Cookie Journey Thursday ~A Tropical Palm Tree

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It has been really hot here in Las Vegas. Well ok, it is always hot here! But I am talking record breaking HOT! HOT! HOT! And I am beginning to daydream of cool ocean breezes, sipping a smooth, fruity concoction and relaxing under a swaying palm tree. Oh, my! How nice would that be! But instead, I am here making cookies, (which I love) and trying to stay cool in the air conditioning (which I love, but am sick of)! So I did the next best thing~I made palm tree cookies!

I used a #2 tip for the trunk and the top.

I used Americolor Chocolate Brown and a mix of 

Americolor Forest Green and Leaf Green.

Outline the trunk. Make an indentation at the top for

a palm frond that is in front of the tree trunk.

Fill in the tree trunk and let dry before moving forward.

Outline the palm fronds.

Fill in the top and let it dry completely.

If possible, let it dry overnight. 

While you are waiting for the top to dry,

put a few upside down v's on the trunk 

to give it some dimension.

Once the top is completely dry, outline the top again

in the same color and in the way as you did the first time.

Immediately sprinkle green sanding sugar along the outline.

Completely cover the outline.

Let dry.

When it is totally dry, turn the cookie over and let the excess sugar fall.

 Don't shake it.You don't want to risk breaking it after all your work.

Just gently brush the excess sugar off of the cookie with a thin paint brush.

Now you have your own beautiful palm tree.

I can feel those ocean breezes already!

Thanks for joining me for 

Cookie Journey Thursday

as I attempt to improve my meager cookie decorating

skills. I hope you are baking along with me!

Happy 4th of July!

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Happy 4th of July to everyone!

 To finish off my "15 Days of Red, White and Blue" series I have one last holiday treat for you.

Red, White and Blue Popcorn! 

2 Bags of plain Popcorn

3/4 cup Sugar

1/6 cup Water

1 tablespoon Butter

Americolor Holiday Red

Americolor Royal Blue

Americolor White

Pop your popcorn.

I only had microwave popcorn and it worked fine.

Divide equally among 3 plastic bags.

 

Put your sugar, water, and butter in a saucepan

and bring to a boil.

Once it has boiled, divide the liquid among 

3 bowls.

Color the liquid in each bowl.

I just happened to have a white color, put if you don't

leaving it plain liquid will work just fine.

Add the colored liquid into the bags, one at a time.
If you have gloves, use them. You can also wrap
your hands with plastic wrap.
Using your hands move the popcorn around in the bag
coating the popcorn. You may be able to coat the 
popcorn by tossing it in the bag.
Do this to all three colors.

Lay out each color of popcorn on 
parchment paper to dry.

Separate the popcorn pieces from one another
so they do not clump together.

It will take about an hour for the popcorn to dry.

Mix all the popcorn together.
You can mix in M and M's, pretzels, nuts,
marshmallows, anything you want!


Thank you for joining me for my 
"15 Days of Red, White and Blue"!


Have a Happy 4th of July!
Stay Safe!

 

Red, White and Blue Thumbprints!

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Well, it is Day 14 of our "15 Days of Red, White and Blue" series, and today we are posting one of my favorite cookies, thumbprints! I have been in love with this cookie since I was a little girl. There is something about the sweet, buttery flavor of this cookie! When I was growing up, there was a bakery not too far from my house. My brothers and sisters and my mom and I would walk down the hill to the bakery, and always, the woman behind the counter would give us a complimentary cookie! What fun! I would always have a difficult time deciding between the icing of my favorite cookie, a type of buttery thumbprint. Did I want yellow, green, or pink icing? It's was always a big decision. I really don't know why, because they all tasted the same! But it was a decision I took very seriously, and the bakery lady was always so sweet and patient. Now, I haven't been in that bakery in quite a few years, but I have been salivating over the memory of the cookies, and I am on a quest to find a recipe for them. This recipe for Red, White and Blue thumbprints is not exactly like my cherished bakery cookies, but these are close, and oh soooooo delicious!

Red, White and Blue Thumbprints

(from Ladies Home Journal 12/10)
Makes 5 1/2 dozen
2 2/3 cups all purpose Flour

1 teaspoon Salt

1 cup Butter, softened

1 cup Sugar

1 Egg

1 teaspoon Vanilla

Antonia74 Icing

3/4 cup Warm Water

5 tablespoons Meringue Powder

1 teaspoon Cream of Tartar

2.25 pounds of Confectioners Sugar

Americolor Holiday Red

Americolor Royal Blue

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cream your butter and sugar together on medium high

until fluffy, about 4 minutes.

Beat in egg and vanilla.

On low speed, add in flour mixture.

Once mixed together, wrap your dough in plastic wrap

and chill it until firm. It should take 

about 1 1/2 hours.

Roll 1" balls of dough and place them about 1"

apart on your baking sheet.

Using your finger, make an indentation in the center of each one.

Bake for 15 minutes, until cooked through, but not golden.

Remove the cookies from your oven.

Re-indent each cookie if it needs it.

Then allow to cool.

