Sweet Tombstones...and a BRUSH WITH MARTHA!!!

Happy Halloween!!!

First, here are the tombstones, or headstones, for Halloween. These were fun to make. I don't know if you can tell, but the flowers are supposed to be wilted like an old neglected grave.
I used AmeriColor Gourmet Writers (food coloring pens) to write the names.
....and here they are all bagged up and ready. My husband is taking some to his customers today. :)
OK....so a "brush with Martha." Really, it's not so much HER, but as close as I'll ever get. :) Do you read Martha's Everyday Food blog? It's called Dinner Tonight, and is one of the blogs in my google reader. Well, today they have a link to some of their "favorite creations" from a gallery of creepy treats submitted by readers.

Guess who had 2 cookies make the list....ME!!! This just makes my day! Is it sad that I had to get up and do a little "happy dance" when I saw them? Maybe...probably! :)

See if you can spot them. And, have a wonderfully sweet and spooky Halloween! BOO!

Dem Bones

The idea for these cookies came from the booklet, Martha Stewart Cookie Decorating (Simple Techniques For Extra-Special Treats). The link will get you to Amazon, but unfortunately, it is out-of-stock. My sister bought me this book last year from Michael's, but I haven't seen it there in a while. It's a great little 24-page book filled with ideas and instructions.
I always get nervous trying a new cookie idea, but every time I look at these, they make me laugh. I really like them. I used AmeriColor Avocado coloring for the skeletons and they ended up a ghostly green color, almost like glow-in-the-dark. I hadn't planned it that way, but it turned out pretty cool.Here's a question for all of you....sanding sugar or no? I started applying it like Martha suggests and then couldn't decide if I liked them better plain or not, so I did half and half. What do you think? I'm already planning for next year. :)

I'm mailing these...and some others...to my dad so he can hand them out at work. Stay tuned later in the week for tombstones!

To make the skeleton/coffin cookies:

• Pipe a coffin shape in black icing, using a #2 tip. (Spectrum Super Black)
• Thin black icing with water to a consistency of syrup. cover with a damp towel and let sit several minutes.
• Run a rubber spatula through the icing to pop air bubbles that have formed on top. Transfer to a squeeze bottle.
• Fill in the coffins with the thinned black flood icing.
• Let dry at least 1 hour.
• Using a #2 tip and light green icing, pipe a skeleton shape on the coffins. (AmeriColor Avocado)
• Before this icing has set, use the black piping icing to make eyes and a mouth on the face.
• If using sanding sugar, let the cookies dry overnight.
• Mix a little meringue powder with water and brush on the skeleton shape using a small paintbrush.
• Sprinkle with clear sanding sugar.
  
  

Church Bake Sale

Our parish has a fall festival every year and I just came back home from dropping off some goodies for the bake sale (and previewing all of the other good stuff being delivered). :) This is something we look forward to every year; one reason being that we get to eat some of the best tamales ever!
Although I really wanted to try out my new tombstone and coffin cookie cutters, I went with pumpkins. Maybe I'll get to those next week. :)

I tried a new flavor of cake ball....chai-spiced. While I wasn't crazy about them, my husband who "tested" 3 for breakfast yesterday loved them, as did my son, so I was over-ruled. I used vanilla almond bark instead of candy melts this time, so that may have been why I didn't like them as much.

For the cake balls, I used a white cake mix and substituted a strongly brewed chai tea for the water. I also used 3 eggs in place of the 3 egg whites called for on the package. The flavor was really subtle....I added a touch of cinnamon, ginger and cardamon to the batter as well and might even add more if I try them again.

The instructions for putting them all together are here. If you've never tried them before, I recommend starting with the Pumpkin Spice Cake Balls.
Last, but not least, Toffee Blondies!!! Now, these, I AM crazy about! They are super easy and really, really good! I used a bench scraper to cut them. (My dad gave me this one from Sur La Table; I love the ruler along the sides!) It make cutting brownies, blondies, etc. so easy.
Toffee Blondies
(adapted from Everyday Food)

1/2 c. (1 stick) butter, melted
1 c packed light brown sugar (I've used a combo of dark & light, too)
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla (the first time I made these, I was out of vanilla...the horror!...so I used almond extract. I've made them that way ever since)
1/4 tsp salt
1 & 1/2 c flour
1 c toffee bits (this time I could only find the chocolate covered toffee bits, both taste great, but I think the plain ones make for prettier blondies.)

Preheat oven to 350. Line the bottom and side of an 8 inch square pan with foil, leaving an overhang on 2 sides.

Cream butter and brown sugar together until smooth. Beat in eggs, vanilla and salt, scraping down sides.

Add the flour on low speed until combined. Stir in toffee bits.

Spread batter into prepared pan (an offset spatula helps). Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool completely in pan.

Lift the blondies out of the pan using the foil overhang. Cut with a bench scraper or serrated knife.

Delicious!!!

Liquid Love....sugar cookie tea!

This isn't just any tea!!! It's Sugar Cookie Tea!!!
Does tea get any better than this?!? I tried it for the first time this morning....it does taste like a liquid sugar cookie. I'm thinking maybe I can drink this as my after dinner dessert? ;) I found mine at WalMart; I'm heading back today to stock up!

