Author Archives: Nancy

CUSTOM PORTRAIT COOKIES

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My daughter has an adorable little corgi named Izze.  Only one of her ears popped up, which we all think is hilarious, and with her sassy little attitude, she attracts attention wherever she goes.
For my daughter’s birthday, I surprised her with Izze cookies.  I purchased the 3D-printed cookie cutter from Baker’s Street Cutters (I ordered through Etsy here), who makes cutters of people, animals, Frida Kahlo (?), whatever.  The owner, Ivan, was great to work with, and tweaked the image until it was a good representation of Izze:

You can use any sugar cookie recipe you’d like, but unless it’s specifically a no-chill dough, you need to refrigerate the dough for at least an hour in order for the cookie to retain its shape.  For best results, roll the dough between sheets of parchment paper, no more than 1/4″ thick.  Be sure to press down firmly and evenly on the cutter.

The recipe I used was a no-chill one, which I’ve posted below, and I found it easy to work with, although it wasn’t quite sweet enough for my tastes, and is really meant to be iced.  If I weren’t shipping the cookies, I might have dipped the backs in melted chocolate — now that would have been delicious!

I thought the cookies needed a little embellishment, so I used a small paintbrush to paint the eyes and nose with black food coloring.  For the tongue, I mixed some pink luster dust with a few drops of vodka and brushed it on.  These touches really brought the cookies to life.

These cookies were fun to make, and apparently even more fun to receive.

If you’ve got a favorite pet or someone special you want to celebrate, these cookie cutters are a fun way to do so.  Tell Ivan I sent you!  🙂

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NO-CHILL SUGAR COOKIES
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Ingredients
  • 2 sticks butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • 3 tablespoons vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon almond extract
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 4 cups flour
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Place butter and sugar in a large bowl, and using an electric mixer, beat until fluffy. Beat in egg and extracts. Beat in baking powder and salt. Mix in flour until thoroughly combined.
  3. Roll dough to ¼" thick between sheets of parchment (about ¼th of dough at a time). Cut out cookies and transfer to baking sheet. Bake until just beginning to lightly brown on bottoms, approximately 11 minutes. Transfer to wire rack to cool. Decorate as desired.

 

 

CHINESE BARBECUED PORK WITH GARLIC SAUCE

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How are you handling meals during this extended period of work safe/stay at home?  We’ve been ordering take out here and there to support our favorite restaurants, but honestly, I’ve been enjoying home-cooked meals more.  It’s been a time to both roll out old favorites and try some of the thousands of recipes I’ve clipped over the past few decades. This recipe for Chinese Barbecued Pork with Garlic Sauce is one of the those clipped recipes, and will definitely become a part of the regular rotation.

The recipe is simple and really delicious.  It requires a few Asian ingredients — hoisin sauce, rice wine vinegar, and chili oil — that are readily available at the grocery store (we’re not talking about toilet paper or hand sanitizer, after all).  We served it with fried rice, but it would be just as good served over rice or noodles.

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CHINESE BARBECUED PORK WITH GARLIC SAUCE
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Ingredients
  • For the barbecued pork:
  • 1 tablespoon hoisin
  • 1 tablespoon ketchup
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 2 teaspoons minced garlic
  • ½ teaspoon sugar
  • 1 pound pork tenderloin, silverskin removed
  • For garlic sauce:
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1-1/2 tablespoons minced garlic
  • 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1 teaspoon chili oil
  • Steamed rice or noodles, for serving
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9 x 13 baking dish with foil.
  2. In a small bowl, whisk together hoisin sauce, ketchup, soy sauce, garlic, and sugar. Put tenderloin in baking pan and coat with hoisin sauce mixture. Roast on center rack for 40 minutes (pork should be cooked through, with no pink in center). Remove from oven and set aside in pan to cool.
  3. While the pork is cooking, in a small bowl stir together all of the garlic sauce ingredients until sugar is dissolved.
  4. Transfer pork to a cutting board, and cut across the grain into thin slices. Serve pork over rice or noodles, and spoon garlic sauce over pork.

Ready for the oven

Done!

Easy and delicious meal