Royal Icing

The day is winding down, but it's still Friday, so better late than never! We had a really busy day, are finally home, and my little boys are sleeping (well, the oldest is supposed to be sleeping but is currently singing the "ABC's" in his room!), so I have a chance to sit down and write!

Earlier this week, Abe and I made some cut-out cookies. We had so much fun! Seeking an icing that would set quickly and firmly and look smooth and vibrant, I decided to try Royal Icing this time. It was perfect! As you can see from the photo, I certainly need some practice in using a steady hand in order to achieve a smoother finish, but the recipe itself is a winner. It is very easy to use, sets to a hard and crisp finish, tastes great, and makes decorating fun!

Below I'll list two versions of the recipe, one with egg whites and one with meringue powder. I used the egg whites, as I didn't have any powder, but if you are concerned about using raw egg whites, both versions of the recipe apparently work equally well. If you use the powder, you also have the flexibility of adding an extract of your choice (vanilla, almond, etc.) whereas the raw egg whites required the use of lemon juice which contributes just a hint of lemon taste to the icing.

The recipe is easily adaptable if you have trouble--just add a very small amount of powdered sugar or water to acheive the proper consistency. If icing is difficult to pipe around the edges, it's too thick. Flooding icing should run off the back of a spoon and disappear back into the bowl of frosting within 5 seconds. **When you're ready to frost, I would suggest visiting this post on Annie's Eats for a fabulous tutorial on how to use Royal Icing.**

Royal Icing

Royal Icing Using Egg Whites:

2 large egg whites
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
3-4 cups confectioners sugar, sifted

In the bowl of your stand mixer, combine egg whites and lemon juice. Add powdered sugar and mix on low speed until combined and smooth. Transfer to an air-tight container immediately as icing hardens when exposed to air.

Color icing as desired and frost cookies.


Royal Icing Using Meringue Powder:

4 cups confectioners sugar
3 tablespoons meringue powder
1/2 teaspoon extract (vanilla, lemon, almond)
1/2 - 3/4 cup warm water

In the bowl of your stand mixer beat the confectioners' sugar and meringue powder until combined. Add the water and beat on medium to high speed until very glossy and stiff peaks form (5 to 7 minutes). If necessary, to get the right consistency, add more powdered sugar or water.

Color icing as desired and frost cookies.


recipe source: Joy of Baking

Holiday Time!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving here in Wisconsin this year. While we really missed our family in Illinois, it was so nice to just stay at home, keep our boys on normal nap schedules, and try our hand at cooking our own turkey! Ryan had Wednesday through Sunday off, and though he studied all day Wednesday and Saturday, we loved having him home for 5 days.

Our Thanksgiving meal turned out wonderfully. Ryan and Abe collected some leaves in the morning to use for our table centerpiece. During the meal, Abe got to use a goblet, which he was so excited about, and he said he was thankful for Daddy, Mommy, and cornucopias! Charlie gobbled down his 1st Thanksgiving meal and was particularly fond of the whipped cream on the pie!

On Friday we scored a few Black Friday deals, ate cold turkey sandwiches (my absolute favorite way to use leftover turkey), put up our Christmas tree, and watched "Frosty the Snowman" with popcorn and hot cocoa in the evening. It was a fabulous kick-off to holiday season!

Ready to eat!

Both our boys look so thrilled, don't they?! They really did enjoy the meal, I promise!

Homemade Pumpkin Pie!

Abe was really into the decorating this year. In fact, he still asks me almost daily if I "like the tree with the star on top" and if I can "even believe that we have a tree in our house"!! While we were putting up the tree, he kept saying, "Oh, wow! Wow! Wow!"

All done!

P.J. party watching "Frosty the Snowman"!

Ryan's mom gave us this ornament the Christmas right before we got married--5 Years this December! As a side note, this picture was taken with our new camera!! Our old one has been on its last leg for quite some time, oftentimes not even allowing you to take pictures, and when it does, the photos are very grainy. Just take a look at how sharp this photo is in contrast to the previous six, especially the pictures of the Thanksgiving table! We watched Amazon's Black Friday deals like a hawk and ended up getting such a good price--I am so thankful to have this camera to capture special moments of our boys as they grow!

May your Season be Merry and Bright!

I Am Thankful...

