Sugar Cookies

AHH! I'm so terrible about this whole blogging thing. It's been months since my last post. But I'm determined to post more frequently! Call it my New Year's Resolution!

December is my favorite! There are lights everywhere, everyone is so kind, and, probably best of all, there's presents!!!!!! My husband and I have an insanely high rent this month. Like, more than double what it was last year. Yikes! That puts us in a tough spot when it comes to giving out presents. For our neighbors, I thought baking something would be perfect. It keeps the cost low and everything I make is super delicious! *Wink, wink!*

I decided to bake some sugar cookies. Mainly, because everyone loves cookies and because they're super adorable.

I found this amazing recipe from Sweetopia. Marian is like a confectionery goddess! Everything she makes is adorable and delicious. I've been following her on Facebook for a long time. Every day I see another one of her amazing creations and it makes me want to bake! Some of her cookies are here:

Isn't she amazing??? I'm hoping to get icing tips for Christmas, and then maybe I'll be able to make cute cookies too!

Marian at Sweetopia uses royal icing for her cookies. I don't like how hard royal icing is. Also, I don't have decorating tips yet so I don't want to invest in meringue powder. So instead, I used the icing recipe from i am baker. One tip I'll add is to use vanilla instead of lemon juice. It gave it a warm flavor that went well with the tablespoon that is used in the cookie recipe.

So here's the recipes copied directly from the sites:

Cookies:

2 1/2 cups butter, softened (I've substituted margarine and it turned out fine)

2 cups sugar

2 large eggs

seeds from 1 vanilla bean (or 3 tsp vanilla)

5 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

Icing:

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tbl milk

1 tbl light corn syrup

1 drop lemon juice (I used vanilla)

Cookies:

(I should mention that I used margarine this particular time because I can't afford $3 in butter. I've made it with butter once before and it was amazing. It was like crack! My in-laws and I ate two dozen in, literally, five minutes! But it's still pretty tasty with margarine.)

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).

Here's a picture of what mine looked like at this step.

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.

I wrapped mine in plastic wrap to save room in my fridge.

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.

The dough will be sticky, especially if you use margarine. So make sure you have plenty of flour on the surface you're rolling it out on.

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.

(I forgot this step! The cookies still held its shape well though.)

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.

The full recipe made a whopping 72 cookies!!

11. Let cookies cool to room temperature and decorate!

Icing:

1. Place one cup of powder sugar in sifter. Try not to skip this step! Lumps in icing are hard to fix.

2. If you are going to add food coloring (the liquid, not gel) add however many drops you need to the tablespoon you're going to use. Finish filling the tablespoon with milk.

3. Add one tablespoon milk, one tablespoon corn syrup, and one drop lemon juice.

4. Mix everything together. If it still looks pretty dry still, add a little more milk, about a teaspoon at a time. You are going to use this as an outline for your cookies so it should be thick enough to hold its shape.

5. Add more milk to your icing one teaspoon at a time. This will be your flood icing.

Here's my finished cookies. They turned out pretty cute, especially since I didn't have any icing tips! I just put the icing in a plastic bag and cut off a little corner.

Sorry this picture is upside down!

Christmas trees!

Snowflakes

Christmas bells

I hope this inspires you to make some cookies of your own! Happy holidays!!

Blueberry Muffins

Can we all agree that Sam's Club has some of the most delicious muffins? Ever? I've strived for years to find a recipe that could even remotely compare. My mom's recipe produces these crumby, dry little things that you have to smother in butter to get down so that wasn't going to help. Great flavor, but dry. Sorry, Mommy dearest! There was an amazing sale on blueberries a few weeks ago so I froze a gallon sized ziploc full of them until I could find that allusive muffin recipe. I found it....and promptly lost it!

I found this excellent recipe on someone's blog via Pinterest. In her pictures, there was a ribbon tied in a bow around one of the muffins. It had a streusel topping, and they were delicious. If anyone can direct me to the blog, can you please let me know?? I made these delicious muffins and then my computer died so I lost the page. Tear!

