Gumdrop Cake
Gumdrop Cake
This was my grandmother’s recipe for Gumdrop Cake. This time, I made it with both gummy bears and jube jubes that I had on hand.
Gumdrop Cake
½ Cup butter
1 Cup sugar
2 eggs
½ tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
2 Cups flour
¾ Cup milk
1 tsp lemon juice
1 lb gumdrops (about 2 ½ cups)
1 cup raisins (optional)
Combine all ingredients.
The batter will be fairly stiff.
Add gummy bears.
You may have to cut them into bite-sized pieces.
Pour into a bundt pan, a 9×9 pan, loaf pan, etc.
I used several smaller round pans and mini muffin tins as I was making them for gifts.
Spray the pans extremely well.
HINT: Next time, I would line the containers with parchment paper. They are VERY sticky and hard to get out of the containers.
Bake at 350 until done. Time depends on the container used. A large cake would take approximately 35 minutes. Make sure the toothpick comes out of the batter clean to ensure it is cooked through.
Remove from pan fairly quickly so that the gumdrops don’t harden and stick to the pan even more.
These were a huge hit with the kids!
Sweet and Sour Meatballs
Sweet and Sour Meatballs
This is our go-to recipe family recipe when you need a dinner in a dash! It has become a staple comfort food.
All of us in my family (mother, sister, brother and I) make it slightly differently depending on our taste buds. I like it sweet with lots of sauce, whereas my brother would make his less “soupy”.
As a result, there is no real recipe. We just dump in the ingredients! But, for the sake of this blog post, I will write out the standard recipe. However, mix it according to your own heart’s desire!
Sweet and Sour Meatballs
Ground Beef
¼ C vinegar
2 Tbsp brown sugar
2 Tbsp ketchup
2 Tbsp molasses
Water
Form ground beef into balls.
Cook in a frying pan over medium heat.
When meatballs are fully cooked, add the other ingredients in the pan (vinegar, sugar, ketchup and molasses).
Add water – at least 1 Cup. If you like more sauce, add more water!
Let the mixture simmer in the frying pan, stirring often. Keep it simmering until the sauce is thickened and the desired consistency.
Serve over rice with mixed veggies.
Make lots.
Christmas Light Bingo
Christmas Lights Bingo!
One of our favourite family activities to do during the holidays is to go out and play Bingo with the Christmas decorations in our neighbourhood! The first year, we surprised the kids at bedtime. On their bed, we put a train ticket for a magic ride. 
My husband dressed as the conductor and we loaded them into the car with their PJs. 
When the kids are in the car we give them each a clipboard, a marker, and a Bingo sheet. We made up Bingo sheets that have a variety of things you would find amongst the decorations. Each sheet has the items in different squares – so everyone doesn’t have the same Bingo card.
Download the Bingo Sheets HERE.
Then, we drive around the neighbourhood checking off each item on the Bingo sheet as we go. We go for total blackout (all squares) so there is no real winner. It’s the hunt that’s so fun! The Christmas music is blaring. And no trip is complete without a stop at Tim Hortons! 
VARIATION: I have a friend who does this same game but with Halloween decorations!
Have a fun family night!
Sucker Cookies
Sucker Cookies
Kids love these fun cookies no matter what occasion. I have made them for Christmas, summer camp, or for Valentine’s Day with heart shaped suckers.
Any basic sugar cookie dough works, but this is the one that we use. It is my grandmother’s recipe.
Sugar Cookies
1 Cup butter
1 Cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 ½ Cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp salt
Roll the cookie dough into a long log about 1 inch in diameter.
Slice the dough and place the slices on a cookie sheet.
Place a sucker firmly into the cookie dough.
Bake at 350 for about 14 minutes or until the cookies are golden and the suckers are melted.
When you remove the cookies from the tray, you may have to press some of the sticks back down into the suckers, as they may have shifted when baking.
Watch the kids enjoy!
Baked Goods Ticket Auction
How to Run a Baked Goods Ticket Auction
Are you looking for a new fundraising idea? Try a baked goods ticket auction.
