Easter Bunnies

Continuing in my frenetic preparations...the bunnies are now dry enough to gently handle.  I was actually able to insert them in individual cellophane bags to include in my grandchildrens' Easter goodies box.  Yay!

As always, I use my favorite sugar cookie recipe and I again used Karen's Cookies Meringue Buttercream Icing recipe for decorating.  I love the combination of almond and vanilla and the texture is so much nicer than regular royal icing.  I do think, however, if I'm going to travel, I will use the royal icing next time.  It is so darn humid down here at the coast, the drying takes days with this softer icing!

So, here are photos for your enjoyment.  I have one more set and then I'm finished... tomorrow will be "Easter Egg" cookies. 

Thanks for reading!

These guys were base coated with pink then allowed to dry.
I gave them a light spray of Wilton's pearlized spray.  It
was helpful to use a cardboard box so the over-spray didn't stick
to my table or carpet (it's happened before!).
A little sparkle sugar for the tail, pearlized sugar
for the nose and eye...simple but cute!

I wasn't really and truly happy with the white bunnies.
I did the white base coat and allowed to dry.  Sparkle sugared the
second layer of frosting on the ears then did the rest
of the detail.  I'm not a good artist and the mouth looks
freaky.  I will try something different with the
design next year.  The mouth needs to be
different.  Oh well.  Will still taste good!

Bon Appetit, Y'all!!!

Easter Chicks

I am scurrying around like a chicken with its head cut off, trying to get everything done that needs to get done before Easter.  The humidity is KILLING me...my icing won't dry, my hair is frizzy, condensation is literally dripping down the outside of my windows because I have the a/c running so hard to rid the humidity in the air.  I have several fans blowing on my cookies.  Arggghhhh!

OK, take a deep breath.  It is what it is.  What will get done, will get done...or it won't.  P*E*A*C*E.....

The chicks lined up drying on the rack

There, now, let me show you the first batch.  The only fully dry batch, and even they won't stand to being pressed too hard because I used the Meringue Buttercream Icing instead of Royal Icing...it just tastes so much better.  I have finished all I can - I have more baked but no way they will be ready to travel by the week-end, so I'll freeze the flowers and butterflies for future Spring Cookie Decorating (don't know why I capitalized that, like it is an "event").

Hopefully my big Easter egg cookies, my two different kinds of big bunnies, and my little eggs will all be dry and ready for me to photograph this afternoon before packing for transport to the family.  My house looks like a cookies explosion...trays of cookies lined up in front of every available fan.  You just have to laugh, or you'd scream!

Wish me luck...and here are a few baby chick photos.  They are simple, yet I smile when I look at them...they are cute in their simplicity!  Obviously, that's why I did them first.

I wish I had black sugar pearls - I WILL buy them soon!
The eyes would probably have looked better black...
I fret over the silliest things!

All my little chicks gathered together...

OK, I have to get back to working on my assignments for the Autism Awareness Walk, get a mani-pedi because my hands and hooves look like a farm worker, do laundry, clean bathrooms, vacuum floor, do a little of the work I am actually paid to do, and hope and pray the rest of my cookies are dry soon!!!!

Bon Appetit, Y'all!!!

Easter (or Spring) Chocolate Chip Cookies

Easter or Spring - the Pastel White Chocolate Chips make a pretty cookie!

If you follow my blog, you know that I spent Saturday insanely piping dots of various colors of white chocolate so that I could have Pastel White Chocolate Chips.  Couldn't find 'em....wanted 'em real bad... so I durn well made 'em myself! 

I made the cookie dough Sunday and baked off a few to let the teen sample (and me too of course).  I also wanted the opportunity to take photos of the finished product so you could see how cute they turned out.  I have almost gotten to hate the term "super cute"...but in this instance, I gotta say... they really are super cute!

I basically use a Toll House dough, but make a few changes like a little bitsy bit of cinnamon.  I love that it gives a slight warmth to the cookie that you really couldn't identify if you didn't see the recipe.  I like to do that when I'm using the white chocolate chips.  It just works.

