Super Bowl, Puppies, Cousins, and Macarons!

And that, my friends, explains the Super Bowl in a sentence. At least in my family.

And, compared to some stuff, this is not even that weird.

You know me, and my family, and have heard stories, you know this is nothing. At all.

Anyways, sorry this is so late. I keep meaning to post this….then I don’t. And I watch my one blog-post a week goal go down the drain. I am sorry. I will try to make more stuff.

Also, this does not have any pictures. Sadly, I forgot to take pictures of them. I will tell you this. They were in blue and green. Seahawk colors! Go, Hawks! 12th man! Champions! You’ve won!

Now would be a good time to say that I love football, have been a diehard Seahawks fan my whole life. unfortunately, that is not the case. I like the Seahawk’s namesake, sure. Ospreys are awesome! I love raptors.

But, really, I don’t get football. Soccer, a little bit. Football, no. I mean, I enjoy the game when we play it at the Super Bowl party we sometimes go to (A hint, boys do not expect a girl to dive for a football, elbow and knee them out-of-the-way, and run to get a touchdown. You can get an insane amount of points that way. I don’t get how teenage/preteen boys’ brains work. I mean, shouldn’t you not be surprised after the forth time doing it?), but watching it? No, I get bored just thinking about it.

There are two things I like about the super bow. 1. The food. Doritos, skittles, Swedish fish, chili, before mentioned macarons, and rootbeer all made an appearance this year. 2. The commercials. (Who else like the no compromise commercial? The one with the dog? Also, the Oreo one from last year. And the kid in the Darth Vader suit from two years ago.)

But, this year, there was a number three. 3. MY COUSINS JUST GOT THE CUTEST PUPPY ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH!!!! His name is Watson. He’s black lab with something else mixed in. I think Border collie. So, while the boys were out yelling at the T.V, me and my cousin were in the kitchen, playing with Watson.

Also, sometimes I sat in the living room and laughed at them while they jumped and screamed as people made touchdowns. It was very entertaining.

Also, since this is a food blog, I should probably add something about the macarons. They were blue and green. They were made from a link I posted a few weeks ago. They…uh…were all eaten.

Yep, that’s it. Can’t wait for next year. Also, I can’t wait until the next Iron Fey book comes out. Major cliff-hanger.

I hate Julie Kagawa right now.

Foodie,

Sighing Off

Suger Cookies and Strawberries

First thing I’m going to say is this; I love Sur La Table. I mean, how could you not? A whole store devoted to cooking and baking….every time we go downtown I drag my family in there, and maybe buy one thing. But I just like to look around.

But, the last time we were down there, I had this gift certificate burning a hole in my wallet, right? And I needed a citrus reamer (the things that you use to juice a lemon or orange, you know, the ones where you stick it in the half of the fruit and twist it until everything falls into a bowl), so I thought, why not get it now? But there’s also this cookie cutter I’ve wanted to get for a while, but, of course, every single time we’re down there, they don’t have the stupid cookie cutter!

I told myself this would be the time. But I dug through, and couldn’t find that little hummingbird cookie cutter anywhere. I was about to give up when my mom noticed all the cookie cutters where on sale for $0.79. So, what was I supposed to do? I dug through the holder thing again until I found some I liked. I ended up with a dove, a dachshund, and a strawberry cookie cutter. And I like ’em.

And, with three brand new cookie cutters and a sugar cookie recipe I’ve been meaning to try, what do you think I’m going to do? I made the cookies!

The dough (I’ll give you the link in a sec) is nice, isn’t too sticky, and doesn’t flatten in the oven. The whole thing took me about an hour and twenty minutes…and mostly that was because there were two other projects going on in the kitchen at the same time. Also, we don’t have a small kitchen, but it’s not huge either, and with most of the counter space being taken up by a crock pot and several cutting boards, it does get a bit crowded.

The cookies bake pretty fast, and cooled quickly. Here’s a picture of them before they’re frosted.

If you think they’re cute right now, wait until after they’re frosted! I made these a bit thicker than the normal sugar cookie so they’re more chewy than crunchy, but I prefer that. They baked for about twelve to fifteen minutes. I at first put them in for six minutes, then in two-minute increments until they where still soft but not mushy. Then I let them cool on the pans for three minutes.

