The Bowling Alley

Got a call from a dear friend last night and before I knew it, I have went ahead and said - Sure, I can get you a cake by tomorrow morning. LOL Yeah, me and my inability to not only not tell anyone no but offer! LOL Oh well!

Started around 6 last night getting setting out butter to come to room temp so I could not only bake cakes from scratch but as I am looking through all my supplies I see I am about of various flours and other things I usually have on hand. So I spend a good amount of time making just the basic ingredients, LOL. (I only keep loling because I am actually in a sleep deprived giggle fit right about now.)

Thankfully the heavens smiled on me and the stars aligned. About 10 this morning, or somewhere in there I was able to finish up and then bake a crap ton of other stuff.

Granted this isn't my best work but very happy with the results and even happier to know if I get an order at "closing" time I can have a cake ready and waiting by "opening" the next day! Go me!
 

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Cinco De Mayo

Let me begin by saying - May The Forth Be With You. 


Now that that is over! Happy Cinco De Mayo! (Tomorrow that is, lol.) Now, what is this in the video above? Simple! A Maraca Cookie! Not the cleanest work but it was late and I wanted to get done fast since I had completed a lot of other cookies.

Rather simple to make actually. You just need 3 cookie cut out in the same shape, one of those hollowed out and one of those on a cookie stick. Bake, cool, cement together with royal icing as you stack them and fill with mini M&M's! Pretty cool!

Picture Guide For Maraca Cookies

Well, that was just the quick complete. I did that while I was waiting on some other cookies to dry. Now, these I wouldn't exactly call Cinco De Mayo cookies but more of a South Western Style. What is awesome about these is that they are a flavor variation on another cookie.

Lila Loa makes probably the best vanilla sugar cookie on the planet, I just adore her cookie. Not only does it taste great but it holds its shape better than any other I have tried and trust me, I have tried a lot of them. Add even more goodness and they are the perfect base for variations! So what do I do? Come up with my own!

Yuppers, here is a quick take on her cookie recipe that you can find here - Vanilla Sugar Cookie

Just take her recipe and follow it. Omit the orange/almond and add in the following:
1 Teaspoon Ground Cinnamon to the dry ingredients
1 Teaspoon Cinnamon Extract
1 Teaspoon Butter Flavorings

What does this give you? Churro cookies!!! That's right, a rich buttery cinnamon sugar cookie that is just perfect for the holiday!

Churro Flavored South Western Themed Cookie

And finally, my favorite part of all of this. My Nacho Supreme Cookies!!!! OMG these were too fun to make!!!

Nacho Supreme Cookies

These were super easy and so fun! All you do it cut out sugar cookies in the shapes of triangles, place them on a cookie sheet that has been lined with parchment and has dowel rods under the parchment. This will allow the cookies to bend as they cook and give you that nacho chip look.

Nacho Chip Cookies

 After that it is just all about the garnish!

Lettuce & Cheese: Colored Flake Coconut
Ground Beef: Crushed Cookies
Tomatoes: Starburst Jelly Beans

And don't forget the "Frosting" Sour Cream, lol. All there is too it!

And there you have it!!

Our Cookie De Mayo!!!!

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Southern Style Pecan Bars

Foodgasm!!!

Just a quick update while I am waiting for dishes to finish being done so I can get back to work in the kitchen on the Cinco De Mayo stuff. While in the middle of waiting for royal icing to set and another batch of cookie dough to chill I decided to make something else. Southern style pecan bars. These are just perfect for those summer days in the South or anywhere else for that matter. So here ya go! Quick and dirty.

Crust:
1/3 Cup Granulated Sugar
1/2 Teaspoon Table Salt
2 1/4 Cup Unbleached All Purpose
11 Tablespoon Salt Butter, Chilled and cubed


Filling:
3 Large Eggs
1 Cup Light Corn Syrup
1/2 Cup Granulated Sugar
1/2 Cup Packed Light Brown Sugar
3 Tablespoon Salted Butter, Melted
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
Pinch of Nutmeg
1/2 Cup Crushed Pecans
1 1/2 Cup Chopped Pecans

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 F
2. Take a 9x13 cake pan and spray down with Pam Baking Spray.
3. In a large bowl dump in everything for the crust and with a frost cut it until it becomes like corn meal.
4. Dump it into the cake pan and press flat and firm.
5. Bake 20 minutes uncovered.
6. While that is baking toss everything but the pecans into a mixing bowl and combine until smooth.
7. Toss in the pecan and fold.
8. Soon as crust comes out, pour filling on top.
9. Set in oven and bake for 20 minutes uncovered.
10. After 20 minutes, cover and cook until set - slight giggle in the center - another 10-20 minutes depending on oven.
11. Remove and allow to cool 10 minutes before loosening with a knife from the sides of the pan. Let cool fully now in the pan before cutting into bars.
12. Serve and enjoy!

