Make new friends but keep the old...

I got to spend a fun afternoon this week, out in the beautiful fall weather, with my favorite man in the world.

Here he is in all his manliness:

(I'm a lucky girl. =) )

We accomplished a bunch (in spite of my trips to town to run a kid where she needed to be).

And then I made these new friends.

They followed me all over the pasture, mooing at me like crazy.

All-in-all it was a wonderful day and we ended up with a huge pile of wood as our reward.

Pumpkin Cut Outs with Cream Cheese Frosting

My favorite little trick-or-treaters (1999)

When Bridget at Bake at 350 suggested pumpkin as this month's flavor, I knew just what I planned to make. A few years ago one of my "little pumpkins" and I made some cut out cookies that were pumpkin flavored. She *loved* them, but I lost the recipe and we've never made them since. So, it was my goal to find the recipe again so I could fulfill her request.

I searched the internet and came up with a couple of possible recipes. Based on the ingredients I had on hand, I chose one and baked the cookies. (recipe I used)

rolling and cutting

all baked...

The next step was to make a simple cream cheese frosting.

3 T butter

3 oz cream cheese

2 cups powdered sugar (more if needed)

2 tsp vanilla

2 T milk

mix well.

Then tint and frost.

all done!

This was a nice simple cookie. Since they're just for fun, I chose simple-to-decorate shapes and didn't go all out. But they're still pretty cute.

Personally, I don't think the recipe is to-die-for or anything, but my baby girl likes them and they're kind of a nice change for the normal cut-out cookie.

More volleyball sweets

The team had a little get together to celebrate the end of the season.

My little volleyball player and I wanted to do something fun to celebrate

her team mates. So, cookies it was....

A couple of notes about the cookies:

* I used our family sugar cookie recipe. This is the one my grandma and mom have always used. It's a great recipe that doesn't need to be refrigerated prior to rolling out. Easy peasy AND delicious. I'll post it some day.

* I used a spool of thread cookie cutter. I trimmed off the excess and when I was almost done, I figured out that I could use the cookie cutter corner to cut out the v-neck of the jersey. (waaayyy easier than with a paring knife)

volleyball, sweet volleyball

My younger princess turned 13 this month. I know it's so cliche, but where does the time go?

She's a middle schooler this year and enjoying the extra curricular activities that 7th grade offers. She played volleyball and though the season's over, she enjoyed it very much. So, when it was time to make her birthday cakes, I couldn't think of a more fun theme to use.

I won! I won!

Finally.... I won a blog giveaway!

Julia from Dozen Flours was hosting a giveaway for Singing Dog Vanilla and I won!! (woohoo!) I've really been interested in trying vanilla paste for some time, but haven't actually found any irl or ordered any. But now I'll have some of all my very own.

I can't wait to try it!

Thanks, Julia!

Dinner for 9

I got to cook for this good looking crew.

They were a fun group.

August "flavor of the month" post

My recipe for this month is a bit of a work-in-progress because I haven't made a final version yet. I've only made a "personal" version so far, but I plan to make it in a 9x13" pan for a party next weekend. I'll update my post after I do.

I *heart* lime and lemon, so as soon as Bridget suggested it I was excited. My mind was a whirl and I couldn't decide what to make.

One night I had one of those nights when you wake up and can't go back to sleep and my thoughts were jumping from one random topic to another. And then it hit me... one of my favorite treats in the world is a strawberry limeade from Sonic. I needed to try to come up with some way to capture that flavor in a dessert.

Here's what I came up with.

Frozen Strawberry-Limeade Dessert

(I don't have amounts yet.... I'll figure that out later in the week)

Ingredients:

Animal cookies

Lime sherbet

strawberries

sugar

whipping cream

vanilla

First I took amimal cookies and lime sherbet and made little ice cream sandwiches.

I put them back in the freezer for a bit.

I then sliced the strawberries and sprinkled them with sugar. I put them in the refrigerator to let them get juicy.

I made some whipped cream.

And then I layered it all up.

It was delicious.

When I make it for a group, I think I might crush the animal crackers and make them into a crust.

I'll let you know.

a cake for today

I had an order today for an anniversary cake. The guy gave me free reign because he didn't care what it looked like. Sometimes that's nice, but other times I'd rather *know* what to do. Today was an uncreative day...

So I looked online to get some ideas and finally came up with this:

I liked the dainty look and since daisies are my favorite flower the white flowers with yellow centers were pleasant.

My labor of love...

When Bridget at Bake @ 350 came up with the idea for Flavor of the Month, I was so excited. It was just the push I needed to fiinally start my own blog. All month I've been thinking and planning and trying to decide what to make in order to post.

Well, July happened (too quickly) and all of a sudden it was July 31st and I hadn't made a pie yet (not to mention starting and posting to a blog).

But, just in time, I had company coming. Finally! A reason to bake a pie.

So, since my girls had been gone for almost a week, and they love French silk pie, I decided that would be the perfect welcome home pie to bake.

I call it a labor of love because it involves pasteurizing the eggs which isn't my favorite part.

Here we go:

French Silk Pie

Crust:

1 1/4 c. flour

1/2 tsp. salt

2 T. cold butter

1/4 c. shortening

3-4 T. ice water

Put flour and salt in a bowl. Stir together. Cut in the butter and shortening till pieces are pea

sized. Sprinkle water over flour, 1 tablespoon at a time. Gently toss with a fork. Repeat until all is moistened. Form dough into ball.

Turn out onto a floured surface. Roll to fit into 10 inch pie pan. Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 10-12 minutes, until browned. (Cover edges if they brown too quickly.)

Cool.

Filling:

1st step - pastuerize the eggs

5 eggs

1 1/3 cups sugar

Place ingredients in a heavy

saucepan. Stir well. Cook over medium-low heat stirring constantly until mixture reaches 160 degrees. (This takes about 45 minutes.)

Immediately place the saucepan in ice water and stir until the egg mixture is cool.

2nd step:

1 1/4 cup butter

1/3 cup sugar

1 T. vanilla

5 squares unsweetened baking chocolate, melted and cooled

egg/sugar mixture from step one

Place butter and 1/3 cup sugar in mixing bowl. Beat for 4 minutes, until fluffy. Stir in chocolate and vanilla.

Beat well. Add egg mixture in four parts, beating well after each addition and scraping the sides of the bowl frequently. Pour into baked pie shell.

Chill several hours or overnight until set. Garnish with whipped cream.