Notes from A Cottage Industry

Not another ice cream post.

Nope.

Not ice cream.

Popsicles.

Made with a not-to-syrup-y-sweet concoction of coconut milk, pineapple, and bananas. Perfect for a warm weather snack; complete and total yummy goodness, and only 117 calories, which really isn't too bad.

I got these most incredible popsicle molds last week.
I had to order them online, as all the ones I found in stores had plastic sticks attached, which is great for little kids, but not what I was after.
I love the fact that they use wooden popsicle sticks. They just have a more vintage-y look, if that makes any sense at all.

So very Martha looking, you know.

And, I am all about how my food looks.

So this set really wow'd me.

Anyway, they're de-lish, so I wanted to share the recipe with you all here today.
I'll be trying Martha's Banana Blueberry Swirl recipe next.

A little entertaining secret....

It's no secret to anyone that knows me that I love to entertain. I love planning the menu, coming up with a theme, (whether it is a color, or a type of food, or an event like the Superbowl...)and I especially love to design and set up the table scape and the buffet area.

Now, all of that might sound intimidating to some of you, and so today I wanted to share a little caterer's secret that I use. You don't always have to bake, or cook everything you are serving yourself when entertaining.You can make store bought pastries and fruit look like a million bucks.

You just have to make the right choices. WalMart, for example, has the most incredible itty-bitty-baby cinammon rolls.

To. Die. For.

And cute as all get out.

When I'm feeling really creative, I take a bit of powdered sugar, milk and a drop of vanilla or orange flavoring and make a runny frosting to drizzle over them...yummy (and totally like you-slaved-in-the-kitchen looking!) Stack them on a cake pedestal with some other pastries (or a giant pile by themselves) and the finished look is perfection.

So, there you go. If you want to wow your family, this is one easy way to do it.

Ice cream, foofified.

 

Okay, I promise-cross-my-heart-pinkie-swear that this will be my last ice cream post for a while. (Mainly because I just got a fabulous new cake baking cookbook I am dying to share with you!)

So, yeah. Ice cream.

Ice.

Cream.

I can't decide if I am more enthralled with the taste of this heavenly treat, or the seemingly endless options and ideas for presentations and recipes for it. (Quite possibly it is the latter.)

We'll start with the coconut ice cream I made. I was talking  with one of the kids at work (I can call them kids, since they are younger than any of my grown children...) and he was saying how much he loved Almond Joy candy bars. That got me thinking about the ice cream places that mix goodies into your ice cream. I decided to surprise my friend Nick with an ice cream that equalled the ingredients in an Almond Joy.

I took the last bit of the homemade coconut ice cream and I added more coconut, slivered almonds and chocolate syrup. I stirred it in just enough to belnd without turning it into chocolate ice cream, and I put it in one of my sweet little corregated cardboard containers....
I decided it needed a cute label, so I made some with my cheesy print program...
(I felt like my label came out a bit too wide, so next go round I will fine tune that)

...And I made a cute name tag with the darling ice cream scoop clip art I found. I added a couple of the butter wafer cookies and a wooden spoon, all tied with a coordinating ribbon. I took it in to work and called Mr. Nick, letting him know that if today was one of those days he might be "feeling like a nut" (as the Almond Joy tag line says..) I had a lil'-sumthin'-sumthin' for him.

I think it will make his Tuesday.

 

 

 

Win friends and become wildly popular with an ice cream buffet.

Talk about an easy-and-fun dessert set up that looks like you slaved all day! If you want to wow your guests, go with an ice cream buffet. That's what we did this past Saturday night. We had three kinds of ice cream for our friends to sample and make treats from; the two kinds of strawberry and the coconut.

First off, I got a fabulous assortment of cones and toppings. I got some of these cute little baby cones at WalMart (I think all the grocery stores sell them)... Before everyone arrived I made a few ice cream sandwiches with these oh-so-yummy butter wafer cookies from Trader Joe's....Here is my version of an Almond Joy sandwich, with coconut cream, chocolate , almonds adn toasted coconut...(sound good?)

I took ordinary sugar cones and dipped them in a small amount of melted chocolate, followed by dipping some of them in sprinkles or coconut. (chocolate chips, or the Wilton colored candy melts would work, but I used left over choclate from my chocolate fountain)Literally, all you do is melt the choclate and dip, then roll through the goodies as you like. Set them on wax paper to set up. Within minutes you have an assortment of pretty and impressive cones!

I also took my fabulous vintage cassolettes and set them out to use as ice cream dishes..perfect!
Needless to say, a grand time was had by all, and it really looked like I had spent all day prepping, when in reality it took less than a half hour.

