Category Archives: Special

Jul 30

Baby Shower!

I can’t tell you how thrilled I am, this past weekend was my baby shower! I never shared the news but it’s a GIRL! After all those boys, both sides of the family are thrilled. It’ll be the first grand-daughter for each side. Of course our sister-in-law is also pregnant, due 4 days after me (my original due date) so she might have a girl too, 50/50 shot!  We aren’t disclosing her name yet since it’s original and also a family name. Silly to say but I want to ‘protect’ it. The theme is Dr. Suess,  One Fish Two Fish and I had so much fun planning it. I have a bunch of pictures to upload but for now I’ll upload the cake! I absolutely loved doing that too! It was a blast to try and make it look like the invites and thank you cards we had. We had fish shaped sugar cookies that I decorated with pastel royal icing as favors, chicken and ham salad sandwiches, goldfish crackers, swedish fish and goldfish pretzels. We got a ton of books to start her library with and I’ll be super thrilled to read them to her. Sorry to go on, I’m just bursting with excitement! Here are the cake and cookie pics!

I absolutely love Sweetopia’s Sugar Cookie Recipe and it works wonderfully with royal icing!

Ingredients:

2  1/2 cups butter (at room temperature)

2 cups sugar

2 large eggs

seeds from 1 vanilla bean (or 3 tsp vanilla)

5 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder (*take this out if you don’t want your cookies to spread)

1 tsp salt

Instructions:

1. Cream the butter and sugar together in the bowl of an electric mixer on low to medium speed.  (Use the paddle attachment).  Mix until thoroughly incorporated – for about one minute.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a plastic spatula and mix again for a few seconds more.

Over mixing the butter and sugar in this step will cause too much air to be incorporated into the dough.  If you’d like a light and fluffy cookie, that’s ideal, however the dough will spread more during baking; not ideal if you’d like the cookie to hold its shape.

2. Add eggs slowly and mix.  Scrape down the bowl with your spatula at least once and mix again.

3. Cut open your vanilla bean and scrape the seeds out.  Add to mixing bowl.  Alternatively, add liquid vanilla extract.  Stir briefly.

4. Sift your dry ingredients together.  (Flour, baking powder and salt).

5. Add all of the flour mixture to the bowl.  Place a large tea towel or two small tea towels between the edge of the bowl and the electric mixer so that the flour won’t escape.  Mix on low speed for 3o seconds.  Remove the tea towels and observe the dough mixing; when it clumps around the paddle attachment it’s ready.  It’s also important at this stage not to over mix the dough (the glutens in the flour develop and the dough can become tough).

6. Roll the dough out between 2 large pieces of parchment paper.  Place on a baking sheet and into the fridge for a minimum of 1 hour.

7. Roll out the dough further if you need to, and cut out cookie shapes.  Place on parchment paper-lined baking sheet.  Re-roll scraps and repeat.

8. Put cookie dough shapes back into the fridge for 10 minutes to 1 hour to chill again.  They will then hold their shape better when baked.

9. Preheat your oven to 350°F or 176°C.

10. Bake cookies for 8-12 minutes or until the edges become golden brown.  The baking time will depend on the size of your cookie.

I’ve found that taking them out almost immediately when they start to turn, the cookies are soft and moist, like those iced sugar cookies you can buy at the grocery store. Only these, are WAY better! Also, I’ve made half batches and whole batches, both turn out equally well!

 

Royal Icing

2 lbs (1bag) confectioner’s sugar
1/3 c. plus one Tbsp. meringue powder

3/4  c. warm water

1-2 Tbsp. OIL FREE extract

Mix dry ingredients first, slowly mix with paddle attachment.

Add the extract to the water, slowly add to dry mix. It will seem to be more like a liquid than solid.

Mix at medium-high until fluffy and stiff peaks form, between approximately 7-10 minutes. Stop mixing as soon as it forms stiff peaks! Over mixing and oil-containing extracts can keep the icing from setting up.

If you’re using it to pipe/flood a cookie, keep it thick until you’re ready to use it. I typically thin it to a “15 second” icing (video coming soon!) so I can both pipe the outline and go back to flood without having to switch bottles/bags out.  Use very little water at a time to thin as you can’t take away excess. It’s so much easier in that you only color this stuff once, no need to match! Once you finish flooding the cookies, let them dry for 6-8 hours. Perfect!

 

 

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Jul 9

Tis the season!

To get married! Summer weddings seem to be huge, bigger than other seasons. Everyone can be outside enjoying the weather, having fun and relaxing! I was just asked to do a wedding style cake for a co-worker of my mom’s. They were having a surprise “reception” party for her daughter and son-in-law and I got asked to do it! The couple originally got married in winter but didn’t have a full blown reception to celebrate (so I guess my title’s off huh?). Better late than never right? I sketched up a design of my own and I unfortunately tossed that when she changed her ideas so I can’t show you it. It was Tiffany & Co. Blue (gorgeous shade if you’ve ever seen it!) and covered in white gumpaste daisies. It looked beautiful. But then she asked if I could recreate the design on the napkin. I checked it out and it seemed easy enough, I agreed. The added color was black. Interesting! Having all the black icing in the freezer still from last month’s wedding, I just thawed that and piped on my design. What a blessing that was! I had a small heart attack the morning of the party as I was finishing up. The top layer toppled off the cake stand and the icing smeared all over the counter (some flew onto the floor too). If I hadn’t just taken it out of the fridge, it would’ve been a disaster! Thankfully, a bit more icing and it looked like new. The girls loved it and her daughter did as well! Again, I used the High Humidity Icing from Wilton. I posted the recipe in the last blog which you can find here. Enjoy the pictures!

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Mar 27

“WHOOPIE!” for whoopie pies! and cooked icing awe

Whoopie Pie. They go by many alias’ so don’t be alarmed if you have no idea what I’m talking about. When I was in college, most of my major (a whole 12 of us ladies) were from PA or outlying areas (NJ mostly). We were set to make whoopie pies one day and a girl from Southern Pa said, “what is THAT, it sounds dirty!?!” After we described it, a big glob of icing smooshed between two cake like cookies, she said, “Oh! You mean a ‘GOB’?”, One New Jersey chimed in, “No, that’s a ‘Black and White’”. So to most of us from Central Pa, they’re a “whoopie pie”, but to you they may be a “Gob”, “Black and White”, “Bob”, or a “BFO” (big fat oreo). Either way, it’s the same treat and yummy where ever you’re located!

I was checking out “the Pioneer Women” just the other day and was happy to find that she used a “cooked” icing on her Red Velvet Sheet Cake. A cooked icing is started by heating milk and flour, whisking until super thick, then cooling. You then take a fat (usually butter or shortening) and cream it with vanilla and sugar. For me, I grew up with a cooked icing recipe and we ALWAYS use it on whoopie pies. As you’d know, I was shocked when she said she’d never made an icing with flour until someone sent the recipe and persuaded her to try it. I know, flour and sugar seems more like a cake recipe than icing, but it is so fluffy and worth it in the end. Which brought me to another shocker the other day, when I checked out a blog and she also said she never made cooked icing until she found a recipe that needed for it. Even then, people see the flour and are super hesitant to try it. Sure you can easily mess it up (my mother did when she first started!). I’ll even say, the first time I made it by myself, I was on the phone with her (so really, she was there…) but still, it’s worth a shot! Maybe its just that I grew up in “Whoopie Pie Country” and my mother makes them literally, all. the. time. that I’ve engraved that icing recipe into my brain and have grown to love it, or maybe just because its delicious? Well, either way, I’ll post the recipe, and ya’ll can decide for yourself! =] And just for future sake, Maine is not where they originated from, they may have a paper trail from 1925 on, but I have recipes and books containing them, passed down from way before that! Plus a former flame’s grandmother was descended from Amish and she showed me her books and loose recipes as well. PA Dutch is where its at! =]

Cheater’s Whoopie Pie
1 cake mix (your choice of flavor)
3 eggs
1/2 cup of water
1/2 cup of vegetable oil
1/4-1/2 cup flour

