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Here's the first baby shower recipe I promised you. These were pretty amazing tasting so I thought I'd share this recipe first. My neighbors bake these every year at Christmastime along with about 6 other homemade cookies. They make pecan tassies, rugelash, thumbprint cookies and other bite-sized morsels but these are my absolute favorites. I like them so much that when they walk the plate or box of cookies to my door, I immediately eat these first without sharing.
I've always referred to these cookies as Mexican Wedding Cookies, but my grandma and mom said they have to be crescent shaped to be called that, because that's what they're used to. They're essentially the same thing but round. Mexican Wedding Cookies, also known as Russian Tea Cakes, are rich, nutty shortbread cookies rolled in powdered sugar. The cookie is not specifically connected to any one culture, but traditionally they are served to guests at special occasions or holidays because they are made with rich and expensive foods (the richest butter, finest sugar and choicest nuts).
And cheap they are not. I doubled the recipe, and the chopped nuts and butter alone cost about $15. I made these with help from my momma (Thank you Mom!) for thank you favors at my baby shower. Because it was a special day, I wasn't really concerned with the price of making them because I knew they would be homemade and fresher than anything else I could buy on a grocery store shelf. They also were far less expensive to make than other party favors. I needed 25-30 favors so each little gift bag including packaging costs about $1.00. Not too bad!
These little snowball like cookies just melt in your mouth. Once they hit your tongue, the powdered sugar just dissipates. The buttery cookie center is slightly crunchy then they too just melt away. I don't know how else to describe them. They're like lime melt-aways in texture but they're nutty and buttery. The cookie itself has very little sugar in them since they're coated twice in powdered sugar once they're baked. But the final product isn't too sweet, they're just perfect. I used a small ice cream scoop to form the balls, but they could be made even smaller since they puff slightly in the oven. I hope you, too, will make these for your next special occasion or holiday.
Pecan Butter Balls (Mexican Wedding Cookies)
adapted from Cooks Catalog
Printer Friendly Version
Cream butter and sugar together. Add salt and vanilla.
Slowly add the flour to the butter/sugar mixture just until it forms a dough. Add the chopped nuts and mix until just combined.
Roll dough into half inch balls and place on parchment lined cookie sheets about an inch apart.
Bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees F.
As soon as they come out of the oven, roll them in powdered sugar while the cookies are still hot. Be careful because the cookies are extremely hot and fragile. Place cookies on a cooling rack.
Once cookies have cooled completely, roll them in powdered sugar again.
Makes 60-70 cookies.
Hope everyone has a great week. Next recipe: Mini Cheesecakes with lemon curd and berries!
I had my baby shower this past weekend! It was truly a wonderful (yet exhausting) day. I'll share all the food with you today then in the next couple posts, I'll share a couple recipes that I made. On the table were also painted wooden frames with copies of sonogram pictures of my little boy from the gestational age of 10-28 weeks. This was my favorite addition to the table.
Here is all the food:
Everything at the shower was homemade by either my mother, my mother-in-law or myself. It was all delicious but this cake was bakery made. It's my all-time favorite cake- Chocolate Italian Cream with chocolate cream cheese frosting and it's just amazing. Oh what I wouldn't do to get my hands on that recipe!
Not everyone that came to the shower liked coconut or pecans (or had allergies) so I also made a vanilla bean bundt cake with strawberries as well. I put it on my Jadeite cake pedestal that I bought on the day I found out I was pregnant with this little guy :-)
These are the adorable napkins that I bought from a local hardware store. I love that they look like onesies and that they stand up. I think people were afraid to use them, so I had a lot left over.
We had limeade punch with a frozen ring of limes and cherries. My mother-in-law said she couldn't find frozen limeade, so she used frozen margarita concentrate (non-alcoholic) instead and I thought it was pretty good!
We had ham and asparagus roll-ups- blanched asparagus wrapped up in deli ham with a schmear of Boursin cheese in between. These make great appetizers in you cut them into bite sized pieces.
These are sausage balls and chunks of fresh pineapple turned into kabobs. This is a spin on bacon wrapped pineapple- also very delicious!
A veggie and cheese tray with homemade Ranch dressing. All that was missing were the cucumber slices that were accidentally left at home.
Deviled eggs- never get tired of these!
Strawberries with Romanoff sauce. Seriously love this stuff!
