Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Peanut Butter Hearts
Ok, so I don't have a photo because I'll be making these tonight BUT...you know the peanut butter blossoms that I made at Christmas. The ones with the Hershey kiss in the middle?? Well, we are going to get funky and put a heart shaped Dove in the middle for Valentine's Day!! These are such an easy cookie and they are sure to put a smile on someone's face.
Unwrap a bag of Dove Hearts so they are ready to go.
1/2 C Butter softened
1 Egg
1/2 C Peanut Butter
1/2 C Sugar
1/2 C Brown Sugar
Cream together. And then add...
1 1/2 C Flour
1/4 t Salt
3/4 t Baking Soda
1/2 t Baking Powder
Roll into small balls about the size of a medium gum ball. That is bigger than the ones that cost a penny and smaller than the quarter size. Basically you are going to have a bite size cookie when it cooks.
Roll in sugar. Put on pan and bake at 375 for about 7 minutes until bottom is lightly browned.
Immediately put on waxed paper and immediately push a Dove Heart in the center. You are not going to be able to move these for at least two hours because the heart will soften a bit. They need to completely cool before you package these.
These freeze well
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Sugar Cookie
The tried and true. The cookie that makes Valentine's day complete. We make these together and deliver them to friends on Valentine's Day.
I will try to show you how to avoid the mistakes that make sugar cookies tough or dry. The two big tricks are to handle the dough as little as possible and watch the flour.
I always double the recipe because if you are going to take the time to make cut out cookies, you might as well make a bunch. These freeze very well. This is the "single" batch recipe.
2 1/2 C Flour
1 C Sugar
1 t Baking Powder
2 Eggs
2 t Vanilla
1/2 t Salt
12 T Butter ~ soft
Combine butter, eggs, vanilla and sugar at medium speed. Add dry ingredients and mix until combined and dough forms. Cover and chill at least 4 hours or up to 4 days. Roll dough and bake at 375 for about 8 minutes.
I did use my trusty KitchenAid Mixer but up until a year ago when I got it, a regular hand mixer and bowl did the trick. Here's your butter, eggs, vanilla and sugar ready to mix.
Make sure your wet ingredients are well mixed. Now it's time to add the dry.
The dough will form and look like this. Put in the fridge to chill. Make sure you chill at LEAST 4 hours, if you don't...the dough absorbs more flour when you are rolling it out and your cookies will NOT be good.
Sprinkle your counter with flour and divide the dough in half.
Push your dough down so you don't have to do so much work with the rolling pin.
Sprinkle the top with flour. You don't want your rolling pin to stick.
Start rolling out your dough, applying even and steady pressure with the rolling pin. Try to keep the dough a consistent thickness as you roll.
Cut your cookies as close together as you can. The less you have to re-roll the dough, the better the cookies.
This is a good thickness for your cookies. If they are thinner, watch them closely when baking because they will cook fast and be more crispy. If they are thicker, they are going to have a more doughy consistency even when fully cooked.
They don't spread much so this is how close you can put them. Bake for about 8 minutes at 375
In my opinion, a good sugar cookie should NOT be browned on the top at all. If you've rolled the dough so the thickness is consistent, they shouldn't be brown even on the edges. The bottom should look like this...lightly browned.
After you've rolled out the first batch, these are your leftovers, set aside. Roll the fresh batch same as the first.
This is your second time around. Mold dough ever so slightly into new ball. Use less flour on your counter because the dough is less sticky the second time around and re-roll the dough.
Save the sprinkle cookies until the end because your pan is going to have some sprinkles left over on the pan. Don't OVER sprinkle because the cookies don't cook evenly. This amount is perfect.
Here's the frosted ones drying and ready to bag.
To make butter cream frosting
1 stick soft Butter
4-5 C Powdered Sugar
2 t Vanilla
4-7 T Milk
Start out with 1 stick butter, 4 C powdered sugar, vanilla and 3 T milk. Mix it with your mixer. Keep adding milk by the T until it's the consistency you want. IF you add too much milk, add more powdered sugar. I've never used a true recipe for frosting, it was an add and adjust philosophy. When it's done, separate into different bowls and add food coloring. If you are using liquid food coloring remember it will thin the frosting a bit more.