We had plent left overs the next day, (another great thing about this dessert buffet...leftovers keep really well!) so I had my little men do some further taste testing...
In fact, all three of the boys got to sample...tee hee hee!

Strawberry ice cream takes it's turn in the spotlight.

We're off and running, with the first round of the second flavor of ice cream in the ice cream maker. This time we tried a couple of different strawberry recipes. The first one (pictured above on the right side of the bowl.)was supposed to taste like Ben and Jerry's strawberry ice cream. I'd say it was an okay recipe over all. The recipe was very easy, but I think the strawberries needed to be cut into fairly tiny pieces, and I had simply cut them as I do when I make strawberry shortcake, so, if I make it again, I will do that. Better yet, pureeing the berries in the blender is an even better option.The second recipe (on the left side of the bowl.) was for a roasted strawberry ice cream, with a bit of balsamic vinegar (oh-so-very Italian!) and it is my personal favorite of the two recipes.This recipe has you roast the strawberries,mixed with sugar and the balsamic vinegar, and later, chop 'em up in the blender, which I think was what made it a more flavorful treat.

The reason I tried two recipes was that the first coconut ice cream recipe bombed, and I figured there was a chance it could happen again (but I hoped not!) I didn't want to chance anything.  We are having friends over this Saturday night for a barbecue, and to play cards...and we'll need to have dessert...homemade ice cream! (Hence the need to find a really yummy strawberry ice cream recipe...)

( Of course, we will also have more of the homemade coconut ice cream as well, 'coz I want a variety, and it's so yummy too.)

Because homemade ice cream goes best with good friends.

The second batch of coconut ice cream came out so well that I decided to take a bit of it to share with a couple of my friends that help me out a lot at work today.

I ordered these fabulous little containers (and wooden spoons!) a couple of weeks ago from one of my all time personal favorite online shops. (This was when I was beginning to get excited about warm weather and the new ice cream maker I would be breaking in...)

Not only did I get the white pint sized containers, I also got a few of these equally darling corrugated cardboard tubs.(I plan on using these containers filled with ice cream as to-go favors at summer barbeques this summer when we serve homemade ice cream for dessert. Pictures will be coming, of course!)
I made labels that read "Ice Cream for daily happiness" and tags with "I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream" and "Life is short, eat dessert first" on them to add some whimsy. A foot of ribbon from my ribbon stash, and my hand-crafted,homemade tags, and...voila!

I think they're pretty cute, and tasty too.

Ice cream, anyone?

Well, that is what it was supposed to be, anyway.

See, I got an ice cream maker for Christmas, and I have been waiting for ice cream weather to get here so I could break it in. The moment finally arrived this past Sunday.

At least I thought it did.(We're back to rain and hail here today, and for the rest of the week, supposedly.)

I had ordered a cookbook all about ice cream, and it had arrived last Friday. (I'll be honest here and tell you I bout it partially for the fabulous cover, which I plan to set out on a book easel in the kitchen for the summer months...)After perusing the book for a half hour,I chose a coconut ice cream recipe from the back of the book. It was far more complicated than I remember ice cream recipes being. For starters I had to cook it. Five egg yolks, and a whole lot of cream. Coconut. Some straining, and more cooking.

My Rocker added his two cents, sharing that a secret tip he used in the past was to add pudding mix.

Hmmm, okay. That seemed like a pretty good idea.(Did I ever tell you how I love pudding? I do.)

Finally, the cooked, cooled ingredients made it to the ice cream maker on the back deck, with lots of ice and salt around the container.

Forty five minutes later, and still it wasn't resembling ice cream.

Uh-oh. Houston, we have a problem.

Still soupy...er...uncooked pudding-like.

At that point I realized that I was using the wrong salt in the ice for the ice cream maker. (I was using Kosher salt, not rock salt. Don't ask. I have no idea why, other than to claim a brain freeze.) Another hour later, and we gave up and sampled the cold pudding-ish creation. Not, bad, but not exactly good, either. (All I can say here is that the texture was weird.)

Undaunted, I decided to start over the next evenig after work. (When at first you don't succeed, try, and try again, right?)

Second night, second try. I was determined to get it right. I found another coconut ice cream recipe online. I picked up some rock salt. We re-read the instructions with the ice cream maker.

No cooking this time. No pudding. Back out on the deck, we added the ice, and the rock salt and plugged in the ice cream maker.

Forty five minutes later (give or take) and we called it good. We brought in the tub of ice cream, and...yes! It was ice cream... a soft serve texture of coconut goodness. I moved the ice cream from the container to a vintage loaf pan, and covered the top with waxed paper. In the freezer it went. (And it looked oh-so-vintage-and-yummy at the same time. Martha would have been so proud of me.)

