MEET THE SOUS CHEF!

I DO ALL THE BAKING, CHARLEY KEEPS ME COMPANY AND LICKS UP MY MESSES.

Thursday, April 29, 2010

A NEW LOOK!





I was lucky enough to have a friend willing to help me make a COOL logo for this here blog. His name is Joe Kinney (aka Mouse!), and you can peep out some of his work here!
Look at what he put together for me and old Chuck!!!

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Raccookies!




Good news! The dough in the freezer trick worked- and I was able to pop out 20 or so of these bad boys for a small golf outing that Boyf and I played in today. Charley was a big help, as always, and licked my toes while I sat at the kitchen counter and hand painted each R'coon on to it's cookie. Whew. It did get easier at the end when I had a system down, but we were both beat by the time we finished.

I have a new enemy, however. Black Food Coloring. OMG. It gets everywhere! Very, very messy indeed. Think ink pen explosion times a zillion billion. Not exaggerating. At. All.

Back to Golf. I must say- this Golf Course, Raccoon International, is a very special place indeed. We have been playing there for the last few summers and love it. It's fun, not stuffy and a good time is had by all whenever we go.

With my Raccookies, I have included a photo of a scorecard with a very special game on it. It's from the day, "Par or Picture" was invented (while playing at Raccoon). The premise is easy. If you like your score, you write it on your card. If you don't, you have the option of drawing whatever you like in the small box. It's amazing what you can fit in there, and you always move on to the next hole smiling. :)

Monday, April 12, 2010

Hit the Duck!!!!!!








it was SO hot.......in the kitchen with the oven on that I gave up baking halfway through. That, and the cookie dough recipe I was so excited about finding, well, I didn't think it was going to be exactly what I wanted. I was right.

What I was dreaming about, was a lemon flavored sugar cookie, shaped like a duck, frosted with my first ever attempt at Royal Icing. What I got instead was, two heaps of dough wrapped and put in the freezer until a later date (let's hope that works) and about 16 or so oddly decorated little ducklings. The Royal Icing put on hold- and cookies that don't taste like lemon.

I gave in and ate one today- they ARE in fact good. Just not what me and Charley Boy had in mind. They turned out to be kind of cute, in a late Easter Spring sort of way, but still disappointing.

I even made Boyf his own duckling, he commented that it looked crazy, so I added a little bit more crazy to it. I bet you can guess which one is for him if you look!!

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Easter....a time for recycling. Recipes, that is!









SOOOooooooo, I made my Wibs. Wibs as in, Ribs. They were pretty darn good, the sauce was deelish and the meat Oh So Tender, "must be careful scooping from crockpot as to not remove meat from bones before sauce application..." EEeee, Boyf assited as I lifted wee meat out and placed upon smoky tasty grill.
They only need to be on the grill long enough to get a. smoky and b. the sauce gets congealed onto the previously mentioned MEAT.

I also saved enough of my Bake Sale cupcakes to serve as dessert....and of course the Easter bunneh dropped by with treats, too! Cadbury Cream Eggs anyone? I did learn today that they are filled with FONDANT! I had no idea.

I did have ONE new recipe today...a fairly easy one at that. Of COURSE My mom was the one who clued me in to this very tasty new wave potato salad:

Red Potatoes, cooked and cooled halfway (enough to feed your guests, duh)
Brown Spicy Mustard, 4 parts
Honey, 2 parts
Balsamic Vinegar, 3 parts
Green Onion Chopped, 2 parts
Bacon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (as a garnish, Yeeeeeeeeeeeah!) MANY parts.

I also decided to show off my latest gift from 1. Maren at Rowe, who got them from 2. the amazing people at Smocks! I appear to be not wearing much under said Smock- but do.not.be.fooled. I have on a dress. Sheesh. Get ur mind out of the guttah.

Charley was being very camera shy- and even with Boyf's encouragement, he still wouldn't crack a smile. Dakota, on the other hand, was primed and ready for her cameo. Koderino!!

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Baaaaaaaake Sale!!!!!!







So, my friend was having a bake sale to raise money for The James, as well as an event she hosts in honor of her Dad. I mean, I usually don't ever HAVE a reason to bake, so when given one...well, yes please!!!

I made two kinds of cupcakes, both of which I have made before, so no recipes on this post! Orange Creamsicle Cake with the White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting, and the Key Lime Cupcakes with Lime Buttercream Frosting. MMMmmmmmmm.....!!!

I tried to teach Charley to have some restraint, but it only worked for about 30 seconds. He managed to nab the mini cupcake I taunted him with- paper wrapper gobbled up and all!!!