I will try to show you how to avoid the mistakes that make sugar cookies tough or dry. The two big tricks are to handle the dough as little as possible and watch the flour.
I always double the recipe because if you are going to take the time to make cut out cookies, you might as well make a bunch. These freeze very well. This is the "single" batch recipe.
2 1/2 C Flour
1 C Sugar
1 t Baking Powder
2 Eggs
2 t Vanilla
1/2 t Salt
12 T Butter ~ soft
Combine butter, eggs, vanilla and sugar at medium speed. Add dry ingredients and mix until combined and dough forms. Cover and chill at least 4 hours or up to 4 days. Roll dough and bake at 375 for about 8 minutes.
I did use my trusty KitchenAid Mixer but up until a year ago when I got it, a regular hand mixer and bowl did the trick. Here's your butter, eggs, vanilla and sugar ready to mix.
Make sure your wet ingredients are well mixed. Now it's time to add the dry.
The dough will form and look like this. Put in the fridge to chill. Make sure you chill at LEAST 4 hours, if you don't...the dough absorbs more flour when you are rolling it out and your cookies will NOT be good.
Sprinkle your counter with flour and divide the dough in half.
Push your dough down so you don't have to do so much work with the rolling pin.
Sprinkle the top with flour. You don't want your rolling pin to stick.
Start rolling out your dough, applying even and steady pressure with the rolling pin. Try to keep the dough a consistent thickness as you roll.
Cut your cookies as close together as you can. The less you have to re-roll the dough, the better the cookies.
This is a good thickness for your cookies. If they are thinner, watch them closely when baking because they will cook fast and be more crispy. If they are thicker, they are going to have a more doughy consistency even when fully cooked.
They don't spread much so this is how close you can put them. Bake for about 8 minutes at 375
In my opinion, a good sugar cookie should NOT be browned on the top at all. If you've rolled the dough so the thickness is consistent, they shouldn't be brown even on the edges. The bottom should look like this...lightly browned.
After you've rolled out the first batch, these are your leftovers, set aside. Roll the fresh batch same as the first.
This is your second time around. Mold dough ever so slightly into new ball. Use less flour on your counter because the dough is less sticky the second time around and re-roll the dough.
Save the sprinkle cookies until the end because your pan is going to have some sprinkles left over on the pan. Don't OVER sprinkle because the cookies don't cook evenly. This amount is perfect.
Here's the frosted ones drying and ready to bag.To make butter cream frosting
1 stick soft Butter
4-5 C Powdered Sugar
2 t Vanilla
4-7 T Milk
Start out with 1 stick butter, 4 C powdered sugar, vanilla and 3 T milk. Mix it with your mixer. Keep adding milk by the T until it's the consistency you want. IF you add too much milk, add more powdered sugar. I've never used a true recipe for frosting, it was an add and adjust philosophy. When it's done, separate into different bowls and add food coloring. If you are using liquid food coloring remember it will thin the frosting a bit more.
Monday, February 11, 2013
Happy Valentine Week!
I've posted this before but it's something my kids look forward to so I thought I would post again.
When my kids were old enough, I started doing a scavenger hunt for them. Every year on Valentine's Day I hide clues and small presents. I knew they liked it but I didn't realize how much until they had friends sleeping over a couple of years ago the night before Valentine's day and before they went to bed they said, "we're still having our scavenger hunt right"?
I will admit that some years I am more prepared and the clues rhyme well. Some years I have them on pretty paper, neatly printed on the computer. Some years they have to figure out the clues together. It doesn't matter "how" I do it, just that I do.
Typically they'll have 4 to 5 clues/stops. The first clue can be attached to a heart shaped balloon or just on their door. It might say something like, "Look for some clothing that's blue...there you will find your very first clue".
In the pocket of their BLUE robe or hoodie, they'll find a heart shaped sucker and the next clue.
This continues 4 more times and takes them all over the house. I typically give a small heart filled with chocolate (Walmart $1), heart printed socks or underwear, their favorite beverage or snack or Pez and then a little gift for the final.
It's about the fun, so have some!!
