Like sanding sugar through the hourglass...

The only thing better than decorating cookies is watching your little girl grow up to be able to do it all by herself. Boo prepares cookies for her class cookie exchange.





Her cookie choice, her design, her elbow grease. I will say that she was trying to recruit help by cookie number three.

Walking where the feathered ones have gone before me!

'Tis the season...

...to get down to baking!!! In the immortal words of my sister, "Go big or go home!"

By the way, don't just separate your cookie tiers, make 'em chuckle!

Peppermint Meringues

I will admit that even though these clever little meringues liven up any Christmas cookie tray, they are a bit cloying. I felt the need to bust out some Christmas tree spritz cookies to keep things real.

Am I the only one that sees poetry in buttercream?

Italian meringue buttercream is a pain to make. It requires simultaneous feats of whipping whites on your kitchenaid and boiling a sugar syrup on the stove to a soft ball stage. There is one moment of heart-pounding intensity where you have to pour a furiously boiling sticky liquid into a whirring machine of delicate and touchy egg whites. After that, you get elbow deep into pounds of cold butter that must be man-handled until pliable. The drama culminates in chunky nasty goop that makes you think it can't possibly come together--until it DOES. What you have left is the most heavenly buttercream, stable enough for tall feats of cake, and rich and smooth enough for the most discerning tastes. Even though this Mom-wife only has third grade and kindergarten fans, even they seem to understand. This year, I fully intended to short the short ones by making a confectioners sugar based shortcut for my daughter's birthday cupcakes. Then I was told, "Rebecca can't wait for my birthday celebration at school. She loves your frosting!". That did it. I may not have Clients, but I have fans. Little people, yes, but real fans.

Love at first sight

It was sitting on a high shelf in an antique store. A red metal cake carrier with painted flowers and handles. There is even a pie shelf inside. It makes me want to redecorate my whole kitchen to match. I'll have to come up with a worthy cake recipe instead.

How To Make A Tomato Sandwich

1. Grow a tomato. This can be done by someone you trust.
2. Do not refrigerate this tomato--or any tomato. Ever.
3. Lightly toast some bread.
4. Spread generously with mayonnaise. Set tomato slices into the mayo so it will oozsh together. Do not make the mistake of separating the tomato from the mayo with lettuce or cheese. Mayo and tomato oozsh is one of the top ten best sauces.
5. Sprinkle a good quality salt on the tomato. This is critical for bringing out the sweetness of the tomato.
6. Add a slice or two of cheese. Either American or fresh mozzarella. Stick with a mild cheese or it will over power the delicate flavors of the tomato.
7. Add some good lettuce or greens and coarse ground pepper.
8. Wrap the sandwich, deli-style, in wax or parchment paper. (Place sandwich on square of paper. Bring opposite sides of the paper together above the sandwich. Roll down toward top of sandwich. Fold in corners and then tuck under sandwich. Cut sandwich through paper.) This will keep even the most unwieldy sandwiches together.
9. Best paired with a tall glass of iced whole milk. Heaven.

Chanterelle, my belle

I adore mushrooms, champignon, xiang gu! Oh, my lovely little fungi. So woodsy and rich, yet so delicate of texture. Musk of the earth. I so rarely get to indulge because my husband can't stand them--can't be in the house with them. So tonight while he works late, I've sauteed up a whole plate for myself. Just a little butter, salt, pepper, and fresh sage from the garden. Divine.

Study for a wedding cake

The perfect solution for a groom who wants dark chocolate and a bride that wants a traditional cake is a dual filling layer. A tiny layer of rich bittersweet chocolate ganache under each fluffy layer of Meringue buttercream looks so elegant when it is sliced and served. The chocolate would be way to dark and rich on its own. Here we have a lovely contrast and balance. The perfect marriage.


I couldn't resist using the tasting as an opportunity to try out a few purple sugar orchids.

Real chess cookies

I admit that I was extremely disappointed when I realized that you can't actually play a game of chess with a package of Pepperidge Farm Chessman cookies. Like most kids, I pondered the point of it all. Unlike most kids I calculated how many bags it would take to have enough pieces. Then, I needed to take into account the probability of getting the right pieces. Nevermind that the cookies are all white! Luckily, that nerd-child grew up and realized that it's far easier to bake your own. There is a real satisfaction in devouring your opponent's captured pieces. Just don't eat the Queen so fast, you never know when a pawn will make it all the way across to the other side and demand a promotion.

Library Tote

We are constantly paying library fines around here. The good thing is that we go to the library often, check out lots of books, and read them all over the house. The bad thing is the around the house part--we can never find them all when it's time to head back to the library. The solution is


a dedicated library tote that permanently resides on Boo's bedroom doorknob. We can be off to the library with all books ready at a moments notice and the kids can carry their own books! You will need a paper cutting system. I have a relatively inexpensive Slice machine because I craft, yes, but I do not scrapbook. (Confession: scrapbookers scare me. But that's a whole other story). You simply cut letters out of freezer paper and iron them shiny side down in place. Fabric paint and then peel the stencil off! We added an iron-on owl embellishment. Boo loved this craft and it's so useful too!

More berry tarts

This one for my sister's birthday.