Category: Cooking (page 6 of 7)

January 15, 2010 / 0 Comments

Maple Snow

All this snow has made me think of “Little House in the Big Woods”. I loved reading this books as a child, it was a world I wanted to belong to.

I wanted to be in the sleigh with them as they drove through the snow to their Grandparent’s house, for the sap harvest. Once, they arrived Pa joined the men folk, trudging off into the snow to help start the sap buckets. Drilling holes into the thick bark to place a pipe that would drain the sap into the buckets below.

The women worked hard indoors for the party that would come that evening under the starlight. At the party to celebrate the winter harvest, Laura and Mary scoop fresh powdery snow into bowls and their Grandma ladles a stream of hot syrupy sap onto their dishes to make snow candy with. The sap hardened on the snow, thus making a chewy maple candy to enjoy.

“Grandma…poured hot syrup on each plate of snow. It cooled into soft candy, and as fast as it cooled they ate it. They could eat all they wanted, for maple sugar never hurt anybody.”

I always wanted to do this when I was little, I loved reading about Laura’s pioneer girl existence, I wanted to be a pioneer girl myself! I wanted to run through the fields with my hair in braids and my bonnet hanging down my back, the warm sun baking me as I brought Pa his lunch pail.

I found this recipe for “Snow Sugar” on the Laura’s Prairie House website:

I have not tried this particular recipe myself, so I will have to wait for the next snowfall and pull out my glass bottle of syrup and get to work!

{click on the recipe to be taken to a larger version}

December 27, 2009 / 0 Comments

Peppermint Fairy Cakes

MMM! I know that after the holidays the last thing on your mind is probably eating anything more. But, these cupcakes on The Farm Chicks website looked so heavenly, I think they are worth stuffing your face with.

The cakes in these little star studded wrappers (from Bake it Pretty) with a candy cane on top, look absolutely delectable. I love that they are filled with a peppermint cream. I love to whip up extra icing or a Boston Cream Pie filling and pipe it into my cupcakes. It just gives them that extra little something. I am a cupcake kinda girl, they are the perfect bite when you just need that little taste of something sweet!

To make your own Peppermint Fudge Cakes click here to get the recipe.

Wouldn’t these stripe and polka dot cases look sweet as well, holding these wintery tasting treats!

(Images copyright the FarmChicks & Bake it Pretty)

December 21, 2009 / 0 Comments

Ice N’ Spice N’ Everything Nice

I love vintage Ads, especially Christmas ones. I have a fantastic Christmas Schweppes Ad that hangs in my kitchen and I smile every time I see it.

I found this old A&P Ad in Found in Mom’s Basement for spiced ice cubes. I am not sure what I would think of my ice tea once the cubes started to melt, with all the little bits floating around in it, but, I love the idea of these ice cubes.

It is probably because of the adorable little girl in her Eskimo coat showing us the recipe. This would be a fun thing to make for your girlfriends at a Christmas lunch or just to have in the house when Holiday visitors drop by unexpectedly.

November 23, 2009 / 0 Comments

Time for Pumpkin Pie

Its time for pumpkin pie! This is my favorite part of Thanksgiving, as much as I love turkey and dressing and sweet potato souffle oozing with marshmallows on one 1/2 and pecans on the other, I live for Thanksgiving dessert!

Especially, pumpkin pie! I am a Libby’s canned pumpkin kinda gal and fortunately for me, I am able to get this at my local grocery store. I make my pumpkin pies the day before Thanksgiving. I love rolling the dough out and picking one of my mini pie cutters to cut out shapes that will decorate the edge of the crust. I usually use the maple leaf or the star shape to encircle the pie in a wreath of autumnal beauty.

I love the scent of cinnamon and nutmeg and cloves being folded into the creamy batter and then gently ladling it into my pie shell and finally placing it into the oven. The smell of it slowly baking permeates the house with the first smells of Thanksgiving. I make my whipped cream while it is baking, beating in sugar and vanilla, to taste; in preparation for the Big Day; as the timer goes off and I pull the pie out of the oven to slowly cool, I can only hope it survives the night and greedy hands and taste buds that can’t wait don’t get the better of it before Turkey Day arrives!

(Images from The Retro Press)

Pumpkin Pie Update (11/27/2009):
It was delicious! I had a slice with whipped cream for breakfast this morning!

October 19, 2009 / 0 Comments

Pumpkin Patch Love

I love the festive look of these Pumpkin Patch cupcakes from Martha Stewart. We went pumpkin hunting this weekend and I came back with another pumpkin to add to my collection. He is small with a cute curl of a stem, and has lots of personality!

I haven’t seen any teeny pumpkins yet this year, I love the little munchkin pumpkins! I thought these cupcakes would be perfect with a glass of cold apple cider to wash away those hungry pumpkin hunting appetites. They also would taste just as yummy if you cheated and used a gingerbread cake recipe instead of a pumpkin one, you decide.

Happy Hunting!

Get the Recipe

(Image used copyright Martha Stewart Living)

October 2, 2009 / 0 Comments

Gnome is Where the Heart Is

Well, as you may or may not know I love gnomes! I think they are just cute, whimsical, funny and kitsch. While searching for a particular cupcake item, I went to one of my favorite sites, “Bake It Pretty“, it has an array of goodies and lots of those hard to find retro/vintage looking cupcake picks. They were established before “Layer Cake“. Although, they have some product cross over, I think each have their own unique qualities.

I started going through their cookie cutter section while I was there and came across this guy! I thought he was too cute for words. He would be adorable iced with a little red or blue hat. Maybe even a little beard piped on with a small star tip.

When I was in high school, our local baking supply store was holding a Wilton Cake Decorating course and being the nerd that I am, I set aside some babysitting money and my mom let me sign up!

