Stained Glass Sugar Cookies

When it's time for sweet, sugary beauty to adorn the tabletop I make these Stained Glass Sugar Cookies!  Any sugar cookie recipe will do.

They're so much fun to decorate, but may be a bit time consuming.  I love making them

 

and I really like eating them.

I decorate the snowflakes by first outlining with white icing. Let them set.  Butter inside outline with teal blue icing. Let set.  Use cake decorating bag and small tip to draw white icing lines inside blue and immediately pour granulated sugar over the cookies and tamp off excess.  That's how I create the snowy centers.

This year, the Hubby got into the fun.  He decorated the trees below with sugar and candies.  Sugar cookies are usually not this dark, but that's the way the Hubby likes them... Crisp!

The trick to having non-drippy icing lines, is to make a first pass OUTLINE with a stiff batch and let it "set" for atleast an hour before icing the interior colors. You can also use meringue powder, but I don't like it.  I used a lot of it this summer practicing for my son's wedding cake, and I don't like the pitchy taste it gives.

Stained Glass Sugar Cookie Icing Recipe:  

1 cup powdered confectioner's sugar (sifted)

2 teaspoons milk

3-4 teaspoons light corn syrup (3 tsp for "stiff batch" and 4 tsp for "buttering" cookie tops)

1/2 teaspoon almond extract or a good quality pure vanilla extract (vanilla will impart an aftertaste)

food colors (I prefer gels, they give vivid colors)

I mix well in my Kitchenaid until it's shiny and pliable.  It will stiffen as you work with it.  I soften it up again by placing it in a microwavable container and heat for 20 seconds. This is not preferred, but in my experience, it does not damage the icing.  I leave them out on the counter in a safe place overnight  to ensure the icing has fully hardened before plating or packing up.

(Each batch is enough to outline about 45-50 cookies.)  I make a separate batch for each color.  I "butter" the colored icing within the outline using a butter knife.  It works for me.  If you're a perfectionist, use a cake decorating bag, a small round tip to make outlines, and a flat tip to fill in the outline later.  Enjoy!

Fudgy Chocolate Chip Cake Baby Recipe & Mix-in-a-Mug Gift Idea

Do you ever get a craving for chocolate that won't go away until you've broken down and had some?  I have.  If you're like me, you like things that are quick and easy and require little clean up. Here's my 5 minute fix-

I got this idea more than a decade ago from my Mom.  I was addicted to making them for myself for a while.  They make great gifts for co-workers, teachers, college students, anyone that loves chocolate.  We call them cake babies.  I have no idea why, but I hope you try a little cake baby for yourself.  They're so fluffy and chocolaty.  Yummy to the max!

Fudgy Chocolate Chip Cake Baby Recipe

Dry Ingredients:

4 Tbsp flour

2 Tbsp granulated sugar

2 Tbsp packed brown sugar

2 Tbsp chocolate chips or shavings

1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

12-16 oz. mug that is not plastic or metal, and is microwave and food safe.

Wet Ingredients

3 Tbsp milk

1 egg

3 Tbsp melted butter or oil

1/4 tsp vanilla (or peppermint) extract

To enjoy this yummy mini cake now, simply mix well the dry ingredients in a medium bowl.  Add the milk, egg, butter or oil and mix thoroughly.  Add in the chocolate chips or shavings, vanilla or peppermint and mix again well.  Stir til smooth.  Spoon the batter into the mug.  Microwave on HIGH for 3 minutes.  Let cake stand for a few minutes. Serve immediately. You can even top it with vanilla ice cream, fresh berries, chocolate sauce, powdered sugar, whipped cream or topping of your choice.  Enjoy!

C&H Sugar cane image

Fudgy Chocolate Chip Cake Baby Mix-in-a-Mug Gift Instructions:  

In a food safe plastic bag (I use ziplocks) pour in the dry ingredients listed above, adding the chocolate chips last.  Seal and decorate with ribbon, raffia, or something else pretty like the example above which is wrapped in a fabric square.  Then, type or write up a cute little gift tag with the following instructions (or use the C & H tags HERE, the instructions are the same!):

Fudgy Chocolate Chip Cake Baby:

3 Tbsp milk

1 egg

3 Tbsp melted butter or oil

1/4 tsp vanilla (or peppermint) extract

Whisk together milk, egg, butter or oil and vanilla or mint in a medium bowl.  Add cake mix and stir until batter is smooth.  Spoon batter into mug.  Microwave on HIGH for 3 minutes.  Let cake stand for a few minutes. Serve immediately topped with toppings of your choice, if desired.  (You can list a few recommendations) Enjoy!  Attach gift tags and gift away!

