Blogging from A to Z Challenge April 2020 Letter E

How are you this morning? How has your weekend been going. We all know we shouldn’t be outside. I haven’t even gone walking. I’ve been camped out on the couch watching Counting Cars with Charlie.

Before the day gets away from us I wanted to share today’s post for the Blogging from A to Z Challenge April 2020 Letter E and finding a board game to share with you this morning was hard but Charlie did it.

We would like to share with you Eric Carle’s ABC Game. This is for children younger than Charlie, Jason or Lily. Although, it’s perfect for Elijah and Charlie and Les can teach Elijah his ABC”s.

Eric Carle ABC Game by University Games assists your child in learning their ABCs, all the while having fun playing a game. This game is inspired by Eric Carle’s popular ABC book. This game introduces children to the alphabet by teaching them the difference between big and little letters. The big “A” is for a BIG ANT and the little “a” is for a little ant. Children will learn to recognize big and little alphabet letters and make letter associations with each animal image. Each player spins the spinner and searches for letter cards that match their space. This game develops letter recognition and early reading. This is fun to play, fun to learn game features beautiful illustrations of traditional and nontraditional animals.

• From University Games is based on the popular books from Eric Carle
• Kids spin the spinner, make their move, and find the card that matches the letter they land on
• Kids learn the difference between big and little letters, with cards such as Big ”A” is for BIG ANT and little ”a” is for little ant
• Practice letter recognition and early reading skills
• University Games offers you and your

Chocolate Eclairs

Ingredients

Filling:

2 cups whole, 2 percent fat, or 1 percent fat milk

1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

6 egg yolks

2/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

1 tablespoon cold unsalted butter

Pastry:

1 cup water

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

3 eggs, plus 1 extra, if needed

Egg Wash:

1 egg

1 1/2 teaspoons water

Chocolate Glaze:

1/2 cup heavy cream

4 ounces semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped

Directions

1. Filling: In a medium saucepan, heat the milk and vanilla bean to a boil over medium heat. Immediately turn off the heat and set aside to infuse for 15 minutes. In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the cornstarch and whisk vigorously until no lumps remain. Whisk in 1/4 cup of the hot milk mixture until incorporated. Whisk in the remaining hot milk mixture, reserving the saucepan. Pour the mixture through a strainer back into the saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat, whisking constantly, until thickened and slowly boiling. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter. Let cool slightly. Cover with plastic wrap, lightly pressing the plastic against the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Chill at least 2 hours or until ready to serve. The custard can be made up to 24 hours in advance. Refrigerate until 1 hour before using.
2. Pastry: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. In a large saucepan, bring the water, butter, salt and sugar to a rolling boil over medium-high heat. When it boils, immediately take the pan off the heat. Stirring with a wooden spoon, add all the flour at once and stir hard until all the flour is incorporated, 30 to 60 seconds. Return to the heat and cook, stirring, 30 seconds. Scrape the mixture into a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or use a hand mixer). Mix at medium speed. With the mixer running, add 3 eggs, 1 egg at a time. Stop mixing after each addition to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Mix until the dough is smooth and glossy and the eggs are completely incorporated. The dough should be thick, but should fall slowly and steadily from the beaters when you lift them out of the bowl. If the dough is still clinging to the beaters, add the remaining 1 egg and mix until incorporated.
3. Using a pastry bag fitted with a large plain tip, pipe fat lengths of dough (about the size and shape of a jumbo hot dog) onto the lined baking sheet, leaving 2 inches of space between them. You should have 8 to 10 lengths.
4. Egg Wash: In a bowl, whisk the egg and water together. Brush the surface of each eclair with the egg wash. Use your fingers to smooth out any bumps of points of dough that remain on the surface. Bake 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 375 degrees and bake until puffed up and light golden brown, about 25 minutes more. Try not to open the oven door too often during the baking. Let cool on the baking sheet. Fit a medium-size plain pastry tip over your index finger and use it to make a hole in the end of each eclair (or just use your fingertip). Using a pastry bag fitted with a medium-size plain tip, gently pipe the custard into the eclairs, using only just enough to fill the inside (don’t stuff them full).
5. Glaze: In a small saucepan, heat the cream over medium heat just until it boils. Immediately turn off the heat. Put the chocolate in a medium bowl. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and whisk until melted and smooth. Set aside and keep warm. The glaze can be made up to 48 hours in advance. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use, and rewarm in a microwave or over hot water when ready to use.
6. Dip the tops of the eclairs in the warm chocolate glaze and set on a sheet pan. Chill, uncovered, at least 1 hour to set the glaze. Serve chilled.

Inside this post are my affiliate links. If you click on the links and make a purchase I will make a percentage of the items you purchase.

Thank you,

Glenda, Charlie and David Cates