ShortbreadSwee-T

All posts tagged ShortbreadSwee-T

You Are Now Vanilla Bound [UPDATE: Finally, The End Result]

Posted by Tee Dee on July 3, 2015
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image

Soooo sorry that I didn’t keep up with my Vanilla Bound Series. Truth be told, 6 months is a long time. I ended up in “set it and forget it mode”. When it was time to use my new extract, I was so excited I forgot to take pictures, and I started using it and giving it away.

NOTE: Attachments to the first 3 posts of the Vanilla Bound Series are listed at the end of this post.

Okay, so I am finally giving you my thoughts on the end results:

I thought the results of my first vanilla extract attempt were good.   I used cheesecloth and a strainer to strain the beans and the seeds of the beans from the extract (about 5 times).  I liked my version better than the store-bought versions that I’d been buying and using for years.

I am now on my third batch of vanilla extract.  During the second batch I made a few changes (incorporated different vanilla beans – Mexican, Bourbon, Indian, etc.).  I really loved that batch.

What I’ve Learned:  I learned that store-bought isn’t always best. After researching some of the top vanilla extracts, I found that many of them use water as their first ingredient (which means it is the most used ingredient), and many have sugar as an ingredient. Sugar?!? This baffles me because how can it be “pure” vanilla extract if it has sugar and/or it’s diluted with water. I also came across extracts that have chemicals in their ingredients (probably preservatives, but who knows what or why).

Bottom line:  Start your own DIY projects, because sometimes you don’t get what you pay for.

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A Sandwich By Any Other Name is Still A Sandwich

Posted by Tee Dee on June 20, 2013
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Lemon ShortBit Duos

© ShortbreadSwee-T’s Lemon ShortBit Duos

Lemon ShortBit Duos

I woke up this morning with a new idea, Lemon Sandwich Cookies.  Honestly, I don’t know why I hadn’t thought of it before.  Who wouldn’t love a mound of lemon sandwiched between two shortbread cookies?

My taste-tester (my son) will be home tonight after being away on a school trip on the East Coast for a week.  I’m super excited because we have never been that far apart since he was born, and I can’t wait until he gets home. I This new shortbread cookie idea will be my “Welcome Home” gift to him when he gets off the plane.  I think he’ll love them.

My mind is always on Shortbread.

Peace & Blessings

Lemon ShortBit Duos

© ShortbreadSwee-T’s Lemon ShortBit Duos

Breast Cancer Awareness 2012: I’m A Survivor!!!

Posted by Tee Dee on October 1, 2012
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Photo courtesy of bing images

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and ShortbreadSwee-T is a survivor and a supporter of the cause.  This month ShortbreadSwee-T is baking for a cure.

Photo courtesy of bing images

Since October 4, 2001 I have been a survivor of breast cancer.  I was 36 years old with no family history of cancer and out of nowhere, it snuck up on me during a crucial time in my life.  I’ll be the first to admit that I use to cruise through life feeling invincible, but I think cancer lies dormant while it waits for its opportunity to strike.  Sometimes it’s in a hurry.  Sometimes it’s patient, but when it strikes, it throws you for a loop.

Fast forward eleven years, and I am still a survivor!  I am thankful for each and every day that I am given.  I no longer feel invincible, I feel blessed!

Every year, I pass out Breast Cancer Awareness stickers because I want people to be “aware”.  I speak freely about my encounter with breast cancer because I noticed a lump and I went straight to the doctor.  The doctors told me it was nothing to worry about, but the grace of God and my persistence made me go back to the doctor’s office and I think that saved my life.  My goal is to get people thinking and talking.  I want to send out gentle reminders to help people remember to check themselves, get screened, and don’t be afraid to be persistent.

Photo courtesy of bing images

Research is vital to finding cures, and I don’t think it matters which cancer organization you support, as long as you help researchers get the funds they need to search for a cure.  There are so many cancers in the world, but breast cancer hits closest to home for me and I have honed my focus on this one.  At the end of October, ShortbreadSwee-T’s will make a donation to Avon Walk For Breast Cancer to support their efforts in the search for a cure.

ShortbreadSwee-T's For a Cause

© ShortbreadSwee-T’s Shortbread For a Cause

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Shortbread? Ehh, For Some People, Not So Much!

Posted by Tee Dee on July 28, 2012
Posted in: The Journey. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 2 Comments

Chocolate

I have a friend who is an old soul at heart, and he was born in the deep south, just like me.  I state those facts just to say that if there is anyone who would know old-fashioned home cooking, it would be him, and he does not like shortbread cookies.