Here’s a picture of one frosted:

Cute, huh? I was intending to put green sprinkles at the top to look like stems, but they weren’t cooperating with me. I eventually gave up and just tossed them at the top half and hoped they landed where I wanted them to.

Also, I figured out a trick! First, wrap a cutting board in wax- not parchment! -paper. Tape it tightly around it and measure the ingredients out on that. If there’s anything on the board, brush it off over the sink, then roll the cookies out on that. After the cookies come out of the oven, but the cooling racks on there, too.

Finally, frost the cookies, put them on the first rack so the wax-paper covered cutting board catches any drips, then add a second rack, and put on a piece of wax paper on that. Then add a third rack and frost the cookies, so when they drip, the wax-paper covered tray catches the drips, instead of landing on the other cookies!

Here’s a picture:

See what I mean? Makes clean-up super easy. I salute you, wax paper, parchment paper, and siloplats, for making my clean-up ten times easier!

Here’s the cookie recipe: http://makebakecelebrate.com/lets-talk-about-rolled-sugar-cookies/. For some reason, it doesn’t have the oven temp, but I just baked them at 350 and they turned out fine.

Anyways, I have to go…but really fast, to make the frosting you just whisk powdered sugar and milk until you get the consistency you want.

Happy sugar cookie baking! And good luck.

 

Smooth, Shiny Meringue Prettiness

Righty-o, I’ve had a thing with egg whites lately. Macarons, mostly. But really, with egg whites you can’t beat a nice, simple meringue, am I right? You can eat this just plain, but you can also dip them in chocolate, or drizzle them with chocolate, or use them like marshmallows in hot chocolate…..in case you haven’t noticed, they pair really well with chocolate.

And they’re super pretty! Smooth, pure white and glossy, with food prettiness it’s right up there with melted chocolate and perfectly smooth vanilla bean Crème Anglaise served over chocolate ice cream……beautiful and yummy at the same time!

I also love how strong they are before you bake them. I mean, if you stick your hand in it, a thick, smooth cupcake or muffin batter is around the same consistency, but does it stand up by itself before you bake it? Not a chance!

After sitting in the oven for like 90 seconds, I couldn’t resist snapping a picture of them. I also like that one right in the middle that has the long, droopy top. See it? I love it.

Right? Huh? I know that somewhere, deep down inside, you agree with me. Also, you can see the meringue I’m talking about. Second row, forth to the right. It stayed like that all through baking. However, I didn’t get to eat it. Someone else in my house did. Either Dad, Mom, or my brother. Or the dog, if he somehow got ahold of it. I wouldn’t put it past him.

After baking. Told you the droopy one stayed the same. Sorry about the weird shadows at the edge of the picture. You know those two little black flaps that slide over the lens of the camera? Well, they didn’t slid all the way up. I had to later push them up with my finger.

A close up! I love how wavy they turned out. I used my smallest star tip to pipe them out. You can really have fun with these, I bet you could even turn these into little swirled roses if you wanted. Maybe even use an ice cream scoop to make them look like scoops of ice cream and arrange them like it’s a banana split, and then film it when you’re giving it to people. I bet you’d win AFV. I might just do that.

Anyways…….

The recipe was from The Cook’s Illustrated Cookbook. Someone told me years ago that I can’t post the recipe on blogs because of copyright problems, which I really don’t understand, ’cause that cookbook has easily two hundred recipes in it, possibly more. Oh well.

I can give you another recipe I like. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/chocolate-covered-snow-peaks-recipe2/index.html It was on Food Network’s 12-day holiday web show a couple of years ago. It’s called the 12 Days of Cookies. They have it up all year round, take a look at it. They have some really awesome recipes. Just a hint, the Pioneer Woman’s Mint Chocolate Truffles are amazing. They vanished really fast.

So long, people! Until next time! A book is calling my name, and I really need to get my contacts out because they’ve been in for ten hours and I’m really not supposed to wear them longer than that.

Good Night! You see next time I make something!

Five Cookbooks You Need to Read RIGHT NOW!

Ok, yes, I’m one of those people that will read a cookbook in bed. There’s no better way to end a rotten day (Or any day, really) than to image all that yummy food…. So I have a list of my top five favorite cookbooks. I like each of them for a different reason, but they are still all pretty good!

