We finished off the Valentine’s Day cookies…

20 Wednesday Feb 2013

Posted by Julia Monroe in baking, food, recipe, tutorial, Valentine's Day

Tags

baking, cherry cordial cookies, chocolate, dessert, food, recipe, scottish shortbread recipe, shortbread, Valentine's Day, Valentine's Day cookies

They were delicious! We kept it simple and made just two recipes: Shortbread Hearts and Cherry Cordial Cookies.

The Cherry Cordial Cookies recipe was from a Chocolatier magazine from years ago. I cut out the recipe and taped it into my recipe notebook. I should have written down the year but it was probably from the 80’s.

The Shortbread Hearts were made by slightly adapting our traditional Scottish Shortbread recipe. The recipe was handed down from relatives in Scotland for ages. The usual form is patted out into two rounds or pressed into a 9″ x 13″ pan and cut into squares. We always do the square thing just for simplicity.

Here is the original Shortbread Recipe, which takes just 4 ingredients.

Scottish Shortbread
1 lb butter (Note: We use 1 1/2 cups of unsalted butter and 1/2 cup of salted butter for best flavor)
1 1/4 cup fine sugar (Note: We use granulated sugar and process it in a food processor until it is less grainy. It should be half-way between granulated sugar and powdered sugar in texture when you pinch a little bit between your fingers.)
1 1/4 cup cornstarch (Note: Various Scottish relations argue over whether this should be rice flour or not. We stick with corn starch because we like the melt-in-your mouth texture of the baked shortbread.)
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour (Note: We always use unbleached King Arthur flour for best texture and flavor.)

~ Knead ingredients by hand. (…um… we use a mixer…faster and way less messy!)
~ Press into a 9″x13″ pan.
~ Prick dough all over with a fork.
~ Bake at 325 for 50 to 60 minutes. The edges will be light golden brown but the top will still be pale. We usually break open a tiny bit in the middle of the pan to test for doneness in the middle, since these are very thick squares.
~ Cut while warm into 1″ squares.
~ Store at room temp for a couple days. Refrigerate air tight for several weeks. May be frozen, wrapped air tight, for over a month. (We’ve found shortbread in the freezer six months later and it was perfectly fine. It just has to be wrapped well in plastic wrap and then in foil to avoid picking up any off-flavor from the freezer.)

To make the heart shaped shortbread cookies, we added about 1/4 cup extra flour to the recipe to make the dough a little stiffer. The Valentines Day Conversation Heart Cookie Cutters were from Williams Sonoma.

Rolling out the shortbread. The cutters were from Williams Sonoma.

One side of the cutter featured Valentine’s Day sentiments, which were pressed into the shortbread. We also used a fork to press holes around the edges of the cookies.

Valentine Shortbread Heart cookies. We baked them about 20 minutes at 325 but don’t remember the exact timing. They’re very hard to ruin.

A little tray of Shortbread Heart Cookies and Cherry Cordial Cookies, ready for giving away.

A little tray of Shortbread Hearts and Cherry Cordial Cookies, ready for giving away.

The last three cookies, posing sweetly beside my vanilla bean coffee. I ended up not eating them though, I gave them away.

I didn’t take any photos when we made the Cherry Cordial Cookies but here is the recipe as printed in the magazine.

Cherry Cordial Cookies
1 pkg Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips (NOTE: The recipe does not specify the size of bag. 1 cup of chips are used in the cookie dough and the “remaining cup chips” are used in the frosting.)
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups unsifted flour (We use King Arthur unbleached flour)
1 tsp baking powder
1 jar (16 oz) maraschino cherries

