Pi(e) Treats!

Growing up my mom made the best pies ever... from scratch, perfectly baked and so yummy. Did I take the time to learn from her? No, not at all. I occasionally made "cookies" from the scraps and that was about the extent of my participation other than of course eating them. Last fall, my daughter was required to bring three pies for a fund raiser. My thoughts were that it would be a lot of work but I surely could figure it out. Well... it was a frustrating day to say the least. My pumpkin pie just wouldn't get done... I'm not sure how many hours I ended up baking it. In making my apple pie I didn't realize you should cut the top crust larger than the bottom so the edges looked funny. By the time I got to my cherry pie I did better but it still wasn't near "Mom" quality. So I called my husband and asked him to please pick up at least one pie at a bakery as I knew I for sure couldn't take the pumpkin. He did so I sent the bakery pie along with apple and cherry pies wishing my name wasn't on the bottom of the pie pans! Then I promptly called Emily and said that when I started blogging with her I would never ever make or talk about pies!

The next day I went to the fundraiser event and was greeted with praise on how great my pies looked and told that I must be quite the baker! So I looked at the other pies (which I quickly determined were mostly grocery store bought and baked) and realized maybe I'd been a little too hard on myself that my pies might not be my mom's but they were okay and I could try again. :)

So... in honor of Pi(e) day I thought I'd do just that. This time I decided to make tiny apple pies in cupcake tins. I cut small (about 4 inch) circles of pie crust and placed them in the bottom of the cupcake tins. One pie crust worth of dough made 5. I then peeled and sliced 3 apples and dumped some sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg on top and made sure all the apples were coated. I had a little dough left so I cut little strips for the top, placed a tiny bit of cold butter on top along with a little sugar and baked them until golden brown (about 20 minutes or so). They were super easy, turned out great and were very yummy! My son said it was the best pie he'd ever eaten. So yes, I'll make pie again. :)

Treats Made with Oreos

Oreos are celebrating their 100th birthday today so I thought I'd write an Oreo themed post.

As much as I love homemade cookies - I'll admit - Oreos are near the top of my list of favorite cookies. I could easily snarf a bag all by myself. And mint oreos? mmmmmmmm..... pure heaven.

I planned on compiling, testing and sharing a whole bunch of oreo recipes and ideas but this is as far as I got...

Oreos dipped in almond bark accented with a sugar paste diamond to match my napkins.

I do have to say - I love these napkins! I was cruising the aisles at Target the other day looking for a bit of inspiration and I found all their Mara-Mi party napkins and plates. Lots of great colors and patterns!

A Treat from Back in the Day!

The Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook is coming out this week and I can't wait to get it! Cheryl Day allowed me to interview her for my blog about 3 years ago (way back in the day!). I asked all kinds of really ridiculous, snoopy questions and she answered them all. I thought her answers were really interesting, truthful and inspiring. Cheryl tops the list of famous bakers I'd most like to meet. I think she'd be a lot of fun to hang out with.

So - in honor of her/their first cookbook, thought I'd repost the interview. Congratulations Cheryl and Griffith!

Click to read more ...

Birthday Treats!

Amy's birthday is tomorrow and my Mom's birthday is Thursday so I've been busy making birthday treats!

Happy Birthday to two of my favorite people!

I made my mom's chocolate sauce recipe for the cake. Soooo gooood... I found myself making a few too many batches of it to pour over my icecream last summer.

Here's her recipe:

Chocolate Sauce

2 cups sugar

2 squares unsweetened chocolate

1 cup milk

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 T. butter

Combine sugar, chocolate and milk. Boil until a little holds its shape when tried in cold water. Then add vanilla and butter and beat until creamy.

Emily

Vintage Treats!

Some of you may be wondering where this Amy in EAT is and why hasn't she posted anything yet? Well, I've been working on the perfect post to introduce myself with... something to win you all over, dazzle you with my ideas and my wit. Yeah, been working on that for some time now. And after a knock-down drag out fight with my new scanner trying to make the perfect Valentine cupcake toppers I realized that post is probably never going to happen and I'd better just introduce myself as me.

I'm Amy and I love everything vintage... especially from the 40's, 50's and 60's. I live in a 1952 Sears kit house... I've expanded the kitchen but tried to keep with 50's look but with a lot more space. This inspired me to get more into baking along with Emily who has taught me much about cookie decorating and invited me to share this blog with her. I love collecting vintage things and among those things is a collection of vintage cookbooks. This is one of my favorite... I'm just sure that my daughter and I look just like that when we are baking. I started looking through it for inspiration and found it! Of course! What's more vintage that thumbprint cookies? I think everyone's grandma probably made these at one time or another. So I made some... double print for Valentine's Day and have included the recipe for you. I've included my grandmother's strawberry jam recipe too... one I make every year.