We I couldn't stand waiting too much longer, so after an hour I pulled it out and we each sampled a bowl. Mine was dressed up with toasted coconut and a few slivered almonds on top, thankyouverymuch.

Ohmygosh. Yes. Ice cream!

We're going to tackle strawberry next.

More comfort food.

I know most of us do not think of comfort foods in warm and sunny weather. Still, even if it is April,if it's chilly, or looks chilly outside, one of my most favorite comfort foods to whip up is grilled sandwhiches. This past Saturday started out pretty gray, and even though it wasn't all that cold, it looked like comfort food weather, so I made us each a grilled turkey, bacon, and cheddar cheese on sourdough. Mmmm, mmm, mmm.

The trick that makes them so yummy is to use a bit of mayo on one slice of bread, and some thousand island dressing on the other.
Start by grilling up your bacon, and set it aside. Butter the outsides of the two pieces of bread. (Here is where you make them special, with the mayo and thousand island on the flip sides of the two pieces of bread.) Add the cheese, (I used cheddar, but gouda coud be great too.or any other kind of cheese you crave.) followed by the turkey, and the bacon.

Grill.

Flip.

Grill.

Enjoy with a cold drink of your choice, and some really good company.

Perfect.

 

Strawberry short(cut)cake.

You know I love to bake. Cakes. Cookies. Any kind of treat. Love it all.

So, when I make strawberry short cake for dessert, that typically means that I bake the cake part of this treat, in an eight inch round cake pan. I slice it in half, horizontally and layer the cake, berries, whipped cream, and repeat it all. It looks pretty spectacular for company, if I do say so myself.

The past several days, spring weather has finally hit the Pacific Northwest (the entire west coast I believe!) and yesterday I just felt like it was a strawberry-shortcake-for-dessert kind of day. The only problem was that it was just going to be my Rock n' Roll Biddy and me for dinner.

I found a quick, Sandra Lee -like solution. I bought a  pre-cut pound cake from the bakery at the grocery store, and a can of extra creamy whipped cream to go with the strawberries.
I layered cubed bites of the pound cake, berries, and whipped cream in my large water glasses.
Perfect. Just the right amount of yumminess and so pretty too. NExt time you're doing dessert (or a fruit salad for that matter) for yourself, or two people, remember, it can still be a pretty spectacular presentation!

Playing with my food.

I love having little surprises for my guests to see (and eat!) and I also love chocolate dipped strawberries. (who doesn't?) One of the fun desserts I did for Easter this year was an idea I found on Pinterest. So easy, and so stinkin' cute. Start with freshly washed starwberries, and leave the leafy tops on them.
Melt orange colored Wilton candy melts (they taste like white chocolate) in the microwave and dip your berries, being sure to cover them entirely except the tops....
Use a butter knife to add some details of lines on the "carrots" as you set the covered berry on wax paper to cool.
The entire process takes less than 20 minutes and they're ready to go on a tray in the fridge until you are ready to serve them.

Obviously I did them for Easter, but I think the faux carrot look could work at any spring or summer time BBQ or garden party!

 

Cozy (and yummy) dinner for two...in no time at all.

Here in the Pacific Northwest, we have been experiencing some rather unpredictable weather, with sunshine and low 50's one day, followed by blustery winds, rain, hail, and even snow flurries the next. (The news guy actually referred to it as "Winter-Spring" last night on the news.)

Yesterday was one of the closer-to-winter-than-spring days, so I wanted to make something hot and hearty for dinner, but without a whole lot of work involved.(Monday's seem so extra long after a leisurley Sunday for some reason)

Anyway.

I headed to the deli counter at the grocery store and got some Baked Potato Chowder and a bag of round loaves of Sourdogh bread (The bag called them Cannon Balls.) I rubbed butter on the tops of the bread loaves and popped them in the oven on alow shelf with the oven set to Broil, and heated the soup at the same time.

When the bread was hot and slightly crisp looking I pulled it out of the oven, hollowed out our soup bowls, ladled in the hearty chowder, and sprinkled the tops with sharp cheddar cheese.

Mmmmmmm, mmmmm, mmmmm.Ya baby, that's what I'm talkin' about.

Ready in no time at all (with hardly any clean up!) and for under eight bucks, to boot.

Oh. My.

Comfort food to the highest degree.

 

 

Sharing the holiday spirit.

Last night I wrapped up my first round of baking, and packaged up some cookies for my Rock n' Roll Buddy to take into work. Hmmm, for some reason, this basket of treats photographed small looking. It's actually a nice big tray of cookies!!

I stopped by GoodWill on my way home to see if I might find a cute container or two to package up the baked goods, and I struck gold. 

I found a set of six matching little buckets for $2.99...exactly enough buckets to make lil' presents for my department friends at work! 

