baking – Page 4 – hugsnblessings

double-feature

Published on May 26, 2016May 26, 2016 by Dawn Marie18 Comments

These two weeks of going back to WordPress school at

Blogging U

have flown by!

I have appreciated so very muchly dusting off my tool-set,

re-evaluating my ‘bloggity-blog say I’ space,

renewing my focus,

and meeting some new spaces (and faces) along the way!

“Thank you Blogging U! I am truly refreshed!”

Our final lesson instructed:

Think of the type of regular feature you can commit to —

something you’ll publish weekly, biweekly, or monthly.

I have several of these already on my site which are:

The Monday giggles,

3hugs&blessings Thursdays,

and

the Year of the Cookies.

(If you’re new I hope you’ll take the time to stroll through them!)

So far this week I’ve already had my giggle,

but today I shall combine the other two for my first ever…

double-feature!

On top of going back to class

Helen & I have been busy this week running to & fro!

And at one particular point in our travels throughout the day, Helen Kowalska,

the best Golden Retriever in the Universe,

graduated to riding in the front seat!

I do believe the situation developed between packing the rear-cargo area full with plants at the Nursery & the 2nd row being filled to the rim at the dry cleaners, (with all sorts of freshly cleaned Bridal wear.) Where was Helen to go?

The only seat left available was now next to me, in the front row.

I’m pretty sure she liked it!

I did make one deal with her though, since she was now limited in activity by this tiny space…

I promised, as a thank you for giving up her coveted space, we would go straight home and bake cookies!

(To which, of course, she THANKfully agreed!)

Yes, Helen & I went home and baked that day; and we chose one of the Wedding Cookies which were made for the Bride & Groom’s Cookie Table!

Perhaps you will be inspired to bake them too!

As we mentioned in an earlier post, Wedding Crumbs, there were so many helping hands who contributed to The Cookie Table for our daughter & son-in-law’s special day!

There were chocolate chip bakers, peanut butter blossom partakers, and cut out cookie creators of various shapes; not to mention the dozens of frosted ones & pizzelles to boot! Over 100+ dozen cookies were lovingly prepared & magically trayed that day! We were so very THANKFUL for them all!!

“I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers”

Ephesians 1:16

In the land of The Cookie Table this gal trayed them all for us!

And this month’s cookie was inspired by a gal-pal of mine who, was not only the first to offer her baking assistance, but included the offer with a invitation to attend a personal demonstration of her baking skills extraordinare’!

Just two friends making Carmel Tarts! (NBD, as we’ve been friends since our first-born’s were in kindergarten.)

Follow along & you soon will know how to make Carmel Tarts too!

First you will need to blend the following ingredients together with a pastry knife:

4-6 ounces of cream cheese (my friend recommends 4 ounces)

2 sticks oleo

2 cups flour

Roll dough medium-thin on a floured surface & cut out with something that looks like this (be sure to dip cutter in flour as well,)

If you do not have a flower shape such as this, a circle will do just fine!

Next place the cut-out shapes in tassie pans, lightly tamp down the centers & prick bottoms with a fork.

Bake for 15 minutes in a 350 oven.

Cool before filling.

Look at those perfectly spaced fork-tines…pretty ***spectacular,*** right? (That was my only contribution!)

Filling:

In a double boiler melt one 14 oz. package of Kraft Carmels (or Carmel Bits,) with 1/2 cup Pet milk.

Keep hot & pour into shells.

Let filling cool before icing.

Icing:

1/2 cup oleo

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup crisco

5 oz. Pet milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

(My gal-pal suggested cutting this in half as it makes way too much! Or have a second use in mind when preparing…like banana-splits or hot-fudge sundaes for dessert with dinner that night!)

Beat oleo, crisco, and sugar. Add milk a little at a time. Add vanilla.

Use Wilton tip #16 or another rosette frosting tip to add a pretty dollop of icing on the top of each carmel tart!

These cookies are not only delicious freshly made but freeze beautifully for up to a month and are

just as YUMMY either way!

Just ask Helen, as since it’s a 3hugs&blessings Thursday she again thankfully agreed!

hugs n’ blessings go out to all the special “features” in our life!

(I hope you’ll remember to give thanks for them too!)

lemony lucy!

Published on March 30, 2016March 30, 2016 by Dawn Marie4 Comments

“Lucy the Lamb, will you give me a hand? I need to remind her it’s cookie baking time!”

