Tuffet

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 20:54:00 +0000

I miss Costco. (There isn’t one in Maine.) I miss a lot of things from Costco, but chief among them are the oatmeal raisin cookies that you can get from their bakery. Oh. My. Gosh. Even people who loathe oatmeal raisin cookies will gobble up the ones from Costco. They are THAT good.

When I found this recipe on Epicurious I had high hopes. It had four forks, that looked promising! Of course, I had to ditch the dates and walnuts, I don’t like things cluttering up my oatmeal cookies. So I boosted the amount of raisins. When they came out of the oven, SUCCESS! They taste JUST like the ones from Costco, only better because they’re fresh (of course) and made from ingredients you can actually pronounce.

Hey, Kid! I’m trying to take a picture here!

The other thing I like about these cookies is that they have lasting power. As in, these last few cookies have been kicking around my cookie jar for over a week now and they are still perfect! Cookies don’t usually last long enough for me to test out their shelf life, but we were sick last week ;) This recipe makes a lot, so do yourself a favor and bake up a batch for this weekend!

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Adapted from Epicurious

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

1/4 cup Crisco room temperature

1 cup sugar

1 cup (packed) dark brown sugar

1/4 cup honey

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

3 cups old-fashioned oats

2 cups raisins

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line your baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In your mixer, beat together the butter and Crisco.

Add the sugars and beat until fluffy.

Add the eggs, honey and vanilla and beat until well combined.

Add the flour mixture and mix until incorporated.

Stir in the oatmeal and raisins. Mix until well combined.

Drop by tablespoonfuls onto baking sheets.

Bake for 10 minutes, then let the cookies cool on the sheet for 10 minutes before removing them to a wire rack.

Clear the immediate vicinity of poaching toddlers (distract them with their own cookies!), pour yourself a nice, tall glass of milk and enjoy!

The Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 20:59:00 +0000

Okay, first I want to make sure you’re not intimidated by the length of this recipe. It’s not at all difficult and you can make it all the day before you mean to serve it. In fact, you have to make it the day before, the cake sits in the fridge for at least 10 hours so all the components can cozy up, tell campfire stories, have pedicures and generally get to know each other better.

This really is a lovely cake. Lovely. And rustic looking. (Read: imperfections rule!) The sponge cake is brushed with a rum flavored syrup and then filled with coconut custard before being cloaked in a luscious whipped cream frosting and sprinkled with toasted coconut. De-li-cious!

P.S. The cake part of this recipe is just a really great sponge cake. Easy to make and well behaved, with a light, fluffy crumb. It would be a great addition to your cake repertoire :)

Coconut Custard Cake

Adapted from Country Living

For the custard: 3 tablespoons flour

1/2 cup milk

5 egg yolks

1 cup milk

1/2 cup sugar

1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped, pod reserved

1 cup sweetened coconut OR 1 teaspoon coconut extract (I followed the recipe and used the coconut, but I wasn’t super-thrilled by the texture. In future, I plan to omit it and use the coconut extract.)

In a small bowl, whisk the flour and 1/2 cup milk until smooth. Set aside.

In a medium sized heatproof bowl, whisk the egg yolks together. Set aside.

In a small saucepan, combine the 1 cup milk, sugar, vanilla seeds and pod.

Cook over medium low heat, stirring, until the sugar is dissolved.

Whisk in the flour mixture and cook until thickened – about 3 minutes.

Slowly add 1/2 the milk mixture to the eggs, whisking constantly.

Return the mixture to the pan and cook, stirring constantly, over medium heat until mixture begins to bubble and thicken – about 3 minutes.

Strain through a mesh sieve and stir in either the coconut or the coconut extract.

Place a piece of saran wrap directly on top of the custard (to prevent a skin from forming) and chill in the fridge.

For the cake: 1 1/2 cups cake flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

5 eggs, separated

1/2 cup cold water

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare a 9” Springform pan with baking spray.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

In your mixer, beat together the egg yolks and water for 1 minute.

Gradually add the sugar.

Add the extract and increase the mixer to high. Beat the eggs until thick and pale, about 4 minutes.

In a medium bowl, use your hand mixer to beat the egg whites on high until soft peaks form, about 2 minutes.

Add the flour mixture to the egg yolk mixture and fold to combine.

Fold in the egg white mixture.

Pour batter into the pan and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 45 minutes.

Set the pan on a wire rack to cool.

For the syrup: 1/2 cup sugar

1 cup water

1 teaspoon rum or coconut extract

Bring the sugar, water and extract to a boil in a small saucepan over high heat.

Boil for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Remove from heat.

To assemble the cake: Cut the cake into three even layers. (Ha! Good luck with that! I can’t do it to save my life! But it’s okay because this cake is RUSTIC! Plus all the layers meld together and uneven layers are all but invisible.)

Set the bottom layer on your cake plate.

Generously brush the cake with the syrup. Generously.

Add 1/2 of the chilled custard to the cake and spread it out evenly.

Add the middle layer of cake.

Generously brush the cake with the syrup.

Add the rest of the chilled custard to the cake and spread it out evenly.

Add the top layer of cake.

Very generously brush the cake with the syrup.

Wrap the cake with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 10 hours and up to 24 hours.

Remove cake from fridge and top with whipped cream frosting and sprinkle with toasted coconut. Recipe follows.

For the frosting: 1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1 teaspoon almond extract

2 tablespoons sugar

Add the cream and extract to the bowl of your mixer.

Whisk on low for 2-3 minutes.

Sprinkle in the sugar and turn the speed up to high for about 4 minutes, or until you reach soft peaks.

For the toasted coconut:

1 1/2 cups sweetened coconut

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Spread the coconut on a baking sheet and bake for 7 minutes.

Stir the coconut and bake for another 7 minutes or until golden brown and toasty!

The Healthy Appetizer Hiding in Your Pantry

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Sat, 09 Apr 2011 20:16:00 +0000

White bean dip is my new favorite food. Cheap, easy to whip up, endlessly adaptable and healthy! I keep a fairly large stash of cannellini beans on hand for tossing into chili, soups or salads. I prefer cannellinis for their mild, creamy, slightly nutty characteristics. Recently I’ve been blending them up with heart healthy olive oil, a little lemon juice, and fresh or dried herbs for a creamy dip that you can serve with just about anything!

Cannellini beans are loaded with nutrients your body needs. They help reduce cholesterol, prevent headaches and give you energy to spare. They are low in fat, high in fiber and have twice as much iron as beef! That’s pretty impressive when you consider that you can generally get a can of cannellini beans for about a buck (and they’re even cheaper if you get them dried) and one cup of cannellinis packs 16 grams of protein! For reference, four ounces of beef contains 26 grams of protein and the recommended daily intake of protein for women is 46 grams.

My first taste of white bean dip came courtesy of my gorgeous friend, Jaimie, who served me her dip at a lunch she hosted. Fantastic! Now I like to make a big batch of it and keep it in the fridge for random salty snack cravings. It’s also a perfect snack to give my kindergartener when he gets home from school. He loves it, and he’s been quite the picky eater lately! A scoop of this dip with a handful of baby carrots will keep you going until dinnertime! It takes only a few minutes to put together, so it’s a great thing to make if you have guests drop in. You can serve it with anything; crudités, pita chips, pretzels, etc., etc., etc.

Basic White Bean Dip

2 (15 ounce) cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

2-3 cloves of garlic, grated with a Microplane or finely chopped

a handful of fresh parsley, roughly chopped, or a teaspoon or so of your favorite dried herb (oregano is great here!)

the juice of 1/2 a lemon

3 tablespoons olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

paprika (smoked, if you have it) for garnish

Add beans, garlic, herbs, lemon juice, olive oil and salt and pepper to your food processor and blitz for 2-3 minutes until everything is fully incorporated and creamy. Add a little extra olive oil or lemon juice to lighten the texture if you like. (How easy was that!?)

Serve with pita chips or crudités and enjoy!

Make-Your-Own Pita Chips

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Slice your pita into wedges. (I like to cut the ‘layers’ apart first so I get twice as many chips from one pita!)

Lay them on a baking sheet, spray with cooking spray and sprinkle with salt and pepper. (You can play around with garlic or onion powder, dried herbs, or a little parmesan here too.)

Flip them over and repeat with the other side.

Bake for 3-4 minutes. Flip the chips over again and bake for another 3-4 minutes or until browned and crispy!

Enjoy!

Article first published as The Healthy Appetizer Hiding in Your Pantry on Blogcritics.

We Have a Winner!

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 14:52:00 +0000

Amelia and I used her new Fancy Nancy game to determine a winner for the King Arthur Flour giveaway. She had to get all fancied up before we could play, so cute!

