Marcona Almond-Sea Salt Toffee

Did you hear all of that yelling right before Christmas?!?  It was me!

I was yelling, "I DID IT!!!  I MADE TOFFEE!!!"

I've tried making toffee before...and failed.  Miserably.  Twice.  I'm not sure if it was the recipe, or my skill set, but it made me very sad.

So, this time, I used the toffee recipe from Sweet Confections and guess what?!?  It worked like a charm!

{The only bad part; we gave most of it away.  Sad face.}

Can we talk about Marcona almonds for a minute?   If you've never had them, let me describe.  Imagine crunchy little nuggets of salted butter.  Yep, that's pretty much it.

One of the grocery stores near me sells them in the bulk section...the other has them with the deli cheeses.  They're pricey, but oh-so-worth-it.  Try a few plain with a clementine for an afternoon snack.  Heaven.

Marcona Almond-Sea Salt Toffee
{adapted from Sweet Confections Toffee recipe}

1 TBSP water
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp Kosher salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
5 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped (I used Ghiradelli)
1/2 cup Marcona almonds, roughly chopped
pinch flaky sea salt

Line a cookie sheet with parchment.

Combine the water, butter, cream, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan.  Attach a candy thermometer, but don't let it touch the bottom of the pan.

{I have this one and love it.}

Bring the pan contents to a boil.  Stir slowly and continuously with a silicone spatula until the syrup reaches 300.

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla.

Pour onto the parchment paper.  Let stand one minute.

Sprinkle the chopped chocolate onto the toffee. Wait 3-5 minutes for the chocolate to melt.

{See it getting melty?}

With an offset spatula, spread the chocolate evenly.

{{sigh}}

Sprinkle on the chopped almonds...

...then, a bit of the flaky sea salt. 

I was afraid to get too heavy-handed with the salt; you could totally add more.

Refrigerate until the toffee has set; about 45 minutes.

Break into pieces; I use waxed paper to touch the toffee to avoid fingerprints.

Store in an airtight container...if you don't eat it all immediately.

Go on; have a piece! ;) 

{psst...have you ever tried Marcona almonds?}

Did you hear all of that yelling right before Christmas?!?  It was me!

I was yelling, "I DID IT!!!  I MADE TOFFEE!!!"

I've tried making toffee before...and failed.  Miserably.  Twice.  I'm not sure if it was the recipe, or my skill set, but it made me very sad.

So, this time, I used the toffee recipe from Sweet Confections and guess what?!?  It worked like a charm!

{The only bad part; we gave most of it away.  Sad face.}

Can we talk about Marcona almonds for a minute?   If you've never had them, let me describe.  Imagine crunchy little nuggets of salted butter.  Yep, that's pretty much it.

One of the grocery stores near me sells them in the bulk section...the other has them with the deli cheeses.  They're pricey, but oh-so-worth-it.  Try a few plain with a clementine for an afternoon snack.  Heaven.

Marcona Almond-Sea Salt Toffee
{adapted from Sweet Confections Toffee recipe}

1 TBSP water
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp Kosher salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
5 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped (I used Ghiradelli)
1/2 cup Marcona almonds, roughly chopped
pinch flaky sea salt

Line a cookie sheet with parchment.

Combine the water, butter, cream, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan.  Attach a candy thermometer, but don't let it touch the bottom of the pan.

{I have this one and love it.}

Bring the pan contents to a boil.  Stir slowly and continuously with a silicone spatula until the syrup reaches 300.

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla.

Pour onto the parchment paper.  Let stand one minute.

Sprinkle the chopped chocolate onto the toffee. Wait 3-5 minutes for the chocolate to melt.

{See it getting melty?}

With an offset spatula, spread the chocolate evenly.

{{sigh}}

Sprinkle on the chopped almonds...

...then, a bit of the flaky sea salt. 

I was afraid to get too heavy-handed with the salt; you could totally add more.

Refrigerate until the toffee has set; about 45 minutes.

Break into pieces; I use waxed paper to touch the toffee to avoid fingerprints.

Store in an airtight container...if you don't eat it all immediately.

