TWD : Thumbprints

This week's was chosen by Mike of Ugly Dude Food and he picked Thumbprints for Us Big Guys on page 164. Thanks Mike for this selection because I have always wanted to make thumbprints during the holidays and hadn't.

These cookies are easy to put together unless you're like me and have to shell and toast your hazelnuts before grinding them down. I didn't cracked enough hazelnuts so I added almonds into the mix. When the cookies were baking and it was time to turn them around, I noticed that I had to re-indent the center because it puffed up. Other than that minor situation, there's nothing to these cookies. The flavor...phenomenal! I chose strawberry and peach jam and orange marmalade to fill the "prints" for a little variety.

These cookies will definitely be a make again, especially for a nice little get together.

Idle Hands are a Baker's Playground

This weekend was a busy one, not completely planned, but busy nonetheless. On Friday my daughter's friend had a birthday party and I was the cake person. All she wanted was stars and the colors blue and pink. She and my daughter sing in everything at the school so I decided to make a microphone and put some music notes on her cake. She absolutely loved it and gave me a big hug as thanks.

On Saturday I had to take my daughter to a school for her SAT's....gotta be college bound in this day and age. This Saturday it's the ACT, let's make it happen. After work I took a few photos at the Botanical Gardens and you can see a few at the end.

Sunday was an all day kitchen fest. My youngest daughter, who got this itch to throw parties from her mother, decided to have a "Welcome Back Party" for my oldest son. Of course this meant that I was in the kitchen doing most of the cooking. She did help though. I wanted to make a cake and decorate it, but changed my mind and went with cupcakes, which were much easier this time. I had extra icing from the birthday cake so I just colored it and swirled it on top. I showed my daughter how to make the little candies and we just placed them on top of the icing to spell out "Welcome Back Trini".

I had plans on making peach jam since I had extra peaches after making ice cream(more about that next week) so my girlfriend and I stopped at the grocery store so I could pick up a few things and she noticed the strawberries.She asked if there was a way to make banana pudding with strawberries instead. I said yea, but then she remembered the berry tiramisu we had at Macaroni Grill last summer and said she wanted that instead. They used cake instead of ladyfingers, but I knew that I had ladyfingers on my to do list and it hits me...I HAVE to make them today.

I used the recipe in the book below and knocked it out so fast that I wondered why I had never made them before.
This is what they look like after they cooled and with a dusting of powdered sugar.

For this tiramisu I just used some mascarpone, heavy cream, and powder sugar. I split the mixture in half and stirred World's End Sweet Ripe Banana liqueur in one half and Tequila Rose in the other. I layered the mascarpone mixtures, ladyfingers, strawberries, bananas and, in the taller dish, blueberries.

My girlfriend and my neighbor inhaled it like it was the end of the world.

I never knew that jam could take so little effort to pull together. No wonder people can, you know when it's made and what's in it and hey it's rather fun. Now if I could just get some fresh baked bread to make some toast with. I guess I have to go back to the kitchen right?These next few pictures are just some random shots at the Norfolk Botanical Gardens.

The Man in the Tree

I was trying to catch him/her while it was eating, but I couldn't.