I taped the contestants names to the back of each scoop of ice cream, the one on top wins! Here’s the video:

So, it turns out that Miss Jaimie wins a bottle of this fantabulous Montmorency Cherry Concentrate!

Thank you so much, King Arthur Flour for sponsoring this giveaway!!!

Hachapuri

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 22:41:00 +0000

Cheese bread. Cheeeeeeeeeese bread. Cheesy, cheesy, cheeeeeeeese bread. That’s what hachapuri is. Not something your cat coughed up, like one of my friends remarked when I mentioned it on Facebook. It’s a good thing I’m not easily put off my food, or she and I might have had a problem!

Tee hee hee! I couldn’t resist!

As you can probably tell by my recent posts, I looooooooove Nigella Lawson. Love. I also really like finding new foods in cookbooks that I might not ever be exposed to on my own. Like this one. It’s a Georgian cheese bread. Georgia like the country, not the state. I probably won’t ever get to travel to Georgia and there isn’t (as far as I know) a large Georgian community here in Maine. So it’s really cool to get to try something like this in my own little kitchen!

This is a really easy, quick recipe. Great for when you sorta forgot to start anything for dinner! Make the cheese bread, steam some veggies, brown some kielbasa and you’re golden! I really love this with my favorite meatballs and rice pilaf, and a big platter of roasted broccoli. Yum!

Note: I’ve given some, um, not precise amounts for the filling. I did this because the original recipe calls for 3 cups of feta. THREE CUPS! That’s a lot. Granted, it tastes fabulous! I don’t know about where you live, but here, feta can get kinda pricy when you’re buying quantities like that. So I tried just using a cup of feta and boosting the mozzarella from one cup to three. Still awesome, far less costly. I’ve tried using fresh mozzarella and the shredded stuff from the bag and there isn’t much difference in taste. The fresh mozzarella makes for a slightly more gooey filling, but it’s really not very noticeable. You can let your wallet decide – it’s still going to be fantastic!

Hachapuri

Adapted from Nigella Lawson’s Feast

For the dough: 1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) butter, softened

2 cups yogurt

2 eggs

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking soda

4 1/2 cups flour

For the filling: 1 cup ricotta cheese

1-3 cups feta cheese*

2-3 cups mozzarella*

1 egg

2 teaspoons dried oregano

*see note above

In your mixer, combine the butter, yogurt, and eggs. Mix very well.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking soda. Whisk to combine.

Add the flour mixture to the yogurt mixture and use your dough hook to beat it into a soft dough. Add a little more flour if it seems too sticky to work with. (I don’t usually need to add much, if any. Maybe a tablespoon or two.

Rest the dough in the fridge for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, whip up the filling!

Add ricotta, feta, mozzarella, egg and oregano to a large mixing bowl and use your hands to really blend it together well.

After the dough has rested, pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees.

Lightly flour a work surface and divide up the dough. You can make one big hachapuri, or 2 medium hachapuri, or 3 medium-small hachapuri, and so on and so on and so on. Basically, decide how many finished hachapuri you want and cut the dough so there are two pieces per hachapuri. You could make a dozen individual hachapuri if you wanted! They’d be adorable and delicious hachapuri! Are you sick of the word ‘hachapuri’ yet? I’m not sick of the word ‘hachapuri’ yet. . . okay, moving on.

Form each piece of dough into a ball. Using a rolling pin or your hands or a combination thereof (that’s usually what I do) roll/stretch the dough until it’s about 1/4 inch thick. You don’t have to worry too much about the pieces ending up as perfect circles. Any circularish shape will do. (Yes, I know that’s not a word.)

Lay one circularish piece of dough on a baking sheet, spoon some filling into the center. Again, the amount of filling you use is going to depend on the size of your hachapuri. Really though, you can’t go wrong. You can’t really overstuff one, and if you go the other way and it’s a little lean on cheese, well, only you will know ;) Just kinda eyeball it to figure out how much you’re going to need for each hachapuri.

Place a second circularish piece of dough on top and roll the bottom piece up over the edge of the top piece and work your way around the hachapuri, pressing to seal as you go.

Lather, rinse, repeat with how every many hachapuri your little heart has decided on.

Pop in the oven and bake for 20ish minutes. A large hachapuri is going to take longer than a mini one. Just keep checking on it. It should be a nice golden brown when it’s ready!

If your hachapuri should ooze some cheese while it’s baking, fret not. Just scrape away the cheese when you take the hachapuri out of the oven, it won’t continue to ooze, so probably no one will even notice. And of course, someone is going to have to eat that awesome bite of cheesiness!

Let cool about 10 minutes and enjoy!

Rice Pilaf

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 07:06:00 +0000

I’m not usually a huge fan of rice. But this rice is special. It has cinnamon and clove and cardamom in it but it’s not sweet. It has an exotic, pungent flavor that I just love. So do my kids, they’ll eat this like they’ve never had food before! And it doesn’t take forever to cook, which is really nice. I like to serve this along side my favorite meatballs, also a Nigella recipe. Try it, you’ll love it too!

Rice Pilaf

Adapted from Nigella Lawson’s Feast

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 large onion, finely chopped

2 cloves

1 stick of cinnamon, broken into large pieces

3 cardamom pods, bruised

1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds

1/2 teaspoon nigella seeds, optional

2 1/2 cups basmati or jasmine rice

4 cups chicken stock

In a deep saucepan, heat the oil.

Sauté the onion along with the cloves, cinnamon, cardamom pods, cumin seeds and nigella seeds.

When the onion is translucent, add the rice.

Stir for a few minutes, then add the chicken stock.

Bring the mixture to a boil. Cover the pan with a lid and cook over the lowest heat possible for 20 minutes.

Turn off the heat, take the lid off, cover with a tea towel and clamp the lid back on the saucepan. You can leave the rice to rest like this for at least 10 minutes, and up to about 1 hour. Fork the rice through when you are ready to serve it.

Enjoy!

On Top of Spaghetti, (Or Not)

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 13:05:00 +0000

Oh my gosh, these are the best meatballs ever!!! They’re a Nigella Lawson recipe and every time I make them only about half of the recipe actually makes it to the table. *Ahem* They are so addicting! And the meatballs are tiny, so my kids just love them! The original recipe calls for lamb, and while I think they’re spectacular, my little kids are less than thrilled. So I substitute lean ground beef. They also have semolina flour in them, which gives them a really good, interesting texture. So, so yummy!

I made them while my mom was visiting last time and she suggested baking them instead of frying them. I was skeptical, but except for losing their shape a bit and lacking that slight bit of crunch to the outside, they turned out pretty good! And much less fattening – not that I care too much about that ;)

You can freeze these meatballs ahead of time, and they make a great party appetizer! I usually serve them for dinner along side a big dish of rice, some roasted veggies and my favorite cheese bread. They’ve made it onto my list of Top Five Dinners of All Time, even! Just another note, if you’re going to be standing around rolling tiny meatballs, you may as well do a ton and freeze what you aren’t going to immediately eat! I usually triple this recipe.

Exotic Tiny Meatballs

Adapted from Nigella Lawson’s Feast

1 pound lean ground beef (or lamb)

1/4 cup finely chopped scallions

2 cloves garlic, grated or finely minced

1 teaspoon ginger, grated or finely minced

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground allspice

1 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons semolina flour

1 egg

vegetable oil for frying

In a large bowl, place the ground meat, scallions, garlic, and ginger.

In a small bowl, whisk together the cinnamon, cumin, allspice, salt and semolina.

Add spice mixture to the meat mixture.

Use the same small bowl (cuts down on dishes!) and beat the egg lightly, add to the meat mixture.

Use your hands and mix everything very thoroughly.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Set out a small bowl of water and a baking sheet.

Dampen your hands with a bit of the water and scoop out about a teaspoonful of the mixture. Roll into a tiny ball and set on the baking sheet.

When all the meatballs are rolled, heat about 1/2 inch of oil in a frying pan. Line another baking sheet with paper towels.

Fry the meatballs in batches and avoid crowding the pan.

Cook for a minute or so on each side, until brown all over. Check one meatball from each batch with an instant thermometer to see that the meatballs are reaching 165 degrees. Try not to eat half of each batch. It’s hard, but I think you can do it. (Although I can’t!)

Alternatively, if you’d like to bake them, place the baking sheet in a 350 degree oven and bake for about 15 minutes. Check temperature with an instant thermometer to see that the meatballs are reaching 165 degrees.

You can freeze these either after frying or raw. If you freeze them raw you won’t be able to fry them, you’ll have to bake them later. Either way, they’re awesome! They take about 20-25 minutes to bake after they’ve been frozen.