~ In double boiler, melt 1 cup chocolate chips over 1-inch simmering water.
~ Cream 1/2 cup butter with sugar.
~ Add egg, vanilla and melted chocolate; beat until smooth.
~ Combine flour with baking powder and salt (NOTE: salt is not listed in the ingredients so we figure this was a printing error. We use 1/4 tsp salt); add to creamed mixture, beating until smooth. Chill at least 1 hour.
~ Enclose 1 cherry in 1 tablespoon of dough.
[NOTE: Enclosing that cherry in the dough takes a lot of work! The dough is fairly dry so it has to be squished around the cherry, it can’t be rolled and folded around the cherry. We drain the cherries while the dough is chilling, otherwise, the dough becomes a gooey mess when trying to squeeze it around a squishy cherry. We put a tablespoon of dough in the palm and pressed a little hole in the middle of it to start. Then the cherry was placed into the hole and the crumbly mixture was pressed up over the cherry. Then we carefully squished the whole lump in our fists to close it all up good and tight. Finally, we gently rolled around the lump to make a nice round ball.]
~ Place on greased baking sheet. (Note: we used ungreased, parchment paper-lined baking sheets.)
~ Bake at 350 degrees for 12 to 14 minutes. (ours took exactly 15 minutes)
~ Cool on wire rack.
FROSTING:
Melt remaining cup chocolate chips with 2 Tbsp maraschino cherry syrup and 1 Tbsp unsalted butter.
(NOTE: We used 1 Tbsp kirsch and 1 Tbsp maraschino cherry syrup)
Frost tops of cookies.
YIELD: 3 1/2 dozen cookies.

It was so tedious forming the Cherry Cordial Cookies that we vowed we would never make them again. But then when we bit into the deep dark chocolate cookie and tasted the exquisite cherry buried within, we decided to make these cookies our new Valentine’s Day tradition.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

15 Friday Feb 2013

Posted by Julia Monroe in crafts, dolls, food, recipe, tutorial

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

box of chocolates, chocolate, chocolates, doll-size, miniature, miniature food, valentine s day, Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine’s Day! Here is a miniature box of chocolates for you. Click photo to see a larger image.

Even though it’s just a couple minutes into February 15th, I still consider it Valentine’s Day since the day is not done. ;)

This is a doll-sized box of real chocolates. They are tiny, less than 1/4″ across!

I made the miniature box for these chocolates from tissue paper, cardboard and decorative paper.
The chocolates were made from chocolate chips and pieces cut from candy bars.
To decorate the tops, I drizzled melted chocolate on with a toothpick.
The papers for the chocolates were made by pressing a tiny circle of tissue paper over the flat end of a pencil.

Teeny Tiny real Italian Dinner

13 Wednesday Feb 2013

Posted by Julia Monroe in baking, dolls, food, miniature, tutorial

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Tags

Antipasto, Calzone, doll-size food, food, Italian dinner, miniature food, miniature real food, recipes, Spaghetti, Tiramisu, tutorial

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, a romantic Teeny Tiny Italian Dinner. Perhaps for teeny tiny appetites. ;)
Back in 2004, I wrote a book for American Girl – Tiny Treats, published in 2006. The book included recipes for making tiny, edible, delicious doll-sized foods. Over 50% of the material got cut in the final editing. This is one of the chapters that didn’t make the cut, probably because it is quite ambitious. Please excuse my photography as these photos were not intended for publication. They were just a guide for the publisher and included with the original manuscript. I didn’t have a very good camera back then, nor did I have Photoshop. Also, the original was written for a child so I removed the “have an adult help you” lines in the directions.
Here you go…. Enjoy!

Teeny Tiny REAL Italian Dinner

BITTY BISTRO ITALIAN DINNER

MENU:

SPAGHETTI
CALZONE
ANTIPASTO tray of BABY CORN, STUFFED PEPPERONI TRIANGLES, OLIVES, TWO-TONE CHEESE, PASTRAMI PINWHEELS and ROASTED RED PEPPERS
CHEESE TRAY
SALAD
TOOTHPICK BREADSTICKS
TIRAMISU

SPAGHETTI

Tiny spaghetti

Ingredients:
Ramen Noodles
Spaghetti Sauce
Grated Parmesan Cheese
You also need:
Small pot

1. Break up a package of Ramen noodles into 4 chunks. You only need one chunk so put the rest of the noodles in a plastic bag for some other time.

Break off a section of Ramen Noodles to use for the tiny spaghetti

2. Cook the piece of the Ramen noodles according to package directions but don’t add the seasoning packet. When the noodles are done cooking, remove from water with a slotted spoon and place on two serving plates.

3. Top noodles with some Spaghetti Sauce and Grated Parmesan Cheese.

CALZONE

Bite Size Calzone

Ingredients:
Refrigerated French Loaf
Pepperoni slices, cut in half
1/4” squares of Montery Jack Cheese
You also need:
Clean scissors
Baking Sheet, greased or covered with Baking Parchment paper

1. Preheat over to 350.

2. Cut a 1/4” thick slice off the French Loaf bread dough with scissors. Pat the dough out to make a 1 1/2” circle.

Bite Size Calzone ingredients: cheese, refrigerator breadstick dough, pepperoni

Bite Size Calzone ingredients: cheese, refrigerator bread dough, pepperoni

3. Place one piece of pepperoni and two squares of Monterey Jack Cheese in the center. Fold the circle in half and pinch the edge tightly shut. Place on the baking sheet.

