Category Archives: baking

Orange & Date Scones

21 Saturday Jan 2012

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How rainy and dreary it is today! The chill went right to my bones. Since I was feeling under the weather, both from a cold and from the cold, I decided to make my favorite scones.

I got out the dates and the orange. Then I nibbled a date – Organic Medjool Dates from Whole Foods, and it was so smooth and sweet. Yum. And instead of grating the rind from the orange, I had to take a bite. So I peeled the orange to get a bite of date with orange. Oh how sublime! I ended up making a cup of herb tea (Traditional Medicinals Breathe Easy) and ate a bunch of dates and the orange instead of baking. I am thankful that God thought to create such exquisite flavors that we can pluck straight from a tree with no fuss and no cooking. Extraordinary.

Orange and Dates

The last of the Christmas Cookies

14 Saturday Jan 2012

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The tree is coming down this weekend. I will be sorry to see it go because it was a wonderful light source in a normally dark corner of the living room. We’re even more sorry that this is the last of the Christmas cookies! After taking a photo of this tray, I made a firm commitment to make new Valentine cookies this year. I didn’t get a chance to take cookie trays to our neighbors for Christmas so they will all get Valentine cookies this year.

The last cookies of Christmas 2011. On the tray: Top tier - Peppermint Sticks and Almond Spritz Trees. Bottom tier clockwise from Gingerbread Boys: Gingerbread Boys, Sugarplum Pies, Springerli, Pistachio Chocolate Chip Cookies, Peppermint Pattie Brownies.

Tiny Cakes and Pies

06 Friday Jan 2012

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It has been some years since I baked tiny treats. This bakery display showcases some of the items I was working on while writing Tiny Treats years ago. I had a great time coming up with recipes and projects for that book! The bakery display case is made of five empty candy boxes, a CD case and doilies. The cakes and Petite Fours are actually store-bought cookies covered with icing. The pie pastry is almond paste. Everything is edible, delicious and tiny. It was winter when I wrote that book, right after Christmas.

Instead of dreading two months of aching cold, I shall light candles, bake tiny things and work on projects. Before you know it, spring will be here!

Tiny Treats Bakery Display

Christmas Cookie Trays

20 Tuesday Dec 2011

Posted by in baking, Christmas, community, food

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We delivered the first two cookie trays of the season to business associates yesterday. That was fun!
On the tray: Scottish Shortbread, Polish Nutrolls, Springerli, Dutch Speculaas, German Gingerbread Boys, Spritz Trees, Chocolate Chip Pistachio Cookies, Sugar Plum Pies, Russian Tea Cakes, Peppermint Sticks, and a Snow Globe Cookie.

I have been baking these same Christmas recipes for at least 20 years, except for the Snow Globe cookie which is new this year. We’re not done baking yet so other trays will have a different assortment. Cookies yet to be made: Viennese Sacher Bites, Chocolate Hazelnut Crescents, Dutch Fruit Bar, Rum Raisin Diamonds, Peppermint Patty Bars, Cherry Stars, Orange Frosted Brazil Nut Bars and Italian Fig Cookies. We probably won’t be done with the baking till the New Year.

Sugary Gingerbread Houses

17 Saturday Dec 2011

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There is nothing as sweet as decorating tiny gingerbread houses with my little granddaughter!

Chloe decorates a gingerbread house


My 18 year old son also decorated one, as did my daughter-in-law. Such fun!

We used Wilton’s Gingerbread Mini Village Kit, purchased from JoAnn Fabrics for less than $10. The kit includes detailed instructions, prebaked gingerbread to construct all five houses, cardboard for the bases, icing mix, candies, decorating bag and tips for piping icing. We did not use the enclosed decorating bags and tips because I already had those.

To make the kit with a child, I recommend at least two hours just for construction of the houses. It took a while to mix the icing, cut all the gingerbread pieces apart and “glue” the houses together. You can also construct the houses ahead of time so the child can start adding candy immediately.
We will definitely do this again next year!

Gingerbread Village

Snowglobe Cookies

28 Monday Nov 2011

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I finished making Julia Usher’s Snow Globe cookies, as featured in her book. They were a lot of work but so worth it! The cookies are amazing! They’re delicious too; the whole house is scented with their buttery goodness.

Snow Globe cookie