I filled each bucket with shred, and cookies, and added a sweet little tag that I created on my computer, and candy cane striped ribbon. Today we are going out for a holiday luncheon and these are going to make charming little gifties for each of them!

"Coz nothin' says lovin' like somethin' from the oven.

Thank you, thank you, thank you so much for all the comments on yesterday's post! I brought home a pitcher of roses from the party..er...the wedding!...and I smile each time I look at them. I don't think I will ever be able to be that surprised again in my life time. Such a thrilling, fun feeling!(Click here to see MORE pictures...from the photographer!)

Anyway.

I spent Sunday afternoon baking in the kitchen while my Rock n' Roll Buddy held band practice in the living room. I'll be giving out my goodies to neighbors, and friends...

I went with a white Christmas baking theme for the most part this year. I'll add ribbon wrapped milk bones for my neighbors next door that have pups.....

.....I stuck with my old stand by, favorite recipes...snowballs, and star shaped sugar cookies......

I also dipped pretzels in white chocolate and sprinkles for more added frosty white bling.

So pretty and so yummy! What about you? Do you go with a theme (snowmen? Stars? Red and Green?) when baking for the holidays?

Creating a better world with cookies and milk.

**Before I begin, let me say that my photos came out really poorly due to the lighting in my office....**

Christmas decorating isn't only reserved for your home, you know.

We are having so much fun at work this week! We're decking the halls...er....the main lobby areas on two floors, along with the reception area...for Christmas! To kick off the festivities on Monday afternoon we had Christmas music playing, and I decided to offer up a lil' buffet of milk and cookies.

I began by emailing everyone on my floor (we have three entire floors of employees..) the following quote:

(in case you can't read it in the photo: Think what a better world it would be if we all - the whole world - had cookies and milk about three o'clock every afternoon...Robert Fulgum) and I invited them to help create a better world by stopping by the reception area for a treat.

I served the milk in old wine carafes I got a long time ago at a thrift store, tied with little gingham ribbons and placed in a bucket of ice....

The cookies were a nice combination of homemade (by me and a friend at work) and my good pal, Trader Joe. (I adore his dark chocolate star cookies!)

I am decorating the entire reception area (more pics in a post to follow later...)in traditional red, white...and non-traditional grey tones.....

A five dollar scarf from WalMart makes a fabulous winter-time runner, a jingle bell from a place setting a few years ago (remember it here? Wow. Was it really 2007?!Feels like it was last year...)

....and dollar mittens complete the look.(Oh! And, aren't you lovin' my stocking cap birdies from Camas Antiques?)

So, how's your work space looking this Christmas season? What do you do to add some cheer? I'd love to hear!

Happy Turkey-Day, my friends.

 Thanksgiving dinners take eighteen hours to prepare.  They are consumed in twelve minutes.  Half-times take twelve minutes.  This is not coincidence.  ~Erma Bombeck

I came across a photo from Thanksgiving 2007 and thought I'd share it again. (such a beautiful and delicious pie my daughter-in-law made!)

Wishing you all a cozy Thanksgiving, filled with love, and laughter, and gratitude.

Oh me oh my it's time for pumpkin pie.

Well, almost. Thanksgiving will be here before we know it.

Autumn chills and shorter days are here, and I'm ready to start baking up some different pumpkin goodies, even though I should be spending every spare moment unpacking... 

Anyway.

I usually make my my Pumpkin Maple cake several times each fall and this year I have added another amazing (and easy!) pumpkin dessert to my list of pumpkin recipes.

A friend at work made this for a Potluck and I simply had to have the recipe. I've made it twice in the past week.  (Earlier this week for a family dinner, and then again yesterday as we watched Game 4 of the World Series with an out of town friend!) I think it's going to be a staple in my home for the rest of the season, and I wanted to share it with you!

Pumpkin Crunch

1 package yellow cake mix

1 large can (30 oz) pumpkin pie mix (Not 100% pumpkin)

1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk

3 eggs

1 ½ cups sugar

½ t salt

1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

1 cup melted butter

Whipped topping (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottom of 9x 13 pan.

Combine pumpkin, eggs, sugar, evaporated milk and salt in large bowl. Pour into pan.  Sprinkle dry cake min evenly over pumpkin mixture.  Top with pecans.  Drizzle with melted butter.  Bake for 50 to 55 minutes or until knife inserted comes out clean.  Cool completely.  Serve with whipped topping. Refrigerate left overs  (if you have any!)

And so I baked some cupcakes.

I went with my Rock n Roll Buddy to his Office BBQ the other afternoon. Don't ask me why, but it never occurred to me until the night before the BBQ to ask if it was a pot luck and if so, was there anything I could bring along? He said no, he'd just grab some Popsicles at the store on the way to the party.