Prepare the mini calzone using refrigerated bread dough.

4. Bake for 14 minutes or till bottom is golden brown. Cool slightly before removing from baking sheet.

ANTIPASTO

NOT made of clay, this antipasto tray contains real, delicious ingredients.

Appetizer tray of: Baby Corn, Roasted Red Peppers, Pastrami Roll-Ups, Two-Tone Cheese, Mini Olives, Stuffed Pepperoni Triangles

Ingredients:
Baby Corn
Pimientos
3 Slices Pepperoni
1 Thin Slice Pastrami
Cream Cheese
Swiss Cheese
Provolone Cheese
Capers
You also need:
Dinner Knife
Clean Scissors
Wood or Cork Coaster for serving platter

Tiny Antipasto Tray ingredients

1. Cut baby corn into little slices.

2. Stack the three pepperoni slices with cream cheese spread between. Cut with scissors into 6 triangles.

3. Spread pastrami with cream cheese. Roll up. Cut into slices with scissors.

4. Place Swiss Cheese on top of Provolone Cheese slice. Cut with scissors into little squares.

5. Arrange all on a coaster.

CHEESE TRAY

Tiny Cheese Tray

Ingredients:
Various small Cheeses
Grated Parmesan Cheese
You also need:
Dinner Knife
Empty, clean bottle cap
One gold candy cup to make the cheese spoon (see further down this post for directions)
Wood or Cork Coaster for serving platter

1. Cut cheeses into small pieces and arrange on serving platter.

Cheeses for the tiny cheese tray

2. Spoon some grated Parmesan Cheese into the bottle cap. 3. Make a small spoon for the Parmesan Cheese by cutting a tiny spoon shape from the gold candy cup.

SALAD

Tear up lettuce into tiny pieces. Cut grape or cherry tomatoes into tiny pieces

Tear up lettuce into tiny pieces. The green onion looks like full size onion slices and the capers look like olives.

Ingredients:
Lettuce
1 Green onion
Cherry or Grape tomatoes
Capers

Tear up lettuce into tiny pieces. Cut any other salad ingredients you want into tiny pieces.

TOOTHPICK BREADSTICKS

Tiny Toothpick Breadsticks

Ingredients:
Refrigerated Breadstick dough
Olive or Vegetable Oil
Salt
You also need:
Clean Scissors
Clean Brush
Baking Sheet

1. Preheat the oven to 350.

2. Unroll one Breadstick from the dough. Use scissors to cut the Breadstick into 4 pieces and roll each piece to make an 8” snake. Use scissors to cut the 8” piece into 4 pieces. Roll each piece as long as a toothpick.

Tiny Breadstick Ingredients - refrigerated bread dough and salt.

Tiny Breadstick Ingredients – refrigerated breadstick dough and salt.

Cut the dough into pieces and roll into tiny toothpick-size pieces.

Cut the dough into pieces and roll into tiny toothpick-size sticks.

3. Brush lightly with oil and sprinkle with a pinch of salt.

Brush dough with a little olive oil and sprinkle with a tiny pinch of salt.

4. Place on a baking sheet and bake 6 to 9 minutes or until golden brown. Watch closely as they bake quickly!

TIRAMISU

This miniature Tiramisu is delicious!

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon Cream Cheese, softened
1 tablespoon Vanilla Ice Cream
1/8 teaspoon Instant Decaffeinated Coffee dissolved in 1/4 teaspoon Hot Water
3 Nilla Wafers
Chocolate Frosting
Whipped Cream
1/2 teaspoon Mini Chocolate Chips
You also need:
1/4 Measuring Cup lined with Plastic Wrap
Spoon

1. Mix Cream Cheese with Vanilla Ice Cream and the dissolved coffee. The Ice Cream will melt and the mixture will look lumpy but that’s ok.

