Welcome Destri from The Mother Huddle.
My kids are to the funnest stage yet when it comes to reading books. They ask questions about the story, laugh at the funny parts, and even act out scenes that we read. I never really knew what fun we would have reading books. I myself do not remember liking books until the ripe age of twenty. Now I love reading, and am on a mission to get my kids hooked while they are young. Even if it means getting a little messy.
I loved the series that Cassie recently had, A Book & a Craft on The Crafty Crow that shared crafts inspired by favorite books. I began seeing all sorts of fun stuff my kids and I could make from their books. I have found that most of our favorite books involve some kind of food too. Pink cupcakes, Chef Bascettie’s pizza, Grandma’s award winning blueberry pie; all sorts of recipes can come from books. That is what brought about this series, Storybook Recipes. I hope you enjoy what we cooked up!
Porcupine No Bake Treats
Inspired by How Do You Hug a Porcupine? By Laurie Isop and Illustrated by Gwen Millward
How Do You Hug A Porcupine? by Laurie Isop is a new favorite of ours. Laurie tells a great tale, and delivers a powerful message in the sweetest of ways. The illustrations by Gwen Millward are whimsical and, by themselves, tell a story of how children can love and hug all kinds of different animals. Except for one little boy, who loves a porcupine. How does one hug a porcupine? This is the part where my kids giggle, and the illustration that inspired our recipe. Marshmallows are always a winner in my house…
I won’t tell you how the rest of the story goes, I would hate to spoil the ending for you! I love the lesson that you may run across someone hard to love, or someone different that seems hard to get to know – but with a little effort there is always a way.
Now onto the recipe and how it came together:
- For little kids – it’s easiest if you have all the ingredients out and measured before you start. Have the kids dump the first four ingredients (butter, sugar, milk & cocoa) into a small saucepan. Parents or older siblings bring this to a slow boil on the stove. Take off the heat and set aside to cool a little (but not too much!). Add the butterscotch chips (if you can’t find butterscotch chips try choc chips instead or leave these out altogether).
- While this mixture is cooling have the kiddos combine the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl.
- Parents or an older sibling can then pour the warm chocolate mixture in, and if cool enough, let the kids stir it all up.
- Place a piece of wax paper down onto a cookie sheet or plate. Now scoop up the oatmeal mixture into something that will give you a little bit of a body. We used our 1/3 measuring cup. Make sure it is packed nice and tight, then turn over onto the wax paper, and lift up the cup to reveal the body. Leave to cool and set.
- Meanwhile the kids can push marshmallows onto the ends of the quills (pretzel sticks). Then push the quills into the body of the porcupine. We had to form ours a little at this point, where the pretzels pushed out the sides, so plan on sticky fingers.
- Now stick a Hershey’s Kiss on the front for the nose, and stick them in the fridge for about twenty minutes or until firm.
Now eat them!
This series will be ongoing on The Mother Huddle for the next 6 weeks and we are still taking submissions for it. We would love to see what you can cook up from your favorite children’s book. See the Storybook Submission Post for all the details!
Thanks so much for having me Kathreen!
{ 3 comments }
is truly wonderful – it is both clever and simple – a very difficult combination to get just right. Not only that it is fun and charming too. It uses dots in basic colours to both amuse and draw children in by encouraging interaction – the dots grow and shrink and move on the page as the reader follows the instructions. Both my (8+10year old) children were amused by this book, and I know that younger kids will love it too. It is available via 
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