 

   Number 1: Teen’s Cook by Megan and Jill Carle. This cookbook was written by two teenage sisters, filled with family recipes as well as recipes they’ve developed themselves. The recipes go from very easy (Tuna Melt), to easy (Peanut Butter Cookies), to hard (Creme Brulee). All of the recipes have pictures, as well as easy, step-by-step instructions. The recipes are good, and come out perfectly. The only downside is how tall it is- it’s not easy to prop it up on the fruit bowl like the shorter, thicker cookbooks. Another nice thing as that many of the meat-using recipes have a way to convert it into a vegetarian meal, because the older sister, Megan, is a vegetarian. They have other books, Teen’s Cook Dessert, College Cooking, The First Real Kitchen, and College Vegetarian Cooking as well. ★★★★

 

  Number 2: Pure Vanilla by Shauna Sever. Like bet you can guess, every recipe in here is vanilla-based. Now, I’m as much of a fan of chocolate as any other person, the problem is I can’t have a ton because there’s a chance I’ll get a migraine the next day. I loved her previous book, Marshmallow Madness! and follow her blog, Piece of Cake. I was thrilled to find out she had written a book all on vanilla. She starts by giving a history of vanilla, and the differences between vanillas and vanilla products. The recipes are awesome and easy to follow, and the pictures are great, as well. Her Vanilla Bean Marshmallows are fantastic, and I’ve been told the Twinkie Bunt Cake and Cloud Cake are amazing, as well. She also has short little recipes on stuff like how to make your own vanilla extract and vanilla sugar. The only problem with this cookbook is everywhere I look, it’s sold out! ★★★★★

Number 3, The Flavor Bible by Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg: Not exactly a cookbook, this is a book filled with every ingredient you can think of….and a list of other ingredients that match well together! Say, you have a bunch of kumquats you bought thinking they were tiny little oranges but found they where insanely bitter. What the heck do you do with them? The Flavor Bible says that they go well with strawberries, and strawberries would cut the bitterness a bit, so you make a fruit compote to put over ice cream. This is a handy book, and it’s filled with everything from Feta Cheese to Piqullo Peppers. It also has notes from five-star chefs around the U.S. saying what they do with an ingredient. It’s a nice reference for those times you’re wondering what to do with an odd extra ingredient. ★★★★★

Number 4: Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook by Martha Stewart. This book was recomended to me by a four-star hotel’s pastry chef (just sayin’), saying that is was a great book to get if you’re just starting to bake. I for the most part agree with her. One of the two problems with the book is sometimes the directions are a little vague (Cut four slashes in top of dough then set aside to rise. What do you mean? Four vertical slashes? horizontal? Shape it into a square, a diamond?). The other problem is that this book isn’t very good quality, you have to be very careful reading it because the binding is weak. However, the recipes are good, most stand well to playing with, and is a good start for an aspiring baker. ★★★★

Number 5, The Secret Lives of Baked Goods by Jessie Oleson Moore. This is an interesting book. It’s by the creator of the blog CakeSpy, Jessie Oleson Moore. There are recipes, sure, but each recipe is accompanied by a story about how that recipe got created (Did you know German Chocolate isn’t really chocolate from Germany? It’s named after a man named Samuel German) as well as the recipe itself. The recipes are tasty, and interesting. You get your normal recipes, such as Red Velvet Cake and Brownies, more unusual desserts such as Joe Froggers and Baked Alaska, and ‘commercial favorites’, such as Oreos and Animal Crackers. It doesn’t have a lot of pictures, though, which is a bit of a downside for me. ★★★★

 

So, there you go! There are other cookbooks that are worth reading as well, such as Sugar Baby and Bake it Like You Mean It by Gesine Bullock-Prado, and The Cook’s Illustrated Cookbook by America’s Test Kitchen (The only reason those guys didn’t make it on my list is because I didn’t it make it Eight Cookbooks You Need to Read RIGHT NOW!). And I know other people have their own favorites, but these are mine.

Macarons……and The Best Buttercream I have ever tasted.

Hello, peoples! Day 2 of blogging. I meant to post this yesterday, but it got kind of late, so I’m squeezing it in before school.

And, yesterday, as well as waiting for my lovely, minty spicedrops to dry out enough to get the gumdrop consistency, I decided to make macarons.