Go on; have a piece! ;) 

{psst...have you ever tried Marcona almonds?}

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

I was invited to participate in an online recipe swap around the holidays and jumped at the chance. I liked the idea of being assigned a blog and getting the opportunity to pick something to make and write about it. The blog that I received was Cathy's Kitchen Journey.  There were so many yummy things that I had a hard time deciding what to try!

After a lot of thought (trust me on this--I literally took like an hour to decide!), I decided to bake the peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.  Although I am not a peanut butter fan, I wanted to make these for my peanut butter-loving husband and my coworkers. This won't ruin your diet, people. I mean, don't the nutritious peanut butter and healthy oats totally cancel out the rest of the ingredients?

These cookies came together very quickly and were a cinch to make. My husband noted that the peanut butter flavor really comes through. They were popular with the coworkers too, so it sounds like another successful recipe. Thanks, Cathy!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 cup peanut butter (smooth or crunchy)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350° F.

In a medium bowl, cream the butter, white and brown sugars until smooth. Stir in the peanut butter, vanilla and egg until well blended. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; stir into the batter just until moistened. Mix in the oats and chocolate chips until evenly distributed. Drop by tablespoonfuls on to lightly greased cookie sheets. Flatten the cookies with the back of your spatula since they won't spread.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes your preheated oven, until the edges start to brown (Mine baked for 12 minutes). Cool on cookie sheets for about 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Yield: about 33 cookies (I got 33 cookies exactly, and I used a medium sized cookie scoop to ensure uniformity)

Source: Cathy's Kitchen Journey; originally adapted from Allrecipes.com

This recipe is featured on

I was invited to participate in an online recipe swap around the holidays and jumped at the chance. I liked the idea of being assigned a blog and getting the opportunity to pick something to make and write about it. The blog that I received was Cathy's Kitchen Journey.  There were so many yummy things that I had a hard time deciding what to try!

After a lot of thought (trust me on this--I literally took like an hour to decide!), I decided to bake the peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.  Although I am not a peanut butter fan, I wanted to make these for my peanut butter-loving husband and my coworkers. This won't ruin your diet, people. I mean, don't the nutritious peanut butter and healthy oats totally cancel out the rest of the ingredients?

These cookies came together very quickly and were a cinch to make. My husband noted that the peanut butter flavor really comes through. They were popular with the coworkers too, so it sounds like another successful recipe. Thanks, Cathy!

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 cup peanut butter (smooth or crunchy)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350° F.

In a medium bowl, cream the butter, white and brown sugars until smooth. Stir in the peanut butter, vanilla and egg until well blended. Combine the flour, baking soda and salt; stir into the batter just until moistened. Mix in the oats and chocolate chips until evenly distributed. Drop by tablespoonfuls on to lightly greased cookie sheets. Flatten the cookies with the back of your spatula since they won't spread.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes your preheated oven, until the edges start to brown (Mine baked for 12 minutes). Cool on cookie sheets for about 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Yield: about 33 cookies (I got 33 cookies exactly, and I used a medium sized cookie scoop to ensure uniformity)

Source: Cathy's Kitchen Journey; originally adapted from Allrecipes.com

This recipe is featured on

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Eff...Marry...Kill - Hawaii Five-O Edition

That's right, Blonde Undercover Blonde and The Vintage Apple are hosting another round of Eff, Marry, Kill!!

Can I even tell you how excited I was when they announced that today would be FMK day?!  For those of you new to the game - go here to see how this linky started.




I went Hawaii Five-O style this time around.  What's not to love?  Action, adventure...and shirtless men.

Eff... Danny "Danno" Williams (Scott Caan).  He's a real sweetie, a total goofball and usually the voice of reason for the team.  But the man is still in love with his ex-wife.  You can't mess with that.

Marry...Steve McGarrett (Alex O'Laughlin).  Hot headed, fiercely protective of those he loves, and just plain H-O-T.  They don't show his softer side too often, but it's there just waiting for the right girl.

Kill...Dr. Max Bergman.  Really, the character hasn't done anything wrong per se.  He's just anti-social and a little odd.  I don't necessarily want to make him go far, far away - but they need to make him more likable.

What do you think?  Am I crazy?

That's right, Blonde Undercover Blonde and The Vintage Apple are hosting another round of Eff, Marry, Kill!!

Can I even tell you how excited I was when they announced that today would be FMK day?!  For those of you new to the game - go here to see how this linky started.




