I'm not sure what it was about today but it kicked my butt. It just seemed like one thing after another, and talking with friends, it doesn't sound like it was just me that was having issues with November 24th.
Enter Too Cute Tuesday, always the perfect antidote to a crummy day. We forwent the cocktail in favor of chocolate mint oolong tea. Because alcohol is a depressant, folks and sometimes, a gal just needs a cup of tea and to whine with a friend.
This week continues our TCT Month of Giving. Dorrie requested we help her make Christmas cookies so she could serve them at her store during the annual Midnight Madness Sale in Bar Harbor. (Bonus this week is we can eat our mistakes!)
This recipe comes from Dorrie's Grandma Dora LaBianca. Not quite a sugar cookie, not quite shortbread, this is a cookie that's slightly sweet and gets better as it ages. Just like us! Awesome!
Sadly, Christie has the flu and Sue was out beginning Thanksgiving festivities but Dorrie and I held down the fort and made a ton of cookies. (By the way, this recipe will literally make over a hundred cookies!)
extra flour rolling pin cookie cutters cookie sheets sprinkles wax paper and tape (to protect your table)
'Cocktail' of the Night: Stash's Chocolate Mint Oolong Tea
1. Have the crappiest day. Trip and almost fall on your way into Craft Central even.
2. Chocolate tea? Don't mind if I do!
3. Mix up the dough (all the first group of ingredients above except the egg yolks), ideally with one of those fancy Kitchenaid mixers. Put the dough in the fridge until you are ready to use it.
4. After covering the table in wax paper, begin rolling out dough. Use lots of flour to keep things from getting sticky. Cut out the cookies. Realize how therapeutic it is already!
5. Once your cookie sheet is full, brush the cookies with the egg yolk. Sprinkle with sprinkles (guess that's why they call them that).
6. Cook for about 12 minutes at 350 F, or until golden.
The good thing is they cool quickly and a few times, broke easily. (Opps! Oh well, might as well try them...)
All in all, the day ended on a high note and restored my faith in humanity... and myself. Here's to Tuesday!
Note: If you don't want to roll out all the cookies in one day, put the dough in the fridge or freezer!
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It has long been a friend of Too Cute Tuesday Facebook friend Kate to visit Too Cute Tuesday in person in Bar Harbor. This week, she was able to make it happen on her vacation.
We tried to pick a craft that Kate could take home. I'm not sure who sent this in (so if you did, claim it in the comments and I'll credit you in the post!) but I thought sailor bracelets were perfect. Nautical and something Kate could cherish forever... you know, until we started trying to make them.
Kate to her credit found a nautical themed cocktail to go with the mixers we had on hand. Heave-ho!
My Vinalhaven friend Meg sent me this recipe for microwaveable chocolate cake. Some have called it the 'most dangerous recipe in the world' because basically once you discover it, at any moment you are five minutes away from chocolate cake. Since we had several birthdays in the group in the past month (and I had a really crazy weekend as a bridesmaid), this seemed like an easy craft to relax with friends and get back in the swing of things.
Materials: 4 tbsp. flour 3 tbsp. sugar 3 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa 1 egg 3 tbsp. milk or half and half 2 tbsp. canola oil large splash of vanilla extract (Sue added instant coffee, which was good, and the recipe suggests chocolate chips, which also sound good)
A big mug
Cocktail of the Night: Limoncello (store bought this time)
1. Mix the three dry ingredients in a big mug. Pour limoncello in separate glass.
2. Stir in egg. Then add milk, oil, and vanilla.
3. Stir in extras, if you desire.
4. Microwave on high for three minutes. the directions warned it might go over the mug and it does if you have a shorty mug like I do. Sue and Sam's cakes did not do this.
The whole shebang started on Saturday night when I got a phone call from my sometimes lobsterman boyfriend. "I'm bringing you six lobsters." It was a good catch day and so Dan got to take some (not a usual thing).
I began to cook. I made a garlic olive oil sauce and a scallion butter when I got another phone call. "I told Joe and Beth we'd go out with them tonight. Is that ok?"
Of course it was nice to meet some of Dan's friends but Sunday, we also had friends over for lunch who are 'sick of lobster' from serving it to out of town guests all summer. In other words, Sunday afternoon, Dan Dan the Lobsterman went back to fishing for the week and I still had two lobsters and a couple 'sauces' left.
I decided to make lobster ravioli so that I could use what I had created in terms of Saturday evening sauces and try something besides boil and serve. Sure lobster is good boiled (especially with rice wine vinegar and butter!) but Too Cute Tuesday is all about trying new things!
I ended up modifying this recipe on the Food Network for Lobster Ravioli to not have to create the dough (not to say I didn't try of course but see steps below to see where I went wrong). Tonight, it was just me crafting... in other words, nothing stopping me from consuming a large amount of pasta unattended.
My friend John contacted me awhile back, asking if we'd be interested in doing a Japanese related craft to cobrand with a weekly tradition he has on his Facebook page called Haikuesday. (In essence, you ask him to write you a personalized haiku on a Tuesday and he will. Here's his Facebook page if you want to ask him about doing it for you!)
While the Bar Harbor branch of Too Cute Tuesday has opted to make a bamboo wind chime, Too Cute Tuesday Saint Louis is making paper koi. Here's the link to their craft (EnchantedLearning.com, the website is on, is ridiculously addicting just to warn... just start clicking some related links!)
Materials tiki torches (made of bamboo) saw (Dremel tool caused a bit of burning if you are considering that) scissors random bendable hardware twine
Cocktail of the Night: Limeaid and Pims
0. Have the world's hardest time locating bamboo. Hoping to find some of the free stuff growing around town, post to Facebook in hopes someone who had a yard would invite me to take some. Just as you are about to give up, see a few leftover tiki torches in the corner of the local hardware store. (But apparently you can buy bamboo poles at garden supply stores, in case you are looking in a more populated area.)
I just got back two weeks ago from Savannah Georgia, home of River Street Sweets and their wonderful pralines. I bought some for Chef Dan and proceeded to eat them all in the hotel room (shhh). I brought him back some pecans (in a sealed bag) and vowed to make some pralines when I got back home.
Then, I proceeded to sprain my ankle for the third time this summer. Thank goodness my pantry is stocked and Chef Dan only needed to pick up two of the ingredients on his way to Craft Central. Also, thankfully, there wasn't too much involved in praline making and people were able to 1) relax and give me sympathy for my injury and 2) recover from last week's epic craft failure, the first in Too Cute Tuesday's history.
As Sue said of the experience, "Our crafting egos needed a reality check anyway." True. But we were back on game tonight with this super easy craft. Dan whipped us up a signature drink: The Sad Lemonade to celebrate him finding blue curacao in our geographic area (for those wondering, Global Beverage Warehouse in Ellsworth).
Materials:
1 1/2 cups sugar 1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar 1/8 teaspoon salt 3 tablespoons dark corn syrup 1 cup evaporated milk 2 tablespoons butter 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1 1/2 cups pecan halves
wax paper
Cocktail of the Night: Sad Lemonade Put 1 oz vodka and 2 oz blue curacao in a glass. Fill with lemonade (or if you're fancy like us, pomegranate lemonade)
Man, do those cookies look great! It seems that the more angst precedes the baking of the Christmas cookies, the more bling gets poured onto them and the better the result. They literally made my mouth water to see them. Very uplifting story, despite your disheartening start! It made me smile and put me right into the holiday spirit. Thanks!
Every Tuesday, it's friends, a craft, and a cocktail. To get involved,
4 tbsp. flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
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