This Thanksgiving 2012 morning began in the quiet stillness of the early morning, thanking God for His goodness and for the countless blessings He has given us. Now that the pumpkin pie is cooling and the turkey is roasting, I have a moment to share my thankful list. Today I'm Thankful For:

1. the love of God
2. that Jesus died on the cross to pay for my sin and then rose victorious over death
3. the beautiful blue skies outside my window
4. the adorable little boy sitting at my feet, babbling, chewing on a sippy cup, and turning up to me to smile from time to time
5. the blonde-haired little boy sitting across the room from me, who challenges and blesses me daily with his wit, his sharp mind, his humor, his kindness, and his strong will
6. the opportunity to be a mother to these two and understand even in part how deep is the love of God
7. the brilliant, ruggedly handsome :) man I am blessed to call my husband and who loves and serves our family so well
8. how God is using these 3 boys, among other things, to refine me and make me more Christlike, as hard as it is sometimes to be made aware of my sin and selfishness
9. our dear families who love us and our boys so much, and who we love so much too
10. our precious friendships, so many that have spanned time and distance
11. the new friends we've made here in WI, who we never would have met had God not brought us to this place, at this time
12. clean water
13. plentiful food
14. clothing
15. a warm, comfortable dwelling place
16. good health
17. the warmth, thrill, joy, and sparkle of the Christmas season that is now upon us
18. Christmas songs: I look forward to them all year and never get sick of them!
19. the technology that allows me to communicate this list with all of you!
20. that though I don't know the future, I know Who holds it all in His hand, and He is Good, He is True, He is Faithful, and He is Love

And on it goes.

May you rest in God's Love today--Happy Thanksgiving!

Odds and Ends

A brief photo recap of life these days:

I LOVE his little padded bottom up in the air! It's oh-so-sweet when he sleeps like this:

One day, I couldn't find Abe. Soon I heard some rustling around in the closet...unsure as to what I would find, I grabbed the camera, and when I opened the door, I found him digging around in the diaper bag for some gum! I died laughing, but we did have a talk afterward about how he doesn't need to be sneaky, rather, just ask!

Another day, I thought I had put Charlie in a safe place (since he's started crawling, he tends to knock down Abe's towers, tear apart his train tracks, etc.), and Abe often retaliates a bit too roughly (we're working on this!!). Soon I heard, "Mommy, I'm in here!" and I walked into their room to find this:

He adores bath time:

Abe has been assigned a chore that I felt was age-appropriate-making his bed! I think he does a pretty good job!

One day I found an awesome, one-day-only deal on photo Christmas cards, so naturally, I attempted to get a few decent pictures of the boys. The photo-shoot was largely a major fail, but I did get a great one of Abe SMILING!!!! Usually, he is quick to say "cheese" but does it totally straight-faced, so this was a huge accomplishment!

And one of Charlie:

Well, I guess that's all for this blog post. Thanks for reading!

Huevos Rancheros

Today my family is continuing to fight a bug that first manifested itself as the flu in Abe and spun into an icky, feel-like-your-head-is-gonna-explode cold for the rest of us. As a result, I'm feeling rather uninspired in the way of blogging, but I still wanted to get a Food on Friday post in today, especially since I didn't post at all this past week. I promise an update on "life" soon--I have a lot of fun photos and stories to share!

I'm always on the lookout for good meat-free recipes, since our family tries to eat a vegetarian dish 1-2 times a week, both for our budget and for its health benefits. This recipe won me over by how fresh and bright it looked, and when we actually tasted it, the result was fantastic too! In fact, the bean mixture is so tasty, Abe and I enjoyed some on tortilla chips before eating it for dinner. We prepared our eggs over-easy, but feel free to scramble or fry yours if you prefer!

Huevos Rancheros

3 cups cooked black beans, divided (or 2 15-oz. cans, drained and rinsed)
Juice of 1 lime
¾ tsp. ground cumin
½ tsp. cayenne pepper
½ tsp. kosher salt
2-3 tbsp. chicken or vegetable broth (optional)
2-3 tbsp. butter, divided
6 (6-inch) corn tortillas
6 large eggs

To serve:
Shredded cheese, such as pepper jack, white cheddar or Monterey jack
Fresh salsa (be sure to use a good salsa--Chi-Chi's won't star in this dish as well!)
Sour cream
Hot sauce
Sliced avocado
Cilantro

In the bowl of a food processor, combine 1½ cups of the black beans, lime juice, cumin, cayenne, and salt. Process until smooth. If necessary, add broth 1 tablespoon at a time to achieve an even consistency. Transfer the mixture to a bowl or saucepan and mix in the remaining 1½ cups of beans. Set aside.