So, here's the recipe...and a few photos, but not a lot...of the Easter Chocolate Chip Cookies.  I baked ten, and scooped the rest and froze them on a cookie sheet before transferring to a Ziploc bag.  I'll bake them off (from their frozen state) right before I head to see my big boys and grandchildren for Easter.  That way, they will have yummy fresh-baked cookies from Grandma :-)  ooohhh, I can't wait.

EASTER (OR SPRING) CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
By Debbi Hook
Adapted from Nestle's Toll House Cookie Recipe

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 cup light brown sugar - packed
3/4 cup white granulated sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) butter - softened to room temperature
2 large eggs - room temperature
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

9 ounces of assorted Spring-colored white chocolate chips
3 ounces rough chopped Ghirardelli Premium White Chocolate Baking Bar
  (comes in a 4 ounce bar...you could use it all - I ate the other ounce ;-)

Method:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Prepare baking sheets with Silpat or Parchment Paper.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Set up cooling racks.

In medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, cinnamon, and baking soda - set aside

In bowl of stand mixer, mix butter and both sugars until lightened. Add vanilla extract. Beat until blended.

Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing to incorporate after each addition.

Lower mixer speed and add the flour mixture by thirds, incorporating after each addition.

This dough is ready for the final step

Remove beater and scrape down bowl one last time, get all the dough off the beater paddle.  Add both pastel chocolate chips and the chopped white chocolate all at once. 

Just dump it all together on top of the dough.  Get rid of your
wimpy spatula and get a heavy duty spoon.

MIX BY HAND.  Use a sturdy spoon and make sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl!  No need to over mix - just get them incorporated.

Using small to medium sized cookie scoop, place 8 cookies - spaced out - on each baking sheet.  I put 10 on one sheet and two of the cookies spread together.  (You can see the photo below - the two in the left bottom corner are too close...and they were touching when they came out.)  I used a medium cookie scoop.  If you use a small scoop, I'm sure the standard dozen will fit on a baking sheet.

Place in oven and bake for 9-11 minutes.  Remove pan to cooling rack and allow to sit for 15 minutes or so, then remove from pan and complete cooling on the rack.

Since I froze the rest of my dough balls, it will likely take the full 11 minutes to bake.  This "test" batch took 10 minutes and had a nice light brown crust around the edge, but still remained soft...like I like them. 

Here's a couple of things I noticed.  After baking, I really can't tell much difference between blue and green until I bite into the cookie...and I surely can't see a difference in pink and peach.  So, you might want to save yourself some effort...I can see the difference after I bite into them though - your call. 

Hmmm, maybe I should have taken a picture of that bitten one so you could see.  Oh dear, I'm forced to bite another cookie for the sake of getting a photo (as she laughs maniacally)!!! 

Well, I'll be...must have been the lighting in the kitchen...I can see the difference in blue and green fairly clearly in better light...but the peach and pink...just go with one or the other, not worth the effort! 

Well, heck, I can clearly see all the colors here...sigh...must be getting
"old eyes"....but my taste buds surely do work.  That's a good cookie!

Another thought...if I have the impetus to try this again, I'd try it with the Ghirardelli white chocolate.  While I've been a life long Nestle's chip user, I could significantly taste the richness of the Ghirardelli White Chocolate.  I'll make a note and when I try this again (which I know I will), I'll try using the way more expensive White Chocolate Baking Bars from Ghirardelli.  I'll let you know how it goes!

Bon Appetit, Y'all... and check back soon for this year's Easter Decorated Sugar Cookies!

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Pita Steak Sandwich

Once again it was "use it or lose it" day in my fridge.  I had thawed a piece of sirloin steak I bought...and found under the large sticker, it was not the prettiest steak on the block.  It was supposed to be "Choice", and maybe it came from a choice cow...but the steak looked like select to me.  Still, needed to use it.  The teen had asked for "those steak sandwiches in the pocket bread" that we'd made before...and I had some delicious whole grain pita that needed to be eaten, like "now" or I'd be tossing them in the trash within the next day or so.  Add an over-ripe avocado and half of an onion in the fridge, we had the basic makings for a pita steak sandwich for Saturday night dinner.