When my kids were old enough, I started doing a scavenger hunt for them. Every year on Valentine's Day I hide clues and small presents. I knew they liked it but I didn't realize how much until they had friends sleeping over a couple of years ago the night before Valentine's day and before they went to bed they said, "we're still having our scavenger hunt right"?
I will admit that some years I am more prepared and the clues rhyme well. Some years I have them on pretty paper, neatly printed on the computer. Some years they have to figure out the clues together. It doesn't matter "how" I do it, just that I do.
Typically they'll have 4 to 5 clues/stops. The first clue can be attached to a heart shaped balloon or just on their door. It might say something like, "Look for some clothing that's blue...there you will find your very first clue".
In the pocket of their BLUE robe or hoodie, they'll find a heart shaped sucker and the next clue.
This continues 4 more times and takes them all over the house. I typically give a small heart filled with chocolate (Walmart $1), heart printed socks or underwear, their favorite beverage or snack or Pez and then a little gift for the final.
It's about the fun, so have some!!
Friday, January 25, 2013
1st Place
Have ya missed me?!?!? I haven't been able to post any photos for the past month. It was driving me CRAZY! But I tried again today and TA DA, it worked!! So, I'll have some new recipes up next week.
Today, I needed to post about hockey. This photo is from 4 years ago when our boys took 1st place in New Ulm. This is the Jake McCoy year. The best year of hockey in my opinion. It's when two associations merged and a bunch of boys got to get to know each other and embraced what it was to be on a hard working team, under a great coach. It was a bonus that we won a couple of tournaments and districts that year.
Flash forward and here are some of the very same boys on another hard working team, under a bunch of coaches (6) who care about them and are helping them get ready for high school next year while playing just a few games. 50 games by the season end to be exact. 8 games in 9 days last week.
This was the highlight. We won 1st place at the Eveleth Tournament. It was especially sweet because of a REALLY bad call that tied it up with 3 minutes left in the game. But our boys didn't give up, they fought back and SCORED to win it 4-3!! What a finish!
Saturday, January 19, 2013
JoJo
Is there anything more enjoyable than a child laughing?
Yes, a child hysterically laughing:)
Happy Birthday Jordan!
Friday, January 4, 2013
Pasta Carbonara
True pasta carbonara doesn't have any vegetables but I think they really add something. Do I think it's making it a tad healthier?? Nah, I just like the way it tastes but I'll eat this with or without vegetables. You can also tone down the red pepper flakes as I did the last time I made it for the kids but everything else is a MUST. And, did you notice I said "kids"?!? Yep, clean plate club for not only my kids but Jake and Serena too!! Jake was picking around and I said, "that's bacon your skipping" and the picking around stopped.
Spaghetti Carbonara
3/4 box Thin Spaghetti
1/2 lb of Bacon ~ chopped
3 cloves of garlic ~ minced
1/2 T Red Pepper Flakes
1 Pepper ~ chopped ~ I use a variation of colors to equal one just because I think it's prettier
1/2 lb fresh Asparagus ~ broken into pieces
2 Egg Yolks
1 ladle pasta water
1/2 container Shredded Parmesan Cheese ~ I personally prefer Asiago but I had Parmesan handy and NO you canNOT use the grated green can stuff
Fresh Cracked Pepper
Fill a pasta pot with water and a LOT of salt. The water should taste salty, I'm guessing 3 T of salt~I've never measured, sorry.
In a pan, add your bacon, garlic and red pepper flakes. A few cranks of the pepper mill. Cook until bacon is good and crispy and nicely browned. Add peppers and stir around a couple of minutes. You can turn off the heat and wait for the pasta to finish cooking at this point.
The water is boiling, add your pasta and give a stir. Throw your asparagus into the water and boil for about 2 minutes, should still have a little crunch left. Scoop the asparagus out and throw into pan with bacon and peppers, it stays floating on the top so it's not hard to get out with a slotted spoon. Turn the heat back on the bacon pan.
Your egg yolks are in a bowl, scoop out a ladle of water and pour into yolks. Quickly whisk because you don't want to the egg yolks to cook.