Dang it. I missed an opportunity to bake.

Well, after thinking about it, and then dreaming about it all night, I woke up and whipped out a quick batch of cuppy-cakes to take along to the event.

*sigh* I felt ever so much better after that.

A cupcake egg-stravaganza as far as the eye can see.

I'm late with today's post because I was busy with, among other things, baking cupcakes for my daughter's LLS fundraiser. Baking 240 baby-cupcakes to be exact. (I know. You thought I might be getting prepared to take over the front window next Thursday at Camas Antiques...not to worry, I will be ready.)

The baking part actually went relatively fast; less than an hour and a half. The four colors of frosting on those 240 baby-cakes? Notsomuch.
Then, there was the time to load 'em into their lil' cartons....*sigh*

So sweet. And so yummy. Folks are gonna love them, and it's all for such a good cause.

My easy-peasy-tastes-like-scratch version of Coconut cake.

...with coconut cream filling, and coconut buttercream frosting, thankyouverymuch.

Many of you asked for my recipe from the coconut birthday cake yesterday, so...here it is, in it's all-too-easy entirety, and I guarantee that it will impress most anyone that enjoys coconut cake.

The Cake:

1 Duncan Hines white cake mix (follow complete baking directions, except...in addition to the egg whites, water and vegetable oil, add:

1 cup real mayonnaise

1 Tablespoon Coconut flavoring

Bake as directed, cool (I like to put mine in the freezer, as it seems to keep it more moist and is much easier to cut to fill later)

While the cake is cooling....make coconut filling:

1 box Jello Brand coconut cream pudding mix (instant or cook and serve...your choice) Follow directions. Chill.

Coconut Buttercream Frosting:

1 Bag or 2 boxes sifted confectioners sugar

 1 cup margarine or butter (I use Imperial Brand myself...)

1 Tablespoon Coconut flavoring

milk to thin to desired consistency

2 cups toasted coconut (I brown mine in the oven on a foil covered cookie sheet at 425 degrees until brown- about 5 minutes, then stir and go 5 more minutes or so)

Beat all ingredients together except browned coconut.

To assemble:

Cut both 8 inch layers lengthwise, creating 4 layers. Place 1 layer on cake plate.  Pipe a fat bead of frosting around the edge of the layer, fill in with coconut pudding, add next layer, slather with frosting and sprinkle with toasted coconut. Add third layer, repeat the bead of frosting and pudding, then top layer more frosting and top off with toasted coconut. No need to frost the sides of the cake..it's pretty enough as is.

See?

I told you it was easy.

 

Blooming cupcakes and more on the lil' flutter-bys.

The lil' bouquet of edible flowers came out nicely and the butterflies were a perfect finishing touch!

The butterflies were easy to do. Once I made the pattern, I simply laid a piece of parchment paper (available on the aisle with the aluminum foil at the grocery store) on top of the pattern and then piped out the main color of my butterflies...
I then filled another parchment bag with the darker color frosting and piped the outline and details. I let them dry for several hours and they were ready to be placed on my cupcakes. For those of you that are interested in learning how to create the sweet lil' flowers, as well as the recipe for making the butterflies, I have added several new pages, with complete step-by-step instructions to the booklet that accompanies my "Make it Special- Cookies and Cupcakes" DVD kit. You can order it here.

I've linked this post to Metamorphesis Mondays from Naps on the Porch. Check out LOTS of other great ideas by clicking here.

A lil' Pre-Easter cupcake fun for a really good cause.

The favorite Auntie is fund-raising for Leukemia, (and gearing up for a race this June!) and we are baking some Easter love and selling it to friends as part of the fund-raising efforts.

Mmmm hmm. It turns out that my babycakes are just the perfect size to fit onto these adorable pink and periwinkle blue pastel egg cartons that we found online! This first batch was a prototype, and I do think I'll tone down my colors just a teensy bit, but over all, I am loving the idea..what do you think?

Flutter-bys.

Can you guess what this sketchy home made pattern is for?

I betcha can't.

Well....I'm working on a cupcake order for a friend that is hosting a bridal shower and she is going with a spring-time theme. I thought I'd do the cuppy-cakes all up like flowers, with a few solid ones mixed in, but I wanted to add something a little more unexpected.

The unexpected part will be sweet lil' butterflies! I'm making them with Royal Frosting this morning, so they will be nice and dry (like candy) and ready to place on a few select cupcakes.

I'll be sharing the finished product once the cupcakes are all frosted, but for now, I couldn't help but tease you with a teeny tiny peek at my homemade patterns! (Oh! I am also adding a few lady bugs to the mix....)