Mix all ingredients, except flour, together. Add flour, a little at a time until you have a slightly thicker batter that doesn’t run too much.
Drop onto cookie sheets and bake at 350* for 10-12 minutes. Let cool. “Pair” up the cookies to ones of similar size. Fill with icing and wrap in plastic wrap. (If they sit on top of each other without wrap on, the bottom cake and top cake of the other wp will stick-use caution if you’re going on looks)

*Variation* Bake in cake pan as directed (9×13″ or 8-9″ circles). Let cool. Split cake in half, spread in some icing. Replace top of cake, spread on more icing. Enjoy your giant whoopie pie!

Cooked Icing
4 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
2 Sticks Unsalted Butter (you could also use shortening, I find it leaves a “film” though)
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

In a saucepan, whisk together flour and milk. Turn heat to medium and cook, whisking constantly, until mixture is thick and creamy. Let it cool completely.
Using your mixer, beat butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in the vanilla. Beat in the thoroughly cooled flour mixture. Beat and beat until the icing is fluffy and no longer grainy.

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Mar 26

Oh, the weather outside is…

WOW! Can we say strange things are happening?! In Pa, it’s been the crazy weather! Up until Friday, we had rather warm days, then the rain hit on Saturday and it’s been cool since. It’s still 46* (and windy) which is odd for March/Beginning of Spring but I’ll take the moderate cool temps. I’m definitely not ready for Summer though. Especially since I’ll be expanded a bit more and even crankier (I’ll admit, I’m jealous of all you late spring momma to be’s)

Some good news, I now have an oven! Thank you to my Aunt and Uncle who delivered it yesterday as well as my dad and hubby who lugged it down in the basement for me! I’m so excited (yes, there IS a but coming on…) BUTTT, it still isn’t hooked up. The plug is different from the receptacle and my parents can’t find the “opposite” spare one they’ve got. So for a few more days, toaster oven baking it is…

There is an amazing new blog (not new, but new to me) I’d like you to check out! It’s called My Earth Garden, and you can check it out here M.E.G. He has a bunch of gardening and composting tips, plus a few odds and ends and at the end of some product tests, he has giveaways! It is SO worth it to head on over there and see what it’s about. Especially if you’re into gardening. You can also check out his YouTube Channel, Facebook, as well as his Pinterest.

Speaking of gardening/composting, I’m going to try and get Art to rig up a compost bin. He and I are both into gardening and now that I’ve got nothing but time and space, I’m looking forward to tending one! We had a compost pile before, but it was such a lengthy process and we couldn’t keep the chickens out. I’ll probably stick to smaller scale gardening and only do some things like zucchini, eggplant, pumpkins, and greens. Maybe an heirloom tomato plant or two and the rest my wonderful herbs. Mostly the things my parents won’t be doing (horseradish, tomatoes, peppers, more zucchini, yada yada yada…) in theirs. I had a BUNCH of seeds started and well, a certain cat of ours can’t keep his paws off the window sills so they went bye bye. As for corn, Pops already has 30 dozen ordered (sigh). We did almost 40 (I think) last summer and we have PLENTY leftover, sitting pretty in the jars. We plan on freezing more of it this year instead, good thing I love corn! At the end of summer/canning season, we always get together with our “crops” and can together anyway so its not a big deal. Wait, I lied, I’m more excited about the fact we can now can in the BASEMENT! We have tables and workstations set up already so once we get some crops harvested, we’re good to go!

Baking isn’t too awful “fun in the sun” (get it?) so I might change the blog up a bit for summer and do some more posts on canning and gardening. Expand the blog so to speak, with more “down home, country” posts. How about some opinions? =]

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Mar 19

Spring is here!

Well almost…at 1:14 am tomorrow morning anyway!