What I love most about shortbread is its simplicity (three main ingredients, delicate, flavorful, and not too sweet).  What I have come across during my shortbread journey is that some people don’t think as highly of shortbread as I do.  I think shortbread cookies are the best cookies ever (especially since they are so versatile), but my friend thinks there is no better cookie than a chocolate chip cookie, go figure.  To quote him exactly, “Shortbread is the last cookie I would ever make, eat, or buy!”  So when he asked me could I make chocolate chip cookies, my answer was, “I can make shortbread cookies with chocolate chips and a chocolate drizzle.”  To that, he turned and walked away.

I can’t help but think that everyone should love shortbread just as much as I do, but that’s not the case.  However, I have found moments of joy when grandmothers and mothers of my friends rave over the old school buttery shortbread flavor that I bring out in my cookies.  That makes all the “nay sayers” opinions fade away, but one of my ultimate goals is to turn my chocolate chip cookie loving friend into a shortbread cookie fanatic, like me.

Peace & Blessings

Best Served Warm

Posted by Tee Dee on July 21, 2012
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People who know me personally not only know how much I love my baked goods, they also know that with every cookie, pie, or cake, I have to warm them up before I can enjoy them.  Every time there are treats at the office, I nag everyone, “Did you warm it up?”, and they all agree that warming baked goods up does change the flavor.

Home-made cookies and cakes are my all time favorites, but when I’m having a sweet-tooth attack, I’ll eat whatever’s available.  Even store-bought cakes and cookies that I’m not that fond of taste 100% better when they are warm.

Lemon Short~n~Sweet Baby lb. Cake

© ShortbreadSwee-T’s Lemon Short~n~Sweet Baby lb. Cake

When I make shortbread and pound cakes I like to serve them and eat them when they are fresh out of the oven.  Since everything I bake is made with 100% pure butter (and quite a bit of it), I believe that there is a positive correlation between butter and heat that brings all the flavors in my baked goods to life, and if you love butter as much as I do you understand.  Warming not only makes the flavors more discernible, but, when warmed just right, moisture is regained, and you get all the “ooey-gooey goodness” back.  On those occasions when I am serving “day old” cookies and pound cakes, I just pop them in the microwave oven for about 3 or 4 seconds.  Those few seconds make all the difference in the world.  It turns “day old” or “cold” baked treats into “just like fresh-baked goodness”, and I love it!

Mixed Shortbread

© ShortbreadSwee-T’s Mixed Shortbread

So, I have proven to people time and time again that unless you love cold butter, warming up store-bought, day old, or cold baked goods can be almost as enjoyable as fresh-baked cookies and cakes, and every time I give someone shortbread cookies or pound cake, I always remind them that ShortbreadSwee-T’s is “Best served warm”.

Dancing & Baking: Life is Good

Posted by Tee Dee on June 16, 2012
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Photo courtesy of bing images

Thank goodness for Pandora Internet Radio.

On a baking day (usually weekends), it’s typical for me to start my day by prepping my ingredients, bowls, cookie sheets, and etc., but another necessity for me is Pandora, a free service that lets me pick my music genre and I never have to change the station again.  I tune into 70’s R&B; I listen to Earth Wind & Fire, The Isley Brothers, Brothers Johnson, etc., and it lifts my mood and energizes my spirit

So, when I need to make twelve dozen cookies, I don’t feel pressed because while the mixer is creaming sugar and butter, I’m measuring dry ingredients and grooving to the beat.  When I’m scooping cookie dough and waiting for them to bake, I’m dancing through the kitchen and singing like an American Idol reject.  I’m doing something I love and listening to music that takes me to a place and time of my choice.

I’m a true believer that things can be as difficult or as easy as I make it, and Pandora helps take the tedium out of repetitive routines.  All day long,  I’m dancing and baking, baking and dancing.  Life is good!

Peace & Blessings.

To Reject or Not To Reject: That’s The Way The Cookie Crumbles

Posted by Tee Dee on June 2, 2012
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What I have learned during my shortbread journey is: Everything matters when baking.

Weeks ago, I blogged about my stand mixer, “Who Needs A KitchenAid Stand Mixer“, and how it allows me time to get other things done while my cookie dough is mixing.  Well, I quickly found out what happens when shortbread dough is “overmixed”;  Let’s just say that the texture of the dough changes significantly, and that’s not good.

My shortbread is a soft and delicate cookie, but when I attempt to use the overmixed dough, each attempt is a failure.  One of the main problems is that the already soft structure of the shortbread becomes too light and too delicate.  The shortbread taste does not change but after they are baked and cooled they break and crumble when lifted off of the cookie sheet, and they become immediate rejects.

I found a great chart at Baking 911 called “Cookies – Problems and Solutions“.  The chart lists different cookie scenarios and a solutions for each issue.  I refer to Baking 911 for good information and tips or when situations arise that cause me confusion.

