Wall*E is One Tough Cookie!

Well, Wall*E turned out great, in the end, and tasted fabulous, and G loved him! However, he lost his head three times, one arm entirely, and his neck just got shorter each time he lost his head.

Erik loved snipping the black licorice for his "tracks," and Ro was pleased with the base and tracks made of rice Krispie treats. The body was lemon poppy seed pound cake, and the head was wafer ice cream cones and macaroon cookies stuck together with melted white chocolate. Next time, I will frost the head and neck with buttercream rather than the cream filling from the center of the cakes (but this time I lost my fave pottery bowl and half our frosting to the floor *crash!*, so had to improvise). I think the moisture from the filling (used as frosting) contributed to the last two face-plants. The previous head falling was due to my use of cookie stick as support rather than the dowel that replaced it (that Joel cut and sanded for me).

Light & Creamy Whipped Filling
1 c whipping cream, whipped to soft peaks with sugar and vanilla
3 Tbs. sugar
1 Tbs. vanilla
Add the cream cheese half at a time and blend
1 8-oz. tub whipped cream cheese

Fill jelly roll, cake layers, or use as frosting (but not on a wafer-cone Wall*E head!)

Happy 5th Gavino!!

Surimi Bento

The Cookie Gun Experiment

Erik woke up from his nap yesterday, very excited, muttering about "... the cookie gun experiment..." Hmm... He was also very mad about Joel and Madeline having gone off to ride bikes with the boys at the park (despite the fact that he had told us three times earlier that he did NOT want to go, but to stay home and "snuggle down").

Anyway, for distraction's sake (and fun too) we broke out the Spritz stuff—for the first time. My great grandma's cookie "gun" did a great job with this "experiment." We used the camel (my favorite!), heart, and "tree" (Erik's fave—I think it's the spade) shapes.
Peanut Butter Spritz Cookies

1/2 c softened butter (1 stick)
1/2 c peanut butter (creamy)
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c brown sugar
1 egg
1 c flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
Sprinkles for decorating... you can "experiment" with different kinds of sprinkles too.

Blend the peanut butter and butter, then add sugar and beat until combined. Add egg. Pour in flour, soda and salt and mix in, then chill for 15 mins. Load into cookie "gun" and press onto cookie sheets. Bake at 350-degrees F for 6-8 mins.

Lovely, and 21-years Old!

Happy Birthday to Ro!

Rochelle's birthday being in January, and specifically right when I'm working out and lightening/healthy-ing up the diet, she got a non-fat chocolate cake for her birthday today. Now, don't go away just yet. It's good. Really. Moist and delicious, chocolate-heaven. It really doesn't taste light at all... And, while Ro is also lovely, she's got a couple years on this lovely cake recipe that I've kept for 21 years... I've saved it since I was a sophomore in high school. It's originally from SHAPE magazine, circa 1989, and it's got a nearly fat-free frosting to go with it. But, seeing as I'm far less extremist these days, I skipped that super-healthy frosting in favor of a little bit of chocolate-peppermint buttercream for the filling and sides, and a simple ganache poured over the top. Balance is a good thing. I also grated two Lindor dark chocolate truffles over the top and added some candy-cane hearts and other decor to make a flower shape. You know, because this was a birthday celebration cake!Here's the whole SHAPE-approved recipe...

Nonfat Chocolate Cake & Frosting (SHAPE magazine 1989)
1.5 c sugar
1.75 c flour
3/4 c cocoa powder
1.5 tsp baking soda
1.5 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1 c nonfat milk
1/2 c applesauce
2 tsp vanilla
1 c boiling water

Preheat oven to 350-degrees F. Spray and flour pan/s (really - do it, or the cake will not come out of the pan). Combine dry ingredients, then add all the wet ingredients except the boiling water. Beat on medium speed of mixer for 2 minutes, then stir in boiling water. Bake 35-40 minutes.

