Sugar Cookie Madness

And oh yes, they have driven me mad! I've recently decided to professionalize my sugar cookie decorating by switching to royal icing. The icing I was using before was just a simple icing made with confectioners sugar, corn syrup, and vanilla. The stuff isn't very versitile though and it doesn't harden quite as much as royal icing (which is akin to rubber cement).

So- of course I jumped online for tips and I must tell you, the ultimate online teacher has got to be Sweetopia. Her tutorials and tips are incredibly helpful and she truly helped me get on my feet! Don't get me wrong, it was still hard to learn how to use royal icing, and I've nowhere near perfected the process, but her website got me started and I recommend you check it out if you have any interest in cookie decorating.

I've upgraded my cookie decorating tools, going from ziplock bags with varying sized cuts made in the corner, to Wilton's piping bags and tips. GOOD move. It is SO much easier to decorate with tips; I can't believe I did it any other way, but at the same time I'm pretty proud of what I was able to accomplish without them! I'm still learning how to control the flow and I don't have a Kopykake projector like the Sweetopia blogger so I need to perfect my free-hand skills or find a cheapie overhead projector somewhere- good luck.

I recently had an order for 45 baby-themed cookies for a shower and although they turned out really nice it was really stressful- one of those if-anything-can-go-wrong-it-will kind of orders, you know, I lose half a batch of cookies to the floor, underestimate the amount of confectioners sugar the order will take, realize I'm out of the correct sized cellophane bags and have to make an emergancy run to Target, and the cost to create them, not including the hours and hours they took, pretty much cancelled out how much I earned. Phew! It was tiring, but really good practice and I'm proud of the outcome. I'm not diving into any more cookie decorating anytime soon (I say that, yet I've got snowflake decorated gingerbread cookies on my Christmas cookie list, so, yeah...).

Freshly baked sugar cookies!

Icing! Icing! Icing!



Duckies and Elephants, Oh My!

Speaking of Christmas cookies- I've got about a week or so break and then it's back at it! I'm making 6 different types of cookies and shipping them all over the country to family and friends! Reports and photos to follow, I promise :)

Stay warm and have a happy Thanksgiving!

Baked Pears with Goat Cheese, Pecans and Chocolate Ganache

Yum! Doesn't the title of this posting just make you want to grab a spoon and dig in? Last night, after my boyfriend made us a delicious dinner of baked salmon with scallions and a nice big spinach salad, I decided we needed to finish off our meal in style. A friend recently told me about a snack she's been making that involves pears, cheese, and balsamic dressing. I loved the idea and decided to try to make a dessert version using the same concepts. So here you go! Try it out and let me know what you think!

Baked Pears with Goat Cheese, Pecans and Chocolate Ganache
1-2 Bartlett pears (or whatever you've got laying around)
Goat Cheese
Pecans
1-1.5 Tbsp brown sugar
Dark Chocolate Morsels
Heavy Whipping Cream

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut the pears in half and scoop out the middles a bit so that you have a nice little cup. Fill the cups with goat cheese and top with pecans. Sprinkle brown sugar on top.

Place the pear halves on a baking sheet and bake for about 10 minutes (until it's nice and brown and the brown sugar and cheese have melted a bit).

Meanwhile, put about a cup of dark chocolate morsels in a bowl and microwave until melted (only turn it on for about 30 seconds at a time and mix the chocolate in between until it's all melted). Add 1-2 Tbsp of heavy whipping cream and mix. Add as much cream as you want until it's the consistency you'd like---obviously, the more you add the runnier the sauce will be.

Plate the pears and drizzle the chocolate ganache over them.

Enjoy!

Kitchen Upgrades

As I've increased the volume of baking I'm doing each week, it's become apparent to me that it's time to upgrade some of my common kitchen tools. Oh darn. I'll have to go shopping.