In case you don’t know, macarons are small, brightly colored french confections. They’re two cookie-like almond meringues that have some sort of filling between them. I have fallen in love with these yummy little treats.

But anyways, this is my third time making them…though it’s the second recipe I’ve tried. I first tried the Martha Stewart French Almond Macarons (Linky: http://www.marthastewart.com/355759/french-almond-macaroons), but they got all flat. Still insanely yummy. So I tweaked the recipe and came up with my own ‘Gluten free Almond Meringues’. I know, all meringues are gluten-free, but if you call a recipe gluten-free, people tend to be very impressed.

However, these macarons didn’t work perfectly for me as they did last time. They got all flat.

See how flat they are? And I wouldn’t mind flat, so much, but they were crunchy, too. And hollow.

😦 My macarons are flatsos. That was batch two that went in the oven, though, and I haven’t tried the first batch, and I think they’ll be better.

See? It’s fluffier, and hopefully slightly chewy on the inside. They have feet, too.

In case you were wondering, a ‘foot’, or ‘pied’ on a macaron are those little ruffled things you see around the bottom. They’re the sign of a well-baked macaron, which is why I was surprised they where crunchy and hollow.

I like my feet.

Here’s another picture of rows of filled macarons.

You can see there’s a bit of a difference in the buttercream: cookie ratio. I don’t mind.

I got the recipe here: http://ohsweetday.com/2013/04/my-perfect-macaron.html
The buttercream recipe is my own. Although I was a bit sad that they weren’t perfect, the buttercream cheered me right up. Man, is it good.

I’m not a frosting person. At all. Easy on the frosting and pass me some plain cake, guys! But I made this recipe to my tastes, so I think it worked out. I call it The Best Buttercream, or TBB.

This uses what I call the ‘melted butter method’ which I like because it doesn’t coat powered sugar all over the kitchen while you’re trying to cream it into the stupid butter. Take it from someone who has once had to brush powered sugar off the ceiling; this is easier.

Recipe!

4 cups powered sugar

1 stick butter, melted

2 – 4 tablespoons of milk.

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In bowl of mixer with paddle attachment, put in powdered sugar and turn on low. While mixer is on, add the melted butter and mix until it appears crumbly. Add the milk one tablespoon at a time until you get the consistency you want. Add the vanilla.

And that’s it! For this recipe, I added 1/4 teaspoon caramel extract from Market Spice, and I’ve used strawberry jam to make strawberry buttercream, too. You could even replace the milk with coffee if you wanted, though I’d do that more to taste.

Hello…..with something sweet (and pepperminty!)

Hello fellow foodies, teens, people I know, strangers, and people who just stumbled across this blog! I’m the fifteen year old foodie! Well, the food part. Not so much the alcoholic beverages part. Thank wikipedia if I got the definition wrong.

Anyways……..

I thought it would be good to start the blog off with something sweet, and easy. So the recipe I made last Friday is perfect! Homemade Peppermint Spice Drops. I got the recipe here: http://salttree.net/2011/08/gumdrops-spicedrops-oh-my.html/

It may be kinda cheating, but yes, I used someone else’s recipe. I mostly do that. Then experiment. A lot. And end up with flat cakes and a bowl full of mashed purple potatoes that I thought were jams.

But, in this case, the recipe went well. I followed it exactly. That might be part of it.

Yeah, that’s it.

Ta da! Kind of lopsided and ugly, but still…people are pretty impressed if you tell them you made your own spicedrops. Like, oh my gosh, I can’t believe people can even do that, impressed.

And, they go with my ‘everything tastes better homemade’ theory (Not including pudding. At least with me. It always gets those weird little lumps that you can’t imagine how it got there, because you where so careful with the eggs).

These where super pepperminty….almost toothpaste-y pepperminty. I’d cut it down to about 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract, or 3/4. or 4/16. What ever you think.

Here’s a close-up. You can see some of the sugar clumping together. If you ignore that, it’s kind of pretty.

They’re also super sticky. Like, insanely sticky. Like glue your fingers together sticky. But they melt in your mouth, so they don’t stick in your teeth. Luckily.

See what I mean? But on the plus side, I get to eat it now.

So, how was this first post? Good, I hope. Now it’s time for me to do some clean-up so I can finish another project.

I wonder if you can make rice krispies with Cheerios……