60th Birthday Cookies

Last weekend was my stepdad's 60th birthday.  He doesn't really like celebrating his birthday and doesn't like to get "stuff" as gifts.  My sister decided we needed to celebrate anyway.  She invited my mom and him over to watch football and have a little party. 

Sugar cookies are his favorite, so I made a batch as his gift.  I was just going to do simple round cookies, but then I remembered I had my letter cookie cutters and thought it would be cute to spell out Happy Birthday Gary.  It was the first time I used them and some of the letters were hard to get out of the cutters because they were so thin.

I saw a tutorial on using a stencil to decorate cookies at Sweetopia, so I decided to give it a try.  I went with a simple 60 and it was pretty easy.

My niece thought that he also needed a birthday shirt.  Of course I had to go along with her idea.  I made him a shirt with guitars (he plays the bass guitar)

I didn't think that he would wear it, but R told him he had to put it on so he did. 

He was very surprised and excited.  Happy 60th Gary!

Princess and the Popstar Outfit

My four year old niece LOVES the movie "Princess and the Popstar".  She has watched it more times than we can count and has the entire movie memorized.  Popstar, Kiera, is her favorite character.  While watching the movie, she loves to sing along to all of the songs.

She has a wonderful imagination and loves to play dress up.  She uses one of her ballerina outfits with a superhero cape around her waist as her "Kiera" outfit (the black hair is a wig.)

One day, she asked my sister if she could get a real Kiera outfit.  My sister did not like anything that she found online, so she came to me and asked if I could make something as her Christmas gift. Of course I had to make it. I couldn't disappoint her.

She sent me this picture as my inspiration.

I didn't have a pattern, but had some ideas that I thought would work.  I went to Joann's and got three different purple, sparkly fabrics and got to work.

It turned out just as I imagined and she loved it.  As soon as she opened it on Christmas morning she put it on and put on a show.

I used a couple of different tutorials to make the outfit.  For the skirt, I used the Simple Skirt from Made.  Mine has three layers.  The top two are the tulle and the bottom is a shiny purple fabric liner.  I skipped the waistband and attached the skirt to a tank top using this tutorial from A Small Snippet.

After making the dress, I then had to make the removable longer piece.  I cut two rectangles of the sequined and shiny fabric. I sewed them with the right sides together.  Then I turned it right side out and top stitched around the whole thing making sure to close the opening.  For the waistband, I followed the instructions from the Simple Skirt tutorial.  I attached some velcro to elastic and it was complete.

The Popstar is ready for her performance!

Treat of the Week

I did it! I accomplished my new year's resolution. I made a treat a week...that's 52 treats this year.  Actually, I think I made more, but some of them I didn't take pictures.

I had hoped that I would blog about each one, but sometimes it was hard to find the time to be on the computer when I spent so much time in the kitchen.

Here's my year of baking!

January

1. Oreo Stuffed Cookie

2. Inside Out Carrot Cupcakes

3. Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Roll

4. Peanut Brittle Bacon Cookie

5. Champagne Cupcake

February

6. Cookies 'n Creme Rice Krispie Treats

7. S'more Rice Krispie Treats

8. Sopapilla Cheesecake

9. Cupcakes

10. Individual Baked Oatmeal

March

11. Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes

12. Better Than Crack Brownies

13. Gummy Bear Cake

14. Fluffernutter Blondies

April

15. Cake Batter Cookies

16. Easter Cookie Pops

17. Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Cupcakes

18. Chocolate Chip Cookie Layered Brownie

May 

19. Baked S'more

20. S'more Cobbler

21. Strawberry Margarita Cupcake

22. Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

June

23. Oreo Pops

24. Peppermint Patty Brownies

25. German Chocolate Brownies

26. Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars

27. Peanut Butter Cup Baked S'more

July

28. Tagalong Cupcakes

29. Plum Crumb Bake

30. Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble

31. Fourth of July Cake

32. Barbie Cake

August

33. Chocolate Chip Cookies

34. Peach Cheesecake

35. Mini-Cupcakes

36. Chocolate Pie

September

37. Pumpkin Spice Donut Hole Muffins

38. No Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake

39. Cheesecake Brownie Bites (not pictured)

October

40. Pumpkin Spice Cookies

41. Candy Corn Cupcakes

42. Pumpkin Cupcake with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

43. Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

November

44. Pecan Phyllo Tarts

45. Pumpkin Pie

46. Pumpkin Fudge

47. Salted Caramel Rice Krispie Treat

48. Cinnamon Cheesecake with Pumpkin Pie Frosting

December

49. Sticky Bun Breakfast Ring

50. Christmas Cookies

51. Peppermint Oreo Rice Krispie Treats

52. Blonde Oreo Rice Krispie Treats

53. Fudge Mint Brownies (Not Pictured)

54. White Chocolate Topped Ginger Cookies (Not Pictured)
55. Peppermint Meringue Drops (Not Pictured)

I spent a lot of time in the kitchen baking and most of the time I enjoyed it.  My family and friends enjoyed eating all of the treats:) 

I'm going to keep trying new recipes, but probably not quite as many.