I went Hawaii Five-O style this time around.  What's not to love?  Action, adventure...and shirtless men.

Eff... Danny "Danno" Williams (Scott Caan).  He's a real sweetie, a total goofball and usually the voice of reason for the team.  But the man is still in love with his ex-wife.  You can't mess with that.

Marry...Steve McGarrett (Alex O'Laughlin).  Hot headed, fiercely protective of those he loves, and just plain H-O-T.  They don't show his softer side too often, but it's there just waiting for the right girl.

Kill...Dr. Max Bergman.  Really, the character hasn't done anything wrong per se.  He's just anti-social and a little odd.  I don't necessarily want to make him go far, far away - but they need to make him more likable.

What do you think?  Am I crazy?

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Sarah Cooks 2011 Roundup

Happy new year everybody!  How was everyone's New Year's Eve?  I spent a lovely weekend in the Gippsland region, enjoying the fresh air, the cool breezes, the pristine beaches and a rather alarming amount of barbecued meats.  Speaking of cool breezes, how crazy hot has it been in Melbourne?  I can't believe it was hotter at home than it was on my beach holiday!  I'm relieved that it's a bit cooler today.

2011 has been a busy year here at Sarah Cooks!  Let's take a look back at the year that was.

Last year's New Year's Eve, I had a quiet night in with friends - drinking champagne, watching cheesy horror movies and eating a cheesecake I baked.

Mmm... creamy

I spent much of the start of the year working my way through posts from my epic 2010 double-Christmas Parties - including Venetian carrot cake, maple-apple cakelets with calvados-mascarpone cream, home cured salmon, and a super-crispy roast pork belly.

In February I was lucky enough to win the Barossa's Table Competition, where contestants had to submit a blog post with a recipe or serving suggestion using Barossa produce, and match it with a Barossa wine.  For my winning entry, "A Barossa Inspired Meal", Sandra and I drew on the Barossa's German heritage and created a German-style meal of rolled Barossa chook and Black Pig prosciutto, and paired it with a Henschke Keyneton Euphonium 2007.

The prize was an amazing week-long trip to the Barossa for two people, packed full of foodie adventures and experiences.  The highlights of the week were meeting Maggie Beer, enjoying a fabulous lunch cooked by Gill Radford of Radford Wines, visits to TeAro Estate and the Hill of Grace vineyard (squee!!!), and a stunning Wine Flight degustation dinner at Appellation.

As per usual I visited a lot of Restaurants this year, ranging from the sublime (the 10-course degustation with matching wines at Vue De Monde) to the kitschily fabulous (Captain America's Hamburger Heaven).  Other great eats included PM24, Provenance Food and Wine, Spice Temple, The Atlantic, Muttis, Cafe Vue at 401 and Embrasse.  I must say my favourite restaurant in Melbourne at the moment is Spice Temple - I've visited five times already and especially love their hot sweet sour numbing pork!

Hot, Sweet, Sour, Numbing Pork at Spice Temple

Cafes weren't quite as well represented on my blog this year, even though I sure have been drinking a lot of coffee!  This was mainly because I stuck to my new favourite - Axil Coffee Roasters in Hawthorn.  The coffee and food have consistently been delicious, and I always buy my coffee beans from them.  (I also really enjoyed Duchess of Spotswood, but being on the other end of town from me, I only visited twice in 2011).

We did a lot of entertaining this year too!

Devilling eggs

The biggest party we hosted was my Mad Men birthday party.  There were heaps of retro canapes (devilled eggs, mini-beef wellingtons, prawn cocktail), there were fabulous costumes, there were vintage advertisements on the wall, actual vintage cigarettes, and there were lots of cocktails!  I was so pleased my friends got in the spirit and dressed up too - lots of big beehive hairdos in the room that night!

Smaller, but no less pride-inducing was my second annual PORKTOBERFEST lunch, which included homemade pretzels, a roast rack of pork, bread dumplings, red cabbage, Rüdesheimer Kaffee and a Black Forest Cake!

Speaking of German things, in August I went to Germany for a month, where I indulged in all my favourites - wunderbar cakes, ice-creams, amazing sausages, bread, and berries. Cheap cheap berries!