So, sadly, I started looking for more recipes to experiment with. I found one that called for Bisquik and sour cream. I didn't have Bisquik, I had generic pancake mix. And I didn't have sour cream but I did have blueberry yogurt. That's all practically the same, right? (nervous laughter) I didn't want to waste any of my beautiful blueberries on a recipe I was already leery about, so I figured the blueberry yogurt would be enough. I don't know who the nutcase that wrote the recipe was, but that was not enough liquid! Here's a picture of what the dough looked like after adding more that the required sour cream (or in my case, yogurt).

Looks more like cement than muffins, wouldn't you say? I ended up adding double the yogurt, and then some almond milk. I made mini muffins because I didn't want to commit to eating an entire muffin if it was gross.

They ended up puffing up quite nicely though.

But the flavor and texture were all wrong so they all ended up in the trash. So glad I didn't sacrifice any blueberries!

After that fiasco, I needed more muffins, so again I scoured Pinterest. The recipe by A Cook's Quest seemed to come up pretty often and they looked like they had the texture I was looking for so I tried it out. They were really good! The original recipe is super complicated and involves boiling the blueberries to make a sort of syrup and then adding it to the batter. I made a much simpler version. I also didn't use the streusel topping because my streusel always turns into more of a crunch blob than the cute topping in her pictures. If you're feeling up to it, you should definitely check out her post, but if you're lazy like me, this is my edited version.

Blueberry Muffins

2 c blueberries (You can use less but I like at least one berry per bite!)

1 c sugar

2 c white flour

1/2 c wheat flour (I feel like wheat gives it more substance but you can just use white.)

2 1/2 t baking powder

1/2 t salt

2 large eggs

1/2 c oil

1 c buttermilk (I used almond milk with 1/4 c lemon juice)

2 t vanilla (But if you use vanilla almond milk like me, don't worry about it)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Make sure your oven rack is in the middle position. Prep your muffin tins with liners, or vegetable spray. This recipe made about 15 muffins for me.

For the next bit I'm going to quote A Cook's Quest because, well, I'm lazy!

"Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in large bowl. [Set aside.] Whisk remaining sugar and eggs together in medium bowl until thick and well combined. Slowly mix in oil until combined. Whisk in buttermilk and vanilla. Using rubber spatula, fold egg mixture and remaining cup blueberries into flour mixture until just moistened. (Batter will be very lumpy with few spots of dry flour; do not over mix.)"

Now it's time to scoop! I use my handy dandy ice cream scoop for muffins and cupcakes; it seems to be the perfect measurement.

When you put these in the oven, turn down the temperature to 400 degrees. I saw this trick on Pinterest (of course) and it always makes my cupcakes and muffins always come out bigger. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the tops start to brown. Allow to cool in the pan for ten minutes, then transfer them to a wire rack, or your mouth! These freeze really well, too. This will definitely be my go-to recipe until I can find the other.

Yum!

Happy baking! xoxo

Shelf DIY Project

I must warn you now, this post has nothing to do with food. I just thought I did such an amazing job with this project that I wanted to share to with the world! (hehe!)

Because I run a daycare from my home, I get bored with my home decor very easily. I'm constantly on the lookout for DIY decorating projects that I can manage on a budget. I saw this idea a few years ago on some show on HGTV or DIY network and after staring at this...

...for weeks, I knew this project was going to be next. Here's the finished product:

So much better!! So here's my adventure...

First I had to fill all of those ugly holes. They're there so you can adjust the height of the shelves, but they had  all been screwed in by my in-laws (the previous owners of these bookcases) so they were useless.

Then I had to fill in the holes that had been punch into the back.

Here's the trim that I picked out.

I completely forgot to take pictures during the measuring, sawing, and caulking of the trim. Sorry! I was trying to get it done before dark and I completely spaced it. Just imagine some super impressive shots involving me with measuring tape and a saw, cuz that's pretty much how it went down.

After putting puddy in between the cracks in the trim, I primed it. I used a gray primer so the black would look better.

Then a coat of glossy black...

Rinse and repeat for the inside.

Hello Mr. Bug!

Next, was what was supposed to be the most tedious part...adding the accent paint to the trim. I started by trying to hand paint each vine. That turned out to be a hot mess..

No matter how small of a brush I used, it wasn't small enough. The paint kept spilling over the edges of the design and when I tried to wipe the excess away, most of the paint in the grooves were wiped away too. Very irritating, but it gave me an idea. I loaded up a brush with my metallic silver paint, and globbed it into the crevices. Using a damp rag, I gently wiped away the top. It took two coats to come out as bright as I wanted it to, but it was so much faster!!