I made mini cheesecakes but wasn't entirely thrilled with the way they looked. They turned out quite tasty but they sunk in the middle and the recipe made way more than stated. So I had to improvise and made the rest of the batter into Oreo cheesecakes (on the bottom). The plain ones on top were topped with lemon curd and fresh berries. Those got rave reviews but I didn't get to taste them since they disappeared so fast!
For some color for the table I took Hershey miniatures and wrapped them in strips of coordinating scrapbook paper. I think they turned out pretty cute.
Of course our hairy daughter, Autumn, was there. And she took the liberty to sit on the couch since it was vacant and no one else would sit there!
Mr. h and I next to some beautiful orange roses a friend dropped by. I am 29 weeks, 3 days pregnant in this picture.
And these were the favors I made for the shower- powdered sugar coated buttery pecan cookies. These were so good and just melt in your mouth. The recipe came from my neighbor and I will share those with you next week as well.
All in all, it was a wonderful day and we were more than blessed by our friends and our family. Thank you to all who played a part in making our day so special!
We're celebrating today at Lick The Bowl Good!
On Wednesday I reached the viability mark in my pregnancy. I'm sure many people wouldn't think twice about this date, but for me it's a milestone. Of course this baby isn't done baking, but at this gestation he could survive outside the womb if he were born early. That's huge! Now I don't want him to come any earlier than September but at least I can breathe a little easier knowing he'd be okay. As of yesterday, according to his measurements at the anatomy scan, baby weighs about 1 lb. 7 oz. Grow baby grow! Here's what we both look like :-)
The next thing we are celebrating is my new logo! My wonderfully talented friend Lori from LFE Photography gifted me with a new logo from On The Spot Studio. Lori and I met a few years ago after the losses of our sons. We met at a support group but it was more than grief that led us to be friends. She is a sweetheart, a wonderful mother and wife and as I mentioned, a talented photographer. Lori has taken our holiday pictures for the past 3 years and I trust her wholeheartedly- she's creative with an artistic eye. If you're in the central Texas area, I highly recommend you check her out!
Lori is also really generous and thoughtful. She visits my blog often and thought I needed a more professional look for my logo rather than just typing in 'LTBG' on my photos- she was right. OTSS created a logo for LFE Photography and she did such a great job fulfilling her wants that I knew she'd create something just as wonderful for Lick The Bowl Good. I didn't want anything too literal so I opted out of a logo with a mixing bowl on it. Instead I wanted a layer cake (my favorite thing to bake) on a cake pedestal (I'm obsessed with them!) with strawberries (my favorite fruit). Notice there are three little strawberries- one for each of my boys :-) I just LOVE it! Thank you Lori!
Because of all the greatness going on here, I'm offering a giveaway from Guylian Belgian Chocolates to celebrate. A couple months ago, Guylian sent me a sampling of their beautiful sea shell chocolates. Several years ago my uncle gave my aunt a box of their milk and white chocolate sea shell chocolates for Valentine's Day. I thought they were so unique and special- better than anything that could come in a heart shaped box. They are almost too pretty to eat, but definitely do eat them because they're delicious. They're filled with a hazelnut praliné, are so creamy and just melt in your mouth. They also now make a dark chocolate version and individually wrapped sea horses, which are adorable.
Guylian
has offered to send a box of their Original Chocolate Shells to one lucky reader! All you have to do to is leave a comment on this post to be entered. Open to U.S. residents only.Be sure to leave your e-mail address, or a way to contact you if you should win. One comment per person please. Giveaway ends Friday, June 10th, 2011 at 11:59 pm (CST). The winner will be chosen using Random.org.
I have to tell you that as I read through the comments on my last post, I smiled, then I cried. I was so overwhelmed by you all and your kind words. I can honestly say that I felt and still feel, loved, supported and blessed. I thank you all so very much from the depths of my heart. I always knew there were wonderful people out there, I'm just thankful that I have you in my life. You have no idea what your words do for me. We are forever grateful for your prayers for us and this little one. Please keep them coming and thank you.
I haven't been baking much lately. I haven't had any morning sickness with this pregnancy (thank goodness!) and while it seems I wake up starving every morning, food doesn't really do it for me. I am eating, but portions are small. There have been a few cravings though, and a big fat salad was one of them. Go figure. There were also a few days where I wanted key lime pie and pineapple upside down cake, but after a slice I was done. I also haven't had much energy the past few weeks since the surgery to bake or cook or stand for longer than 20 minutes so these cookies are from last April.