Whilst in Europe I also went to Paris for 5 days, visiting a good friend of mine.  In Paris we cooked a lot, and giggled at the odd French translations for Asian food and Orangina's bizzare sexy anthropomorphic animals.  I also fell in love with Sadaharu Aoki's green tea croissants, Berthillon's mandarin ice-cream and Pierre Hermé's Ispahan. So much deliciousness!

In other travel related news we also went to Daylesford in November and Canberra in December. I haven't blogged Canberra yet, but I will be soon - lots of great restaurants and cafes there!

Now of course, the title of my blog is "Sarah Cooks", and I have been cooking and baking a lot this year.  (Although it seems that it's mainly the fun sweet stuff that makes its way onto the blog!)

As y'all know, I love my German cakes, and enjoyed baking a Rotweinkuchen and an Apfelkuchen.

My love affair with Nigella recipes continued unabated, with garlic and parsley hearthbreads, grasshopper pie, danishes, devil's food cake, Irish oaten rolls, and her buttermilk scones.

I don't think these strictly count as baking, but some of my favourite sweet treats are pancakes and waffles.  This year I made oatmeal waffles with burnt butter vanilla apples, Bill Granger's pancakes with fresh blueberries, and some health-giving chia seed pancakes.

Oatmeal Waffles with burnt butter vanilla apples

I also had some fun with chocolate-chip banana bread, Valentine's Day double-chocolate chunk cookies, my shoe-shaped cake, snickers cookies and some deeply fabulous rainbow cookies!

My favourite cookbook this year was, without a doubt, the Ottolenghi cookbook - their salads and tarts are amazing! I was lucky enough to get Plenty for Christmas, so I plan to cook a lot from that in 2012.

Ottolenghi's sweet potato galette

I totally loved the 5-in-1 Multicooker that Kitchenware Direct sent me to test.  It has well and truly become part of my kitchen, and we've cooked heaps of risottos, stews and braises in it.

Christmas this year involved a lot of culinary treats too.  For Christmas Eve we had homemade lobster rolls, Dom Perignon, glazed Andrew's Choice leg ham and Poires Belle Hélène, and on the big day itself we had Gordon Ramsay's turkey, stuffing and gravy, followed by Nigella's ultimate Christmas pudding - gorgeous!

And finally, as I bring the post to a close, let me pour you a (symbolic) glass of champagne...

... and say thankyou to everyone who's been following my little blog, leaving comments and chatting to me via my Facebook page and Twitter.  All the best for a safe and successful 2012!  I hope your year is filled with lots of fun and delicious moments!

Happy new year everybody!  How was everyone's New Year's Eve?  I spent a lovely weekend in the Gippsland region, enjoying the fresh air, the cool breezes, the pristine beaches and a rather alarming amount of barbecued meats.  Speaking of cool breezes, how crazy hot has it been in Melbourne?  I can't believe it was hotter at home than it was on my beach holiday!  I'm relieved that it's a bit cooler today.

2011 has been a busy year here at Sarah Cooks!  Let's take a look back at the year that was.

Last year's New Year's Eve, I had a quiet night in with friends - drinking champagne, watching cheesy horror movies and eating a cheesecake I baked.

Mmm... creamy

I spent much of the start of the year working my way through posts from my epic 2010 double-Christmas Parties - including Venetian carrot cake, maple-apple cakelets with calvados-mascarpone cream, home cured salmon, and a super-crispy roast pork belly.

In February I was lucky enough to win the Barossa's Table Competition, where contestants had to submit a blog post with a recipe or serving suggestion using Barossa produce, and match it with a Barossa wine.  For my winning entry, "A Barossa Inspired Meal", Sandra and I drew on the Barossa's German heritage and created a German-style meal of rolled Barossa chook and Black Pig prosciutto, and paired it with a Henschke Keyneton Euphonium 2007.

The prize was an amazing week-long trip to the Barossa for two people, packed full of foodie adventures and experiences.  The highlights of the week were meeting Maggie Beer, enjoying a fabulous lunch cooked by Gill Radford of Radford Wines, visits to TeAro Estate and the Hill of Grace vineyard (squee!!!), and a stunning Wine Flight degustation dinner at Appellation.

