Retirement on Hold...Life goes on

HI!

Somewhere during the summer I took a good, long hard look at my retirement.

And then decided to try for two more years (I am a special education teacher).  Should give us plenty of time to get that bakery in order, right? Post-retirement excitement.

Meanwhile...life goes on.  Like real life.  Like I don't bake every day...And my husband can slow down on his construction project...the Bakery. Is that a smile on his face?


Now is there a cake somewhere in my kitchen I don't know about?
     (Hanging head) no
 Maybe the mixers are going????
     (pouty face) sigh

 But I did Bake these....

HINT*

Flaky, tender homemade pie crust includes lard.  I substituted 1/2 of the shortening with lard and it is flaky EVERY time!

Just don't overwork the dough.

Homestyle Chicken Pot Pie

2 Cans chicken breast (YOU can start from scratch, if you must)

4 small red potatoes (peeled and medium diced)

4 carrots (peeled and medium diced)

2 ribs celery (sliced)

1 can veg-all

1 can cream of chicken soup

evaporated milk to make saucy

1 scant tsp. flour

and water as needed

1 small onion

1 TB parsley

poultry seasoning, salt and pepper to taste

Mix. together.

~

Prep pie dough for 4 personal sized oven safe dishes

(Go ahead...get the ready made...it's okay, really)

Cut rounds to fit inside dishes and gently push up inside dish 

~

Meanwhile....

par boil or roast veggies to almost fork tender (drain off any liquid)

Mix with other ingredients and ladle in the prepared dishes

TIP:  To reduce calories/fat, spray dish with non stick spray and leave off inside pie shell

~

Cut out tops

Slit

Baste top of pot pie with egg wash (1 egg beaten with a little water)

~

Bake at 350 until bubbly and tops are brown

Mine baked about 45 minutes---don't forget to put them on a foil-lined pan so they have some  place to bubble over

(I got a little hungry and took mine out before they completely browned)

and then waited and waited and waited

WARNING

Pot pies are HOT!!!!!

SoOoOoOo...I don't exactly have any cookies to show; but I did roll out dough. Does that count??? 

As I sit here I admit I haven't exactly been a good blogger lately, but God/church, family and work have had priority. That's not a bad thing is it?   "No!"   And anyway, the blogs were intended to show some snippits of  just me being human.  So I guess I have that down pat, huh?  Bake, decorate, share, bake, bake, eat cereal. Well, it may not be cookies or cake, but it was a tasty supper.  Hope you enjoy something tasty as well!  Happy baking!!!!!!!!  If I concentrate hard enough I can imagine fall weather, too....nah!  

Life Continues With and Without Cookies

HI!

I would explain.  I would give reasons why I haven't posted.  But it wouldn't change a thing.  As a matter of fact, I'm not sure if there are other projects that should have  been posted before this one.  And you know what?  100 years .... 50  years.....20 years.... from now~ oh shoot who am I kidding....2 seconds from now who will notice or even care.  Fact is, we all make decisions every day we crawl out of bed.   What to do?  Is it important?  Necessary?  or is it just what it is?  I'd like to say that I have been so energetic, and busy and important in my little cookie world, but then maybe not.  Church opportunites, work, family and day to day "things" sometimes have precedence.  And it is ok....it really is okay.    But these cookies are for a church baby shower and I enjoyed every part of the preparation!  So congratulations Baby "C"....welcome to our church family and to this sometimes unorganized life. 

May you all be blessed to have opportunities to share your sweetness and testamony of a loving Christ with others.

Hello I'm Back!

Well, goodness me!  I didn't realize I'd been away for so long.  I'm not sure why.  Life just got a little busy.  And I need to fix that.  Where oh where should I start? 

I suppose I should share my latest creations with my cookie friends.   Do you remember last year?  Our school had a golf fundraiser for our special little school.  I donated a cookie basket and this year felt compelled to do it again.  So I'll just start with a few pictures.  You know, ease my way back into a small part of your cookie world.





Whimsical flowers in rainbow colors minus the yellow.  But ya know the centers are yellow...does that count?  I thought yellow flower and  the same yellow centers and shook my head.  I know I could have made the same yellow center, taken the rest out and added more yellow to darken it and then piped the petals.  And that is a nice thought now...after the fact, you know. Flowers hidden on the bottom rack are my experiment with the polka dots.  But gee, it was already LATE.  And I figured enough....stop.....pillow....bed....

The next morning I picked out the best two of the white flowers.  I shouldn't tell you that these were going to be clouds and that I would make an arch with the rainbow colors.  No, I shouldn't tell you that at all.  But that sometimes happens with plans.  They change. If I would have just squished the cutters it just might have worked.  But tired brains have tired thoughts.

Now I usually make several extra, but this time only one extra to make up the basket

And that's a really good thing

because

I squished my cloud  FLOWER and what you see above is sad.

And well, because it was cracked,  broken and all

and because it was breakfast time

and because I kind of didn't eat...

That one bite of cookie was just for me :)

THEN

My original "rainbow"

became a happy row of flowers instead

OH, by the way!  I have absolutely fallen in love with my new Royal Icing Recipe.

Check out the recipe HERE from Ali B's.

I can't say enough about how it tastes and how it pipes!

Basket is all dressed up.

Did you notice the ribbon?

How neat was that find?

Now I told you that I made another cookie basket,

BUT

Did I also tell you that I made two bread baskets?

Wonderful bread machines!!!!

Measure, dump, plug and switch on

Yes, I bake the regular way,

but this is way cool.

However

I had to set the alarm at 2:45 AM to take out the second loaf to cool.

Cookie basket, classic white bread loaf and Italian herb loaf

all ready for the golf tourney raffle.

One last note...

Labels?  Left right here on my computer.