I made these m&m cookies a while back for my father-in-law. He is a true cookie monster! And for some reason he keeps buying those under baked gummy ones from the grocery store bakery. They're really not that great but because they're convenient and he's not picky, he eats them. I've made these cookies before and they really are good so I decided to make a batch just for him. They're buttery and crisp, have great vanilla flavor and the m&m's are an added bonus. If I remember correctly, he ate them all by himself and did not share :-) This weekend is his birthday and while I won't be making these cookies for him, I will be making him a delicious birthday cake. Stay tuned for it.
Red's Ultimate M&M's Cookies from M&M
Preheat oven to 350°F.
In large bowl, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy; beat in egg and vanilla.
In medium bowl combine flour, baking soda and salt; blend into creamed mixture. Stir in M&M's.
Drop by heaping tablespoonfuls about 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets.
Bake 10 to 13 minutes or until edges are lightly browned and centers are still soft. Do not overbake. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheets; cool completely on wire racks. Store in tightly covered container.
NOTE: I like to section out the cookie dough with an ice cream scoop then I place the m&m's on top of the mounded dough before baking to ensure that the candy stays on top of the cookie. But feel free to mix the candy directly into the batter- it all tastes the same :-)
P.S. I am waaay behind on reading your blogs. Please be patient with me, but know that I will make it there soon, I promise. I miss you guys. Thanks for understanding but all this baby wants to do is sleep!
Today I wanted to take a minute to say thank you to some people that have been thinking of me. I was recently given the Stylish Blogger Award. Me, stylish? Who knew? Not me, but I'll take it! A very special thank you and shout out to:
I also wanted to thank Natasha from Saved By The Egg Timer for sending me a very generous gift of fresh Vietnamese coffee and a coffee press. I am a coffee lover and am looking forward to trying it out. So thank you so much for thinking of me.
And to Kate of Calamity Kate's Kitchen. Not only did she pass on that lovely award to me, I also won a giveaway from her blog. I received a package yesterday of specialty cocoa from Penzey's Spices. Ooh, so excited!
You all are awesome and I thank you all for following me, leaving me comment love and for just being there. I appreciate you all more than you know!
I'll be back in a couple days with a new recipe. Stay tuned!
~Monica
I know I said there would only be three winners, but I actually had 4 timers, since I purchased an extra sweet strawberry for myself. However, I already have a cute vintage tomato timer and he works just fine, so I decided to share. Hope you don't mind.
I still haven't read any blogs lately, not even those of my best-est friends, so don't think I'm singling anyone out. I read hundreds of blogs I'm I'm quite sure I'll be overwhelmed and panicked when I open up my Google Reader in a couple days.
As for a health update, the bronchitis turned to pneumonia, then turned viral. I've taken 3 rounds of antibiotics and am now on steroids. "I'm going to pump you up". ha ha! couldn't resist. I'm doing a little better, despite hacking up all 3 of my lungs. I thought I only had two, but clearly I'm special and had an extra :-)
Anyway, thank you all for your kind thoughts, prayers and good energy sent my way. I appreciate them so much. I may not be blog hopping til this weekend since all my free time is spent sleeping, though I'll be checking my email, so if you need to contact me you can. I promise to get your kitchen timers out to you as soon as I get your addresses. Congrats!
~Monica h
Hi everyone! I just wanted to thank you for all the kind comments and emails that I received over the last couple days regarding the loss of our special furry friend, Sierra. They mean so much to me and my family.
I also wanted to let you know that I have a guest post up at 3 B's- Baseball, Baking & Books if you'd like to come over and check it out.
Thanks for everything,
Monica H
Today is my mom's 50th birthday (woot woot!) but before I can blog about her gorgeous cake I have to tell you about my birthday last Tuesday. Because it's all about me, haven't you figured that out yet?
It started off by going to work and being greeted by a 3 year old in the window shouting happy birthday to me. When I walked in the door he said "I made you a birthday card with a rainbow, and we got you some cupcakes and we got you a birthday present..." That was a nice little welcome. And they indeed did have cupcakes and a card and a present for me :-) I didn't tell my boss it was my birthday so I'm glad she remembered. It made my day.