I would never serve shortbread that does not meet my standards, but because I hate throwing away food, my broken shortbread “rejects” become sweet treats for the household (they make great Shortbread Sprinkles over ice cream), and my son loves that.

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A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words!

Posted by Tee Dee on May 28, 2012
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I want to begin this journal by stating, “I am not a photographer”.

When I started my shortbread journey, I wanted my baked goods to have an everlasting appeal and I wanted to document it on this site. So, I pulled out my trusty camera and I started taking pictures.

One would think that food photography would be easy since it’s a still object, but I can tell you from experience, it’s not as easy as it looks.

After almost every baking episode, I take about 100 pictures (seriously) just to get, maybe, 10 good shots. One picture may be crystal clear, but there may be too many shadows, and then there’s often a lighting issue . . . lighting is my biggest problem, there’s either too much or too little. Yes, I always thought that taking pictures was as easy as point and shoot, but the key is to get the right angle and the right shot. I am fascinated with how each picture captures something different (it’s hard to explain), and in the end, I am very happy with the outcome even if it’s only a few pictures.

One of my shining moments was when a dear friend (who is a photographer by trade, www.otisgsandersphoto.com) complimented me on some of my pictures, and believe me he’s a stickler about photography. His words validated all of my efforts, and that brought me a new kind of joy.

I believe there’s an art to baking, and there’s an art to creating that perfect photographic moment that captures a vision for an eternity. I’m getting a handle on this photography thing, but I won’t quit my day job or my true delight, baking.

The right picture does more than trap a vision, it tells a story that’s worth a thousand words.

Who Says You Can’t Judge a Sweet By It’s Cover?

Posted by Tee Dee on May 21, 2012
Posted in: The Journey. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . 2 Comments
Short~n~Sweet lb. Cake

Short~n~Sweet lb. Cake

I beg to differ!

Creating delicious, quality, gourmet shortbread cookies and cakes is my main priority, but after I, lovingly, prepare each home-made item, the “icing on the cake” for me is how they are presented.

I am no stranger to wanting something because of how it looks, only to find out that it looked so much better than it actually tasted.  My goal is to make the best sweet treats and to make them look as good as they taste.

Making home-made shortbread cookies, pound cakes, and baby pound cakes isn’t hard, but it takes patience and time, and I don’t hesitate to go the extra mile when I am putting the finishing touch on them (the packaging).

It’s been said, “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover”, but that doesn’t apply to ShortbreadSwee-T’s.  I want people to be amazed when they see my baked goods, and I want them to be awed when they taste them.

This is also a lesson for my son.  I want him to, always, put his best foot forward from the beginning to the end, and I’ve learned that this is a quality that can be applied to many aspects in life.

My motto:  Strive for greatness and always present well.

Mother’s Day Treat!

Posted by Tee Dee on May 13, 2012
Posted in: The Journey. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment
Lemon Short~n~Sweet Baby lb. Cake

© ShortbreadSwee-T’s Lemon Short~n~Sweet Baby lb. Cake

Happy Mother’s Day!

To all the mothers (biological, non biological, and those of you who are filling in as mother), I’d like to wish you a fantastic day to commemorate the fantastic event that made you a mother, and for those of you who have lost a mother, may your wonderful memories fill your heart and your day with love.

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Sometimes Cake Happens

Posted by Tee Dee on May 5, 2012
Posted in: The Journey. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . 2 Comments

Lemon Short~n~Sweet Lb. Cake and Shortbits

Being on the shortbread cookie journey has been a fantastic ride, but today I felt like baking a cake! Honestly, I haven’t baked a cake in probably 6 or 7 years, but today that’s all I wanted to do. So, I called my mom (the pound cake queen).

I had my own recipe in mind, but a pound cake is a pound cake with the usual and similar main ingredients that I use in my shortbread cookies. My mom is dedicated to and swears by cake flour (which I didn’t have and didn’t want to buy), but I did take her advice on her ratios for flour/sugar/butter, and (since I am my mother’s child) I added my own components and the rest was on me.

As I was putting it all together, it started coming back to me, and I remembered that I liked making pound cake. I wrote down my measurements (as usual) and what I ended up with was an Almond Pound Cake with a Lime Drizzle.

My son and I shared a piece of the pound cake. It was delicious (per my pickier than anyone son, and he’s not afraid to hurt my feelings). Maybe I’ll add it to my list of options, but what will I do with the rest of the cake now that my craving is satisfied? Hmmmmmm.

