tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86270074463924355922024-03-14T04:00:43.866-04:00What's Cookin' In FatCat's Kitchen?Fat Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14238814485412337924noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8627007446392435592.post-82609136995520227212012-01-18T22:00:00.000-05:002012-01-18T22:00:57.267-05:00So A Lot Has HappenedDearest Readers, if I still have any.<br />
<br />
Please accept my most sincere apologies for my almost 2 years without posting. A lot has happened since my last post. Most importantly, a Fat Kitten was born. And turned 1. It's been quite an adventure from pregnancy to having a 1 year old and because of that, my kitchen has been neglected.<br />
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That is until her birthday rolled around!!! At last a reason to bake again! A reason that wasn't just "because" and one that I couldn't claim exhaustion and get out of. And it reminded me how much I love to bake and how much I've missed it.<br />
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I got to try two things that I had never done before. I made homemade fondant and I made my first ever from scratch cake!<br />
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I know you know about fondant. That beautiful sculpting/colored/3D decoration making stuff that tastes like sugared chalk. Not this fondant. This was made with two wonderful ingredients. Melted marshmallows and powdered sugar. Edible and fun to work with. I was absolutely terrified.<br />
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I used the recipe from <a href="http://bakeat350.blogspot.com/2010/05/homemade-fondant.html">Bake at 350</a> and it was so ridiculously easy I embarrassed myself with how scared I was. The only thing I hated was having to coat everything (hands included) with Crisco so I could work with the fondant dough.<br />
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The cake was a recipe I found <a href="http://recipes.kaboose.com/perfect-chocolate-cake.html">here</a>. I just Googled "chocolate cake" and tried the one that was the least intimidating. Yes, I admit it, after almost 2 years I was afraid to bake again. It's not like this was baking for the fun of it. It was for Fat Kitten's first birthday! I had to make it as perfect as I could. <br />
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So I made the fondant about 2 weeks before I needed to do anything with it. Just to make sure that I could do is successfully. Imagine my surprise when it was less than dramatic when I made it. The cakes (yes, more than one - 4 to be exact) were made the Friday before FK's birthday party. I also cut out all of the fondant shapes that I needed that night. Let's just say... it was a looooooooooong night.<br />
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The finished product was chocolate layer cake with chocolate pudding filling. I frosted using ~gasp~ canned frosting that I tinted pint. I cut out fondant polka dots and made fondant Minnie Mouse silhouettes. For bows on the Minnies I used heart shaped sprinkles.<br />
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Imagine my happiness when people asked me what bakery we got the cake from. I was surprised. I was thrilled. I blushed. <br />
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Here is the finished product. We ended up with a rectangle cake and a round cake. The round ended up coming home with us.<br />
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Now I admit, my Minnie's look a little wonky and my polka dots are all over the place on the round cake. But all in all, I'm thrilled with how they turned out. <br />
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Here are the recipes.<br />
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Fondant: <br />
16oz bag of mini marshmallows<br />
3tbs of water<br />
2lbs of powdered sugar<br />
Crisco<br />
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Grease everything you're going to use (including your kneading surface) with Crisco. You will regret it if you don't. In a large greased microwaveable bowl, melt the marshmallows with the water. Do it in 30 second increments until the marshmallows are melted. Be sure to stir after each interval.<br />
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Reserve approximately 1/4 cup of the powdered sugar. Dump the rest into your greased mixer bowl. Be sure to grease the paddle of your mixer. Add the melted marshmallows into the sugar. Beat until a dough forms. <br />
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Dump everything from the mixing bowl on to a clean and greased surface. If there are any crumbs be sure to include them in what you dump out. Knead the dough until it becomes smooth. Be sure your hands are greased as you are kneading the dough.<br />
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You can divide and tint your dough. Whatever fondant you're not working with at the time cover to keep it from drying out. When you're finished and have left overs form a ball and coat with Crisco. Tightly wrap in plastic wrap and store in a zip-top bag. I let mine rest for 24 hours on the counter. Then into the fridge it went. <br />
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When you want to use your fondant again just take it out of the fridge, pop it into the microwave for about 30 seconds and then re-knead it to get it warmed and ready to go again.<br />
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"Perfect" Chocolate Cake:<br />
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour<br />
2 cups sugar<br />
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder<br />
1 1/2 tsp baking soda<br />
1 1/2 tsp baking powder<br />
2 eggs<br />
1 cup milk<br />
1/2 cup vegetable oil<br />
2 tsp vanilla<br />
1 cup boiling water<br />
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Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line two 9" round cake pans or one 9x13 rectangular pan with parchment paper and grease the pans (bottom and sides) well.<br />
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In a large bowl combine the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, and baking soda. Add the eggs, milk, vanilla, and oil. Using a hand mixer, beat for 2 minutes. Add the boiling water and mix until just combined. Pour the batter into the pan(s) evenly. <br />
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Bake for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out cleanly after inserting into the middle of the cake. Slide a knife around the edges of the cakes and flip out on to a cooling rack.<br />
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For the filling I used boxed pudding.<br />
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Welcome back, dear readers. Here's to a new year, a new adventure, and new recipes.<br />
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Love and purrs,<br />
FatCatFat Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14238814485412337924noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8627007446392435592.post-53184047455864434902010-04-04T13:04:00.001-04:002010-04-05T09:04:36.093-04:00Passover Desserts That Don't Taste Like CardboardEven though this one was made with matzah. Surprisingly, it's one of the desserts that I'll even eat.<br />
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Passover has many memories for me. Mostly of horrible mixes that had I eaten the box they came in I would have enjoyed more. Don't even get me started on the year my mother bought the kosher for Passover "bread" mix. I still have nightmares.<br />
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At any rate, if you want the skinny on the Passover story, rent a copy of "The Ten Commandments" and watch up to the crossing of the Red Sea. That's the story in a nutshell. A really long nutshell. Like 3 hours of Charlton Heston chewing on the pyramids. But Yul Brenner is all kinds of hot in the film so it's well worth the watch.<br />
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My mother-in-law gave me a fantastic cook book of Jewish cooking and stories from each of the contributers. "Cooking Jewish - 532 Great Recipes From The Rabinowitz Family" has a vast aray of tried and true recipes for a wide variety of holidays and just daily cooking. The following recipe is from this book but it was altered slightly by my mother-in-law. Her recipes have yet to steer me wrong.<br />
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First you gather your ingredients:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEMDiZj3_qn7OUOeZj1w1GdArBgiV0DNfWMz8Q90PiGNqEP4wfzZ3xVUtmUv4Y0-6ukt8gw27ZZ08fEggAJyHKeenfc8bhFr5N2QFeg3wMLU86nS_lc9IlEnASVgxftfaKxRkEDGdvBuFy/s1600/P1010072.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" nt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEMDiZj3_qn7OUOeZj1w1GdArBgiV0DNfWMz8Q90PiGNqEP4wfzZ3xVUtmUv4Y0-6ukt8gw27ZZ08fEggAJyHKeenfc8bhFr5N2QFeg3wMLU86nS_lc9IlEnASVgxftfaKxRkEDGdvBuFy/s400/P1010072.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>Lay your matzah boards on a cookie sheet. I used 4 as that is what fit on my cookie sheet. My mother-in-law was able to get 5 - 5 1/2 on her sheet. She also has a bigger oven than I do.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9RuRPwLrtWf-UVVuH-P0KcK8ZTe1innXyfyUMbdiVMmlmJR71EFEZbERPZ70HBIq6335-880jTs2CXDLa8RamZ4-BmdRwHMu-f4yPWl0BfIIqStjqLF9agxuqutk61pbXsFJim5IGwm9g/s1600/P1010073.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" nt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9RuRPwLrtWf-UVVuH-P0KcK8ZTe1innXyfyUMbdiVMmlmJR71EFEZbERPZ70HBIq6335-880jTs2CXDLa8RamZ4-BmdRwHMu-f4yPWl0BfIIqStjqLF9agxuqutk61pbXsFJim5IGwm9g/s400/P1010073.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
You bring to a boil 1 cup of brown sugar and 1/2 cup (1 stick) of unsalted butter. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYxZx8GKoz_NI8d2pjKUwQiHlKJRfD_dLju3A8Swly47Ka7diu1vf14dkqCZuoNGSuiB3TWVyHlBUmJAfK9-tNSYxbV7njYSEgQrSvGWzznRflnlxTazAUVkSiuEKmJTgktLuYellDG_Qy/s1600/P1010074.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" nt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYxZx8GKoz_NI8d2pjKUwQiHlKJRfD_dLju3A8Swly47Ka7diu1vf14dkqCZuoNGSuiB3TWVyHlBUmJAfK9-tNSYxbV7njYSEgQrSvGWzznRflnlxTazAUVkSiuEKmJTgktLuYellDG_Qy/s400/P1010074.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>Stir frequently. Bring it to a boil and let it simmer until it's a thick syrup. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyvUQRnY4ukU4YB4zmez9IMMTgFW2qCEidGV7dNkU1vO1XUGx6NjNlDoem_cqRKvGpoO1ufnBYY78Ks-e-eCaekj5A0JI5MTAMo3fNpZ1a1QvF4BRoByItb_gSVfMktRweJIXedQES5XVy/s1600/P1010075.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" nt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyvUQRnY4ukU4YB4zmez9IMMTgFW2qCEidGV7dNkU1vO1XUGx6NjNlDoem_cqRKvGpoO1ufnBYY78Ks-e-eCaekj5A0JI5MTAMo3fNpZ1a1QvF4BRoByItb_gSVfMktRweJIXedQES5XVy/s400/P1010075.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpgO7zTsZbKhneHQmJ_gh94hizOPuLpTQf6qMweQRWWqgoQtRGqCn6qNrJJDMeAcnGeQkmEahuo5-mtIZKskHzh0HR9e1Thtfgh6bb1zqszJ0Dm4FNPbm57VY27W3lavcF1zcehPfCRf7s/s1600/P1010077.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" nt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpgO7zTsZbKhneHQmJ_gh94hizOPuLpTQf6qMweQRWWqgoQtRGqCn6qNrJJDMeAcnGeQkmEahuo5-mtIZKskHzh0HR9e1Thtfgh6bb1zqszJ0Dm4FNPbm57VY27W3lavcF1zcehPfCRf7s/s400/P1010077.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>Once the toffee is done spread it on your matzah boards.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhemzFz7LjG8AiCBL19YtYA1SNsnxnMyJsuG_tYGyRrgSDvN1WwJgQR_wu3TmEK8GK2r9RFqS7qafYCMqbqXuaMT3ec_GK_lS8zugOGfjGlicfDJh7m67IccrltbgVqtUShqX-R9YtTy75X/s1600/P1010078.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" nt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhemzFz7LjG8AiCBL19YtYA1SNsnxnMyJsuG_tYGyRrgSDvN1WwJgQR_wu3TmEK8GK2r9RFqS7qafYCMqbqXuaMT3ec_GK_lS8zugOGfjGlicfDJh7m67IccrltbgVqtUShqX-R9YtTy75X/s400/P1010078.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>I could have gone a little thicker on the toffee. Live and learn, right?<br />
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Stick the tray into a 450 degree oven and bake for about 4 minutes or until the toffee is brown(er) and bubbly(er).<br />