After I got off work we went to Mr. H's parents house to meet them for dinner. His aunt was in town visiting from Denver so she joined us as for for a nice meal. Afterwards we returned home for birthday cake! Typically I like a homemade cake (what a shocker!) but there is always one exception. And that exceptional cake is Chocolate Italian Cream Cake. Oh my gosh, it's Heaven! So I was pleased to have it and it had my name written all over it.
On the Sunday prior to my birthday, we went to dinner at my mom's house to celebrate my birthday. She made me a roast, baked potato mashed potatoes, creamed spinach and even made me Apple Charlottes. I was totally impressed and I appreciate all the time she put into making it special for me. Thank you Momma!
This year happened to be the year of earrings. My sister, my mom and Mr. H all gave me earrings. Of course I have a favorite pair (I'm wearing them in the picture below!) but I love them all. I'll have to take pictures of them and share them with you. I also want to thank Katie, Jenny, Janet, Michelle and Ingrid for sending me such thoughtful gifts and to my friends Kristi for a special care package and to Monica C. for the birthday balloons and card. I was totally spoiled this year. Thank you all for thinking of me and sending me birthday wishes. I love you guys!
I'll be back in a couple days with a recipe. I hope you guys had a nice weekend!
I made these cookies for a special friend and her son- Janet and Brandon. Ever since I got these cool 'message in a cookie' cookie cutters from Williams-Sonoma I knew I wanted to make these for them.
I've been chatting with Janet via email and phone conversations for several months now. While we've never met in person we've become great friends. We talk about our foodie finds and lust over Le Creuset and Williams-Sonoma. We talk about life and family, baking, shopping and blogging. We laugh and sometimes we cry. Sometimes we send eachother little gifts from time to time and that's where these cookies come in.
While Memorial Day is not a "happy" holiday, it is about remembering our fallen soldiers and honoring our veterans. I wanted to do something to acknowledge a brave and courageous young man who is currently fighting for our freedom in Afghanistan. I've sent a couple care packages to Brandon but this time, this one was for Janet. I know these are just sugar cookies but I wanted to let her know that I think of her and her son daily and I appreciate his service and her friendship.
I got these cookie cutters in December but I just now got around to using them, and I broke them in in a perfect way, don't you think? They were really fun and easy to use. You just slide the letters or phrases into a channel on the underside of the cutter, push the cookie cutter into the dough, then you gently press in the plunger to imprint a message on your cookie. Once you lift the cutter, you're left with a perfect personalized cookie. This set also comes with a heart shape cutter which I'll be using in the future for a special little girl ;-)
Sugar Cookies from Williams-Sonoma
Over a small bowl, sift together the flour and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the flat beater, beat the butter on high speed for 2 minutes. Reduce the speed to medium, slowly add the sugar and a few drops of food coloring gel and beat for 2 minutes, stopping the mixture occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the egg and vanilla and beat for another minute.
Stop the mixer and add half of the flour mixture. Beat on low speed until most of the flour has been absorbed. Add the remaining flour and continue beating until all of the flour has been absorbed and the dough starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl, 2 to 3 minutes.
Turn the dough out onto a work surface and divide into 2 equal balls, Shape each into a disk and wrap separately in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, up to 2 days.
Dough can be made ahead of time up to this point.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let stand for 5 minutes. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough to a thickness of 1/4 inch.
Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F Line several baking sheets with parchment paper.
Dip cookie cutters into flour just before using and cut out shapes. Place on the baking sheet. Gather up the scraps, reroll them and cut out additional cookies. Refrigerate the cookies until firm 20 to 30 minutes. You want the cookies to be really cold and hard otherwise when you bake them, they'll spread and lose their shape.
Bake the cookies until golden brown around the edges, 12 to 15 minutes.
Transfer the parchment sheets with cookies onto wire racks and let cool for 5 minutes, then transfer the cookies directly onto the racks and let cool completely.
Decorate with royal icing. Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Makes 12 to 15 cookies (I got 20 cookies).
In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), beat the egg whites with the lemon juice until foamy. Add the sifted powdered sugar and beat on low speed until combined and smooth.
The icing needs to be used immediately or transferred to an airtight container as royal icing hardens when exposed to air. Cover with plastic wrap when not in use.
Thank you Brandon! Be safe and come home soon!