Ingredients used for the tiny Tiramisu

2. Frost the Nilla Wafer cookies with Chocolate Frosting.

The ingredients for Tiramisu, ready for assembly

3. Spoon a little Cream Cheese mixture into the measuring cup. Press a Nilla Wafer cookie down into the bottom of the measuring cup. Add some more Cream Cheese mixture and another cookie. Add more Cream Cheese mixture and the last cookie. Top with the rest of the Cream Cheese mixture. Let set about 20 minutes so the cookies can soak up the Cream Cheese mixture a little.

4. Place in freezer for 2 hours or overnight. Take the Tiramisu out of the freezer and place it on a saucer. Remove the plastic wrap.

5. To serve: Slice into 4 pieces and top each with a little Whipped Cream and Mini Chocolate Chips.

A tiny slice of Tiramisu

BITTY BISTRO CRAFTS

RED & WHITE TABLE CLOTH and NAPKINS

Tiny napkins and a red and white checked cloth napkin to use as a tablecloth

Use a red and white checked cloth napkin for a tablecloth.
Cut a red napkin or piece of red fabric into 4 inch squares.
Roll up the napkin and tape a small strip of white paper around it.
CANDLE
Place a white candle in a small jar at the center of the table.
TRAYS FOR ANTIPASTO AND CHEESES
Use clean, wood or cork coasters.
BASKET FOR BREADSTICKS
Line a small basket with a piece of fabric or paper napkin.
GOLD PLATES FOR TIRAMISU
Cut most of the side off a small gold candy cup. The base of the candy cup makes a perfect dessert plate for creamy desserts.

Cut the rim off a plastic candy cup to use as a little dessert plate

TINY SPOON FOR GRATED CHEESE

Cut a spoon shape from the side and bottom of a gold candy cup

Cut a tiny spoon shape from a small gold candy cup. The handle of the spoon is cut from the side of the candy cup. The bowl of the spoon is cut from the base of the candy cup.

Please leave a comment if you make this dinner. I would love to know what you think of it! We thoroughly enjoyed it. The only problem was there was too little of everything.

A miniature, Italian Dinner, REAL, totally edible and completely delicious. Click photo to see the larger, original photograph.

Mirror Gem Notebook

30 Wednesday Jan 2013

Posted by Julia Monroe in All Sparkled Up, crafts, sparkling, tutorial

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

crafts, decorated notebook, gems, mirrors, mirrror, notebook, plastic gems, tutorial

Today I reached for a notebook I haven’t used in years. I decorated this notebook in my hotel room during some free time during a writer’s convention. (Doesn’t everyone take glue, gems and tin foil to conventions for emergency crafting sessions?)

Mirror Gem Notebook

First I wrapped and glued a piece of tin foil over the front cover of a small memo pad.

Tin foil is glued on the cover of a memo pad.

The gems and small craft mirrors were glued on with tacky glue and then secured around all the edges with silver glitter glue. I’m surprised that everything is still holding together over 8 years later.

Plastic gems and glass mirrors are glued on the notebook cover.

I love the gems on the cover of the notebook but there’s more to it than meets the eye. You just have to focus on something deeper than the glitzy cover.

Mirror Gem Notebook

Look past the outside.

Mirror Gem Notebook

Don’t get distracted by the gems.

Mirror Gem Notebook

Find the real sparkle.

Mirror Gem Notebook

Appreciate what’s on the outside…

…just as much as what’s on the inside.

Now the dining room light is visible in the mirrors on the notebook cover.

Enjoy the bigger picture – Trees in the cover of the Mirror Gem Notebook.

Pasta Rose Salad

11 Saturday Aug 2012

Posted by Julia Monroe in food, recipe, tutorial

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

food, homemade pasta, pasta, pasta rose, Pasta Rose Salad, pasta salad, rose, salad

Last week I made a Pasta Rose Salad.

Pasta Rose Salad – fresh pasta, homemade tomato sauce with garlic and Greek Basil, Spinach Leaves, Thai Basil leaves, toasted walnuts, Parmigiano Reggiano, and drizzled with Olive Oil.

I made a Pasta Rose a couple months ago but didn’t have any tutorial photos so last week I decided to make the tutorial. This post has 40 photographs to show the detailed process. Sorry for the blurred photos. My son Ethan prepared the pasta dough for me.

We used this recipe: http://www.food.com/recipeprint.do?rid=288125 for the pasta dough and mixed the ingredients in the mixer bowl.

The pasta dough was placed on a floured surface and kneaded.