Parent Volunteer Gifts - Mini Cookie Jars

Every year I make something at the holidays to thank all of the parent volunteers that help in my classroom.  I've made fudge, banana bread and caramels over the last few years.  This year I decided to do something new.  I made mini sugar cookies and put them in canning jars.

I have a sugar cookie recipe that I found a few years when I was having my niece over for our first Auntie and Ruby cookie decorating day.  It is from Food Network. It uses granulated and powdered sugar, which I think makes them a little fluffier.  It also calls for orange zest, which adds a nice flavor to the cookie.

Sugar Cookies
From: Food Network 
 

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon fine salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup granulated sugar 

3/4 cup powdered sugar

2 large egg yolks

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 

1/4 teaspoon finely grated orange zest

Directions:

Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Beat the butter and both sugars in another medium bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 30 seconds. Add the egg yolks, vanilla and orange zest mixing until fully incorporated. Slowly add the flour mixture, and continue beating until the dough comes together, stopping and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. 
Divide dough in half, pat into disks, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours.  
Roll dough between lightly floured parchment, or waxed paper, until about 1/3-inch thick. Transfer sheets to a baking sheet and refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. Cut into desired shape using a cookie cutter, place them on ungreased baking sheets, leaving about 1-inch between cookies. (Gather the dough scraps together, pat into a disk, chill and reroll.)
Refrigerate cookies while preheating the oven to 375 degrees F, for at least 30 minutes.
Bake the cookies, until the bottoms are golden, about 10 to 15 minutes depending on shape. Cool on sheets until firm enough to transfer to a rack to cool. Decorate as desired and serve, or store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 month.

 

I've tried a few different royal icing recipes, but I came across this one recently from  Sweet Sugarbelle and will probably stick with it.  

Royal Icing

From: Sweet Sugarbelle

  

Ingredients

• 4lbs {two bags} confectioner’s sugar
• 3/4 c. meringue powder
• 1 1/3-1 1/2 c. warm water
• 2-4 tbsp. oil-free extract or flavoring

Instructions

1. Add the dry ingredients first. Use your mixer’s whisk attachment to incorporate the sugar and meringue powder.
2. Add the extract to the water and slowly add it to the dry ingredients while mixing. At first the icing will be very liquid-like.
3. Continue to mix it at medium-high speed until it is fluffy and stiff peaks form, about 7-10 minutes. Mixing times are approximate, keep your eye it icing and stop mixing as soon as it becomes stiff.

 

I spent a Saturday night working on them, but I'm really happy with they way they turned out.  My husband thinks I'm crazy because I enjoy doing this, but now I'm looking for more excuses to make decorated cookies.   

Cookie Exchange

I've heard about cookie exchanges for years and have seen a lot about them on Pinterest lately.  I decided to host one this year.  I thought it would be a good excuse to get some friends together around the holidays and we all would end up with some great cookies.

Along with the cookies, I made some appetizers and holiday drinks.  Although its not that cold in California in December, I thought hot chocolate would be a yummy drink.  It also gave me an excuse to make some cute marshmallow stir sticks.  I put out some Kahlua if people wanted to add it to their drink.  It's my favorite!

I also made a Candy Cane Cocktail.  This was delicious.  It was a mixture of strawberry vodka, cranberry juice, and creme de menthe.

I had some appetizers for people to snack on and I made a dessert for everyone to eat while at my house. 

These Peppermint Oreo Rice Krispie Treats were amazing.  They had Trader Joe's Peppermint Jo Jo's in them. On top they had crushed candy canes and were drizzled with white and semi-sweet chocolate. 

All the cookies that my friends brought were delicious also.  I put out all of my white platters for them to put the cookies on before we did the exchange.
 

I found some super cute mini spatulas at Target that I got for a party favor.  I tied a mini cookie cutter to each one also. 

For the exchange, I made Peppermint Meringue Drops.  I found the recipe last year in Sunset Magazine.  I made them twice and everyone loved them, so I thought I'd make them again.  I always thought that meringue cookies would be difficult, but they were pretty simple to make. 

