Archive | April, 2012

When life gives you left over lemons make Strawberry Lemonade

29 Apr

What to do with a bowl of leftover lemons? Strawberry Lemonade of course! This recipe is quick and easy. Came out great, even my three year old approved.

Strawberry Lemonade

1 cup lemon juice

1 1/2 cups strawberries

1 1/2 cups sugar

4 cups water

  • In a sauce pan bring 1 cup water and 1 cup sugar to a boil. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Set to the side
  • Hull the strawberries,  place in food processor
  • Add remaining 1/2 cup sugar and 3 cups water to strawberries and process unit well blended, move mixture to pitcher
  • add sugar/water mixture and stir
  • garnish with slices of lemon and strawberries

* I strained the processed strawberry mixture to remove seeds and pulp since I made this for children, but leaving the seeds and pulp taste great too

Strawberry Lemonade

Strawberry Lemonade

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Pancakes

25 Apr

My daughter asked for pancakes this morning so thought I would share the recipe I use. Homemade pancakes are worth the little bit extra work and you probably have everything you need in the pantry. From personal experience make sure you use the proper amount of baking powder, otherwise you’ll have some very flat and chewy pancakes! I never have buttermilk and not to keen on the idea of sour milk, so I just use regular ol’ milk and added vanilla extract, because vanilla makes everything better.

Pancakes

(adapted form Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook 15th Edition Buttermilk Pancakes)

1 3/4 cup flour

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups milk

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

 

 

In a bowl mix together all the dry ingredients by hand. Flour, sugar, baking powder and salt

In a separate bowl combine all wet ingredients, then slow pour and mix  the wet ingredients into the flour mixture

Mix by hand until flour mixture is evenly moistened, the batter should be slightly lumpy

in a hot buttered skillet pour 1/4 cup batter

cook over low medium heat for around 1-2 minutes per side *you know the first side is done when the exposed side is bubbly

Pancakes

Pancakes

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Mother-In-Law’s Oatmeal Cookies

23 Apr

My mother-in-law makes amazing oatmeal cookies and serves them up warm at breakfast time. This is a recipe she had made for her boys when they were little. I love it because there’s not a lot of flour in them, they are mostly oats.

Mother-In-Law’s Oatmeal Cookies

3/4 butter, softened

1 egg

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 cups oats

1 cup raisins

  • preheat oven 350 degrees
  • in a small pot boil 1 1/2 cups water, when it comes to a boil turn off the burner and dump in the raisins, let the raisins soak in hot water
  • in a bowl mix flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon and set to the side
  • beat egg, butter, sugars until combined
  • mix in flour mixture
  • add oats and mix by hand
  • drain raisins and add to cookie dough, mixing by hand
  • drop spoonfuls of dough onto greased cookie sheets
  • bake for  approximately 12 minutes
  • cool on racks

Walnuts or chocolate chips also make good additions to this recipe.

Mother-In-Law's Oatmeal Cookies

Mother-In-Law's Oatmeal Cookies

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Cookie Time Out

21 Apr

Took some time off of my planned cookie decorating today and spent some time with the family. Got to play at my other hobby: photography. I have done some child and family portraits and really enjoy it. Of course I have a batch of chocolate cookies sitting in their Tupperware container begging to be decorated but I need to make fondant and that requires more energy than I can handle right now. Kneading..ugh!

Since I have no finished cookies to share today I will post my favorite photo from this afternoon. Hope you like

Swing

How-to: Make cut-out cookies without a cookie cutter

20 Apr

Here is a really simple solution to cut-out cookies if you don’t have or can’t find the proper cutter. I made these for some Game of Thrones cookies. I wanted to put the different House’s sigils from the books by George R R Martin and show on to banners and shields, similar to what a knight might carry. Of course I didn’t have any cutters to fit what I wanted, I did a quick search for images on Google for shields and free handed the banner.

What you need:

  • Thin cardboard (I used soda box, it was thin and easy to cut)
  • Scissors
  • Marker
  • printed out images* (you can free hand your shape or print an image from your computer)
What you need

Supplies

Super Simple Steps

  1. Print your image and trace or freehand shape onto cardboard
  2. cut your shape from cardboard
  3. roll out your chilled cookie dough onto a floured surface
  4. place cardboard cut-out onto cookie dough and run a sharp knife through the dough
  5. place cookie on parchment covered cookie sheet and bake
trace your shape

Trace your shape

finished stencils

Finished stencils

cut the cookie

Cut your cookie with a sharp knife

finished cookies

Baked Cookies

Helpful Tips

  1. Cold Cookie dough:  You’ll be handling the dough more using this method if it becomes tacky throw it back in the fridge for a little while.
  2. A little extra flour: Use flour liberally since you’ll be holding the stencil on the cookie dough its more likely to stick to the surface

For more info on The Game of Thrones check out HBO for TV series info or Tower of the Hand for all sorts of info

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Focaccia Bread and Tomato Basil Brushetta

17 Apr

There’s nothing better than fresh bread. I’ll admit it I’m a gluten addict. This probably explains all the weight I carry around :) Anyway, my Mom made this focaccia bread for my very first Christmas Eve party this past year and it was a hit. Its really easy to make just a little time consuming because you need to let it rise repeatedly and rest. The ingredients list is also short and you can make it your own by altering the spices and toppings.