Nearly Fat-Free Chocolate Frosting
4 Tbs light margarine
2 Tbs plain, non-fat yogurt
1/2 c cocoa powder
2 c powdered sugar
3 Tbs non-fat milk
2 tsp vanilla

Cream margarine and yogurt, then add cocoa and sugar alternately with milk. Add vanilla, and add additional milk as needed to get the consistency that you want.

Oh, and to do the candy cane hearts... just heat the oven to 200-degrees F, arrange two mini candy canes for each heart in heart shape on parchment and bake for 8-9 minutes. Remove pan, and shape/squish connection points with chopsticks or spoons (so you don't burn fingers), then pop back in the oven for an additional 1-2 minutes. Voila! Wouldn't these be fun Christmas ornaments to hang on the tree? I just found them online last week, and luckily had an extra box of mini candy canes that fit the bill!

A Very Merry Year: January

So, instead of going crazy with holiday baking last year, I decided that it would be much more fun to spread the joy out over the year and gift someone each month (or so) with something lovely from my kitchen.

The first recipient is someone who I went to high school with, has served in the U.S. Navy for nearly 19 years and is on a year's combat mission (away from his wife and two young kids) until May this year! I wanted to send Pete cookies this Christmas, but didn't have the time to fit it in, so he and his family were first up on the list.

He happily accepted (although his wife and kids apparently bake often so he declined for them), and lucky for him he has no allergies, so he gets Peanut Butter cookies with chocolate chips. Mmm... the recipe is from Deb at Smitten Kitchen right here. Make them, but give most away. They are divine.

Happy January To Pete — a great dad, great guy, great soldier.

Wonder who else is on my Cookie List...? Is it you? Just wait and see...

Speedy, Healthy, Fun!

Bento for me: I take what I have and get creative with it—it's all about making M's little preschool lunch boxes fun and appealing. With a choice of faux veggie sushi (tortilla wrap with cream cheese, carrots and arugula), quesadilla, rolled lunch meat, leftovers, peeled shrimp, Inari sushi (from QFC), and fresh fruit and veggies tossed in (or just a tossed "Rocket" arugula salad) on any given day... all in a fun one- or two-tiered bento box (and picks, food cups and dividers) from Daiso in Lynnwood, M's out the door with her school lunch in no time!Seriously, packing lunch takes me between 5-10 minutes, depending on what I'm doing with it. I mix things up with slicing fruit in different ways (mandarin orange "flowers" with dried cherry centers, or vertical slices of apple cut into shapes with cookie cutters), and tossing in some dip for veggies. I occasionally toss in a couple maraschino cherry for a treat with her fruit... Easy for me, fun (and healthy) for her, which is excellent all around.

On The Menu...

So apparently, I really am bad at following directions... this week I shopped online to buy the ingredients for the shopping list for the weekly meals in Everyday Food. However, rather than stick to their menu, I started winging it, and got carried away. I think the only similarity is that they served polenta (I didn't follow her recipe though... too much butter!) and that I served beef and sauteed mushrooms. Ah, well, at least I got dinners on the table every night. Now, what to make tonight?

By the way, check out this very cool menu generator on RedKid.Net — love it!!

• Monday: Huevos Rancheros with orange and grapefruit sections
• Tuesday: Tarragon Chicken with tortillas and rocket (arugula) salad
• Wednesday: Annie's Mac and Cheese (with butternut squash puree - shh...) turkey dogs in "blankets," peas, cherry tomatoes and mandarin oranges (we had produce-averse kiddo dinner guests ...)
  
• Thursday: Grilled beef strips with caramelized onions, sauteed mushrooms, creamy polenta, and steamed broccoli
• Friday: ?????

Update... "Specials"

• Friday - From the Everyday Food menu, I made grilled (broiled) polenta wedges with creamy mushrooms (or pesto sauce) and peas. Did a Japanese-style lunch at Ro's today too, so lots of good food this week!
• Saturday - Chilequiles with fruit salad (strawberries, blueberries and sectioned oranges with a splash of balsamic, vanilla, some sugar and a dash of salt).

Floppy Rubber, or Flappy Blubber?

