Baking and Cooking Archives - Page 9 of 12

Advent {Day 24}: Hot Cocoa Recipe

December 24, 2011 by Jules 2 Comments

Today I want to focus on mail carriers. They have one of the hardest jobs this holiday season:
Amist the lousy cold weather that produces horrible driving conditions and makes you want to do nothing but snuggle on the couch with a good movie, They make sure we all get our:

Christmas cards to friends and family on time
packages with the must-have Christmas toy to your house before the big day
not to mention all those silly story fliers so we can find the best deals.

Today I'm sharing my last gift idea that fit perfectly into those adorably miniscule formula containers at minimal cost! Something WARM to help those carriers make it through their days a little cozier.

Wanna know How-To Decorating Cans? Click over HERE for step by step instructions.

Filling Cans

Homemade Hot Cocoa Mix:

Make homemade hot cocoa mix
Today I am sharing my mother-in-love's AWESOME homemade Cocoa Recipe over at the
homemaker's challenge dot com! Go grab it!
Add cocoa mix
Use the formula scoop as a cute touch for serving up the dry cocoa mix
Place bow on top of the lid or printable tag (click Cocoa Printables for free printable)

These people who serve us weekly can feel your appreciation through these simple gifts! Wouldn't you? Homemade adds that special touch as well.

I would like to challenge you to think of those who make your life you're thankful for this season and recognize them with a simple gift to warm their spirits!

Filed Under: Advent 2011 {Series}, Baking and Cooking, Gifts Ideas, Holidays, The Ones about Homemaker's Challenge Tagged With: Gift Idea, hot cocoa, recipe

Advent {Day 16}: Donner DooDoo (No Bake Cookies) Recipe

December 16, 2011 by Jules Leave a Comment

Here is a simple and inexpensive gift. This would be great for a large group of people where you would like to give gifts to everyone.

Donner DooDoo {non bake cookies}

2 cups of Sugar
1/2 cup Coco
1/2 cup Milk
1/2 cup Butter
1/2 cup Peanut Butter {I choose not to add this bc I want anyone to be able to eat them even if they have allergies}
1 tsp. Vanilla
3 cups Oatmeal
pinch of Salt

Mix sugar, coco, mil, and butter in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil, stirring often! Remove from heat and add peanut butter (optional), vanilla, and oatmeal. Stir well until all is blended and oatmeal is completely coated.

After you have your 'batter' ready, grab a mellon baller and about 2 feet of wax paper. Then measure out your cookies using the baller so they will be tiny balls/blobs using the larger end of the tool. If you have trouble getting the gooie cookies out, use a toothpick to poke them out through the itsy bitsy whole on the back side of the tool.

If they are too mooshy for your taste, pull your wax paper onto a cookie sheet and put them in the fridge until they are a little more set up.

Woops...have some left. Not enough room on your strategically too small wax paper??? Suggestion:

Yep! Eat it!!! ;o)

My suggestion for distributing these lil doo doos are baby food jars! Divy them up about 6 per jar. To decorate grab this FREE printable {Donner DooDoo Tag} to mod podge to the top of the jar and add a little curling ribbon. Yay!!! Easy enough, right?

Good luck and have FUN! Let me know if I need to add some explanation...ran through that kinda fast.

What has been your favorite diy gift idea this season?

To read more Rothacher's Advent Days click--->
Advent {Day 1}: Cookie Swap
Advent {Day 2}: Dizzie Izzie's
Advent {Day 3}: Giving Christmas Away
Advent {Day 4}: Homemade Gifts
Advent {Day 5}: HIPPY Christmas Party
Advent {Day 6}: The Fridge
Advent {Day 7}: Sprinkle Joy @ Home
Advent {Day 8}: UpCycle Gift Wrap
Advent {Day 9}: Sugar Cookies (Gift Ideas Series)
Advent {Day 10}: Snack Mix (Gift Idea Series)
Advent {Day 11}: Relentless Christmas Party
Advent {Day 12}: eBook for ANY Woman! (Gift Idea Series)
Advent {Day 13}: A Rock'n Angel Tree Gift
Advent {Day 14}: Packing with Littles
Advent {Day 15}: Cubbie's Christmas Party

Filed Under: Advent 2011 {Series}, Baking and Cooking Tagged With: Advent Days, baby food jars, Christmas, Donner DooDoo, FREE printables, non bake cookies, oatmeal cookies

Advent {Day 10}: Snack Mix (Gift Idea Series)

December 10, 2011 by Jules 1 Comment

Today I'd like to focus on waste management employees {I don't know the PC term for trashman...sorry!}.

These people serve me in unimaginable ways! I can't thank them enough for taking care of all the TRASH I don't want to deal with. Really!
A few years ago when I was asking some friends how to make sure they knew I'd left a gift so it didn't accidentally get thrown away they said, "You know our trashmen are prisoners, right?" {NOT all are} and I my reply was, and still is, "YEP! Even more of a reason I want to show them extra love especially around Christ birthday!!!" Let give them something to crunch and munch on while they travel around town.

Wanna know How-To Decorating Cans? Click over HERE for step by step instructions.!

