Thanksgiving Feast

     With Thanksgiving right around the corner, Liam's school invites all the students and their parents for a Thanksgiving feast, which the kids help prepare the main dish, soup, and the parents sign up to bring side dishes and dessert.  I asked Liam what he wanted to bring and of course, it was dessert.  So we decided to make some sugar cookies.  I found a cute turkey, leaf, and pumpkin cookie cutters to cut our cookies with and some autumn sprinkles to decorate them.  We are using Martha Stewart's recipe for Ideal Sugar Cookies and the Royal Icing.   I've made them many times and they always turn out amazing!

My little pastry chef icing the cookies

Those are beautiful cookies

Gobble Gobble

Enjoying one of his creations

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup (1stick) unsalted butter

1 cup sugar

1 large egg, lightly beaten

2 TBsp milk

1/2 tsp vanilla

Preparation

Whisk together flour, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl; set aside.  In a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar; mix until light and fluffy.  With mixer running, add egg, milk, and vanilla; mix until well combined.  With the mixer on low, slowly add reserved flour mixture.  Mix until just combined.

Transfer dough to work surface.  Shape into 2 discs, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper, set aside.

On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough to 1/8 inch thickness.  Cut into desired shapes, and transfer to prepared sheets, leaving an inch between. Leftover dough can be rolled and cut once more.  Bake until lightly golden, about 10 minutes.  Do not allow to brown.  

Transfer to wire racks to cool. Decorate with royal icing.

Ingredients

1 lb confectioner's sugar

5 TBsp meringue powder

scant 1/2 cup water

Preparation

Beat ingredients in a mixing bowl on low speed until smooth, about 7 minutes.  

If icing is too thick, add more water; if icing is too then beat 2-3 minutes more.

Enjoy!

Liam picked out a special cookie for his teacher,

 Ms. Angie and his favorite teacher helper, Mr. Mark

Liam at his school's Thanksgiving Feast

Enjoying one of his friend's cookies

Liam showing us his Thankful picture...can you guess which one is his?

He didn't want to put his hands or feet in the paint, so he started to draw a

 turkey and came up with this....However, he did write 

what he was thankful for on the back.

Proud of my Big Boy

We had a great time at Liam's Feast and meeting his friends.

Sweet Saturdays

Martha Stewart

Ingredients

• 1/4 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
• 1 tablespoon cold water
• 6 large egg yolks
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoons
• Sage-Cornmeal Crust
• 3 tablespoons creme fraiche

Directions

1. Sprinkle gelatin over cold water in a small bowl, and let stand until softened, about 5 minutes.
2. Whisk together egg yolks, sugar, and salt in a large heatproof bowl. Gradually whisk in lemon juice. Place bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, and whisk constantly until mixture has thickened and registers 160 degrees on an instant-read thermometer. Whisk in gelatin mixture. Remove from heat, and whisk in butter, a few pieces at a time, until smooth. Let cool, stirring occasionally. Prepare an ice-water bath. Place bowl of yolk mixture over bath, and stir until slightly thickened, about 2 minutes.
3. Spread curd into crust; smooth top. Dollop creme fraiche on top. Using a wooden skewer or the tip of a knife, swirl creme fraiche into curd to create a marbleized effect. Refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours (or up to overnight).

Sticky Toffee Pudding

     This is one of my favorite recipes.  The first time I made it was for this past Christmas and I recently remade yesterday it for my MOPs Tea & Testimony meeting.  Everyone loved it!  I found it on Martha Stewart's website.  It's so easy and delish, you have to try it!!

 Cake Ingredients

• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for pan
• 8 ounces pitted dates, finely chopped
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• Toffee Sauce

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour an 8-inch round cake pan; set aside.

In a small bowl, combine dates and 1/2 cup boiling water;

 set aside to soften, at least 10 minutes.

In a medium bowl, whisk or sift together flour, baking powder, and salt to combine; set aside.

With an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  

Add in date mixture, flour mixture, and vanilla; mix just until moistened.

Spread batter in prepared pan.  Bake until toothpick inserted in 

center of cake come out clean, 55-65 minutes.  Meanwhile, prepare toffee sauce.

Remove cake from oven; cool in pan 5 minutes. To ensure it will come 

out easily later, carefully invert hot cake then return it, right side up, to pan.

Toffe Sauce Ingredients

• 16 tablespoons unsalted butter (2 sticks)
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 
  
• Directions

In a medium saucepan, combine butter, heavy cream, light-brown sugar, and salt. 

Heat over low, stirring, until sugar has dissolved, about 2 minutes. 

Simmer mixture over medium heat until reduced to about 2 1/2 cups, 8 to 12 minutes. 

If desired, reheat sauce over low before serving.

Using a toothpick, poke holes all over cake. Pour about 1 cup warm 

sauce over cake; let absorb at least 20 minutes.

After the 20 minutes dig in! It tastes so good nice and warm!  

Enjoy!