As per usual I visited a lot of Restaurants this year, ranging from the sublime (the 10-course degustation with matching wines at Vue De Monde) to the kitschily fabulous (Captain America's Hamburger Heaven).  Other great eats included PM24, Provenance Food and Wine, Spice Temple, The Atlantic, Muttis, Cafe Vue at 401 and Embrasse.  I must say my favourite restaurant in Melbourne at the moment is Spice Temple - I've visited five times already and especially love their hot sweet sour numbing pork!

Hot, Sweet, Sour, Numbing Pork at Spice Temple

Cafes weren't quite as well represented on my blog this year, even though I sure have been drinking a lot of coffee!  This was mainly because I stuck to my new favourite - Axil Coffee Roasters in Hawthorn.  The coffee and food have consistently been delicious, and I always buy my coffee beans from them.  (I also really enjoyed Duchess of Spotswood, but being on the other end of town from me, I only visited twice in 2011).

We did a lot of entertaining this year too!

Devilling eggs

The biggest party we hosted was my Mad Men birthday party.  There were heaps of retro canapes (devilled eggs, mini-beef wellingtons, prawn cocktail), there were fabulous costumes, there were vintage advertisements on the wall, actual vintage cigarettes, and there were lots of cocktails!  I was so pleased my friends got in the spirit and dressed up too - lots of big beehive hairdos in the room that night!

Smaller, but no less pride-inducing was my second annual PORKTOBERFEST lunch, which included homemade pretzels, a roast rack of pork, bread dumplings, red cabbage, Rüdesheimer Kaffee and a Black Forest Cake!

Speaking of German things, in August I went to Germany for a month, where I indulged in all my favourites - wunderbar cakes, ice-creams, amazing sausages, bread, and berries. Cheap cheap berries!

Whilst in Europe I also went to Paris for 5 days, visiting a good friend of mine.  In Paris we cooked a lot, and giggled at the odd French translations for Asian food and Orangina's bizzare sexy anthropomorphic animals.  I also fell in love with Sadaharu Aoki's green tea croissants, Berthillon's mandarin ice-cream and Pierre Hermé's Ispahan. So much deliciousness!

In other travel related news we also went to Daylesford in November and Canberra in December. I haven't blogged Canberra yet, but I will be soon - lots of great restaurants and cafes there!

Now of course, the title of my blog is "Sarah Cooks", and I have been cooking and baking a lot this year.  (Although it seems that it's mainly the fun sweet stuff that makes its way onto the blog!)

As y'all know, I love my German cakes, and enjoyed baking a Rotweinkuchen and an Apfelkuchen.

My love affair with Nigella recipes continued unabated, with garlic and parsley hearthbreads, grasshopper pie, danishes, devil's food cake, Irish oaten rolls, and her buttermilk scones.

I don't think these strictly count as baking, but some of my favourite sweet treats are pancakes and waffles.  This year I made oatmeal waffles with burnt butter vanilla apples, Bill Granger's pancakes with fresh blueberries, and some health-giving chia seed pancakes.

Oatmeal Waffles with burnt butter vanilla apples

I also had some fun with chocolate-chip banana bread, Valentine's Day double-chocolate chunk cookies, my shoe-shaped cake, snickers cookies and some deeply fabulous rainbow cookies!

My favourite cookbook this year was, without a doubt, the Ottolenghi cookbook - their salads and tarts are amazing! I was lucky enough to get Plenty for Christmas, so I plan to cook a lot from that in 2012.

Ottolenghi's sweet potato galette

I totally loved the 5-in-1 Multicooker that Kitchenware Direct sent me to test.  It has well and truly become part of my kitchen, and we've cooked heaps of risottos, stews and braises in it.

Christmas this year involved a lot of culinary treats too.  For Christmas Eve we had homemade lobster rolls, Dom Perignon, glazed Andrew's Choice leg ham and Poires Belle Hélène, and on the big day itself we had Gordon Ramsay's turkey, stuffing and gravy, followed by Nigella's ultimate Christmas pudding - gorgeous!

And finally, as I bring the post to a close, let me pour you a (symbolic) glass of champagne...

... and say thankyou to everyone who's been following my little blog, leaving comments and chatting to me via my Facebook page and Twitter.  All the best for a safe and successful 2012!  I hope your year is filled with lots of fun and delicious moments!

