Thursday, September 27, 2012

Cupcake Cookies!

It's Cookie Journey Thursday here at The Freshman Cook! I made cupcake cookies today. They are festive and happy and simple to decorate, and you can't help but smile when you see one!
Cupcake Cookies!

I used Americolor Orange for the frosting,
and Americolor Electric Green for the cupcake cup.
The lines on the cup were made with the Electric Green also.
I just used less of it when I was mixing the colors.
Start by outlining the cupcake cup area of the cookie.
Fill in the cup. I used a #3 tip to outline and fill in.
Outline and fill in the frosting area of the cookie.
I made it overlap the cupcake cup just because I thought
it looked nice. I used a # 5 tip for this.
Sprinkle some decorating candy dots over the frosting.
Add the lines with a #1 tip. This is an area where
I need some practice! To me, this is one of the hardest
things to do in cookie decorating. Those darn lines!!
I will be practicing this during the week.

Thanks for joining me!

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Super Simple Spaghetti Salad!

I heard the weather man say that Autumn will officially be hear on Saturday at around 7:00 am PST. Well, finally! So, I wanted to hurry up and share this little, super simple, summer side dish that I have made for years, Spaghetti Salad. You will love this recipe because you can tailor the ingredients to fit what you like!
Spaghetti Salad
You will want to refrigerate this salad before serving.
It should be cold when served.
  • 1 Small Onion
  • 1 Red Pepper
  • 2 Roma Tomatoes
  • Spaghetti (cooked and cooled)
  • Raspberry Vinaigrette
  • McCormick Salad Supreme Seasoning
Chop up your ingredients to bite size.
Place in bowl with spaghetti. Toss together.
Add a little dressing. 
You can always add more, but 
start with just a little.
Toss together. Wait a while to add more dressing
if you think it needs it. Refrigerate until cold.
Take out of fridge, and sprinkle the top of the salad
with salad supreme. Toss. 
Taste the salad. If you want to add more
dressing, now is the time to do so. 
Sprinkle top of salad with more 
salad supreme before serving.
Enjoy!

This recipe contains the ingredients that I used this time.
Over the years I have also used red, yellow,
and orange peppers, along with onion and tomato.
 That looks very pretty!  I have also used red onion, and 
Italian dressing. Here are a few other ingredients 
you could use:
  • small corn
  • zucchini wedges
  • cucumbers slices
  • hard boiled egg
  • garden tomatoes
Thanks for joining me today!


Monday, September 17, 2012

Roasted Garlic and Red Pepper Hummus

I am a hummus lover, to say the least. I love to sample all different types of hummus, and although I have tried several varieties, roasted garlic and red pepper hummus is my favorite! Hands down! So when I was assigned Lynne's blog, 365 Days of Baking  as part of Secret Recipe Club, I started looking around and I knew what I was going to make. I found the hummus recipe, and I was done. I am sure you will love it too!

Roasted Garlic and Red Pepper Hummus

1-15 oz can of garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
5 cloves roasted garlic
1/3 cup diced roasted red pepper
2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons tahini
juice of half a lemon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cumin
1-2 tablespoons water
The first thing I did was roast the five cloves of garlic in the oven.
Roasting your garlic cloves is easy and fun to do. It also smells great!
Chop off the top of 5 cloves of garlic. Place the garlic in a
piece of aluminum foil and sprinkle the garlic with
a drizzle of olive oil. Crumble the foil around the garlic,
and bake at 400 degrees for 30-35 minutes, or until the 
garlic is soft. Let cool and use in recipe.
You can roast a pepper right on your gas stove top.
Otherwise, use a gas grill. Allow the pepper to sit on the 
grates while it is roasting. Keep an eye on the pepper
because it can catch fire. 
Turn the pepper with tongs until all of the
pepper is roasted. Pull the pepper off the flame
and place on a cutting board. 
Slice the pepper down the middle until it lays flat.
Discard the insides.
With a paring knife, scrape the majority , 
but not all of the black off of the pepper.
Place all of the ingredients in your blender or food processor.
I started with my blender, but it just wouldn't do the job,
so I transferred everything to my food processor.
Blend until well combined. You may need to add extra water.
This hummus is spectacular. My husband took it to a 
football party, and he said it was a hit. I would have
served this with pita chips, I think, but he thought they would 
like the scoops better, and I guess they did.
There wasn't one drop left.
Sounds like a winner to me!

Be sure to check out Lynne's blog, 365 Days of Baking.
It is a wonderful blog full of creative recipes!
Thanks Lynne, for making this fantastic recipe that I will
make over and over again!

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Heartland Turtle Bars

Heartland Turtle Bars are on the menu today! These bars come courtesy of Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito and their fabulous dessert cookbook, Baked Explorations. They are part of a twice a month posting I participate in as a member of Club Baked. 

Heartland Turtle Bars
Our host this month is Julie from A Little Bit of Everything.
Drop by her wonderfully creative blog to find the
recipe for these delicious bars!
I buttered, 
and rubbed in,
combined well,
made a well,
and filled it with butter.
Then I mixed,
and spread,
baked,
and sprinkled.
After that I melted,
and boiled,
poured, 
 spread,
crumbled and refrigerated.
Enjoy!
You are going to love this recipe. 
It is a little on the sweet side, and if I make this again,
and I will; I will substitute raisins for the chocolate chips.
It will be like a caramel oatmeal cookie! Yum Yum!!
Thanks for joining me!

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Birthday Cake Cookies!

A Birthday Cake Cookie! Today is Cookie Journey Thursday! This week we are learning how to make a birthday cake cookie! This cookie is a lot of fun and the colors are bright and happy like a birthday cake cookie should be!
Birthday Cake Cookie
  • White Frosting
  • Americolor Orange
  • Americolor Regal Purple
  • Americolor Electric Green
  • Americolor Super Black
  • Wilton Buttercup Yellow
  • Wilton Tips # 1, 2 and 5
  • Wilton Birthday Cake Cookie Cutter
 Outline the cookie with Wilton Tip #5. I switched to outlining with a 
tip 5, instead of my usual tip #2, because on this cookie
 we have a large area to fill in and it will be easier and quicker.
As you can see, using the # 5 tip gives us a more
even fill in of the area. Does that make any sense? 
What I am trying to say is that the filled in area has no 
sections that started to dry while we were still filling in.
Let this dry completely.
 Using a #2 tip, outline a scalloped edge for the bottom layer.
You could also make it a straight edge if you want.
Fill in the orange edge.
Outline the purple so it looks like a scalloped edge 
on the side of a cake. You could also have a straight line
 if you want.You should still be using the #2 tip.
Fill in the purple. 
Using the green and a #2 tip, pipe 5 little candles 
across the top of the cake.
Using a #1 tip and black frosting, make a tiny candle wick
 on the top of each candle.
Using the green frosting, squeeze little dots on the orange 
and purple cake edge. 
On the orange edge, add some purple dots
 in between the green ones.
On the purple edge, add some orange dots
 in between the green ones.
Using a #2 tip and your yellow frosting, pipe a little
flame on to the top of each wick. To do this, squeeze your bag
close to the top of the wick, and as you squeeze, slowly
lift your hand upward, creating a tip on the flame.
If the flame isn't as pointy as you would like, take a 
toothpick, and gently pull just a little icing into a point!
That's how you make a birthday cake cookie!
These would look so great if you slipped the cookie
into a little clear bag and tied orange, purple, and green
curly ribbon around it. So festive!

Thanks for joining me today!