Twinkies for Fun and Profit: How to make your own

I've been on a major Twinkie rush the past few weeks.  It's not just the sugar though.  My son, the resident entrepreneur and early riser announced to us early one Friday morning that Hostess was going out of business and that we should drop what we were doing and rush out right that minute to buy some to sell on E-bay.  It's times like these that I remember why I love homeschooling so much.  Flexibility and having the world as your classroom! We skipped breakfast to go in search of our Twinkie fortune.

To be honest, I didn't really think we would succeed in our Twinkie resale enterprise but I wasn't about to step on enthusiasm.  We arrived at the grocery store and lined up behind the retirees to wait for them to open the doors. Each of us was eyeing the old folks hoping none of them was aware of the treasure that was sitting on the shelf on aisle 16.  The automatic doors opened and there was a rush of gray hair- all headed to the produce.  Whew!  We zoomed over to the bread aisle and there they were- Ding Dongs, HoHos, Zingers and Twinkies!  A gloriously full shelf of them!  Another guy was already there sheepishly carrying three boxes back towards the check out line.  He passed us with his Twinkies and then noticed that we were there for the same thing.  As we loaded up our cart he came back down the aisle and said that he would probably get a couple more- just in case Hostess really did go out of business for good.  We agreed with him.  It was a very good idea.   

When we got home we immediately listed them on E-bay.  We decided that a 24 hour auction would be best because Hostess could end up getting bought out and start production again on Monday and then the Twinkies would only be worth face value and we'd have to eat all those sugary snacks by ourselves.  Maybe not the worst fate ever, but still, we've all had that "ate too much" junk food nausea before and were not looking forward to it.  We started the bidding at a penny and pulled out all of our cheesy salesmanship tools. 

Our listing read: "No reserve on this Hostess Jackpot!  Get your Twinkies, Ho Hos, and Ding Dongs before they're gone!   They will probably survive the zombie apocalypse!   Don't be left without them!  In a few years you will be kicking yourself if you don't scoop these up right now before they're gone forever. Coming to you with Aloha from Hawaii. The only reason we're letting these go is because Zombies can't swim so we're safe here!"

Now really, who would fall for this stuff, we chortled to ourselves.  Well, 17 people bid on that listing and we made $99.50 on our Hostess sales.  Not a bad investment. 

We were thrilled to see economics at work.  Scarcity leads to increased prices!   We had just proven it in our Twinkie experiment.  The kids packed them up in boxes and we sent them off to their new owners.  Of course, we've kept a few boxes of Hostess stuff in reserve because truly, they never go bad- and plus, what if we have a Twinkie attack or suddenly someone is willing to pay a million dollars for a box or worse yet, what if zombies invade? 

Since we've got to keep these Twinkies under lock and key until people are really desperate and we can use them to fund the kids college (why did I leave some on the shelf?), we decided that we would try our hand at making some. By now you know that my mantra is "how hard could it be"?  I'm always up for trying stuff.  So we found a recipe online.  They were a fun project and they actually tasted just like the real thing.  Give it a try!

Here are the ingredients: 

Non-stick spray

4 egg whites

One 16-ounce box golden pound cake mix (We tried both pound cake and Butter  Golden cake. Butter Golden Golden cake had a better Twinkie texture while pound cake was more firm.  Pictures below)

2/3 cup water

Filling

2 teaspoons very hot water

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 cups marshmallow creme (one 7-ounce jar)

1/2 cup shortening

1/3 cup powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Here's how you make them:

Preparation

You will need a spice bottle, approximately the size of a Twinkie, ten 12 x 14 -inch pieces of aluminum foil, a cake decorator or pastry bag, and a chopstick.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Fold each piece of aluminum foil in half twice. Wrap the folded foil around the spice bottle to create a mold. Leave the top of the mold open for pouring in the batter. Make 10 of these molds and arrange them on a cookie sheet or in a shallow pan. Grease the inside of each mold with a light coating of non-stick spray.

