The trouble with decorating . . . SOLVED

Most people I know love decorating cookies and cupcakes and love eating them that way. But no one likes making all the frosting, getting out all the piping bags and tips, and the mess involved. For several years now (as you can see in a previous post) I have only used freezer ziplock bags with the edge snipped to pipe icing. That way you can throw it all away, but it does limit your designs significantly. My aunt Kelli is a cupcake fanatic and hers always look so beautiful, but she uses a wilton 2D tip, which to me means, messing piping bags or specialty parchment paper ones that are not found at any of my local stores-- but yesterday I thought I would try using the 2D tip in a freezer ziplock and . . . it worked fabulously. I was a little worried it would leak due to the 90 degree angle of the bag and the 30 degree angle of the tip, but the freezer bag held up nicely. It was so easy and mess free. I just spooned one store bought tub of icing into the ziplock where the tip was waiting in the corner. I clipped the corner of the bag just enough to let the tip slide slightly into the hole. It worked like a charm. If ziplock really wanted my life to be easy they would make triangle shaped ziplock freezer bags.

Mini Meatloaf

This recipe is so easy and so quick and so tasty and so healthy.

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 box chicken stuffing mix (I usually use the store brand because it is cheaper and in this recipe it doesn't matter how fluffy the mix gets)

Put your hands inside plastic sandwich baggies and knead until well combined. Shape into small balls that will fit into a muffin pan. (this makes 12).

Bake at 350 for 20 - 30 minutes. They are crispy on the outside and moist in the middle. We each eat about 2 of them (which is only 2.66 ounces of meat) so if you are looking for portion control, this is perfect and filling. If you splurge and eat 4 of them you are looking at only 5.32 ounces -- still smaller than many burgers and most steaks. I usually serve them with baked potatoes or rice pilaf and brocolli (and of course ketchup for the kiddos).

Fondant cake decorating class

I love the look of fondant, but I hate the taste. I took a class at church this week to learn how to do it. It was fun I don't think it is very hard -- It is just time consuming. That is probably why the class was so fun. Someone bought all the supplies, made all the cakes, fillings, frostings, and fondants -- colored them all, placed them in decorating bags with the right tips -- all we had to do was decorate.

This is the "inspiration" photo.

Here is my version. Now the biggest difference is obviously the cake size -- the inspiration looks to be like 3 layers of 6 in cake rounds and mine was 2 layers of 10 inch. Also we did not have the little white dots on the roses, but all in all I thought it was pretty close. . . too bad it still tastes like fondant.

Apple Pie

My sister was here a couple weekends ago and we got very ambitious one Sunday afternoon and baked the following

• 8 pie crusts
• 3 apple pies
• 20 english muffins
• 24 rolls
• a whole sunday dinner -- roast, mashed potatoes -- the works

Here is the pie stuff -- other recipes to follow!

Pate Brise (I have no idea why Martha Stewart call the pie crust this???)

2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
2 sticks cold butter (cut into small cubes and keep in fridge until needed)
1/4 cup ice water (maybe a little more or less)

In a food processor combine the flour and salt. Add the butter and pulse until it resembles coarse crumbs.

With the machine running add in the water just until the dough holds together without being wet or sticky. Do not process more that 30 seconds.

Divide in half and place on a piece of plastic wrap. Shape into disks and refridgerate (at least 1 hr) (or you can freeze it for a month)

Apple Pie

1 recipe of the pate brise (1 disk for the crust, the other for the top)

Roll out the crust and place into a glass pie plate, Trim the overhang to about 1/2 inch.

In a large bowl toss together the filling
3 pounds peeled cored, sliced apples (1/4 in thick)
2 Tbs lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp salt
3 Tbs flour

Arrange in the chilled pie shell -- take 1 1Tbs of butter, cut into small pieces and place dots throughout the top of the apple filling.

Roll out the second pie crust and place on top. Push together the edges. Cut 3 slits in the top for venting. Brush the top of the crust with

1 large egg yolk and 1 Tbs heavy cream mixed together

Dust with sanding sugar.

Place in freezer for at least 30 minutes (up to a year probably)

Bake at 400 for 20 minutes then at 350 for 40 more.

Enjoy!

Sugar Cookies and Royal Icing

Sugar Cookies
4 sticks butter
3 cups sugar

Cream together for a while

2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

Mix in well

5 cups flour
1 tsp salt

Add half the flour first and when it is all mixed well add the other half (I don't know why -- that is what the directions said, but be prepared for all that flour to fly at you!)

Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes (but check often-- as soon as the edges are slightly gold take them out! )

Royal Icing
2 egg whites
1 tsp cream of tartar

Blend until stiff peaked

Add 1 cup powdered sugar

Mix for 10 minutes (use an electric mixer or go crazy)

Add 1 cup powdered sugar

Mix for another 10 minutes (see what I mean)

Use water to thin to the right consistency (a ribbon of it will absorb into the other in 5-7 seconds)

Divide and color. Put into FREEZER ziplocks (the storage ones just don't hold up.) When ready to decorate, snip the corner and use like a piping bag.

I did these over a couple of days lest I go nuts trying to help all the kids. When done, just put the ziplocks in the fridge and tackle the project again when your patience with small children has returned. (or do the rest later all by yourself and find that it is really fun)

Apples

We got this idea from a suggestion my Aunt Kellie left on facebook. We used a melon baller to make little mini apple balls and then dipped those in chocolate, caramel and sprinkles. They were just the right size for the kids -- and you really don't waste much apple!

For dinner we had Chicken salad.
1 can chicken breast
1 TBS mayo
1/2 a large apple
2 ribs of celery

We served it over a bed of lettuce and on english muffins. It was delicious.

Retro meal

My kids had home-made egg mcmuffins (toasted english muffins, bacon, cheese, and a poached egg) and for dessert Orange Julius. I hadn't had one in years. It was delicious and the perfect complement to a breakfasty dinner.

Orange Julius
1 can orange juice concentrate
2 cups milk (I used some half and half cuz I had it and I am sure it helped make it so creamy)
2 cups water
1 tsp vanilla
16 cubes of ice

BLEND.

Add more ice if necessary