Kneading the pasta dough

The dough was pressed flat, wrapped in plastic wrap and chilled for about 1 hour.

I have a hand crank pasta machine but prefer the efficiency of the KitchenAid pasta attachment. A floured ball of dough, about the size of a small fist, is placed in the top of the pasta machine, with the plain rollers and thickness setting 1.

The flattened dough that comes out of the machine is folded in half and then run through the rollers on setting 1 again.

Each time the dough is passed through the rollers, the texture becomes finer, stretchier and less lumpy.

Once the dough is fine enough, usually after 5 or 6 passes, the setting is changed to 2 and the dough is passed through without folding it in half.

The settings are changed with each pass of the dough. The dough is kept brushed with flour so it won’t stick to the rollers. When the dough becomes too long or too wide to fit the roller, it is cut into smaller pieces.

The final width of the pasta is 2 1/2″ or 3″ wide with a thickness setting of 7 on the machine, which is quite thin. about 1.5 mm.

The floured strips of pasta were laid on a floured surface as we completed each one. They were then hung from a rack for an hour or two until cooked. I did not want them drying out lest they crack so we covered them with a towel.

One long piece of pasta makes one rose and a bud or two. I forgot to measure the length but it was about 2 or 3 feet long.

One long piece of pasta is dropped into boiling water.

Pasta cooking.

The pasta is cooked about six minutes or so, till el dente.

Steaming pasta in the colander.

One long piece of pasta is used to make the rose. The pasta rose is formed while the pasta is still hot but will be cool by the time the plate is finished. If you want a warm dish, the plate will need warming, with the greens added right before serving.

Begin the rose at the center. Starting at one end of the long pasta ribbon, the pasta is folded and rolled to form the center bud.

With the bud in the left hand, the long ribbon of pasta is wrapped around the bud clockwise. Occasionally the long ribbon of pasta is folded over to form a folded edge of a petal.

Once enough of the rose is established, it is placed on the serving plate and the folding and wrapping of the pasta ribbon continues around the rose.

When the rose is the size desired, any excess pasta is cut off and the rose is positioned as desired.

To make a rose bud, start with a 5″ piece of pasta ribbon and fold the right side forward diagonally.

Make another fold on the opposite side toward the center, forming a pointed triangle.

Slightly scrunch up the base of the piece to form a bud.

Place the bud partially under the edge of the rose.

A second rose bud is formed and placed under the other side of the rose.
We made a tomato sauce by simmering diced tomatoes with garlic, sea salt and chopped Greek Basil.
Spinach leaves are tucked around the rose.

A paint brush is used to brush tomato sauce between the rose petals.

A small spoonful of sauce is placed in the center of the rose.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil is drizzled over the top of the pasta and spinach leaves.

Thai basil is spicier than broad leaf basil and has a delicious anise flavor. I placed one Thai basil leaf on top of several of the spinach leaves for color and flavor.

Toasted walnuts are placed on the plate with the spinach leaves and Parmigiano Reggiano is grated over the top. The final garnish is a small cluster of Thai Basil.

The completed Pasta Rose Salad. Please click photo to see a larger image.

I ended up chilling the first Pasta Rose so I threw together one to eat. Here is my Thrown Together Pasta Rose.

Thrown-together Pasta Rose, served warm. It was ugly and absolutely delicious!

The Thai Basil and toasted walnuts are key to making this dish delicious. It’s also critical to make the pasta thin for forming the rose and making the serving size not too big.
This is the Pasta Rose I made several months ago.

Pasta Rose Salad

I love both versions and look forward to making this for lunch guests. This dish takes a while to make so make it early in the day for dinner guests. Better yet, make it the day before, covering each complete plate with plastic wrap and refrigerate. It keeps well till the next day for a luncheon. Remover from refrigerator about an hour before serving.

Ballerina Cake Pops!

09 Saturday Jun 2012

Posted by Julia Monroe in baking, birthday, crafts, family, food, party, projects, tutorial

≈ 21 Comments

Tags

ballerina, ballerina banner, ballerina cake pops, birthday, birthday party ideas, cake pops, decorated cake, food, girl's party, honeycomb, honeycomb banner

Here are more photos from my granddaughter’s 4th birthday party. This is a long post with many photos. Please click on a photo to see a larger version if you wish. I made Ballerina Cake Pops for her in her favorite colors, purple and pink.