Your pasta should be done. Drain your pasta but don't rinse. Add pasta to the bacon, toss. Add egg yolks and toss again. Takes about 1/2-1 minute to thicken. Turn off the heat. Add the cheese. Toss again, taste to see if you need some more pepper and serve.
See all the salt in the bottom of the pan.
Here is your bacon, pepper flakes and garlic. I took this photo like this so you can see how much we're talking about. I also put a few cranks of fresh pepper on top of the bacon. It's about layering the flavors with this dish and I like the peppery taste.
Here's your vegetables ready to go.
The cheese, gotta have the cheese. Lots of cheese..yum!
See how crispy the bacon is, add the peppers and give it a stir.
Add your chicken broth and simmer for a minute or two. You don't want the peppers to get squishy. Remember you can turn off at this point and wait for the pasta to finish up.
See, told you the asparagus would float on top.
The egg yolks have been whisked with the pasta water and is waiting to finish the dish.
Throw your asparagus in.
Add the pasta, give it a toss. Add the egg yolks, give another toss and cook until thickened.
Add the cheese. Don't be cheap with the cheese. A couple more cranks of fresh cracked pepper.
I sprinkled red pepper flakes on mine since I cut down for the kids but if you don't want spicy. Dig in!!
Spaghetti Carbonara
3/4 box Thin Spaghetti
1/2 lb of Bacon ~ chopped
3 cloves of garlic ~ minced
1/2 T Red Pepper Flakes
1 Pepper ~ chopped ~ I use a variation of colors to equal one just because I think it's prettier
1/2 lb fresh Asparagus ~ broken into pieces
2 Egg Yolks
1 ladle pasta water
1/2 container Shredded Parmesan Cheese ~ I personally prefer Asiago but I had Parmesan handy and NO you canNOT use the grated green can stuff
Fresh Cracked Pepper
Fill a pasta pot with water and a LOT of salt. The water should taste salty, I'm guessing 3 T of salt~I've never measured, sorry.
In a pan, add your bacon, garlic and red pepper flakes. A few cranks of the pepper mill. Cook until bacon is good and crispy and nicely browned. Add peppers and stir around a couple of minutes. You can turn off the heat and wait for the pasta to finish cooking at this point.
The water is boiling, add your pasta and give a stir. Throw your asparagus into the water and boil for about 2 minutes, should still have a little crunch left. Scoop the asparagus out and throw into pan with bacon and peppers, it stays floating on the top so it's not hard to get out with a slotted spoon. Turn the heat back on the bacon pan.
Your egg yolks are in a bowl, scoop out a ladle of water and pour into yolks. Quickly whisk because you don't want to the egg yolks to cook.
Your pasta should be done. Drain your pasta but don't rinse. Add pasta to the bacon, toss. Add egg yolks and toss again. Takes about 1/2-1 minute to thicken. Turn off the heat. Add the cheese. Toss again, taste to see if you need some more pepper and serve.
See all the salt in the bottom of the pan.
Here is your bacon, pepper flakes and garlic. I took this photo like this so you can see how much we're talking about. I also put a few cranks of fresh pepper on top of the bacon. It's about layering the flavors with this dish and I like the peppery taste.
Here's your vegetables ready to go.
The cheese, gotta have the cheese. Lots of cheese..yum!
See how crispy the bacon is, add the peppers and give it a stir.
Add your chicken broth and simmer for a minute or two. You don't want the peppers to get squishy. Remember you can turn off at this point and wait for the pasta to finish up.
See, told you the asparagus would float on top.
The egg yolks have been whisked with the pasta water and is waiting to finish the dish.
Throw your asparagus in.
Add the pasta, give it a toss. Add the egg yolks, give another toss and cook until thickened.
Add the cheese. Don't be cheap with the cheese. A couple more cranks of fresh cracked pepper.
I sprinkled red pepper flakes on mine since I cut down for the kids but if you don't want spicy. Dig in!!
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Happy New Year
I hope this post finds everyone happy and smiling.
I've got some yummy new things to post and will hopefully have them up starting next week. Until that time, I'm going to post a couple of repeats and ones that we've been eating at our house!
I've got some yummy new things to post and will hopefully have them up starting next week. Until that time, I'm going to post a couple of repeats and ones that we've been eating at our house!
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