UPDATE!!!   After searching for my old recipe and typing this post, I made an AWESOME discovery.  The folks at C & H Sugar now have a webpage full of many different "cake baby" mug recipes and the ever popular mix-in-a-jar recipes too!  They've even made cute tags you can download and print so you don't have to type and prepare them, saving you time.  Here's their link: http://www.chsugar.com/giftideas/gift-mixes/.  Check it out.  

AND- I have found a gluten free recipe that's almost the same linked HERE.

 Enjoy, and have a Merry Christmas!

Homemade Pumpkin Spice Latte

I grew up in a small town and until a few years ago, I had not even heard of a mocha frappucino or a caramel macchiato, but that all changed when a little coffee house named Starbucks rolled into town...


Fast-forward a few years and I am an addict.  


I can't often indulge in Starbucks, it's a bit pricey, but I CAN make my own versions of those little cups of heaven, here at home.   Here is my version of their yummy pumpkin spice latte.  Enjoy!

Ye Olde Pumpkin Spice Latte

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons canned pumpkin or (homemade pumpkin puree from your own pumpkin)

2 cups whole milk (though I am sure low-fat or fat free, almond or soy milk would work too)
2 tablespoons sugar (to taste, you may want less or more so test this)
1-2 tablespoons real vanilla extract (again, it's up to you, to taste)
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice, plus more for garnish
1 cup strong brewed coffee
Whipped cream
Cinnamon or a Cinnamon Stick (optional)


Mix the pumpkin, milk, and sugar in a saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until steaming.  Remove from heat; stir in vanilla and pumpkin spice.   Mix it all in with a whisk- until your mixture is foamy.  Pour mixture into two coffee cups, filling each cup only half way; top off with the strong brewed coffee.  Spoon on a dollop of whipped cream and a dash of pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon.  Optional- Add a cinnamon stick to stir with, but it may be too strong for some.

Do you have a favorite Latte flavor to add here???

I have posted this recipe to the Fall Harvest Blog Hop  &

Deborah Jean's Dandelion House- Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop!
&
Life as Mom's Frugal Friday!

Homemade Red Sauce

Okay, I stumbled on a yummy sauce this week, by accident.  I had to pull lots of tomatoes before birds would get the rest of them so some were not fully ripe yet.  I blanched, peeled and cored, and pureed them as if for tomato sauce, but then I thought I'd try something new.  I have already canned more than 40 quarts of tomato sauce this season and 19 jars of salsa, so I was in the mood for something new.  Can you say enchiladas?  Yippee!  Me too. Love em.

I love cheese enchiladas in red sauce and I had the general idea of what is in red sauce: tomatoes, cilantro, cumin, crushed red pepper, jalapeno, garlic, onion, sweet peppers, lime juice, vinegar, salt, pepper, and olive oil so I set out to refine my own recipe by adding these elements a little at a time, until I liked the flavor.  That's what I did.

RECIPE

I started with a sink full of tomatoes, mostly ripe, some yellow heirlooms snuck in too. 

I Prepared them as stated above and added the following:

4 cups onion finely chopped

12 cloves garlic finely chopped

2 red sweet peppers finely chopped

5 stalks celery finely chopped

1 bunch fresh cilantro finely chopped

3 T dried crushed red pepper

2 jalapeno finely chopped 

(optional- this may make it too hot for you so it's okay to omit jalapenos)

1/2 cup fresh lime juice

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup olive oil

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 to 1/2 cup cumin 

(CUMIN is the VIP for flavor, but can overwhelm some palates, so use sparingly, a tablespoon at a time)

Then, simply cook this down to your preferred consistency, jar them up into properly prepared canning jars with properly prepared lids and rings, and can them in a water bath.  I used my pressure canner as a water bath canner and canned quarts for 35 minutes after heavy boiling began.

My husband LOVED this so much he begged me to marinate some long grain brown rice and black beans in it overnight for him to take for lunch today.  I boiled the rice in water, added the canned beans and the red sauce and let it set up overnight.  It really tastes great.  It just needs a few fresh homemade tortillas to fill up and go.

In spite of my little little rice and beans experiment I STILL canned up 9 quart jars of deliciousness.

WHAT ARE YOU CANNING THIS WEEK??? 

Please SHARE!


I have linked this post to my favorite blog hops:  
Homestead Revival's Barn Hop #30 

and 
Deborah Jean's Dandelion House Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop.