Happy Holidays!

Happy holidays to everyone! I hope you are all having a great time with family and friends. I know I am having a lot of fun baking cookies and bars to give out during the holidays.

To Melt or Not to Melt Butter When Baking

I am often asked for recipes for various baked goods, and I love sharing.  Something I haven't thought about though when sharing these recipes is the skill level of the baker.  I have generally had most of my recipes turn out, so it's surprising to me when someone tells me theirs didn't turn out. I know that temperature plays an important role in the baking process. 

Most recently though, I discovered that my sister- who will outright admit that she's a terrible baker - melts butter for her baked good recipes.  Since she bakes infrequently, she doesn't preplan and merely gathers her ingredients to put the recipe together.  Her butter is always in the fridge or freezer.  So her resolution is to melt it for the recipe. 

I'm not sure if everyone knows this, because she didn't, and that's partially why her baked goods don't turn out.  For baked good recipes it's not necessary to melt the butter unless the recipe calls for melted butter, in which case it will indicate so. Mostly, I use butter at room temperature for baking.

It may seem simple to us bakers, but for those new to baking, or just unfamiliar with it like my sister, it's a great tip to share!  Especially with the holiday season quickly approaching! 

Cranberry Shortbread Cookies

 

I have made shortbread cookies many times before, however this time I added chopped dried cranberries and it made such a difference! For some reason everyone who tasted them liked them more than they did the plain shortbread cookies.

 

The dried cranberries added a bit of tartness and a slight chewy texture to the cookies. They also added some color to the cookies and made them look kind of pretty! I had also cut them out into small flower shapes (about 2" across) to make them even cuter.

 

To make them, I simply used this shortbread cookie recipe and added 3/4 cup of chopped dried cranberries. I rolled the dough out to 1/4" thick and cut them out into shapes. You can also just roll the dough into 1"balls and flatten them with a fork.

Candy Cookies

We love going out to eat cookies, ice cream and other fun desserts, but it can get a bit expensive. It is a nice treat to go out once in a while, but when we can stay home it is definitely more cost effective.

My kids love getting cookies with candy on top so I decided to make a batch of shortbread cookies and cut them out using the biggest circle cookie cutter I have. (4" across). Then I pressed candy coated chocolate on top of them before baking.

They were really easy to make and the kids loved them! These would also make great party favors or party treats.

Garden Pictures

The summer season is usually busy, but always fun. I don't bake as many goodies during the summer since there is a lot of yard work to do, so I thought I would share some pictures from my garden.

I have so many things growing, including trees. berry bushes, tiger lilies and more. However, these two-toned peonies are my favorite.

What keeps you busy during the summer? Feel free to comment!

Cute Cupcakes

It is so fun to make cupcakes, especially when the kids can help out too! They like to make cute cupcakes and so I used some leftover royal icing to pipe out some eyes, noses and mouths onto parchment paper and let them dry. Once they were ready, we baked basic vanilla cupcakes and spread chocolate frosting onto them. Then they got to use the royal icing pieces to make faces!

Gluten Free Mocha Brownie Recipe

When friends or family have special diets, such as a gluten free diet, it is not quite as difficult as I once thought it was. I remember one of my "gluten free" friends came over for a birthday party and I only knew of a couple of things to make. That was a couple of years ago. Now, quite a number of friends and family are eating gluten free.

Brownies are such a popular dessert and the following recipe is great for those who are on gluten free diets and even those who are not!

Ingredients:
15 Medjool dates, pitted, soaked and drained
¼ cup of water
9 tbsp. raw cocoa
¼ cup agave syrup
¼ cup coconut oil, soft, not in liquid form
1 can of drained garbanzo beans
4 eggs
½ tsp. baking powder
2 tbsp. espresso, finely ground
Chopped Walnuts (Optional)

Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Blend dates and ¼ cup water on high until it becomes a paste (in a blender)
3. Add eggs, cocoa, agave, coconut oil, baking powder and espresso; blend until smooth
4. Add garbanzo beans; mix on high until entire mixture is well incorporated, thick and smooth
5. Stir in chopped walnuts. (Optional)
6. Evenly distribute mixture into mini muffin tins (fills 30-32)
7. Bake for 10-12 minutes (until it passes the toothpick test); remove and cool on a wire rack

Pretty simple and they taste great too! I sometimes put them in the kids lunch for school and they love it!

What to Get For Mother's Day

It's often difficult to decide what to get for Mother's Day. Some mom's love to receive flowers, while other moms simply love Mother's Day crafts made by their children. Since I'm all grown up, I don't think I will be making any Mother's Day crafts for my mom, and she probably would prefer a nice homemade meal (that she doesn't have to cook!) over some flowers.

A great alternative would be a lovely new apron! In my opinion, one can never have too many! My mom has had the same apron for as long as I can remember, but times have changed and with so many styles and patterns to choose from, I don't know how I could only own one apron!