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When the boards come out of the oven, spread a bag of chocolate chips (I used semi-sweet. My mother-in-law added a little dark chocolate to her's).<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7e_TMUTzwdBzf_x_TscOi7Qk4ydLK_x7_ob0IfXx0gn05tKYEq5kW9Y86I_N9ow1K2kZxcuoqf0pD-iU9cNns4ihIkzDDPQDi1A2v6oyMjSO7EGnj_YZ03L2npVFag6R63zftewjX7bVz/s1600/P1010080.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" nt="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7e_TMUTzwdBzf_x_TscOi7Qk4ydLK_x7_ob0IfXx0gn05tKYEq5kW9Y86I_N9ow1K2kZxcuoqf0pD-iU9cNns4ihIkzDDPQDi1A2v6oyMjSO7EGnj_YZ03L2npVFag6R63zftewjX7bVz/s400/P1010080.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>Stick the tray back in the oven for about a minute. Just to get the chips nice and melty. Take the tray out of the oven and let sit for about 5 minutes until the chips are melted enough to spread.<br />
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Schmere the chocolate around to coat each board. Resist the urge to stick your fingers in - it's still hot.<br />
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I melted some milk chocolate chips and drizzled it all over the boards. Mostly for decorative purposes. It did help the taste. Honestly, there is no such thing as too much chocolate. <br />
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</div>And I added a little spring time flare. It seemed appropriate since the weather is gorgeous and I've been walking around in short sleeves. Plus I had extra daisy sprinkles. A quick sprinkle of the daisies and a generous pinch of Fleu De Sel (sea salt) and you're ready to let it cool and then munch!<br />
<br />
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<br />
So even though this particular dessert is made with something that tastes like cardboard when eaten on its own, dress it with toffee and chocolate and it's really pretty tasty.<br />
<br />
<br />
Matzah Toffee (page 590 "Cooking Jewish" - adjustments by Mother-In-Law FatCat)<br />
<br />
1 stick of unsalted butter<br />
1 cup light or brown sugar<br />
1 12oz bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips<br />
milk chocolate chips<br />
fleur de sel<br />
matzah<br />
<br />
<br />
Pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees. Place matzah boards on a cookie sheet. Mix together in a sauce pan the butter and the brown sugar. Bring to a boil stirring frequently. Once it boils, let it bubble another 3-4 minutes until thick and syrupy. <br />
<br />
Spread over the matzah boards thickly. Place in the oven for 4 minutes or until the toffee is brown and bubbly. Remove from the oven and spread the semi-sweet chips over the boards. Stick it back in the oven for another minute.<br />
<br />
Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes until the chips are melty and spreadable. Evenly spread over the boards. Melt the milk chocolate chips and drizzle over the boards. Sprinkle on the fleur de sel and the decorations and let cool. <br />
<br />
You can refrigerate to help harden more quickly.<br />
<br />
Enjoy!!!!<br />
<br />
Happy Passover,<br />
<br />
FatCatFat Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14238814485412337924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8627007446392435592.post-6605109885293621082010-03-22T08:42:00.000-04:002010-03-22T08:42:13.937-04:00Spring Has Sprung!Let's just say, life has exploded in the last few weeks which is why I haven't been baking. And there was that gingerbread catastrophe that I wouldn't subject anyone to. I'm still so embarrassed.<br />
<br />
The weather is turning nice (as rain pours down outside the window), trees are in bud and the flowers are blossoming. What better way to celebrate than with some sort of blossom cookie?<br />
<br />
My friend S provided me with this recipe. She was right, it's quick, easy and a hit. Generally speaking, I rely on others' opinions on my baking as I find it difficult to eat something I spent a lot of time on. These I eat. And I don't want to share. But I will. Only with my husband.<br />
<br />
First you gather your supplies. <br />
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<br />
Empty the sweetened condensed milk into a mixing bowl<br />
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Add in the peanut butter<br />
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Add vanilla. Mix with a hand mixer.<br />
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Add in 1 cup of the Bisquick and mix. Warning: Use of a hand mixer or a wooden spoon is unwise. The dough crept up my beaters and stuck to my spoon. Best mixing instruments you have are at the ends of your arms. Get those hands dirty!!<br />
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Here's what it looks like when it's completely combined and ready to be formed.<br />
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Roll into roughly 1 inch balls. Roll each ball in some sugar.<br />
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Place on cookie sheet and bake. (wow that's a terrible photo! Sorry about that)<br />
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Get your next step prepared. DO NOT SNACK ON THEM UNTIL YOU KNOW HOW MANY YOU NEED!! <br />
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Unwrap them and keep them at the ready. You'll need to wield the Kiss quickly when the time comes.<br />
<br />
When the cookies come out of the oven, press a kiss into the center of each one. Move them to a cooling rack and try to not sample any until they're cool. I have the burns on the roof of my mouth as proof that you want to wait.<br />
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<br />
Enjoy these little Peanut Butter Blossoms and celebrate Spring!<br />
<br />
Recipe:<br />
1 can sweetened condensed milk<br />
3/4 cup peanut butter<br />
2 cups bisquick<br />
1 tsp Vanilla<br />
sugar<br />
Hershey's Kisses<br />
<br />
Mix can of sweetened condensed milk, vanilla and peanut butter. Add in Bisquick. Mix with your hands until dough is formed. Roll dough into 1" balls and roll in sugar. Place on cookie sheet and bake at 325 degrees for 8-10 minutes (9 worked perfectly for me). When the cookies come out of the oven and are still hot, press in an unwrapped Kiss into the center of the cookie. Move to a cooling rack.<br />
<br />
I have no idea how long these can last. I'm betting they won't make it through the week in my house.<br />
<br />
Can anyone explain why I'm getting April Showers in March?<br />
<br />
FatCatFat Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14238814485412337924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8627007446392435592.post-56915057204106451882010-02-12T10:51:00.001-05:002010-02-12T10:51:24.590-05:00A Little Less ConversationWell, no, not really. A little <i>more</i> conversation with these sweet treats.<br />
<br />
I have very fond memories of elementary school Valentine's day and receiving lollipops, chocolate, and most importantly - Necco Conversation Sweethearts. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, here's a picture:<br />
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<br />
For the first time in years, I didn't go out and buy a giant bag of these (I'm waiting for February 15th when they go on 75% off), but I was certainly inspired by them.<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">For Hanukkah I received a gift card to use however I wanted. I opted to get these:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyk4la6Dmmxj_uFRcryVbbg2BOIBozVKHisJVQQq1ceODilmforFlJ2s81DuY1OeehH8axRpTO64SwjAUll5Ngd8nCpD3gTkox1T53UkoF-EGDBgePATUqKrIdL2ZHDBAYOgV9PiNyRcdJ/s1600-h/P1010001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyk4la6Dmmxj_uFRcryVbbg2BOIBozVKHisJVQQq1ceODilmforFlJ2s81DuY1OeehH8axRpTO64SwjAUll5Ngd8nCpD3gTkox1T53UkoF-EGDBgePATUqKrIdL2ZHDBAYOgV9PiNyRcdJ/s400/P1010001.JPG" width="400" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlK9qBiVLkwfV_ytCGSIvh0OxCe6UrGr0h4fVdWd76J4hZqqONsrAzkpYR_nCygybBjk1UFlAgq9qhVE1An5c_9nZPsjzFr7pAwQ0n5CnBErSM8ULYvkcK8HeKnCMZ7V8tWUkHxZtOZPuF/s1600-h/P1010002.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlK9qBiVLkwfV_ytCGSIvh0OxCe6UrGr0h4fVdWd76J4hZqqONsrAzkpYR_nCygybBjk1UFlAgq9qhVE1An5c_9nZPsjzFr7pAwQ0n5CnBErSM8ULYvkcK8HeKnCMZ7V8tWUkHxZtOZPuF/s400/P1010002.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
There is little better than 101 plastic cookie cutters. They make me happy. They make cookie baking fun. They make my little heart sing. Or something cliche like that.<br />
<br />
In this batch of cookie cutters there are hearts. Hmmm.... Valentine's day.... Conversation Hearts.... Conversation Heart Cookies!!!!!!!<br />
<br />
I used the sugar cookie and royal icing recipes that I used during the <a href="http://fatcatdessertarts.blogspot.com/2009/12/how-sweet-it-is.html">holiday cookie extravaganza</a>.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">I made my dough, chilled it, and rolled it out. Then I got to do the fun part of cutting the cookies. I love getting new cookie cutters!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj91CXJtkVRpu_F4E69zqn3eMrw2Yu2u8ZB6xI-NDwiDiHaUg7FbqdbtNuqyDFzUdrTH3A10gHgf5MA8mdlchwJsHCzWwWtM8L9-jXTi25VF1FxB7859z810iZQYGS5QinDq1yWBXr2ldaj/s1600-h/P1010004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj91CXJtkVRpu_F4E69zqn3eMrw2Yu2u8ZB6xI-NDwiDiHaUg7FbqdbtNuqyDFzUdrTH3A10gHgf5MA8mdlchwJsHCzWwWtM8L9-jXTi25VF1FxB7859z810iZQYGS5QinDq1yWBXr2ldaj/s400/P1010004.JPG" width="400" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">So cute. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">I baked the cookies and they came out perfectly. I'm finally getting this whole timing thing down. It's not as easy as it seems.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFTVAB0Zu2inlOPS0sgQlVDsXYTjKZjmb8p6U8ro0nZD1V1HuumNWJ3hujj_04kmdtoHfaJbidVeT30hKyozEeJ7vpuTh95mIbd7z-fz-AaGEr2ThckkdQToHv1Pmq9GB-2hFfXO9OUgPn/s1600-h/P1010005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFTVAB0Zu2inlOPS0sgQlVDsXYTjKZjmb8p6U8ro0nZD1V1HuumNWJ3hujj_04kmdtoHfaJbidVeT30hKyozEeJ7vpuTh95mIbd7z-fz-AaGEr2ThckkdQToHv1Pmq9GB-2hFfXO9OUgPn/s400/P1010005.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
Seriously, aren't they adorable?<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">After they cooled, it was time to get decorating. I whipped up some royal icing and divided it into 3 different bowls. I made each bowl a different color. Pink, Green and Yellow. I put some of the icing into my decorating squeeze bottles and added an appropriate piping tip. The bottles look like these (note: these are not my bottles - just similar.)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYfqvjXEL2ehmulaCsUVgzw61GCpBQVbGkVQDD6u8RsuZISa20H14oQjOVI4p95roVXS6PqdzyAke9Z9ueclDczZB023EbtP0mHAqDHQ6eKuLHIIXs5pT1TLSAzEzvPBbDb1TnXdCajF3z/s1600-h/DecoratingBottlesS9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="353" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYfqvjXEL2ehmulaCsUVgzw61GCpBQVbGkVQDD6u8RsuZISa20H14oQjOVI4p95roVXS6PqdzyAke9Z9ueclDczZB023EbtP0mHAqDHQ6eKuLHIIXs5pT1TLSAzEzvPBbDb1TnXdCajF3z/s400/DecoratingBottlesS9.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">I divided the cookies into colors (22 each) and piped out a border on each one.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN5LBSmm3nGf4IOpfQA8Xh05apn2rFtyIuguUfUlypLCWr-yyvfMtmpMvJyRDFnkRMLnsKBaDvDsjpyNyLvjhqhZBRZFQZy591tMFbsu5GxeCN8DkqhRaI1tdZR8Bwf8MZms3RPNQPJ07H/s1600-h/P1010006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjN5LBSmm3nGf4IOpfQA8Xh05apn2rFtyIuguUfUlypLCWr-yyvfMtmpMvJyRDFnkRMLnsKBaDvDsjpyNyLvjhqhZBRZFQZy591tMFbsu5GxeCN8DkqhRaI1tdZR8Bwf8MZms3RPNQPJ07H/s400/P1010006.JPG" width="400" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhacYTfFPTl9hCkRV9-cJHrvzNRoeE27UveMsft2OqyGPtPHIBQtdcWjwY6NglB7Q6etF-VQVdmPLJN-AAUSdBe0rqevCcib1oTmPQEELPRI6EqyzjV7VV9KwAJW3riEQtjlxaR89S_aHP/s1600-h/P1010007.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhacYTfFPTl9hCkRV9-cJHrvzNRoeE27UveMsft2OqyGPtPHIBQtdcWjwY6NglB7Q6etF-VQVdmPLJN-AAUSdBe0rqevCcib1oTmPQEELPRI6EqyzjV7VV9KwAJW3riEQtjlxaR89S_aHP/s400/P1010007.JPG" width="400" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiTQ8jc6Vnrs5uUIPJyADWfTkaCbcnycZiRicgkuVZvdU55q6s8fp46hxsT6WK0ctTpZBPLfVsbIEKvnAP1AXTTyBKKkp9enCTf27uIK4o8TW663GJdDdsmfABW5hqJyM5lzg6YXuy1Zc5/s1600-h/P1010009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiTQ8jc6Vnrs5uUIPJyADWfTkaCbcnycZiRicgkuVZvdU55q6s8fp46hxsT6WK0ctTpZBPLfVsbIEKvnAP1AXTTyBKKkp9enCTf27uIK4o8TW663GJdDdsmfABW5hqJyM5lzg6YXuy1Zc5/s400/P1010009.