Disregard the directions on the box of cake mix. Instead, beat the egg whites until stiff. In a separate bowl combine cake mix with water and beat until thoroughly blended (about 2 minutes). Fold egg whites into the cake batter and slowly combine until completely mixed.

Pour the batter into the molds, filling each one about 3/4 of an inch. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick stuck in the center comes out clean.

For the filling, combine salt with the hot water in a small bowl and stir until salt is dissolved. Let this mixture cool.

Combine the marshmallow creme, shortening, powdered sugar and vanilla in a medium bowl and mix well with an electric mixer on high speed until fluffy.

Add the salt solution to the filling mixture and combine.

When the cakes are done and cooled, use a skewer or chopstick to make three holes in the bottom of each one. Move the stick around inside of each cake to create space for the filling.

Using a cake decorator or pastry bag, inject each cake with filling through all three holes.

Serving Size

Serves 10

Review: Veritas Press Pages of History Volume 1: Secrets of the Ancients

Veritas Press has produced an excellent history textbook for logic stage students who are studying the Ancients.  I recently received a preview copy of Pages of History Volume 1: Stories of the Ancients which unfolds the tales of history like a fast-paced  novel.   History is, after all, a retelling of true stories from the past.  The antithesis of a dry textbook, authors Bruce Etter and Alexia Detweiler have given home schooling parents and students an engaging history lesson in the form of a thorough yet accessible book.

Veritas Press publishes unashamedly Christian material. This book starts with Creation and weaves the events from the Bible into the stories of history.  Best friends James and Lance find themselves transported to the Garden of Eden where they learn that even though people were created in the image of God (Imago Dei), mankind is now separated from God because of Adam's sin.  All of history is a stage on which God's redemptive plan for man is being carried out. Etter and Detweiler artfully chronicle the boy's adventures as they explore history from this vantage point.

Time periods, subjects, definitions and concepts are all introduced through the characters in the story through the narrative so kids hardly even feel like they are"doing history".  To me, this is one of the the best ways to learn.  It's much more appealing to find out what happens next in your history novel than to read the next chapter of a history book!  If you have a reluctant historian in your family Pages of History might be just what they need to bring history to life.

The book explores all of the major topics of ancient history that you would expect in a good textbook for this age group and it provides many opportunities to stop and have important discussions. For instance, Chapter 5 has an excellent segment concerning laws and codes (Hammurabi and the Ten Commandments) which leads to the concepts of fairness, natural law, the purpose of law and restitution versus detention.  (Good family dinner table discussions ahead!)

Children who read Pages will have a good understanding not only of world history but also of church history, a subject that is often left untaught or taught later in a student's studies. Additionally, it will be clear to them that the events of the Bible happened in history!  This seems like an obvious concept but sometimes children don't put the events of the Bible into historical context.  They don't realize that Abraham lived during the time of the Mesopotamians and that while the Greeks were developing their ideas of democracy, Israel was a divided kingdom to whom God was sending prophets like Amos, Isaiah and Habakkuk.

This book could be assigned for individual history reading but I think it would be even better if read aloud as a family.   The target audience is students ages 11-13 but it is appropriate for multi-age teaching. Younger children will enjoy listening to the story and I believe the adventure plot coupled with the history and Bible will lend itself to questions and dialogue.  To me, 9-11 (approximate grades 4-6) is the perfect age for this book.  It would be a good history supplement for logic stage students ages 12-13 (Grades 7-8) because it does raise more of the "why?" questions students of this age are dealing with.

If you are looking for a traditional history textbook with reading plans, project ideas, assignments, discussion questions, headings, timelines, charts, dates, terms, maps, quizzes and tests, this may not be the book for you. update see note** It wasn't designed to be that sort of history book.  This is a conversational book that is easy to read and that engages the reader or listener through the dialogue and plot.

** 11/19/2012 Since I originally posted I have new information. As you'll notice from the comments there IS a workbook that is going to be published to go with the book!  This will be a great help to families who would like to use the material as their main textbook.  Look for it plus Volume 2 and the audio book for Vol 1 in May of 2013.  

I would have enjoyed seeing more maps in the book since history always happens in a place.  Additionally, there are not very many pictures and the illustrations of the boys in the story are line drawings which are fairly simple.  I am a visual learner so visual appeal is high on my list but it may not be a problem for other people.  Overall, the content greatly overrides these minor negatives.

 At 445 pages, you can read about three pages a day and finish it in approximately 160 school days.  I don't think your kids will let you get away with just reading three pages a day though- it's just too much fun!

The book ends with a cliff hanger and a note:

"...to be continued."

Students and parents alike will be waiting on the edge of their seats for the next book, which I assume will start where this one leaves off after John Knox at the Reformation.

Pages of History: Volume 1 Stories of the Ancients will be released on Friday, November 22, but you can pre-order your copy today.  Go to this link.  (I will not benefit from your purchase.)

Nota Bene: You don't have to be a home schooler to enjoy this book. It would be an excellent Christmas or birthday gift for a grandchild, niece or nephew!

Got Adolescents?  If you've got children who are ages 10-15 you should check out my review of Focus on the Family's Passport2Purity- another fabulous resource.

I'd love to hear your thoughts and comments!

How to Make Cute Candy Thanksgiving Turkeys

These candy turkeys are tons of fun to make for classroom or office parties,  providential buffets (I don't believe in luck), Thanksgiving "hello" gifts for neighbors, or decorations for place settings.  They are easy to make- especially if you have a friend or two helping to do it assembly-line style.

I would love to give credit to the person who came up with this brilliant idea.  Unfortunately, I have no clue where I first saw it.  I've been making these for years and they are always a favorite.  It just doesn't seem like Thanksgiving if we haven't made the turkeys!

To make about 60 of them you only need 5 ingredients: 

1 package of 60 sandwich cookies (Each cookie makes 1 turkey), your choice of color

2 cans of chocolate frosting

1 cup of powdered sugar

3 bags of orange slice candies (with approximately 20 per bag so you have a total of 60)

1-2 bags of candy corn depending on how big the bag is.  You'll need 360 whole ones total. 

1. Mix 1/2 cup of powdered sugar with one can of frosting to make the frosting a little more stiff.  (Do the same with the second one if you need more frosting.)

2. Fill a pastry bag with the frosting. (Use a large star tip.)

 3. Carefully pull the cookies apart and scrape off the filling.  Discard the filling.

4. Pipe a semi-circle of icing onto half of the cookies.

5. Press 5 candy corns into the icing in a fan pattern.  Make sure they are evenly placed.  They shouldn't hang too far off of the edge of the cookie.

6. Cut the orange slices at the 2/3 mark.  Eat the smaller pieces.  The larger ones will be the bodies and should be cut at a slight slant or almost straight up depending on how good your icing is at holding them.  You can experiment a little- I usually assemble 1 completely to get a feel for how they are made (since I only make them once a year).  After that I start with the assembly line.

7. Pipe a 1" line of icing onto the other half of the cookies. (See below) Place the orange slices with the smaller ends toward the front and the cut ends toward the back of the cookie.  (See picture.)  Pipe a blob of icing below the 5 candy corn feathers.  This icing will be the glue that holds the feathers to the orange slice body.  In the picture below the cookie with the candy corns at the far right is an example of the feathers and the cookie with the orange slice second from the right is an example of the bodies.  So now you should have half cookie feathers and half cookie bodies.  (If your icing is hardening quickly you can do these in smaller groups.)

8.  This is the tricky part.  Take the feather cookie and press the icing from it into the orange slice.  Hold it there and pipe a chocolate dot at the back to add extra strength to hold up the cookie.  Finally, pipe a dot of icing onto the top of the orange slice and place a whole candy corn on it for the head (beak facing out!).  

Voila, you are finished!  

9.  Here's a picture of the steps all in a row.

 10.  And here is the finished product. Cute as a button and guauanteed to be eaten only by children and others who have a very high tolerance for sugar.

