Last week I decided to ask family and friends to an Easter brunch at our house to celebrate the day. Since time and funds were low, each invitee was asked to bring something. My brother made an amazing cheese grits casserole to go with my shrimp and andouille sausage. Mom brought a ham and champagne glasses. My mother-in-law, Jo brought her special deviled eggs and fresh fruit. Friends, Carolyn and Alana, brought orange juice for mimosas and the cutest mini cupcakes. And friends, Kenda and Mark, brought a delicious potato salad. I added the "HeartSong" touch with banana muffins and white chocolate blueberry pecan cookies. Food was plentiful and very good, but the best part of the day was the company. At the end of the day I hugged my husband Mike and reflected..."We made some people happy today and that is a very good thing!"
Many hugs,
Kathy
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Friday, April 10, 2009
Easter Sugar Cookies
All holidays must be commemorated with sugar cookies! Actually, it is just my excuse to play with cookie cutters and sprinkles. You can find the recipe in a previous posting from February 12. Happy Easter!
Many hugs,
Kathy
Many hugs,
Kathy
Friday, April 3, 2009
Priceless!
This week's cookie adventure took shape in a most unexpected place. As I stopped at a light on Orange Avenue in downtown Orlando, I noticed a gentleman standing by the intersection holding a sign..."Hungry". I could not overlook his hopeless expression. He seemed genuinely hungry. I knew I was very low on funds and reluctantly started to drive on.
Then I remembered the bag of chocolate chunk cookies that were in the back seat from the day before. I rolled down the window and told the man I did not have any money, but had a bag of homemade chocolate chunk cookies. Fully expecting him to be disappointed by my lack of money, I was pleasantly surprised by his reaction. "HOMEMADE?!!!!" he said, in a delighted inquisitive tone. He rushed to my window to take the bag of cookies and treated them with reverence like I had given him something of great value. A big, toothless grin and thank you was what I received in return...PRICELESS!
Many hugs,
Kathy
Then I remembered the bag of chocolate chunk cookies that were in the back seat from the day before. I rolled down the window and told the man I did not have any money, but had a bag of homemade chocolate chunk cookies. Fully expecting him to be disappointed by my lack of money, I was pleasantly surprised by his reaction. "HOMEMADE?!!!!" he said, in a delighted inquisitive tone. He rushed to my window to take the bag of cookies and treated them with reverence like I had given him something of great value. A big, toothless grin and thank you was what I received in return...PRICELESS!
Many hugs,
Kathy
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Cookie Welcome Basket
This week I finally got my first paying cookie gig. My friend, Carolyn, asked me to make a cookie basket for a new tenant in her mom's condo. I was thrilled! I baked three different types of cookies and dressed them up in "heartsong" style. Hope her tenant likes the cookies at least half as much as I enjoyed making them. Thanks Carolyn!
Many hugs,
Kathy
Many hugs,
Kathy
Friday, March 20, 2009
Gator Breakfast Adventure
Several week's ago I was honored with a request from Lorraine, my most enthusiastic cookie fan, to cater a breakfast meeting for my Alma mater - University of Florida. I was intrigued with the prospect of finding a healthy breakfast cookie and some really tasty muffin recipes. After a week of "research and development" and a couple of flops, I ended up with three recipes. Since tonight I am functioning on 2 1/2 hours of sleep, I will post my favorite of the three and follow up this weekend with the rest. Thanks Lorraine for believing in me. I had a blast!
Banana Muffins with Mascarpone Cream Frosting
Muffins:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 ground nutmeg
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 ripe bananas, peeled and coarsely mashed
Frosting:
3 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/3 cup mascarpone cheese, room temperature
3 tablespoons honey
1/2 cup chopped toasted walnuts
1. Line 18 muffin cups with paper liners. Preheat oven to 325 F.
2. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a medium bowl. Beat the sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl. Stir in the mashed banana. Add the dry ingredients and stir until just blended.