Impress your friends and family with what you can do with a little left over bread.

Okay, I know most of you eat all the bread in your home, but for those occasions when you find yourself with a couple of heels and a few slices of bread left over, I have a little recipe you just might like.

I am known across the land (okay, with my litle circle of family and friends) for making a pretty mean batch of home made croutons. It occurred to me yesterday as I was baking up a batch of these wildly popular homemade croutons that I don't think I ever shared my recipe for these easy-peasy-so-yummy-and-cheesy lil' bits of heaven.

First off, as I said in the beginning of the post, when you have extra slices of bread...freeze them. When you are making a salad, or a chowder, pull that left over bread out of the freezer, adn make some of these little morsels of melt-in-your-mouth-heaven.(there are no exact measurements, season to your own taste preferences...)

A few slices of bread, thawed and cut into nice sized cubes

Melted butter or margarine (for about a half a loaf of bread I use two full cubes. (Hey, I said they were heavenly)

Italian seasoning (A nice heavy-healthy amount sprinkled over the melted butter)

Salt to taste

garlic powder to taste

grated Parmesan cheese if desired or if it's handy

Mix all ingredients in  a bowl...

and then spread on a cookie sheet. Bake for about ten mionutes at 385' and then stir around on the cookie sheet.
Back into the oven until lightly brown.
Store in an airtight container after cool if you do not eat them right away.

Be modest when folks praise you for these little gems, lightly blushing as you say that they were a lot of trouble to make, but well worth it.

Frosted sugar cookies with a Halloween feel.

After we did the dipped pretzels yesterday, we baked up some Halloween themed sugar cookies. (A very sweet friend had given me some halloween and harvest cookie cutters and I have been dying to break them in!) My daughter took a lil' box of cookies with her when she left to surprise a friend with.... 
I've shared my recipe for sugar cookies before, right here. It's an old Betty Crocker Cook Book recipe and it's easy, and yummy. If you're feeling the urge to do some Autumn baking, you might enjoy trying this recipe out.

 

Baking weather....with a twist.

The weathermen here have predicted a storm arriving later today, and lasting for the next few days. That news alone makes me want to stay home, with the fireplace all aglow...and bake. (Even if the storm doesn't make it in...)

My daughters and grandson came over to my place, and the Sewing Queen of northern Nevada was in town for a visit, so we decided to spend the morning...er...day...baking some Harvest and halloween treats. Along with halloween Sugar Cookies, we added something new (for us) to our baking repetoire...dipped pretzels. (which, by the way, are not baked, but still oh-so-yummy.)

They were so easy to do, and they came out just so danged cute that I had to share.

Simply take large stick pretzels (I guess any shape would work, but these were fun to do, and easy to embellish with a bow...) and dip them..first in melted milk chocolate...
...let them sit, either in a glass, or on wax or freezer paper until set...after that, melt orange and then white chocolate with a lil' bit of crisco and drizzle over the pretzels with a piping bag and a small tip. (I used a #2)

Once they are set, tie them with bows and add them to a goodie basket for someone special....whatcha think? You likey?

 

**A Little update on Moose- He's doing much better thanks to the nice Vet's medicine....and he's very nearly back to his old charming self. Thanks for all of the well wishes, and the rice suggestions!**

 

Make it Special! A new e-kit...Clever tags for gifts of food.

By my own ommission I am an obbsessive baker. I bake when I am happy. When I am stressed. When I feel like nesting. I simply love to bake, and because I bake so often, I end up giving most of my batches of baking to friends, and co-workers, and family.

Next to my passion for baking, I love making my baked goods presentation special...always. A pretty ribbon and a darling tag take an ordinary box of yummy chocolate chip cookies to an entirely different level of thoughtful gift giving, don't you think?

Here is my lil' secret....I make my tags a sheet at a time, and I keep them, already cut out, in little manilla envelopes, which I have glued on tag to the font of. I keep them all together, and when I need one, I am ready, without spending any extra time. I can surprise a friend with something over-the-top at a moment's notice, 'coz I m not having to run and print the tag. (I make my sheets of tags in advance of the holidays too, so I have them all set when I do holiday marathon baking.)
If you're techie enough with your computer, you can design these kind of tags yourself, but many of you have emailed me asking how I do the little dotted edges on my tags, and about the cute fonts...so....

...After many requests, I've gathered up some of my most used quotes that I like to use when making gift tags for my food presents, and put them all in a simple to use e-kit, (for less than $1.75 per sheet, and they are yours to use over and over) sent right to your email in-box!

Included in this kit are seven templates for you to save to your computer and use over and over again. Each template comes on it's own pdf. template with ten identical labels per page for you to print, right from your own computer. Any of these templates can be printed on card stock, computer or scrapbook paper, or even on old dictionary or book pages.