Ballerina Cake Pops

I drew little ballerinas on white plastic cut from clean buttermilk jugs. Then I carefully cut them out using embroidery scissors. The cake balls were made and chilled and then I inserted the ballerina into the cake ball. You can see the feet of the ballerinas sticking out of the bottom of several of the cake balls. It would have been easier to just make picks but I wanted my Granddaughter to have a little plastic ballerina to play with when she was done eating the cake pop, so of course they had to have legs.

Since there was a ballerina in the cake pop, I could not dip it as usual. I spread the melted white chocolate around the ball with an offset spatula. These were placed in styrofoam and then placed in the refrigerator to chill.

The prepared cake pops were allowed to come to room temperature before piping rows of sugar ruffles using a small rose tip.

All the cake pops were placed on a stage made of styrofoam around which I pinned crepe paper streamers and gilded trim.

She loved the Ballerina Cake Pops. I was so happy!

I made a banner of ballerinas but forgot to take a photo of them hanging at the party. Here are photos of the construction.

Honeycomb Ballerina Banner

The ballerinas were drawn in Photoshop, based on a similar project in Marie Claire Idees magazine. I had to modify the Marie Claire version since it was flat, not with a full honeycomb skirt. Here you can see the honeycomb bridal shower garland from which I cut the skirts.

The ballerinas are drying after I applied glue and glitter to the shoes, bodices and tiaras.

The ballerinas are prepared for hanging. A single thin wire will be attached through a pinhole at the top of each ballerina and strung with crystal beads.

The ballerinas are hung temporarily in my dining room as I work on the hanging wires on each one They looked lovely at the party and I’m sorry I forgot to get a photo.

I just adore my granddaughter and there is no project too tedious or complicated that I wouldn’t do for her.

Printing on tissue paper for mixed media work

17 Tuesday Apr 2012

Posted by Julia Monroe in art, crafts, projects, tutorial

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

calligraphy, craft, map, maps, mixed media, printing, tissue paper, tutorial

I am making my first piece of mixed media art and wanted to use printed tissue paper in the background. I took quite a gamble using my new printer because any time you play around with something like this, it’s possible to void the warranty. Despite that risk, I did it anyway.

The design I used was from a class I took by Jeanne Oliver. She’s an amazing teacher and if you ever get a chance to take one of her classes, do it! When I get my piece done from her class I will post a photo of it.

I ironed a sheet of tissue paper to a sheet of freezer paper, with the shiny plastic side of freezer paper against the tissue paper.
The paper was loaded as usual and printed with settings for a regular sheet of paper.
The printer didn’t jam, even while printing over the wrinkles.

Tissue paper ironed to a piece of freezer paper prints beautifully with the ink jet printer.

Tissue paper is carefully peeled off the freezer paper after printing.

The same piece of freezer paper can be used three or four times. I made the mistake the first time of thoroughly ironing the tissue to the freezer paper. It was impossible to remove the tissue after printing without tearing. I had to use the iron to melt the plastic holding the tissue to the freezer wrap.

If the tissue sticks too much, the tissue side is held carefully against the hot iron edge to melt the plastic that adheres the two pieces together. Tissue and freezer paper are peeled apart.

The first tissue print was a bit lighter than I wanted. I removed most of the background color of the file and increased the contrast in photoshop.

The sheet printed with isolated text layer in photoshop printed crisp and dark.

These maps printed on tissue paper are from scans taken from a 1935 World Atlas.

My favorite of all - my sister Donna's beautiful calligraphy of Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8

I’m using a Canon Pixma MX882 printer. The printed tissue paper stood up well when placed on a surface brushed with matte medium and then brushed over with more matte medium.

Easter Cupcakes

03 Tuesday Apr 2012

Posted by Julia Monroe in baking, candy, Easter, food, tutorial

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

bunny, candy, cupcakes, Easter, food, mini cupcakes

These cupcakes are a sweet two-bite size, baked in a mini muffin pan.

Ingredients are simple: Mini homemade vanilla cupcakes, homemade frosting, pink sugar, jellybeans, mini marshmallows, candy “eyes” and a little bit of coconut.

To make the bunny ears, I cut mini marshmallows on the diagonal and then pressed the sticky cut side into pink sugar.

To make bunny ears, cut a mini marshmallow diagonally as shown. This works even better if the mini marshmallow is already a little skewed.