And that's it! My masterpiece was complete. 

Before starting, my goal was to write this post and tell you what the grand total was. Sadly, my husband's dog knocked over the can of gray primer and spilled it all over the floor. (I can almost hear your hand slapping your foreheads.) I managed to get the majority of it out of the carpet, but half of the can was wasted, so we had to buy another can. Lesson learned, dogs + paint + apartment carpet = no security deposit back! Ah well, c'est la vie!

I hope you're as amazed by how great it looks as my hubby was!

Happy crafting!

Vodka Tomato Cream Sauce

The best part of cooking is sharing it with the people you love. My husband, Ben, works most nights so cooking dinner is rather a dreary concept. So instead of cooking an actual meal, I usually cook some ramen or make a sandwich. Terrible, I know. But I don't have kids; cut me some slack!

Tonight I was absolutely starving. I got on handy dandy Pinterest and started searching for something tasty, but relatively easy. I saw a link to Rachel Ray's "You Won't Be Single For Long" Vodka Cream Pasta. YUM! Two weeks ago was my 21st birthday so I had the vodka, and I made Ben some Creme Brulee last week so I had some leftover cream. That's right, for once in my life I had the ingredients!

So here's the recipe!

I know you're loving my pin-striped pajamas!

1 T oil

1 T butter

2 cloves of garlic
2 shallots (I just used half a yellow onion)
1 c vodka
1 c chicken stock
1 32 oz crushed tomato can
1/2 c heavy cream
dried basil
salt and pepper to taste

Heat a large skillet over moderate heat. Add the extra virgin olive oil, butter, garlic and shallots. Gently sauté the shallots for 3-5 minutes to develop their sweetness. Add the vodka to the pan – three turns around the pan in a steady stream will equal about 1 cup. Reduce the vodka by half, about 2 or 3 minutes. Add the chicken stock and the tomatoes. Bring sauce to a bubble and reduce heat to simmer. Season with salt and pepper.

While the sauce simmers, cook the pasta in salted boiling water until cooked to al dente (with a bite to it). While the pasta cooks, prepare your salad or other side dishes.

Stir the cream into the sauce. When the sauce returns to a bubble, remove it from the heat. Drain the pasta. Toss the hot pasta with the sauce.

Sooooooo.... As I typed this, I discovered that I completely forgot the chicken stock. Oops! I guess I didn't make this recipe, but it was still delicious!

I hope you enjoy this recipe! Here's the original link: < http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/rachael-rays-vodka-cream-pasta >

Banana Bread

Last week I bought an extra bunch of bananas at the store. I've been eyeballing them all week, waiting for them to get ripe. The day has finally come!! After a hard debate, the hubster and I decided that I should bake a loaf instead of muffins. I don't know why, but he seems to have a serious aversion to muffins... Weirdo! But whatever, a loaf pan is much easier to prep with some Baker's Miracle* than a muffin tin.

Here's my extra scrumptious banana bread:

2 c flour
2 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
1/2 c butter (if you use salted butter, don't add any salt)
3/4 c brown sugar
2 t vanilla
2 eggs, beaten
2 1/3 c overripe bananas, mashed (about 6 bananas)



Preheat oven to 350*. Grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan with Baker's Miracle. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and sugar. I usually mash my bananas with a whisk, leaving some small chunks, then beat in the eggs and vanilla. Add the banana and egg mixture to the butter and sugar and stir until well blended. Mix the flour mixture in until just blended. You don't want to overmix or you'll have flat, dense bread! Bake in a preheated oven for 60-65 minutes or until a knife comes out clean. Let the bread cool for about 10 minutes, then remove it from the pan and allow to finish cooling on a wire rack. Smother with butter and enjoy!!

As you can see from the picture, this loaf came out kind of flat. Tear! That's partially due to old baking soda, and partially from over beating. Boo. So make sure that you pay attention!

Now you may be thinking to yourself, "six bananas??" Yes, six bananas. It always comes out so flavorful and moist. In fact, it's baking in the oven as I type this and the aroma is just amazing! Try this recipe and let me know what you think!

*Baker's Miracle is the only nonstick I use. It's awesome. Stay tuned for the link!