Peppermint Meringue Drops
From: Sunset Magazine

Ingredients:

• 2 large egg whites, at room temperature 
• 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup white chocolate chips
• 1/3 cup plus 1 1/2 tbsp. coarsely crushed peppermint candies

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 250°. Beat egg whites and cream of tartar in a deep bowl with a mixer, using whisk attachment if you have one, just until soft peaks form. Add vanilla and salt. With motor running and mixer on high speed, pour in 1 tbsp. sugar and beat 10 to 15 seconds, then repeat until all sugar has been added. Scrape inside of bowl and beat another 15 seconds. At this point, meringue should form straight peaks when beaters are lifted. Fold in chocolate chips and 1/3 cup candies with a flexible spatula.
2. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper, using a bit of meringue at corners as glue. Using a soup spoon, drop meringue in rounded 1-tbsp. portions slightly apart onto sheets, scraping off with another spoon. Sprinkle with remaining 1 1/2 tbsp. candies.
3. Bake until meringues feel dry and set when touched but are still pale, 30 to 35 minutes, switching pan positions halfway through. Turn off oven, open door, and let cookies stand about 10 minutes. Let cool on pans.
4. Make ahead: Up to 2 days, stored airtight.

I realized after I made these that they might not last very long, so I started searching for another recipe that I could also make.  I found a recipe for a soft gingerbread cookie.  Luckily I had all of the ingredients.  They were good and I'll definitely make them again next year.

White Chocolate topped Ginger Cookies
From: Culinary Concoctions by Peabody

Ingredients:

3 cups flour
2 tsp. Ginger, Ground
1 tsp. Cinnamon, Ground
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. Nutmeg, Ground (I used fresh)
1/4 tap salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1 egg
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1 cup white chocolate chips

Preparation:

Mix flour, ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, nutmeg and salt in large bowl.
Beat butter and brown sugar in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy.
Add molasses, egg and vanilla; beat well. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speed until well mixed. Press dough into a thick flat disk. Wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Roll in granulated sugar. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheets.
Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges of cookies just begin to brown. Immediately press about 5-6 white chocolate chips into center of each cookie. Remove to wire racks; cool completely.

Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures of my cookies up close:( 

The exchange was fun.  Hopefully everyone will want to do it again next year.  It was a nice way to start the holiday season.

Fall Baking

I love fall...the changing trees, cool days, and pumpkin pie.  I love all things pumpkin.  The past few weeks I have been very busy baking with pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice.  Here's a quick run down on what I've made.

Pumpkin Spice Donut Hole Muffins
From: Glorious Treats
These were for my husband to take to work.  A great, yummy treat any time of day.

Candy Corn Cupcakes
I saw these on Pinterest and they were perfect for the Fall Festival at my husband's school.

Pumpkin Pie Spice Cookies
Another great recipe from Glorious Treats.  I made these for school and they gotten eaten up quickly.  A great fall cookie.

Pumpkin Cupcake with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
From: Half Baked
These were great.  Super moist and not too much cinnamon in the frosting.

No Bake Pumpkin Cheesecake
From: Skinnytaste
This was really easy and really yummy.  She used a pre-made pie graham cracker crust, but I made my own. 

Pumpkin Fudge
From: jamiecooksitup
This was great.  It was rich, but not too rich.  It made a lot, so next time I would probably half the recipe.  It's a bad picture, really looks much better in real life.

 
Cinnamon Cheesecake with Pumpkin Pie Frosting
From: gimme some oven
I made these for Thanksgiving. They were delicious and since they have pumpkin pie on top, no one missed having a regular pie.

Pecan Phyllo Tarts
From: Skinnytaste
This was the other dessert for Thanksgiving.  They are made with frozen phyllo cups, so they were quick to make. 

Pumpkin Pie
Filling From: Skinny Taste
Crust From: Made
For our second, Thanksgiving my sister requested pumpkin pie for dessert.  I found the pie filling on Skinny Taste.  It was good and I couldn't tell a difference from my old pie recipe.  She used ready made pie crust, but I tried a new recipe that I found.  This recipe used vinegar and an egg.  It made a great crust.  The recipe makes enough for more than one pie.  Now I have crust ready to go in the freezer.

Chocolate Pie
From: You Say Tomato
I made this for Thanksgiving also.  It is a great recipe from a friend.  It uses tofu in the filling, so it has a lot of protein.  She has started teaching her own cooking classes and has some great recipes.

Now I'm ready for Christmas baking.  Bring on the peppermint and gingerbread!

Amy Butler Cosmo Bag

Last year my students gave me an Amazon gift card for Christmas.  Whenever I get gift cards, I like to buy things that I want, but wouldn't buy for myself.  One thing I got was Amy Butler's Style Stitches. 

I love her fabric and her designs. My first project was the cover project, the Cosmo Bag.

I'm really into yellow and gray right now, so I chose some Amy Butler yellow and gray fabric. 

I love it.  It has 5 pockets on the inside and 2 on the outside.  Sometimes, I think it has too many pockets because I can't remember which pocket I put my keys in.

It wasn't that difficult to make, but definitely not a beginner project.  I think that it took me just as long to cut out all of the pieces as it did to sew the bag.  I can't wait to make another bag from the book.