Amelia’s Fairy Cakes

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 19:21:00 +0000

My little girl loves tea parties. (Who doesn’t?) And many of the tea party books that she has depict tiny cakes as part of the spread. Not cupcakes and not always petit fours. (Thank Heaven for that!) Just little cakes. And this is good news for me because my little Amelia doesn’t like frosting and let’s face it, frosting cupcakes is where all the work is! I love it when your child wants something easy. (Because that is definitely a rarity in this house!) And these are perfectly easy, and a really perfect white cake recipe in general. The cake is delicately scented with lemon and has a beautiful tight, soft, crumb. It’s almost like a bakery cake or a cake mix, except that you get to control the flavor and there aren’t any strange, unpronounceable ingredients.

For these cakes, I got to use a really fabulous product from King Arthur Flour. It’s Tart Montmorency Cherry Concentrate and it is outrageously wonderful! I got hooked on dried Montmorency cherries when we lived closer to a Costco and I could get a big ole bag of them for a song. (They are SO much more expensive here in Maine!) But with this one bottle of concentrate, I can add that tart, snappy flavor to anything I want! I did a few test runs of some of my old standbys and decided that I prefer to drizzle it on after the baked good in question has come out of the oven. When I tried baking it right into the recipe it lost some of it’s bright flavor and it sunk to the bottom of the baking pan (where it sometimes burned, sad.). Jay gives me a really hard time if I use anything but maple seeeerup on my pancakes, but I gladly took one for the team and poured some of this onto a big stack. Heavenly! It is very tart, so a little goes a long way.

I think it’s very economical as well. A 16 ounce bottle sells for $16.95. (And that’s made with the juice from over 1000 pressed cherries! Cool, huh?) I’ve used it in these cakes, scones, pancakes, and drizzled over lemon ice cream (oh.my.gosh!!!) and I’ve only used about 2 and a half ounces! And guess what, my lovely bloggy friends? King Arthur Flour has graciously offered a bottle of Montmorency Cherry Concentrate for one of you lucky readers! Wheeee! And all you need to do to enter is leave a comment on this post! Easy Peasy!

Amelia’s Fairy Cakes

Adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s Perfect Party Cake

zest of 1 lemon

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 stick butter, at room temperature

4 egg whites, at room temperature

2 1/4 cups cake flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/4 cups buttermilk, at room temperature

1/4 cup Tart Cherry Concentrate

1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips

1 teaspoon shortening

Royal icing or pressed sugar flowers to decorate

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line two 12 cup muffin tins with pretty liners. (Alternatively, you can prepare two 9” cake pans, one 9x13 baking dish or one baking sheet (jellyroll pan), you’ll just need to adjust the baking time.)

In the bowl of your mixer, combine the sugar and the lemon zest. With your fingers, massage the zest into the sugar. (This releases the oils in the zest and really pulverizes it, the air will smell absolutely luscious!)

Attach the beater to your mixer and beat in the butter until the mixture is very light and fluffy.

Add the egg whites and beat until well combined.

Whisk together the cake flour, baking powder and salt.

Add 1/3 of the dry mixture to the batter and beat.

Pour in about 1/3 of the buttermilk and beat.

Repeat this process until all the ingredients are incorporated. Scrape down the bowl VERY WELL and beat until all the ingredients are well incorporated.

Pour into prepared pans and bake until the cakes spring back when you gently touch them with your finger; about 20 minutes for cupcakes, 35 minutes for 9” cakes and the sheet cake, or 45 minutes for a 9x13” dish.

Remove cakes to a cooking rack. While the cakes are cooling, drizzle about a teaspoon of cherry concentrate

on the top of each cake.

When the cakes have thoroughly cooled, melt the white chocolate chips in the microwave using 30 second bursts of power to avoid burning the chocolate.

Stir in the shortening.

Spoon a tablespoon of the chocolate over the cake, swirling it around until it settles and press a flower into the center of the cake.

Let chocolate harden, about 30 minutes.

Enjoy with the darling little girl of your choice :)

P.S. Don’t forget to leave a comment on this post for your chance at a free bottle of Montmorency Cherry Concentrate! You’ll be glad you did!

P.P.S. This giveaway will close on Wednesday, April 6th at midnight. Good luck!

Not Oreos

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 16:36:00 +0000

These are not Oreos. These are better than Oreos. Oreos are very good in their own way, there’s still nothing like pulling one apart, licking out the vanilla center, putting the wafers back together and dunking them in milk. But sometimes that vanilla frosting in the center leaves a funny film on the roof of your mouth and then you usually have to go brush your teeth immediately afterwards or risk having little specks of black wafer lurking, just waiting to wedge themselves between your front teeth and embarrass the heck out of you.

These cookies don’t want to embarrass you. And, while a tall, icy glass of milk is a perfect complement to these cookies, they don’t need it to camouflage the store-bought taste of them. Because they’re not Oreos. They are Homemade Chocolate Sandwich Cookies.

You’ll want to make these today. Really. Truly. Today.

Chocolate Sandwich Cookies

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

For the chocolate wafers:

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 large egg

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder (You know how much I love King Arthur’s.)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

For the filling:

4 tablespoons butter, at room temperature

1/4 cup shortening

2 cups sifted confectioners sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Set out 3 baking sheets.

In your mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add the egg and mix well.

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt.

Add to the batter and mix very well.

Drop by tablespoonsful onto the cookie sheets, 12 to a sheet. Dampen your hand with a little water and press down slightly on each ball of cookie dough.

Bake for 10 minutes. Remove to cooling racks.

While they’re cooling, make the filling!

In your mixer’s bowl, beat the butter and shortening together until well incorporated.

Add the vanilla and mix well.

Sift in (using a mesh sieve, for Heaven’s sake, not an obnoxious, old fashioned sifter!) the powdered sugar and mix to combine.

Scoop the frosting into a pastry bag and pipe onto the underside of a cookie. Place another cookie on top and press lightly to seal them together. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Serve to your newly turned six year old, alongside a tall, icy glass of milk, and hear all about how he gets to marry the princess the next day at recess, but only if he can save her from the robots and swamp monsters.

Pop on Over!

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 13:49:00 +0000

It just started snowing for our second big snowstorm this year. Can you believe it? The middle of January and this is only our second really big storm? I was told, by a certain someone who shall remain nameless, that New England is buried in six foot tall snowdrifts from October to April. Lies. All lies! I love snow, I was looking forward to snow. I’ve got a large chocolate stash and have been waiting with bated breath for a decent snowstorm so I can have a great excuse to make large pots of hot chocolate. I don’t know why, but I find falling snow SO comforting. Well, when I’m warm and cozy in my house watching it through icy windows anyway. And right now it’s perfect, falling thick and fast and pretty much demanding that I make something hot and comforting to go with it!

Have you ever seen the 1949 version of Little Women? I love that movie! I used to watch it when I’d spend time at my grandma’s house when I was little. Probably one of the reasons I loved it so much was that my grandma would make me popovers every time! Do you remember that scene when the girls go to visit a friend and Amy wants to eat all the popovers on the way over? I loved Amy. I must have sensed a kindred spirit in a fellow popover hog.

I love this recipe for popovers because you don’t need any fancy equipment or ingredients. You probably have all the ingredients on hand right now and you don’t stress about popover pans, just use a muffin tin! I make it in my blender, but you can just as easily whisk the ingredients together by hand. Try them today, they’re divine! And Amy and I promise not to judge if you want to eat them all yourself.

Popovers

Yields 9 popovers

Adapted from Baking with Julia

1 cup flour

1 cup whole milk

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons sugar (optional: I have a sweet tooth.)

3 eggs, at room temperature

2 tablespoons butter, melted

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Spray two 12-cup muffin tins with spray. (You can also make these in buttered ramekins.)

In a blender or food processor, combine all ingredients. Blitz until smooth.

Pour through a strainer into a liquid measuring cup. (You’ll have about 2 cups of batter.)

Pour about 1/4 cup of batter into the muffin tins, using every other cup. This is so the popovers have enough space to pop!

Bake for 15-25 minutes without opening the door. The popovers should be puffed and golden. (The original recipe says 25 minutes, and my oven might be running a little hot, but mine were perfectly golden at 15 minutes. You’re just working on the exterior at this point.)

Turn the temperature down to 350 degrees and bake for another 10-20 minutes to help dry out the interior. (Again, mine were done at 10 minutes, you don’t want to overcook them. Just keep an eye on them!) The centers will still be slightly underdone and eggy, that’s my favorite part.

Serve immediately. We like them dripping with butter and honey and served alongside large mugs of hot chocolate. Enjoy!