Next time I think I might try them with candied bacon. ^_~

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Surreal Delights

Surreal Delights & Milk

Okay, about a week ago I checked out a book from the library for my husband - The Bacon Cookbook - and o.m.g....The recipes in this thing are just amazing. I mean, come on, an entire book about bacon, even cookies! Cookie! You have my attention.

So, I start thinking and researching various things online about cookie dessert with bacon, cookies with bacon and even how to candy bacon. Add to this the hubby grilling all the time and my family being bacon fanatics and here we are...

Candied Bacon

A cool Tuesday in May up in Washington State. The night before the hubby grills up his infamous Bacon Meatloaf and I finish developing a new take on my bread recipe - Bacon Garlic Cheddar. I need to get to decorating cookies but I have something else on my mind and like any artist, until that is taken care of I cannot do anything else.

And here we are..Surreal Delights....As I am calling them. A Candied Bacon Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookie.

Let's get to it!

Ingredients:
For Candied Bacon:
8 Slices Thick Cut Bacon
1 Cup Light Brown Sugar

For Cookies:
2 1/4 Cup All Purpose Flour
1 1/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda
1 Teaspoon Salt
2 Sticks Unsalted Butter - Softened slightly (not fully room temp)
3/4 Cup Granulate Sugar
3/4 Cup Packed Light Brown Sugar
2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
2 Large Eggs
12 Ounces Chocolate Chips - I prefer Semi Sweet
2 Cups Chopped Walnuts

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Line cookie sheet with parchment
3. Place Bacon on parchment
4. Sprinkle with half the brown sugar
5. Bake 10 minutes
6. Flip bacon over
7. Bake another 10 minutes
8. Remove from oven
9. Up oven temp to 400
10. Sprinkle bacon with the other half cup of brown sugar
11. Return to oven
12. Bacon an additional 5-10 minutes or until crispy - brown sugar might not be fully melted, that is okay!
13. Remove from oven, remove form pan and allow to cool fully.
14. Lower oven temp to 325.
15. Mix together flour, baking soda and salt together in a bowl and set aside.
16. In a mixing bowl combine butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar.
17. Cream
18. Add in eggs and vanilla, mix well.
19. Gradually add flour until mixed together.
20. Chop the bacon into small pieces.
21. Add the bacon, chocolate chips and walnuts to the dough.
22. Fold gently until evenly distributed.
23. Roll into gold ball sized balls and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment.
24. Bake for 13-15 minutes.
25. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 2 minutes before moving to a wire rack to cool fully.
26. Enjoy!

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Shipping Out Presents

Well, finally Monday is here and I get to head out to the Post Office in just a bit to ship out all these boxes of cookies for the family down in Albany. A lot of cookies that I hope arrive safe and sound. Bad thing about shipping cookies - you basically have to pray every time you ship them out and hope for a small miracle.

Thankfully the Christmas ones all arrives safe and sound and were not powder by the time they arrived. I can only hope that I will have as good of fortune with this set. They are all packed in sealed plastic bags, tucked in paper bags, then nestled with packing material in a gift box for each. The gift boxes are all tucked tightly into a larger box with even more packing material. I really hope it is enough. If things were more financially stable right now I would probably tuck them in another box with even more padding and do it overnight Fed Ex. Oh well, next time. You know, when I am a big cookie star! LOL

Anywho, one set was left out the other day when I was posting up a storm. Dad's Birthday Set. Now, I didn't do the edible image thing with his. His I did something a tad differently. Stacked Scrapbook inspired cookies. Hope he enjoys them. ^_^ I think he will, hehe.

Okay, kids to school and then the post office. After which is a trip to the store and get working on the next set of cookies. Cinco De Mayo!!!!

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Mother's Day

Mother's Day is quickly approaching and I could not send a care package down to Albany for all the April/May birthdays without sending one for Mother's Day to Ma.

Now, I had already posted one set of cookies that I did for Mother's Day. Those didn't go to any mother. In fact my kids devoured them not too long after I had finished taking pictures.