I got the grill pan out and rubbed some olive oil on the pan and seasoned the steak with cracked black pepper, some red pepper flakes crushed in my hands, some garlic powder and onion powder... and set it to cooking over medium high heat.  I poured some oil on the side and added the sliced onion and everything started smelling really good in the kitchen.  The teen actually wandered out of the man cave to ask "what do I smell?" and saw all of the makings for his requested sandwich.  Big smile.  Happy heart.

I worried the avocado had gone too far...but it was okay - had to cut off a couple of icky spots, but overall it tasted good, despite the over-ripe status.  Add some feta cheese and a little blue cheese dressing - we were good on the toppings.  I'd intended to make a little Tzatziki, but my 1/2 cuke had missed the boat and had to go to the trashcan.  I get so mad at myself when I buy more than I need because they are on sale or look beautiful. (99 cent English cucumber - nearly unheard of down here...so I bought two...duh)  I eat them for a few days, and I'm the only one at home eating them...and then, I've had enough.  No way to freeze cukes that I know of.  I just hate the waste.  I need better self control at the market!

The meat was a little tough - and definitely an "end cut" that would have been better chunked up and added to a stew or slow braise to get it nice and tender.  I sliced it as thin as I could - the grain kept changing direction... a really freaky piece of beef.  Still, flavor was good and we enjoyed our sandwiches.  We both ate two pita halves stuffed full.

The teen dissed my toppings - he ate meat, feta cheese, and A-1 sauce on his sandwich. Uh, OK...whatever floats your boat kiddo. Mine, however, was so stuffed I could barely get my mouth around it. 

We had apple slices for dessert.  Sometimes it's the simple things we really enjoy.  Having a piece of fresh fruit instead of a sweet to end the meal.  Today was definitely one of those days.  Whatever we are eating, I enjoy eating dinner with the teen.  He spends less and less time in the "family area" and more and more time in his room (I know, it's what teens do).  I miss the days of his plopping on the couch with me and asking to have a book read or play a game.  Dinner time is one of the few colloquial times we have...even if we watch a DVR'd show together - we are together, we pause and converse, and it is pleasant 99% of the time.  It's like an unwritten rule - leave your baggage away from meal time.  It's a time to be together.  Dinner these days is different from the days of 3 or 4 kids around the table and someone having attitude, the last serving being fought over, silverware clanking, trying to have a conversation without a snarky remark from SOMEONE.  It's more relaxed now.  Change can be good.  I miss cooking for, and being with, "the herd"...but I do enjoy the evolution of quiet, friendly time with the teen.

Bon Appetit, Y'all!!!

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Homemade Pastel White Chocolate Chips

Happy Easter Colors!!!

(See updates at end of this original post)

I have searched and searched and don't find a source for pastel white chocolate chips!  Why doesn't someone make these?  Do I just not know where to look?  I Googled it a variety of ways, looked online at my usual sources for specialty baking products...no success.  I didn't want pastel M&Ms (although I did eat an entire bag of Easter M&Ms while I thought about this for the last two weeks).  I want pastel colored white chocolate morsels (not candy coating discs either...chips please!) to make "Easter" Chocolate Chip Cookies!

OK...FINE!  I'll just try to make my own! 

So, it's a Saturday afternoon and our previous plans for the day got cancelled at the last minute...seemed like it was time to give it a whirl.  I had previously bought both Nestle's Toll House Premier White Chocolate Morsels as well as Ghirardelli White Chocolate Baking Bars...our store didn't have any Ghirardelli White Chocolate Morsels, although I feel certain I've seen them before...and used them, unless I'm delusional...which is an absolute possibility! Tee hee :-)

My main concern with using coloring was fear that it was going to cause the melted white chocolate to seize...but I had hoped that whatever they put in the morsels as a stabilizer might help with that problem, so I went for the Toll House morsels, figuring they might be easiest to bring back to a "chip" shape since that's the way they started.

I set up my baking sheets with silicone baking liners, got out my food colors and piping bags and various tips with collars, bowls, spoons...all the things I thought I'd need.