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Wordless Wednesday...My New Table Decoration

Yeah.  So look where I found Meadow.  Anyone else notice that she's standing on the dining room table?!?! And it's not even MY table!  It's my parents!

I iz pretty, no?! Who says table is bad idea? Iz where food iz, no?!

Yeah.  So look where I found Meadow.  Anyone else notice that she's standing on the dining room table?!?! And it's not even MY table!  It's my parents!

I iz pretty, no?! Who says table is bad idea? Iz where food iz, no?!

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Welcome...

I think my friend Kristan summed it up best; cookies should be mandatory for new neighbors. 

I realize we probably have too many laws on the books, so legislation might be out of the question.  It should be an unwritten law, like returning your empty shopping cart to the cart carousel.
(Actually, I'm all for legislating that one.)

When we moved to Alabama, I still remember my husband walking in the door with a plate of fresh chocolate chip cookies from our neighbor.  I knew we would be fast friends.

So, imagine my HORROR when we returned from being gone from home 8 days to find that someone had moved into the vacant house next to us!!!  There was no moving truck, no boxes...they were in and SETTLED!  What must they have thought?!?  No cookies!

I contemplated slipping a note under their door that went something like this, 

"Hi, I'm Bridget...from next door.  I promise we're nice people...and you WILL get cookies.  It's just that we've been gone for 8 days and we have no clean underwear. Or groceries.  So, I must do laundry and go to the grocery store.  And do you know that royal icing has to dry overnight?  I promise, I'm not ignoring you.  I'll be over with cookies soon."

Mr. E thought that was a little overkill.

So, I just made the cookies. 

To make the Welcome house cookies, you'll need:

• house-shaped sugar cookies
• royal icing, tinted with AmeriColor Super Red, Turquoise and Bright White
• disposable icing bags
• couplers and tips (#3 & #1)
• squeeze bottles
• toothpicks

With a #3 tip, outline the house shape in red.

Thin the turquoise and white icings to the consistency of a thick syrup.  Add the water a bit at a time, stirring gently with a silicone spatula.  Cover with a damp dish towel and let sit for several minutes.

Stir gently again to pop any air bubbles that have formed.   Transfer to squeeze bottles.

Working 6 at a time, flood the cookies with turquoise icing.  Use a toothpick to guide to corners and fill in the cookies.

Go back to the first filled cookie and add dots on top of the wet icing.

Let dry at least one hour.

Change the tip on the red icing to a #1.  Pipe "welcome" across the cookie.

{I've become a bit obsessed with writing in cursive on baked goods ever since making Hostess Cupcakes.}

Let dry uncovered for 6-8 hours or overnight.

Maybe you'll want to make some Welcome cookies, too.  
Remember it's mandatory.  

I think my friend Kristan summed it up best; cookies should be mandatory for new neighbors. 

I realize we probably have too many laws on the books, so legislation might be out of the question.  It should be an unwritten law, like returning your empty shopping cart to the cart carousel.
(Actually, I'm all for legislating that one.)

When we moved to Alabama, I still remember my husband walking in the door with a plate of fresh chocolate chip cookies from our neighbor.  I knew we would be fast friends.

So, imagine my HORROR when we returned from being gone from home 8 days to find that someone had moved into the vacant house next to us!!!  There was no moving truck, no boxes...they were in and SETTLED!  What must they have thought?!?  No cookies!

I contemplated slipping a note under their door that went something like this, 

"Hi, I'm Bridget...from next door.  I promise we're nice people...and you WILL get cookies.  It's just that we've been gone for 8 days and we have no clean underwear. Or groceries.  So, I must do laundry and go to the grocery store.  And do you know that royal icing has to dry overnight?  I promise, I'm not ignoring you.  I'll be over with cookies soon."

Mr. E thought that was a little overkill.

So, I just made the cookies. 

To make the Welcome house cookies, you'll need:

• house-shaped sugar cookies
• royal icing, tinted with AmeriColor Super Red, Turquoise and Bright White
• disposable icing bags
• couplers and tips (#3 & #1)
• squeeze bottles
• toothpicks

With a #3 tip, outline the house shape in red.

