Spiced Grrrs, Cont.

As I mentioned in yesterday's post about Spice Grrr Cookies,

I did make a few round cookies for decorating practice...

My favorite trick involves a few dots...

and a toothpick! Simply drag the tip of a toothpick through the center

of your dots for a nice design in wet frosting.

What's this little one for?

A Spring flower, of course!

Loops are good for practicing a steady hand...

The spider web - also made with a toothpick and a few concentric circles!

Ta da!

Spice Grrrrr Cookies

Spring might be all about Easter for some, but around these parts it's also about all of the creatures and plants that are coming back from a long winter's sleep! In celebration of all things hibernation, I decided to revisit a recipe that I've been wanting to try since the holidays - Spice Girls Cookies from BHG!

With my new bear-shaped cookie cutter from Off the Beaten Path, the recipe quickly turned into Spice Grrrrs Cookies. Using the same royal icing that I made for the Sublette Sugar Cookies in yesterday's post, check out the end result: 

You'll Need:

  2 spiced chai-flavored tea bags

3 cups all-purpose flour
2  tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1-1/2  cups butter, softened
1  cup sugar
2  egg yolks
2  Tbsp. molasses

Empty the contents of the tea bags in a bowl 

and mix with the flour and pumpkin pie spice.

Beat together the butter and sugar.

Add in egg yolks and molasses before slowly adding the flour mix.

Cover and refigerate for about 3 hours or put in the freezer for an hour.

With the oven preheating to 350, roll out the dough to 1/4"

and place the cut-outs on parchment paper or a greased cookie sheet.

I was having a hard time with the bear shape (dough was a little dry), 

so I also made some more simple rounds.

Bake until the edges start to brown, from 10 to 15 minutes.

Let cool completely before icing.

With the royal icing, I did a first round of frosting with brown.

  
 Be patient and wait until it hardens completely!

Finish it up with an outline in white.

Those are some delicious looking Spice Grrrs!

Now that's my kind of bear encounter :)

Simple Sugar Cookies with Royal Icing

I know that I promised a follow-up to the sugar cookie cut-outs with royal icing that I made for a local dessert auction. Well, your time has come!

I have to admit, the first round of cookies I made were NOT going to work. One of the most important characteristics of a good cut-out is that the cookie doesn't spread while baking. 

After some research on high altitude effects on baking, I found the PERFECT cookie recipe. If you're at high altitude like me, half the amount of baking powder and soda. No more problems!

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE RECIPE FOR BUTTERY CUT-OUT SUGAR COOKIES

The next step I had to master (remind me again why I decided to try something completely new for the auction?) was the royal icing. Having never worked with royal icing before, I was optimistic that a sense of humor would pull me through! 

I did a LOT of reading on using meringue powder, the proper consistency of the icing, and decorating tips. Here's a nice collection of resources that I think other RI newbies might find useful in your cookie decorating quests - the videos from My Recipes are especially fun... and cute!

Royal Icing from Joy of Cooking

How to Make Royal Icing from CakeJournal

*VIDEO* Making Royal Icing Part 1

*VIDEO* Making Royal Icing Part 2

*VIDEO* Decorating Cookies Part 1

*VIDEO* Decorating Cookies Part 2

How to Marble Royal Icing from Sweetopia

How to Decorate with Royal Icing from Annie's Eats

Trees were great for practice...

I still found it difficult to "flood" the icing - not liquid enough, I guess!

Sprinkle bear!

Rainbow Trout - straight from the Green River :)

The Wyoming Log Cabin

I would paddle that red canoe - right into my mouth...

For the auction, I needed a creative way to both package and display the cookies. Luckily, I have a very crafty husband that came up with the idea of using picture hangers on the side of my bucket...

Hold your cookie up to a hanger to determine where it needs to be attached on the back of the cookie (mine were wrapped in cello).

With a little hot glue...

... and a little love...

...the perfect cookie bucket!

With 3 cookies on each side, bidders on the dessert auction could get a good view of each of the cookies - 2 dozen in all!

More than $110 raised for cause! Sweet :)

Quick Flank Steak Salad

Looking for a quick and Spring-y entree for the weekend? This salad is a staple at our house - and is paired perfectly with lemonade, lawn chairs, and patios!