By cutting the mini marshmallow on the diagonal, one side will be fat, tapering to a point. Press the sticky cut side into pink sugar.

Mini Easter cupcakes – Bunnies, chicks and eggs in grass. The bunny eyes and nose are mini jelly beans cut in half. The orange chick beak is a mini jelly bean cut in half diagonally.

Mini Easter cupcakes – bunny, chick and eggs in grass. These tiny cupcakes disappeared fast in two sweet bites!

Creatively Made – Vintage Journal

22 Thursday Mar 2012

Posted by Julia Monroe in altered books, crafts, projects, tutorial

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

altered book, altered journal, book, projects, tutorial, vintage, vintage book

Weeks ago, I took a four week e-course called Creatively Made, taught by Jeanne Oliver. What an amazing class! I thank God for Jeanne and her wonderful way of encouraging people to be creative. Each week, participants were treated to at least a dozen videos filled with wise counsel, inspiration and instruction by Jeanne and her guest artists.

I took the course to learn how to use new materials and art technique but what started out as just an educational pursuit ended up life changing. I had no idea that I was missing such a big part of my life by not making time for art and creative pursuits. I will have to explain this life-changing event in another post. In the meantime, I am finishing up some of the projects inspired by that class.

One of the projects was a “Vintage Journal” made from the parts of a vintage book. Altered book projects are new to me. At first I couldn’t bear to tear apart a book. New or old made no difference; destroying any book seems a crime! But once I saw that there were dozens of old books available, some just gathering dust and rotting in used book stores, I didn’t worry as much about using a book for a purpose other than filling my already overflowing bookshelves.

This altered book is constructed different than the one taught in the class. I kept the spine intact and connected to the book covers. To add a text block in the book, I used ribbons to tie in the pages, 3-ring-binder style.

Vintage Journal - An altered book made from a vintage theology text in German.

My paternal Grandfather was a preacher of Pennsylvania Dutch and German heritage so this particular book is a lovely tribute to him. Alas, I can’t read German so I’m saving the pages and hoping to get some of them interpreted so I can incorporate them into the book.

Vintage Journal - The closure is a miniature metal keyhole plate. The doorknob is an old glass button from my Grandma's button tin. I'm always happy when I can include a little item that belonged to my Grandma.

Vintage Journal 1 - Pages removed, keyhole shape window cut in the front cover.

The original book pages were stapled and glued into the spine so they were pulled out. I cut a keyhole-shape in the front cover. To finish the edge, I used 1/4″ silver foil tape and then painted it with gold acrylic paint.

Vintage Journal 2 - Ribbon and lace glued inside the spine.

Inside the spine, I glued two strips of lace through which was threaded ribbon to tie in the pages. I also added a brown silk ribbon at the top to reinforce the thread-bare blue ribbon original to the book.

Vintage Journal 3 - Lace with ribbon glued inside the spine.

Vintage Journal 4 - The lace inside the spine reinforces the weak joint between the covers and the book spine.

Vintage Journal 5 - There was a gap between the book covers and the spine.

Vintage Journal 6 - Thin gold-wrapped cord glued into the gap between the book covers and book spine.

Vintage Journal 8 - I cut pages of creamy sketchbook paper. I also used pages torn from a vintage wallpaper book but knew they could not withstand a hole punched joint. So they are glued to small strips of hole-punched sketchbook paper.

Vintage Journal 8 - I love the look of the deckle-edge wallpaper pages interspersed with the sketchbook pages.

Vintage Journal 9 - The bow must be tied close to the front cover, not the text block. This allows enough slack for the pages to slide along the ribbon and open fully.

Vintage Journal 10 - I have very few photos from my childhood so I cherish this one from Christmas Day, 1967. Alas, my little sister Donna is turned away from the camera. I love that she is there, even if I can't see her sweet face.

I am very happy with how this turned out. It looks as old as I wanted it to. The book was published in 1884 and I wanted to preserve the stark elegance of it but still make it mine. I’m looking forward to adding small sketches, paintings and writings to the pages.

Valentine Candy Bouquet

21 Tuesday Feb 2012

Posted by Julia Monroe in candy, crafts, food, party, projects, tutorial, Valentine's Day

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

bouquet, candy, candy bouquet, centerpiece, crafts, project, styrofoam ball, sweet, table decor, tutorial, valentine candy bouquet, Valentine's Day

We are still nibbling at the Valentine Candy Bouquet. It is delicious but very, very sweet. At this rate, it may hang on till Easter! Oh my! I do love the sparkling look of it though.

