Rice Krispy treats, Fruit Roll-Ups, and Swedish Fish.  You can find recipes for candy sushi fairly easily online, but here are our tips:

• Make a batch of Rice Krispy treats, but add a few more marshmallows than usual (you want a pliable rather than crisp treat).
• While one tween makes the Rice Krispy Treats, have another tween unwrap and unroll one package of Fruit Roll-Ups. Our local market was out of the green kind, so we used dark purple instead (we liked that the color scheme reminded us of Cherry Blossom season here in Washington). I've also seen tie-dye or rainbow ones used to great effect.
• Press a flat layer of Rice Krispy treats onto each Fruit Roll-Up roll leaving about a half-inch plain.
• Lay a double row of mini Swedish Fish length-wise down the cereal treats and then roll up the "sushi" roll ending and sealing with the plain half-inch. You could also use sour straws, gummy worms or fruit licorice instead of the Swedish Fish
• Use a sharp knife to slice the "sushi" into pieces. We served ours in cupcake liners.

We found that one batch of Rice Krispy Treats and one box of Fruit Roll-Ups made enough "sushi" for 15 hungry tweens as a mid-afternoon treat. (Orthodontists: beware!)

The troop has decided to host a bake sale to raise funds for the Red Cross to accompany these origami cranes, and I think our tweens will make another batch of candy sushi to sell at the fundraiser. We may try to make a more professional looking nigri-style sushi like these from not Martha for the bake sale.

Has your tween taken part in any efforts to help Japan after the earthquake? Please share what they're doing below!

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A St. Patrick's Day Recipe for Tweens

We were looking for a cool project to do with our tweens to celebrate St. Patricks Day, and we found it: rainbow cupcakes!

The girls were able to make it on their own with some minimal supervision (bonus!) - here's what we did:

1. We divided a plain white cake batter evenly into six bowls (a cake mix will work just fine; just make sure it's plain white cake - so one made without egg yolks) and then tinted each bowl with A LOT of food coloring - about 12 drops in each bowl.

2. We spooned about 1 teaspoon of each color into cupcake tins. Be warned: this step takes the most time, so plan accordingly. Then bake for 20 minutes - voila!

3. Peel off the paper wrappers before serving - and the best part is, no icing is needed - these cupcakes look fabulous on their own!

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Perfect Idea for a Snow Day With Tweens: A S'Mores Stand

Here's a great idea for an entrepreneurial tween on a snow day: a s'mores and hot chocolate stand. The idea is the same as the classic summer lemonade stand but extended to your favorite neighborhood sledding spot.

Here's how:

• Make a batch of s'mores at home (see our recipe here) and wrap each in tin foil
• Whip up some hot chocolate and pour it into a big thermos (the kind that you lug to soccer games will work perfectly)
• Draw a colorful sign that lists what you're selling and how much it costs (e.g. $0.50/s'more). Bonus points for deciding to donate your proceeds to your favorite charity - be sure your sign tells everyone which organization you're supporting! Need a list of great causes for tweens? Here are some ideas: 
• The F.E.E.D. Foundation
• Kidz Helping Kids
• VH1's Save Our Music
• U.N.I.C.E.F.
• Milk and Bookies
  
• Load a sled with a basket of the foil-wrapped s'mores, the thermos, a stack of napkins, a sleeve of cups, and a bowl of extra marshmallows and bring it with you to your neighborhood park/slope/hill
• Watch the crowds of hungry sledders swarm your sled!

Thermos from Pylones, $44

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Fun Holiday For Tweens - National Cocoa Day!

We just learned about National Cocoa Day, and given the blanket of snow on the ground here (it rarely snows before Christmas in Washington), we couldn't help but celebrate with our tweens.

We think that the best cocoa in D.C. is at Kafe Leopolds here in Georgetown (conveniently across the courtyard from our old store location). It's not too rich and topped with a suitably large dollop of whipped cream.

Do you have a recipe for the best cocoa? Do you top it with marshmallows or whipped cream?

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National Candy Corn Day is October 31st

We love candy corn, and Halloween is, of course, National Candy Day. We stumbled upon this fun cookie recipe for Candy Corn Cookies - it is super easy and a great after-school project or Halloween-day project for tweens:

You'll need:
- one batch of sugar cookie dough (your favorite recipe or mix)
- orange paste food color (if you use the liquid drops, add a tad more flour to the dough)
- 2 squares (2 oz.) of semisweet chocolate melted.