Orange-tinted Candy Corn Cookies

I don't make tinted dough very often, but it is really fun and makes cookies a little extra special.
To tint cookie dough, add gel paste food coloring after the dough has come together and knead in by hand. Gel coloring doesn't mix in like the liquid food coloring I grew up with, so kneading it is the way to go. For a really cool marble effect, knead only until there are swirls of color throughout your dough.
Once the flood icing was dried, I went back over the edges and borders of the cookies with some warmed corn syrup (meringue powder mixed with a little water works, too) using a small paintbrush and added some sparkling sugar.

Do you know that October 30th is National Candy Corn Day? I learned that from A Dozen Eggs last week! Who knew? A great snack mix....candy corn and salted peanuts....yum!!!

Operation Baking Gals

With everything going on these days....the election, the economy, the new season of Desperate Housewives....it's easy to forget that many of our soldiers are still away from their families and sacrificing for our country. When my brother-in-law was deployed to Iraq, my sister sent him something every day (I'm not exaggerating here), but sadly, some of the guys and gals don't get many...or any...packages from home.

Through Danielle's blog, Make No Little Meals, I found out about Operation Baking Gals. Here's a little information from their website:

"Baking GALS (GALS stands for Give A Little Support) is a group of volunteer bakers who bake and ship homemade goodies to our heroic troops that are currently deployed. Each soldier is "Hosted" by a blogger, and potential bakers are "recruited" from the bloggers own site as well as the GALS site. Each Host recruits between 20-25 bakers, meaning LOTS of goodies get delivered to our soldier...so many, in fact that he or she has plenty to share with their fellow troops!"

Just go to the Operation Baking Gals website and register (it only takes a minute...no long form to fill out), then join a team. I joined Danielle's team...Team Dani's Delightful Darlings. (I think there is a delay in showing up on the team list, so don't panic if your name doesn't show up right away. )

This is Round 4 of Operation Baking Gals with packages being shipped out from October 30th - November 10th.

Sign up and support our troops! (A side benefit..."testing" each batch of cookies before mailing!) :)

Sassy Spiderwebs

I just love these spiderwebs with the bright colors added, but really, you could use any colors!

• With black icing and a #2 or #3 tip, pipe a spiderweb outline onto a round cookie. (Spectrum Super Black)
• Thin the background color, as well as 1 or 2 contrasting colors with water to the consistency of syrup. Cover with a damp towel and let sit several minutes.
• Run a rubber spatula gently through the icings to pop the bubbles that have risen to the top. Transfer to squeeze bottles.
• About 6 cookies at a time, fill in the background with the thinned flood icing. Use a toothpick to draw into the corners and edges.
• Now with the contrasting color/s, draw 3 circles onto the wet background icing.
• Starting in the middle of the circles, use a toothpick to drag the icing toward each spiderweb point.
• Let dry at least one hour.
• Using a large round tip such as a #7 or #12....whatever you have on hand, pipe a spider body.
• Change the tip to a #1 or #2, and pipe eight legs.

A birthday, some awards and total frustration with my internet connection!!!

Our internet connection has just not been right in the last week. It goes in and out...mostly out, so that I feel I am falling behind in my blogging and commenting. When we are connected, I am racing to check my email and check my nephew's blog, so I'm sorry if I've been slow to respond lately! :) Hopefully, it's back for good!

My birthday was last week. No, I didn't make myself cookies. :) I was debating about what to make when I actually had a dream about chocolate eclairs!!! I think looking at all of the pictures of the Daring Baker's eclairs lodged itself in my brain. So, eclairs it was!

I used the recipe from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook for the eclairs and the chocolate glaze. The chocolate pastry cream was a recipe I found on Tartlette. I followed her recipe and folded in about a cup of whipped cream before piping it into the eclair shells.

Here's one thing I discovered, it's hard to take a picture of eclairs! When I make them again, I'll do better, I promise!

The recipe made over 2 dozen eclairs, so I packed up a bunch to take to my son's baseball game that morning. Even giving some away, I managed to eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner on my birthday!!!

Also during the last week, Montee and Amy were kind enough to give me my first 2 blog awards!!! thank you so much guys!

From Amy at Skinny Foods That Feel Guilty! Don't you love that blog title?!?

And from Montee at Montee is a Palmetto Girl. Reading Montee's "southern girl" blog reminds me so much of the 2 years we lived in Alabama....although she is a Texan now...right, Montee? ;)

Go check out their blogs!!! And while, you're at it....if you read this blog...you've been tagged! You all deserve it! I love reading each and every one of your blogs; I am inspired everyday!!!

Friendly Frankensteins

Here's a fun little cookie idea for Halloween...Friendly Frank! :) I really like these because they look sweet and not scary!

To make the cookies:

• Using a #2 or #3 tip, outline Franks' face in black. (Spectrum Super Black)
• With the same tip, make a zig-zag outline for the hair and outlines for the neck bolts.
• Thin black, green and white (gray, if not using luster dust later) icing with water to the consistency of syrup. Cover with a damp cloth and let sit several minutes. (Green: AmeriColor Leaf Green)
• Starting with the green icing, run a rubber spatula through the icing to pop bubbles that have risen to the surface. Transfer to a squeeze bottle.
• Fill in the faces with green icing. Use a toothpick to guide into corners.
• With the thinned black flood icing, fill in the hair.
• With the white flood icing, fill in the bolts.
• Let dry at least 1 hour.
• With a #1 or #2 tip, pipe a scar and eyes in black.
• With a #1 tip and red icing, pipe a smile. :) (AmeriColor Super Red)
• Let dry overnight.
• Mix silver luster dust with vodka.
• Using a small paintbrush, apply the silver to the white bolts.