And I’m just happy if I remember to buy the kids Valentine’s Day cards in time to pass out in class!

Hello Kitty Hello Kitty Cake Pops	Pillsbury Pops Pillsbury Easy Cookie Pops	Cupcake Pops Valentine Cupcake Pops	Chocolate Cheesecake Pops Bakerella’s Cheesecake Pops
Pink Cake Pops Pink Valentine Cake Pops	Chocolate Cookie Pops Dipped Chocolate Cookie Pops	Cookie Pops Assorted Cookie Pops	Stained Glass Cookie Pops Martha Stewart’s Cookie Pops

Check out more Valentine’s Day crafts and activities while you are here, too!

Treat Pops Valentine Rice Krispie Treat Pops	Kisses Rice Krispie Treat Valentine Kisses	Red Dipped Red Dipped Rice Krispie Treats	Pink Hearts Pink Heart Rice Krispie Treats
Valentine Sprinkles Rice Krispie Treats with Valentine Sprinkles	Conversation Hearts Conversation Hearts Rice Krispie Treats	Dipped Pops Dipped and Sprinkles Rice Krispie Treat Pops	Chocolate Dipped Chocolate Dipped Rice Krispie Treats

Come back later this year for our Halloween Rice Krispie Treats, Christmas Rice Krispie Treats and Easter Rice Krispie Treats!

Rice Krispie Christmas Wreaths	Rice Krispie Gingerbread House	Rice Krispie Snowmen	Rice Krispie Candy Canes
Rice Krispie Christmas Trees	Rice Krispie Christmas Tree Lights	Decorated Rice Krispie Treats	Christmas Rice Krispie Cutouts

For more Christmas treats, check out these Christmas sugar cookies and anise cookie recipes!

Be sure to check out this incredible collection of anise cookie recipes, too!

Christmas Sugar Cookie Recipes

Basic Sugar Cut Out Cookie Recipe	Sugar Lemon Christmas Tree Cookies	Sugar Snowflake Cookies
Gluten Free Sugar Cookie Recipe	Crisp Sugar Drop Cookies	Santa Cookies
Sugar Cookie Stars	Sugar Cookie Bars	Reindeer Sugar Cookies

More Sugar Cookie Decorating Ideas

The best part about sugar cookie recipes is that they are so versatile. Most of these recipes are quite similar, it’s just the decoration and cutting that sets them apart. Here’s some great examples from Country Living, which gives 2 different slide shows of Christmas cookies all based on one sugar cookie recipe:

Superfestive Holiday Sugar Cookies

Country Living’s Best Cookie Recipes

For more Christmas fun, check out our Christmas kids activities page, our Christmas crafts, or our fun Christmas worksheets for homeschoolers and teachers!

I love the homemade animal crackers and dip idea at the bottom – especially if you can use fall cookie cutters for the shapes!

Be sure to also check these Thanksgiving cupcake ideas and keep the kids busy while you are cooking with our Thanksgiving coloring pages!

Kaiser 612904 Fall Themed Cookie Cutters Qty 8
Price: $16.5
Kaiser 612904 Fall Themed Cookie Cutters Qty 8

So with the price of orange extract being so insanely high for such a tiny bottle, I decided to hunt some down at my local dollar store – and I scored! But then I used it all up, and found that they don’t sell it year-round. They only have it for November and December. So instead of going back to buying it at $4+ a bottle, I decided to make my own.

I found a few recipes online that seemed quite easy, but warned that they weren’t as strong as what you can buy in the store. So I used more orange peel (duh), and viola – orange extract that was just as strong as what I could get at my supermarket.

Orange Extract Ingredients

Vodka – approximately 1 1/2 cups

2 oranges

Plus you will need a glass bottle (preferably with a pourer), I got mine as part of a vinegar and oil set at my local dollar store.

This recipe is for a 15 ounce (or so) bottle.

How to Make Orange Extract

Peel two whole oranges with the channel knife part of a citrus zesting tool:

Place the orange peels into your bottle. Pour vodka over the top of them until they are fully covered, with about a half an inch more liquid on top. My photo shows the peels just barely covered – that’s because I’ve been using it a lot lately! If you use a smaller bottle, try to keep proportions the same.

The vodka flavor goes away the longer you let the orange peels steep. Let sit in a cool dry place for at least a week, but the flavor vastly improves if you can wait one month.

I’m traveling a long way for Thanksgiving this year, so I’m going to have to live vicariously though all of you who get to cook up yummy stuff for the holiday. But I’m having Christmas Eve at my house, so get ready to be blasted with tons of Christmas cooking ideas soon!

Be sure to check out these Thanksgiving kids crafts and these Thanksgiving coloring pages while you are in the neighborhood. You might also like these printable Thanksgiving place cards, too!

Springerle Recipe	Glazed Anise Cookies	Fennel Blackberry Cookie Recipe
Pizzelle Cookies	Crisp Anise Cookies	Anise Star Cookies
Anise Pretzel Cookie Recipe	Anise Pepper Cookie Recipe	Anise Mandelbrot / Biscotti
Anise Drop Cookies	Anise Cut Outs – Bizcochitos	Anise Saviato Cookies

For more Christmas fun, check out these Christmas handprint crafts, Christmas animal coloring pages, or these Christmas word puzzles!