1. Line a loaf pan with waxed paper, extending paper over sides of pan.
2. On work surface, place 3/4 cup dough. Knead about 4 slashes of orange food paste into dough until color is well incorporated. Press this orange dough evenly in bottom of loaf pan.
3. Divide remaining dough in half. Gently press one half of remaining dough (un-colored) into pan on top of orange dough. 
4. On work surface, knead chocolate into remaining dough until the dough is well mixed and looks like chocolate throughout. Press this chocolate cookie dough over the plain dough in pan, pressing gently to edge of pan. 
5. Refrigerate 1 1/2 to 2 hours or until firm.
6. Heat oven to 375°F. Remove dough from pan. Cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Cut each slice into 5 wedges. On ungreased cookie sheet, place wedges 1 inch apart.
7. Bake 7 to 9 minutes or until cookies are set and edges are very light golden brown. Cool 1 minute; remove from cookie sheet. Cool completely. Store in tightly covered container.

Photo and recipe adapted from Betty Crocker.

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July is Rickey Month - A Tween-Friendly Version

We were surprised to learn that Washington, D.C. has a native cocktail: the Rickey. This drink was invented about a hundred years ago in the District to help alleviate the hot, muggy Washington summers. Our summer thus far has been incredibly hot and humid, and we thought it'd be fun to make non-alcoholic Rickey's for our D.C. tweens.

Here are a few recipes we found for tween-appropriate Rickey's:

• Virgin Lime Rickey:  Pour 1 oz. lime juice over a glass filled with ice, add club soda to fill, stir, and then stir in one dash Grenadine.
• Pure Lime Rickey: Shake together 3/4 oz. fresh lime juice, 1 oz. simple syrup, and 3 dashes of Angostura bitters. Pour into a glass, top with club soda and garnish with a lime peel spiral.
• Raspberry Lime Rickey: Fill a tall glass with ice and squeeze one lime over the ice. Fill glass nearly to the top with carbonated water, and top with raspberry syrup (you can use other flavored syrups such as lemon, orange, or cherry - our tweens love Monin syrups - a local distributor we've used before is Clear Mountain Coffee on Brookville Road in Silver Spring, MD).

Stay cool!

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Today Was National Lemonade Stand Day! Did You Support a Kid Biz?

We just learned about a cool movement to promote entrepreneurship in tweens called  Lemonade Day. The idea is to promote business skills and financial learning among kids through the classic summertime activity: hosting a lemonade stand.

Our tweens were thrilled with an excuse to break out the juicer before Memorial Day, and the weather in D.C. was definitely summer-like - I think it hit 80+ degrees today. We decided to do the lemonade stand, but this time, the kids took charge: they had to figure out how much to charge, how much to make, the amount of groceries to buy, make the posters - everything - by themselves (mom had to supervise only).

So, they got out their pencils and calculators and figured out their initial investment for lemons, sugar, and paper cups. From there, they determined their price and made their store "signage"/marketing materials:

Then they got down to squeezing and mixing (Note: a key ingredient missing from posted lemonade recipes: elbow grease):

THEN, finally, they got to set up their lemonade stand:

Phew! That was a lot of hard work!
But they had a great time and learned A LOT: they learned about the cost of goods sold (packaging - i.e. cups - counts as a real cost), inventory management (when they ran out of cups midway and had to make a run to the corner market), customer service (good service yields tips), pricing (bundling brownies with lemonade results in more of both items sold), etc.

They're still figuring out how much was profit (due to an error in counting the starting change), but they did make a profit - no small feat in this lingering recession. Donald Trump, watch out - our tweens got a taste of business and want to franchise!
(Now if you'll excuse me, mom has to go remove the gazillion lemon seeds spackled to the kitchen counter.)

Did your family host a lemonade stand this weekend? Please share your stories - we'd love to hear how your tweens enjoyed the process!