In a heavy skillet (I like cast iron), melt ½ tablespoon of the butter over high heat. One at a time, add the first three tortillas to the skillet, flipping once, until slightly charred on both sides. Transfer to a plate. Melt an additional ½ tablespoon of butter and brown the remaining tortillas. Set aside.

In a large non-stick skillet, melt the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter over medium heat. Gently crack the eggs into the pan. Season with salt and pepper and let cook until the white is fully cooked through but the yolk is still soft. (Cook eggs in batches if necessary.) Meanwhile, heat the bean mixture until warmed through either in the microwave or on the stove.

Place each tortilla on a plate. Spoon some of the bean mixture over the top and sprinkle with shredded cheese. Top each tortilla with a cooked egg. Top with salsa, sour cream, hot sauce, and avocado as desired. Garnish with cilantro.

source: Annie's Eats (can you tell I LOVE her blog?!?!)

Chicago-Style Deep-Dish Pizza

My hubby isn't really one for the big city. He can go for a weekend, enjoying the crowds, noise, and ammenities for what they are, but a nature-loving man at heart, he's always glad to be back where things are a little more spacious. One thing that always makes trips to the city well worth it, however, is the food. Particularly, Giordano's pizza: a buttery crust, loads of cheese, sauce on top, so thick you're done after just 1 piece! When we drive down to Chicago for church, he never fails to notice and comment on the enormous billboard showcasing a slice of their pizza. So, in effort to re-create the experience at home, we tried this pizza for dinner one weekend. It isn't quite Giordano's, but for an at-home replication, it's delicious!

Chicago-Style Deep-Dish Pizza

Dough:
1½ cups plus 2 tbsp. (8 1/8 oz.) all-purpose flour
¼ cup (1 3/8 oz.) yellow cornmeal
¾ tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
1 1/8 tsp. instant yeast
½ cup plus 2 tbsp. (5 oz.) water, at room temperature
1½ tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened

Sauce:
1 tbsp. unsalted butter
2 tbsp. grated onion
Pinch of dried oregano
¼ tsp. salt
1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
1 (14.5 oz) can crushed tomatoes
Pinch of sugar
2 tbsp. fresh basil leaves, coarsely chopped
1½ tsp. extra-virgin olive oil
Ground black pepper

For assembling and topping:
2 tbsp. olive oil
8 oz. mozzarella, shredded (about 2 cups)
¼ oz. Parmesan cheese (about 2 tbsp.)
Additional toppings, to taste


To make the dough, combine the flour, cornmeal, salt, sugar and yeast in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook on low speed. Mix until blended, about 1 minute. Add the water and melted butter and continue mixing on low speed until fully incorporated, 1-2 minutes, scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl occasionally. Increase the speed to medium-low and knead until the dough is glossy and smooth, and pulls away from the sides of the bowl, 4-5 minutes.

Using your hands, coat a medium bowl with 1 teaspoon of the olive oil. Transfer the dough to the bowl, turning once to coat with oil. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until nearly doubled, about 45-60 minutes.

While the dough is rising, prepare the sauce. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, oregano, and salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has evaporated and the onion is golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook just until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the tomatoes and sugar and increase the heat to medium-high. Bring the mixture to a simmer, then lower the heat to medium-low and continue to simmer until reduced to about 1¼ cups, about 25 minutes. Off the heat, stir in the basil and oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

To laminate the dough, turn the dough out onto a dry work surface and roll into a 8- by 6-inch rectangle. Using an offset spatula, spread the softened butter over the surface of the dough, leaving a ½-inch border around the edges. Starting at the short end, roll the dough into a tight cylinder. With the seam side down, flatten the cylinder into a 9- by 2 inch rectangle. Fold into thirds like a business letter, pinch the seams to form a ball, and return to the oiled bowl. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and let rise in the refrigerator until nearly doubled in size, 40-50 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 425˚ F. To assemble, coat a 9-inch round cake pan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil**. Transfer the dough ball to a dry work surface and roll out into a 13-inch disk about ¼-inch thick. Transfer the dough to the pan. Lightly press the dough into the pan, working into the corners and 1 inch up the sides. If the dough resists stretching, let rest 5 minutes before trying again.