My extremely generous aunt recently mailed me several Amazon.com gift certificates after cashing in her AMEX points and realizing she couldn't figure out how to use the darned things (we're still working on getting her into the 21st Century- stand by). As I'm sure you all know, Amazon is a catchall for, well, everything. I typed "Baking" into the search and found my own little Utopia.

My first big box o'baking bliss arrived several weeks ago, much to my excitement! Among my many goodies were three new paintbrushes from Wilton. Now, don't get me wrong, I am a huge Wilton fan. I think the majority of their products are well made, visually appealing, and really easy to use. But I am sorely disappointed by these puppies; I used them twice before they found their new home in the trash can.

The brushes were purchased to assist with decorating my hand painted sugar cookies. In my brushless days, I was using a Ziploc bag filled with icing as a pastry bag, but smaller details were really tough and I needed something with more control. The first brush use was great; I was able to fill in small details and add real character to my cookies. After using them, I of course, took them to the sink for a good washing. As soon as the pretty purple-painted wooden handles hit the hot water, there were little paint chips all over my sink. Not was I was expecting.

I used the brushes again to decorate sugar cookies for The Bully (photos are in a previous posting), but I again found the paint chipping off, this time in large chunks. I had to maneuver carefully to make sure none of it landed in the icing- no extra flavoring needed!

Needless to say, I do not recommend buying Wilton's set of three brushes, no matter how cute they look in their packaging. As for me, I've recently stumbled upon Sweetopia (thank you, Kelly) and I'm going to try her methods of sugar cookie decorating before I run out to get more brushes. And if I do get more brushes, I'm trying out acrylic brushes from the paint section at A.C. Moore. Hopefully a safer bet.

What About

Lately, more and more I'm really thinking my dream of owning a bakery someday will be more than just a dream. I can already see the curved front of the glass display case, the retro cash register, the miss-matched bar stools in front of the smooth wood counter, art from good friends plastering the walls. I can hear the ding ding as another customer enters, the low sound of The Beatles playing, smell the warmth of the oven in the back. If I shut my eyes, I'm there.

But alas, it's going to be a steap climb before I can hang my shingle and wipe floured hands on my apron front.

As I sit, day in, day out, behind a desk on a computer frantically typing, attending meetings, shuffling papers, contributing to corporate America, I feel an urgency. A whisper in my ear, "Escape." But there's all these "what abouts" lurking behind that urgency. "What about my mound of student loan debt?" "What about my lack of pastry school training?" "What about health insurance?" "What about retirement funds?" "What about rent?" I start drowning in a sea of What About. As some neighborhood kid bounces a ball in front of my house, my What Abouts come out in rhythms. A steady song of self-doubt and excuses.

Last night my boyfriend and I snuggled on the couch as we watched Julie to Julia. It's a moving film based on a true story about a woman who takes on the task of cooking her way through Julia Child's famous cookbook. In the end, she's got millions of blog followers, lands a book deal, and obviously a movie. Afterwards, as we threw on our jackets to move our car for the Monday morning street sweepers, my boyfriend looked at me and said, "I want what happened to Julie to happen to you." How did I ever end up with somemone this supportive?

If everyone around me thinks I can do this, then I'm going to start telling myself I know I will. It is no longer a matter of "If" but a matter of "When!" I won't drown myself in the What About Sea, but gently sail along on my When Raft, setting a course for calmer waters.

Follow-up to The Bully Premier

I had a blast at The Bully premier on Wednesday, October 20th at SPACE Gallery. The night started with a performance by local band South China (check them out if you have yet to hear them- they are just incredible) and then filmmakers Derek Kimball and Matt Konkel of Last House Productions premiered "The Bully" followed by a showing of their film "I Want You to Know." The turnout for the event was fantastic- I'd say at least 100 people showed up.

The night before the premier I sat in my kitchen for three hours painting sugar cookies with scenes based off the film's promotional poster.





It was exhausting, but they came out much better than I expected and my boyfriend was flitting around them all night with "ooooo's" and "ahhhh's." I packaged them up in cellophane bags tied with black ribbon.

