Friday, October 23, 2015

Almond Paste



You do NOT have to spend big bucks on the canned stuff to get good almond paste.



Almond Paste
1 3/4 cups (175 grams) ground blanched almonds

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 large egg white

teaspoon almond extract

1/4 teaspoon salt



Directions

Place almonds in a food processor; cover and process until smooth. 

Add the confectioners' sugar, egg white, extract and salt; cover and process until smooth.

Divide almond paste into 1/2-cup portions; place in airtight containers. Refrigerate for up to 1 month or freeze for up to 3 months. Yield: 1-1/2 cups.

Thursday, October 22, 2015

Pignoli Cookies


PIGNOLI COOKIES

makes 30-36 cookies

INGREDIENTS
8 oz. almond paste
2 egg whites, slightly beaten
1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup flour. .
pinch of salt
1 cup pine nuts


DIRECTIONS
In a small bowl, using an electric mixer break up almond paste. On low to medium speed, beat in egg whites until mostly smooth.

In a separate bowl, sift together confectioner’s sugar and granulated sugar. Beat into almond mixture. Then add flour and salt and mix until well combined.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Place pine nuts in a shallow bowl.

Using parchment paper, cover a cookie sheet. With wet fingers (this prevents the dough from sticking to your hands), roll dough into small balls, about 3/4 inch in diameter. Then roll the top and sides of the balls in the pine nuts. Place balls on a cookie sheet about 1 inch apart.

Bake for 17-19 minutes. Do not brown. Cookies should be pale on top and barely brown on the bottom. The centers should be soft.

Monday, October 5, 2015

It's that time of year already! Sign up for The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap!

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The Great Food Blogger Cookie Swap 2015


Saturday, October 3, 2015

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, check out Glamulet



http://www.glamulet.com/breast-cancer-october-2015

The Charms brand Glamulet was launched in 2014 to offer to every women a new range of trendy and elegant quality jewelry at an affordable price. We believe that every woman should be allowed to express herself and to feel pretty. We design glamorous Charms and bracelets and we use quality materials to manufacture them. Each woman can mix and match the Charms to create her own Bracelet. Glamulet empowers women by giving them affordable accessories to state their fashion sense, commemorate an event or symbolize a special meaning. Two years after its launch, Glamulet is working hard to spread this vision worldwide and to better the life of every woman.

October is breast cancer awareness month and I'm teaming up with Glamulet to help spread the word about #PinkOctober and let you all know that 50% of sales from every charm sold by Glamulet will be donated to breast cancer charities.  Unfortunately Breast Cancer has touched so many lives and will continue to until they find a cure "Right now breast cancer is at a tipping point. More women are surviving. But more are being diagnosed than ever before. And every 45 minutes, another woman dies from the disease." These are staggering statistics, and we need to work together to make a change.

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Hi there :)

I know I seem to disappear for months at a time, I'm really sorry -_- Things will be more active around here soon, I promise :)

My Facebook page for the blog is updated pretty much daily with recipes and shared tips, take a look and give me a follow.

I'm preparing to move so things are a little hectic. After four years here the kid and I are moving to a bigger place where the kid will have his own room again, two cats and a dog on loan whenever we want (he belongs to the landlords). :) Pretty much anywhere we've lived hasn't been pet friendly, so it's nice to be able to have pets again.

I'm sure this isn't a shock to anyone that I hate moving, I don't know anyone who really does. This will be the 4th time I've ever moved and hopefully after this there will be just one more where we can finally set our roots down for good.

I'll be back in a few weeks once the move is all done and I'm settled back into a normal schedule... whatever that is, but I know it will be a lot less driving back and forth and that is always a good thing.