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">And I let them sit to harden. This part takes a while.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">When the borders were hardened it was time to thin out the remaining icing by adding 2 tablespoons of water. Some people use milk. I chose the path that was closest. With the thinned out icing I "flooded" the cookies. I squeezed out a pool of icing and spread it with a toothpick.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPSpK6xVmJ3-T5AXFqmmcWwAlt9KXKNd8pGvWgw8OuFihquhSBlWwqsfZx2rXzKCoDL2SlgTu7hmXBwXhtT-CNZlsZL0Lx6zfbExOt0tLjz4z6YxNa3Yunr84nNb7-aAF1SIQydMkFO_C3/s1600-h/P1010010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha5zMDp4rAhUhMyv2nhNaIGW9kQjWIRAmAVhgYnTKcw_Pf6o1B73w0NWb6RFWeaQ27wKoG5PzK169vTbvHlutoXvE9f53rmRpyIa7O4s-gUk2uE8qzHjWFqjauLTlnJuABGlvZuvQ9p32G/s1600-h/P1010011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha5zMDp4rAhUhMyv2nhNaIGW9kQjWIRAmAVhgYnTKcw_Pf6o1B73w0NWb6RFWeaQ27wKoG5PzK169vTbvHlutoXvE9f53rmRpyIa7O4s-gUk2uE8qzHjWFqjauLTlnJuABGlvZuvQ9p32G/s400/P1010011.JPG" width="400" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJH0i9iDJDTwuqlEEWceDLp9xqxdhhVAH6H0UrvPD8vkVy11OmGkOECjOBF5qNG6skdReXkHHMBzcQrZWZitxNgRt_8cere4ffuk82tdi2NiEH0VmWzl-WvkNcG6D8HJ-5YeXP-bCR8L3Q/s1600-h/P1010012.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJH0i9iDJDTwuqlEEWceDLp9xqxdhhVAH6H0UrvPD8vkVy11OmGkOECjOBF5qNG6skdReXkHHMBzcQrZWZitxNgRt_8cere4ffuk82tdi2NiEH0VmWzl-WvkNcG6D8HJ-5YeXP-bCR8L3Q/s400/P1010012.JPG" width="400" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi84N8zWoqh9yK38MsZVixCCoNdeAOC4oIFiEfC1_n5_IMEtsOJjYakwtD4kc-cD2Psvxnb5mnqiypRa9nnTQ7Q9peyt9LgQhUPvNfuFm43bV4NY-2Xk5Fx7ALo5M_3CyjoKapqJUpM2DqQ/s1600-h/P1010013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi84N8zWoqh9yK38MsZVixCCoNdeAOC4oIFiEfC1_n5_IMEtsOJjYakwtD4kc-cD2Psvxnb5mnqiypRa9nnTQ7Q9peyt9LgQhUPvNfuFm43bV4NY-2Xk5Fx7ALo5M_3CyjoKapqJUpM2DqQ/s400/P1010013.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">And I left them to harden. Again - this take a looong time. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">So I watched late night TV. Reruns of Sex and The City, Seinfeld, and whatever infomercials were on. They're not the same without Billy Mayes yelling at you to "BUY THIS PRODUCT!!!"</div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">As soon as the icing was dried, I pulled out my trusty edible ink pens:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU6orDYe1JLEJtkRYqnTc4SoSXoahx_QIqVHi_Uht82BfjAL58XZuFNitndW_Z_5edEBeN-C_eRw15XO6NRR83qs1tj8AiS3wE-8N_U1zv0tepYLpXmKRvZIfK3YQ35iv6y_QIGWOhgEnj/s1600-h/edible+ink.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiU6orDYe1JLEJtkRYqnTc4SoSXoahx_QIqVHi_Uht82BfjAL58XZuFNitndW_Z_5edEBeN-C_eRw15XO6NRR83qs1tj8AiS3wE-8N_U1zv0tepYLpXmKRvZIfK3YQ35iv6y_QIGWOhgEnj/s400/edible+ink.jpg" width="305" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">And got to work. I took a handful of Conversation Heart sayings and wrote them on my cookies. The original idea was to do this with icing but at 2am I wasn't about to whip up another batch of royal icing. So edible ink it was.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip_XVsTIcDFvQCboDs7AAtWX3OrYJOoZZHqr5tBQvDUOD0GPhxZLSBqQv1iUhXxv29Kj8LL3I4f7gtGAIWYVu9XbLbCRLCyFPshIIEb9eaKRBkvXWjS8VMEroflLv0Cv48Uda2KlRduiWX/s1600-h/P1010014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip_XVsTIcDFvQCboDs7AAtWX3OrYJOoZZHqr5tBQvDUOD0GPhxZLSBqQv1iUhXxv29Kj8LL3I4f7gtGAIWYVu9XbLbCRLCyFPshIIEb9eaKRBkvXWjS8VMEroflLv0Cv48Uda2KlRduiWX/s400/P1010014.JPG" width="400" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpgN6S6qTyyjKaNJVvz_niSYKqhyGMJ0HRd1jVFtaVFHAEuLhQUnOAtadZ9pTpKy1XObWHkbhZCVh3XMbjdczMFAosdDH0CghEP_R7X7xkF-I4Tp62GnbMr4FOuwIoX_fudbMwbda-FcI_/s1600-h/P1010015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpgN6S6qTyyjKaNJVvz_niSYKqhyGMJ0HRd1jVFtaVFHAEuLhQUnOAtadZ9pTpKy1XObWHkbhZCVh3XMbjdczMFAosdDH0CghEP_R7X7xkF-I4Tp62GnbMr4FOuwIoX_fudbMwbda-FcI_/s400/P1010015.JPG" width="400" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><br />
This Valentine's Day, don't say it with a card or flowers. Say it with a cookie.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2DoQERCkJxnfbcaqqMdiXPmU5hRJ1A_Q6EagKaeQfPzYfd-IcqE0BlDL1UGQG0XwZynAugxzIVBhsiyC-NKCn4rplmOm5i-ugvqchQKsNHRLqq9bzRirgSVh0r678uZSYDpjknKiivtd-/s1600-h/P1010016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2DoQERCkJxnfbcaqqMdiXPmU5hRJ1A_Q6EagKaeQfPzYfd-IcqE0BlDL1UGQG0XwZynAugxzIVBhsiyC-NKCn4rplmOm5i-ugvqchQKsNHRLqq9bzRirgSVh0r678uZSYDpjknKiivtd-/s400/P1010016.JPG" width="400" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Happy Valentine's Day!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Love,</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">FatCat</div>Fat Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14238814485412337924noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8627007446392435592.post-59125399471897683752010-01-21T11:08:00.000-05:002010-01-21T11:08:19.660-05:00King Me - I win!!Last night I tried Checkerboard Cookies. It was a surprisingly simple recipe with results that look complicated. The only reason it was time consuming (and it really wasn't) was because the dough needed to be chilled twice.<br />
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I was a little nervous trying these. I always get nervous when I try something that "looks scary" and these were pretty intimidating. Just looking at their alternating pattern and the fact that I needed to mess around with two different flavored doughs out of the same batch. How was I going to do that?! I only have 1 mixer!<br />
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Luckily it wasn't as terrifying as I had made to be in my head. It required 1 mixer, 2 bowls, and a wooden spoon. Easy. Chocolate-Vanilla Checkerboards were on their way! <br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">I divided the initial dough into two equal parts<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwAD3Hnw0E6-m7BW6r3NUuiwadIgacNsUTgrN8KtpmuN3_5-kv6eatg5UI6CMtheAN0_P7DlWHHf2G0fxsssQ_Zxy7BKv9Bn_NVujRziQ51CRd13-cpuUN2SyoUSeMRSnIVSLBYn3l3RB2/s1600-h/P1010163.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwAD3Hnw0E6-m7BW6r3NUuiwadIgacNsUTgrN8KtpmuN3_5-kv6eatg5UI6CMtheAN0_P7DlWHHf2G0fxsssQ_Zxy7BKv9Bn_NVujRziQ51CRd13-cpuUN2SyoUSeMRSnIVSLBYn3l3RB2/s400/P1010163.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">To one bowl, I added and additional teaspoon of vanilla extract. To the other I added 1 ounce of melted semi-sweet chocolate and 2 teaspoons of cocoa powder.<br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Then I flattened each dough into a squarish-circle, wrapped it in plastic wrap and set them in the fridge to firm up a bit.<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7lnveQa5GRquuCufbdyPz3I2NSbegjOe0w4f-tLsCCMDBqIDOgkeZ_YlwYjnSKLJjUx4S-RDWo7KyRtIRFbjuhBdQV4aX3lsPE7krysKOYCc_GVjPxuLshUFrXEY77aDrNwZYoQ_qCnG6/s1600-h/P1010165.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7lnveQa5GRquuCufbdyPz3I2NSbegjOe0w4f-tLsCCMDBqIDOgkeZ_YlwYjnSKLJjUx4S-RDWo7KyRtIRFbjuhBdQV4aX3lsPE7krysKOYCc_GVjPxuLshUFrXEY77aDrNwZYoQ_qCnG6/s400/P1010165.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Once the dough was chilled I pulled it out and sliced each one into 6 strips. Then each strip was rolled into a snake roughly the same length and width. Remember, I said roughly.<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9ustbQ5soT7Uu7RLX-HUThF2HW-dYS-E7-DhVywQu-A8_xzzc_Yzv9MMyOV5HjhqXthFoSWj6mY4axYup6heOM_JAgXJqjex28IbIzuuomGh9hCW0lFLStRl6a0kGvX0RtVqm-3eVS0hh/s1600-h/P1010168.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9ustbQ5soT7Uu7RLX-HUThF2HW-dYS-E7-DhVywQu-A8_xzzc_Yzv9MMyOV5HjhqXthFoSWj6mY4axYup6heOM_JAgXJqjex28IbIzuuomGh9hCW0lFLStRl6a0kGvX0RtVqm-3eVS0hh/s400/P1010168.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Then I started layering. Vanilla, chocolate, vanilla. Squished together. Brushed with some foamy egg white. Chocolate, vanilla, chocolate. Brushed with egg white. Squished together. I repeated this until all of my snakes were attached. I did <i>not</i> brush the top layer with egg white.<br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">When everything was layered I trimmed the ends so that they were even.<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2yeWQ7jD7SPxkqu8JC6oNdezpKcI6CaLFkUucVFsG512IMiJxc4mym5fxdXifLUH0tpw2Pk1cKm1hRvu4c_HJC42IkNK_6BzVeQ6sXdWbtXrT3zRz8tpoBy3Dp5BPovVOzJ2v8xqgAqtq/s1600-h/P1010170.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2yeWQ7jD7SPxkqu8JC6oNdezpKcI6CaLFkUucVFsG512IMiJxc4mym5fxdXifLUH0tpw2Pk1cKm1hRvu4c_HJC42IkNK_6BzVeQ6sXdWbtXrT3zRz8tpoBy3Dp5BPovVOzJ2v8xqgAqtq/s400/P1010170.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnCKb8eoh-D7Na9YBquXitZn1lexX5_rWMFSj0ZXOZiUs56EJlLKFvVBPbA7Y15ResihTkJw5BPUmRGaTvat6LEa6KKZuxjh3JbMBg7UKG5AGPg7enLDDQuPk3M_zOSrq2JVsbkLt_ZqRZ/s1600-h/P1010172.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnCKb8eoh-D7Na9YBquXitZn1lexX5_rWMFSj0ZXOZiUs56EJlLKFvVBPbA7Y15ResihTkJw5BPUmRGaTvat6LEa6KKZuxjh3JbMBg7UKG5AGPg7enLDDQuPk3M_zOSrq2JVsbkLt_ZqRZ/s400/P1010172.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Wrapped it up in plastic wrap and it went back into the fridge to firm up.<br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">An hour later it came out of the cold and on to a cutting board. With a really sharp knife I cut 1/4" thick cookies.<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQnv5Em9xmY30Lm-cj4jU9Tr1TDcHrZqUJU0gti7_4xW6iUIfVdnEpFpDW61CmgX9z8h3BRNTbfGndUU5uq8s7WHNeQmA2yKVHjydnmM3Gxicfz0A4j4M1pQUPJU3IMHxWF0SEz4tk3fue/s1600-h/P1010174.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQnv5Em9xmY30Lm-cj4jU9Tr1TDcHrZqUJU0gti7_4xW6iUIfVdnEpFpDW61CmgX9z8h3BRNTbfGndUU5uq8s7WHNeQmA2yKVHjydnmM3Gxicfz0A4j4M1pQUPJU3IMHxWF0SEz4tk3fue/s400/P1010174.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp9NPPzmZ6A3CrCCKbBttF24WAtkJwmMuF2oFXvlmF4EVZ-b_d3xodr96tP7ekE-aXseqgTpvyBHKHgpAMqkK9NssneTARhs8sZ3fEvvIjoCAYOGusOSj8XW5P_uLsyTZU-FHO_1uvdLg0/s1600-h/P1010178.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjp9NPPzmZ6A3CrCCKbBttF24WAtkJwmMuF2oFXvlmF4EVZ-b_d3xodr96tP7ekE-aXseqgTpvyBHKHgpAMqkK9NssneTARhs8sZ3fEvvIjoCAYOGusOSj8XW5P_uLsyTZU-FHO_1uvdLg0/s400/P1010178.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;">I baked them at 350 degrees for 11 minutes and ended up with a lovely cookie.<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8FBDak9dkhYMbxFumR_8-CjQbqdayyrO5jOqxsaaSUn7wXLeDt7pUCPn0fV97C3TAq6UVH0_UGhNL_c3DIQERqMpgwkuqtkB62Zw7wuD_5LmJ3hpA8sSmEvKStHl0aLi5kPtim6b0P09F/s1600-h/P1010179.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8FBDak9dkhYMbxFumR_8-CjQbqdayyrO5jOqxsaaSUn7wXLeDt7pUCPn0fV97C3TAq6UVH0_UGhNL_c3DIQERqMpgwkuqtkB62Zw7wuD_5LmJ3hpA8sSmEvKStHl0aLi5kPtim6b0P09F/s400/P1010179.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeOIAtURdWAtc_UKI58VNkRIHPA8srKOrxm9_Dm-9t7KdlDdI6tfm1TI-8bG3Q17OMq1f_z1GKBB_ra2rnyM6eLtcfSIn6nyFtBYCKLK4Obavm3y8-k3AaKD_vrxGVRDiLxh4cZ1S3hpVy/s1600-h/P1010182.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeOIAtURdWAtc_UKI58VNkRIHPA8srKOrxm9_Dm-9t7KdlDdI6tfm1TI-8bG3Q17OMq1f_z1GKBB_ra2rnyM6eLtcfSIn6nyFtBYCKLK4Obavm3y8-k3AaKD_vrxGVRDiLxh4cZ1S3hpVy/s400/P1010182.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBs9-tRxECgBFJBcxx4_hJs9q6pGEdbZmlkJCZ5rJWb3Vn5dKpnRazCWwDG-UqeZdG2PlDSNIkcTYZyFwNWe4bKWPhg8vUiUXcQk7dJ27qQ5xmiDbmh1qpzMJKKAKCOCXLkti814EjaDXF/s1600-h/P1010183.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBs9-tRxECgBFJBcxx4_hJs9q6pGEdbZmlkJCZ5rJWb3Vn5dKpnRazCWwDG-UqeZdG2PlDSNIkcTYZyFwNWe4bKWPhg8vUiUXcQk7dJ27qQ5xmiDbmh1qpzMJKKAKCOCXLkti814EjaDXF/s400/P1010183.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><br />
The recipe:<br />
<br />
1/2 cup of butter at room temperature<br />
1/2 cup sugar<br />
1 cup flour<br />
2 teaspoons vanilla extract<br />
1oz semi-sweet chocolate, chopped then melted<br />
2 teaspoons of cocoa powder<br />
1 large egg, separated<br />
1/8 teaspoon salt<br />
1/4 teaspoon baking powder<br />
<br />
Cream the butter and sugar until smooth. About 3 minutes in the mixer. Add the egg yolk and 1 teaspoon of vanilla.<br />
<br />
In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, salt and baking powder. Gradually add this to the mixture in the mixer.<br />
<br />
Melt the chopped semi-sweet chocolate. I used the microwave but the original recipe called for the use of a double boiler. Let it cool a little. <br />
<br />
