N is for No-Bake Cheesecake

My daughter doesn't like regular cooked cheesecake. One day I decided to make her my mom's No-Bake Cherry Cheesecake for dessert. My mother used to make this cheesecake all the time as a special treat for us.

This cheesecake calls for one or two blocks of cream cheese, one or two 8-ounce container of original whipped cream, lemon, vanilla, sugar, and cherry topping. The mixture was dumped into a 9" graham cracker crust. I am particular about brands that I use, but you could use any brand.

We always made this dessert by taste so it always tasted a little different each time we made it. Some days it tasted more like a sour lemon. Other days we added a lot of sweet vanilla. It could even be made thicker with more cream cheese or fluffier with a little extra whipped cream. Sometimes I experiment with other extract flavors and toppings too. You DO NOT bake it. I love that I just mix all the ingredients and throw it in the fridge. We usually wait a couple hours before eating it.   

I will link this post up at Blogging Through the Alphabet Linky. N is the letter of the week so come join the fun and link up your post. I will also link this post up at the Homeschool Blog Link Up, Life at Rossmont's Wordless Wednesday, and Tots and Me Wordless Wednesday. 

Making Hasty Pudding

My daughter recently studied the 13 Colonies and the Colonial Time Period in History. We found a Hasty Pudding recipe in one of my teacher resources that she wanted to make. The teacher resource was titled, History Pockets: Life in Plymouth Colony. She also learned some background information about Hasty Pudding. Did you know that early settlers ate Hasty Pudding every day and sometimes it was the only meal they ate for months?

We already had all the ingredients which made it easier. I asked her to spilt the recipe in half so that it wouldn't make as much. The recipe was intended for an entire classroom. She ate the Hasty Pudding as part of a meal.

Here are some snapshots of her making the Hasty Pudding. She had fun and loved the taste of it. Of course they recommend that you add a little dark brown sugar or maple syrup to the recipe for more flavor. She is hoping to make more Colonial Times recipes next week. I am including a link below to a recipe for you try with your children.

Hasty Pudding Recipe Link
Just a Pinch Recipe Club - The ingredients and quantities are the same as the recipe we used.

Have fun!

I will link this post up at Blogging Through the Alphabet Linky. M is the letter of the week so come join the fun and link up your post. I linked up this Making Hasty Pudding post. I will also link this post up at the Homeschool Blog Link Up, Life at Rossmont's Wordless Wednesday, and Tots and Me Wordless Wednesday. 

Call of the Wild Literature Lapbook

Alyssa's new independent reading chapter book for the month is titled, The Call of the Wild. She is working through The Call of the Wild Literature Unit Study and Lapbook created by Erica at Confessions of a Homeschooler. We are using a different version of the book, but it still works fine even though the lapbook mini-books do not correspond exactly with our book version. Erica recommends purchasing the Classic Starts version of the book.

Alyssa reads the chapters independently and completes the corresponding lapbook pieces for each chapter. She reads 1-2 chapters each day. The lapbook also includes book reports. Before beginning the book, Alyssa completed the Predictions page based on the cover, title, author bio, and summary. We plan on watching the movie after she reads the book so that she can compare and contrast the similarities and differences between the movie and the book. Erica provides the user with comprehension questions that are answered in the form of mini-books for the lapbook. She also includes answers to the questions and a lapbook video tutorial on her blog.

Flap Down

Flap Lifted

Back of Lapbook
Pocket Added for Extra Work

You can see a calendar in the back pocket. Alyssa created a Reading schedule for her book using our Super Teacher Worksheets subscription. She uses it to track her monthly reading for her Independent Reading Projects. You can read about how we made and used the Reading calendar by clicking on the previous link. Alyssa really likes reading this story and completing the lapbook activities.

I will link this post up at Blogging Through the Alphabet Linky. L is the letter of the week so come join the fun and link up your post. I will also link this post up at the Homeschool Blog Link Up, Life at Rossmont's Wordless Wednesday, and Tots and Me Wordless Wednesday. 

Kids New Year's Eve Countdown

We did a simple Kid's New Year's Eve Countdown this year. I blew up six yellow and white balloons and wrote activities on slips of paper. The slips of paper were placed inside the balloons. Alyssa popped a balloon each hour from 7pm to midnight. We completed the family-oriented activities together. These activities encouraged and fostered mother-daughter bonding time. We made our New Year's Eve meal, colored together, gave each other a pedicure, played games, made ice cream sundaes, and took photos using props.

My daughter planned the New Year's Eve meal. We ate shrimp cocktail, caprese kabobs, and pita chips with Strawberry Balsamic Serrano Jam cream cheese.

From our house to yours Happy New Year!

I will link this post up at Blogging Through the Alphabet Linky. K is the letter of the week so come join the fun and link up your post. I will also link this post up at the Homeschool Blog Link Up, and Tots and Me Wordless Wednesday.