Sweet Saturdays

Martha Stewart

Ingredients

• For The Cheesecake

  • 1/2 ounce (1 tablespoon) unsalted butter
  • 2 medium carrots, peeled, finely grated
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 4 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened
  • 4 large eggs, room temperature
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • Petite Marzipan Carrots

• For The Crust

  • 2 ounces (1/2 cup) toasted pecans
  • 8 graham crackers, finely ground (1 cup)
  • 2 ounces (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted
  • 3 tablespoons sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Make the crust: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pulse pecans in a food processor until finely ground. Place in a medium bowl with graham crackers, and stir in butter, sugar, and salt.
2. Wrap outside and bottom of a 9-inch springform pan in 2 layers of foil. Press crumb mixture firmly into bottom of pan. Bake until golden brown around edges and firm, about 15 minutes. Let cool on wire rack. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees.
3. Make the cheesecake: Melt butter in a medium saute pan over medium heat. Add carrots and 1/2 cup sugar, and cook, stirring often, until carrots are soft, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer with pan juices to a bowl, and let cool.
4. Beat cream cheese and remaining cup sugar with a mixer on medium speed until fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add carrots and pan juices, nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger, salt, and vanilla, and beat until incorporated. Pour into crust.
5. Set springform pan in a large roasting pan. Fill roasting pan with enough boiling water to reach halfway up the sides of springform pan. Bake cheesecake until set but slightly wobbly in center, 80 to 90 minutes.
6. Transfer springform pan to a rack, and remove foil. Let cool. Refrigerate, uncovered, at least 6 hours (or overnight; cheesecake will keep, covered and refrigerated, for up to 3 days). Run a hot knife around edges of cheesecake to loosen, then remove sides of pan. Decorate with marzipan carrots just before serving.

Mad Hatter Tea Baby Shower

     Another baby shower, another theme...this time we planned a Mad Hatter Tea.  I was totally inspired by the Alice in Wonderland Halloween Party for Adults pictures I saw in Better Home and Gardens.  It was so cute and had such great ideas, I knew I had to throw a Mad Hatter tea for someone.  When Tori, also known as Lil' Mrs. Crafty to the blogging world, announced she was preggers, I jumped at the chance to suggest this theme.  My friends, Kristi, Gina, known for her blog G's Guide to Mom Style,
and I teamed up to host Tori's shower together.  We all agreed it would be a fun theme, so we let our creative juices run wild!


     Here's some of the pictures of the decorations:

Invitations were ordered from polygraphics

     Before we ate, at each place setting I came up with a riddle for each guest to read, as a sort of ice breaker to let everyone get to know each other.  Kristi and I made them look so cute by printing out the riddle on white paper, cut it out with scrapbooking scissors, then antiqued it with stamping ink, next stapled it to the paper tag of a tea bag.  They looked so cute and were a big hit.

     A tea party isn't complete unless there are some yummy petite sandwiches....  We made a variety of delicious items to choose from. 

PB & J Sandwiches shaped like Clubs

Cucumber  Sandwiches to look like playing cards

Goat Cheese & Watercress Sandwiches

Chicken Salad Heart Sandwiches 

Fruit Salad in swirly orange bowls

Fresh Carrots and Ranch in pots

Mini Cheese balls and Crackers

Spinach Salad with Berries and Almonds in a Parmesan Crisp bowl

On to desserts.....

Sugar Cookie Teapots

Rainbow Swirled Cupcakes

Meringues, French Macaroons, & Tarts

Queen of Hearts Tarts

Recipes:

• Goat Cheese & Watercress Sandwiches
• Fruit Salad in Swirly Orange Bowls (I modified this a bit to my taste and didn't include the topping)
• Spinach Salad with Berries and Almonds in Parmesan Bowls (I changed this up a little too)
• Sugar Cookie Teapots
• Queen of Hearts Tarts

     A baby shower wouldn't be much fun without some shower games.  For this shower I stepped out of the traditional "measure the belly" game, "guess the candy in the diaper" game, and even the baby item scramble game.  Since it was a Mad Hatter themed shower, I came up with three Alice inspired games.  The first, I call Queen of Hearts.  I placed a playing card randomly face down under the plate charger for each place setting, making sure someone would find the Queen of Hearts.  Whom ever found it would be the winner and receive a prize.  (By the way, guests were able to choose where they wanted to sit, to make it fair)  But, instead of just looking under their charger, I had the ladies stick the card facing out to their forehead so everyone could see the card except for the person with the card.  It was so funny seeing the ladies with cards sticking to their heads.  And it just so happens, Tori, the guest of honor found the Queen of Hearts!

     The second game I had planned was matching a character from Disney's 1951 animated movie "Alice in Wonderland" to their memorable quote.  We printed out the quotes and characters, then glued it to some plain black and red scrapbook paper, next stuck on some stickers to make it look like a big playing card.  I timed the ladies for one minute and who ever matched the most right won a prize.

     The last game we played was an "Alice in Wonderland" scavenger hunt.  Kristi and I came up with a list of twenty different items that could be found on the table scape.  Some were easy, like a red rose, where as others, like a a golden key and chess piece, were a little harder to find.  I printed out the list and then we attached it to the back of the quote game and decorated it with a colorful key scrapbook accent.  The first one to find all the items on the list won the prize.  Overall, the ladies loved all the games, they were simple yet fun!

  After the games we showered Tori with gifts, mingled a bit, enjoyed some more food, and then went outside to take some pictures.

     After pictures and saying our good-byes, all our guests took home two favors, one was a small bottle of Martinelli's Sparkling Apple Cider with a tag labeled "Drink Me" and a home made sugar cookie teapot with a tag labeled "Eat Me".   It turned out to be an amazing day filled with great memories and wonderful friends.  Everyone enjoyed themselves and most of all Tori was surprised!