Sugar Cookies and Royal Icing

Here you all go... at Mary's request. :)

Sugar Cookies

(Btw, since your going to the trouble, it's worth it to make a double batch, since a single batch doesn't make a huge amount of cookies.)

1 cup butter

1 cup powdered sugar

1 egg, beaten

1 ½ teaspoons almond extract

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon salt

2 ½ cups sifted flour

Directions: 
Cream butter. Add powdered sugar. Blend in egg, almond extract, vanilla, salt and flour. Chill dough until firm.

Roll to ¼ inch thickness on well-floured surface. Cut with cookie cutters. Place on greased cookie sheets.

Bake at 375 for 8-10 min. Cookies should not brown. Frost and decorate when cool.


Royal Icing

(Btw, you can find meringue powder and gel icing color at craft stores, like Roberts or Michaels.)


4 cups powdered sugar, sifted

2 tbsp. meringue powder

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

5 tbsp. water

Combine all ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on low speed until the sheen has disappeared and the icing has a matte appearance (about 7-10 minutes). Transfer the contents of the mixing bowl to an air-tight container.
This will be the stiffest consistency of the icing, and at this point it is still too stiff to use for decorating. Add water a very small amount at a time and stir by hand until fully incorporated. Continue until the icing has reached a consistency appropriate for piping (thick enough that it will stay in a line when piped, but not so thick that you have to muscle it out of the tip). If you are having any difficulty piping, it is still too thick. Add a little more liquid and try again.
Using a pastry bag, pipe around the edges of each cookie. Let stand so the icing will set. Make sure to keep the leftover icing covered at all times when not in use so that it does not begin to harden.
Once all the cookies have been edged, transfer some of the remaining icing to a separate air-tight container. Thin out by incorporating a small amount of water at a time, until the icing drips off the spoon easily when lifted and then smooths in with that still in the bowl. If you go too far and the icing is too thin, add more sifted powdered sugar to thicken it again. Once the icing has reached the desired consistency, transfer it to a squeeze bottle (or a plastic bag with a hole in one corner, or a pastry bag with a slightly larger tip), and flood the area surrounded by the piping on each cookie. If it does not completely spread to the edges, use a toothpick to help it along. Allow to set.
Use the remaining thicker icing for piping decoration as desired. Gel icing color is best as it does not add a significant amount of liquid. Liquid food coloring can be used as well – add powdered sugar as needed to compensate for any thinning that occurs.

***I did all of my color decorating while the first color was still wet. So I'd flood in one color a few cookies at a time, and then quickly pick up the other color ready to go in a second icing bag and lay the second color so that it would lay down and look flush with the base color. For the crazy strips, I just put on regular stripes and then ran a toothpick up and down through the stripes. Tricky.

Herb Garlic Hummus

(Modified from Food Network)

Ingredients

* 1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
* 1 clove garlic
* 1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves
* 6 fresh basil leaves
* 1/4 cup fresh cilantro
* 1 teaspoon honey
* juice from 1 lemon
* 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
* 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
* 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
* 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
* Options for dipping: carrot sticks, sliced cucumber and whole-wheat pita chips

(Bake your own pita chips by pizza slicing whole-wheat pitas, and pulling apart the halves if you are using the kind with a pocket, spray with canola oil, lightly salt, and bake for about 7 minutes at 400 degrees, or until they start to brown. Easy-peasy.)

Directions

Place ingredients in a food processor fitted with a steel blade and pulse until smooth.

Serve with dippers.

Lemon Cupcakes with Lemon Cream and Berries

I'm not really a lemon dessert person, but I made these for someone who is. They ended up tasting really light and fluffy and delicious.

For the cupcakes:
1 Yellow cake mix
1 small package lemon instant pudding mix
1 cup sour cream
Zest of 1 lemon
Juice of 1 lemon
Water
4 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 350.

Juice lemon into a 1/2 cup measuring cup. Once lemon juice is in, add enough water to make 1/2 cup of liquid. Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and beat on medium speed for 3 minutes.

Spray two 12 cup cupcake pans or use liners. Fill each cupcake cup 2/3 full.

Bake at 350 for 15-18 minutes until cupcakes barely spring back in the center when lightly touched. Do not let the edges get brown. Remove from oven and allow to cook a couple of minutes and remove from pan to cool.

For the lemon cream:
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/3 cup confectioners sugar
8 oz (about a cup) lemon curd
2 small packages of fresh berries (raspberries, blackberries, blueberries or strawberries)

Beat heavy cream until starting to thicken and add confectioners sugar and beat until nice and thick but not separating.

In a small mixing bowl, whisk lemon curd until pale yellow and no longer heavy and stiff. Gently add lemon curd to whipped cream and fold together until well incorporated and no big pockets of curd remain. Add to piping bag and pipe on top cooled cupcakes. Decorate with berries and serve.

Warm Chocolate Cake

Fabulous!!!

This cake is fast and easy. The cake has a warm gooey inside that tastes like hot fudge. I like it with vanilla ice cream and fresh berries.

1/2 cup unsalted butter
6 oz (1/2 pkg) semisweet chocolate chips
1 oz unsweetened chocolate (1 square)
4 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup flour
1/4 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 375. Spray bundt pan. Melt butter and all chocolates together in microwave for 30 seconds, then stir. Repeat until all are melted. In another bowl, beat sugar and eggs 2 minutes until lightened in color. Stir in vanilla and chocolate mixture. Sprinkle flour and baking powder over. Stir until just combined. Pour into pan and bake for 15 minutes. (It will totally look NOT done). Take out and let sit for 15 minutes. Serve warm.

