Filed under: Random Foodie Thoughts | Tags: cookies, end of the school year, food
How do you show your teacher you love her?
You make her these red velvet cookies in the shape of a heart. They were divine. Bonus-she made them herself.
The end of the school year is always too much. We have too many things to do and too many forms to fill out. Parents may get in a last minute complaint or two. A few kids try to fix a year’s worth of slacking by begging for extra credit. Seriously.
However, it is also a time when kids like this one show that they really appreciate what we did this year. It makes the job fun and a little bittersweet. I will miss my students, and I hope they are all safe and sound over the summer.
It was a great school year.
Filed under: Food I Make, Food Made by Other Food Folks, Random Foodie Thoughts | Tags: cookies, food, life, Mexican wedding cookies, Paula Deen, recipes, Vacation food
It is time for vacation with the family! All eighteen members of the bunch are traveling this week to the shore. Thank the good Lord above. That means sun, fun, sand, and food.
Lots and lots of food.
And I can not wait.
It all starts with Paula Deen’s Mexican Wedding cookies by special request from my sister.
I had forgotten that the last time we traveled to the great blue-two weddings and two babies (none of which were mine, thank goodness) ago-that I made Paula’s cookies for the trip. I used to make them all the time, but our last trip five years ago was the last time I made them.
What a slacker I am.
Luckily, she remembered and asked me to make them. It was one of the very last things I did before we left the house. They are super, super easy and not too sweet. I follow Paula’s recipe except that I use about a quarter cup more pecans than she does. Also, while the cookies are straight out of the oven, I put them in a large bowl with a cover and gently shake them with lots and lots of powdered sugar.
They are in the backseat right now headed with us for the water.
Delicious.
Filed under: Food I Make, Random Foodie Thoughts | Tags: cakes, Christmas, Christmas cakes, Christmas cookies, Christmas food, cookies, food, food experiments, recipes, sugar cookie mix, sugar cookie recipes
I have come up with yet another brilliant recipe.
Of course, I am kidding. I have come up with an idea at least, and it needs a little work.
For the Christmas party we had last weekend, I made Nutella, sugared pecans, and cream cheese wrapped in crescent rolls that were split in two. They were good, but they didn’t go very far.
After a trip to Sam’s this weekend, I had a jumbo box of sugar cookie mix to work with. Sweet. Since Tuesday was my day to take a Christmas snack for our faculty, I decided to experiment! Woohoo!
Teachers will eat anything. They make excellent guinea pigs.
My first thought was to stuff the sugar cookies with my Nutella, cream cheese, and pecan idea. That, however, would be time consuming. Not interested.
There’s a reason why I don’t make the cute cupcakes that everyone loves. They take too stinkin’ long.
Second thought-make two large sugar cookies and layer the filling like a layered cake. Simple-check. Easy-check. Not too time consuming-check. So, that’s what I did.
I made the cookie mix as directed on the box, and then I split the mix in half. In two round cake pans, I flattened each half of the mixture and baked them for nine minutes.
When they cooled, I attempted to the turn them out onto my cake stand. Even though I sprayed the boogers with non-stick spray beforehand, they still stuck to the pan. They messier of the two went on the bottom.
Then, I scattered the pecans over the large non-perfect cookie and attempted to cover that with Nutella. It was a hot mess. The Nutella would not spread and the pecans would not stay put. What I ended up doing was scraping the pecans off and mixing them with the Nutella for a smoother spread. I thinly sliced an eight ounce block of cream cheese and covered the whole shebang with the cream cheese slices.
Finally, I topped it all off with the second large cookie and a good sprinkle of powdered sugar to cover any character flaws.
The next day, I took my experiment to school and left it on the faculty lounge table for the starving masses. When I went back at the end of the day, most of it was gone which means it was a success.
Again, though, I don’t read too much into that. They’re not what you’d call picky eaters.
What I want to work on is the filling. It was good, but it wasn’t creamy like I like cream cheese fillings to be. I may cream the cream cheese with a little sugar next time.
This weekend will be the next time. We have a Christmas gathering for my family.
Oh, the craziness.
Oh, the drama.
Oh, the culinary knowledge.
It’ll all be there in spades, and I think I’ll try this cookie cake again.
Stay tuned, Foodie Friends.
Filed under: Food I Make, Random Foodie Thoughts | Tags: Christmas cookies, cookies, food, food failures, life
I am not a food decorator. Fancy is not the name of my game.
Cupcakes and the sort are gorgeous when all fixed up. You know, after I buy them from someone else who has talent.
The Helper and I decided to make Christmas cookies tonight. The trees are lit, and the holiday music is blaring. It was worth a shot.
Unfortunately, the best thing I had to pipe our icing with was a modified turkey injector. Add that issue to the fact that I have no decorating skills at all, and I believe we were actually a little successful.
At least the taste good.
The Opinionated Foodie: The Love (or Not) of Food and Everything That Goes with It 