Thursday, December 31, 2009
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Paris sous la neige..
Rue Royale Madeleine
Chatelet
Place Pigalle
Arc de Triomphe
Place de l'Opéra
by Edouard Léon Cortès 1882-1969
Paris sous la neige
Rehs Galleries
via The Au Jasmine
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Vintage French Doors Dessert Table
Monday, December 28, 2009
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Friday, December 25, 2009
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Reindeer Cookies Recipe..
Reindeer Cookies Recipe
INGREDIENTS
1 roll (16.5 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated gingerbread or peanut butter cookies
64 small pretzel twists
64 semisweet chocolate chips (about 1/4 cup)
16 candied cherries, cut in half, if desired
DIRECTIONS
1. Heat oven to 350°F. With hands, shape roll of cookie dough into triangle-shaped log. (If dough is too soft to cut, place in freezer 30 minutes.)
2. With thin sharp knife, cut dough into 32 (1/4-inch-thick) triangular slices; on ungreased cookie sheets, place 2 inches apart. Place 2 pretzel twists on each triangle near corners for antlers.
3. Bake 7 to 11 minutes or until set. While warm, lightly press 2 chocolate chips into each cookie for eyes and 1 cherry half for nose. Remove from cookie sheets. Let stand until chocolate chips are set, about 15 minutes. Store between sheets of waxed paper in tightly covered container.
(via pillsburyrecipes)
INGREDIENTS
1 roll (16.5 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated gingerbread or peanut butter cookies
64 small pretzel twists
64 semisweet chocolate chips (about 1/4 cup)
16 candied cherries, cut in half, if desired
DIRECTIONS
1. Heat oven to 350°F. With hands, shape roll of cookie dough into triangle-shaped log. (If dough is too soft to cut, place in freezer 30 minutes.)
2. With thin sharp knife, cut dough into 32 (1/4-inch-thick) triangular slices; on ungreased cookie sheets, place 2 inches apart. Place 2 pretzel twists on each triangle near corners for antlers.
3. Bake 7 to 11 minutes or until set. While warm, lightly press 2 chocolate chips into each cookie for eyes and 1 cherry half for nose. Remove from cookie sheets. Let stand until chocolate chips are set, about 15 minutes. Store between sheets of waxed paper in tightly covered container.
(via pillsburyrecipes)
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Friday, December 11, 2009
Mini gingerbread house!
Ingredients
Makes 50
1 1/2 cups boiling water
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, preferably Dutch-process
4 teaspoons ground ginger
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
3/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
1 cup packed dark-brown sugar
1 1/2 cups unsulfured molasses
3 large eggs, room temperature
About 1 1/2 cups chocolate frosting
2 red licorice wheels, unwound and cut into 50 pieces (3/4 inch each)
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 13-by-9-inch baking pan. Line bottom with parchment, and butter parchment. Dust with flour, and tap out excess.
Stir together boiling water and baking soda in a small bowl, and set aside. Whisk flour, cocoa powder, spices, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl.
Beat butter and brown sugar with a mixer on medium-high speed until fluffy. Add molasses and eggs, and beat until creamy, about 4 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Reduce speed to low.
Add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the baking soda mixture, and beat until combined. Raise speed to medium-high, and beat for 15 seconds.
Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 40 minutes. (To prevent cake from falling too soon, do not open oven for the first 35 minutes of baking.)
Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake until a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 40 minutes. (To prevent cake from falling too soon, do not open oven for the first 35 minutes of baking.)
Let cool in pan on a wire rack for 20 minutes. Run a knife around edges of cake to loosen, and invert onto rack. Remove parchment, turn cake right side up, and let cool completely. (Cake can be wrapped in plastic and refrigerated for up to 3 days.)
Using a serrated knife, trim edges of cake so they are straight. Cut cake into 1-inch cubes. Cut 25 cubes on the diagonal into triangles.
Using a serrated knife, trim edges of cake so they are straight. Cut cake into 1-inch cubes. Cut 25 cubes on the diagonal into triangles.
