Peppermint Candy Cookie Deliciousness

We had our KTG Holiday Party a week or so before Christmas. This year we decided that not only were we going to do a White Elephant Gift exchange but we were also going to do a Cookie Exchange. So I decided to look on pinterest for some inspiration and found these adorable cookies by Bakerella that I wanted to try. My first batch I attempted to make Vanilla Lavendar Sugar Cookies but you can read about that disaster here.

For my second batch I decided to follow the recipe exactly. I used this recipe from Bake at 350. I got the idea from Bakerella. The recipe for the frosting I modified from Bake at 350's Royal Icing Recipe. She has some great tips for trouble shooting the icing as well.

Peppermint Royal Icing

(This will cover 2-3 dozen 3.5 inch cookies in 2 colors)


4 TBSP meringue powder

scant 1/2 cup water
 
1 lb powdered sugar 

1/2 - 1 tsp light corn syrup 

2-3 drops peppermint extract (optional) 

I also used Americolor's Bright White and Electric Pink for my frosting colors.

First you outline with the royal icing.
Then you flood the icing to fill the centers.
Which means that you fold in a tsp of water at a time
until the frosting flows back together into the bowl easily.

Once the centers are filled let them sit for a minute.
Then use your second color and place dots around the edges

Using a toothpick slide the dots towards the center.

Starting in the center slide your toothpick around in a pinwheel motion.

TA DA! Peppermint candies!

Wrap in clear bags with ribbon. I used self sealing wrap and twine. 

Vanilla Lavender Disaster

Ever get a fantastic idea and had it go horribly wrong? I decided to experiement with Lavender Oil for the first time the other day. I had a recipe for Vanilla Almond Sugar Cookies and I had the brilliant idea that I would make them Vanilla Lavender cookies instead. Experimenting can be fun but I don't recommend experimenting when you are trying to make 5 dozen cookies. Let's just say my first batch was a massive failure due to little knowledge of how powerful Lavender Oil really is. Imagine taking a whole handful of lavender and shoving it into your mouth. That, is approximately what my cookie dough tasted like. I exchanged the lavendar oil for the almond extract that the recipe called for in the exact amount which was a 1/2 tsp. That stuff is seriously potent! In fact I just looked it up online and this was the description for the oil I had bought:

Lavender Oil
Lavender's intoxicating scent and distinctive flavor has many gourmet uses. Use it to flavor teas, seasoning blends (herbs de provence), cooking sauces and dressings, apple sauce, jellies and chocolates. 

Pure essential oils are potent. When using as a culinary ingredient, we recommend adding the oil by the drop until desired flavor is achieved. 
Ingredients: Natural Lavender Oil (100% Pur Essential Oil). Food Grade.

My husband and I cannot even smell Lavender right now without gagging slightly. For the record, when something doesn't turn out right, it's not always a good idea to keep tasting it to see if you just had a bad portion! I even tried coating a ball of dough in sugar and it was still awful. I'm hoping that Lavender isn't ruined for me for life.

Party Prep

I know, I know what a slacker. I keep starting blog posts and not finishing them! The past few weeks have just flown by with holiday parties and planning. Currently I am trying to get everything together for what may end up being the smallest New Year Eve's party ever. I've decided on a color scheme. Not the traditional black and gold that you see everywhere, but I decided something more cheerful. White and Robin's Egg Blue. I'm looking forward to my vision becoming a reality. This party may have few attendees but it's going to be fun!




Several weeks ago I swept through Party City and bought everything I thought I could possibly need. Which amounted to...a LOT. I definitely blanched when they added it all up, but consoled myself that they had a 30 day return policy so anything we did not use, ie the hundred and one different colored balloons or the, ahem, fifteen princess tiaras, we could return them no muss or fuss.





















Yesterday Mr Mine finally got bitten by the party bug and we raced around to BevMo, Trader Joe's, and lastly Party City for all of our odds and ends. The more it comes together the more excited I get. Today I realized I am nowhere near as finished as I want to be. There are so many projects that I wanted to get finished before this party. I wanted to finish re-finishing the side chair that I picked up three years ago at the thrift store and still haven't completed. Then I wanted to make some topiaries out of new year's resolutions so that people could just pick them off of the tree. I got the idea from looking at this ribbon topiary. It's hard to curb the craft diy bug even when it is last minute!

We've also been contemplating as to whether we should take down our Christmas tree for the party as well. I don't really want to because I absolutely adore our tree this year. It makes me exceptionally happy every time that I look at it. Decisions, decisions! And only a few days left to decide.

Just A Minor Setback

minor setback

So I had the bright idea to do a 30 days of Cooking Challenge for the month of December. Which was going along swimmingly until I got sick and lacked the energy to do anything other than heat up store bought soup. However when it came to my turn to host our KTG group I rallied and cooked a frozen veggie lasagna. Other than a minor casualty involving oven mitts that were obviously too short and a 400 degree glass oven door. The event went well :) I do hope that I get rid of the last of this cold soon so that I can restart my challenge. I was actually enjoying trying out all the new recipes in my dust gathering cookbooks and magazines!

Clueless

Mr Mine got me sick....again. It's been a week and I am still miserable.

After dragging myself around all morning to Physical Therapy, the Physician, and then to the Bagel Factory to pick up a gallon of vegetable soup. I was grateful to be at my final stop before I could go home and crawl back exhaustedly into bed. I had to pick up some Mucinex DM per my doc's orders and while I was at it I raided the tea section for a bunch of chamomile since we were completely out. Relieved to be in line to pay I was letting my mind wander when out of the blue a voice behind says " Wow, you must drink a lot of tea". My first thought as I am turning to respond to this stranger is "oh great someone who wants to talk, I so do not have energy for this" as I plaster on a wry grin and respond with a croaking "yeah". At which point Mr Friendly and Outgoing says "oh, are you sick?". No mister I always sound like a frog crawled down my throat. Another croaking "yeah". Which any normal person might have just said "oh, that sucks" and gotten the hint that said sick person was exhausted and that talking was costing them much needed strength. But oh no, Mr Friendly and Outgoing then goes on to say a multitude of things ranging from, "I'm a life coach. Do you work out? What do you like to do when you work out? Have you ever thought it(getting sick) could be because of your nutrition?" to "What are your goals?" All the while the voices in my head are screaming at him "shut up, just shut up, the girl is sick, she doesn't want to talk about weight management and healthy living, she just wants to go home and crawl into bed!! Which by the way had already been stated at this point, well, at least the part about looking forward to just going home and crawling into bed. I practically ran to my car from the check out line as soon as I had paid. I've never been so happy to get back in my car.

A note to life coaches out there: Badgering a poor sick girl in the check out aisle will not endear you to her and make her want to hire you!!!! Get a clue! I do understand that part of the problem was that I kept responding. But honestly I didn't even have the energy to be bitchy! And maybe if I had not been sick I might have entertained his pitch. But seriously, I felt like a cornered animal in a cage. Because that line was definitely not moving fast enough and I had way too many people between me and my finish line.

I'm so happy to finally be home. I've downed a quart of soup, taken my meds, and now I am going to crawl back into bed. Hope you are all doing well and staying healthier than I have! This season's been rough.