You'll Need:

1 flank steak (about 2 lbs)

Marinade (Need help? CLICK HERE)

Spinach leaves

Gorgonzola Cheese crumbles

Chopped Walnuts

Dried Cranberries

Sliced Red Onion

Dressing of Choice

Let the steak marinate for at least an hour in the fridge.

Clearly, we love garlic!

Gather the salad toppings and spinach while the meat is marinating.

This is our favorite dressing - perfect for this salad!

While grilling, arrange the spinach and toppings on your plates.

Slice the steak in to long, skinny strips and place on top.

Add your dressing - and done!

If this doesn't quite fill you up, serve with a piece of herbed focaccia...

and maybe a glass of wine :)

Barefoot Contessa's Coconut Cupcakes

I don't know what it is about Ina Garten that I adore, but I'm pretty sure that it now has something to do with these DREAMY coconut cupcakes. I acquired one of her cookbooks as a hand-me-down and have always eyed a particular coconut cake with baking envy.

Since I had the occasion to bring some sweet treats to a work function recently, I had to act! Instead of baking the cake, I used the Barefoot Contessa Coconut Cupcake recipe. In fact, the cake is actually based on the cupcake recipe. It doesn't really matter, of course, this game of which came first... the cupcake or the cake, but I like to feel like I'm starting from the beginning!

The original recipe appeared in the 1999 Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, but you can now find it online thanks to the Food Network. CLICK HERE FOR THE RECIPE.

I can't really recall a time when I've used buttermilk for baking other than in this recipe. Being the small town that it is, I was lucky to find the only carton of the stuff on my run to the store. And I hope it goes without saying but USE BUTTER!

I halved the recipe for the cupcakes and the icing without a problem. Make sure to only fill the tins/wrappers between halfway and 3/4 full or you will get a little spillover!

Even though I halved the frosting recipe, I still ended up with quite a bit leftover. Even after I ate a spoonful, that is. Be generous!

Light & fluffy - this recipe really does "take the cake."

And just in case you needed another second to savor your screen...

Paired with the REAL strawberry cupcakes from Easter, I was ready to take on the world! I'm pretty sure work has never been so delicious...

Tamale Tango!

OK, I know I promised a post on making tamales and here's the thing - they're not so easy to make instructions for! We've been making them for a few years now and have always turned to the same wonderful website:

http://www.sonofthesouth.net/tamales/

With step by step instructions, photos, and more, this site has everything you need to know about making homemade tamales. Not for the weak of heart or short on time, tamales will take you AT LEAST the good part of a DAY to prep, construct, and steam.You'll have to get through the following in order to do the tamale tango:

1. Go to the store!
2. Cook the meat (chicken and pork).
2. Soak the corn husks.
3. Make the masa dough.
4. Build the tamales - husk + dough + meat & roll!
5. Cook (probably in several batches).
6. Eat as many as you can and then freeze/store.

I don't want to scare you - I just want you to be prepared! The first time we made these in college it was on a whim. We didn't even have a steamer - we just got a disposable aluminum pan from the store and put holes in it (classy, I know). BUT... they turned out great! 

We have always used the recipe from Son of the South, with minor changes here and there. When we made them most recently (photos included here), we tried to make them a little more low sodium by cutting the salt in half. They were perfect! 

 Served with some green salsa and spanish rice, you're all set. And since you're going to end up with dozens of tamales, you can enjoy them for the months ahead - or be kind and share them with friends. They freeze exceptionally well, and we even vacuum seal in 2 and 4-packs. The husband likes them for breakfast with 2 eggs on top, but I like to take them to work for a quick and easy meal via the microwave.

If you don't have a whole day to spend on tamales, break it up over the course of the weekend. Note of caution: if you decided to cook the meat one day and let it sit overnight, go ahead and shred it while it's warm. Trust me, it's no fun to shred cold pork chunks...

I hope that I haven't scared you off - tamales are easy and fun to make (just time consuming), especially with friends or a significant other. 

I think the true test of a marriage 
might be the ability to make tamales together.

Drool! Guess I know what I'm having for lunch today!