Thankfully I took pictures of these and then boxed them up quick to make sure the kiddos didn't get their grubby little paws on them. (I swear they are like locusts when they smell cookies in the house.)

Anywho, here we go. Vintage Rose Mother's Day Cookies.

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Wedding Cookies

Sadly, about a year ago, I missed out on a very important date, my baby sister getting married. We had just moved out to Washington and the wedding was in south Georgia. Needless to say there was slim chance to make it out there.

Well, I wanted to be able to give her the wedding gift I couldn't before and it turns out I couldn't have before the wedding anyways. You see, it all goes back to the cookie and this time I went a step further. I decided to give her a wedding album of cookies.

Each cookie is a Dark Chocolate and covered in Vanilla Almond Royal Icing. The images of the couple are edible and can be enjoyed both visually and by your tastebuds. Happy Late Anniversary Sis! I hope you like!

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Southern Gentleman

And here we are, at number 3 for today. I know, but hey, there are a lot and I honestly don't want the niftyness of one to get lost in a mass publication on one post. So this is better. This is one geared towards the Southern Gentleman, my step dad.

You see, he actually lives on one of those story book plantations, takes care of it. Had raised pointer dogs for probably a life time. So, what better way to say Happy Birthday (Belated as it might be) than to include him on the shipment down to Albany (Al-Bany) with some nifty vintage style cookies of his own?

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Mommy, I want a Pony!

Every girl at one point in her life, or so I am told, asks for a pony. It is an on going joke in most movies and TV shows when you have that little girl. "Mommy! I want a pony!!!" Well, it isn't too far from the truth.

You see one of my sisters is into horses. In fact most of the pictures I see of her is when she is out riding. So, trying to figure out what to do for her birthday, and you know I must do cookies, I figured - WTH - Horse Cookies!

Granted I didn't want to ship cross country horse shaped cookies. Those would be destroyed by the time I got them there. So I opted for Vintage Style Edible Image Horse Cookies. I hope she enjoys them.

(If not, tough cookies! :P)

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Deer Season

Well, not exactly but hey! Got your attention didn't I? :P Anywho, as you will see there are going to be a rash of quick posts today and all because I want to showcase various themes of cookies I am doing to send down to my family in Albany this month. Mothers Day is coming up, so have to ship some down to Ma. And you see April/May is the big birthday months for us. Mine, The Hubbies, Baby Jack, one of my sisters - Mags, my step pappy & daddy.

 As well as my Brother in Law Jon Boy (He is going to kill me for that most likely. Doesn't help my sister recently bought him a gun for their anniversary.) He hunts, it's the south, so what better cookies to send down too him than some that will make him look even more forward to Deer Season?

So, here we are - The Deer Season Cookies

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It's My Birthday

And I hate it! It is no small secrete that I hate birthdays. Well I hate mine, I love everyone else's. And it doesn't have to do with aging. Speaking frankly I like growing older and am looking forward to days of wrinkles, snow white hair and senility. My dream is to grow up to be Dorthy Spornack, that or Sophia Petrillo. Either way. I will be a Golden Girl and embrace it. I just hate birthdays because they usually turn out bad. Dinner goes wrong, something gets ruined. It is just usually one big mess.

This year didn't start any different. Not 5 minutes into the day and I was already over the washer scrubbing out a stain from a shirt. So, already preparing myself for another humdinger of the worst day of the year. Hey, if you know the hurricane is coming, you get the hell out of dodge, you don't sit by and wait for it to take you.




So, when it was before 7 AM on a Saturday and people from the East Coast were waking me up with Happy Birthday Texts, I just grumbled and rolled out of bed. lol Thankfully I was greeted with a fresh cup of coffee and Eggs Benedict, compliments of the hubby. (A serious perk of being married to a chef - Food, lol)

Then after a couple of hours of dealing with 2 temperamental boys I got greeted with cards. And I must say some of the most kick ass cards a mother could hope to get.  Granted I think my daughter won hands down with her special "coupons" to me. I know I will be cashing these in very soon. LOL

And then there is the card from the hubby...Which makes me wonder. Not that it is wrong in what it states but considering the fact that he is a Taurus as well, I wonder if it speaks more about him or me. LOL

And I got cake and I didn't have to make it! LOL Hubby make me a Chocolate Cake with Cream Cheese icing. Ended up making in a bread pan, sliced it like bread and then did the icing like it was pats of butter. Too cute! I loved it!

So, all in all not the worst birthday. ^_~ Times they are a changing! 

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