We started hosting a baked goods ticket auction about 4 years ago and it has become an annual tradition that people look forward to and expect!
We decided not to have a bake sale as there are often items left over, and this eliminates that problem! Plus, this adds an air of excitement!
For best results, try to find a pre-existing event that you can tap into. For us, this is the village’s annual tree-lighting party. People are already here and there are plenty of other activities for them to do while we are running the ticket sales.
Here’s how to run a baked-goods ticket auction
Before the Event
1. Pick a date and time for your event.
2. Advertise it to the community.
3. Ask people to bake. This can be done internally through your organization. We ask people to bake something and package it just like for a bake sale (without any prices). Because our event caters primarily to families at Christmas time, we ask people to bring Christmas-themed food. Label anything that contains nuts. Packages with smaller quantities works best so that there are more winners!
4. Create tickets. This is the document that we use for the tickets. Download here. Print off the tickets and cut into strips. Make a sheet that lists the numbers 1-350 so that you can write the names beside each ticket number.
5. Gather supplies. You will need:
a. Pens and markers
b. Scissors
c. Masking and scotch tape
d. Paper bags
e. Float (lots of change!)
Set up
1. Set up Tables. We covered ours with Christmas table cloths!
2. Have people bring their baked goods at least 30-60 minutes ahead of time.
3. Display the baked goods on the tables. We group the same items together to conserve space).
4. Place a strip of masking tape across each package. You will need this at the end of the event (write the winner’s name on this piece of tape)
5. Tape a paper bag to the table in front of each baked good (or group of baked goods)
At the event
This part of the event can be really hectic! It’s fast and only lasts a short period of time. We recommend having three stations where people can buy tickets.
1. Sell tickets. We sold a strip of 10 tickets for $2 or 3 strips for $5. I made up a few posters to hang on the walls with the prices.
2. When the person buys a strip, write their name on their chart by the numbers that they buy.
3. Instruct people to rip each number off their strip (they will end up with 10 small squares). Put one ticket in the paper bag of the item that they want to win. If they really want to win it, of course you put in more tickets in that bag!
Wrapping Up
This is also a hectic part as people are really excited to find out if they win! But, with a good system, it goes smoothly.
1. Close the ticket sales. For us, we find that running the ticket auction for 45 minutes is enough. We want to catch the winners before they go home.
2. Draw the winners. We had two volunteers go around to each item and draw a ticket from each bag and tape that number to the baked good with scotch tape.
3. Find winner Names. We had two groups of two volunteers each. One group had the sheets with the names of which names correspond with which ticket numbers. I took a picture of these sheets on my tablet so we could have another copy. Two volunteers start at each end of the table. One looks up the number on the sheets (tablet) and the other writes the name with a marker on the strip of masking tape.
4. Call out winners. You can have someone loudly announce the winner’s names, or if it’s a small village like ours, you can send someone to go find them to tell them they won
This event is a lot of fun. Some people win a lot of items, so it’s always good for a laugh!
It’s a very hectic and chaotic event – but it only lasts for about an hour, and when it’s over, you realize how much fun it was for everyone and you can’t wait to do it again the next year!
Any questions on how to run this event, please email info@valleyfamilyfun.ca
Silly Monster Game
Silly Monster Game
This is a great game that we used to play when we were kids! Or, it’s a great way to pass time in a restaurant on on a rainy afternoon.
Materials needed:
Pencil per person
White paper (or scrap paper)
Give each person a piece of paper
Fold a piece of paper in thirds.
Have each person draw a silly head on the top third of the paper (hiding it so no one can see the drawing). Make sure the neck is sticking out and extends into the next third of paper.
Fold the top third over to cover what you have drawn.
Everyone passes the paper to the left.
On your new paper, draw the mid-section of your monster. Include the arms. Make sure the tops of the legs extend into the bottom third of the paper.
Fold over the paper so it hides the drawing.
Pass the paper to the left.
Draw the legs and feet of the monster.
When everyone is ready, open the sheet and reveal the crazy creations!
Happy Monster Making!
