Monday, August 28, 2017

Best Sugar Cookies

Bernideen is having a tea party on August 30th  to celebrate Tasha Tudor's 102nd Birthday Anniversary, and I thought I'd join in.  Several of my grands helped me make the cookies, and they got to take many home to their family to enjoy.  I'm using my darling cottage teapot and Cissy's favorite teacup, with the cottage design.  Let's have some cookies and a cup of tea, shall we? 


I think Tasha Tudor would love this teacup, too, don't  you?


These pretty stem roses were found at the grocery store.  I love their two-toned effect.


Before we baked, my son and I took my faithful Nana's Cooking Camp grands to Chili's for lunch to celebrate before school starts.  In case you're wondering, the bottle in front of Cissy is a root beer bottle!!

The boys helped make the cookie dough and cut out the shapes that they chose from my cookie cutter collection.  Yes, Riley wanted snowflakes, and Caiden wanted footballs.  Cissy and I chose more traditional shapes.  Cissy made the frosting all by herself, and we had such a good time, chatting while decorating the cookies, which took us quite awhile.  The boys didn't want to join in.  The darling teapot and cupcake cookie cutters, along with the sparkly sprinkles were a gift from sweet Stephanie, when we met in Colorado.



Yield: 3 dozen

Best Sugar Cookies

I got this recipe from a local grocery store and have been using it ever since. My addition is a teaspoon of vanilla. I hope you give this recipe a try.  We used a buttercream frosting to decorate the cookies, recipe found here.

INGREDIENTS:


  • 3 cups flour
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt ( I leave this out if I only have salted butter)
  • 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1 tablespoon milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • powdered sugar, for rolling out the dough

INSTRUCTIONS:

Sift together the flour, baking powder, and the salt. Set aside.
  1. Place butter and sugar in large bowl of electric mixer of beat until light in color. Add egg, milk, and vanilla and beat to combine.
  2. Put mixer on low speed, gradually add flour, and beat until mixture pulls away from the side of the bowl. Divide the dough in half, wrap in waxed paper, and refrigerate for two hours.
  3. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  4. Sprinkle surface where you will roll out dough, with powdered sugar.
  5. Remove 1 wrapped pack of dough from refrigerator at a time. Sprinkle rolling pin with powdered sugar, and roll out dough to 1/4" thick. Move the dough around and check underneath frequently to make sure it is not sticking.
  6. Cut into desired shapes with cookie counters, place at least 1-inch apart on greased baking sheets, parchment paper or silicone baking mats, and bake for 7-9 minutes or until cookies are just beginning to turn brown around the edges, rotating cookie sheets halfway through baking time.
  7. Let sit on baking sheet for 2 minutes after removal from oven and then move to complete cooling on wire rack. Serve as is or ice as desired. Store in airtight container for up to 1 week.
Created using The Recipes Generator



Harper is growing up so fast.  I bought her this Powered by Cupcakes tea shirt, because this little one loves cake, and she loves her shirt.  That's their dog, Layla, in the background.


I am sharing this with these lovely parties:

Thank you  for your visit!  xo

Monday, August 14, 2017

Blueberry Jam with Gifted Bread

It's National AfternoonTea Week, and I'm having some Iced Organic Green tea to go along with some whole grain bread and jam.   My polka dot giant teacup planter is filled with  purple oxalis plant.  I just love using my sunflower plates from Pier 1, that I've had for several years.

Sarah, from Hyacinths for the Soul sent me three mini breads of each of three different samples of her "chef"s" homemade bread that he likes to make. On one of Sarah's recent posts, she mentioned her "chef's" breads, and I commented that I wished I could try them.   I wasn't hinting, really I wasn't, but thoughtful Sarah sent me some.  Wasn't that sweet?? 

The bread on the left is the 9-grain, flax, teef, and quinoa.  The middle bread is rye, flax, teef, quinoa, and blackstrap, and the one on the right is oats, flax, quinoa and teef.   Oh my goodness, each one was so delicious!  The breads so reminded me of the wholesome brown bread that my late hubby and I ate in Ireland.  A big Texas sized thank you goes to Sarah and her"chef"!!

