Family Cookbook

Although many recipes can easily be found on the internet, they may not be the exact same as the ones "mom" used to make. With the holidays around the corner, it would be a great time to collect those amazing family recipes and put them into a Family Cookbook.

There are so many family recipes from my childhood that I would love to be able to re-create for my own children. I know my sisters would also love to have the precise recipes for the coconut waffles, butter tarts and other treats which bring back so many memories.

The Family CookBook Project makes it easy to preserve and share all those special recipes. It regularly $99 to create a Family CookBook, but available for only $39, while quantities last! Check out the details below.  Happy Creating!

Straight Talk-The Perfect Plan to Save Money on Your Cell Phone

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

Saving money has never been easier with Straight Talk. You can get everything you need with a Straight Talk monthly cell phone plan including nationwide coverage and exceptional reception without the hassle of a credit check or contract!

With The power of Android phones from manufacturers such as LG, Motorola, Kyocera, Nokia and Samsung, and a cell phone bill that has been cut in half, you can Feel Richer with Android. Now, all you have to do is think of what you would do with all the savings.

You can receive unlimited monthly service for only $45 including calls, text, picture message and web or go with the “All You Need Plan” which includes 1000 minutes, 1000 texts and 30 MB of web data. No need to worry, because 411 calls are included with either plan. Amazingly, there are never any activation, reactivation or termination fees.

 Reconditioned phones with camera, mp3 player, mobile web access, and blue-tooth capability are available starting at only $10.  Perfect for those just starting out with their first cell phone and another great opportunity to save some money. Brand new phones with touch screens, Take a look at the following video to learn more!

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Sunflower Cookies

Sunflower Cookies by the hundreds! I made these for my friend's wedding and at first, I had trouble finding a Sunflower Cookie Cutter. However, there was one in my Wilton 101 Piece Cookie Cutter Set all along! I just didn't realize it, because it had so many petals. I ended up piping out all the petals using Wilton tip #30 and the sunflower cookies turned out to be quite pretty. Next time, I would probably try harder to find a cookie cutter with only 6 to 8 petals as it would have saved a lot of time.

I was hoping to make Sunflower Cupcakes to go with the sunflower cookies, but did not have enough time. I'll have to try making the sunflower cupcakes for another occasion. I probably wouldn't have had enough counter space for everything either! I had to put a lot of the cookies on my kitchen table to dry overnight.

At first I thought that the cookie on the left looked nice and rustic, but decided that the brighter sunflower on the right would be nicer. The sunflower cookie on the left was my first attempt at mixing the yellow shade that I thought would look best. However, it had a little too much copper in it. In my opinion, both look nice. The shade you would want to go with just depends on what you prefer. The final mixture of icing (pictured on the right) contained 1 part copper, 3 parts lemon yellow and 1 part daffodil yellow. To get the color on the left, I used 2 parts copper, 2 parts lemon yellow and 1 part daffodil yellow.

I used this sugar cookie recipe, 

Sugar Cookies

and this royal icing recipe,

Royal Icing

For the petal icing, I had to add extra icing sugar to stiffen the royal icing so that the lines on the petals would not run. I added one extra cup of icing sugar to start and then gradually added a little more until it was stiff enough to stay on the paddle attachment of my mixer when lifted out of the bowl. I had to be careful not to make it too dry and stiff. The icing should still be shiny, and if it gets too dry, just keep adding half teaspoons of water until it gets smooth and shiny again.

Caterpillar and Watermelon Sugar Cookies

Summer is almost over, but a fun way to remember all the fun times and welcome in a new season is to bake some sugar cookies! I made different sized circle shaped sugar cookies and cut a few of the larger ones in half before baking them.

So, with the half circles, I piped on some royal icing caterpillars and made watermelon slices. The caterpillars were pretty easy as I just piped circles in different colors, one right after the next. Then when the icing dried a bit, I used a black edible ink marker to draw on a little eye and some antennas. Of course, the caterpillars can be made in a combination of any colors, bright, pastel, rainbow.......whatever matches your theme or mood.

For the watermelon slices, I simply piped on a green half circle, then flooded the rest of the cookie with red icing. Next, I put some black icing dots on it and used a toothpick to pull the black circles out to make them look like seeds.

I also made some square shaped cookies, put green icing on them and sprinkled sanding sugar onto them. Those were a lot of fun to eat, because they were nice and crunchy and looked a bit like grass!

These cookies would be perfect for a picnic, barbecue, garden party, summer get together or even a Hungry Caterpillar themed party.

Saving Money Using Straight Talk

This post brought to you by Straight Talk. All opinions are 100% mine.

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Straight Talk is a great cellular phone provider that helps cut your cell phone costs in half. That makes for a lot more money left over to buy baking supplies. At least, that is definitely what I would do with the savings! What would you use the savings for? Straight Talk has unlimited monthly plans which cost only $45 per month and include calls, text messaging, picture messaging and web. If everything you need is included, what more can you ask for? You can call a friend to get that recipe you have been wanting to try out! Also, there aren’t any activation, reactivation or termination fees. Low rates are also available for international calling so you don't have to be afraid to  call anyone you want, even if they live far away.

With Straight Talk, 411 calls are included at no extra cost, and you don’t have to sign a contract as you do with many other companies. You get nationwide coverage and can choose from quality brand name phones and even reconditioned phones starting at only $10! Smart phones with touch screens, app capable, with such features as voice navigation, camera, video recorder and music player are just some of the choices available.

These days, mom knows best not only  when it comes to the kitchen, but cell phones too! 

Party Cookies

I made these fun party cookies for a 2nd birthday party. They are sugar cookies in the shape of party hats, cupcakes and tiered cakes. I decorated them with royal icing and Sanding Sugar.

Flower Cookies

I made flower cookies for a summer barbecue using the daisy flower cookie cutter from my Wilton 101 piece cookie cutter set. They turned out to be almost 4 inches wide which is a bit larger than the cookies I usually make. I originally wanted to make traditional yellow sunflowers, but decided to make pretty pink flowers with a bit of purple to accent them. I already had the white and green circles for the center of the cookie which I made using royal icing.