Swedish Crepes

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 11:00:00 +0000

When I lived in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho with my grandparents, we used to have breakfast at this wooooooonderful restaurant at least once a month. It’s called The Old European Breakfast House and they serve the best breakfasts I’ve ever had. Ever. Evvvvvveeeeeerrrrrrr. My favorite thing there was this wonderful combo platter they have. (Now here’s where I list all the things on it and you will forever view me as the biggest piggy ever. And I don’t even care, it was totally worth it.) It came with Swedish crepes, Danish blueberry Aebelskivers, a German potato pancake, and hotcakes – but I always got them to substitute a Dutch baby. Served with their amazing fresh squeezed orange juice and (in the wintertime) a beautiful mug of hot chocolate. Sure, that’s probably all your calories for the day (and then some), but OMGosh, what a gorgeous way to start a leisurely weekend!

So, when we moved away I had to find a similar recipe and make my own crepes, just like I did with my favorite tomato soup. This recipe doesn’t have a splash of orange juice in it, like theirs does, so it doesn’t have quiiiiiite the same flavor, but it comes close enough for me. And I’m pretty darn picky. (By the by, in the past I have tried adding orange juice, orange zest and orange extract to the recipe, but it just didn’t seem worth the effort, these crepes are beautiful just as they are.)

The difference between these and classic French crepes is their eggyness. These crepes have a little more body, but they’re still a far cry from a pancake. What I really love about this recipe is . . . . . you don’t have to have much finesse to make a perfect crepe. French crepes can be pretty finicky. Swedish crepes are a bit thicker but they’re also sturdier and you don’t have to worry a whole lot about them ripping.

And I’m not going to lie to you, it will probably take you about an hour to cook up all this batter. But once you get the hang of it, it’s a nice way to spend your morning. Especially if you have some company in the kitchen! I made these to order once when I had a house full of guests and we just had a wonderful time, enjoying each other’s company and a long leisurely breakfast.

So, here’s the recipe. I’ve offered pretty detailed instructions in lieu of photos 1) because I didn’t have anyone to take pictures for me and I had to move too quickly to do it myself and 2) because, to be honest, I made tomato sauce for dinner last night and now I really need to clean my stovetop. Sorry. But please don’t let the instructions intimidate you, these really aren’t difficult to make!

Swedish Crepes

Batter:

2 1/4 cups flour

2 tablespoons sugar

1 1/4 teaspoon salt

4 cups milk

7 eggs

1 stick of butter, for the pan

Filling:

1 brick of cream cheese, at room temperature

1/4 cup sugar

Topping:

Lingonberry jam (Usually this can be found in the specialty section of your grocery, or sometimes by the specialty cheeses. Although you could have knocked me over with a feather when I found it in the regular jam section of my grocery! There must be a lot of Swedes in Maine!) or the jam of your choice, raspberry is also nice here.

Powdered sugar for dusting

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar and salt.

Pour in the milk and whisk well.

Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking very well with each addition.

Let the batter rest for 30 minutes.

While that’s resting, in a medium bowl beat the cream cheese and sugar together with a hand mixer. Set aside.

To make the crepes:

Warm an 8” non-stick skillet over medium heat. Set out a cube of butter and a butter knife. Have a plate handy for the finished crepes. Set out a small saucer and a 1/3 cup (dry) measuring cup. Take a deep breath.

1) With the knife, cut a pat of butter (about a teaspoon worth) and using the dull side of the knife (you don’t use enough pressure to scratch the pan, just steer the butter around.), run the butter around the sides of the pan, then make sure the bottom is thoroughly coated. You’re not looking for a pool of butter here, just a nice, even, slick surface.

2) Scoop in 1/3 cup of the batter. Pick the pan up from the heat and with a smooth, even motion, roll the batter around the pan, first coating the bottom, then around again and again until the edges of the crepe are nice and smooth. (The crepe should fill the whole bottom of the pan.) There won’t be much liquid batter left by the time you’re done rolling. (This will probably make more sense when you’re actually doing it than just reading it.)

3) Set the pan back on the heat for just a minute or so, the very edges will turn just the slightest bit brown. Now, shake the pan side to side, the crepe should release from the pan. Carefully run a spatula under it, lift and flip. (I like to use my fish spatula for this, it works beautifully.) Let the crepe just set on the other side, about 30 seconds, then slide onto the waiting plate.

Repeat steps 1-3 with the remaining batter. After about the third crepe, you’ll start to feel like a pro!

That’s it! Spread about a tablespoon of the cream cheese down the middle of the crepe, roll up, top with a little jam and dust with powdered sugar! Enjoy!

P.S. Just like classic crepes, you can top these with just about anything. Nutella, or a pat of butter, a squeeze of lemon and a dusting of powdered sugar, or fresh fruit and whipped cream, etc. etc. etc. If you want to serve them with something savory, leave out the sugar in the batter and fill with herby cream cheese and chunks of chicken or any other savory filling of your choice. Sky’s the limit!

P.P.S. You can also make these up ahead of time and fill them with slightly softened ice cream and drizzle with chocolate sauce for a lovely dessert.

P.P.P.S. If you break your last jar of lingonberry jam (like I did today) and you happen to have chunky cranberry sauce and raspberry jam in the fridge, just combine them in equal amounts and use that instead. It’s not a super close resemblance but the combination of sweetness and tartness was close enough to satisfy me. (And, like I said, I’m picky.)

Sweet and Spicy Peanuts

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 17:36:00 +0000

Out of all the recipes I feel guilty about NOT posting before Christmas, this one makes me feel the most like a skunk. Really, truly, this is an awesome recipe. These little peanuts are perfect tucked in a cute bag alongside your Christmas cookies, or tipped into a little bowl to set out with your pre-dinner nibbles. Seriously, I’m a skunk. I apologize. So the reasons you’re going to love this recipe are:

1) it’s cost. Peanuts are cheeeeap!

2) it’s simplicity. A four year old could (and in our house DID) make this recipe.

3) it’s versatility. You can use this procedure and spice mixture with probably ANY nuts. So far I’ve made it with peanuts, cashews, hazelnuts, and almonds and they’ve all tasted wonderful.

4) it’s allure. Unless you’re allergic to peanuts, you’re going to love these nuts!

Without further ado. . . . .

Sweet and Spicy Peanuts

¾ cup sugar

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground ginger

½ teaspoon ground allspice

Large pinch ground cloves

2 egg whites

2 tablespoons water

½ teaspoon orange extract

3 cups roasted, unsalted peanuts

In a large, zip-top bag, combine sugar, salt, and spices. Mix well and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg whites, water and extract.

Add the nuts and toss to coat thoroughly.

Drain in a colander for half an hour. The nuts should be damply sticky, but not soaking wet.

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.

Add the nuts to the bag of spices and shake to coat.

Spread the peanuts onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 7 minutes.

Remove from the oven and stir up the peanuts. Bake another 7 minutes.

Remove and toss. Bake a final 7 minutes.

Remove from the oven and spread onto another baking sheet to cool.

Reindeer Chow!

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 11:00:00 +0000

You’ll find this recipe under many different names: reindeer chow, puppy chow, muddy buddies, crack. Oh wait, that last one is just in our house! Well, it’s white and powdery and TOTALLY ADDICTIVE! Oh, BABY! This stuff is just delicious! And so easy, your kids could make it. In fact, having your kids make it is a great way to get them out of your hair while you’re working on Christmas dinner. Just sayin’.

~~Crack~~ Reindeer Chow

1 bag milk chocolate chips

1 cup smooth peanut butter

5 cups Chex

3-4 cups powdered sugar

In a large, microwave-proof bowl (preferably one with a lid), combine the chocolate chips and the peanut butter.

Microwave for a minute and stir together. Continue microwaving in short bursts (so you don’t scorch the chocolate) and mixing until the peanut butter and chocolate are thoroughly melted together.

Add the Chex and carefully stir until coated.

Add 3 cups of powdered sugar. Secure the lid onto the bowl and shake the dickens out of it! (you can do this part in a zip top bag if you don’t have an accommodating bowl.)

This next step isn’t necessary, but if you want it to look exceptionally snowy, this’ll do it!

Spread the chow onto a cookie sheet. Sprinkle a cup of powdered sugar over the top. Using your hands, gently turn the chow so that it is completely coated.

Now, it’s perfectly acceptable to dig into it at this point, but if you can stand to wait overnight it will be much sturdier. (If you’re going to be packaging it up, you’ll definitely want to wait.)

Enjoy!

Cinnamon Peanut Brittle

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 11:00:00 +0000

I made this peanut brittle several years ago to include in my Christmas cookie boxes and it is a TOTAL keeper! I described it once to a friend as the resulting lovechild of peanut brittle and a cinnamon bear, but that’s not quite it. It doesn’t have that sharp, smack-you-in-the-face hit of cinnamon that those yummy gummies have. It’s more of a warm, cinnamony note and it really complements the peanuts. I think it’s a great addition to a Christmas goody box because it’s beautifully festive looking, really easy to make and very inexpensive! Peanuts usually run what, $3 a pound in the bulk bins?

Oooh, pretty.

