Posted on 09/21/2016 5:03:37 PM PDT by Jamestown1630
The Avon lady who visits my office building brought us the new catalogs this week; and I noticed that Avon is currently offering cookie cutters for making a cookie version of the sugar skulls, or ‘calaveras’ that are traditional for the Mexican holiday ‘The Day of the Dead’.
I didn’t know much about this holiday, and while doing a search on it I happened to find a really wonderful website/blog devoted to decorated cookies: Sweetsugarbelle.com.
Along with all the other fantastic cookies, one entry includes a tutorial on making the skulls; and anyone who likes decorating cookies will love this site in general:
http://www.sweetsugarbelle.com/2011/10/el-dia-de-los-muertos-day-of-the-dead-cookies/comment-page-1
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There are certain dishes and foods that are readily available to us the year around, now, but still somehow always remind us of certain seasons. For me, the Acorn Squash is one of those, and seems to speak of Autumn whenever I see it. This is my favorite way to cook it; the recipe originally came from the book 'Hollyhocks, Lambs and Other Passions' by Dee Hardie, who used to write for House Beautiful magazine:
Stuffed Acorn Squash (Serves 4, increase amounts for a larger crowd)
2 whole Acorn Squash
2 Cups dry bread cubes
3 T. grated Parmesan Cheese
3 T. chopped fresh Parsley
1 tsp. Poultry Seasoning
6 T. chopped Spring Onions
4 T. diced Celery
3 T. Butter
2 Eggs, beaten
4 T. Water, if needed
Salt and Pepper
Bake whole squash for 45 minutes in a 400-degree oven, or until soft.
While the squash is baking, combine bread cubes, Parmesan, parsley and seasonings.
Cook onions and celery in the butter until soft. Add the eggs to bread mixture and toss lightly. Combine with the vegetables, adding water for moistness, if needed.
Cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Fill the squash halves with stuffing mixture. Bake stuffed squash for 20 minutes.
(I always salt and pepper the squash halves and put a sprinkle of olive oil in there, before stuffing; and I sprinkle more olive oil on top, before baking. And I probably use a lot more butter and Parmesan than this recipe calls for ;-)
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I like the Nordicware novelty cake pans, and found a little Acorn Cakelet pan at the thrift store; there are many ways to decorate these little cakes, and here is Nordicware’s own recipe:
https://www.nordicware.com/recipe/maple-acorn-cakelets#.V-MazvPR9OI
-JT
No question-—cooking is an art.
I bought wild yeast (sourdough) from them back in April. It’s still going! I like King Arthur’s website; it offers a lot of help. My sourdough doesn’t rise very far which is a problem but the taste is really excellent.
I’ve never been disappointed in their offerings. We’re doing the low-carb dieting right now, so I haven’t been baking all that much.
I don’t think I can hold out much longer, though. I’d sell Beau for a loaf of sourdough bread these days, LOL!
I use wax paper for rolling my crusts too. Saw it on Alton Browns old show, long time now, our daughter was a girl and she is 29 now. I use the Crisco box recipe.
Bacon grease, there’s a possible thread topic. We get our bacon from a local butcher/slaughterhouse/meat market. They buy a ton of 4h animals and do all their own smoking. Great smoked ham hocks and bacon. I save a lot, not all, of the grease, sometimes in ice cube trays. Then after freezing put them in a ziploc. Quick bacon grease when you don’t feel like bacon. We get the freeze dried hashbrowns in the little milk cartons from Costco. Great with bacon grease, salt 7 pepper and we like dried onion bits.
Try the Crisco package recipe. It’s one of the few recipes I follow and my crusts turn out great every time. Don’t knead or it will get tough and using the wax paper means less flour, more crisp.
I don’t have a picture, wish I did, but my friend baked 2 bundt cakes and cut them in 4 halves and arranged them in a cookie sheet and frosted them and decorated it to look like a big monarch caterpillar. Looked fantastic.
W/ 2 knives (or use pastry cutter) cut-in 1/2 c chilled Crisco into combined 1 1/3 c flour/1/2 tsp salt. Stir in 4 tb ice water til dough holds together. Test by squeezing---should hold firmly. If crumbly, add tb water at a time.
Saran/chill 30 min (up to 48 hours). Roll dough from center out on lightly floured surface--into circle 2" larger than pie plate. Set in pie plate. Trim edges, fold under then flute; dock bottom.
Bake golden 425 deg (in lower third) 10-12 min.
Remove, cool completely on counter. Add fave filling.
I’ve got a ‘grease saver’ with a strainer insert that has turned out to be very useful:
https://www.amazon.com/RSVP-Stoneware-Grease-Keeper-Black/dp/B0017TZSU0?th=1
(by the way: when does one ‘not feel like bacon’?)
YES it looked a lot like that she did not do the grass however.
Yeah I thought about that while I was typing. I guess my answer is when you only want to dirty one pan in the morning, one for the hashbrowns and use it for the eggs afterwards. Bacon means another skillet. When hubby wants a giant breakfast all bets are off.
I’ve seen grease savers like that. We don’t use that much and like the idea of a ice cube size.
I don’t mind witches and skeletons but those masks just freak me out. I think it has to do with flowers for the eyes or maybe they look too much like freaky clowns.
I’ll stick to my autumn leaves cookie cutters and molds.
Thanks. You gave me an idea for making a peace sauce for a whole chick that’s thawing for supper. I have a lot of peach jelly that needs to be used.
I still have some old venison sausage in the freezer that needs to be used before it goes freezer burn. It MUST be used this winter or else. We like venison but this stuff is awful. No wonder a friend emptied it all out of her freezer and gave it to us. Mixing it with a package of cheap fatty turkey bulk sausage 50/50 makes it edible. Maybe make a chili out of it?
LOL! I guess they look pretty innocuous to people who have seen them all their lives within their cultures.
I thought they’d be fun for our Hallowe’en, which is also tied up historically with a time in the calendar dedicated to praying for and honoring the dead.
This is what they’re based upon:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calavera
Make a wetter crust and just mush it into a pie pan. It’s way easier than digging out the rolling pin and making a mess all over the counter.
Say what?!? Pecans are the healthiest ingredients of the recipe.
This Texas gal has seen them forever but they still freak me out.
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