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Mad Hatter Tea Party to Celebrate Alice in Wonderland Movie Release

To mark the release of the new Alice in Wonderland movie today, MsTwixt and tweens are having a Mad Hatter Tea Party. We're having tea (of course), playing Hearts and chess, and eating tea cakes, and playing croquet with plastic flamingos. More party deets below:

Setting the scene: a lavish table (set ideally outdoors) with a "turf" tablecloth, bright faux flower centerpieces, mismatched arm chairs, mismatched tea cups, playing cards as placecards, and colorful paper lanterns dangling across the yard.

The treats: we loved the Cheshire Cat macarons and peculiar blue meringue mushrooms from BakeLab. Also "Eat Me" petit fours, Early Grey tea, and homemade pink marshmallows (recipe here).

The attire: mini top hats, character cameos, crystal bling, and Opi's Mad As a Hatter nail polish.

How would you throw a Mad Hatter style tea party? What would you wear?

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ANOTHER Snow Day?!?! Best Things To Do With Tweens on a Snow Day

We have a 2 day reprieve until the next storm hits Washington on Monday, so stock up on groceries, rock salt, and movies now, and check out our list of the Best Things To Do With D.C. Tweens on a Snow Day:

Top Sledding Hills in D.C.:

• BREAKING NEWS: Capitol Hill is opening for sledding this weekend! Thanks to Senator Chris Dodd, the Architect of the Capitol has opened these grounds for sledding for this long Presidents' Day weekend - be sure to go and take pics! This is a very rare opportunity as the Hill has been closed since 9/11.
• In Georgetown, the hill at the very back of Montrose Park (R Street at 31st)
• In Cleveland Park, Rock Creek Park, down by Tilden and Park Streets
• In Foxhall, Battery Kemble Park
• Where do you go sledding in your neighborhood? 

• Art in the Snow: Snow people are classic, and snow forts are essential, but have you tried snow art? Flatten a section of snow and spatter/spray/fling food coloring on to it

Warming Up:

• Best hot chocolate in D.C.: bar none, the hot chocolate at Kafe Leopolds is pure liquid heaven

Preventing Cabin Fever Amongst Tweens:

• Try a spa day at home; it's easy to pull together with what you've already got in the house: 

• Set up a spa in her bathroom by bringing in a comfy chair and a step stool and drape towels over them, light scented candles (put a tea light in a glass with a little water in it), and playing her favorite tunes on the radio or iPod speaker
• Wear comfy robes and flip flops and wrap her up in a towel turban
• Fill a small bowl with warm soapy water and some marbles for her to soak her fingers in before the manicure; fill the tub part way with scented bubble bath and scatter any rose petals leftover from Valentines' Day on top for her to soak her feet in
• Since it's a long weekend, have fun painting each nail a different color; we love Zoya nail polishes as they are formaldehyde and toluene-free

• Cook! We recently posted recipes for confetti Jell-O and homemade marshmallows, and we are HUGE fans of Chef Spike Mendelsohn's Toasted Marshmallow Milkshake (from Good Stuff Eatery on Capitol Hill)

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Celebrating the Opening Ceremonies of the Winter Olympics!

Well, February has been a busy month already! We have a lot to celebrate, and it's not even Valentines' Day as yet.

The Opening Ceremonies of the Winter Olympics are today, and our tweens are getting into the Team U.S.A. spirit by making confetti Jell-O stars. This treat is SO EASY and a great recipe to make on a snow day (which here in Washington is going on now for our 5th straight day - can we say "cabin fever"?).

Basically, all one needs is:

• One box of red Jell-O
• One box of blue Jell-O
• One can of sweetened condensed milk, and 
• Two packets of unflavored gelatin (Knox is the brand I've seen most; we also use this for making homemade marshmallows)
• Two 8' square pans (disposable foil brownie or loaf pans work great for this)
• One 9"x13" pan

Here's how:

• Dissolve each of the boxes of Jell-O in one cup of boiling water and pour them into the 8" square pans; chill for about 3 hours
• After the red and blue Jell-O's have set, cut them up into small pieces (any shape or size, really) and scatter them in the 9"x13" pan. Chill the entire pan.
• In a separate mixing bowl, soften the unflavored gelatin packets with a half cup of cold water. Then pour in one and a half cups of boiling water and stir until dissolved. Then mix in the can of condensed milk. When this mixture has cooled, pour it over the red and blue Jell-O cubes in the large pan.
• Chill the entire pan until set (about 3 hours), and cut into squares or into shapes using cookie cutters.