I measured out 3 ounces of white chocolate morsels *(see note at end of post) into heat proof bowls and started on the first one.  (I'm doing 4 colors and I need 12 ounces for the recipe)

I have, in my not so illustrious past, burnt the crap out of white chocolate when melting it.  So, I started with 30 seconds and 50% power in the microwave.  I stopped and stirred them around, but really, no significant melting yet.  Added 15 seconds, 50% and stirred again...there we go - starting to melt so I stirred well - still bumps in the mix...added 15 seconds, still 50%, but stopped it at 10 seconds...stirred...perfecto!

Melted white chocolate with one drop of blue gel color

For the first batch I added just one drop of AmeriColor's Sky Blue (#103) soft gel paste food color.  Stirred thoroughly and it was a beautiful, perfect pastel blue.  Awesome! (**see note at end of post regarding alternate recommendation for food color)

I had already set up my disposable pastry bags (I'm lazy, it's all I can do to clean my tips, not doing bags too) with a collar and a Wilton #5 tip.  In the same way I add anything to a pastry bag, I had it sitting in a tall glass with the bag rolled over the edge of the glass to form a collar.  I scooped it in, tightened it down, sealed it with a rubber band (and later with twist ties - they worked better for me), and left it sitting tip down in the glass. 

I wanted it to cool a bit before I started piping so I prepped the next color (AmeriColor Deep Pink #114) and followed the same procedure.  No seizing - worked like a charm.  I left it to cool in the piping bag while I worked on piping out all the blue chocolate chips.

The #5 tip worked great.  I had a few different sizes out and I think the one I started with is indeed the best.  Beginners luck.  However, getting a neat chocolate chip took a little effort...that and I realize I can't go in a straight line :-)  Oh well, it is what it is.  Please don't judge me.  There is a definite rhythm to the process.  I pictured a machine.  Squeeze, release, pause, move, squeeze, release, pause, move.  If I forgot to release completely, there was a line of chocolate that followed to the next one.  If I didn't move my hand down the bag to keep an even flow, wocky chips happened.  I'd get going in a great rhythm with awesome little morsels...and then get out of sync, or my hand would feel tired and I'd loose it for a few chips.  Oh well, I guess in a cookie, no one will really notice.

I can tell you already, I'll be too tired after I finish the next two colors to bake cookies today. (I'm taking a pause between the blue/pink set before beginning the green/peach set)  I'll probably make the dough and freeze it tomorrow (I'll bake off a few to show you when I get to that point) - but I want to take them to my boys and grandchildren for part of the Easter goodies next week-end.  I'll want to bake them off fresh when it's closer to the time!

OK, I finished the green and the peach...the peach actually looks, to me, more like a light pink.  I used Mint Green #112 and Peach #117 for the last two batches. 

I must say, that's a fine looking bunch of chocolate morsels. I must also say I will need some ibuprofen any minute now. My hands are aching!

Still, it was a fun project.  I hope my progeny all appreciate the hard work for those special Easter  Chocolate Chip Cookies that their momma/grandma is baking for them!!!  I'll let you know.

*Follow-up Note Added 4/1/2012:
Duh, genius I am not.  Need 12 ounces of chips for recipe.  This made 9 ounces...because, of course, I left some in the bowl and some in the piping bags and collar area...unavoidable to use every bit I weighed into the bowls.  Should have done 4 ounces in each bowl!!! (banging head)

**Follow-up Note Added 3/10/2015
After several more years of working with cookies, chocolates, and cakes.... I'll tell you this will work much better if you do NOT USE WATER BASED GEL COLORS.  I frequently have the chocolate seize or get more thick than I want (thus the difficulty in the piping and pain in my hands).  It works MUCH BETTER with oil based food colors (like Chef Master has).  ALSO - I have given up on microwave melting of chocolate.  The ability to control temperature is so much better in a double boiler on the stove top or the newer Wilton chocolate melter.

A wonderful tutorial for melting chocolate may be found on Julia Usher's Youtube Channel.

Bon Appetit, Y'all!!!

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