Picture Post!

[tygati]

So, Alice wanted to see the dog, and I wanted to share my dorky cookies. :) Ah, and I'm including the recipes for this year's Xmas cookies. Pretty easy stuff, really, provided you have a mixer. >.> *pointed look at certain weirdos*


So here we have Snowbear: sleeping, wondering wtf I'm doing, and making faces at the crazy woman behind the camera. :)


Mwahahaha! Cookies! ^^ You can see my lavishly-decorated gingerbread cookies and the cup of cinnamon-sugar waiting for me to get off my butt and finish the snickerdoodles, and various cookie-making paraphernalia that didn't get used today cause the dirty stuff is in the sink. >.>; This, btw, is a SAWA cookie press. Er, three of them. >.> And another four or so in the cupboard cause I sorta collect the things. ^^; Great fun for making butter cookies. The little tips off to the right are the icing tips, and the tube that holds them is basically just a smaller version of the SAWA presses (Those cylindrical things). Behind them you see the shoebox that my cake decorating goodies reside in. Some of those tips are ancient. I don't use them very often because normally anything I make doesn't really last long enough to get decorated... >.>;;

But enough babble, on to the good stuff! Recipes!

Snickerdoodles

2 3/4 c. sifted flour
1/2 t. salt
1 1/2 c. sugar
3 t. baking powder
1 c. soft butter
2 eggs

4 t cinnamon
4 T. sugar

Mix & sift flour, baking powder, & salt. Cream butter & 1 1/2 c sugar gradually and cream until fluffy. Add beaten eggs & mix. Add sifted dry ingredients gradually & mix.
Chill in refridgerator.

Mold dough into small ball using 1 T. dough for each ball and roll in mixture of remaining sugar and cinnamon.

Bake about 2" apart on ungreased baking sheet in a pre-heated 400F oven about 10 minutes. (Unless you're like me and live by AirBake cookie sheets in which case you need to add another minute or three.)


Gingerbread

1/2 c. molassas
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. soft butter
2 3/4 c. flour
2 t. ginger
1/2 t. salt
1 t. baking soda
1/2 c. buttermilk

Mix molassas, sugar, and butter well; add sifted dry ingredients alternately with buttermilk and mix until smooth.

Chill several hours. Roll out on floured board to about 1/4" thickness. Cut with floured cookie cutters.

Bake in 350F oven for 10 minutes. (See above note about cookie sheets.)
Cool and decorate.



White icing

1 c. powdered sugar
2 T. soft butter
1-2 t. milk
1 t. vanilla extract

Cream butter, add sugar gradually, add vanilla. The milk will make it creamy, but less thick, so if you're going for decorator's tips you'll want it smoother (more milk) but if you're just frosting on your own thicker is generally better so just enough milk to make it creamy. <3

Comments

[alice_montrose]

Whee, pictures! Thank you for sharing! *pets the doggie and steals some of your ginger men*

[fechan.livejournal.com]

Oh my, that dog is so cute! Especially the first picture on the left! XD;;

Wow! You made real gingerbread cookies!! I'm in awe of you~!

What's the T for in recipes? Tablespoon or teaspoon? Wait what's the c for then? Cup? (Sometimes I wonder how I survived cooking my food for 8 years XD)

[tygati.livejournal.com]

*headdesk* I knew I was forgetting something... T = Tablespoon, t = teaspoon, c = cup. x.x Always forget that most people don't have baking abbreviations memorized... >.>;;

[marasmine.livejournal.com]

I'm gussing that 't' is teaspoon, and 'T' is tablespoon. UK recipes are by weight not volume but I do have a US measuring cup thingy somewhere... My gingerbread recipe makes a lot of gingerbread - last time I made it was for a cake sale and I had tubs and tubs of gingerbread men and women to sell and still left loads at home!

Beautiful dog!

[tygati.livejournal.com]

By... weight? o.o; What do you do, put everything you're measuring on a little scale? *boggle*

[marasmine.livejournal.com]

Yep! We have a whole selection of kitchen scales to choose from! The electronic ones are the easiest to use cos you just zero them with the bowl on them and add what you need. Your way is easier but I worry more about the results when I do it!