There were 14 in all and I almost sold out :) In addition, I whipped up a batch of Ginger Cookies and Mud Puddle Cookies. I packaged them in 3's and sold quite a few, though it seemed like the Mud Puddle's were most popular. No wonder- they're covered in dark chocolate ganache! Everyone who bought from me was sure to come back multiple times to tell me how good the cookies were. This is the first "event" I've ever sold merchandise at and I'd say it was a big success! In all I raised $25 to support getting the film into the international film festival circuit.



I'd really love to do another event like this again- just have to keep my eyes open for opportunities. Since the event, I've had 2 orders placed and two more pending ones, so I've got a big baking week coming up!

The Bully Premiere

I hope everyone is planning to attend the premiere of local filmaker Derek Kimball's new film, "The Bully" on October 20th at SPACE Gallery. The teaser for the film looks incredible, and based on Kimball's previous work, this is sure to be an event you don't want to miss!

In addition to the film viewing, Kimball's film "I Want You To Know" will serve as a prelude to the premiere and two local bands are slated to perform. All of the proceeds from the night will benefit getting the film into the international film festival circuit, and so I'm happy to say that I'll be selling film-inspired cookies at the premiere with 60% of the proceeds going to the cause!

I'm planning to make large sugar cookies painted with various images from the film's promotional poster as well as some other flavors. I'd love to come up with a "Bully" cookie too!

I've been a bit bummed lately as sales have been slim to none. I've realized I need to find a way to advertise myself to more people but haven't come up with a plan yet. I had hoped that word of mouth through friends would work- but it's not really drumming up much business for me. We are approaching gifting/family dinner season though, so maybe something will pan out. If anyone has any other ideas for me, I'm all ears!

Butternut Squash Ravioli? Yes, please!

The food for my brother's 17th was a big hit. The cupcakes, version 2.0 are MUCH prettier this time. See photographic evidence below. (And I need to say thanks to my amazing boyfriend who took the following picture. He's local photographer, Justin Lewis- filmaperture Photography :)



I tried out a new recipe for ravioli and it's definitely a keeper. I made a few modifications and thought I'd share it with you. Enjoy!

Butternut Squash, Sage & Goat Cheese Ravioli, with Hazelnut Brown-"butter" sauce
For the Filling:
2 lbs butternut squash, halved & seeded
1 med. onion, chopped
1 1/2 tsp ground sage
1 Tbsp butter (or use olive oil like me :P)
1 garlic clove, minced
3 oz goat cheese mozzerella, grated

60 wonton wrappers (2 packages)
1 stick of butter (or substitute with olive oil like me :P)
1/3 c. hazelnuts, lightly toasted, skinned, & chopped coarse
3 cups spinach leaves

Preheat the oven to 425 & lightly grease a baking sheet.

For Filling: Put squash, flesh down, on baking sheet & roast for 30 mins. Cool. Scoop out the flesh into a bowl and trash the skin. Mash until smooth

While squash roasts, cook onion & sage in oil w/salt & pepper, about 5 mins. Add garlic. Cool and add to the squash. Add the cheese and stir.


Bring 5 quarts of salted water to a boil. Place one wonton wrapper on a lightly floured surface and mound 1 Tbsp filling in the middle. Wet another wrapper and seal the deal! Transfer to a dry paper towel. After you make a bunch- I did 6 or so at a time- put them in the boiling water for about 6 minutes, until they float. If you aren't plating right away, transfer them to a shallow pan and add some cooking water. If you don't, they'll all stick together. Continue doing this until you have used up your filling or have made as many ravioli as you wish!

For the sauce- heat 1 stick of butter or some oil in a skillet and add the nuts & spinach leaves. If using butter, keep it on the heat until it browns and then remove from heat and season with salt & pepper. If using oil, just heat it up a bit.

Serve ravioli with butter/oil hazelnut spinach sauce on top! Yummy!

Serving amount is debateable- I made 5 raviolis for each of 5 people, so 5 total and I've still got leftovers to make another batch tonight.