Filling Cans

Snack Mix:

Make snack mix (my favorites are chex mix or muddy buddies) {recipe link(s)}
Place desired colored tissue paper inside
Add snack mix
Place bow on top of the lid or printable tag (click Girly Lid Tag for free printable)
To be sure they recognize their gift, tie some balloons on the can and place it on top of your trashcan the day of your neighborhood trash pick up. {You don't want it to accidentally get trashed ;o) } ---> not necessarily birthday ones though...

Not too many people remember those who serve them silently {well...as silent as you can be in that noisy truck} so take the time to show your gratitude with a simple gift that will show the love of Christ and make someone feel appreciated.

Do you have any other tints for making sure these early rising, quick workers recognize their gift?

Filed Under: Baking and Cooking, Gifts Ideas, Holidays

Advent {Day 2}: Dizzie Izzies

December 2, 2011 by Jules Leave a Comment

As part of Advent we are doing MORE baking:

Hi! My name is Isabella Ruth. Some people Call me Izzie Ru, Izziebella, Iz but most call me Izzie. I will be 2 in January!

I have 2 siblings, a sister 18 months older than me and a brother 2 days shy of being 1 year younger. I love my family! Today was a fun day. Maggie, my big sister, went to our Nanna's house for her "Nanna Day". YAY! That means me and Mommie get to hang out. Shortly after Mags left, J went down for a nap and we started our fun.

Today we decided to make cookies for tonight's cookie swap! We searched through lots of recipes and landed on these:
{we had all the ingredients at home and didn't have to go out to the grocery store}

1st picture is where the recipe we used and the 2nd is the look we were going for.
If you know anything about my mom you know...it didn't turn out exactly like we planned ;o)

Holiday Icebox Cookies: {Renamed "Dizzie Izzie's" by my Mommie}

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, plus an extra egg white for "glue"
3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
5 cups flour, plus more for work surface
2/3 cup milk
1/4 cup cocoa powder
Food coloring, in various colors

~~~~~I SUGGEST READING THE DIRECTIONS IN THEIR ENTIRETY FOR BETTER TURN OUTS THAN US~~~~~

Directions

Using the electric mixer, mix the butter and the sugar until creamy. Add the eggs
{we made the mistake of adding the extra egg white--> DO NOT do that! Save it for later.} and the salt, and mix well.
Beat in milk and vanilla.

Add flour a little at a time, mixing it in until all of it has been incorporated.

Let it mix well. Don't be in a rush. Don't forget to scrap the sides of your bowl to incorporate everything.
Grab a drink. Just watch it until it's well blended.

If you're like me, it will get a little messy. Have a towel nearby for cleaning up counter and you will want to wear an apron as well.

{Since we messed up by adding the egg white we tried to make the recipe less sticky by adding an extra cup of flour. If helped but didn't totally fix it. The reviews at the bottom of the recipe says it turned out sticky for some people who hadn't make our mistake so maybe our attempt at fixing it will help you if your dough is a bit sticky}

*We ended up chilled the dough for a long time! {over night to be exact} while we made our back-up cookies for the cookie swap. Find those here.

While {IF} you are waiting for you dough to thicken up by chilling it you can always take care of those babes or other chores you have.

Catch up on your emailing or blog reading!

Go get a pedicure!

When your dough is ready...

Divide the dough into balls, one for each color. We only colored 1/2 with red. But you can do lots of colors or even for chocolate dough, add cocoa (1/4 cup is enough to flavor half a batch). Mix well with electric mixer. For colored dough, start with 1/4 teaspoon food coloring, and mix well. Add more in tiny amounts for darker colors. Gel-paste coloring can be intense, so add it gradually.
Wrap each ball of dough in its own sheet of plastic wrap; pat flat into a rectangle. Refrigerate at least one hour or until ready to use.
Parchment or waxed paper makes a good work surface. Sprinkle generously with flour, then roll out each piece of dough 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick to make the swirls; you can use thicker layers for the bull's-eyes.

Have no idea what this thing was but they suggest using "The bench scraper". They say it "is a good tool for trimming dough's edges to make them even."

We just rolled our 2 colors out when painted on {yet another} egg white as glue. The egg white, brushed on with a pastry brush, will act as a glue, making the layers stick together.

{Sorry, we didn't picture the next few steps. It got a lil crazy. We needed both hands}

The recipe says, "For center, with your hands, roll chocolate dough into a 1/2- to 1 1/2- inch-thick rod; chill 20 minutes. Place rod on edge of rolled-out dough that's been brushed with egg white.
Roll rod inside sheet of dough. Cut the dough where it meets up. Seal by pinching and pressing gently. Chill 20 minutes, then repeat to add other layers. To decorate, go to step 7, or jump to step 8 for plain.
For spirals, measure and trim two or more colors of dough to same size. Brush on egg white, then stack layers. Brush top with egg white. Starting at one end, roll up the dough.
Smooth and straighten the layers as you roll them so there are no gaps, then gently pinch and press the edge of the roll to seal it. Now the dough is ready to decorate."

{We didn't have a "1/2-1 1/2 inch-thick rod and failed to read about how you should chill {again} before laying}

DON'T HAVE A ROD???

After they were rolled out, we picked up the entire red layer and plopped it on top of the entire white layer, attempting to make them as even as we could.

We then trimmed any edges that didn't have a layer of each color.

Now that we had a double-Decker block, we scooped one end up off the counter using a Rachel Ray scrape shovel tool. We used some flour between the scrape shovel and the dough as we scooped it off the counter as we rolled.

We we had one weird looking roll we chopped it into 3 sections {the middle looking the best as opposed to the sprawling end pieces}

Each roll as wrapped in some parchment paper and frozen for a few hours. While you wait you can of course go read a good book or some relaxing activity you enjoy.

When the dough was set we were so ready to bake and eat them we almost forgot to add some toppings.
The original recipe says, "Add your favorite toppings (try coconut, colored sanding sugar, chopped nuts, or chocolate sprinkles): Spread topping in baking sheet, brush dough with egg white, and roll the log in topping."

but if you haven't learned anything about our baking skills, we don't always follow along well.

We started chopping cookies off the logs using the ____ before rolling in sprinkles and we definitely forgot the egg glue.

After quickly dabbing the edges and the tops of the cookies in sprinkles off of a cookie sheet before chunking them on a sprayed pan and baking for about 10min @ 350'.

Here is our cookie turn out:

Not too shabby.

What did you do with those pieces you cut off at the beginning you ask?

Chop them up!!! Yep, chop them and then bake them for ~10min @ 350' as well. This is the cookie version of chips and dip!

You could hand out little bags of these with a can of frosting to friends or just have a bowl of them out at your party with a bowl of frosting next to it! The more colors you have the more festive!

Other helpful hints to help your cookies turn out better than our from the original recipe are: "Roll each log in parchment or waxed paper; twist the ends of the paper closed. To help the logs keep their round shape, set each in a cardboard paper-towel roll that you have sliced open lengthwise.
To remember what colors you have already used, with crayons, draw the designs onto key tags; tie the tags onto the paper covering the logs. Chill logs until they are solid, about 1 1/2 hours.
Cut 15 inches of dental floss (or double thickness of thread). Let log soften for about 10 minutes. Remove parchment. Wrap floss around log and pull through. Make the slices thin: 1/4 inch or less.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place slices on an ungreased baking sheet (lined with parchment paper). A grown-up should bake the cookies 12 to 15 minutes, until firm but not browned. Let cool on baking sheet for several minutes, then transfer to a wire rack."