Laughing Cow

So ladies, I finally went and tried the Laughing Cow cheese. For some reason I always thought it was going to taste cream cheesy... until I wisened up and looked at the ingredients. Cheddar. Swiss. I like cheddar and swiss. :) So I purchased the light garlic/herb Laughing Cow cheese and have since eaten it on toast. Yum! I also spread it on toast, added a fried egg (no butter used in the frying of said egg), and tomato and it was simply delightful. Give it a try. It's quick and delicious. The. End.

Alyson's Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are the softest, most delicious chocolate chip cookies around. They're kinda cakey... probably not the best "dunk in a glass of milk" chocolate chip cookie. Em, here you go. :)

2 1/2 c flour + 1 tsp baking soda
1 c butter
1/4 c white sugar
3/4 c brown sugar
1 small pkg vanilla instant pudding (I use butterscotch now which I think is better)
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
chocolate chips

Combine butter, sugars, pudding, eggs, and vanilla. (Maybe you could cream the butter and sugar before adding the other ingredients.) Add flour + soda. Then add chocolate chips. Bake at 375 degrees. I've got it down to 7 1/2 minutes perfectly in my oven. You'll have to figure out what works for your oven, but I recommend taking them out just before they look done (like, before they start to brown on top). This way they stay soft for several days. Yum!

I usually do 1 1/2 times the recipe using a large pudding mix. Also, I've received grand reviews when I've switched it up and used chocolate pudding and white chips (I bet peanut butter chips would be awesome as well). Decrease the flour by 2 Tbl and add 2 Tbl of cocoa.

Spaghetti with Roasted Cauliflower and Olives

By MARTHA ROSE SHULMAN (from The New York Times)

Umm... olives are gross, so I didn't use them. Also, I bought sun-dried tomato feta and it was AWESOME! Oh, and I used whole wheat linguini... love the whole wheat. :)

1/2 medium head of cauliflower, broken into florets
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, to taste
1 (14-ounce) can chopped tomatoes, with juice
Pinch of sugar
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
Salt and freshly ground pepper
12 kalamata olives, pitted and cut in half lengthwise
3/4 pound spaghetti
2 ounces either feta (crumbled), ricotta salata, Parmesan, or a mix of Parmesan and Pecorino (grated)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil and add the cauliflower. Blanch for two minutes and transfer to a bowl of ice water. Drain and blot dry. Cover the pot; you’ll use the water again for the pasta. Quarter the cauliflower florets, toss with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and salt generously. Transfer to a baking sheet, place in the oven and roast 30 minutes, stirring from time to time, until tender and lightly browned. Remove from the oven and set aside.

2. Meanwhile, in a wide, nonstick frying pan or a 3-quart saucepan, heat the remaining oil over medium heat and add the garlic and red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, about one minute. Add the tomatoes, sugar, thyme and salt, and bring to a simmer. Simmer over medium-low heat, stirring often, until thick, 15 to 20 minutes. Stir in the cauliflower and the olives, and simmer a few minutes more. Taste and adjust seasonings.

3. Bring the water back to a rolling boil. Add the spaghetti and cook until the pasta is al dente, usually about 10 minutes. Drain and toss with the cauliflower-tomato mixture. Sprinkle the cheese over the top and serve at once.

Yield: Serves 4

breakfast burritos

i just have to add this one; we've made this twice in two weeks. it's not your plain-jane breakfast burrito but it's still incredibly, ridiculously easy. of course it's from the cook's country fools because they manage to refine simple and delicious cooking. hallelujah! my notes of what we've played around with are at the end. 

8 large eggs
1/4 C half & half (or milk)
1/2 tsp table salt
1/8 tsp pepper
2 tsp veg oil **
6 oz chorizo sausage, chopped medium **
1 red onion, finely diced
1 red bell pepper, finely diced
1 jalapeno, seeded & finely minced
1 TB unsalted butter **
1 1/2 C shredded cheddar cheese
3 scallions, sliced thin **
flour tortillas (8"-9")

whisk the eggs, half & half, salt & pepper together; set aside. heat oil in a large skillet and brown the sausage. add onion, bell pepper & jalapeno, cooking until softened. transfer sausage mixture to a bowl & keep warm. wipe out the skillet, melt the butter, add the eggs. fold/scramble the eggs. when almost cooked, add cheese and incorporate into eggs. fold sausage mixture back into skillet with the eggs. heat tortillas in microwave (~20 seconds). and get our burrito on!

** we used ground hot italian sausage (it came in a 12 oz pkg and we froze the other half). we just cooked it like you might ground beef or turkey. we did not use the oil in the skillet to brown the sausage (seems unnecessary to me, but we have non-stick pans). i chopped the veggies while brandon cooked the sausage & whisked the eggs. we did not add butter to the skillet before the eggs, but i'm sure that would be tasty (we didn't miss it). lastly, we did not incorporate the scallions (mostly because i forgot) and again, didn't miss anything. normally we'd use salsa and sour cream with breakfast burritos, but these are incredibly tasty on their own. in fact, i tried a bite with salsa and it took away from the burrito deliciousness.

whip these babies up using whatever type of sausage your family likes. the jalapenos (if they're seeded) are not spicy; they just add more flavor. seriously, ladies, these are delicious and you all know how i feel about sausage.