Santa Needs Cookies

I realize it is after Thanksgiving and baking Santa's cookies might be a tad early. However it is tradition in our home that the day after Thanksgiving the tree goes up (it's artificial so no problem with it drying up by Christmas). Along with that a mass of elves descend and decorate the whole house for Christmas. The issue is that most of my Mom's stuff is still packed away so there are just a few things she has to get out at Christmas. One of these things is a Santa Claus cookie jar that she got last year at an after Christmas sale. Of course a cookie jar is in need of cookies.

Thanks to all the baking I was doing as part of Thanksgiving I had chocolate chips, eggs, sugar, flour, etc. In other words I had all the makings for chocolate chip cookies. You know, the toll house kind. The kind of cookies that everyone should experience, and usually does at least once in their lifetime. I baked about two dozen cookies (and of course tested a few along the way) for the famed Santa cookie jar. I'm not sure what happened to the cookies after I left, but it did mark the first baking assignment for the holiday season. Who knows what is next? Stay tuned for more holiday fun.

How Loud does a Peppermint Snowflake Bark?

I realize the title is just a bit corny but it has you reading this now doesn't it? Wilton put out a new candy kit this holiday season, a peppermint bark kit. The kit contains snowflake shaped cookie cutters, chocolate and peppermint candy melts as well as disposable decorator bags.

The cookie cutters are placed on a cookie sheet with a sheet of wax paper between the two. You start with the chocolate, melt it, and put a layer in each of the cookie cutters. I place the cookie sheet in the freezer for a few minutes to let the chocolate harden. Then it is time for the peppermint melts. After melting them you pipe a slightly thicker layer in the cookie cutter. Being impatient I place the cookie sheet back in the freezer to let this layer harden also. When I pull it out I carefully separate the bark and cookie cutter. Thus a really cute piece of peppermint bark is left with a snowflake shape.

We wrapped these individually and gave them out to family who came to visit after Thanksgiving. The cool, sweet treat went over well and travelled easily. It is a quick and fun gift that I plan to repeat for Christmas.

Who Lives in a Pineapple Under the Sea?

If you yelled out Sponge Bob Square Pants you are so right. Each year there seems to be at least one Sponge Bob that turns up. He is becoming a character like Scooby Doo and Bug Bunny, taking his own place in cartoon fame. So when my most incredible and wonderful secretary came to me and asked if I could make Sponge Bob for a relative I of course said yes.

This is a butter cake and feeds up to 20 people. Apparently he was so cute it was tough carving up this cartoon character. All children however know that cake can be eaten and the character will live on as does Sponge Bob Square Pants.

ACC Party the Sequel

Usually the sequel to anything is not as good as the original. However I dare say this would be the one time that this is not the case. You may remember the, I even shudder to type this, this Tar Heel cake I made about a week ago. Well the same friend and loving Aunt came to me and asked me to create a North Carolina State University (NCSU) cake. This time I did not hesitate to say yes. Of course I am still a die hard UVA fan so why did I not hesitate? My day job is actually working for N.C.State University as part of the Cooperative Extension Service, specifically as a 4-H Extension Agent. Although I do not root for the team I do not have a negative connotation for the school so making the cake was not a problem.

Once again I set out to order a pan and could not get one. Believe it or not they were back ordered. I had to be on campus for training one day and stopped by the bookstore to see if they had one, but no such luck. So my next plan was to carve the cake. It was not perfect but Stevie was thrilled and his big brother who likes UNC is still trying to determine which cake was bigger.

ACC Party

Imagine having a child with a favorite college. Now imagine that child's sibling likes the rival school and their birthdays are about a week apart. Can make the birthday bash interesting. So when a friend of mine came to me and asked me to design a University of North Carolina Cake for her nephew I did actually hesitate. As many know I am a University of Virginia fan and my father and I often told people that I am in North Carolina doing missionary work converting Tar heels into Cavaliers. So the decision to do this cake was difficult. But this friend is wonderful and her nephews are pretty neat in their own right so I agreed to do this.

I ordered a UNC cake pan. My issue with this (beside the school) is that it is a silicone pan and I am not big on silicone pans. Also, one could argue that it is healthier because you coat this pan with cooking spray rather than shortening and flour but I am concerned that cakes tend to dry out more. None the less, the cake was baked and decorated in traditional UNC colors. A little Happy Birthday message was added. The birthday boy seemed very happy to have possibly his future college, represented at his party.

Monkeying Around

I love monkeys. They are fun, funny, cute, and even the ugly ones have adorable features, and they tend to be rather smart. How could you not love a monkey. I have had a monkey cake pan for quite awhile and never had a reason to decorate a monkey cake until recently.
I eat lunch frequently with a group of professionals who have a tendency to turn lunch into a laugh-aerobics hour. We have a great deal of fun and great sense of humors are flying. Kind of like swinging from the vines sometimes. So when one of the group had a birthday it seemed appropriate to make a monkey cake. The cake was also the opportunity for one of my coworkers to try her hand at decorating again after a several year hiatus She did a great job of decorating and we had a good time getting the cake together. The chocolate fudge cake was a hit with the monkey as we jumped into it with both feet.
It is just a fun loving cake for any occasion, especially a birthday in this case.

The Top Reason for Cake is.....

Have you ever watched the game show Family Feud? The gist of the game show is that two families compete against each other and answer questions such as, We surveyed 100 people and asked them what is the top reason you buy a cake. The families then try to guess the top reason and get points in descending order based on their answers for example where and answer of desert might get you 10 points Birthday might get you 75 points. That's right if this were to be a real question Birthday would be the number one answer.

I say all of this to lead into the next cake. A wonderful co-worker came to me needing a cake to feed about 75 people. The occasion was her Aunt's 77th birthday (and sort of a family reunion). She really wanted to do the cake but did not have the time that week. So she asked if I might be willing to do it. Of course I said yes and looked for information about the Aunt. We decided on something traditional with spring colors. By the time we got done we decided on a 13 inch cake that is three inches thick. The butter cake was covered in traditional decorators icing with a basket weave design and various flowers coming out of the basket and poking through the basket weave. I understand the cake went over well and the 77th party was a success. I love my coworkers.