~~~

Thanks for reading my, Izzie's, 1st baking adventure. Share your failures, successes, or redeemable baking adventures!

To read more Rothacher's Advent Days click--->Advent {Day 1}: Cookie Swap

Filed Under: Baking and Cooking, Holidays, The Ones about things Jules tried off Pinterest Tagged With: cooking, sugar cookie recipe, toddler

Advent {Day 1}: Cookie Swap

December 1, 2011 by Jules Leave a Comment

Advent: a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ at Christmas.Today was December 1st! This year, as family, we will be doing something special to celebrate everyday leading up to Christmas day in expectancy of celebrating the ultimate day. The day our redeeming Savior enter our world.

Day 1: Celebrate good friends and yummy food:
Our church has an annual cookie swap hosted by the women's ministry. Those who want to participate are encouraged to make a batch of cookies to bring to the party to exchange. In my hurried attempted to prepare some goodies using the ingredients already in my pantry I ran to Pinterest where I found some adorable yet simple cookies to make.

1st Attempt:
Dizzies Izzie's {named for the baker, my Izzie Ru}

Since this week's Nanna day was Maggie's turn this left me and Izzie to do the fun task of working together to prepare the perfect creation. I found super cute pinwheel cookies to make. She did such a great job assisting me (minus wanting to stick her fingers in the moving mixer). We ran into 2 problems. 1st, I misunderstood the directions and our cookies would not set up correctly. 2nd, the reviews on the bottom of this online recipe were horrible. Maybe the sticky cookies weren't entirely my fault... Oh well, Iz didn't mind. She got a taste and lunch before nap. {A post in itself}

Since our 1st attempt was an utter failure it left me less than 6 hours to find a new recipe.

Hello Pinterest. Since you were already open...

This ended up being a success! Although the route I took for display and distribution was a bit more time-consuming than just my cookie tray.

2nd Attempt:
Eat It Up Cookie Dough {Safe-to-eat Cookie Dough}

Recipe by: Willow Bird Baking
Yields: about 1 1/2-2 cups cookie dough

1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup white sugar
1 1/3 cups and 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-2 tablespoons water

Directions:
In a medium bowl, cream together butter and sugar for 2-3 minutes until light, fluffy, and pale yellow. Mix in flour and vanilla. Add water one tablespoon at a time, mixing after each, until you reach cookie dough consistency.

We had fun and ate entirely too much sugar!

*future post with printables for labels and recipes ;o)

~~~

What are you doing in anticipation of Christmas?
Do you know Christ and why it's a big deal? If not, PLEASE talk to me so I can share with you more about the life change that is Jesus!