I thought a parasol drinking straw would be fun to use for National Tea Week.  Another friend crocheted me a set of sunflower coasters.  Cute, huh?





Yield: 8 cups

Blueberry Jam

I love homemade jam on my morning toast! Make sure you sterilize your jars (I do this in the dishwasher) and put the lids in boiling water, and then keep them on simmer, while preparing the jam.

INGREDIENTS:


  • Buy 8 cups blueberries, which should yield 4-1/2 cups chopped blueberries
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice
  • 7 cups sugar
  • 2 pouches Certo
  • 1/2 teaspoon butter

INSTRUCTIONS:


  1. Chop blueberries (using a food processor is the easiest way), and put into a large pot. Add the lemon juice.
  2. Measure the sugar into a separate bowl (in case you lose count!). Add sugar to the blueberries. Add the butter to reduce foaming.
  3. Bring mixture to a full rolling boil on high heat; boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
  4. Stir in the two pouches of Certo quickly. Return to a full rolling boil; boil exactly 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim off any foam with a metal spoon.
  5. Ladle immediately into prepared jars, filling each to within 1/4" of the top. Wipe rims and threads. Cover with two-piece lids. Screw bands tightly.
  6. Here's how I process the jars for jam: After putting on the lids and bands, I immediately turn the jars over on a towel and let them stand upside down for 5-10 minutes. Flip them over, and you should begin to hear the "ping" of the lids sealing. I have never had one fail this way.
Created using The Recipes Generator

This sweet granddaughter, Cissy, celebrated her 10th birthday this past week.  I always take the kids out on a date to celebrate them.

On the 16th of this month, it will be 4 years since my husband's passing.  Not a day goes by that I don't wish he was still here with me.  This was his high school graduation picture.  Wasn't he a handsome guy?  I wish he was here to go to our 50th high school reunion this weekend.

I am sharing this with these lovely parties:

 

 



Monday, August 7, 2017

Teddy Bears at the Beach Cupcakes


 The grands that came over for Cooking/Art Camp this week had been wanting to make Teddy Bears at the Beach Cupcakes again.  We do this every year, but this Nana aims to oblige!  My beach towel and some ice tea, along with some cute cupcakes take me away.


 This time, the kids decorated using trays and I used a plastic tablecloth on my coffee table.  We just pulled up small chairs, and they could reach all their itmes that I put out.  The above cupcakes were decorated by Cissy.  She had one of the teddy bears fishing for a cupcake flavored fish.  The ones are the right are playing volleyball on the beach.  The kids made balls by rolling some fruit roll-ups into a ball shape.  They're so creative!

 Caiden had some teddy bears, on the left,  playing volleyball.  he used a piece of fruit roll-up for his net.  The poor teddy bear on the right got attacked!  Oh, those kids!!


 Smile, Harper!!  She's ready to eat her cupcake after lunch!


 Have any of you tried this iced tea?  If you like sweet tea, without calories, this is for you!  I find this at my local Kroger's , at $1.99 a box. 



Buttercream Frosting

This is a super easy frosting for decorating cupcakes or sugar cookies. My son, Mike, used a little powdered sugar to make froth on the "waves". The happy teddy bear on the left is riding his surf board, made from a fruit roll-up, but the poor little teddy bear on the right was attacked by a shark!

INGREDIENTS:


  • 1/4 cup butter, softened
  • 4 cups powdered sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 5-6 tablespoons milk (plus more, if needed)
  • food coloring

INSTRUCTIONS:


  1. Cream together the butter and powdered sugar with an electric mixer. Add the vanilla and milk. The frosting should be fairly thick. Add the food coloring to your desired color. If the frosting thickens, add a little milk.
Created using The Recipes Generator

I am sharing this with these lovely parties:

Thank you for your visit!  xo
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