Tip-toe,

Tip-toe.

“Excuse me but we have something to say, ‘Did you forget Cookie-Baking Day?‘”

No, Helen & Lucy, I did not forget!!! I’ve just been busy with bridal showers and wedding duties and lent and stitches and stuff. But let’s not delay any longer…

Won’t you please help me to pick what we shall bake this month?

And so it shall be:

Lemony ‘Lucy’ Sugar Cookies

2 1/3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 egg
1 teaspoon Pure Lemon Extract

Mix flour, baking soda and salt in medium bowl. Set aside. Beat granulated sugar and butter in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add egg and lemon extract; mix well. Gradually stir in flour mixture on low speed until well mixed.

Refrigerate 2 hours or overnight until firm.

Preheat oven to 375°F. Roll out dough on lightly floured surface to 1/8-inch thickness. Cut into shapes with cookie cutters. Place on greased baking sheets.

Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on baking sheets 1 minute. Remove to wire racks; cool completely.

1 cup confectioners’ sugar
3 to 4 teaspoons lemon juice
3 to 4 drops Assorted Food Colors or Egg Dye

For the Icing, mix all ingredients except food colors. (Stir in additional lemon juice as needed to thin icing or more confectioners’ sugar to thicken, if needed.) Place small amount of icing into small shallow bowls, using one bowl for each color desired. Stir drops of food color into icing until desired shade is reached.

nibble, nibble, nibble…

crumbs on the plate.

nibble, nibble, nibble…

it’s almost too late!

Hurry-Up!

Or you’ll miss the last bite

of something that is great!

The perfect thing to do at the end of Cookie Baking Day…*lie down with the lamb.*

“There is within you a lamb & a lion. Spiritual maturity is the ability to let the lamb & the lion lie down together. ” Henry Nouwen

hugs n’ wooly warm blessings!

colorful characters & really great food!

Published on February 25, 2016February 25, 2016 by Dawn Marie12 Comments

Yes, Helen!

Today is the 25th of the Month and it’s

Cookie Day at North Star,

in this ‘the year of the Cookie!’

February’s cookie was inspired by one of my favorite book series

The Mitford Series written by Jan Karon.

Millions of Mitford fans will agree – it’s easy to put on a pound or two reading a Mitford novel! In scene after scene, you find colorful characters enjoying ravishing dishes like Puny’s golden-crusted cornbread and Father Tim’s baked ham with bourbon glaze. And before you know it, you’ve read several pages by the glow of the refrigerator lightbulb!

If you love the Mitford books, like I do, you’ll devour Jan Karon’s Mitford Cookbook & Kitchen Reader, edited by Martha McIntosh

The book is filled with recipes for 150 dishes of your favorite scenes from each of the Mitford books. Today I have chosen Avis Packard’s Shortbread Cookie to bake!

Avis Packard, proprietor of The Local

In the little village of less than a thousand, everyone’s dinner – party or otherwise – began at The Local, unless they wanted to make the fifteen mile drive to Food Value. Of course, they could go out to Cloer’s Market, but Hattie Cloer was so well-known for telling customer’s her aches and pains that hardly anyone ever did that. Avis Packard once said, that Hattie Cloer had sent more business to The Local than any advertising he had ever run in the paper. One thing Father Tim liked about Avis Packard was the way he got excited about his groceries. He could rhapsodize about the first fresh strawberries from the valley in a way that made him a veritable Wordsworth of garden fare. “We got a special today on tenderloin that’s so true to the meanin’ of th’ name, you can cut it with a fork.” At Home in Mitford, Chapter 4

Avis’s Shortbread Cookies

5 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups unsalted butter, at room temperature

2 cups granulated sugar

2 large eggs, at room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Nonstick cooking spray for the pans, Confectioners’ sugar, for sprinkling over the cookies.

Sift the flour, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter and granulated sugar on medium speed for 8 minutes, until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and continue beating. Add the vanilla, then add the flour mixture and beat until the mixture just holds together. Chill the dough for at least 1 hour before baking.

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Coat a cookie sheet with nonstick cooking spray. Use an ice cream scooper to scoop the dough out onto the pan.

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the edges begin to brown. Remove the shorbreads from the pan, place on a plate, and sprinkle confectioners’ sugar over the warm cookies.