Cinnamon Peanut Brittle

2 cups sugar

1 cup light corn syrup

½ cup water

1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon red food coloring

2 ½ cups salted peanuts (I’ve successfully used cashews as well.)

Butter a baking sheet.

In a large saucepan, bring the sugar, corn syrup and water to a boil over high heat.

Cook until a drop of the syrup hardens in a bowl of ice water (my favorite method) or until a candy thermometer inserted in the syrup registers 300 degrees, about 10 minutes.

Remove from the heat.

Stir in the cinnamon and food coloring.

Stir in peanuts and pour the mixture into the pan. Work quickly to spread the peanuts out as thin as possible.

Let cool, about 45 minutes.

Use your hands to break brittle into pieces.

Enjoy!

Sea Salted Caramels

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 21:25:00 +0000

Surprise! I’m actually posting something! I had some lovely intentions of posting during the holiday season but nothing ever materialized. And it’s such a shame too, because I have a really lovely collection of Christmassy recipes to share! (If I do say so myself.) Will you be totally annoyed with me if I inundate you with them now? I hope not, ‘cause they’re coming your way anyhow.

I’ve been trying different recipes of caramels for several months now. I wanted a nice, solid recipe with good flavor that wasn’t difficult to make. I thought I’d never find one until I tried a recipe from a blog I like, which shall remain anonymous. The recipe was a total fail, so I went back and read all the comments on that post. And it turns out that the diamond in the rough was waiting in someone’s reply! How funny is that!?

All I really did to it is add more salt. Mmmmmm, salt and caramel. There is this amazing fruit stand/gourmet nibbles shop/antique store I used to stop at on my way to Seattle (Thorp’s, anyone?) that sold the BEST salted caramels. And at fifty cents a pop too! Ouch! This recipe is just as wonderful and SO much cheaper! And it’s not terribly difficult. You do have to stand at the stove for 40 minutes stirring, but it’s not hard at all. I just parked myself to the side of my oven with the book I was currently engrossed in and half-heartedly stirred the pot for half an hour.

Before I give you the fabulous recipe I just wanted to add a quick note about candy thermometers. In my search for this recipe I came across many that called for the use of a candy thermometer. So I dutifully went out and bought one. (My old one was one of the only casualties of our cross country move!) And the dang thing was more trouble than it was worth. After several recipes that turned into rocky slabs of ~~caramel~~ toffee, I decided to check the darn thing in a mug of boiling water. Um, yeah. After sitting in the BOILING water, it only ever got up to 150 degrees. Stupid thing. Anyhow, I’m sure there are recipes out there that might need a candy thermometer, and if you have one that you trust, you can absolutely use it here. But for this recipe, all you need is a little cup of cold water. So much less stress!

Sea Salted Caramels

Adapted from Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick unsalted butter)

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup light corn syrup

Pinch of kosher salt (I use a slightly hefty pinch ;) Caramel + salt = awesome

1½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1-2 teaspoons sea salt for sprinkling, depending on how salty you are

Wax paper for wrapping, cut into 4 inch squares

Lay a long, wide strip of parchment in a 9-inch square baking pan, the long ends of the parchment will work as handles to help you remove the caramel from the pan later.

Combine all ingredients except vanilla in a small saucepan and turn the heat to low.

Cook, stirring constantly, until the sugar dissolves, about 10 minutes.

Continue cooking, stirring only occasionally, until a small piece of it will form a firm ball when dropped into a glass of cold water. (Or until the mixture measure 245 degrees on your reliable candy thermometer!) This should take about 30 minutes. ~~~ Basically, when you drop some into the water, it should feel like what you want your finished caramel to feel like, firm enough to form a ball but still soft enough to have a nice chew~~~

Stir in the vanilla, remove from heat, and pour into the prepared pan.

Sprinkle with flaky sea salt.

When the mixture has cooled to room temperature, use the parchment paper to remove the block of caramel from pan and use a sharp knife to cut it into small squares. (about 1x1") If your caramels are fussy about being cut neatly, heat the knife up under hot water, dry it carefully and try again.

Wrap each caramel in a square of waxed paper.

These are the Rolls You’ve Been Looking For!

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 20:41:00 +0000

I’m always looking for the ‘ideal’, the most perfect (in my opinion) recipes. Ideal pie crust, perfect chocolate cake, gorgeous dinner rolls. And I found them. The dinner rolls. I’ve been looking for these for ages! I can’t tell you how many recipes I’ve tried. And they were always disappointing. I wanted a soft, fragrant dinner roll. The kind you might get in a restaurant’s bread basket. Then I tried these from a Diane Mott Davidson novel. And I fell in love. These are absolutely gorgeous! I was a little concerned about the fruit zests, juice and extract – the original recipe included spreading marmalade on the rolls before baking them, not my thing – but they are just perfect! The citrus is in the background, just adding a nice flavor. I’ve baked these probably a dozen times in the last month or so and everyone who has had them has just raved. These are the rolls you want to serve for Thanksgiving, I promise. You can make them in advance and just reheat them while the turkey is resting! They reheat just beautifully! Which is really saying a lot, because I’m not one for leftover baked goods. Once they’ve lost that lovely, warm flush from the oven, I’m usually willing to skip them. But these are, like I said, perfect. And easy. The recipe looks long, but I promise that it’s NOT difficult!

A little note about extracts: I’ve been using an almond extract from Flavorganics for several years now. Not because I was trying to do the organic thing necessarily, but because I think the flavor is more pure. It does cost a couple of dollars more than the usual brands of extracts. In my opinion, it is WELL worth the money! I recently realized that Flavorganics has more than just almond extract, one of those things you know but just don’t think about, you know? Anyway, I switched to their orange extract and it is wonderful! I made several recipes with it that I’ve made in the past and the orange flavor really comes shining through. It’s less sweet, syrupy, candy-like tasting than the big name brands, more of a true flavor. Anyway, I was really pleased with it and thought you might like it too. I found mine in a local health food store, but I have seen Flavorganics extracts and other organic brands for sale in grocery stores. Something to keep an eye out for!

Citrusy Dinner Rolls

adapted from Diane Mott Davidson’s Double Shot

Start this recipe at least 3 1/2 hours before you want to serve the rolls!

1 teaspoon sugar

1/4 cup warm water

1 package active dry yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons)

1 stick butter, room temperature

1/2 cup honey

zest of 1 lemon

zest of 1 orange

1 teaspoon orange extract

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon lemon juice

3 eggs

3 egg yolks and 3 egg whites, separated (the yolks go in the dough and you keep the egg whites for an egg wash)

1/2 cup milk, warmed to 110 degrees

6 cups flour

In a bowl, stir together the sugar, water and yeast. Let proof for 10 minutes.

In the bowl of your mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat the butter until creamy, 5 minutes.

Blend in the honey and beat until combined.

Add the zests, extract, salt and juice and beat well. Mixture will look curdled.

Add the eggs and egg yolks , one at a time, and beat in thoroughly.

Add the yeast mixture and milk and beat on low speed until combined.

Add 3 cups of the flour and mix well.

Switch to the dough hook and continue adding flour, a cup at at time, until the dough comes together. (You may use a little less than the whole 6 cups)

Knead on medium speed for about 10 minutes. The dough should be pliable, slightly sticky and come clean from the sides of the bowl.

Add a little more flour if your dough is still sticking to the sides of the bowl or pooling in the bottom.

Place the dough in a large, oiled bowl, cover with a dish towel and set in a warm, draft-free place until doubled in bulk – 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Deflate the dough and turn it out onto a board and allow it to rest for 10 minutes. Spray two 12 cup muffin tins with cooking spray and set aside.

Divide dough into 24 equal pieces. Round each piece by curling the loose ends under and pinching together. Think about how you might wrap a cotton ball into a tissue, smooth on top and all the ends pinched together underneath. Using a circular motion, press the bottom of the roll on your countertop and rotate the ball while exerting slight pressure. This will help smooth the bottom of the roll and keep it’s nice shape. Place the roll into the muffin tin and proceed with the rest.

Cover with a dish towel and let rise until doubled, about an hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Whisk the egg whites until frothy. Using a pastry brush, paint the egg whites onto the top of each roll.

Bake the rolls until golden brown and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom, about 15 to 20 minutes.

Pop the rolls out of the pans and let cool a bit before serving. Enjoy!

To reheat: place the rolls on a baking tray and slide it into a COLD oven. Turn the oven on to 350. When the oven has preheated the rolls should be perfectly warmed! Neat trick, huh!?

Costume Supercenter!

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 10:00:00 +0000

A while back I was contacted by Costume Supercenter to do a product review. Needless to say, I was extremely flattered! I have always hated the idea of just grabbing some random costume from a seasonal aisle in a big box store, and here’s an opportunity to get a Halloween costume from people who really know their stuff! I pored over their website trying to decide what to review. There is SO much to choose from! I looked at this fairy costume for Amelia. . .