When the dough is combined, divide it into 2 equal parts. In one part add 1 teaspoon of vanilla - I used a wooden spoon to mix the vanilla. In the other bowl add the melted (and slightly cooled) chocolate and the cocoa powder. I used the mixer for the chocolate dough.<br />
<br />
Take the divided parts and form as close to a square as you can. Wrap them separately in plastic wrap. Refrigerate no less than 45 minutes.<br />
<br />
Cut the chilled dough into 6 strips (you'll end up with a total of 12 strips) and roll each strip into a snake roughly 7 inches long.<br />
<br />
Beat the egg white with a fork or a small whisk until foamy.<br />
<br />
Start layering your strips, 3 per layer, in alternating fashion (Chocolate, vanilla, chocolate). Smoosh them together so they stick to each other. Brush lightly with the egg white. Continue this layering process, alternating the colors so you get a checkerboard look. Do not brush the top layer with the egg white.<br />
<br />
Trim your layered dough so that the ends are all the same. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and return to the fridge. Let it chill for no less than an hour.<br />
<br />
Remove from the fridge and cut 1/4" cookies with a sharp knife. Bake at 350 degrees for 11 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the cookie sheet for 5 minutes before moving them to a rack to completely cool.<br />
<br />
Store in an airtight container.<br />
<br />
Now who is up for a little game of checkers?<br />
<br />
FatCatFat Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14238814485412337924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8627007446392435592.post-12453634961410553892010-01-17T23:14:00.000-05:002010-01-17T23:14:01.583-05:00The Epic Tale Of The Pumpkin BallOK, so, it's not really epic. But I did promise it back in my second post so I figured I'd follow through now. <br />
<br />
Once upon a time, I was at the grocery store looking for cake and bread mixes. I came across Pilsbury Pumpkin Bread mix. Nothing spectacular but I grabbed a box anyway. Little did I know that box would become a staple in my holiday baking for years.<br />
<br />
On the side of the box was a recipe for Pumpkin, Ginger, Raisin cookies. I had no desire for anything "chewy" in my cookies so I omitted the ginger and raisins but I mixed in cinnamon, ginger powder. I mixed the dough and rolled it into balls. Each ball was rolled in a mixture of cinnamon, ginger powder and sugar. Baked them and ended up with these domed dense bread-y balls. <br />
<br />
One of the best cookies I'd ever eaten. So I went a little crazy and bought a ton of bread mix and made these cookies for everyone I knew for the holidays. I was a student at the time and baking seemed the better way to go for holiday gifts. <br />
<br />
For the next few years, every holiday season I would clean out several grocery stores of their pumpkin bread mixes and set to work giving everyone on my list tons of pumpkin balls. There was the year I got "creative" and hand painted the baggies that the cookies went into. That happened once. I realized I have neither the artistic talent, nor the space, nor the time to do that ever again. That was just a huge mess.<br />
<br />
At any rate, my holiday cookie baskets changed and evolved and the pumpkin ball was made obsolete. I still make them on occassion for my mother-in-law who enjoys them, but I don't make them for the baskets or as my go-to dessert. I still have a soft spot for these pumpkin-y balls of yumminess.<br />
<br />
Fast forward to Friday, January 15. I'm puttering around the kitchen wanting to bake but not really wanting to try anything new - what? It was late! - so I pull out a box of pumpkin bread mix and get to work. <br />
<br />
One problem. I had forgotten the recipe. Yes, even using boxed mix, there is a recipe. So I made the bread batter recipe. And added flour. A quarter cup at a time, I ended up adding about a cup of flour to thicken up the batter. Even then, I couldn't roll it. It bacame more of a drop cookie as opposed to the normal rolled cookie that I knew. I figured, what the heck? Try and see what happens. Worst case scenario - they look bad.<br />
<br />
I sprinkled the dopped cookies with a mix of sugar, cinnamon, and ginger powder and baked them until they were done. They turned out really tasty. I haven't done it yet, but I'm betting some cream cheese icing sandwiched between 2 cookies would be out of this world.<br />
<br />
Here is what you need for pumpkin balls:<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfUNxGiEOHkm2F_Ncx8aZSCQp4WkvwcRKki_RldpEdYZ28dEkzfqELkV8phncj-7SA_cAPy-WV9WJjYylSxC3HSSwoOSdKRcF8iiYoKLscqKflnhhVeYNhONbkEhhEmDqv2FaKHZXInQ0l/s1600-h/48e6f97758e04_82063n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ps="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfUNxGiEOHkm2F_Ncx8aZSCQp4WkvwcRKki_RldpEdYZ28dEkzfqELkV8phncj-7SA_cAPy-WV9WJjYylSxC3HSSwoOSdKRcF8iiYoKLscqKflnhhVeYNhONbkEhhEmDqv2FaKHZXInQ0l/s320/48e6f97758e04_82063n.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Add an egg and 1 stick of butter melted and you're set to make the dough.<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Add in some cinnamon and powdered ginger to the dough.<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">In a separate bowl, mix sugar, powdered ginger and cinnamon. This is for rolling the balls in.<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The following picture is from my "mistake" cookies (where I made the bread batter and added flour). I have no pictures of "real" pumpkin balls. <br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV69v6zDi6zHqLB4qhKSrUdECwyyRbmxKdr-kjaLJK9vsFN7kx1t8aJ7IfmNpcsZFTq2cF6WRG-GUjaRfcw3rtL8rEwGEAWSGPKfqr3QcyoD1wCqSlGPhUfz-lZWB80cuw_SFsmHzzwoEN/s1600-h/IMG_0166%5B1%5D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ps="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgV69v6zDi6zHqLB4qhKSrUdECwyyRbmxKdr-kjaLJK9vsFN7kx1t8aJ7IfmNpcsZFTq2cF6WRG-GUjaRfcw3rtL8rEwGEAWSGPKfqr3QcyoD1wCqSlGPhUfz-lZWB80cuw_SFsmHzzwoEN/s320/IMG_0166%5B1%5D.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Recipe for the "real" pumpkin balls:<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">1 box Pilsbury Quick Bread Pumpkin mix<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">1 egg<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">1/2 cup butter - melted<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">cinnamon<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">powdered ginger<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">sugar<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In a small bowl, mix powdered ginger, cinnamon and sugar. Set aside.<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In a large bowl mix the bread mix with the egg and butter. Add cinnamon and ginger powder to taste.<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Roll the dough into small balls and roll the balls in the sugar/cinnamon/ginger powder mixture. Set on a cookie sheet.<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 12 minutes or until the cookies have puffed up and gotten <em>slightly</em> brown. You don't want to burn these.<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Let cool and enjoy. Cream cheese frosting is a good addition or a nice powdered sugar glaze would be good as well.<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And they all lived happily ever after.<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">FatCat<br />
</div><div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>Fat Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14238814485412337924noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8627007446392435592.post-21201800595020639462010-01-05T13:02:00.000-05:002010-01-05T13:02:07.179-05:00Are They Russian? Mexican? All I Know Is That They Taste Good!Some call these cookies Russian Tea Cookies. Some call them Mexican Wedding Cakes. I call them buttery balls of deliciousness. That explode. In your mouth. It's awesome!<br />
<br />
I got the recipe from the <a href="http://www.penzeys.com/">Penzey's Spices</a> catalog. It was sent in by someone from New Jersey. Once I made the cookies and tasted them, I was shot back to my childhood when my grandmother would bake these. She added nuts, I think. I could be wrong. I have been before.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately, I didn't do much picture taking with these. It was into the mixer and out to the pan and that was really it. Sorry. I promise more pictures on everything else. Or rather - I'll try. <br />
<br />
The recipe is very easy and you get a TON of cookies out of one batch. I did a double batch and ended up with about 80 cookies.<br />
<br />
Recipe:<br />
1 cup butter, softened<br />
1/2 cup powdered sugar<br />
2 cups all purpose flour<br />
1/4 tsp salt<br />
1 tsp vanilla extract.<br />
<br />
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cream the butter until fluffy using an electric mixer. Reduce the speed of the mixer and add 1/2 cup of powdered sugar. Mix until incorporated. Blend for 5 minutes on low. Add the flour, salt and vanilla to the mixer bowl and once moistened, increase the mixer speed to medium to make a stiff dough.<br />
<br />
Once the dough is stiff, break off small pieces and form into one inch round balls. Place on a cookie sheet (greased, lined, whatever. I used foil lined pans). These cookies don't expand much so you can get a good number of them onto a pan.<br />
<br />
Bake for about 12 minutes. You want to watch them very carefully and take them out when they just begin to get a touch of color. Don't over bake them. You don't want them to get brown.<br />
<br />
While the cookies are baking set up a "sugaring" station. I poured some powdered sugar into a shallow dish and set up a cooling rack and a trivet for the hot pan to rest on.<br />
<br />
When the cookies are done, put the hot pan on the trivet. <i><b>Carefully</b></i> remove cookies one by one (I actually did about 5 cookies at one time because they fit in my dish) and cover them with powdered sugar. Roll with a spoon to make sure that every surface is coated. Remove them to the cooling rack and continue the sugaring until all of the cookies are coated.<br />
<br />
These cookies are so quick and easy to make you can whip them up to impress people with freshly made, home made, amazingly yummy dessert cookies.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhCBtyzsaOtojEvJM7nHxCTBM6BW2vhDAQnoMO4iIs5wS0wmZc4-pWufia0Fim_nb9K2zWyJODFuZbjhKTUn8wStB7mctA-_ORlm0F8J2oW94e0wAR9xK1OaiLNs_91b7hsRCQ0-nDGzoY/s1600-h/P1010133.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhCBtyzsaOtojEvJM7nHxCTBM6BW2vhDAQnoMO4iIs5wS0wmZc4-pWufia0Fim_nb9K2zWyJODFuZbjhKTUn8wStB7mctA-_ORlm0F8J2oW94e0wAR9xK1OaiLNs_91b7hsRCQ0-nDGzoY/s400/P1010133.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><br />
<br />
As there are no eggs in the recipe, this is a safe cookie for someone with an egg allergy. It's also nut free. 2 major food allergies covered! Excellent!<br />
<br />
The cookie is very flaky, tender and surprisingly delicate. The buttery taste makes this a fantastic cookie to have with tea or coffee. Or, really, to have any time.<br />
<br />
Happy New Year of Baking!!<br />
FatCatFat Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14238814485412337924noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8627007446392435592.post-29751594997055967582009-12-31T10:15:00.000-05:002009-12-31T10:15:17.440-05:00How Sweet It Is...As part of the Cookie Extravaganza that took place in my kitchen between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the sugar cookies were both my saving grace and my biggest headache. For weeks, I made dough and froze it so that I would save on time. Little did I realize just how many cookies I actually had sitting in my freezer waiting to be rolled, cut and baked.<br />
<br />
Such an easy recipe and the result is a delicious, buttery, flaky cookie that holds its shape. You can make the dough and freeze it for up to 2 months or you can bake the cookies and freeze them. I don't recommend the latter unless you have a lot of space in your freezer. You don't want to end up with 14 dozen broken sugar cookies.<br />
<br />