A creative gift tag is the crowning glory, adding a charming touch to a hostess gift, or holiday treat basket....Think of the delightful details you can add to any gift of food, at holidays...or any time!

Templates include tag templates that read "A balanced diet is a cookie in each hand"...
....Life is short, eat dessert first...
...and five additional sheets that carry these great tag lines for turning any gift of food into a fabulous little treasure:

Be sure to celebrate the many small things...bright days, good friends, and anything with sprinkles.(A great lil' tag to add to any baked good...cupcakes, cookies, cakes... with sprinkles!)

Happy Birthday!

Thank You!

Eat drink and be scary. (So perfect, and just in time for Halloween!)

One of the secrets of a happy life is continuous small treats. (Perfect for anyone...anytime. Make someone feel special...for a birthday, anniversary...or any time at all!)

This kit is delivered right to your email in-box and it includes all seven templates to make the tags pictured and listed above...simply print them, cut them out with scissors or pinking shears, punch a hoe to add a ribbon, and feel free to use the templates as you wish, over and over again!

Cost: $12. through PayPal!

Comfort foods for Fall.

  
Autumn arrived in full force at last here in the Pacific Northwest, with nearly two days of solid rain, (Oh! I loved it!) and all I have been able to think about for days is...grilled cheese sandwiches.

Actually, it started with the last Issue of Martha's magazine, where she had an article titled "Grown-up Grilled Cheese". In the article she (okay, "her people") went on and on about using whatever assortment of cheeses you happen to have in the fridge on a gotta-have-grilled-cheese-sandwiches day and any bacon, ham or what have you that is also just lying in the fridge waiting for it's encore presentation. You jazz it all up with dill or basil, tomatoes, or onions...and grill it up for a fabulouso Autumn meal.

Okay, so, as I said, Autumn screams for grilled cheese sandwiches, and I didn't actually have any cheese in my fridge, except for shredded cheddar, and a block of parmesian. Not to worry, I headed to the never disapointing QFC market's deli counter to round up some great cheeses for this mouth watering meal.

If you do not have QFC's where you live, let me tell you that it is rather like the Nordstoms of the grocery store world...more of a high end type market, catering to a more sophisticated palate, and ingredients menu. They have everything, food-wise, for a price. These days, QFC is not on my usual weekly stops, as I am more of a WinCo slash walMart shopper, looking for the bargain food basics, but when I'm wanting somethng special, it's the place to go...and it's always a treat to peruse thier deli and meat counters.

The deli girl at QFC didn't let me down. She gave me a slice of the Horseradish cheddar to sample. Oh, Mama. So good, and just the right amount of horseradish-ness to add a lil pop to my creation. Baby Swiss, some Creamy Harvarti, and Smokey Gruyere rounded out my cheese purchases, along with half a pound of Canadian Bacon. I grabbed a loaf of thier freshly baked sliced sourdough on the way to check out, and I was good to go.

In the end, I opted for making these yummy sandwiches in a purist fashion, without onion or dill, and it was still dee-lish. I used the Other Tracey's top secret caterer tip of using mayo on the outside of the pieces fo bread instead of just butter, and along with some salt and pepper potato chips, my Autmn meal was complete, and my craving for comfort food was satisfied.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

A bowl of tomatoe soup would also be a nice addition to this savory fall meal, now that I think about it, topped with a bit of grated fresh parmesian, and a couple of homemade sourdough crutons.... Hmm, maybe when I use the now left-over cheeses in my fridge I will do that.

Not your ordinary cookie surprise.

Here's an idea for all of you not-too-squeamish-or-faint-of-heart bakers out there at Halloween-time. I found these absolutely creepy little rubber mice at a Halloween store. All rubber-y and jiggly, and just the right size. I put my freshly baked cookies in a decorative to-go box, (available at all the craft stores)
...and slid one rubber mouse down one of the sides of my cookie stack, along with another mouse perched up on top of my cookies. A perfect little spooky surprise for the little (and not-so-little) gobblins and ghoulies in your life.....

Cute, (in a kind of gross way) don'tcha think?

Nuthin' says Autumn quite like this three bean chili does.

Mmmm...mmmm...mmmm. Oh ya.

A couple of weeks ago, a friend took me to a way cool brew pub in the Pearl District, and we ended up sharing a bowl of their three bean vegan chili. Neither of us are vegans, but the couple at the table next to us were having it, and it looked and smelled so good that we decided to order up a bowl and try it.

Oh. My. Ga.

So yummy.