It's the perfect time to get some Mother's Day shopping done, since throughout the month of April you can get 40% off anything from the Flirty Aprons Website. Just use the Flirty Aprons coupon code MOMSDAY40.

Cookie Cupcakes

I made some cupcake shaped cookies in place of actual cupcakes for a treat since they have a longer shelf life than cake items. Of course cupcakes or cookie cupcakes can be frozen, but I prefer not to freeze too many baked items. Especially since I don't have much room in the freezer most of the time!

I stuck with a simple design and piped the Burgundy icing onto the bottom portion of the cookie and white royal icing on top. Then while the icing was still wet, I added dots in the opposite color to the top and bottom. For the bottom of the cookie on the left, I simply ran a toothpick from the top to the bottom of each white dot to create a different look.

What is your favorite cookie shape? Feel free to comment!

Wash Away Labels by Mabel's Labels

I like to stay organized by labeling my flours, sugars and other jarred items in my kitchen. Mabel's Labels has recently introduced their new line of Wash Away Labels. These labels are perfect for potluck dishes, daycare bottles, frozen foods, canning jars, and especially the dry goods that I mentioned! When the labels are are no longer needed, they can be cleaned off in the dishwasher or rinsed off under running water. The labels disappear completely and don't leave that sticky residue that is hard to remove. Check them out at Mabel's Labels!

Little Mermaid Cake

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This Little Mermaid cake was at a friend's party and was just so pretty, I had to take a picture. It was not only adorable, but really delicious as well. The fondant was just the right amount of sweetness and the cake inside was the perfect texture with an amazing chocolate hazelnut flavor.

Birthday Cake Oreo

When I saw the pretty gold package of Birthday Cake Oreos, I had to stop and look at them. I don't often buy Oreos even though I love them! The kids can't get enough of them so if we have them in the house, it's a bit more of a challenge to get them to eat their dinner since all they want to eat are cookies!



I stood there for about a minute, and thought "why not"? I limited myself to buying just one package and couldn't wait to try one.

Once I got home, I opened the bag immediately and they smelled just like a vanilla cupcake with fluffy delicious icing. They tasted that way as well. The original Oreo had been my favorite, but this one tops it for sure. I will have to stick with original Oreos since these Birthday Cake Oreos were only limited edition.

Did you get a chance to try them? Feel free to comment!

Almond Butter

Almond butter has become one of my favorite nut butters. It's smooth and really rich. It adds a nice flavor and texture to cookies so I often use it in place of regular butter.

One of the very popular cookies in my house is the peanut butter cookie. I tried making almond butter cookies instead and they were just as well liked! Just use your favorite peanut butter cookie recipe and replace the peanut butter with almond butter.

Another fast and easy snack I like to make is honey and almond butter toast. The kids love it, probably because the honey makes it sweet! I simply spread some honey onto the toast and top it with some almond butter.

Gingerbread Man Cookies

Every year during the holidays (which are fast approaching!), I put together a gingerbread house and make other gingerbread cookies as well. Gingerbread men or gingerbread people are a classic shape and so easy to decorate. I could have spent more time covering most of the cookie in icing to form a nice shirt, pants, tie and complete it all with shoes made of icing too, but it is much more reasonable to use a simple design.

I usually box or bag the cookies and end up making hundreds of them. With a simple design, I don't have to wait for layers of icing to dry and can also please the majority of people the cookies are given to since some do not like too much icing.

If you have a large batch of cookies to make, try icing them using a simple design to save time! :)

Aviva Community Fund Charity Contest-Cast Your Vote!

This post brought to you by Aviva Community Fund. All opinions are 100% mine.

Earlier this month, I posted about the Aviva Community Fund Charity Contest and how important it is to improve the communities in which we live. The Aviva Community fund does just that. The fund provides the opportunity for means for those who have submitted their ideas on how they can improve their community. It is personally important to me, because I know our own community has a food bank and homeless shelter that is always in need of food, clothing and more. 

The second Qualifying round of the competition has started and it is so simple to cast your vote!

Anyone in Canada, registered on the Aviva Community Fund website can vote. Once you are registered and signed in, just click on the "Vote now" button on the idea you like most. You can even vote directly through their Facebook voting app, which can be found here Facebook.com/AvivaCommunityFund.

 

• Voting takes place during each of the qualifying rounds and the Semi-Final phases of the competition. You can vote up to 15 times during each of the 3 initial rounds and 15 more times during the Semi-Finals. Each idea can only be voted for once per day, but you can vote for as mady ideas as you'd like. Keep in mind that you have only 15 votes and once a vote is used, it cannot be changed.

• Go ahead and make a difference by voting for your favorite idea. Visit http://www.avivacommunityfund.org/about/voting for full voting details. 

• You can also show support by doing the following:
• Like Aviva Community Fund or Follow @Aviva
•  

Safe Driving in School Zones

This post brought to you by Insurance Hunter. All opinions are 100% mine.

