Well, today is my 1 year blogaversary! I gotta say that I started this thing on a whim and it has turned into something I would have never guessed. I have almost 4,000 hits and those are from almost every continent! I've also met some great new friends through my blog. I have inspired (or so I'm told), and have been inspired. I seriously thought that the only person who would read this would be Adam! Some of my posts that have gotten the most hits have been my baking ones. Awesome!!! I know that these recipes aren't mine, but it seems that I make them easier to find. It might even have been one you were wondering would work. So in honor of my 1 year I have decided to do a fun giveaway! Yes, you read that right! A giveaway. This is different because I am giving away a cookbook filled with all the recipes from my blog and some of my favorite ones that haven't made it to the blog yet. I will be working on this starting today so that way I hope to have it finished by the deadline. So here is what you need to do to enter.
1. Post a comment. It could be anything, hello, what you have liked, if you know me in real life, if you have a request that I make, whatever!!!
2. Get an extra entry if you become a follower.
3. If you post about this with a link on your blog or facebook, you can get another entry! You just need to let me know.
The deadline will be......August 31 midnight eastern time!!!
I will use a random generator to pick the winner and will be announced on Sept. 1.
Starting next week, until the last week in September, I will start a cookie of the week post. Every week I will be making a different cookie and letting you know what worked and what didn't. This was inspired by a internet friend of mine, Heather, who is doing a different cupcake each day in the month of August. Her ideas are amazing! Stop by her blog and check it out. You won't be disappointed.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Happy 1 year to me!
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Lemon Shortbread with a lemon sugar glaze
I have been craving lemon shortbread cookies now for a little while. When I worked at Starbucks there were these little lemon shortbread flower cookies with a glaze on them and for some reason I just can't stop thinking about them lately. So Adam and I gave it a shot. The recipe we used as a base was from the America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook for plain shortbread, and then we changed it up a bit.
The Shortbread:
2 1/4 cup all purpose flour, plus extra for the counter
1/2 tsp. salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
6 tsp. lemon juice
The Glaze:
confectioner's sugar
lemon juice
Mix together equal parts until desired thickness.
1. Whisk flour and salt together in a medium bowl and set aside. Beat the butter and confectioner's sugar together in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3-6 min., scraping down the bowl and beaters as needed. Slowly add the lemon juice and mix well. Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly mix in the flour mixture until combined, about 30 sec.
2. Using your hands, press the dough into a ball in the bowl. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured counter and knead until it is very smooth, about 3 min. Press the dough into a round disk, then place it on top of a large piece of parchment and roll out into a 9" circle, about 1/2" thick, using a rolling pin.
3. Transfer the dough and parchment to a parchment lined baking sheet. Crimp the edges, then poke all over with a fork, and score into 16 wedges. Refrigerate the dough for 20 min.
4. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 300 degrees. Bake until the shortbread is pale golden brown, 40-45 min, rotating the baking sheet halfway through baking.
5. Pour glaze over shortbread making sure the entire cookie is covered. Transfer the baking sheet to a wire rack and using a sharp knife, cut through the scored marks to separate the wedges. Let cool on the baking sheet for 1 hour before serving.
Yes some are missing. We just had to try them last night before they cooled!
Monday, December 22, 2008
These last few days.
Let's see, where did I leave off....
Adam got home from his Dad's night out just after midnight with 2 new fruits for us to try. What ever you do do not try these!! They were awful!!! We tried a star fruit and a kiwano. I've included pictures so that you can stay away from them. Yuck!!!
Friday: We had Ben over for dinner again. After he left we went to town making 3 loaves of beer bread, and more of the cookies that needed to be made.
Saturday: More beer bread and cookie making. The mom's group that I am a part of had a kids holiday party at one of the other mom's houses. They were looking for a Santa so I volunteered Adam since he has done it before. I didn't think it would be a problem since my kids are only 1 1/2 and 2 1/2, but I was wrong. It was a great party, and Santa brought all the kids books. Adam had ducked away to go change. When he entered the room, D took one look at him (in complete costume!) and said, Hi Daddy!! L came running in and said that's not Santa that's Daddy. He and I then had an argument over whether or not that was Daddy or Santa. He gave up and started to call him Daddy Santa. It was pretty cute, but I didn't want him to somehow ruin it for all the other kids.
Sunday: Finished making the chocolate biscotti, and Adam got the brilliant idea to make candied orange peel candy. It was his family Christmas party over at his mom and dad's house. It was tons of fun and all the food and gifts were fantastic! The kids did really well, opened every present, were excited about everything, and told everyone thank you. I was really impressed with how well they did. They did however get a little wound up from all the sugar in cookies. I try to limit how much they have, but the goodies were all at hand level for the kids. I told L numerous times to not eat anymore, but being the smart 2 year old that he is, he got other people to get them for him!
Our Christmas card picture, it's not a good one, but it's them!!
The kiwano
a star fruit!
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Day 20 and shoppig with Santa
Day 20: Adam and I made spritz cookies! We have tried this so many times and this is the first year that it actually worked right. We were very happy. Now if you don't know what spritz cookies are they are basically a light sugar cookies that is squeezed out of a cookie gun in different shapes onto the cookie sheet. I know what you are saying, that doesn't sound too hard, well it is! You need to have the dough chilled, you need the right pressure on the gun, and you need to have the right thickness of a cookie for it to all come out right. We decided to use almond extract instead of the lemon that it calls for and we sprinkled sanding sugar over the top of them for fun. They turned out fantastic! They taste a lot like a madeline cookie if you know what that is.
Shopping with Santa: A local church just down the alley from us sent us an invitation to shop with Santa. It was great fun! They had adult helpers that took the kids shopping for mommy, daddy, and siblings while mommy and daddy went downstairs to shop for the kids and home goods. They had tons to choose from and had everything set up according to age group. D freaked out of course when the nice lady wanted to take her shopping, but L was like sure, I'll go with you stranger! Where to! I picked out a baby doll for D, and a truck with blocks for L. They also had books, movies, little toys for stocking stuffers, home decor, a candy. It was great. We then went up stairs to see the big man. As soon as D say him she was yelling, Hi Santa! But once we got over to him she really freaked out. It was alright from a distance, or as long as daddy held her. And Santa was a trooper. I felt bad because D was kicking with her boots on so I know that had to hurt. L came running back in after shopping and getting his presents wrapped. The adult helper picked out things for D to give us, and while they were being wrapped L got to play in the nursery. When he came back, as soon as he saw Santa, he ran over and climbed into his lap. It was very cute. Santa gave each kid a gift bag filled with age appropriate things. When we got home L told daddy that he got Christmas for him and wants to wait to open them. That just melted our hearts!
L saying cheese on Santa's lap
