Baking Archives - Page 9 of 11 - home is where my story begins...

Cake Pops and Home and Family Friday

May 20, 2011 By Becca 4 Comments

How cute are these? I’d love to say I made them, but they were not my creation. Two of my teacher friends made them. I can’t wait to try this out. They baked a cake and then smooshed it. (That’s the technical term.) Then they added a can of frosting to the cake crumbles and mixed all together. They rolled them into balls and popped them into the freezer for a bit. Sticks, a few candy melts, and some decorations finished them off. They made it sound so easy and I’m sure it probably took FOREVER, but boy were we happy teachers on Fat Wednesday. (Wednesday is treat day in the staff room at school, thus the name.) Oh, and I’d like to thank a few other teacher friends who took these outside and took pictures. I prefer natural light in photos. So cute! I can’t wait to make these for my kids!

We’re on to Home and Family Friday. Link up those projects. We’d love to see the creations around your home or with your family. I’d be so happy if you’d grab my button and become a follower.

Happy Friday!

Our New Cookbook

March 14, 2011 By Becca Leave a Comment

My daughter and I picked up a new cookbook at the bookstore last week.

I love the bright, colorful pictures and the simple step by step instructions. I have a large collection of children’s cookbooks. Many of the books have kids in mind, but not young kids. This book is perfect for the little guys. My daughter is 6 and just starting to read. The pictures were very helpful and the text was easy enough for her to read with a little help.

After looking through the book a few times, my daughter put sticky notes on each page she thought looked good. I thought that was really cute because it’s the way she sees me pick out new recipes. It was really interesting, watching her make the rolled cookies. She referred back to the book a few times to make sure she was doing things the right way. I noticed that she was comfortable and confident in her baking skills. She knew when to add more flour and easily manipulated the dough. She even assembled the cookies all on her own.

The cookies have a layer of frosting in between the cookies and a drop of jam to add color to the hearts. She patiently added frosting, jam, and the cut-out cookie to each cookie base. Then, she handed the first cookie to her dad, the second cookie to her brother, and the third to me. We were all oohing and aahing over her wonderful creation and she cheerfully assembled her own cookie. I was a little taken back by this. My daughter has always been good at sharing, but the fact that she made everyone else a cookie, before her own, really shows that she’s growing up. It also reminded me of the reason I love to bake and cook so much. Preparing food is more than just filling our own mouths and tummies. It is a way of sharing with the people around you and thinking about the foods and flavors other people enjoy

Happy Baking!.

St. Patrick’s Day Sugar Cookies

March 2, 2011 By Becca 2 Comments

Here’s a repost of my sugar cookie recipe, if you’re looking for a yummy St. Patrick’s Day treat.

My kids and I spent the afternoon making one of our favorite cookies…frosted sugar cookies. I make these cookies for most holidays, to share at our volunteer tea at school, to take to Seaside, and simple snowflakes to give as gifts at Christmas. Here’s the recipe:

Just kidding. Here’s the real recipe:

2 Cups Flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

6 TBSP butter

1/3 Cup shortening

3/4 Cup sugar

1 egg

1 TBSP milk

1 tsp vanilla

Recipe from Better Homes and Gardens Cookies for Christmas

Beat butter and shortening until fluffy. Add egg, milk, and vanilla. Beat well. Add dry ingredients. Beat until well mixed. (I usually make a triple batch. They freeze well.)

The dough needs to be refrigerated for about 3 hours to make it easier to handle.

I like a thick sugar cookie. That way they are soft, rather than crispy. I roll them to 1/4 inch thick. Cut with cookie cutters. Bake at 375 for seven minutes.

I frost my cookies with a simple powdered sugar and milk frosting. I don’t ever use a recipe. I just pour in a little powdered sugar and a little milk until I get a consistency I like. The Wilton food coloring paste is the only way to go. You can buy it at Michael’s. It gives a much more vivid color than regular food coloring. Stir it up until the color is well blended.

I love to frost my cookies and then use a little sanding sugar from William Sonoma. Oh, they’re just so pretty. It’s a tradition my kids love and it makes the house smell great too.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Here are a few linky parties I like to participate in.

http://becca-homeiswheremystorybegins.blogspot.com/p/linky-parties-i-like-to-participate-in.html

Scones For Breakfast

February 10, 2011 By Becca 3 Comments

I don’t really know how these can qualify as a breakfast item. I guess, if muffins and coffee cake count for breakfast, then so do scones. I’ve never made scones from scratch. This is one of the few baked items which always come from a box at my house. The Fair Scones are my favorite. I’m loving food photography these days! It’s so much fun to set up a little scene. It almost looks like I always eat off of my grandma’s china, use butter from a butter dish (instead of the tub of margarine I usually use), and spoon my jam into a little dish before serving.

Who Taught You To Cook?

January 26, 2011 By Becca 4 Comments

Today, in the lunch room, the teacher talk turned to cooking. One of my teacher friends said she doesn’t cook. (Well, she really does cook because she said she had an amazing sounding pot roast in the crock pot for dinner. But, for the most part there’s not much cooking at her house.) That got me thinking about how I learned to cook. I’ve always baked and cooked with my mom and grandma. I guess they were my first teachers.

Family meals always consist of home cooked food at our birthday parties and holidays.

My Grandma always made this jam and cream cheese roll on Christmas.

Homemade buttermilk pancakes were the breakfast choice for opening day of fishing season.

Growing up, chocolate chip cookies and homemade bread were the after school snacks on Wednesdays. (Wednesday was my mom’s day off, so there was always something yummy.)