Being a parent of school aged children I am always worried about their safety, especially when they are on their way to and from school. A recent Ontario School Zone Safety Survey revealed that three quarters of Ontario parents surveyed witnessed drivers break the law within school zones. I myself have witnessed on several occasions, drivers speeding or not stopping when a school bus has the stop sign out. It doesn't come as a shock, but does scare me. Other parents get pretty angry and often comment by saying "did you see how fast they were driving?!". It's no wonder nearly one third of parents surveyed feared that their child would be involved in a vehicle accident during drop-off or pick-up at school.

According to the Insurance Hunter’s survey on driver safety in school zones many drivers put children at risk by speeding, talking or texting on a cell phone, not stopping at crosswalks or for crossing guards, as well as running red lights. The survey also disclosed that over one third of parents surveyed felt that safety procedures such as staying out of areas where parking was not permitted were not being followed. The reasons of those who admitted pulling into non-drop off/pick up area included being in a hurry, a full drop-off/pick-up zone and stopping only for a few minutes. I have seen how congested pick-up and drop-off zones can get, but stopping in non-designated areas slows things down even more. Fortunately, most of the schools in my area have designated drop-off/pick-up areas, but I'm sure there are some schools that don't have a pick-up/drop-off zone.

Both the Ontario Schools and parents need to work together to improve safety within school zones. For more details about the survey results or auto insurance visit www.InsuranceHunter.ca

 

 

The Aviva Community Fund Charity Contest-Make a Difference in Your Community!

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Aviva Community Fund for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

There are always many ideas to make positive changes to any community, but sometimes there just aren't enough funds to make them happen. This is why I love the idea of the Aviva Community Fund charity contest. Aviva Canada Inc. which one of Canada's leading providers of home, auto, leisure and business insurance has a contest called the Aviva Community Fund charity contest which provides the opportunity for these ideas to come to life. The first qualifying round runs from October 1st to the 15th, while the second round is from October 22nd to November 5th, 2012. I know our community can use more help when it comes to homeless shelters and youth programs amongst other charities.

If you have an idea for positive community change, this is the perfect chance for an opportunity to make it happen. Visit AvivaCommunityFund.org and submit your idea! The best ideas will gain the opportunity to share in part of the $1,000,000 community fund. At least one Small Idea (up to $50K), one Medium Idea ($50K - $100K), and one Large Idea ($100K - $150K) will be funded. Ideas should be completed or well underway before Dec. 31, 2013. Only ideas which will be implemented within a Canadian community will be considered. Ideas must be submitted in either English or French.

From animal shelters to school playgrounds, there is so much that can be done simply by entering your brilliant idea.

As well, you can easily show your support for the program by doing the following:

Like Aviva Community Fund and/or Follow @Aviva

For a chance at this amazing opportunity, submit your idea at Aviva Community Fund.

For full details about eligibility and contest rules, visit http://www.avivacommunityfund.org/about/full-eligibility-criteria

Ghost Cookies

There are so many different Halloween cookies to make and I can never decide which ones to choose! I usually make pumpkins and ghost cookies since I find them to be easy to decorate.

These are sugar cookies that I made last Halloween in the ghost shape, decorated with royal icing.

As usual, I start with sugar cookies made from scratch using this recipe: Sugar Cookies
Then I decorated them with this royal icing recipe: Royal Icing

To decorate them, I first piped on white royal icing as the base and let it dry overnight. Then I piped on the hat, face and word "Boo" with purple, green and orange icing and let the icing dry overnight before packaging them up in clear treat bags, tied with co-ordinating ribbon.

Beach Fun

We had a lot of fun going to the beach this summer and now it's back to school for the kids! I didn't bake a lot during the summer months, but plan to make time for baking cookies now that the kids will be off to school.
I will be trying different experiments with trying to make somewhat nutritious cookies so that I can pack them in everyone's lunch. I always find it challenging to pack a really good lunch, since tree nuts are not allowed at school. This eliminates the peanut butter, almond butter and other nut butters that I usually like to put on their sandwiches.
Either way, I can't wait to try out some new recipes!

White Lady Peaches

White lady peaches!! I recently purchased a box of tree-ripened white lady peaches. I was really excited since I had purchased some last year, and they were so very sweet and fragrant. This year I am not disappointed because they are just as good! Last year I made peach cobbler, ate them just like that, and froze some.
There are just so many things that you can do with peaches if you have time, such as: pie filling, jams (pure peach, or add some brown sugar for butterscotch peach jam!), spreads, ice cream or sorbet, and you can jar them for later as well.
This year I have already made peach sorbet for my girls quickly and easily using my Vitamix. I shared some peaches with my sister and she is going to jar hers so that she can feed them to her baby in the Fall when he's ready for solids. I was surprised since most the time when fruits are jarred it is done with a sugary or honey syrup, which wouldn't be ideal for a baby. But I learned from her that you can pack them in just water. The only differences are that the fruits may not be as sweet and the colour won't quite be the same.

If I get the chance before they over ripen, I would love to dry or candy them to add to cookies.
I hope you are enjoying this season's harvest of fresh fruits and vegetables!