3. Divide the batter amoung the prepared muffin cups. Bake the muffins on the middle rack until the tops are golden brown and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean with no crumbs attached...about 25 minutes (my oven took 28 minutes). Transfer the muffins to a rack and cool slightly. The muffins are amazing warm without the frosting, but even better topped with the creamy sweet mascapone confection.
4. To frost the muffins: In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in the mascarpone cheese and follow with the honey. Spread the frosting over the muffins and sprinkle with the toasted walnuts.
Tip: I used (2) 12 cup muffin pans and yielded 24 muffins. They did not have large puffy tops, but were plenty big enough for me. To frost 12 muffins, I doubled the frosting recipe...would probably need to triple it to frost all 24. My brother suggested I try adding mini chocolate chips to this recipe. Mmmmmm, sounds good. Maybe next week...
Enjoy!
Many hugs,
Kathy
Banana Muffins with Mascarpone Cream Frosting
Muffins:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 ground nutmeg
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 ripe bananas, peeled and coarsely mashed
Frosting:
3 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/3 cup mascarpone cheese, room temperature
3 tablespoons honey
1/2 cup chopped toasted walnuts
1. Line 18 muffin cups with paper liners. Preheat oven to 325 F.
2. Whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a medium bowl. Beat the sugar, oil, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl. Stir in the mashed banana. Add the dry ingredients and stir until just blended.
3. Divide the batter amoung the prepared muffin cups. Bake the muffins on the middle rack until the tops are golden brown and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean with no crumbs attached...about 25 minutes (my oven took 28 minutes). Transfer the muffins to a rack and cool slightly. The muffins are amazing warm without the frosting, but even better topped with the creamy sweet mascapone confection.
4. To frost the muffins: In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in the mascarpone cheese and follow with the honey. Spread the frosting over the muffins and sprinkle with the toasted walnuts.
Tip: I used (2) 12 cup muffin pans and yielded 24 muffins. They did not have large puffy tops, but were plenty big enough for me. To frost 12 muffins, I doubled the frosting recipe...would probably need to triple it to frost all 24. My brother suggested I try adding mini chocolate chips to this recipe. Mmmmmm, sounds good. Maybe next week...
Enjoy!
Many hugs,
Kathy
Monday, March 16, 2009
Luck of the Irish Cookies
With the state of our world right now, I think we all could use a little luck of the Irish. This weekend I baked Sandy's Sugar Cookies from a previous blog posting and dressed them up in their best Irish finery.
Many hugs,
Kathy
Many hugs,
Kathy
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies from Dennis
My friend Dennis makes the most amazing chocolate chip cookies. Last week he shared the recipe with me and I finally had the opportunity to make them this weekend. Unfortunately I cooked mine a little too long, but they were delicious anyway. Dennis, thanks for sharing!
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 cup real butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 cups nuts (I used toasted mixed nuts)
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups oatmeal (then grind in a blender)
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Cream first five ingredients. Mix in dry ingredients, except chips and nuts...add them last. Combine all ingredients. Roll into balls and place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 F for 10-15 minutes. Watch carefully!
Tip: While they tasted great, my first attempt was a little dry. I baked mine for 13 minutes, but will cut it down to 11 or 12 minutes next time. I also measured the 2 1/2 cups of oatmeal after it was ground. Next time I will follow Dennis' directions and measure the raw oatmeal instead, prior to grinding.
Many hugs,
Kathy
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 cup real butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 cups nuts (I used toasted mixed nuts)
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups oatmeal (then grind in a blender)
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Cream first five ingredients. Mix in dry ingredients, except chips and nuts...add them last. Combine all ingredients. Roll into balls and place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 F for 10-15 minutes. Watch carefully!
Tip: While they tasted great, my first attempt was a little dry. I baked mine for 13 minutes, but will cut it down to 11 or 12 minutes next time. I also measured the 2 1/2 cups of oatmeal after it was ground. Next time I will follow Dennis' directions and measure the raw oatmeal instead, prior to grinding.
Many hugs,
Kathy
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