Sweet Little Things for Mother's Day

I am not much of a food designer, but a recent experience gave me an idea for something pretty cute for Mother's Day brunch! I will make these with my grand kids when they are a little older. In the process they will be introduced to the crafty skill of weaving!










You may recall the photo of a charming carrot-shaped bread cone stuffed with egg salad from my Bunny Village Workshop post last month. This original Hungry Happenings design called for a tube of Pillsbury Crescent Recipe Creations Seamless Dough. Expecting to flub my first attempt, I bought two of them. After all, how could something so darn cute possibly be simple to make, especially with me behind the rolling pin?! Well, surprise, surprise! My perfectly shaped, absolutely gorgeous orange carrots slipped out of the oven nice, fat, and happy at the exact directed baking moment. They all looked up at me and said in unison, "We hope you learned your lesson about mistrusting Beth's recipes! You didn't really need that extra tube of dough!"

But I did have it! And somehow, I decided, I was going to make it into something nice!

In the 1970s, when I began my career as a high school art teacher, there was a craft revolution stirring about in the country. Personally, I think it was inspired by the hippie culture. Lots of macramé, tie-dye, batik, folk art......many fun things to try and pass on to my students. Crafting with bread dough was also popular. I loved that art! My favorite project was a woven bread dough basket baked over an inverted loaf pan. Once cooled, it was shellacked, lined with a calico napkin and used to serve rolls at the table. Women loved them, so if you were adept, you could present someone with a much welcomed gift at very little cost.

Could I somehow combine the extra tube of crescent dough and this fond memory into - not a basket, oh gosh, no way! - but an edible little dessert trivet upon which to serve a ladylike portion of fruit nestled in a bed of whipped topping? It was worth a try!

My strawberry borrowed a few tiny basil leaves just because they are prettier, but then I discovered that their taste is a perfect compliment to everything else you see here. Very simple, but very, very good!

Here's what you need to make 4 woven crescent dough trivets, each about 3 1/2" square:

1 tube Pillsbury Crescent Recipe Creations Seamless Dough
Rolling pin
2 wooden chopsticks
Pizza cutter
Parchment paper
Baking sheet and......an oven to bake in!

Here's what to do:

Roll the dough out evenly  between the chopsticks to assure that it is about 1/4" thick.

 Use a light amount of flour if needed.

Using a chopstick as a guide, slice the dough horizontally into strips about 1/4" wide - the approximate width of the chopstick.

Place the parchment paper on the baking sheet and use the strips to weave a trivet about 3.5" square. Leave about 1/2" between each strip. It's okay if some strips are wider than others. Some stretch out as you weave or during transport to the baking sheet. This makes the finished item more interesting. Also, when weaving with kids, cut the long strips in half for easier handling.

Trim the trivet to a 3.5" square and pop it into a 400 degree oven for about 6 minutes.

And here we are! A perfect little platform awaiting a perfect little topping!

In the future I will invite my grandchildren over to weave these. They will take them home and hide them in the freezer until Mother's Day morning. Daddy will slice a pear and provide the whipped cream and strawberries so the kids can assemble them to accompany mom's well deserved breakfast in bed. We will make enough of them for the entire family because I think they will be loved by everyone!

Well, look at that! Now I am a food blogger! Oh, just kidding! But seriously, if you do want to see somebody who really knows what she's doing, take a trip to Beth's kitchen at Hungry Happenings. For an extra cute Mother's Day sweet snack that older grand kids can make with you, click on Pink Fuzzy Slipper Cookies - those are delightfully special!

And finally, did those carrot shaped bread cones really talk to me when they popped out of the oven? I'm not sure....have you ever heard that saying, "I love to cook with wine! Sometimes I even put it in the food!" ?

Now wait! Don't leave yet! I've got another sweet little thing for Mother's Day......

As you know, I am a really big fan of preserving the size of growing little hands of my grandchildren in gifts presented to their mommies on special occasions. Mother's Day calls for something pretty.

This is our gift for Sunday. 

Each of the children printed a green hand on ivory paper. Using a 1" paper punch, I cut out and glued  pink flowers with yellow paper punch dots inside. Hand snipped pastel green leaves completed the bouquet. I typed out "Flowers for you, mommy" on Word using the AR CENA font in size 22. I traced the phrase over a light box with an 02 fine point marker, although this could also be done freehand if you are very confident. Don't forget the child's name and the date before you mat and frame the gift.

This Sunday, the entire family is taking me out to dinner. We'll return to Christy's house for dessert. And that's when I'll give the wrapped hand print bouquets to the grand kids to present to their moms!