I don’t remember ever eating anything from a box when I was younger. Everything was made from scratch. My mom always thought ahead and used her crockpot a lot. Pot roasts and potatoes were usually on the weekly meal plan.

Chicken in the crockpot was usually turned into some sort of casserole. My favorite was the wild rice, chicken, and shrimp casserole. Regardless of whether anyone was home, the house usually smelled good when we walked in the door after school.

My mom and grandma taught me well. I have several “go to” recipes and, like my grandma, I always have a new experiment that I’d like to try. (Nanie’s eggplant lasagna and the fish shaped tomato aspic salad didn’t quite fuel my desire to try new recipes, but for the most part her recipes were a hit.)

I learned a little more in college. I majored in Family and Consumer Sciences, which required courses on food science, nutrition, and food presentation.

Now, with the outburst of cooking shows, I find Sandra Lee and Ina Garter to be my cooking mentors. (As well as my grandma, mom, and mother in law.) I love watching the cooking channel or food network. I get new recipe ideas and learn tricks and tips I never knew before. Rachel Ray taught me how to dice the perfect onion, a trick I never knew. Sandra Lee taught me to only use the thyme leaves, not the thin stems. Ina Garter encouraged me to use new-to-me vegetables in my dishes.

Who taught you to cook or bake? Was it a family member, classes you took, or the Food Network? Are you self taught or still learning? Where did you learn to prepare food? Food is such an important part of our homes, culture, and family history. Food evokes memories. Some of my best memories are of time when I cooked or baked with my mom and grandma. They taught me skills that would last a lifetime.

A Few of Our Favorite Christmas Cookies

December 23, 2010 By Becca 3 Comments

Our Christmas baking is just about done. We only have Santa’s favorite cookie left to bake. (Santa really likes the peanut butter cookies with Hershey Kisses on top.)

One of my favorites will always be Spritz Cookies.

This is a SUPER easy cookie. We bought the chocolate covered Oreos from the grocery store and drizzled a little red frosting over the top. I also love to use the white fudge covered cookies. They look very pretty with green frosting drizzled over them. These are kind of my “filler cookie” to fill up the plate without a lot of extra work.

These are a favorite of my kids’.

Oh, those peanut butter cup bars… yum.

You can’t go wrong with classic M&M cookies.

This is a family favorite as well. They are well named, “Little Drops of Heaven.”

These were really fun and easy. I love how cute they turned out.

We’ve eaten our fair share this season. New Year’s will bring a little less baking and a little more healthy cooking. If you are looking for any of the recipes for these cookies, you can type the cookie name into the search box on my blog. It will take you to the blog post with the recipes.

Happy Baking!

I’m Melting….

December 13, 2010 By Becca 10 Comments

I saw these cookies in Blogland recently and knew I had to make them. Sadly, I have no idea which blog the idea came from.

I made plain round sugar cookies. If you don’t bake often, I’m sure those slice and bake cookies would be fine too. There is nothing better than homemade sugar cookies. If you need a great recipe, click here for my favorite sugar cookies.

The thing I loved best about these melting snowmen is that they are supposed to look melty and messy. Messy is perfect for my kids.

After adding some sloppy frosting, it was time for marshmallows. We put some marshmallows on a plate and microwaved them for about 50 seconds. When they were all puffy and smooshy, we sprayed a little Pam Cooking Spray on our fingers and plunked the marshmallows onto the cookies. The Halloween sprinkles came in handy and became eyes, buttons, and a nose.

Super cute and super easy! It’s so nice to make cookies that I’m not stressing about decorating perfectly. Quick, easy, cute, and kid friendly… can’t ask for much more than that!

Check out these parties I like to link up to.

Happy baking!

Thankful for Being Snowed In

November 25, 2010 By Becca 2 Comments

It all started on Monday. The snow started falling on our drive to school and it didn’t stop all day. Then the cold temps hit. An inch of snow is all it takes to bring the city to a standstill, when you live in the Seattle area.

Cooper enjoyed his first time playing in the snow. He likes to eat the snow and then he gets snow all over his beard.

We needed some craft projects so we wouldn’t go crazy. My youngest tried making a few toilet paper rolls into Pilgrims. I think she did a pretty good job! I tried suggesting more hair for the Pilgrims, but no luck for them.

Since we couldn’t go anywhere (except the sledding hill) we decided to do a few projects around the house.

I’m thankful for my unexpected gift of a stay home with my kids. (Yes, we cancel school for an inch of snow.) I loved spending the day with my family!

Happy Thanksgiving!

It’s The Most Wonderful Time of The Year

November 24, 2010 By Becca 1 Comment

Well, we’ve made it. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, which means the day after tomorrow is the start of the most wonderful time of the year. There’ll parties for hosting, marshmallows for toasting… sorry, got sidetracked by my love of Christmas music.

These little reindeer cookies are my favorite thing to do with my kids on the day after Thanksgiving. They are really easy for the kids to do all by themselves.

Oh, the gingerbread houses! I can’t wait!

Don’t worry, these pictures are from last year. My Christmas decorations don’t come out until the day after Thanksgiving. Just getting in the mood.

Happy Holidays!

Cub Scout Cake Bake and Home and Family Friday

November 19, 2010 By Becca 15 Comments

Every year my son’s cub scout troop has a cake bake. It’s a dad and son cake bake. No moms allowed. (Keep that in mind as you are scrolling down.) They auction off the cakes and the money goes to the food bank. My hubby and son made the milk and cookie for Santa.

There are LOTS of cakes, so if you’re here for Home and Family Friday… it’s WAY down at the bottom.