Valentine Candy Bouquet – 2012

Granddaughter Chloe nibbles a cake pop from the Valentine Candy Bouquet.

Here are directions on making the bouquet.

Prepare basket.

1. Cut Styrofoam to fit tightly in the bottom of a basket. Secure it firmly in the basket so it won’t shift or move at all.

Secure Styrofoam in the bottom of a basket.

2. Spread out a set of battery operated bouquet or centerpiece lights over the Styrofoam in the basket. I purchased this light set at either Michael’s or A.C.Moore several years ago. Alas, I do not know if these lights are still made or sold elsewhere. Insert toothpicks around the light set in the area where the ball will be placed.

Spread light set around the edge of the basket.

3. Cut off a slice of a 5” Styrofoam ball so it can sit flat. Press the Styrofoam ball down firmly onto the toothpicks. Insert several other toothpicks around the base of the ball to secure it tightly. Trim toothpick ends with wire cutters.

Press the Styrofoam ball firmly down on the toothpicks

4. Scrunch a length of 12” wide tulle around the base of the ball, covering the lights and wires. I used a piece 12″ by about 6 feet long.

Prepare the candy.

5. To make Conversation Heart Batons, use royal icing to secure conversation hearts to a lollipop stick. When dry, pipe royal icing between the hearts and sprinkle with mini sprinkles. Tie a bow at the base with an 8” piece of ribbon; trim the ends.

Conversation Heart Batons

6a. For candies with square wrappers, twist one end of wrappers and wire three candies together.

Wire together three small candies

6b. Twist the candy bundle together around the end of a lollipop stick and secure with the wire. Tie with an 8” length of ribbon.

Wire the candy bundle around a lollipop stick & tie with ribbon

7. Cut a heart from gold paper, punch a small hole at the top and write a message. Tie a piece of lace and the gold heart to a lollipop with string.

Tie lace and a message with string to a lollipop.

8. Prepare cake pops as desired. I made chocolate cake pops by following the directions in Bakerella’s Cake Pops cookbook and using homemade frosting instead of store-bought frosting. These were the first cake pops I’ve ever made so mine were a little lumpy. But I was really happy they turned out and they are delicious!

Round cake pops.

9. Cake Pop secret – use lots of sprinkles to cover up mistakes.

Cone-shaped cake pops.

10. To help disguise the printed text at the base of lollipop wrappers, cut a fringe in the wrapper. Tie with a bow or twist tie.

Fringe bottom of lollipop wrapper and then tie with ribbon or twist tie.

11. I ended up not adding these to the bouquet. They looked very pretty in a glass dish next to the bouquet.

A dish of gold-wrapped Ferrero Rocher chocolates.

Assemble the centerpiece.

12. Using wire cutters, cut the end of one candy stick to make a slight point and insert it into the Styrofoam ball to see if you like the length. Remove the stick from the Styrofoam and adjust the length as desired. Cut sticks and insert candies, starting with the candy of which you have the fewest. I only had 8 sticks of rock candy so I inserted them first to evenly distribute them.

Cut sticks shorter with wire cutters and insert into Styrofoam ball.

13. Start in the center and work your way out as you fill the bouquet. Cut some sticks shorter so the candies help cover the Styrofoam ball. Next time I will make more of the little candy bundles to fill in the base better. I made 11 but 14 would have been better.

Valentine Candy Centerpiece

14. If desired, fill in any remaining spots on the Styrofoam ball with ribbon or tulle bows on wires. You can also use green gumdrop leaves, tissue paper or artificial flowers and leaves. I decided to leave the center open so the light set would light up the candy more.

To make ahead, the cake balls can be prepared a day or two ahead, as recommended in Bakerella’s cookbook. This bouquet was made on Valentine’s Day and then refrigerated that night, covered with plastic wrap for storage. It is one week later and the bouquet still looks wonderful and the cake pops are every bit as delicious, especially cold. Next year, I’ll prepare the cake pops several days before, refrigerating them until needed. The candies can be prepared well in advance and set aside. Allow an hour or so to insert all the prepared candies and cake pops.

In addition to holidays, a Candy Bouquet would look lovely for a Baby or Bridal shower, or as a Birthday centerpiece.