So I made my dough, I froze it, and when I was a couple days away from being ready to bake, I put it in the fridge to thaw. It worked brilliantly. The dough was the perfect chilled texture for rolling and cutting. By the way, rolling is a vicious tricep work out.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">I rolled out my dough on parchment paper that I dusted with powdered sugar. I found that using powdered sugar rather than flour kept my cookies sweet and still kept the dough from sticking to everything.<br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Once the dough was rolled to the thickness that I wanted, I put as many of my cookie cutters as I could on to it. I fit them together like a puzzle to maximize the number of cookies I could get in one go. Alton Brown is to thank for that idea.<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRranH3gBR_N21iOQO4Hs1hrI7DT3zSNc-HZpHEGmHmKapmDxLFYpJwMkZ2D1WJ8FcAc4OxsvhlX58lCHA3XJDT8Zk9kyvRXfaYVoNo3vAvfjc22oWxy7jK_vVIoZUilWxjGrgVmZJ6fjI/s1600-h/P1010116.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRranH3gBR_N21iOQO4Hs1hrI7DT3zSNc-HZpHEGmHmKapmDxLFYpJwMkZ2D1WJ8FcAc4OxsvhlX58lCHA3XJDT8Zk9kyvRXfaYVoNo3vAvfjc22oWxy7jK_vVIoZUilWxjGrgVmZJ6fjI/s400/P1010116.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I baked them on foil lined pans. Depending on the pan I used, some I rotated and some I did not. Once I pulled them from the over, I let the cookies stand for a minute before transferring them to a cooking rack. Then I started the process all over again.<br />
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</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaLuTg2qqjtZklJow8tWHd_eFN5MkLbaljYE5z4w-_7Jcvv7cXEmVF-XtufezV_0QW4H7tKIpEEBi2Q3JcdDznrfgsjdX2JZkn_DXBWpfVsopk4Qww9TtoohzJ_mGH4tu0cU9n90W9AfP6/s1600-h/P1010114.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaLuTg2qqjtZklJow8tWHd_eFN5MkLbaljYE5z4w-_7Jcvv7cXEmVF-XtufezV_0QW4H7tKIpEEBi2Q3JcdDznrfgsjdX2JZkn_DXBWpfVsopk4Qww9TtoohzJ_mGH4tu0cU9n90W9AfP6/s400/P1010114.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Once all of the cookies were finished baking and completely cooled, I made royal icing and decorated each one. By hand. Just me. 14+ dozen sugar cookies.<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">It was worth it. They turned out looking lovely.<br />
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</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYV0jXgZWrr790QEejaJX-Jbg702CV-UlGVRL3VgrXTbmWKowHjhGCHv1NLyqNt76yLLlVALYL5NY6U_HJWcHSeA066LBZpYOkbw9dH2NWCfmzzP7afo7NWVQld5dobsRHpbHY0TFXiumI/s1600-h/P1010146.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYV0jXgZWrr790QEejaJX-Jbg702CV-UlGVRL3VgrXTbmWKowHjhGCHv1NLyqNt76yLLlVALYL5NY6U_HJWcHSeA066LBZpYOkbw9dH2NWCfmzzP7afo7NWVQld5dobsRHpbHY0TFXiumI/s400/P1010146.JPG" /></a><br />
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<br />
There wasn't a container in the kitchen that wasn't filled with Sugar Cookies. All 4 of my square and rectangular Pyrex, my big roasting pan, a Le Creuset 7 quart dutch oven, and more Tupperware than I care to count. Let it be known, making 6 batches of this dough produces a <b>lot</b> of cookies.<br />
<br />
Recipe:<br />
1 cup butter, softened<br />
1 cup granulated sugar<br />
1 large egg<br />
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract<br />
3 cups of flour<br />
1 1/4 teaspoons of baking powder<br />
powdered sugar for rolling<br />
<br />
* dough freezes VERY well<br />
<br />
Royal Icing:<br />
2 large egg whites<br />
2 teaspoons of fresh lemon juice<br />
3 cups of powdered (confectioners') sugar<br />
<br />
For the cookies:<br />
<br />
Beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla, mix until just combined. Add flour and baking powder in intervals. Dough will seem as if it doesn't have enough moisture but continue to mix with mixer until combined. Divide the dough into 4 equal parts, shape into 4 disks, wrap tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate (or freeze) until firm.<br />
<br />
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Roll dough, using powdered sugar instead of flour for the rolling, to approximately 1/4" thickness. Cut out shapes with cookie cutters and place on baking sheets. Bake 7-8 minutes until the edges are golden. Cool on a wire rack. Take the scraps and re-roll into a ball and chill again.<br />
<br />
Repeat until all of the dough is used.<br />
<br />
For Royal Icing:<br />
<br />
Beat the egg whites and lemon juice together in a mixer. Reduce speed and gradually add in the powdered sugar. Beat until thick and smooth. If it is too thick, add a little more lemon juice or some milk. 1 tablespoon at a time. If it gets too watery, add a little more powdered sugar. Use immediately and store the remainder in an airtight container. I also saved what I wasn't using at the time with a damp cloth over it. Royal Icing tends to harden when exposed to air. You can divide the icing into different batches and use food coloring to add a little pop to your cookies.<br />
<br />
Decorate your cookies with the icing. Allow to dry completely so the icing is totally hard.<br />
<br />
Enjoy!!!<br />
<br />
These cookies are do easy and the decorating possibilities are endless.<br />
<br />
Happy baking!<br />
FatCatFat Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14238814485412337924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8627007446392435592.post-45355274601765999842009-12-29T10:39:00.004-05:002009-12-29T10:41:26.952-05:00Feeling the Cancun Holiday SpiritThe last 2 years, my office has done something called a "Jingle Mingle." We have several floors in an office building and we rarely see others on the different floors. With this event we have the chance to eat, drink and be merry, all while wandering around the building.<br />
<br />
Each department does a theme and sets up an area. They decorate, play music, set out food and beverages (adult and otherwise) and there is a competition for the best theme and execution of the theme.<br />
<br />
My department opted to do a Mexican theme. We had homemade jalapeno poppers, plantains, empanadas, guacamole, salsa, homemade tortilla chips, margaritas, Malibu Rum and pineapple juice, and most importantly - Pina Colada Cake Balls!<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">I took a white cake mix and rather than using water, as the instructions said, I used pineapple juice. I also mixed in crushed pineapple. (ignore the Circus Cookies in the background - they weren't part of the recipe, they just wanted to be in the photo shoot.)<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLaYlB4WRn5GYJt7grq0F7HO00hu7D-mC_hos3mkogEGtwNoDb5GmPSOKFLQ7rrAinDugvQIg064VEvsBsl272D2m_A9pwqlRFA-r5MTwU69-5hhIYoZTlVo0L7-EjdQrpCwH6S69foIvS/s1600-h/P1010131.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLaYlB4WRn5GYJt7grq0F7HO00hu7D-mC_hos3mkogEGtwNoDb5GmPSOKFLQ7rrAinDugvQIg064VEvsBsl272D2m_A9pwqlRFA-r5MTwU69-5hhIYoZTlVo0L7-EjdQrpCwH6S69foIvS/s400/P1010131.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">I used cream cheese frosting instead of my usual "regular" frosting. I need to play with the amounts - the dough ended up being pretty loose. Once I rolled it and chilled the balls it seemed a little easier to work with.<br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">I dipped each ball in blue candy melts. I did this for 2 reasons. First, because it seemed festive and appropriate for a beach vacation theme. Second, because I wanted to finish off my bag of blue melts. I dropped each ball into the melted candy and rolled them around with a fork. Then I lifted them out and let the excess candy drip off.<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0KKBeExNh_EABsM4CJLIKkCT3CcaGZWsK1CHiv-ozKhUdeM98xT3P0icb-eUw9KtERMt_-vJgRQxT368t-iukYWUB6aL7vXtF2X0QOX6GBdwYgH58Q_6sGRnVrjpfg9pGctbOktlv7QKC/s1600-h/P1010118.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0KKBeExNh_EABsM4CJLIKkCT3CcaGZWsK1CHiv-ozKhUdeM98xT3P0icb-eUw9KtERMt_-vJgRQxT368t-iukYWUB6aL7vXtF2X0QOX6GBdwYgH58Q_6sGRnVrjpfg9pGctbOktlv7QKC/s400/P1010118.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">I let the balls set on a tray lined with foil. Before the candy set I sprinkled each ball with shredded coconut.<br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">After all of the balls had set I stuck a cocktail umbrella in each one. You can't have a Pina Colada without an umbrella in it, after all.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiacj9M7oHfRsAWBaVrHQKihmoxFEITfiHgMHL1_IfhcZ-h2WoAeeZSNML-2PSnMb7Nzwegm6984lkvWCGXZAI2yF7rsOIi52MrkVhI6g2jnm1iVrw8Z_1odliYDcQ_OyDylHQ5xMmyevOU/s1600-h/IMG_0148.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiacj9M7oHfRsAWBaVrHQKihmoxFEITfiHgMHL1_IfhcZ-h2WoAeeZSNML-2PSnMb7Nzwegm6984lkvWCGXZAI2yF7rsOIi52MrkVhI6g2jnm1iVrw8Z_1odliYDcQ_OyDylHQ5xMmyevOU/s400/IMG_0148.jpg" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVCFWFhHSFnvOzDVxD9zkp8UsyBD34nirPkk0FnCzXUr76hZ__5G11qoQ_YgZ1AwWMzc_2nrPPcizBlF6lVCvD4QK05LCU162FctaZ1HGtL69hCkeY-FrzSArLyKzf5oELnaW1tOCR2lc1/s1600-h/IMG_0150.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVCFWFhHSFnvOzDVxD9zkp8UsyBD34nirPkk0FnCzXUr76hZ__5G11qoQ_YgZ1AwWMzc_2nrPPcizBlF6lVCvD4QK05LCU162FctaZ1HGtL69hCkeY-FrzSArLyKzf5oELnaW1tOCR2lc1/s400/IMG_0150.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><br />
A very belated, Feliz Navidad!<br />
<br />
FatCatFat Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14238814485412337924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8627007446392435592.post-2822945765301889092009-12-26T10:57:00.002-05:002010-01-05T15:43:15.687-05:00Cookies With a Rummy BiteJoy Of Cooking has these little monsters listed as "Bourbon Balls." I didn't have bourbon on hand so I used dark rum. The result was a potent little ball of rummy-goodness rolled in powdered sugar. <br />
<br />
I've made them before. Actually, my husband has made them before and I just helped. They're the perfect bring-to-a-party treat and they went over really well in my office, too. Because these cookies are "no-bake" the alcohol doesn't dissipate. That makes these quite potent, even though you're not using all that much alcohol in them. <br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">You start out with 1 cup of confectioners' sugar and 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder. Whisk them together in a bowl until well combined.<br />
</div><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivqnXNPyZxHCMf05meV2APEBwwEfF4tc4jlHFGetZo4jDliIzhvKG7xv4keESu3W8Uh-izpmd7fotJzNosk4hPzArN3nh8LwBli_O4u4BxYgd2KzyYye4rGhOO4bdbQNlcvW4NKWQ_Zdow/s1600-h/P1010124.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ps="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivqnXNPyZxHCMf05meV2APEBwwEfF4tc4jlHFGetZo4jDliIzhvKG7xv4keESu3W8Uh-izpmd7fotJzNosk4hPzArN3nh8LwBli_O4u4BxYgd2KzyYye4rGhOO4bdbQNlcvW4NKWQ_Zdow/s400/P1010124.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBcqGXEjS-LyXTGB43q1aBwip6KTjWk8KzBJo0begy-AHVesgEvQHKWDj9TmSXVVNN6THA3GPVHVN0a_IRRfV2anHZ2xn6_OMkuRWstikN0uOt-7litQWJfbcleQWJ7GzOqLQzrBsks3WZ/s1600-h/P1010128.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ps="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBcqGXEjS-LyXTGB43q1aBwip6KTjWk8KzBJo0begy-AHVesgEvQHKWDj9TmSXVVNN6THA3GPVHVN0a_IRRfV2anHZ2xn6_OMkuRWstikN0uOt-7litQWJfbcleQWJ7GzOqLQzrBsks3WZ/s400/P1010128.JPG" /></a><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">Add in your 1/4 cup of rum (or bourbon).<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">Then add in 2 tablespoons of light corn syrup.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">Stir into the sugar mixture until completely combined. Set it aside.<br />
</div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Crush to a fine crumb, 2 1/2 cups of vanilla wafer cookies. I crushed by hand and then used my <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Magic-Bullet-MBR-1701-17-Piece-Express/dp/B001WAKFDY/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1261841461&sr=8-3">Magic Bullet</a> to make a fine crumb. Mix that into the cocoa mixture. At this point you can also put in nuts, dried fruits or anything else that you want into the dough. I didn't do it this time, but crystallized ginger is an excellent mix-in for the rum balls. <br />
</div><br />
When mixing in the crumbs, start with a whisk and then use your hands as the mixture is too thick and difficult for a tool. You'll have to remove the dough from the inside of the whisk. Just giving you fair warning.<br />
<br />
Once you add the crumbs to the mixture you need to work relatively fast. This hardens quickly and once it happens, you're done for and have a brick. I'm talking a brick that you can stick in your purse and do serious damage with. That's not good.<br />