Icing Instructions

In your mixer bowl, pour in the warm water and
the meringue powder. Mix by hand with a whisk until frothy,
about 30 seconds.
Add the cream of tartar and mix again for 30 seconds.
Pour all of the confectioners sugar into the bowl at once.
Using the paddle attachment on the lowest speed,
mix slowly for a full 10 minutes.
When done, transfer a little icing to 3 different bowls.
I like to use plastic bowls with lids.
The icing gets crusty and dry if it is uncovered for even a few minutes.
Color the icing in one bowl with the red coloring.
Also add water to get the correct consistency
You basically want 10 second icing here.
That means that you can take a spoon through the middle of the
icing and it will take 10 seconds for it to go back together again.
Do the same exact thing with your second bowl,
only use the blue coloring.
For the third bowl, just make the correct consistency.
No color is needed, of course.

I used a Wilton Tip #5 to fill in the indentations in the cookie.

Once the indentation is filled in, shake the cookie
side to side, just slightly to smooth the icing out.

Fill in the white the same way,

and the red also. Let dry.

Enjoy your cookies!

Thanks for joining me today!

Stop by tomorrow for Day 15
of "15 Days of Red, White and Blue"
 and
Have a Happy 4th!
 

Red, White and Blue Party Centerpieces!

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I don't think I have ever posted a craft on this blog. After all, we are all about cooking. It kinda says that in the title; The Freshman Cook. But today I wanted to post a tutorial on this centerpiece.  About 20 years ago, my mother in law turned 75, and my husband and I threw her a huge party. There were about 150 guests, and she had a wonderful time. For the tables, which were banquet tables, I made these centerpieces. They were a little different because the candles each had hurricane glasses around them and they were all done in metallic colors of blue, green and purple. After the party, anyone who wanted one took them home. The thing is, they were truly festive! So, I made some for the 4th of July because it deserves to be festive!

  Red, White and Blue Centerpieces

Red, White and Blue Curling Ribbon

E6000 Glue

Dollar Store Clear Candlestick

Dollar Store Candle Plate

Straight Pins with balls at the end

Styrofoam (cut into 1" squares)

I made 5 of these centerpieces for the 4th of July,

so I needed a lot of ribbon. To speed up the cutting, I 

wound the ribbon around a piece of cardboard about 30 times.

Then I cut the ribbon at the end of the cardboard on one end,

and then cut it at the other end.  I put the ribbon in

a bag with a bottom that stands up. I accessed my

ribbon from the bag easily.

To begin, glue the candlestick on to the bottom of 

the candle plate. Let dry.

Glue the pieces of styrofoam onto the top of the

candle plate, like the picture.

I curled the ribbon and attached it before curling anymore.

There is no wrong way to curl it. Some of mine was loose,

and some very tight.

Attach the curled ribbon by placing the pin in the center

of your curled ribbon, and then sticking the pin into the

styrofoam. I used the pins with the balls in the top

 because the ones without the balls rip through the ribbon

and don't hold it well. Attach ribbon in the front, 

the sides and the top. Don't attach the ribbon to the inside

of the styrofoam square. You need to leave room for 

the candle. 

Keep attaching ribbon to fill in each of the squares. 

There is no point of perfection with this project.

At the end, I went back and added ribbon where

I thought it might be a little low in puffiness.

Also, don't worry about the pins showing. They will 

get covered up by the ribbon.

See how the blue ribbon is long and the red ribbon is short.

It should look that way.

Continue until your foam is full of ribbon!

Add your candle.

There are lots of ways to make this centerpiece.

You could make it less full than I did.

You could also attach a 4th of July sign to it,

or maybe some flags.

The best thing about this design is that you can change it

to match any party decor.

Thanks for joining me on Day 13 of

"15 Days of Red, White and Blue"!

Have fun and Happy 4th!

We are partying at the following fun spots:
Tasty Tuesday 

Red, White and Blue Malted Waffles

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Today is Day 12 of our "15 Days of  Red, White and Blue" series, and it is also Club Baked day! This worked out really well because the Club Baked recipe for Malted Waffles worked out perfectly when retrofitted for the 4th of July! Here's to a festive and delicious breakfast!

Malted Waffles

2 cups Flour

1 cup Malt Powder

2 tablespoon firmly packed Light Brown Sugar

1 teaspoon Baking Soda

1 1/2 teaspoon Baking Powder

1/2 teaspoon Salt

2 eggs, at room temperature

2 1/2 cups Buttermilk

6 tablespoons Butter, melted and cooled to room temperature

Syrup, Butter, Chocolate Chips

In a large bowl whisk together flour, malt powder, sugar,

baking soda, baking powder and salt.

 In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs slightly, .....

add the buttermilk and butter and mix again.

Make a well in the middle of the dry mixture, 

and pour the buttermilk  mixture into it.

Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients

gently, just until combined. There will be lumps.

Cook the waffles according to your waffle iron instructions.

Serve immediately with maple syrup, butter and chocolate chips.

or

Whipped Cream, a plump, beautiful strawberry,

some fresh blueberries, and some sprinkles.

Anyway you top it, it's going to be good!

Do you know about Club Baked ?

It's a wonderfully fun club! Twice a month we bake

a recipe from the book, Baked Explorations, written by

Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito. 

Club Baked is fun, no pressure, and we

baked delicious food. Come join us!

Want to see the Malted Waffles all the other club baked
members made? Go here!

Happy 4th of July!

Thanks for joining me today for our

"15 Days of Red, White and Blue"!!