Anyway, ever since that Sunday, I have been craving another bowl of this amazing chili, so I decided to google it, and see if I might find the recipe, or one that sounded similar enough to try making it myself at home. I found a recipe right away that appeared to have what I was looking for.

I made this chili for the first time a couple nights ago when I was having that same friend over for dinner. Now, I don't usually like trying out a new recipe with company, in case it's not up to par, but the ingredients sounded good, so I took a chance. It's a Rachel Ray recipe, and I haven't ever tried any of her stuff, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect.

I needn't have been concerned, as it was dee-lish. (Actually...Yumm-O, as Rachel would say.) Here's Rachel's recipe:

• 2 tablespoons (2 turns around the pan) olive or vegetable oil
• 1 medium yellow skinned onion, chopped
• 1 large red pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1 large green pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1 large jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped
• 1 cup pale beer or vegetable stock/broth (I will use an entire bottle of beer next time, as this chili came out really thick)
• 1 (32- ounce) can crushed or diced tomatoes
• 1 (14-ounce) undrained can black beans
• 1 (14-ounce) undrained can dark red kidney beans
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 tablespoon cayenne hot pepper sauce, several drops
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1 (14 ounce) can spicy vegetarian refried beans

Toppings:

• 8 ounces (2 cups shredded) spicy monterey jack or smoked cheddar
• Chopped scallions, whites and greens
• Diced fresh seeded plum tomato
• tortilla chips or black bean tortilla chips, for dipping (I used tortilla strips and sprinkled them on top of the chili...)
  

Directions

Over moderate heat, add oil to a deep pot and combine onion, peppers, and garlic. Saute for 3 to 5 minutes to soften vegetables. Deglaze pan with beer or broth, add tomatoes, black beans, red kidney beans, and stirring to combine.

Season chili with cumin, chili powder, hot sauce, and salt. Thicken chili by stirring in refried beans. Simmer over low heat about 5 to 10 minutes longer, then serve up bowls of chili and top with shredded cheese, scallions, and tomatoes. 

**Note from Tracey** This chili would be equally dee-lish if you added chicken to the recipe, and I just may try that next time around.

I served it up with some Asiago cheese bread, and beer, natch. Not only was this a perfect Autumn meal, it was easy to make, in under 20 minutes prep time. Give it a try, if you're a chili fan.

More foodie love.

I thought I'd take a minute or two to share another gift of food idea with you today. I got a ginormous bag of never-been-opened-restaurant-take-out boxes at a garage sale last summer and I. Heart. Them.

They are perfect for making guests a  lil' doggy bag after a dinner party, and they also make amazing lil' cookie (or other baked goodies) boxes.
I'll admit that I thought I was pretty clever when I found this quotation and printed it on a tag to go into a lil' box of chocolate chip cookies for one of my sweetest friends yesterday. I mean, it might sound cheesy, but I love good quotations...you know, the right quote at the perfect time (or with the perfect gift) can motivate, comfort, inspire, or simply bring a smile to someone's face. I made a tag on my computer, (complete with my witty lil' quote in "American Typewriter" font), and I used the tag to cover the tape on the tissue paper that covered the cookies. When my friend opened the box, I got to see a happy grin as the tag was read.

I tied a simple ribbon around the box, but you can do things up as foofy and fancy as you please. Just remember, things go from ordinary to extraordinary when you take an extra five minutes to add a personal touch, and it won't cost a dime.

So........Who's day can you make with a little treatie today?

Life is as sweet as we make it.

I was thinking last night as I was baking and decorating cookies for really sweet friend that it really takes so little to show someone that you think they are pretty darned special. It doesn't take an outrageous amount of money, or a lot of work. It just takes a little time, and a little effort. It's all about making the ordinary...extraordinary.

Mmmm hmmm, it's all in the presentation. A cute box or bag, some ribbon, a handmade tag and you're good to go. I buy these cute lil' acrylic boxes online, but you can find them at places like Craft Warehouse and Michael's Craft Store, and put a stack of cookies, or a cupcake in them for an Oh-my-gosh-how-thoughtful-was-that look on your friend's face when you give them their little prezzie.

I used my cheesy print program to make my tag, but you can use WORD on your computer, or hand write one just the same and make is just as cute as mine if computer-y stuff isn't for you. My print program creates ten tags per page, so I put the extra nine in a drawer where they will be easy to find the next time I want to use this idea again!

Ordinary cookies (mine are my frosted sugar cookies, but any home made favorite will be a hit and look every bit as cute) become fabulous when presented in a creative way. Spend an extra five minutes, and make your friends feel really special. Think about this the next time you're taking a hostess gift, or simply surprising your friend, sweetheart, co-worker...or your favorite postman with a little somethin' somethin' to remind them that they are special.

After all, life is as sweet as we make it, right?