Learning As I Go

I happened to get a Southern Living Magazine LAST year and kept it, always planning to make some pretty cookies one day.  Well, Mom had just gone to rehab, Valentine's Day was coming and I thought she would enjoy something sweet and pretty.  Hence my very first effort to pipe a cookie and another...and another. 

I'm not a fan of royal icing.  A friend in the business gave me a recipe for this almond icing.  It IS my favorite and I'm learning more and more about the texture to pipe detail. Yes, yes, it does have corn syrup..But look corn is not a bad thing...and we are not drinking it....well, like the sugar and butter are considered "health" foods...Special desserts, not main courses!

I was then given a wonderful gift...a brand new Kitchen Aid 350 watt stand mixer. No this is not a picture of the mixer...I should have broken out of my shell and picked the pink one, but the voice of reason screamed "white" in my ear and I just followed....The rest is now just history.  Swiss Meringue Buttercream and I became friends. This was my first piped SBC frosting.

I think school is great....I'm a teacher.  But, sometimes things just happen.  My daughter  (Baker, RN, Mom, Wife...daughter) had this little idea of starting a small business on the side and boy did that re-ignite my desire to "light the oven"--something my Mom always said. It always sounded normal, even if my first oven was, uhhh, electric.  One of those sayings that just set a spell...kind of like the "ice" box.  I bet some of you don't even know anything about that one.  

So, here I am with a whole bunch of pictures to share of my cookie and baking journey.  I don't know if anyone will ever even glance my way, but if you do, know that I have had ZERO professional training in the art of baking/decorating, but lots of "want to".  Are my cookies perfect?  Why NO and neither is my baking or anything I do in the kitchen...or for that matter, is anything human really perfect?  But here lately I come home from work and just pull out the butter.  Anyone out there have this problem?  Anyway, enough talk for now.  I want to post a few of my pictures and share with someone....my FB friends will probably be glad that I have found a new home for my cookie/food pictures.  I mean, after a while, it does kind of shout "Look at me!"  But that could really be the furtherest from my mind.  I just have fun, learn from my "play" school.  Now if I can just find enough people to share.  I absolutely will NOT eat another bite of cookie dough....maybe...well, I'll try :) I do have some will power ......... most of the time....

Any excuse to bake.  St. Patrick's Day?  Why sure!  These sat in Mom's window at the nursing center.  She eventually ate two of them and they were still pretty tasty. Me:   "Mom, they are for you to eat."  Mom:  "Well, I just like to look at them." Nuff said!

Swiss Buttercream frosted vanilla layer cake with homemade lemon curd filling and more buttercream.

These cupcakes were inspired from a cupcake book page for Halloween.  Our oldest grandson turned 18 this year and we celebrated by saying good-bye to his youth.  Milano Cookies made good tombstones and sanding sugar made them sparkle.

Homemade lemond curd is a little addictive.  And trying my hand at crepes was a good excuse to use the curd. 

Ice cream cake with chocolate ganache over regualr buttercream.  My main lesson learned was that the frozen layers made the ganache harden before it smoothed out on top.  But the taste was really good.  Below is a view of  the layers (strawberry,  icecream and french vanilla cake)  we enjoyed at my mother and father in law's birthday parties.  (They both have Feb. b-days)  Happy 83 rd birthdays!

Easter is such a wonderful time to work with cookies.

 I think this is one of the cutest cutters, but I need more work with finer detail and with expressions.  After these were done I read a tip from Sugarbelle about the 20 sec. rule for piping and it made a difference AFTER these cookies.  Maybe I should use the yummy icing first and learn to pipe detail with royal...?  only one way to find out!

The cookies below were arranged for a door prize at a fund raiser.

After arranging the cookies, adding the sugared pecans and the biscotti, I realized that I could take a cake round and maybe do somthing to make it look like a golf ball.   I had almost given up...textured paper...no; golfing stickers...no; surely something will....ahhhh, "bling".  If I line up the sticky bling, maybe the end circle will have the dimples of a golf ball (the fundraiser is a golf tourney).    Well look down and see what you think...

 Do you see the huge golf ball on a "tee" surrounded by flowers, butterflies and "dirt"?   I think the Lord gave me this idea. OK, I do know that some might not get it.   Of course if you don't agree, then I guess I had the idea and it didn't work.  But I was kinda proud, myself....in a good way.   Delievered it to school and trust it will be enjoyed by someone.

Okay, okay I have to fess up.  One of our daughters put the "bling" golf ball dimples on while we went to her sister's shower....Now, doesn't that feel better?  I drove.