This fun idea for confetti Jell-O comes from the Food Librarian. She has many more ideas on how to work with Jell-O - I definitely recommend her blog.

Go Team U.S.A.!

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A Tween Super Bowl Sunday

Ms Twixt and tweens are celebrating this Super Bowl Sunday by making football cake truffles (idea and recipe courtesy of Bakerella) and rooting on the Saints. Geaux Saints!

This AMAZING image was created by glitternsparkle.com

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The Ultimate Tween New Year's Eve Party

Ms Twixt's plan for the Ultimate Tween New Year's Eve Party:

It must be a sleepover, of course. Invite her BFFs to ring in the New Year with style and sweets.

New Year's Eve Decorations:
A huge disco-ball-esque pinata sets the stage (we love the ones by Confetti Systems):

Similar available from Urban Outfitters, $28-$48 depending on the size

The girls can make confetti-filled balloons:

Here are the directions from Family Fun's website:

Materials:
Large balloons
Brightly colored construction paper
Hole punchers
A funnel or empty plastic bottle
Pins or pushpins

When it comes to making a big bang, popping balloons is unparalleled--and even more thrilling if streams of confetti come pouring out. Prepare your New Year's balloons by setting the kids to work punching circles out of brightly colored construction paper with a hole puncher. (or use store-bought confetti) Stuff as many circles or confetti pieces as you can into each deflated balloon using a funnel, or improvise one by cutting a plastic soda bottle in half. You may also want to write fortunes on small pieces of paper and slip them into the mix. Blow up the balloons and hang them high, but still within reach. A few moments before the appointed hour, hand out the pins. When the time is right, let that confetti fly.

New Year's Eve Festive Attire:
Fabulous glitter top hats set the mood:

From Oriental Trading.com; $14.99 per dozen

And glow bracelets are a MUST!


For a fun bit of sparkle, how cool are these glitter-y Converse kicks?

From Target, $24.99

Fun sleep masks will help the girls get some shut-eye - eventually:

From BeePosh, $10

New Year's Eve Treats:
Mocktails, for sure. Here is a fun recipe, or you can make sparkling Jell-O parfait using sparkling Jell-O and seltzer:

Starry Night Mocktail:
4 oz. purple grape juice
2 oz. pineapple juice
4 oz. ginger ale
Lemon and lime peels
1 or 2 slices of star fruit
Ice

In a tall glass, mix the juices and the ginger ale. Make spirals from small strips of the lemon and lime peels. Slide the slices of star fruit onto the glass rim.

And there must be cake - perhaps a confetti cake?


Or special NYE cupcakes?


Or maybe "almost midnight cookies"?

Receipe from The Decorated Cookie blog

Some folks serve breakfast at midnight, and this could be a great way to help wind things down.

New Year's Eve Party Activities:
If your city has a First Night celebration, count yourself lucky (Ms Twixt and tweens will be enjoying a chilly but festive First Night in Boston this year). But if not, Disney Channel is running an amazing line-up of shows and stars starting at 6pm EST featuring Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez and more tween stars.

Make a wishing tree: set out strips of paper and colorful pens and invite guests to write down their wishes for the future. Hang them from a wire form or branch to make a New Year's Wishing Tree and take turns reading them at midnight.

Or have fun with fortune fish:


However you choose to celebrate, MsTwixt wishes you a happy, healthy and peaceful New Year!

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August 30th is Toasted Marshmallow Day

Toasted marshmallow shakes from Good Stuff Eatery on Capitol Hill are the PERFECT end of summer treat before heading back to school. Owner and Chef Spike Mendelsohn shared his recipe for the shake on Oprah:

Toasted Marshmallow Shake Ingredients (Serves 4)

1 bag jumbo marshmallows
2 cups milk
1 Tbsp. sour cream
2 cups creamy vanilla ice cream
On a medium-size cookie sheet, place 1/2 bag of marshmallows in a row.

Place under your burner in the oven for 2 to 3 minutes, until completely charred.
Take out of oven and let cool.
Repeat this step but only let the marshmallows toast, so they are slightly burnt.
Take out of oven and let cool.
In a blender, pour milk, sour cream, ice cream and charred marshmallows.
Mix for 5 minutes.
Pour in a large glass and top with 2 to 3 toasted marshmallows.