What IS Flubber, anyway? It's absolutely NOT edible. It's a fun, squishy, rubbery substance, and is exactly the consistency of a product called Mars Mud that we bought at a toy store last summer. It's not as messy as Playdough, but since it has Borax in it, it is not for little kiddos who might eat it. It is a very fun science "experiment" for observation purposes and high on the "gross-ometer" too. Abby, Madeline and Erik loved it.
Flubber
(I halved the recipe I had, since I only have one bottle of glue)
1 c. white glue
3/4 c. warm water
liquid water color tint (if you use food color, it will stain everything - table, hands, etc.)

1/2 Tbs. Borax (powdered laundry booster)
1/2 c. warm water

Mix the glue, water and coloring in one bowl very well, and the Borax and additional water in a seperate bowl (until all the Borax powder dissolves). Then, pour the glue mixture into the Borax mixture, and observe. Set a timer for 2 minutes and check consistency again. Then, this Mama scooped the Flubber out of the bowl with my hand kneaded it on the table, and divided it up into three for the kiddos (3, 4.5 and 6.5 years old) to enjoy! I gave them several different shapes of containers to make "cakes" in - they used crayons for candles, and Bento lunch picks too. Fun!

Bûche de Noël - 2010

Madeline helped decorate the Bûche de Noël this year, and enjoyed making the snow on it very much. We also decorated with a small leaf cookie cutter cut-outs of sugar-cookie flavored holiday Peeps (got two leaves from each Peep), candy berries, M&M's and fresh Lady Apples. I used the usual recipe this year, but replaced the crushed candy canes with finely chopped candied orange peel. It was fabulous.

Nutcracker Sweet

Every year since Madeline was two, we've gone to the Nutcracker in Seattle with Jamie, her sisters and nieces. It's amazing. Maurice Sendak sets, stellar music, magical dancing, beautiful costumes. The best. This year will be Mads' third time, and she's really excited. And, about a month ago I saw a great idea for "Nutcracker Sweets" in Parents Magazine. My favorite of the sweets was a Mouse King Cookie Pop (they put them on sticks, and being who I am, I actually have cookie sticks in my house). So... tonight, the kids enthusiastically dove in to helping with construction of these cookies. We made some regular cookies and some as "pops," and three with brown little mouse noses too.
We'll be sharing these with our buddies tomorrow! I used 1/2 the recipe for the play dough sugar cookie dough for these, and as the Parents Magazine did, we baked the crowns separately (tinted the dough for the crowns yellow), sprinkled them with yellow sugar, and attached them when decorating. You form the crowns freehand by cutting a 1x2-inch rectangle and then shaping a zigzag top with a paring knife—voila! A crown! Jelly Belly jellybeans are the noses, and melted chocolate candy melts acted as our "glue" and drawing medium! You can find cookie/candy sticks at most craft stores, or anywhere Wilton decorating supplies are sold.

Green Stuff

This is one of E's favorite green foods, and it's delish! I served it at his birthday, and have had a lot of requests for the recipe, so here it is!

Erik's Fave Spinach Souffle
(although this recipe came from Martha's Everyday Food magazine, I've changed it enough that I consider it Erik's recipe)
Cooking spray or butter (to grease casserole) and
About 1/4 c. bread crumbs
1 Tbs. butter
3 Tbs. flour
1.5 c. milk
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 egg yolks
1 pkg frozen, chopped spinach (defrosted and drained - squeezed, really)
1 c. Parmesan cheese
4 egg whites
Pinch cream of tartar

Preheat oven to 400-degrees F. Melt butter in saucepan and add flour. Stir and cook about 3 minutes, then slowly add the milk, salt and pepper. Stir until smooth and add egg yolks (temper first by adding several tablespoons of hot milk mixture to the egg yolks, then add the warmed yolks to the pan). Cook about 3 more minutes, or until Bechemel (white) sauce is thickened. Remove from heat and stir in drained spinach and Parmesan. NOTE: to make this recipe more kid-friendly, I chop the chopped spinach very fine in my food processor for more incorporated "green" bits , and use the Paremesan in the green can (milder flavor), but I didn't do either of these things for Christmas dinner at my in-laws house, and it is fabulous without these steps, using fresh, grated Parmesan as well.

Whip the four egg whites with a pinch of Cream of Tartar in your Kitchenaid with whisk attachment until soft peaks form. While it's whipping, grease a 2-quart casserole and coat with bread crumbs. When whites are ready, stir 1/3 of them into the spinach mixture in the pan, then when incorporated, fold the spinach mixture into the rest of the whites.

Pour into the prepared pan, reduce the oven temp from 400 - to 350-degrees F, and pop into the oven immediately, to cook for about 30 minutes (until "set" and golden-brown on top).

Serve warm, cold or reheated! Even if this baby falls, it's still delish.

Using It All...

This is the "greenest" recipe ever. Seriously. Candied orange peels. You candy the peel, you eat the orange, and you make orange syrup out of the sugar and water you use to candy the peel in! Beautiful. This is going to be a keeper for Christmas treats.
Candied Orange Peel Slices
5-6 large navel oranges
water
3 cups sugar

Cuts ends off and score the oranges lengthwise, then peel. Slice lengthwise in 1/4-inch slices. Put in pot and cover with water. Boil and drain water three times. Then, add the sugar, and cover peels with water again (just cover, don't fill the pot up). Boil for 35-45 minutes, until the peels are transparent. Drain (save the liquid to boil down for syrup too!) and dump onto a wire rack to cool and dry a bit.

To finish, dredge in sugar, or dip in white or dark chocolate. They are AMAZING!!!

Eat The Play Dough...

Once it's cooked, that is...

Awhile ago I saw a post by a friend of Jen's about Play Dough Sugar Cookies. Easy to shape, kids can play with it, then you bake it and eat it! And, best of all... they are tasty. So, for Erik's party, I made a batch, tinted it all the colors of the rainbow, and they created. It was a huge hit, didn't get to warm and mushy when worked with, and all the guests had a blast (even some grown-up kids got in on the fun!) I just wish I had a photo of John's "cheeseburger" creation, but he wisely ate it up before any littles could get it. This photo is of cookies made with only about 1/3 of the dough.
Here's the recipe, originally from The Cookie Shop blog:

Play Dough Cookies
(this recipe is a double batch)
1 .5 c. butter, softened
6 oz. cream cheese
2 c. sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
5.5 c. flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
assorted colors of paste food coloring

In an electric mixer, cream butter, cream cheese and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla; beat until smooth. Then add flour, baking powder and salt to bowl and mix until a soft dough forms.

Divide dough into as many separate colors as you want to make. Squirt color into the center of each ball of dough and work the tint in with your hands. Wrap each color in plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours.

Bake at 350 degrees F for about 8 minutes (for relatively flat creations), 3-D cookies will need more baking time. Place cookies about 2 inches apart on cookie sheets.

3, 2, 1... Blast Off!!!

Erik wants "... a rocket, an astronaut and Pluto," for his birthday, so here it is (delicious vanilla pound cake filled with vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream and seedless Marionberry jam, frosted with vanilla lemon buttercream):


And... some mini cupcakes to represent the dwarf planet... Pluto!

Mini Gingerbread Houses? Check.

Good decorating with royal icing, candy melts, frosted mini wheats, sunflower seed drops, dried blueberries and cranberries, Reese's Pieces, almonds, Red Vines, coconut, and snowflake "sprinkles."

My favorite thing... my new decorating bottles by Kuhn Rikon that the kids can easily use (Sur La Table, Jen, in a big basket near the front door... in case you need some too). Merry Little Christmas to me!
Gingerbread House Glue (AKA Royal Icing/Frosting)

5 Tbs. Meringue powder
1/2 c. warm water

Whip until stiff peaks form, then slowly beat in...

almost 1 lb. of powdered sugar;

until a thick icing frosting forms. Load into bags, frosting bottles or just spread.