Enjoy!  Let me know how they turn out if you try them- and share your tips!

Blog Design for Neophytes...Or Editing HTML- How Hard Could it Be?

This is a post I wrote months ago and just found in my unpublished folder-  hope it is helpful to someone!

There are always two ways to do things: the easy way and the hard way.   Blogger has done a fabulous job of making blogging easy and accessible to absolutely anyone who has the desire and a keyboard.  There are lots of perfectly good templates out there ready to go.  Just click on them and you're off.  Unfortunately, I have just enough creativity and hard headed-ness that it ruffled me a bit to use a blog designed by someone else.  After all, I have a degree in design so I should be able to whip a little something up.  How hard could it be?  A background, a header, some gadgets, edit some HTML.  This phrase: "How hard could it be?" has been my default line of thinking and my fateful Waterloo on projects of all kinds over my lifetime.

     For some reason, getting the pre-made, pre-designed, perfectly wonderful and acceptable thing is just too much for me.  I can't do it.  I have to try it for myself.  So for the past two weeks I have been scouring the Internet for tutorials on how to customize your background and make your own header using Photoshop Elements.  Sounds easy.  Ha.  Computers are finicky things and so am I.  What I found is that there is no one-stop-shopping for this sort of thing.  Or perhaps, I didn't know where to look.   I don't understand it.  Every second 2.5 people are cranking out their first ever blog entry on their newly minted Blogger account and I'm positive that at least half of those folks would love for someone to walk them through all of the steps I just took to create something completely original for their blog.  I'd love to do it but I have no idea how I got here.  I cobbled together videos from You Tube and written instructions from various Bloggers (Thank you!) and ended up with something I am ok with.  I say that because I don't think I've ever been completely satisfied with anything I've made.  Fortunately, I'm not a perfectionist and I just move on to the next thing.

     So, even though it was a pain, I'm glad I did it the hard way.  I jumped completely out of my comfortable box and learned something new, which proved to be immensely satisfying.   I've conquered my Blog!  That seems to be a key to work- the more difficult it is the more satisfying it is when it's done.

     By this time next week I'll be off on another project.  Another thing to conquer.  I don't know if I'll redesign the blog anytime soon but if so,  I've posted "notes to self" on my wiki so I won't have to start from the beginning again.


     Here are a few of the sites that were very helpful for me on my Design Your Own Blog Journey. Perhaps starting with these will save you some time researching.   If you know of others, please post them!

Blogger Background:
     Kevin and Amanda:  My favorite thing about this site is that Amanda is from Auburn.  So, I love her right there.  Next, she is amazingly talented.  Amazingly.  In all sorts of things, not just blog tutorials. I've never met her, but judging from her blog she appears to never sleep.   I covet her photography skills.   Here's her tutorial on how to make a blogger background.  My main problem was that I am a Photoshop Elements neophyte and I didn't know how to do one thing in that program so I had to do...more tutorials to teach myself.   That put me behind a few days.   She's also got some awesome fonts with instructions about how to use them on your blog.

     The Cutest Blog on the Block has a good written tutorial for making a blog background.  In fact, they have a lot of great stuff on their site, including perfectly adorable blog backgrounds and headers you can just put right on your blog easily.   If you're already familiar with Photoshop you will do fine with their tutorials.   Again, that was a bit of a learning curve for me.

Blogger Header:  

     Blog Designs by Dani has a helpful tutorial.  (Step #2 basically says- now make your header in Photoshop.  I needed instructions for exactly how to do that.)

     Her Design It myself page has several good instructions for various blog elements.

Blogger Signature:

    Again, hats off to Amanda.  Here's her tutorial- with a link to Cutest Blog on The Block.

     Working with the HTML can be a bit intimidating but I made sure to save my original templates in case I royally screwed up- which was a distinct possibility.  Fortunately, due to the great instructions I received, it all worked out.  I'd love to see blogs you've designed and hear of any tips you've got for others who are going through this process!