Focaccia Bread

7 cups bread flour

3 1/2 cups warm water

1 teaspoon yeast

2 tablespoons coarse salt

olive oil

  • stir  flour, water and yeast with mixer
  • cover mixture and let rise for 2 hours
  • add salt and mix on low speed with a dough hook for 3 to 5 minutes
  • scrape down the sides of the bowl with spatula
  • when the dough begins to cling to the bowl increase speed to medium for 15 seconds
  • scrape the dough onto a well floured surface
  • fold the dough into itself by thirds. Top, sides and bottom last
  • move your dough folded side down into a floured bowl
  • cover with plastic wrap and let rise one hour
  • return to floured surface and repeat folding then move back to bowl and let rise again one hour
  • preheat oven 450 degrees
  • move rack to lower 3rd of oven
  • coat a 17×21 sheet pan with olive oil ( around 1/4 cup)
  •  place dough on sheet pan
  • flip to coat both sides with oil
  • push the dough towards the edges
  • cover with plastic wrap and let rest 10 minutes
  • while plastic is still on push the dough toward the edges again
  • remove plastic wrap and season. ( I used sea salt, pepper, garlic powder and Italian seasoning) other toppings might include chopped olives, fennel onions, minced garlic, chopped sun-dried tomatoes
  • bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until evenly browned,  rotating half way through
  • remove bread from pan and cool on wire rack

Tomato Basil Brushetta

4 Vine-ripe Tomatoes

2 cloves of garlic

1 tablespoon of lemon juice

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon shredded fresh basil or 2 teaspoons of dried basil

  • mix lemon juice, olive oil and basil in a bowl
  • chop tomatoes and mince the garlic
  • add to liquid  and stir
  • let sit in the refrigerator for 4 hours

This recipe is super easy and taste great when paired with focaccia bread and soft mozzarella. The key is to get good vine ripe tomatoes.

Focaccia Bread and Tomato Basil Brushetta

Focaccia Bread and Tomato Basil Brushetta

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Almond Decorated Cookies

11 Apr

Almond Decorated Cookies

This is my go to decorated cookie recipe. They have a light almond flavor and make the perfect back drop for royal icing since the cookie itself isn’t overly sweet.

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon almond extract

3 ¼ cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

  1. In a large bowl beat softened butter and sugar until creamy
  2. Beat in eggs and both extracts
  3. In a separate bowl combine remaining dry ingredients
  4. Add dry ingredients gradually to sugar mixture until incorporated
  5. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled

Preheat oven 350 degrees

On a floured surface, roll out dough and cut with cookie cutters

Place cookies at least 1 inch from one another on a parchment paper covered cookie sheet

Bake 6-8 minutes until edges start to slightly brown

Remove from sheets and cool on a wire rack immediately

Decorate as desired

  1. butterfly cookies by the green apron

    Butterfly Cookies by the Green Apron

     

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How to: Make a Flag Cake Topper

9 Apr

How To: Make a Flag Cake Topper

flag cake topper

Flag cake topper by The Green Apron

  • 3 sheets of coordinating scrap paper
  • 2 food safe wooden dowels
  • string
  • Mod Podge
  1. Cut out banner flags from folded  scrap book paper so pattern will appear on both sides of flag when folded over the string
  2. measure out string against cake size and cut
  3. using a paint brush dab the Mod Podge* on 1 wooden dowel where you plan to tie string at. Wrap string over wet Mod Podge
  4. repeat with other dowel
  5. using paint brush, “paint” Mod Podge on one inner side of paper flag
  6. fold the flag over string and press the two sides together. Repeat with remaining flags until the string is covered in flags

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Marshmallow Fondant

9 Apr

1 bag mini marshmallows

2 Tablespoons water

7 cups shifted powdered sugar

1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract *optional

  1. mix water and marshmallows in microwave safe bowl

    Fondant Step 1

    Fondant Step 1

microwave in 30 second intervals mixing in between until all marshmallows are melted

(no longer than 2 minutes)

fondant step 2

Fondant Step 2

add 6-7 cups powdered sugar and mix with spoon until the fondant has a dough like consistency (most recipes call to mix the sugar and marshmallow by hand on a surface, I find it much less messy way to incorporate most of the sugar into the marshmallow by mixing it right in the bowl. Less clean up is always a good thing)

fondant step 3

Fondant Step 3`

knead by hand on a surface dusted with powdered sugar until smooth and not tacky

fondant step 4

Fondant Step 4

add water if too dry or more powdered sugar is sticky

to color, use gel food coloring after fondant has been kneaded with a tooth pick

fondant step 5

Fondant Step 5

knead until incorporated

fondant step 6

Fondant Step 6

you can store your fondant up to 2 weeks in the fridge, coat with shortening and wrap tightly in saran wrap, keep away from “smelly” foods to avoid it picking up any other flavors

Cake decorated with marshmallow fondant

Cake decorated with marshmallow fondant

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