If desired, place toppings across surface of the dough. Next, sprinkle the shredded mozzarella over the surface of the dough. Spread the tomato sauce over the cheese and top with Parmesan. Bake until the crust is golden brown, 20-30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let rest 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Yield: 1 9-inch deep-dish pizza

source: Annie's Eats

Hair Update and Post Labels

So, remember how I was supposed to dye my hair and review the product (Clairol Nice 'n Easy)? I've been waiting, and waiting, and waiting for the color to fade so I could give a good review of the "beginning to end", but it's been 51 days since I dyed it, and it's still brown! The color has certainly faded somewhat, but it's nowhere near my original color. According to the box, the color only lasts 28 shampoos, and mine has lasted nearly double that! I suppose this is a pro, if you're thinking in terms of value, but in terms of the product doing what it says it will do, I would consider it a con. Generally speaking, for an at-home hair color kit, it is a fine product. Abe took this picture of Ryan and I the other day, and it shows the color well:

It was certainly a fun experiment, and I'm very accustomed to my brown hair! I've seen myself with it so many days now that it just seems normal. I just hope it fades rapidly enough to avoid any roots showing as my hair grows.

(By the way, that is my Better Homes and Gardens magazine in Ryan's hands--I guess you know you're married to a medical student when he starts confiscating your magazines to look at all the drug advertisements in them!)

On another note, I've recently assigned labels to each of my posts. If you look along the sidebar on the right, you can access the posts according to category. I know some of our family, in particular, especially enjoy posts about our boys, so this will enable easy access to all those posts. I'll do my best to clearly categorize each post, and hopefully this will prove useful to some of you!

Braised Short Ribs

After spending the better part of my afternoon waiting in line at the polls, I'm getting this up much later than I had hoped! But, my civic duty done, here is today's recipe:

A few months ago, my parents gave us a package of beef short ribs. Not caring for them much herself, my mom knew I would find some way to put them to good use! I had never prepared them before, or even eaten them, for that matter, so I turned to the Pioneer Woman as my guide. For one, I've enjoyed every recipe of hers that I've tried, and for another, she's the Pioneer Woman. I thought it safe to assume that someone who lives on the frontier would know how to cook short ribs!

We enjoyed this meal a great deal, but it's one of those "once in a while" type of dishes, as it's quite heavy and messy! I found it to be a bit deceiving in appearance, because I think the presentation has a bit of a rustic elegance about it. When you start it eat it, though, all manners must flee. The meat is so incredibly flavorful and tender, but it is still a rib on a bone and requires some work! We served ours over polenta (creamy, cooked corn meal) which served as a wonderful base for the flavorful juices that ran off of the meat. Mashed potatoes would be equally as delicious.

Enjoy!

Braised Short Ribs

8 whole Beef Short Ribs
Kosher Salt and Pepper To Taste
1/4 cup All-purpose Flour
6 pieces Pancetta, Diced (**I subbed bacon)
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1 whole Medium Onion, Diced
3 whole Carrots, Diced
2 whole Shallots, Peeled And Finely Minced, opt.
2 cups Red Or White Wine (**I used red)
2 cups Beef Or Chicken Broth
2 sprigs Thyme (**I used dried herbs, about 1/2 tsp. each)
2 sprigs Rosemary

Salt and pepper ribs, then dredge in flour. Set aside.

In a large dutch oven, cook pancetta over medium heat until complete crispy and all fat is rendered. Remove pancetta and set aside. Do not discard grease.

Add olive oil to pan with the pancetta grease, and raise heat to high. Brown ribs on all sides, about 45 seconds per side. Remove ribs and set aside. Turn heat to medium.

Add onions, carrots, and shallots to pan and cook for 2 minutes. Pour in wine and scrape bottom of pan to release all the flavorful bits of glory. Bring to a boil and cook 2 minutes.

Add broth, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, and plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Taste and add more salt if needed. Add ribs to the liquid; they should be almost completely submerged. Add thyme and rosemary sprigs (whole) to the liquid.

Put on the lid and place into the oven. Cook at 350 for 2 hours, then reduce heat to 325 and cook for an additional 30 to 45 minutes. Ribs should be fork-tender and falling off the bone. Remove pan from oven and allow to sit for at least 20 minutes, lid on, before serving. At the last minute, skim fat off the top of the liquid. (Can also refrigerate mixture, then remove solid fat from the top.)

Serve 2 ribs on bed of creamy polenta, spooning a little juice over the top.

source: The Pioneer Woman Cooks