Another one of those plans that change!

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http://www.blogher.com/eggstraordinary-spring-entertaining

Yes, yes, ofcourse you can share with me.  No seriously I hope that one of us wins and enjoys!

Fall LEAVES (one last time)...Painted

We are a SPECIAL school working with some extraordinary children ... and I think the people I work with are some extra special people, too!  (I am sure you feel the same way about the people you work with, or I hope you do...makes each day a joy)  One of them, our psychometrist, wanted leaf cookies to share with her family.  So, I took out the leaf cutters once more  (as if I do this all the time.........bet my husband thinks so).  But anyway, I got out the cutters and I do believe my previous fall leaf originals cannot be copied....not even by me. As much as I wanted them to...... Anyway, enough talk.  Here they "fall"...

 I'm "going out on a limb" and say this is a maple leaf from my interpretive collection.  My, my that does make it all sound impressive!

A little royal icing here a touch of red there and the golden toothpick!!!

 

~

I SO admire the skills and talents of others.  One I've especially been enamored with lately is  click HERE to be WOWED!   the owner of My Little Bakery :) and she has ...well, it's just perfection in sugar painting.  Please take a moment to enjoy her masterpieces and then don't forget to come back...you know...to see someone's desire to paint with sugar.....If desire would just count! 

These next cookies are my favorite "tasting".  They are covered with "The GLAZE".  Yummy!  And they wouldn't have been included at all, but .... I...I  (sniff, sniff).....I broke two cookies.  I didn't mean to.  And If it wouldn't have been after midnight maybe 8 X 4 really would equal 36.   I always (the few times I do this)  make a few extra of each kind...for those cookies that might fall prey to demise.  They never have...until now. We usually eat the survivors.   And all at a time where I could NOT count.  Imagine that...a teacher who can't multiply.  Anyway, these were intended for family.  But they became redirected.  Oh, well.

One last pictoral that demonstates a wonderful head idea gone bad.....

NO!  NO!   NO!

Just an observation...our Heavenly Father made each leaf unique just as he made you and me.  He gave us His Word, His Son, and then He goes and gives us family and friends, and THEN he goes and gives us butter and sugar and cookie cutters......okay, okay, well maybe that's a bit much, but to my God I am forever thankful for ALL His blessings!  Aren't you my friend?

The Last Punkin Standing

I hear ya!  Halloween is over.  But, wait......it's still FALL.  And pumpkins grow in the fall, right?  But not here too much in the South.  One time when my husband worked near St. Louis my oldest daughter brought 30 or so back.  The boys (my grands) helped us pick them and you can imagine the husband comments we got.  You're going to haul how many pumpkins back to Mississippi?  And what are you going to do with 30 + pumpkins???  Well, that's Momma perogative!  Answer?  Carve and line the driveway.  Ummmmm......Sounded like a good idea anyway.

But back to pumpkins.  Here are some pumpkins for another pre-school party.  The request was from a co-worker-friend-mom and they couldn't have a face, so this is what I did.

 Outline with my favorite glaze.  You must visit Cookie Crazie if you want to see the "queen" of glaze decorating.  Click HERE if you want to see what I mean, but do come back...please?  I will wait for you.

 Glaze takes longer to set and dry than royal icing. 

Doing alternate sections adds some texture, but I still couldn't resist going back to put more detail...

and...

shine.

I added Wilton Orange Sparkling Sugar to the last sections while they were still moist. I did let them dry overnight.

The stems were outlined and flooded with royal icing. 

Yes, you heard me.  I was needing to pick up the pace, so I (gasp) made both icings be friends.  They got along just fine.

A few R.I. vines and a leaf or two and whala...

After EVERYTHING dried, I put in cello bags, tied with a bow and packaged .

My friend said they were enjoyed very much

and

That's really what counts!

(and that makes me happy)

Punkins

I told you quite some time ago, that I'm just a regular gal.  I made some cookies for the end of October and am just now sharing.  But, hey!  Fall is not gone...yet.  I am eying the Christmas cutters, though.  And those blogs!

I know you've seen a thousand pumpkins (sigh), but if you just joined the cookie blogging world, mine may be the first you've seen--not likely, but maybe :)

First, trace with a food writer

and 

Black is dark.  It's hard to get it without tasting like...ummm medicine, maybe?  So...Start coloring with chocolate cocoa, then add your favorite black.  After a little bit, flood the face.  Let it dry...completely, so the black won't bleed.

 Now outline the pumpkin.  Let that dry a bit and flood with orange.

 Almost done!

Go back over your orange with detail. 

Add some dimples...my, he needs an eyeball!

Outline your stem, flood, wait for that to dry and add some vines  If you want, add a leaf or two.

Wrapped and ready to go to a preschool party!  Happy Punkin's!!!

Thank You Leaf Basket

Today is not a how-to it's just a "share" post. 

Ever since the first day of school, I have been at a certain building a couple of hours a day.  And even though I'm itinerant and travel...a  lot... I had a problem finding places to work with each hearing impaired student.    So you can see my dilimma.  Now, I KNOW others work under worse conditions.  And I am thankful for having PLACES to work...but it's not ideal.  SOoOoOo....a really kind resource officer let me come into his room and work...most of the time.  All the while, they were planning to give me a space of my own.  I'm not there all the time, so I could only hope to have a "closet".

Time passed, then I heard the plan...the resource officer's former office....  Whoo Hoo!   So, I baked a few fall leaves...nothing extravagant, to give to my kind person just for letting me "borrow" his office several hours a day even sometimes when he could have used it I'm sure. 

Well, here is his "thank-you" cookie basket:

 Uhhh...that bow's gotta move down...

 Better....All wrapped up and ready to go :)

This is what you call  ultimate "cookie exchange"  !!!!