I love to bake and cook and I thought this would be a way to expand on that. I had so much fun, making roses, learning how to make the clown bodies to stick the clown head pick in for cupcakes or cakes, and best of all, you got to take home your finished products and eat them, now that alone was worth it for me, a guaranteed chance to have scrumptious cake once a week with that heavenly “wedding cake” icing, mmm!

You can buy him on this own or in an adorable “Pretty Magical Forest” set. Which gives you a really nice shaped mushroom that you could easily decorate to go along with him. He will need a place to sit on and rest of course!

This little gnome was too cute not to share and so sweetly photographed against the yellow gingham, I felt something needed to be said about this little character. If looking at these sites doesn’t make you want to run out and start whipping up cupcakes with the cutest toppers to put on them, I don’t know what will!

(All Images from “Bake it Pretty” website)

October 1, 2009 / 0 Comments

Halloween Countdown

October is here and All Hallows Eve is on its way. This was a time of important decision making in my childhood – what to dress up as was a daily dilemma? One of my favorite costumes was the year I dressed up like my American Girl Doll, Kirsten, we each went as Santa Lucia. My mom pulled out her advent wreath and we put battery powered candles in it. She braided my hair up in rings and with a white tunic and a red satin ribbon, I looked just like my doll. We were costume inventors in our house.

My mom always made the best Halloween packets so everyone always came to our house to be sure to get their treats. You always knew who’s house to avoid, like the lady down the street who always spent Halloween eating candy on her couch, but when you trick-or-treated at her door she gave you a penny and a pencil, I was holding out for the real goods. Pennies and pencils were not handed out at our front door, my mom is the Candy Queen and so her Halloween bags were filled with an assortment of goodies.

Now, is the season where I want to make candy apples, I usually cheat and just melt caramel and then dip in apple slices, just as yummy, but not the same teeth almost breaking experience you get at the fair trying to bite into your first candy apple of the season. That first bite is one to be savored and cherished anew each autumn. So here’s to October and blustery days, cold apple cider, candy corn and Indian corn, leaves crunching underfoot, pumpkins and witches and Halloween.

(Click HERE to go to a candy apple recipe from Martha Stewart)

September 14, 2009 / 0 Comments

Creme de Pumpkin

Who doesn’t like creme brulee? This recipe from the Susan Branch website looks heavenly. It would be like putting the best of fall in your mouth and a new twist on the classic pumpkin pie. I love pumpkin pie, that was my Birthday “cake” this year.

Just like Mrs. Branch, I would LOVE it chilled first too (as that is my favorite way to eat creme brulee)! Then make a hot crunchy bubbly brown sugar topping to crack your spoon through. For me that is the best part, the glass breaking sugar crunch of your spoon dipping in for the first bite. I would also be tempted to serve it with some fresh whipped vanilla cream piped next to it.

This was too wonderful an autumnal discovery not to share. Click on the image and it will whisk you away to this yummy recipe.

Click here to go directly to her Website and discover more Fall recipes in her cooking section:

September 10, 2009 / 0 Comments

Apple Cupcakes for Autumn Days

The weather is so beautiful here today in England. The sun is actually peeking out and there is a nice breeze going. Autumn is coming, you can hear it whispering through the trees. The trees along our common are just starting to turn a delicious gold, along their edges. This is perfect picnic weather.

I would love nothing more right now than some fried chicken, a homemade pimento cheese sandwich and some sweet tea from Chick-fil-A, and then to nestle down on a nice quilt in the sun. If the weather holds we might be doing that this weekend, sans the Chick-fil-A tea. Sadly, they are not in England yet!

I am listening to my “Little Women” soundtrack, it seems to hold the best promise of autumn and winter in its notes. I was in a cupcake mood today and decided to try something new. I came across these cupcakes on the Martha Stewart website and thought they were too cute for words. I like the idea of an apple cupcake, but I think that pumpkin spice would be just as lovely with the cream cheese frosting on top.

My local grocery store is out of marzipan at the moment, so this is a recipe that will have to wait till I go shopping in the bigger village. Until then, I will just dream of Autumn and festive apple topped cupcakes, complete with a smiling worm.

Picture and recipe are copyrighted to Martha Stewart

August 5, 2009 / 0 Comments

Scrumpious Shortcakes for Weekend Guests!

My in-laws came to visit us this weekend and after a day walking around the gorgeous Cliveden Estate, we headed back to our house for a cozy chicken potpie with mashed potatoes for dinner. It was a perfect meal for such a cold dreary day, but even so it is still Summer and I was determined to have something summery for dessert.

I have made them Southern Shortcakes in the past and they have really enjoyed them. This time however, I decided I would try something different since I had some eggs that needed to be used. So, i discovered this recipe on Betty Crocker’s website. I am fortunate to get some American items at the grocery store here for those moments of homesickness and Bisquick is one of them.

I made this dessert for the weekend, but with slight variations. I made two round cakes and after cooling them, I roughly iced the middle and top and let it chill in the fridge. I made a huge bowl of ripe strawberries with orange zest, and a sprinkling of sugar and another bowl filled with juicy peaches, lemon zest and a hint of sugar, they didn’t need much, the “gorgeous ladies” from France.

Everyone thoroughly enjoyed it, my mother-in-law even asked for seconds and had a piece before they headed home on Sunday! Even though the recipe states that it can be iced and stored for up to 6 hours, it lasted just fine in the fridge for longer than that. Thank goodness there was some left over, it was a delicious Sunday morning breakfast with a cup of tea! Since, it was deemed such a success and the strawberries are juicier than ever, I have made another one to take to a friend’s house for dessert tonight. I have included the recipe below, so I hope you enjoy!