. . . it lights up, for crying out loud!!! How cool is THAT???

I liked things like this for Reese. . . .

. . . . but, of course, he’d rather go as something like this. . . . . (boys are gross)

For Jillian, I looked at things like this. . . .

and things that nearly killed me with cuteness, like this!!!!

There are hilarious men’s costumes, like this. . . .

Please, Jay, please??? You and Amelia could be matching fairies! LOL! Seriously, how funny is this costume!!!!!

No? Well, I think he’d rather go as this . . . .

There is a massive selection of women’s costumes. Really cool ones like this. . .

Or cute ones like this one. . . .

I ended up picking this gorgeous women’s reversible red and black cloak.

I love the hood and the curling edges at the bottom! It’s very well made from a lovely velveteen fabric. I can tell I’ll be able to get many good years of use out of it. (Good thing a witch is a classic!) It’s thick and warm and makes me feel quite witchy. In a good way ;)

So, we’ve finally made our decisions on costumes. This Halloween I’m going as a witch and Jillian will be my little black cat! Jay will be Professor Snape, Reese is going as a skeleton and Amelia decided against an old school ghost (I was SO in favor of this! Easy! But alas, it was not to be.) in favor of a fairy, which will also be adorable. Just maybe a little cold!

Anyway, I can’t wait for the big day! I finally will be going in a comfortable and warm costume, as opposed to years past! Now, I’ve got to scoot and make an order so my costumes will be here in time! (I can’t believe the prices at Costume Supercenter! Amazing!) Happy Halloween!

Something Witchy This Way Comes

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 17:08:00 +0000

I love Halloween! I enjoyed every minute of this summer, but I will admit that I get unreasonably excited when I see the Halloween merchandise start sneaking into stores in the middle of August. And I have to say that, in my humble opinion at least, Halloween seems to be celebrated with a little more panache here in New England than it does in other places I’ve lived! Maybe it’s because New Englander’s have an unfair advantage in that there seem to be far more cool and creepy old cemeteries scattered about, and that whole ‘witch trial’ thing they have in their past. Whatever the reason, Halloween decorations are everywhere and I want in on the fun!!!

This year I had planned to throw a Halloween party, but certain things have come up, so I thought that instead I would share a week of Halloweeny things with you. And to start off. . . . a little something I’ve been wanting to do since I made all those fairies for Amelia’s birthday party! See for yourself . . . .

For the witch, you’ll need: black pipe cleaners, a round wooden bead for the face, another (any shape is fine, I used a pear shaped one.) bead for the body, a scrap of velour or some other non-raveling fabric for the skirt, embroidery floss for the hair and a sharpie to mark her face, hot glue & gun

For the witch’s hat, you’ll need: cardstock, a nickel, stiff sparkly felt, hot glue & gun

For the witch’s broom, you’ll need: a brown pipe cleaner, thin twine, hot glue & gun

For the witch’s hat, cut out a fan shape from a scrap of cardstock.

I just fiddled with it until I got the right shape.

Roll it into a cone and trim the edges if needed.

Flatten the cardstock back out and trace it and also trace a nickel onto some stiff felt.

Here are the cut out pieces.

For instructions on how to make the body of the fairy/witch, please click here.

For the skirt, I just used a lid from a jar to trace out a circle of velour, then I snipped a small hole in the center and threaded it onto the witch.

Run some hot glue around the top of the body bead and press the skirt down into place. (otherwise she’ll look like she’s got on a poodle skirt, not at all spooky!)

Run some hot glue around the top of the head bead and press the hair down into place. Let your inner hair stylist out ;)

Roll the fan-shaped piece of felt into a cone.

Holding it by the point, dab a bit of hot glue onto the corner of the bottom edge of the cone.

Press into place. You shouldn’t need any more glue than that, but feel free to dab a bit into the tip of the cone if it refuses to behave.

Glue alone the bottom edge of the cone.

Plop it onto the base of the hat.

After it’s dried, take a pair of scissors and poke a hole in the bottom. Make it a largish hole so it will sit nicely on the witch’s head.

Speaking of the witch’s head, dab a bit of glue there and . . . .

Pop the hat on! Straight up or at a jaunty angle, it’s up to you.

For the broom: take a length of brown pipe cleaner (Maybe a half a pipe cleaner), and a wad of twine (wrap it around your fingers several times to make the bristles of the broom.).

Bend it in half and catch twine in the center.

Twist the pipe cleaner together tightly at the base to catch the twine.

Finish twisting the broom handle. I like to fold over the tip and pinch it down so there’s nothing sharp and pointy sticking out.

Cut the loops of the twine to form the bristles. Dab some hot glue in the center and . . .

Pinch it together and hold it for a second while it sets.

Cut a small length of twine and dab some more glue at the base of the broom handle.

Twist the twine around the glue, making sure to get the end down tightly. Trim the ends of the bristles.

Lay the broom on the end of the witch’s arm.

Fold her ‘hand’ over and pinch tightly.

Fold over one more time to make it secure.

Draw a face on with a sharpie.

She’s done! Isn’t she cute!?

If you do make a witch, I’d LOVE to share your pictures here! Just email them to me and I’ll add them to this post! Happy Witching :)

Just a Suggestion

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 14:47:00 +0000

Well, my week of chocolate is over. *sigh* But I thought I’d round up all my chocolate recipes that use cocoa powder for when you get your King Arthur Flour Bensdorp cocoa powder. Because if you ordered it last week it should be arriving soon, right? Hee hee :)

Chocolate Comfort Cookies chock-full of toasted hazelnuts and tart cherries.

Mexican Chocolate Cookies with cayenne and black pepper, they taste warm loooong after they’ve left the oven!

Alton Brownies (in bite sized nuggets), one of the best brownie recipes I’ve ever found! Thick and fudgy and when baked in a square pan, the middle piece never quite sets up. Consider it a boon to the baker, top it with ice cream and enjoy the ooey-gooey deliciousness yourself!

My favorite whoopie pie! Dark and super chocolatey, I like mine with cream cheese frosting and made into smaller-than-conventional portions.

Chocolate Spice Cake with Cardamom-Scented Ganache, a beautiful, elegant cake perfect for Fall!

Good ole’ Chocolate Cake. Sturdy enough to stand up to gobs of American buttercream, just how my kids like it!

The Carrie Cupcake: A devil’s food chocolate cupcake, filled with salted caramel, dipped in bittersweet chocolate, and topped with salted caramel buttercream.

Blueberry Tart. A melt in your mouth chocolate crust filled with a delicious creamy filling and topped with blueberries.

Hot Chocolate (from a homemade mix) with softly whipped cream. The perfect drink to sip at the bus-stop while you’re waiting for your kindergartner to get home from school!

Reese Picks a Winner!

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Sat, 25 Sep 2010 14:56:00 +0000

Thursday night - really, really late Thursday night, mind you – I made fortune cookies with all the ‘contestants’ names in them (and a few extra in case of late entries). Then, yesterday, I just got terribly busy and totally forgot to pick a winner. So, this morning Reese pulled one out and we finally have a winner for the King Arthur Flour giveaway!!! I hope you’ve enjoyed this week, I really have! And I hope you don’t feel overly pressured to buy yourself some of this cocoa, I do tend to go overboard! But this is truly one of my favorite products and I know you’ll love it too! Without further ado. . . .

Congratulations Rubipumps!!! You’ve won a pound of Bensdorp cocoa powder, a box of unbleached cake flour and an issue of The Baking Sheet from King Arthur Flour! I know you’ll enjoy them!!!

P.S. I’d like to thank King Arthur Flour for sponsoring this giveaway! Allison was so kind and generous to work with, and I really enjoyed hosting it for you!

P.P.S. Fortune cookies suck. I have the burned fingertips to prove it.

Mexican Chocolate Cookies

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 19:28:00 +0000

These have been some of my favorite cookies for a long, long time. They have cayenne and black pepper in them, which, I’ll admit, does sound weird, but it gives them a wonderful, warm depth. When I make these especially for men, I always double the amounts of the peppers. They go nuts for them! It is a tad early to be thinking about Christmas, but they nicely round out a tray of assorted cookies, if you’re into that sort of thing! (Which I always am!)

Mexican Spice Cookies a.k.a. MAN Cookies

For my dear, late friend, Nick. I wish I could make these for you again.

6 tablespoons butter, softened

1/2 cup +1 tablespoon brown sugar

1/2 + 1 tablespoon sugar

1 cup flour

1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

generous pinch CAYENNE pepper

generous pinch ground black pepper

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg

1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Frosty cups of ICE-COLD milk, for serving

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Prepare your baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

Cream together the butter, brown sugar and sugar.

Add the egg and vanilla and mix well.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, and black pepper.

Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat until well incorporated.

Stir in the chocolate chips.

Pop the dough into the fridge for 30 minutes to chill.

Drop by rounded teaspoonsful onto the baking sheet, 12 per sheet. Smash the balls of dough fairly flat, they won’t really spread out on their own.

Bake for about 12 minutes or until the cookies are just set, but NOT HARD! Let them finish cooking for two minutes on the tray and then remove to cooling racks.

Serve with ice-cold milk and enjoy!

Gentle reminder:

Today is the last day to enter the King Arthur Giveaway!

Please leave a comment on this post to enter before 11:59pm!

Hot Chocolate

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 18:45:00 +0000

So, we had a little heat wave a few weeks ago when Hurricane Earl was heading up the coast. Then, for the next few weeks it got really cold, and I went on a bit of a hot chocolate spree! After trying out more recipes than I’d care to confess to, I have two new favorite recipes. One is adapted from Nigella Lawson (hers is alcoholic) and has to be cooked on the stove. For the other one, you make your own mix and then you can make the cocoa in the microwave if you’re in a hurry. Both are MUCH better than the kind you buy in little packets at the grocery store. And yes, if you follow me on Facebook, you probably saw that I couldn’t make that kind. Here’s the story. . .

One chilly morning Reese asked me for hot chocolate, and being a sucker for warm, soothing drinks myself, I had no problem granting his request. I went to the cupboard and got out some Swiss Miss that promised to be a marshmallow lover’s dream. Now, before I tell you the rest of the story, I just want to say – this was first thing in the morning and I didn’t really have my wits about me. So I started some water boiling in the kettle and ripped open an envelope of mix and poured it into a mug. When the water was boiling I filled the mug. And then stared into it in a great deal of confusion. At which point my dear, sweet husband walked in to the kitchen and asked what was so interesting in the mug. I was still confused and told him that it was just a bunch of marshmallows but it was supposed to be hot chocolate mix. Anyway, we pulled out the box and found that the packets came in pairs (I’d just torn one off) and that one side had marshmallows and the other had the mix. Jay laughed himself sick and has given me no end of grief about not being able to make hot chocolate from a packet. The end.

Not a terribly funny story, but since then I’ve been (probably unfairly) a little negatively prejudiced against Ye Olde Swiss Miss. Anywho, this recipe is much more chocolatey and comforting, really easy to make, yields about 8 servings, and is much, much better than the packaged stuff. With the added bonus not of having any confusing additions of pathetic, dehydrated little ~~bits of glue~~ marshmallows. Would make a lovely gift too!

Hot Chocolate Mix

yields 8 servings

1/2 cup of the best cocoa powder ever

3/4 cup sugar

3/4 cup powdered milk

4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips

Place cocoa powder, sugar, powdered milk and chocolate chips into the bowl of your food processor.

Blitz in 15 second bursts until the chocolate chips have disappeared into the mixture. Don’t blitz too long in one go because it could cause the chocolate to start to melt.

Alternately, if you don’t have a food processor, whisk the cocoa, sugar and powdered milk together. Then finely, finely, finely! chop the chocolate and add it to the mix.

Store the mix in an airtight container.

To make the hot chocolate: Heat a cup of milk in the microwave or on the stove.

Add 1/4 cup of the mix and stir well to incorporate.

Top with softly whipped cream and enjoy!

Also, I like to use my microplane to grate some chocolate over the top. It grates it so finely that it starts to melt right away, yum!

The next one is a recipe I don’t think I could live without. It’s the Nigella one, and oh.my.gosh. is it amazing!!! It’s a bit thicker and more full-bodied than the mix one. This would be a great one to serve to guests after dinner with a big pile of cookies. And it is the perfect drink to make when it’s dark and stormy and you just want to curl up on the couch with a warm blanket and a good book. Makes me drool just thinking of it!

Super Rich Hot Chocolate

adapted from Nigella Lawson

Serves 2

2 cups milk

3 1/2 ounces dark chocolate (I used my favorite Ghirardelli 60% cacao chips)

1 cinnamon stick

2 teaspoons honey

1 teaspoon brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup cream

1 teaspoon powdered sugar

In a medium saucepan, combine the milk, chips, cinnamon stick, honey and brown sugar.

Heat over medium heat, mixing constantly, until the chocolate completely melts and the milk starts to foam. This takes about 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla.

Pour the cream into your mixer.

Sift in the powdered sugar, stir to combine.

Whisk the cream until soft peaks form.

Ladle the hot chocolate into cups.

Dollop the soft cream into the hot chocolate.

Sip slowly and attempt not to swoon, it would make a huge mess and be a waste of chocolate!

P.S. I used to use a kitchen scale to weigh out the chocolate, until I realized that 1 of my handfuls of chocolate chips equals about 2 ounces. And I don’t even measure out the rest of the ingredients anymore, I just spoon in the brown sugar, mix in a good glug of honey, etc. This is definitely a recipe that doesn’t require precision! I gave the original amounts more just so you can have a starting point.

Gentle reminder: Two more days to enter the King Arthur Giveaway for 1 pound of Bensdorp cocoa powder and a box of unbleached cake flour! All you need to do is leave a comment on this post! Giveaway closes at 11:59pm Thursday, September 22.

How Long Until the Bus Arrives???

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 14:31:00 +0000

I really enjoy having a kindergartener. He gives me an excuse to make lots and lots of cookies! (Like I needed an excuse!) He’s been in school for three weeks now and every day when he gets off the bus he comes in the house and has cookies and milk with Amelia and they discuss their respective days. It is the cutest thing EVER! I really need to get a picture of them. *makes mental note*

Anywho, this cookie was a huge hit with them. And with Jay. And with Jilly. And with me! Just a huge hit all around. It’s got a laundry list of ingredients, but this is definitely a cookie you should tackle! It’s from Diane Mott Davidson’s The Grilling Season, which is a murder mystery not a guide to grilling outdoors. It’s a great read, like all her other books.

And, of course, this cookie will be made that much better by using King Arthur Flour’s Bensdorp cocoa powder instead of the Schmershey variety. Just sayin’. Okay. . . . on to the cookies!

Chocolate Comfort Cookies

Adapted from Diane Mott Davidson’s The Grilling Season

1 cup chopped hazelnuts

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup dried tart cherries

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

3 oz. cream cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

1 egg

2 tablespoons milk

2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted (I just used part of an 85% cacao LIndt bar I had hanging around.)

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups+2 tablespoons flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup Bensdorp cocoa powder

1 cup marshmallow cream

Preheat the oven to 325. Line your cookie sheets with parchment and set aside.

On another baking sheet, spread the hazelnuts. Toast in the oven for 7-12 minutes until they are lightly browned and some skins have loosened. Set aside to cool.

In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and cocoa.

In a large bowl, combine the chips, cherries and cooled nuts.

In your mixer’s bowl, combine the butter, cream cheese and sugar. Beat well.

Add the egg and mix until creamy and smooth.

Add the milk, melted chocolate and vanilla. Mix until well incorporated.

Add the flour mixture to the batter. Mix in the marshmallow cream.

Stir in the fruit mixture and mix until well combined.

Scoop rounded teaspoons of dough onto the cookie sheet, 12 to a sheet.

Bake 10-15 minutes until they are puffed and set, then remove from the oven and let cool on the tray for another 2 minutes. Then remove to a wire cooling rack.

Lather, rinse, repeat with the remaining dough.

Enjoy with hot chocolate or a glass of ice-cold milk!

Makes a bazillion cookies. Or thereabouts.

Just a friendly reminder:

To enter to win a pound of Bensdorp cocoa powder and a box of unbleached cake flour from King Arthur Flour, just go to this post and leave a comment!

Easy peasy!

Full of Chocolatey Goodness!

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 17:45:00 +0000

I was going to tell you about this giveaway last week, when I debuted my new blog makeover. But I couldn’t decide which recipe to show you. I fought and argued with myself all week, trying to pick my favorite chocolatey recipe. But I’ve been on a chocolate kick lately and I couldn’t decide on which one, so prepare yourself to be inundated with chocolate goodies!

You’ve probably heard celebrity chefs and cookbook authors say that you should always buy the best ingredients you can afford and that is the secret to great cooking/baking, right? They’re not kidding. And I have one ingredient for you that will change every single recipe you use it in from ‘mmm, that’s good’ to something more like, ‘HOLY MOSES! That is AMAZING! You MADE this????’ That’s not hyperbole, its the truth. And I think you can handle the truth.