<br />
Take small pieces of dough and roll between your hands to form a ball. Roll the balls (as you go) in powdered sugar and set on waxed paper. If you store them between layers of waxed paper at room temperature they'll last for up to 3 weeks. If you can make it that long. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfY2SPkUtt6c_Nbi3YHD_wxQKZUA_QIRrookuq60JfiuxkzffAyR64PW6P3BHB0Qj2u1uf_WHMF7hcP6M9Hvx9L82Yi7vOthvcia8-o3gAQBVG0-GpxMPstjCBTkK72J2NZppijGmJAm6X/s1600-h/P1010129.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ps="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfY2SPkUtt6c_Nbi3YHD_wxQKZUA_QIRrookuq60JfiuxkzffAyR64PW6P3BHB0Qj2u1uf_WHMF7hcP6M9Hvx9L82Yi7vOthvcia8-o3gAQBVG0-GpxMPstjCBTkK72J2NZppijGmJAm6X/s400/P1010129.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><br />
These balls of no-bake rum and vanilla wafer offer amazing taste. They're quick and easy to make and 1 batch will give you approximately 60 balls. They make great gifts and while they're traditionally a holiday cookie, you can't go wrong with these any time of year.<br />
<br />
You can also make these non-alcoholic. My husband used Sprite instead of rum, but you can really use any kind of liquid that you want.<br />
<br />
Rum (Bourbon) Balls<br />
<br />
1 cup confectioners' sugar<br />
2 tablespoons cocoa powder<br />
1/4 cup Rum (bourbon)<br />
2 tablespoons light corn syrup<br />
2 1/2 cups vanilla wafer crumbs (approximately 1 box of cookies)<br />
1 cup fruit/nuts/etc (optional)<br />
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar<br />
<br />
Whisk together the 1 cup confectioners' sugar and 2 tbs of cocoa powder until well combined. Add in 1/4 cup rum and 2 tbs light corn syrup. Whisk together until completely moistened. Stick in 2 1/2 cups vanilla wafer crumbs and your optional fruit/nuts. Mix together to form a dough. Roll small pieces of dough between your hands and form balls. Roll the balls in 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar. Set on tray (foil or waxed paper lined.). Store in an air tight container between sheets of waxed paper. Can be kept for up to 3 weeks. I dare you to make them last that long.<br />
<br />
Happy no-baking!<br />
FatCatFat Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14238814485412337924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8627007446392435592.post-20521897546231794672009-12-23T11:45:00.002-05:002009-12-23T12:04:59.529-05:00I Am Not A Tart!But these are. Part of the baking bliss that I have been in for the last week and a half included Linzer Tarts.<br />
<br />
These little cookies (or not so little in some cases) are some of my favorites. Only I didn't know it until fairly recently. My father-in-law is also a fan of them.<br />
<br />
A simple sandwich cookie that has a "window" punched out of the top and is traditionally filled with raspberry or apricot preserves. I used apricot. They turned out marvelous, if I do say so myself.<br />
<br />
Months ago I bought my first Linzer Tart cutter. A uni-tasker, which I don't like, but it came with 6 different cutouts for the window. I got another cutter with Halloween shaped cutouts. Unfortunately, because it seems they don't sell the cutouts separately, I have to buy more cutters just to get the cutouts. Not the end of the world, but as I only need 1 cutter it's not a great option just to get some center cutters. I'm been thinking of just getting a few different biscuit cutters (fluted and "regular") and using fondant cutters as well as the cutouts I already have for the windows. The biscuit cutters would certainly be multi-taskers.<br />
<br />
I just love to make these cookies. It's a lot of fun.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><o:p>Cutting the cookies and the "windows" <br />
</o:p><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAoX-4Fc8MhKBW6EB0uTScvJbGqpexc26BvCUGuhKegdsAfBCBVfROox0xWwMnARoh8u4u0vysfujD7wprjcjq6BrEqcsMbWxm6zZoxtFKw_YvlFljr53Zq84y4IAZLr1kV6UHEidtFLRP/s1600-h/P1010144.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAoX-4Fc8MhKBW6EB0uTScvJbGqpexc26BvCUGuhKegdsAfBCBVfROox0xWwMnARoh8u4u0vysfujD7wprjcjq6BrEqcsMbWxm6zZoxtFKw_YvlFljr53Zq84y4IAZLr1kV6UHEidtFLRP/s400/P1010144.JPG" /></a><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Tart cutter and window cutter<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNV7dJa0mlVGrE5k-aWipCNAodX80Si3sUL_3P5zMtKQOphZzyzgacqIMI-vCQ3He3-n84ROlYkJ79wpx7l1lTY4kMq8zJrz2hKTeZlBiPyDqIYRV0A6mqMlTKuxTcBgq2WgQPcFTzUFYI/s1600-h/P1010136.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNV7dJa0mlVGrE5k-aWipCNAodX80Si3sUL_3P5zMtKQOphZzyzgacqIMI-vCQ3He3-n84ROlYkJ79wpx7l1lTY4kMq8zJrz2hKTeZlBiPyDqIYRV0A6mqMlTKuxTcBgq2WgQPcFTzUFYI/s400/P1010136.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Ready to go into the oven! <br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Freshly baked and sugared. Time to cool on a rack. <br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6VNmOMuot8vkHiE67RhqZtiaxcY9wQxN8qvNRveuMTdU1JFlriNL5xOEYFk8HT38kDZHqjB3_XBNB0gRGZkz4Y-FISy1fXU_kh5MNAFMmyT_qsdxLJBSBPbY1xrfzdN9IN2jsFmr15qys/s1600-h/P1010142.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6VNmOMuot8vkHiE67RhqZtiaxcY9wQxN8qvNRveuMTdU1JFlriNL5xOEYFk8HT38kDZHqjB3_XBNB0gRGZkz4Y-FISy1fXU_kh5MNAFMmyT_qsdxLJBSBPbY1xrfzdN9IN2jsFmr15qys/s400/P1010142.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Completed. Aren't they purdy?<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFLljz_VwrD7yAg31edVUmWetuCRusS85mS6EFHtR2R11eRs6qdfCaAytnZXEztqvi2-OVf_YvONp9GD27oA5ZnuzWUGPFZGi0WEInoIAHr4-JxjdsvXhgeE75l41VJJ2XFXGgpOWugNX4/s1600-h/P1010150.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFLljz_VwrD7yAg31edVUmWetuCRusS85mS6EFHtR2R11eRs6qdfCaAytnZXEztqvi2-OVf_YvONp9GD27oA5ZnuzWUGPFZGi0WEInoIAHr4-JxjdsvXhgeE75l41VJJ2XFXGgpOWugNX4/s400/P1010150.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Linzer Tart Recipe<br />
<br />
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar<br />
2.5 cups all-purpose flour<br />
1/2 tsp baking powder<br />
1/2 tsp salt<br />
1/4 tsp cinnamon<br />
2 sticks (1 cup) butter, softened<br />
1 large egg<br />
1 tsp vanilla extract<br />
Preserves of your choice (raspberry and apricot are traditional)<br />
<br />
Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in a small bowl.<br />
<br />
Beat together in a mixer at medium speed the butter and brown sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract. Reduce speed and add flour mixture until just combined.<br />
<br />
With hands "floured" with powdered sugar, form the dough into 2 balls and flatten each into a disk. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and chill until firm. At least 2 hours.<br />
<br />
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Roll out 1 disk of dough on a lightly "floured" (with powdered sugar) surface. I found that rolling out on parchment paper or waxed paper worked very well. Cut out as many tarts as possible with the tart cutter. Using the cutout piece, cut windows out of half of the tarts that you just cut. Reform a ball with the scraps, wrap in plastic wrap and re-chill.<br />
<br />
Transfer cookies to a cookie sheet (I lined mine with foil) and bake the cookies for 10-15 minutes. In my oven, 11 minutes was perfect. You just want the edges to become golden.<br />
<br />
Remove the cookies from the sheet and put on a cooling rack. I set up a "sugaring station" for the cookies with the windows. While they are still hot you want to sift powdered sugar over the windowed cookies. If you wait until the cookies are cooled, the sugar will not stick. I place all of my hot "tops" on another baking sheet and sifted the sugar over them that way. Transfer your tops back to the cooling rack.<br />
<br />
Continue this process until all of the dough has been cut and all of the cookies made and sugared.<br />
<br />
Once the cookies are completely cooled, take an un-windowed cookie and spread approximately 1 teaspoon of preserves on it. Sandwich a windowed cookie on top. Viola! You have a Linzer Tart. Sandwich the remaining cookies in the same manner.<br />
<br />
These are time consuming but surprisingly easy cookies to make.<br />
</div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Wishing you baking bliss during the holidays.<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">FatCat<br />
</div>Fat Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14238814485412337924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8627007446392435592.post-51599879263195887472009-12-15T11:10:00.000-05:002009-12-15T11:10:54.871-05:00Baby, It's Cold OutsideThis weekend was busy. I baked, I saw people, I sang, and most importantly - I had fun.<br />
<br />
It was a pretty miserable weekend, weather-wise. Saturday was spent running errands and getting gifts together and baking. Sunday was spent baking, singing and going to a friend's holiday party.<br />
<br />
For this party, I figured it would be appropriate to make Penguin cake pops. Now, I collect penguins. Love them. I love their communities, I love how they care for each other, I love how they have no knees.<br />
<br />
It was surprisingly easy to make these pops. Please forgive the horrible quality of the photos. Clearly I am <i>not</i> a photographer and obviously I have really awful lighting in my kitchen. I have to figure out how take better pictures. This is just getting embarrassing.<br />
<br />
First, I shaped my cake ball. I used the same shape that I used when I made my Halloween ghosts.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWR8d_E7e1M-yblY2Sc6GgIc4-7Ychgy0JB7KXsbv_v9dEF7BFcuNREixw5MCH_Ifl7s6pgo0dLMalxR7TpOG74VhZ-OArB8p02qB-99wJp_jAcczMMgCrlXow9exqxJZ4ykMMERwJtKiF/s1600-h/P1010087.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWR8d_E7e1M-yblY2Sc6GgIc4-7Ychgy0JB7KXsbv_v9dEF7BFcuNREixw5MCH_Ifl7s6pgo0dLMalxR7TpOG74VhZ-OArB8p02qB-99wJp_jAcczMMgCrlXow9exqxJZ4ykMMERwJtKiF/s320/P1010087.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"> Then I dipped them in blue chocolate. I thought blue penguins would be festive.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFQ4S4JSBaMGMS1crxCcD_SRyENAxpzdPmAY_w4qJL6w6Pv0pBwzlqsJ-Q6XP3bFB8njg-ddXw_Oa8YzIYrBy0d4G-zXR27-l20m3ARQKkzpqxv22TmYiLPCEl0eyoeSjVT6XNOa_dD3-J/s1600-h/P1010089.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFQ4S4JSBaMGMS1crxCcD_SRyENAxpzdPmAY_w4qJL6w6Pv0pBwzlqsJ-Q6XP3bFB8njg-ddXw_Oa8YzIYrBy0d4G-zXR27-l20m3ARQKkzpqxv22TmYiLPCEl0eyoeSjVT6XNOa_dD3-J/s320/P1010089.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Once the blue chocolate was set, I "carved" an oval-ish shape with a toothpick on bellies.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQLiuxUVOmNIr8wIaMCC9cN-ZtOyMh9zacNYh7LixPTyq2Eoa8yxF4JPjomHvyzK-Hcf7H5sVOIT1gRTar5uvvAc1Al29HqlsqIvz1NzU6Lcx-i9fXKqhUEMs4XhInAtEnUaKxc0jEAqtX/s1600-h/P1010092.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQLiuxUVOmNIr8wIaMCC9cN-ZtOyMh9zacNYh7LixPTyq2Eoa8yxF4JPjomHvyzK-Hcf7H5sVOIT1gRTar5uvvAc1Al29HqlsqIvz1NzU6Lcx-i9fXKqhUEMs4XhInAtEnUaKxc0jEAqtX/s320/P1010092.JPG" /></a><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">I painted the carved oval with green chocolate (if I was going to have blue penguins I was going all the way with the colors)<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFBUgyghyphenhyphenKhiYKNJct-6bwECoUFAkuvYXu8_PjeFGYkaJzDBmuZEJ3wx1jGrKFp2DkBB5A-4TvE_iL1txTszCpfSqjS64fM4aNtLlGoX76oUaAFaddSxosFNA3qnlDaTeimMXWAn9ZmK8Y/s1600-h/P1010111.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFBUgyghyphenhyphenKhiYKNJct-6bwECoUFAkuvYXu8_PjeFGYkaJzDBmuZEJ3wx1jGrKFp2DkBB5A-4TvE_iL1txTszCpfSqjS64fM4aNtLlGoX76oUaAFaddSxosFNA3qnlDaTeimMXWAn9ZmK8Y/s320/P1010111.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">When the bellies were set, I started the face details. I used multicolored candy coated mini chocolate chips for the beaks and multicolored sequins for the eyes.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicA2r4B5-fmfMY9VT0nki0XYkTTsJpO2jzJx0HkqM72KpPBy90ZAO5sOTldYB0r8ppgAzB7Jodp5R4_EksB7YcSP_e54clahnGdCb9xmiTbXMI81Q1Jlr0T2D63yEZqthNVq9eXVYNugL3/s1600-h/P1010101.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicA2r4B5-fmfMY9VT0nki0XYkTTsJpO2jzJx0HkqM72KpPBy90ZAO5sOTldYB0r8ppgAzB7Jodp5R4_EksB7YcSP_e54clahnGdCb9xmiTbXMI81Q1Jlr0T2D63yEZqthNVq9eXVYNugL3/s320/P1010101.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">The final touch was giving each psychedelic penguin a different thing to look at.<br />