Healthy Halloween Skeleton Sandwiches	Pumpkin Fruit Cup Treats	Caramel Apple Pizza	Whole Wheat Bat Cookies Recipe
Watermelon Brains Halloween Fruit Treat	Jack O Lantern Fruit Kebabs	Veggie Skeleton Halloween Snacks	Devilish Deviled Egg Monsters
Monsters on a Stick	Tombstone Halloween Party Sandwiches	Monster Eyes Meatball Sandwich	Pumpkin Seed Popcorn Ball Treats
Salty Bone Breadsticks	Spooky Spider Bread Rolls	Pumpkin Pancake Recipe	Strawberry Ghosts Halloween Treats

Have lots more Halloween fun with our printable Halloween masks, pumpkin carving patterns, printable Halloween games, and Halloween coloring pages!

Wealthy Apples at the Farmer's Market

I have another post on the way about all the different types of apples that are available in the midwest at the farmer’s market – which is 3 or 4 times more varieties than I have ever found at the grocery store. For applesauce, though, you want a sweet apple that will turn to mush very easily. And for applesauce, the farmers I talked to swear by the Wealthy Apple, and early ‘relative’ of the yummy Honeygold.

Applesauce Cooking Tips

Peeling Apples for Applesauce

Some applesauce recipes suggest that you cook the apples with the skin on, which makes no sense to me. Because then you have to use a food mill or sieve to mush it all up. By using the peeled Wealthy Apple, the only ‘mushing’ I had to do was to stir it while cooking. I’m all about simple (and not buying cooking equipment you will only use rarely and then have to store forever!).

Just so you know, if you can’t find Wealthy Apples, or if you don’t have all the ingredients listed below, don’t worry about it. Applesauce is really, really hard to mess up. You simply can’t go wrong with cooked apples. Cook it too little, and you’ll feel like you’re eating apple pie filling (not a bad thing!)). Cook it too much, and you’ll pretty much have apple butter (definitely not a bad thing!).

The only place you might go wrong is with sweetening it, because you can make it too sugary. So go easy on whatever sweetener you choose to use, and add more if necessary. But for those of you who like extra sweet applesauce, just ignore me on that last point.

Making Applesauce with Kids

I peeled and sliced up 11 apples in a variety of sizes, then made two batches of applesauce.

The first batch was plain cinnamon applesauce:

Making Applesauce

The second batch was blueberry applesauce:

Making Blueberry Applesauce

Cinnamon Applesauce Recipe

7  peeled, cored and sliced apples (I cut mine into 8ths)

1 tsp cinnamon (or more, if you like)

3 Tbsp brown sugar (or sweetener of your choice, including none at all for purists like I used to be!)

1/2 cup water or apple cider

Put the apples and water into a deep pan and turn the heat on medium. Cover and cook 15-20 minutes, stirring frequently. Watch the heat and turn down as necessary – I had to turn mine down to low after a while to keep it from burning and boiling over. As you stir, if you find any big chunks of apples, just smash them against the side of the pan with your stirring spoon. When apples are the consistency of applesauce, remove from heat and add the cinnamon and sugar.

Let cool and serve warm for the best ooohs ad ahhs from your family!

Blueberry Applesauce Recipe

4  peeled, cored and sliced apples (I cut mine into 8ths)

1 quart container of blueberries (about 2 cups)

1/2 tsp cardamom (optional, or substitute cinnamon)

3 Tbsp brown sugar (or sweetener of your choice)

1/3 cup water or apple cider

Put the apples, blueberries and water into a deep pan and turn the heat on medium-low. Cover and cook 15-20 minutes, stirring frequently. I had to watch the heat more on this batch than I did the regular batch of applesauce, turning it to low heat sooner than I did on the regular batch. As you stir, if you find any big chunks of apples, just smash them against the side of the pan with your stirring spoon. When the fruit is the consistency of applesauce, remove from heat. You may want to run this batch through a sieve to remove the blueberry skins, but I left them in (and it was delish!). Add the sugar and cardamom, and let cool before serving.

The Applesauce Party

When I was done, I had tons of applesauce, three hungry kids, and a perfect September afternoon on my hands. So I did what any fantatical crafty blogger would do – I threw an impromptu Applesauce Party for the family.

Applesauce Party

I got out my nice dishes and silverware, my vintage linens, and set the table for 5 applesauce eaters.

My Little Applesauce Helper

My youngest decided that she would serve her brother and sister, because somehow she loves to help only when it isn’t really needed. Of course, when I ask for her help with something, you would think that the world was coming to an end.

Blueberry Raspberry Applesauce

My oldest dove into the blueberry applesauce and topped her bowl with more fresh raspberries. I swear her skin should be blue for the amount of blueberries this one can put away!

Licking the Bowl Clean

My son didn’t say much. That’s OK, I think I got the point!

For more fall yummy-ness, check out these Peanut Butter and Jelly Recipes, these Halloween Party Food Recipes or these Halloween Rice Krispie Treats! You might also like these fall coloring pages, too.