You know that can of cocoa powder you have in your cupboard? Stand up, go to the cupboard, grab that tin and throw it in the garbage. Really. Now. Go. I promise you’ll thank me later. Now, go to King Arthur Flour and purchase this, Bensdorp Cocoa Powder. It’s absolutely amazing. My sister-in-law’s mother-in-law (you follow? good.) gave me a pound of this stuff last year and it’s changed my life, people!!! And really, it only costs three dollars more per pound than that tin you just tossed, the one that you can get in every grocery store in America. The one that starts with an ‘H’. And ends with an ‘ershey’. You don’t want that stuff in your house. You want this. . . . .

I mean, look at it!!! It’s almost red. It is noticeably richer. When you open the package it smells deep and chocolatey and almost earthy. If you were to smell the box of the stuff you already threw away (but you can’t because you trusted me when I told you to hock it, right???), it smells sugary sweet. Like candy, almost. This Bensdorp cocoa smells like ooey gooey brownies. Or devils’ food chocolate cake. Really, it’s the difference between a chocolate bar of, well, one that rhymes with Schmerchey, and a bar of Valrhona, or Ghirardelli or Scharffen Berger. They all make cocoa powders too, but I think this one is the best. (P.S. Please don’t tell my hubby that I’ve tried all those or how much they cost. He’ll blow a gasket. Thanks.)

Now, one of you will get the chance to try some for yourself! King Arthur Flour has generously offered a bag of their Bensdorp cocoa powder to one of my readers!

All you have to do is leave a comment on this post!

I’ll pick a winner on Friday and that person’s life will never be the same! You’ll shudder when you see that box of drab, flavorless stuff sitting there on the baking aisle, telling shoppers that it will make their chocolatey dreams come true. It’s a liar! Or at least, deluded.

But, that is not all. Oh, no! That is not all! (Name that children's book.) King Arthur Flour is also offering a box of their unbleached cake flour for our giveaway! I’d show you a side by side comparison of that too, but I don’t want to buy a box of the bleached stuff just for a photo op. (I only had a tin of the Schmerchey stuff because it was down in my basement pantry from when we moved in and I had forgotten that it even existed.) But when I tried out the King Arthur’s cake flour I got to see it next to a dab that I had left of some other brand I’d gotten at the grocery. I was sort of expecting the unbleached to be a lot darker. It wasn’t. The bleached stuff was stark white, and the KA cake flour was nice and creamy colored. And it made a wonderful cake! As light and fluffy as you could wish for! I am DEFINITELY making the switch to this stuff. I noticed that my grocery store is carrying it now, how convenient!

So, this is the recipe I finally decided on. For Day One anyway! When I got the box of cake flour from King Arthur I was sort of in a quandary. I had been wanting to make a spice cake, but then there was this really great looking chocolate cake recipe on the back of the box. So, I decided to just combine them, since the quantities were so similar to my spice cake recipe. Oh. My. Gosh. It made SUCH a wonderful cake!!! And my house smelled absolutely incredible while it was baking. I made a simple ganache scented with cardamom to drizzle over it, which I did while the cake was still warm, so it soaked into the cake a bit and made it absolutely scrumptious!

Chocolate Spice Cake

Adapted from King Arthur

2 cups King Arthur Unbleached Cake Flour Blend

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon allspice

1/4 teaspoon ground clove

1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

3/4 cup cocoa powder (use the good stuff, not that Schmershey stuff)

1 3/4 cups sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup milk

1/2 cup water

4 eggs

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prepare 2 round 9” pans with baking spray and set aside.

Place a strainer over you mixer’s bowl and sift in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, spices, cocoa and sugar.

Add the butter and mix at low speed for a minute. While the mixer is running, add the oil and continue mixing until the mixture looks like sand.

Combine the vanilla, milk and water and add all at once. Mix for a minute at low speed, then scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl well and mix another 30 seconds until all the dry ingredients are well incorporated.

Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well at medium-high speed between additions. The batter will be thin.

Pour into prepared pans and bake 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and cool on a rack.

While the cakes are cooling make the ganache.

P.S. We had a lot of treats around when I baked these, so I only served one layer. After the second layer was COMPLETELY cooled I wrapped it well with cling wrap and stashed it in the freezer.

Ganache Glaze

4 ounces dark chocolate (I used Ghirardelli 60% cacao chips)

1/2 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons water

a scant 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom (optional)

Put the chips in a heat-proof bowl and set aside.

In a small saucepan, bring the cream, sugar, water and cardamom to a full boil.

Pour over the chocolate. Let it sit for 30 seconds, then gently stir the chocolate together. It should take 3-4 minutes before you get a gorgeous, shiny glaze.

Pour the glaze over your still warm cake and spread it around to coat the sides.

Makes enough glaze for one 9'” cake.

So, to enter the giveaway, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post!

I’ll pick a winner on Friday, so get your entry in by 11:59pm Thursday!

Good luck!

Wilton Review, Gorgeous Buttercream, and a Winner!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Jennie) — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 15:23:00 +0000

Along with the cupcake kit giveaway, Wilton generously let me pick a few things to review! I was smitten with these cupcake liners, I looooove cupcake liners! Pretty ones like these sort of take the pressure off of you to do something tremendous with the decorating, you know? You wouldn’t want to detract from the pretty liner, now would you? I loved these ruffled cups! So girlie and sweet! They are nice and thick too, and they come off of the cupcake beautifully!

I also picked these liners. I really loved them, with all the ingredients printed on the sides! They really dressed up the muffins I made in them. Unfortunately, I used them all on a test run of a new recipe. Dumb idea. The muffins didn’t turn out at all well (they were chewy! Muffins should NOT be chewy!!! Ew.) and bubbled up and out of the pretty muffin cups. I was so disappointed, I didn’t even take a picture of them. So, recipe fail. Sorry.

So, here is the recipe for the buttercream I used on the cupcakes. The cupcakes themselves are from this chocolate cake recipe. I usually use American buttercream when frosting cakes and cupcakes, but decided to tackle a fancy one again. I had a run of bad luck with Italian buttercreams a while back (the kind made with a sugar syrup) and had shied away from them and their Swiss cousins. But this recipe really was easy and the softness and delicateness (is that a word?) of this buttercream has made me a believer again! I might even get brave and tackle another evil sugar-syrup Italian version again. Or the French variety made with whole eggs! Who knows? I might also climb Mt. Everest or swim across the Atlantic! Just kidding ;) Anyhow, they’re a nice, grown-up alternative to sugary sweet American buttercreams.

Beautiful Swiss Buttercream

Adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home to Yours

1 cup sugar

4 large egg whites

3 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

pinch of salt

flavoring of your choice: a squeeze of lemon, 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla, or 1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Optional: food coloring

Set a pan of water to boil on the stove. Turn it down to a simmer.

In your mixer’s bowl, combine the sugar and egg whites.

Set this over the simmering water and, using a hand mixer, whisk constantly, until the mixture becomes hot to the touch, about 3 minutes. (The sugar will be dissolved and the mixture will be nice and shiny.)

Remove the bowl from heat and attach it to your mixer. Using the whisk attachment, beat the meringue at medium speed for about 5 minutes, until it has cooled.

Switch to the paddle attachment, mix in a pinch of salt, and add the butter, a few tablespoons at a time, beating until smooth.

Once all the butter has been added, beat the buttercream on medium-high unitl it is thick and very smooth, about 6-10 minutes.

Turn the speed to low and add the flavoring and coloring if you’re using it.

Scoop into a pastry bag and pipe onto your cupcakes!

Make enough for a dozen cupcakes, more if you’re more frugal with your buttercream than I am ;)

P.S. Don’t panic if your buttercream falls apart and/or looks curdled when you add the butter. Turn the mixer up to high and keep whipping it, it will come back together! Don’t be scared!

And now for transportation of your beautiful treats . . . . . . .

Wilton also let me try out their adorable cupcake boxes! I really like to keep a stash of cake boxes around, then I can take goodies to someone on the spur of the moment without the worry of how to transport them safely! I keep a few square cake boxes and a few of the long, rectangular ones, along with cake boards for each. The rectangular ones are great because you can carry a sheet cake or a few dozen cupcakes in them. Just don’t forget the cake board to go on the bottom or you’ll end up with cupcakes dancing all over inside the box! When I can’t get a hold of the cupcake holding inserts, I just dab a little dot of royal icing to the board, then set the cupcake on top of it. It works like glue to hold the cupcake in place and when you want to take them out of the box, the ‘glue’ comes right off again. Easy!

Anyway, I am definitely going to be keeping a stash of these around! They come with the little inserts to keep the cupcakes in place! And they’re perfect when you just want to take a few cupcakes to a friend. They have solid white ones, fun prints and seasonal boxes too. It would be nice to have a selection on hand!

Thank you, Wilton, for sponsoring this review and giveaway! I really enjoyed playing with some new products and loved hosting your giveaway!!!

Speaking of giveaway. . . . . we picked a winner! Amelia and her herd of ponies helped me out! Click the video to see who won the cupcake kit!