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It's National S'Mores Day!

Vanessa Hudgens may have joined the Girls Scouts (see post below) just to get S'Mores, and we wouldn't blame her one bit! Today is National S'Mores Day according to the National Confectioners Association, but Ms Twixt and family don't need an excuse to eat or make these treats. Health food these are not, but one makes a real treat and can turn around even the worst day. These are our tweens favorite after school special snack.
For those of you who know me personally, you know that I have a thing for homemade marshmallows - I make marshmallows for every occasion in every flavor and color. Homemade marshmallows make an AMAZING s'more!
You can find recipes for marshmallows online, and I've posted my version here. This is a great dessert to make with your tween - just be sure to help her with cooking the syrup and pouring it into the mixer as sugar gets really, really hot. The process of making marshmallows is part cooking, part science experiment as you are turning liquid sugar into pillow-like marshmallows. Enjoy!

Ms Twixt's Homemade Marshmallows

Ingredients
4 pkgs Knox unflavored gelatin (you can find this next to the Jello in the baking aisle)
3 cups granulated sugar (I use vanilla sugar, which you make make by storing a vanilla bean in a bag of sugar for a few weeks)
1.25 cups Karo light corn syrup
.25 tsp salt (I use kosher salt)
1 Tbsp pure vanilla (don't skimp with fake stuff here; this is the main flavor of the marshmallow)
Lots of confectioners' sugar (about half a box)
cooking spray (not olive oil, though)

Equipment
heavy duty aluminum foil
candy thermometer
rectangular Pyrex or other glass baking dish
standing mixer (like a Kitchen Aid)
silicone spatula
offset spatula
really good, non-slip, oven mitt
heavy saucepan
small strainer
sharp knife (not a paring knife; something with a longer blade)

Directions
First, prep the pan: spray the glass dish with cooking spray, line it with the heavy foil with a few inches of overhang on the two long sides, and then spray the foil with more cooking spray
Next, soften the gelatin: in a large mixing bowl (it must be large enough to hold the expanded marshmallow at the end), sprinkle the packages of gelatin over .75 cup of cold water.
Then make the syrup: in a heavy saucepan, combine the granulated sugar, .75 cup cold water, corn syrup and salt. Clip the candy thermometer to the saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook syrup until it reaches the "soft-ball" stage on the candy thermometer, which is about 238 degrees.
Now comes the alchemy: using the whisk attachment on medium-low speed, whisk the gelatin in the mixer bowl. Grab hold of the saucepan with the non-slip oven mitt and slowly pour in the syrup in a continuous stream into the gelatin. This will take some time, and your arms will get a nice workout in the process. After you've added all syrup, gradually turn up the mixer speed to high and beat the mixture until it is quite stiff - usually about 15 minutes. At this point, add the vanilla (you don't want to add flavorings when the mixture is still hot) and beat it in thoroughly. If you want to tint the marshmallows, now is the time to add in a few drops of food coloring.
Pour the marshmallow mixture into the glass dish; you'll need the silicone spatula to scrape the bowl. Using the offset spatula, smooth the top of the marshmallow mixture to make it as even as possible.
Now comes the hard part: you must wait overnight for the marshmallows to set.
"Unmolding" the marshmallows: put some confectioners' sugar in the strainer and sift it all over the marshmallow while still in the glass dish. Then sift more confectioners' sugar over a large area of the kitchen counter (be sure it's clean first!). Using the foil overhang, lift the foil from the glass dish and invert it onto the sugared counter surface. Carefully peel back the foil and sift more confectioners' sugar over the marshmallows. Spray the knife with the cooking spray and cut the marshmallows into squares or any shape you want (you can also use oiled cookie cutters). Roll each cut surface of the marshmallows in more confectioners' sugar so that they don't stick to each other.
Eat! (Warning: you may never buy a package of marshmallows again!)

Let Them Eat Cheesecake!

July 30th is unofficially National Cheesecake Day, and Ms Twixt and family celebrated at the Cheesecake Factory (where else?). While surfing around, however, we found this pic of a totally wild, tie-dyed cheesecake. It's from Walt Disney World's Pop Century Resort and the recipe can be found here. What is your favorite cheesecake? Our clan is partial to key lime and chocolate coconut, but sometimes the classic, plain NY style is just the ticket.