[tygati.livejournal.com]

Wow. o.o That's... weird. o.o I have a kitchen scale... >.> I use it to weigh packages for postage. ^^;;

I definitely like my way. I'm not sure what you mean about worrying about the results, but usually the things that might give you problems are: altitude, sifted/unsifted flour, and stove/cookie sheets. Most commercial recipes include directions for how to modify a recipe for high altitudes, but if you're down near sea level you sometimes have to modify the other way... 9.9 Stoves are fairly easy to deal with. There are good ones and sucky ones. >.> Most of them suck. ^^; So I live by the AirBake cookie sheets, which counteract sucky ovens. The only trick is that you have to mentally remember to add a few more minutes than the recipe calls for. The flour problem is by far the most difficult, because too much or too little flour can really change a result. 9.9 That one I'm still working out. ^^; Modern recipes tend to mean unsifted flour, while the passed-down ones are iffy on which style they mean. [/geek]

[mechante-fille.livejournal.com]

Hey, who you callin' a weirdo? I'll have you know I live less than 10 miles from a mixer. Mom's mixer.^_^ Which is where I would most likely make cookies, anyway.

The cookies and doggie pics are love.^^ Which reminds me... I have a pic to share!

*smooooooch*

[tygati.livejournal.com]

I still maintain that a mixer is the most important part of a kitchen. ;)

[(Anonymous)]

I don't bake. O_____________O Let's just say that I don't cook. Period.

But ohmygod DOGGIE XD *0* WHY ARE YOU SO FLUFFILY FLUFFY AND CUTE!?

[graphitesmudges.livejournal.com]

Oookay. So I forgot to login.

[tygati.livejournal.com]

*petpet* Baking is a skill I grew up with. Pretty much my only saving grace in the kitchen. ^^

Doggy is fluffy because that's his breed? ^^;

[graphitesmudges.livejournal.com]

The only thing I do well in the kitchen is find where the fridge is. - -* I've also found out that I do that pretty well in other people's kitchens too.

But he has those EYES AND THE FLUFFY FUR AND OHMYGODIENVYYOUFORHAVINGSUCHASQUISHYSQUISHYDOG.

[tygati.livejournal.com]

Cooking takes practice? You work your way up slowly, starting with Helping, and eventually graduating to cooking solo. ^^

*lmao* He is very fluffy and snuggly, yus. <3

[graphitesmudges.livejournal.com]

I have no one to help, sadly. ^^;; Cause my mom refuses to work in the kitchen. And my maid doesn't want me anywhere near a pan, because she thinks I'll hurt myself.

YES. *0* He looks like one really big teddy bear.

[tygati.livejournal.com]

o.o; .... maid? >.> You have a maid? o.o;;

[graphitesmudges.livejournal.com]

^^;; I forgot about that little detail. Maids here aren't as expensive as the one in the States. My maid has been with me since I was born. XD She's like a big sister, so yeah. Maid.

[tygati.livejournal.com]

*boggle* o.o That's... wow. ^^;

[since-that-day.livejournal.com]

I have a friend with the same kind of dog.. yours is cute, but theirs is old..

[tygati.livejournal.com]

Snowbear's old. He's got arthritis in both hips now, poor thing, but he's still just as happy and snuggly as ever. He just can't go up and down stairs as easily, and he doesn't get to go on the long walks with Mom. We've had him for years. 9.9

DOGGIE~! *hearts*

[dyoklako.livejournal.com]

He's much fluffier than our doggie~! Lookie here (http://dyoklako.livejournal.com/179665.html)!

She's a Japanese Spitz and ish very much spoiled rotten. ^^"

Hope you're having a wonderful holidays. ^_^

Re: DOGGIE~! *hearts*

[tygati.livejournal.com]

*giggle* Oh wow, your doggie looks soooooo skinny compared to Snowbear and his fluff! ^___^ Hee. <3

Re: DOGGIE~! *hearts*

[dyoklako.livejournal.com]

she's actually fatter now than those pictures.... she's 20kg (about 45lbs) heavy now. XD

so even if she's not fluffy, she sure is HEAVY! XDDDDD

But SNOWBEAR IS LOVE! *^_^*

*luffles Snowbear*
*Starlet barks, ish jealous*
*huggles Starlet*
^^"

p.s.
I CAN cook but for the life of me I can never learn HOW TO BAKE. -.-"
*ish envious of your prowess* ;P
*snags a cookie*
*hides*