Spread frosting on long sides of triangles, and place one triangle on top of each cube, frosting side down, to create roofs. Insert a piece of licorice in top of each roof for the chimney. Dust roofs with confectioners' sugar. Petits fours are best the day you assemble them.
via martha stewart
Life is Not a Dress Rehearsal..
but baking amaretti is! .. 
experimenting with amaretti cookies just goes to show you that I'd do anything to get those Baratti & Milano amaretti cookies that my sister-in-law got me when she came back from Italy. I opened the beautiful vintage inspired cylinderical box to be surprised by little wrapped bon-bon like biscuits.. amaretti biscuits from Baratti & Milano.
as I finished the last piece of amaretti , I thought , now ,what am I doing? The box is empty and I long for more of these scrumptious , soft almond tasting biscuits now every single day.
then , my amaretti at-home experiment started.
a big : WANTED:the best , softest amaretti biscuit recipe just like the Baratti & Milano ones.... does it even exist?
Here I will share with you my trial and errors in this journey!..

Amaretti Biscuits adopted from Martha Stewart
try no. 1
Ingredients
Makes about 5 dozen
4 cups slivered almonds
2 cups granulated sugar
4 large egg whites
1 teaspoon pure almond extract
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting
Directions
Line three baking sheets with Silpat baking mats.
Grind almonds with granulated sugar in the bowl of a food processor until fine. Transfer to a medium bowl. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Add almond extract. Gently stir egg-white mixture into almond mixture to form a thick paste.
Drop dough in rounded teaspoons onto prepared baking sheets about 1 1/2 inches apart. Dust with confectioners’ sugar, and let stand at room temperature to dry for 2 hours.
Place rack in center of oven, and preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Transfer sheets to oven, and bake amaretti until edges are golden and cookies are firm, 20 to 25 minutes.
Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool. Dust with confectioners' sugar. Repeat with remaining cookie dough.
experimenting with amaretti cookies just goes to show you that I'd do anything to get those Baratti & Milano amaretti cookies that my sister-in-law got me when she came back from Italy. I opened the beautiful vintage inspired cylinderical box to be surprised by little wrapped bon-bon like biscuits.. amaretti biscuits from Baratti & Milano.
as I finished the last piece of amaretti , I thought , now ,what am I doing? The box is empty and I long for more of these scrumptious , soft almond tasting biscuits now every single day.
then , my amaretti at-home experiment started.
a big : WANTED:the best , softest amaretti biscuit recipe just like the Baratti & Milano ones.... does it even exist?
Here I will share with you my trial and errors in this journey!..
Amaretti Biscuits adopted from Martha Stewart
try no. 1
Ingredients
Makes about 5 dozen
4 cups slivered almonds
2 cups granulated sugar
4 large egg whites
1 teaspoon pure almond extract
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting
Directions
Line three baking sheets with Silpat baking mats.
Grind almonds with granulated sugar in the bowl of a food processor until fine. Transfer to a medium bowl. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Add almond extract. Gently stir egg-white mixture into almond mixture to form a thick paste.
Drop dough in rounded teaspoons onto prepared baking sheets about 1 1/2 inches apart. Dust with confectioners’ sugar, and let stand at room temperature to dry for 2 hours.
Place rack in center of oven, and preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Transfer sheets to oven, and bake amaretti until edges are golden and cookies are firm, 20 to 25 minutes.
Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool. Dust with confectioners' sugar. Repeat with remaining cookie dough.
this was a good recipe. Not the amarettis I'm looking for. they are too flat.. too chewy. not at all soft. will I make em again? eh.
the search for the best amaretti recipe continues........
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Raspberry Mousse Love..
Creamy Raspberry Mousse
adapted from VeggieBelly
6 oz fresh raspberries
1 1/2 tbsp fruit pectin powder
3/4 cup sugar
a pinch of salt
1 1/2 tbsp raspberry jello powder
1 1/2 tbsp boiling water
3 tbsp cream cheese
1/2 cup heavy cream
Start with the raspberry jam. In a medium pan, heat the raspberries, pectin, sugar and salt on medium heat. Cook till the mixture is bubbling and slightly thickened. About 4 minutes. Then press the raspberries through a strainer, discard the pulp and seeds and reserve the liquid jam. Let the jam cool.
Meanwhile, in the bowl of an electric beater, place the boiling water and jello and mix till dissolved. Then add the cooled jam and cream cheese. Mix with a fork till well incorporated. Pour in cream. Using the beater, whip/beat the mixture on high till thick.
scoop into elegant small glasses , garnish with lady fingers , or tiny marshmallow hearts , and Mint !
Pretty and Affordable Carnations!
yes carnations are no longer viewed as cheap !! they are so pretty and very affordable.. as used here by {frolic!} for this elegant and chic tablesettings! 
via {frolic!}
via {frolic!}
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