</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfE3M4_wVHaH2YqxQBne8wmea36Ja8-n-ooz91zpbkRmDhdUB1wzUWo6cI5VEfdvLZg-YsCW0zLsbNS4wARA1sU8_09035UMRV9fWRRW9AAhzOGN5ADh8a2AWOQ-lJEU0-YWPmzj80Cjh5/s1600-h/P1010112.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfE3M4_wVHaH2YqxQBne8wmea36Ja8-n-ooz91zpbkRmDhdUB1wzUWo6cI5VEfdvLZg-YsCW0zLsbNS4wARA1sU8_09035UMRV9fWRRW9AAhzOGN5ADh8a2AWOQ-lJEU0-YWPmzj80Cjh5/s320/P1010112.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzwG9aXNO8M9o3yjCq9kW3Aub4CtOPgANuDKyf_EzxRjy3yXD2jR4Tq24pked4QCBTw7fejukpMMphWqJOqKQw2_j1QmQRlkmC02hqvqZmssVGGiVROKvd26tI0oawN0T5dWgxiR5tfgKY/s1600-h/P1010105.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzwG9aXNO8M9o3yjCq9kW3Aub4CtOPgANuDKyf_EzxRjy3yXD2jR4Tq24pked4QCBTw7fejukpMMphWqJOqKQw2_j1QmQRlkmC02hqvqZmssVGGiVROKvd26tI0oawN0T5dWgxiR5tfgKY/s320/P1010105.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><br />
<br />
They were a huge hit! This is definitely one to keep in rotation.<br />
<br />
I really can't stay. I've got to go 'way.<br />
<br />
Have a great one!<br />
FatCat<br />
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</div>Fat Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14238814485412337924noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8627007446392435592.post-35365365381289577692009-12-12T09:51:00.001-05:002009-12-15T10:14:43.945-05:00Baking Has Gone To The Dogs<div style="text-align: justify;">I haven't been able to update since Thanksgiving. Mostly because I haven't really been baking but making dough. Lots of dough. No worries, this week will be <b>full </b>of baking.<br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: justify;">I <i>did</i> make these, and they are part of holiday baking extravaganza. It was surprisingly simple and came out very cute. Can you figure it out from the pictures?<br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">First I mixed up my dough. That was the easy part.<br />
</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioMz5cnba0X_wb9aqvchTq8Qe_dL7bpR3nPSJjZVWPw4RkCXeF1kUh8Cktru-1_28L4KdjQUCM8XEXeTUgcDkQp5bQEUnX5nR0l5ml9w1kSK-xPnrJDBpagJU8-Bk2AfqGQg2zietxtlF4/s1600-h/P1010078.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ps="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioMz5cnba0X_wb9aqvchTq8Qe_dL7bpR3nPSJjZVWPw4RkCXeF1kUh8Cktru-1_28L4KdjQUCM8XEXeTUgcDkQp5bQEUnX5nR0l5ml9w1kSK-xPnrJDBpagJU8-Bk2AfqGQg2zietxtlF4/s400/P1010078.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">The I rolled it out on a floured surface. Rolled it to about a 1/4 inch thick<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA9FZVeGncP_F3gw_pQHUhDbRjd-DceACT9RLA-v2KLv8l1khIBFD_-dyAEGROyt0NYlg0rfU-h2lToYqn7j2p0ALnswf9sU1UGGUEwNTa2aZmZzbBydSDvdgS-NfZ5yJT2DvXdCzlMPtw/s1600-h/P1010079.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ps="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA9FZVeGncP_F3gw_pQHUhDbRjd-DceACT9RLA-v2KLv8l1khIBFD_-dyAEGROyt0NYlg0rfU-h2lToYqn7j2p0ALnswf9sU1UGGUEwNTa2aZmZzbBydSDvdgS-NfZ5yJT2DvXdCzlMPtw/s400/P1010079.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Then I cut out the shapes<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1AEyoqH18JClgSD1eueLyzka0Qwe38AC3xNUeGvhfGLdXEJpOnDr7AvRns7MpV7HpA5FwXMFqn334zU58dBThN_rgQg7f8NICMYXTptmt4w8yWH79YDO2n0X91gC4Zxg9SlYkGWewl_bo/s1600-h/P1010080.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ps="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1AEyoqH18JClgSD1eueLyzka0Qwe38AC3xNUeGvhfGLdXEJpOnDr7AvRns7MpV7HpA5FwXMFqn334zU58dBThN_rgQg7f8NICMYXTptmt4w8yWH79YDO2n0X91gC4Zxg9SlYkGWewl_bo/s400/P1010080.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Baked them (and learned the hard way just how easily and quickly they can burn!)<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilIs13R0YTU8ad68alF4XRgZDBOjvpvw8pquHc5iTrRy3xUDf9hiUaZXRdKcGH5JYolf7TorhtqyY4HVFd0YVpRa_lnDcw_7W32TPduDjvhk_p7CgSjkvsipTbsbCnf_Rk-hgVDhwJcAQW/s1600-h/P1010081.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ps="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilIs13R0YTU8ad68alF4XRgZDBOjvpvw8pquHc5iTrRy3xUDf9hiUaZXRdKcGH5JYolf7TorhtqyY4HVFd0YVpRa_lnDcw_7W32TPduDjvhk_p7CgSjkvsipTbsbCnf_Rk-hgVDhwJcAQW/s400/P1010081.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Bagged them and tied them with a cute ribbon.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDY1vI6ACiDpgOWVmgH49aNaV99RHkNQ8m82bxHPu7NJbR1NnAz_qaA26GnKL9TvLxqJZUUC0EcjWub3xW5a8jsur24fP4fEdmncBsSZ0I7dBHPJwiGBigjOWddWD7Qx4Qx4dVM86y4B_-/s1600-h/P1010085.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" ps="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDY1vI6ACiDpgOWVmgH49aNaV99RHkNQ8m82bxHPu7NJbR1NnAz_qaA26GnKL9TvLxqJZUUC0EcjWub3xW5a8jsur24fP4fEdmncBsSZ0I7dBHPJwiGBigjOWddWD7Qx4Qx4dVM86y4B_-/s400/P1010085.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">And they're ready for your favorite pooch to nom!<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">These easy dog treats were made using the following recipe from <a href="http://www.mylittlecupcakepop.com/">My Little Cupcake</a>'s blog. Like the author of that blog, I saw several variations of the recipe, but decided to use her alterations. I'm happy with the result.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Recipe:<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">1 Cup Peanut Butter<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">1 egg<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">1/2 cup honey<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">1/2 cup milk<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">2 cups flour (she used whole wheat flour, I used all purpose flour)<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">1 tbl spoon of baking powder.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I got 33 biscuits out of the recipe.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Combine honey, peanut butter and egg in your mixer. In a separate bowl combine the flour and baking powder. Alternate adding the flour mixture and the milk to the PB mixture. Once combined, roll out to 1/4" thickness on a floured surface. Take your favorite pet style cookie cutter (I used a bone shape) and cut out your shapes. Place on a baking sheet, either with parchment paper or foil on it and bake for 18-20 minutes. <br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I had some trouble with my oven and it pre-heated too hot. I didn't check my thermometer (Bad, FatCat!!) and I ended up with some burnt treats. Be sure your oven is at 375 degrees. <br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Share this yummy treat with your favorite four-legged friend. Don't tell anyone that FatCat sent them. I've got a reputation to uphold here.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Happy Howl-i-days!<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">FatCat<br />
</div>Fat Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14238814485412337924noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8627007446392435592.post-54871673630801792062009-11-30T11:56:00.002-05:002009-12-12T09:52:23.115-05:00The Holiday MenuEvery year I make baked-goods baskets. It started out when I created what I call Pumpkin Balls (that is a post all its own.). I made tons of these cookies and gave them as gifts. This continued for a year or two. I added a few other things like hand molded chocolates and gingerbread cookies but in general the only thing snazzing up my gift baskets were the hand painted treat bags I did. Once. Those bags were such a headache.<br />
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Last year I upped the ante. I didn't make my pumpkin balls. I made sugar cookies and gingerbread. Each cookie was hand decorated and I think I nearly killed myself and my husband trying to get everything together. It wasn't well planned out.<br />
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This year I'm making quite a bit more. But I wised up. Everything I can do early - I am. I've been pre-making and freezing my cookie doughs. That way I can just defrost, roll and bake. No more of this trying to do it all at once. I have learned from my psychotic break downs.<br />
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On holiday menu this year are: Sugar cookies, Linzer Tarts, Cake pops, a no-bake rum ball cookie, and possibly a powdered sugar cookie I found in the <a href="http://www.penzeys.com/">Penzey's</a> spice catalog. For those with dogs I'm also making dog biscuits.<br />
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The sugar cookies and cake pops will be decorated, but I'm trying to keep this semi-easy for me this time around.<br />
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Speaking of decorating, I discovered while I was making those Turkey Cake Pops that while I'm a lefty, I did all of the detail work with my right hand. Granted, I really only eat and write with my left hand. I throw, cut and do a lot more with my right hand. It still fascinates me, though. I'll be doing more observations like this when it comes to decorating the cookies. Maybe it's only on things that are 3-D that I use my right hand to detail. Experiments to come!! <br />
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I'll keep you posted on what's cookin' in FatCat's kitchen as we get closer to Cookie Day!<br />
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Thanks for stopping by.<br />
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FatCatFat Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14238814485412337924noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8627007446392435592.post-44404546002369817692009-11-26T12:58:00.002-05:002009-12-12T09:52:55.812-05:00Happy Thanksgiving!!It's that wonderful day of the year where it's ok to gorge yourself on turkey, stuffing, yams, pie and any number of delicious culinary delights that will show up on your table. It's my favorite day of the year. <br />
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The day is filled with eating. First it's brunch at my in-laws' then it's on to dinner with my family. Nothing stems the constant flow of food. It is truly amazing. More so that I don't die from over eating.<br />
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I made special Thanksgiving cake pops for both events this year. I took Bakerella's <a href="http://www.bakerella.com/youll-want-to-gobble-these-right-up/">turkey pop design </a>and combined it with her adorable <a href="http://www.bakerella.com/spring-chickens/">spring chick pops</a> to create this:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYpTJ3na8vfVXF7A2kZ6ZgBmdtBv06puavE8lrEG7nWUaSh0w4ii6W8hxuc1S0BBKQWgoEvdTtk1GiWAhI2_rnZwkAn8naqrj2XqieQ-e_VXbDo-55oLRmy7RUl8zXzSMVovHHvOR5QLmO/s1600/P1010064.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYpTJ3na8vfVXF7A2kZ6ZgBmdtBv06puavE8lrEG7nWUaSh0w4ii6W8hxuc1S0BBKQWgoEvdTtk1GiWAhI2_rnZwkAn8naqrj2XqieQ-e_VXbDo-55oLRmy7RUl8zXzSMVovHHvOR5QLmO/s400/P1010064.JPG" yr="true" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2SbSl3M2RjMm7GvKgIq06pEyCyR4QBBRclswUquPluR9tpMnQSphDvDgkqeRzyDRwtmQ6Nkixsfy9WtwFLFkmDo30d19QSObZGqgv3KVKfGt4K9aB2WuKiXBCt4C3oNu3TOUX3WgxBryy/s400/P1010062.JPG" yr="true" /><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The love child of the Turkey Pop and the Spring Chick Pop. <br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">These guys were made using a yellow cake mixed with chocolate frosting. I dipped them in dark chocolate melts. After the chocolate set, I began the detailing. <br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">First I used mini-candy-coated chocolate chips for the beaks. I used the red hearts and red spades for the wattles. Large white and yellow sequins were used for the eyes and I drew the pupils on with an edible ink pen. For the tails I used 3 caramel candy corns. Honestly, the tails were the worst thing to put on. I finally figured out an amazing method for getting them not to slip around. Sadly it was on the last 5 pops that I figured this out.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So far, these have been the most detailed pops I've made. I loved every minute of putting these together. I'm looking forward to making and putting up more fancy pops for you all.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Have a wonderful Thanksgiving. May you eat to your hearts content with no guilt. May you enjoy time with family and friends. If you're brave enough to go out on Black Friday, I wish you amazing deals and your holiday shopping to be completely finished by 3pm tomorrow.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Thanks for stopping by.<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">FatCat<br />