Thin the turquoise and white icings to the consistency of a thick syrup.  Add the water a bit at a time, stirring gently with a silicone spatula.  Cover with a damp dish towel and let sit for several minutes.

Stir gently again to pop any air bubbles that have formed.   Transfer to squeeze bottles.

Working 6 at a time, flood the cookies with turquoise icing.  Use a toothpick to guide to corners and fill in the cookies.

Go back to the first filled cookie and add dots on top of the wet icing.

Let dry at least one hour.

Change the tip on the red icing to a #1.  Pipe "welcome" across the cookie.

{I've become a bit obsessed with writing in cursive on baked goods ever since making Hostess Cupcakes.}

Let dry uncovered for 6-8 hours or overnight.

Maybe you'll want to make some Welcome cookies, too.  
Remember it's mandatory.  

reade more... Résuméabuiyad

Tuesdays At The Table - Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

Happy New Year!!  :-)  I hope everyone had a good time ringing in the New Year.  I had a really nice night with my cousin, her fiance & their son.  There was a yummy dinner of prime rib, cheesy bacon mashed potatoes & green beans, a little friendly competition on the Wii...and otherwise just enjoying each others company.

Can I say that I'm happy to have made it through the holidays?!  I love them...but I'm glad that I have a few months before I need to think about getting ready for the next round.  :-)

Did you see that I'm giving away a copy of MyMemories Digital Scrapbooking Software?  You should enter! It's so much fun to play with!!

A whole lot of people are vowing to eat healthy in the New Year, so I'm pulling out a healthy, hearty meal that I really enjoy!

Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

1 can (14-1/2 ounces) vegetable broth

1/4 cup water

1 bay leaf

1 cup quinoa, rinsed

6 bell peppers (red, yellow, green - your choice) 

4 medium carrots, finely chopped

2 medium onions, finely chopped

1 tablespoon canola oil

2 tablespoons sunflower kernels

2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/8 teaspoon dried marjoram

1/8 teaspoon dried thyme

Dash cayenne pepper

In a small saucepan, bring the broth, water and bay leaf to a boil. Add quinoa. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 12-15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Discard bay leaf.

Cut peppers in half lengthwise and discard seeds. In a large pot, cook peppers in boiling water for 3-5 minutes or until crisp-tender. Drain and rinse in cold water; drain on paper towels.

In a large nonstick skillet, saute the carrots and onions in oil until tender. Add the quinoa, sunflower kernels and seasonings; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until heated through. Spoon into pepper halves. Place in a baking dish coated with cooking spray. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until peppers are tender.

What's cooking in your kitchen?

Happy New Year!!  :-)  I hope everyone had a good time ringing in the New Year.  I had a really nice night with my cousin, her fiance & their son.  There was a yummy dinner of prime rib, cheesy bacon mashed potatoes & green beans, a little friendly competition on the Wii...and otherwise just enjoying each others company.

Can I say that I'm happy to have made it through the holidays?!  I love them...but I'm glad that I have a few months before I need to think about getting ready for the next round.  :-)

Did you see that I'm giving away a copy of MyMemories Digital Scrapbooking Software?  You should enter! It's so much fun to play with!!

A whole lot of people are vowing to eat healthy in the New Year, so I'm pulling out a healthy, hearty meal that I really enjoy!

Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

1 can (14-1/2 ounces) vegetable broth

1/4 cup water

1 bay leaf

1 cup quinoa, rinsed

6 bell peppers (red, yellow, green - your choice) 

4 medium carrots, finely chopped

2 medium onions, finely chopped

1 tablespoon canola oil

2 tablespoons sunflower kernels

2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/8 teaspoon dried marjoram

1/8 teaspoon dried thyme

Dash cayenne pepper

In a small saucepan, bring the broth, water and bay leaf to a boil. Add quinoa. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 12-15 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Discard bay leaf.

Cut peppers in half lengthwise and discard seeds. In a large pot, cook peppers in boiling water for 3-5 minutes or until crisp-tender. Drain and rinse in cold water; drain on paper towels.

In a large nonstick skillet, saute the carrots and onions in oil until tender. Add the quinoa, sunflower kernels and seasonings; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until heated through. Spoon into pepper halves. Place in a baking dish coated with cooking spray. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until peppers are tender.

What's cooking in your kitchen?

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