Mom's Cinnamon Rolls

Once in a while, when I was a kid, my mom would announce that we were going to make cinnamon rolls. My sister and I would cheer and race to the kitchen to help and watch her. I watched her mix the ingredients, knead the dough, roll it out, and pile on the brown sugar. My favorite part of the process was punching down the dough after it had risen. It was so squishy and warm. And when my fist hit the dough, the smell of yeast filled the air. Mmmmmm...

As an adult, I've tried many times to find a better recipe. Tried, and failed. Especially all of those "Clone of Cinnabon" nonsense recipes. So today I finally remembered to ask my mom for her recipe, and thank goodness I did! I had almost forgotten how wonderful they are! Here's the recipe so you may all partake of the heavenly goodness:

Cinnamon Rolls

1 package active dry yeast (NOT rapid rise!)
2 t sugar
1/4 c warm water

1 c warm water
1 t salt
1/4 c sugar
1.5 T oil
3-4 c white flour

1/3 c butter, softened
1 c light brown sugar
cinnamon to taste


Combine the first three ingredients in a small bowl. Let rest until the yeast becomes frothy. Meanwhile, add the next four ingredients to your mixing bowl. After your yeast has grown a little bit, add the contents of the bowl to your mixing bowl. Let sit for five minutes. Add the flour, starting with three cups. Mix together until the flour is completely worked in. If the dough is still sticking to the bowl, add flour 1/2 cup at a time. Remove the dough from the bowl and knead on a floured surface for about ten minutes. It should still be slightly tacky, but shouldn't stick to the surface when pulled away. Pour a few tablespoons of oil into a large bowl. Place the dough inside, rolling it around in the oil until the dough is completely covered. If there is any excess oil, pour it out. Put the dough back into the bowl and place the bowl in the oven. I usually turn the oven on to 350 for a minute or so to get the oven nice and warm. But don't forget to turn it off! Let the dough rise for 45 minutes.

After it has doubled in size, punch it! (This is the best part!!) Knead a few times, and then roll out. I usually make it about 1/4 to 1/2 inch. Try to make the dough into a rectangular shape. Cover the dough in softened butter. Make a nice thick layer. I just use my fingers. Leave one inch of one of the long sides without butter. Sprinkle on your brown sugar, pat it down. Sprinkle with as much (or as little) cinnamon as you like. Wet your fingers with water and rub it on the one inch of dough that you left clean. Now roll it up! Start on the opposite side than the one with water. Does that make sense? Anyway, just roll it up! Make it tight enough so it won't fall apart after you cut it. Divide it into 14 sections. The ends you can just throw away. If you have string, slide it under the roll and pull each end, squeezing it until it breaks apart from the rest of the roll. I like this much better than cutting because it doesn't squish it! Place your twelve rolls on a greased pan and bake in a preheated 375* oven for 15 minutes. Allow to cool before you top with your favorite icing. I like cream cheese frosting on these bad boys, but I didn't have enough for cream cheese tonight. I actually made a little cream cheese frosting. I just mixed some cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and powdered sugar together. Super simple.

This recipe is great for doubling. My mom always makes a double batch, and after it's cooled and frosted, she bags them individually and freezes them for the upcoming week. My sister and I would race to the kitchen as fast as we could the following week because the first one there got the biggest cinnamon roll!

I hope I explained this well enough. If not, please leave me a comment with any questions that you have.

Happy Eating!

Nom, nom, nom!

I love food! When I got married two and a half years ago, I couldn't even cook mac and cheese. My noodles were either too soggy, or I added too much milk. That's not to say that I didn't try. I remember at the young age of 11 I took the challenge to make Cream Puffs. It did not turn out well. The inside wasn't the right texture and the bottom was crispy. Eeeeeewwwwwwww!!!!!


Anyway, so after I got married, I started watching a lot of Food Network. Chefs like Giada De Laurentiis, Jamie Oliver, and Nigella Lawson inspired me to try again. I've learned not to get discouraged and to keep trying and tweaking recipes until I get it right. My poor husband has been the guinea pig in many failed recipes.

In this blog, I'll be sharing my adventures in the kitchen. I'll be trying new recipes, sharing my favorites, and probably some other random things. I hope I can inspire someone the way I was inspired!