It’s been almost a month since the last post but no worries, I’m back! It was a very, VERY busy month at that. As I stated in a previous post, I’ve got some exciting news and will be sharing that. Actually, I’ve got two tidbits to share! But more on that later…

In that month, I’ve come to fall in love with a new site. It’s not so new anymore, but it sure is addicting! If you haven’t tried “pinning” on Pinterest, I’m positive you’ve at least heard of it. There are “boards” galore to pin to and as you can guess, the food ones are my favorites. They have so many neat things on there and you will be in awe, after I was joined for about a week, Archie started asking when I was going to invite him to join. Imagine THAT! If you’re interested in an invite, feel free to send me your email and I’ll get one out to you! =]

Now on to our exciting news. First off, WE MOVED! Yes, the newlyweds have finally moved out (my parents are beyond thrilled I’d imagine) and another, we’re expecting! That’s right, coming soon we’ll have a tiny bundle of joy in our brand new apartment. As for our apartment, I’m still getting used to “out on our own” after having to come back to Momma and Dad after college, saving up for this after we got hitched and all that fun stuff that comes with getting older (when does wise kick in?). We just have one small issue at the new place…We don’t have an oven. I shouldn’t say it like that, we do, it’s just that the oven doesn’t work. A friend of my parents gave them a relatively new stove because the cook-top was the only part that worked. They were going to get it fixed but well, it never happened. It was okay till we found a place that wasn’t furnished…at all. It’s super nice that my parents helped out a bit with that stuff but having a faulty oven and baking blog, doesn’t mix. For now, its been toaster oven baking, but I don’t have a muffin tin or cake pan to fit it. Hopefully after this week, it will be back in commission and I can bake away. =]

Spring and Easter have always been my “try out a new recipe” phase in the year. I always think light and airy, something that won’t fill you up so much. Before my Grandma moved, Easter was always at her house. Since she just moved, we’re all up in the air about what we’re doing this year. If we aren’t having our usual family dinner, I offered to serve at my house for immediate family members (short on room, can’t have everyone here as I’d like) Being that I try new stuff around this time, I also have flops (and faves). I once made a lemon blueberry tart. Sounded wonderful, looked fantastic, but oh boy, was that ever sour! I ended up using bottled lemon juice since I was just starting out baking and didn’t know better. It was my first tart (the taste fit the name!) ever and I loved (still do!) the concept of blueberries and lemon. It just flopped. I don’t believe I have the recipe anymore but I’ll definitely try my hand at it again as well as with avocado pie. I love avocados. The smooth silky texture, the way it lends to both sweet and savory…But again with the lemon juice (and the fact I omitted the blender usage), it failed. Not really in taste, but appearance. Only one other person tried it because it browned so badly (plus no one in my family is daring enough to push the envelope when it comes to sweet/savory mixed). A favorite of ours, Cream Puff Cake. My mom used to work in an office and a coworker gave her the recipe. The crust is made with a pate choux (fancy French name for Cream Puff/Eclair Dough), cooled, filled with an amazing pudding mixture, topped with cool whip and chocolate syrup…oh Heaven! I don’t think we make it less than 5 times a year! So good…That recipe will come later. ;)

Well, since I’m in a spring mood (it’s even dreary out to boot!) I’ve been thinking about what recipe I should post. I made this pie once before and it was absolutely divine, just didn’t look all that appetizing when it came time to serve. I’d love to make it soon so I guess I need to hit the store! It’s an avocado pie. The recipe is straight from the California Avocado Commission and it only takes a few ingredients! So delish, but if you’ve used avocados before, you know they tend to brown easily. I’d love to make it again, this time with a blender/processor as stated since I don’t think I did the first time…

Here goes! If you love avocados as much as I do, you’ll enjoy as well!
2 small avocados, peeled
½ cup lemon juice (or lime)
1 13 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1 9″ graham cracker crust.
cool whip for garnish

In blender put peeled avocado and 1/2 cup lemon juice. Pulse couple of times. Add eagle brand milk and blend till creamy.
Pour into pie shell and refrigerator for 1 hr.
Cover with Cool whip when served.

As I said, I mashed mine up the first time and combined in a bowl so I think that’s the biggest reason mine oxidized so badly. The lemon juice should prevent oxidization, but if not blended well, won’t get mixed as it should. This is just my thought. I’ll try again and see if it works! =] Otherwise, eat fast!!!

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