</div>Fat Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14238814485412337924noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8627007446392435592.post-60728379101950409032009-11-19T14:25:00.002-05:002009-12-12T09:53:18.555-05:00Playing Catch-UpI've been making cake balls/ cake pops for just under a year now. I've taken photos of them along the way but never had a place to showcase them other than Facebook. I decided that this post would be dedicated to showing off what I've done in the past so that I can go forward and show you what I'm doing now.<br />
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My first ever attempt was Valentine's Day of 2009. My husband was out for the day (really I told him to go out and not come home until a certain time) and I had wanted to surprise him. I made a strawberry cake and home-made cream cheese frosting. I bought a medium sized candy box and lined the individual slots with mini cupcake wrappers. This is what they ended up looking like:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixNt9-hsAKz2irmQ6Ls8Cl39V7_385ajCX2Em-Ny5cG9QA0Nvev48YzIh5ZfSZvJiWczNlexXYuanlGFEvPWS4fsNElSUP1oTLfcG0BtxKQJm4NxXMO03Jx41nAWJvUdErFETsPW5JFahH/s1600/9918_193340965808_740875808_3823584_3945515_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixNt9-hsAKz2irmQ6Ls8Cl39V7_385ajCX2Em-Ny5cG9QA0Nvev48YzIh5ZfSZvJiWczNlexXYuanlGFEvPWS4fsNElSUP1oTLfcG0BtxKQJm4NxXMO03Jx41nAWJvUdErFETsPW5JFahH/s400/9918_193340965808_740875808_3823584_3945515_n.jpg" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I used milk chocolate melts and decorated using purple and pink chocolate. In hindsight, the strawberry cake and the milk chocolate were a little too sweet together. Next time I use a super sweet cake I'll be sure to use dark chocolate.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">My next experiment with cake balls wasn't until May. Friends of my in-laws are very involved with the American Cancer Society and put together a Relay For Life Team. As a member of this team, I wanted to bring something to snack on or even give to other participants at the event. Again, I was inspired by <a href="http://www.bakerella.com/">Bakerella</a> and decided to make cupcake balls dipped and decorated in the ACS colors. When I got to my in-laws' house and showed my mother-in-law, she insisted on a photo shoot. Honestly, I was so thrilled with how they looked I was ecstatic that she wanted to photograph them.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWDKA_nPIHWd9WvaZmZNkqbKuX5_D9r6p4WYsZgGvPMmLar_NK2akGgDCSy9Y423V3n5QPlMk9iS_u9ggfb_I-3dbnDPoDV86sLhs00wzvB4koqn26yI1eK4GayFBmewKk82i8G9oz2ORW/s1600/9918_193342575808_740875808_3823619_7192937_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWDKA_nPIHWd9WvaZmZNkqbKuX5_D9r6p4WYsZgGvPMmLar_NK2akGgDCSy9Y423V3n5QPlMk9iS_u9ggfb_I-3dbnDPoDV86sLhs00wzvB4koqn26yI1eK4GayFBmewKk82i8G9oz2ORW/s400/9918_193342575808_740875808_3823619_7192937_n.jpg" /></a><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfG7GIRBImOcCLFpGvL50PJCHtAXuQEC4t_mZsAhenUsdDCc7cM5McPjjPsr8jr3ZVuN1LukqadnyvAcA7yC1hu4AGpXcJuR8vJPTxTpK10scx64nvKm30AEYBvyVbvhd9SxAA6Vh2kRh9/s1600/9918_193342555808_740875808_3823615_465251_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfG7GIRBImOcCLFpGvL50PJCHtAXuQEC4t_mZsAhenUsdDCc7cM5McPjjPsr8jr3ZVuN1LukqadnyvAcA7yC1hu4AGpXcJuR8vJPTxTpK10scx64nvKm30AEYBvyVbvhd9SxAA6Vh2kRh9/s400/9918_193342555808_740875808_3823615_465251_n.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM7MIuZMp94T-ovOQuzmZeIFOmZam6m75Du56gdWHQthCyDj9kVc0A6dlHCNJnPg7zOI_mJjXOuAAWIoyFFzuSLcmf3AUoEH6j_CIOQvNZ4Csh-Ig57hFXfFCgP5R3JHpL03FcWsTnJn37/s1600/9918_193342580808_740875808_3823620_452487_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM7MIuZMp94T-ovOQuzmZeIFOmZam6m75Du56gdWHQthCyDj9kVc0A6dlHCNJnPg7zOI_mJjXOuAAWIoyFFzuSLcmf3AUoEH6j_CIOQvNZ4Csh-Ig57hFXfFCgP5R3JHpL03FcWsTnJn37/s400/9918_193342580808_740875808_3823620_452487_n.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPqIDB0PVMmSNgZCqnelV6vMSrwXhtxNM7CCF2oseQvcBj4kQjUurT92OuTCg6pahTNcW1bT9bpIGPj7afNSDkh-HcoyjZCvBjrCPqz24FrPw5r300JSow4Z1-18RIzYzCOrTt48ZQCcOX/s1600/9918_193342545808_740875808_3823613_3825320_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPqIDB0PVMmSNgZCqnelV6vMSrwXhtxNM7CCF2oseQvcBj4kQjUurT92OuTCg6pahTNcW1bT9bpIGPj7afNSDkh-HcoyjZCvBjrCPqz24FrPw5r300JSow4Z1-18RIzYzCOrTt48ZQCcOX/s400/9918_193342545808_740875808_3823613_3825320_n.jpg" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">See how nicely they posed? They were a <b>huge</b> hit at the relay.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And again, months passed before I made cake balls again. This time, I decided I'd try doing cake pops. Not an easy thing to do when you have no idea how to make things small enough to stay on a stick yet big enough to decorate.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The Jewish New Year gave me my chance to try out cake pops. Since part of the tradition is to eat apples and honey as representation of a sweet year to come, I made cake apples. I used red and green candy melts, pretzel rods for stems and since I didn't have diamond shaped sprinkles, I used Christmas trees for the leaves. I don't think they turned out half bad.<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwBHHJ9DHrfKDv1GlDavpYfdHHN0NREJMLZXKf8auy2XwQ58RKmAruzukXiFN4o1n9ex2_E7Dfi8FQWvqVu5i5nHIixNstYMr5-PZP-IznyLJToqqZAajybeQHhUHXriul7ppCZLV9EtaK/s1600/IMG_0056.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwBHHJ9DHrfKDv1GlDavpYfdHHN0NREJMLZXKf8auy2XwQ58RKmAruzukXiFN4o1n9ex2_E7Dfi8FQWvqVu5i5nHIixNstYMr5-PZP-IznyLJToqqZAajybeQHhUHXriul7ppCZLV9EtaK/s400/IMG_0056.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr8qKbviTWqJLXdudSxxjmWBks5EHkmlPrW8IvHVdCoapohj1rzqgJ9rvHBQyq4oBzxSVhxVLnbZ11dkP5zIcYzy50lJ30cN2_qWvrRyVqqgKnzagHKBVQK-5AKJ42DsjtA7w13THZ_QfV/s1600/IMG_0059.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr8qKbviTWqJLXdudSxxjmWBks5EHkmlPrW8IvHVdCoapohj1rzqgJ9rvHBQyq4oBzxSVhxVLnbZ11dkP5zIcYzy50lJ30cN2_qWvrRyVqqgKnzagHKBVQK-5AKJ42DsjtA7w13THZ_QfV/s400/IMG_0059.jpg" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In early October I was involved in a bake sale to support the National Kidney Foundation of Greater New York's Kidney Walk. I made 166 (yes, I counted) red and orange cake pops to sell. They were an instant hit and sold in a flash.<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjahYPY48Fe-Zi5xpc1WUsp7FSUfYO4D2qTXuXAXD6hc8E05Hh-cPsvQ_EvmpAbKlVw_hBxln2PWtkELAPxpEd9XBMVzlFS1oxT2VGmKyIar66JRSmkaKS8lkJkTL2k9J1Ixj5p6GDRKH6o/s1600/IMG_0064.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjahYPY48Fe-Zi5xpc1WUsp7FSUfYO4D2qTXuXAXD6hc8E05Hh-cPsvQ_EvmpAbKlVw_hBxln2PWtkELAPxpEd9XBMVzlFS1oxT2VGmKyIar66JRSmkaKS8lkJkTL2k9J1Ixj5p6GDRKH6o/s400/IMG_0064.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxq0_qqGT_V1BGTLMxanQLdGeCPjghzGnSOcaVSiwH2ahwfi2CVAltVg2lh_yHSU1AYGbZ-8YO0PH8JYGRas59Q1XLm7jNHJT5wMO1Mm3E4VKMbza0JK1N1c0Jp4IVYQ8UYPSRBSJGumTB/s1600/IMG_0066.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxq0_qqGT_V1BGTLMxanQLdGeCPjghzGnSOcaVSiwH2ahwfi2CVAltVg2lh_yHSU1AYGbZ-8YO0PH8JYGRas59Q1XLm7jNHJT5wMO1Mm3E4VKMbza0JK1N1c0Jp4IVYQ8UYPSRBSJGumTB/s400/IMG_0066.jpg" /></a><br />
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</div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFyps0fQ31imc7QAZRzejBJKe5XMBqk6_ZvW_E7qsVwzU263WuL9xM4ooA3p2o4FHBURrdH0NfoOOD8rHLidIIkO2VcfP_zikD7i763yIO1nCiENJkeB4CTGKe-CBTYWIld_ZRwZV9fhAZ/s1600/IMG_0068.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFyps0fQ31imc7QAZRzejBJKe5XMBqk6_ZvW_E7qsVwzU263WuL9xM4ooA3p2o4FHBURrdH0NfoOOD8rHLidIIkO2VcfP_zikD7i763yIO1nCiENJkeB4CTGKe-CBTYWIld_ZRwZV9fhAZ/s400/IMG_0068.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWtKJ3DXOvd87y0iETLi9fYE2uPYBFQ3uGmg0j4OOXX5sfJJwBFEgSPM-2AvMxxpi64vOse01yjpUfTpaQdBQ6rsval_hirEE96ETtj3mUgRC9AuYbaCJnqATCOCU6HosA7fD0AxLLWcu5/s1600/IMG_0069.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWtKJ3DXOvd87y0iETLi9fYE2uPYBFQ3uGmg0j4OOXX5sfJJwBFEgSPM-2AvMxxpi64vOse01yjpUfTpaQdBQ6rsval_hirEE96ETtj3mUgRC9AuYbaCJnqATCOCU6HosA7fD0AxLLWcu5/s400/IMG_0069.jpg" /></a><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The latest round of pops that I made were for my sister-in-Law (the same one who introduced me to <a href="http://www.bakerella.com/">Bakerella</a>) and her husband. They recently got married and their rehearsal dinner was on Halloween. What could be more appropriate than making ghosts, jack-o-lanterns and pumpkins?<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;">No mouth ghosts<br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGOrfQ43ME5AUyC6q5ooRrE4qM_JPuDSnwE_CYstUFs6Lko9uRI7fsHrcSXMeDzVnZVw3z2h20Day59-SBA_chbriox2_I0QIf7TAAzfEGE8oFShdwS0gMcR9GWI74l88WRsSfvrjpO3Hu/s1600/IMG_0083.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGOrfQ43ME5AUyC6q5ooRrE4qM_JPuDSnwE_CYstUFs6Lko9uRI7fsHrcSXMeDzVnZVw3z2h20Day59-SBA_chbriox2_I0QIf7TAAzfEGE8oFShdwS0gMcR9GWI74l88WRsSfvrjpO3Hu/s400/IMG_0083.jpg" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Ghosts with a mouth<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjmmxGlTqImR7AqTpk_6s9gMHnsG54z_m5Xv0Afv3zkHMsVGGf8qMv8Vkf1lL5kzQyJkL1dRF_d2cMRMmccCpcWuj8kEi80eq3PKJabPOn6zaviX1fKBbXanfA-mS00jwilcj_A-T3fG25/s1600/IMG_0084.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjmmxGlTqImR7AqTpk_6s9gMHnsG54z_m5Xv0Afv3zkHMsVGGf8qMv8Vkf1lL5kzQyJkL1dRF_d2cMRMmccCpcWuj8kEi80eq3PKJabPOn6zaviX1fKBbXanfA-mS00jwilcj_A-T3fG25/s400/IMG_0084.jpg" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Pumpkins<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA4sYLtHglVg8q1wox9W2foMlB7d3Kshm55_hGlt6KTCmkeYEggYWlCgtXQdZdyq3cVGxdcC3oBgp-kHl9TtEtZAQIvtAhIK84eH_F_KcPs1qIJKbTxook1QqxIh3a0I0RSQDRTPXyn-T9/s1600/IMG_0095.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA4sYLtHglVg8q1wox9W2foMlB7d3Kshm55_hGlt6KTCmkeYEggYWlCgtXQdZdyq3cVGxdcC3oBgp-kHl9TtEtZAQIvtAhIK84eH_F_KcPs1qIJKbTxook1QqxIh3a0I0RSQDRTPXyn-T9/s400/IMG_0095.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">And jack-o-lanterns<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZwY3WcN5RkFaUE0-y-nWVUfIzpXbV4TdPVkrJ99W6Ni3UsLGJ5gvapxwf-NJyvJXzDK2RNEdIPjx5ngmuHJc0OFq6Hkwp8XKaKQZ5GoQjbIngUYbR1ctQzbVPhb67ambh2s44xh6gcnjz/s1600/IMG_0094.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZwY3WcN5RkFaUE0-y-nWVUfIzpXbV4TdPVkrJ99W6Ni3UsLGJ5gvapxwf-NJyvJXzDK2RNEdIPjx5ngmuHJc0OFq6Hkwp8XKaKQZ5GoQjbIngUYbR1ctQzbVPhb67ambh2s44xh6gcnjz/s400/IMG_0094.jpg" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">So ends my trip down cake ball/pop memory lane. Upcoming will be my Thanksgiving Turkey pops, winter penguins, and the multitudes of cookies that are in process and I type this post.<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Oh, my photos will be a lot better from here on out. These were pretty much all taken (with the exception of the Valentine's Day truffles and the Relay For Life cupcake balls) on my cell phone.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Thanks for stopping by.<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div>FatCat<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGOrfQ43ME5AUyC6q5ooRrE4qM_JPuDSnwE_CYstUFs6Lko9uRI7fsHrcSXMeDzVnZVw3z2h20Day59-SBA_chbriox2_I0QIf7TAAzfEGE8oFShdwS0gMcR9GWI74l88WRsSfvrjpO3Hu/s1600/IMG_0083.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br />
</a><br />
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</div>Fat Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14238814485412337924noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8627007446392435592.post-24718315698829291162009-11-18T14:57:00.001-05:002009-12-12T09:53:36.647-05:00Just Starting OutHi there! This is my first time blogging about something that I'm doing. On this blog I'll be sharing pictures of my baking and cake ball/cake pops. I've always loved to bake and one day, my sister-in-law introduced me to <a href="http://www.bakerella.com/">http://www.bakerella.com/</a> and I got hooked. I loved her designs and decided to try out some of my own. I've also gotten more into cookie baking and experimenting in the kitchen. This blog will follow my successes in the kitchen as well as my epic failures.<br />
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Thanks for coming by!<br />
FatCatFat Cathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14238814485412337924noreply@blogger.com0