I Am “The Cookie Lady”

Posted by Tee Dee on April 29, 2012
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Apple Shortbread

© ShortbreadSwee-T’s Apple Shortbread

I can recall my childhood days while playing on my street with the other neighborhood kids, there was always “the cat lady” (she must have had 10 cats) or “the car man” (I think he had 10 cars), and at church there was “the candy man” (he gave out candy after church every Sunday). If you were to ask me what any of those people’s true names were today, I couldn’t tell you. Everyone knew them by their unofficially given nicknames.

Little did I know that 30+ years later, I would be called “the cookie lady”! How funny is that? My friends tell me that their kids say, “Mom, get some cookies from your friend, the cookie lady” or people ask them, “Is the cookie lady still making shortbread cookies?” They may not remember my name, but they’ll remember what I do,  and I will wear that hat with pride because I will be a memory for many for a very long time.

I envision myself baking shortbread cookies for my future grandchildren and their friends and being remembered for always having “cookies and milk” for whoever comes to my door.

I accept my new title and I am honored to claim it.  It puts a smile in my heart.

Is Baking Science?

Posted by Tee Dee on April 20, 2012
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When I started baking shortbread on a regular basis, I quickly began believing that what people have been telling me, “baking is a science” might be true. My indecisiveness to follow rules or regulations when I’m in the kitchen, is based simply on my southern roots, and with that said it is no surprise that learning to cook, by observing my mother, was not taught in exact measurements or precise ingredients. My lessons came by way of “a little bit of this”, “a pinch of that”, and “you can throw that in if you have it”. It was always a “feel” or an “instinct”, and it works.

Even though I am not even slightly as good a cook as my mother, what I can and do cook (with or without a recipe) is good. There are some things (like mac-n-cheese, peach cobbler, and candied yams) that I make without a single measurement, but unlike my mother, I would prefer exact levels and amounts because my goal is to get the same results each and every time.

When I first started baking, my mother graciously went to the store and purchased my shortbread supplies for me, but instead of “Bleached All-Purpose Flour” she bought “Unbleached All Purpose Flour”. To her, all-purpose flour is just all-purpose flour, and for her baking needs, she likes “cake flour”. Needless to say, I was in the midst of a baking frenzy, and I didn’t notice the labels on the flour. When I removed the cookies from the oven, I was horrified because they didn’t flatten or spread out. They looked just like they did when I scooped them out and put them on the pan, but they were cooked. They were extremely dense. They weren’t light or fluffy or anything close to delicate, and they didn’t taste like “my” shortbread. To keep from being wasteful, I found a way to make the “unbleached” flour work by changing my butter/flour/sugar ratio, but that took some serious tweaking and time.

Now, I frequently research and read about the science of baking just to make sure that I understand what’s going on. I was amazed to learn about the different types of flour and the possible results when using butter, margarine, or shortening. I believe baking is a science, and I’ve learned from trial and error that if I don’t follow my recipe, things can go terribly wrong.

The following links are a few websites that I have learned invaluable information from:

Who Needs A KitchenAid Stand Mixer?

Posted by Tee Dee on April 7, 2012
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Who Needs A KitchenAid Stand Mixer?

My baking adventures began with whatever was in my kitchen, and being the daughter of an Alabama – down home – pound cake – sweet potato pie – and/or tea cake baker I inherited a General Electric hand mixer that was handed down to my mother when we moved to California 44 years ago.

That GE hand mixer was the only mixer I had. Eventually, my mother moved up to a KitchenAid stand mixer, and the GE was passed down to me. Even though I envied her, I was not willing to pay the price for one of my own. So, when I started making shortbread, the process was slow but sure. After a few months, I began to hear the strain on my GE when I was making my shortbread dough. Fear of being in the middle of a large shortbread request and the 44-year-old GE grinding to a halt had me researching and contemplating buying a KitchenAid of my own, but the price, THE PRICE, I just couldn’t justify it.

Luck would have it that my mother was going on vacation and she allowed me the use of her KitchenAid while she was away. OMG! Why didn’t anyone tell me how much simpler my life could be with the KitchenAid (more like why didn’t anyone make me listen)? The ability to turn on the mixer and walk away . . . GENIUS! I was able to get so much done, and I loved it. From that moment on, I was hooked. My new purpose in life, besides providing fabulous shortbread cookies, was to find a way to afford a KitchenAid.

Unfortunately, my eye-opening experience happened during the Christmas holidays and, again, I found myself unable to spend money on myself because I wanted to provide a nice Christmas for my son.

After the holidays were over, I calculated the loving gifts from my bosses and co-workers and found that even though I could not afford a KitchenAid, I could afford a different stand mixer, but I was not sure which mixer was worthy of my investment. I researched high and low. I compared reviews as well as prices, and in the end I chose a 300 watt Hamilton Beach (for half the price of a KitchenAid).

When the mailman delivered my stand mixer, I was excited. Granted, my Hamilton Beach was a little smaller (3 quart bowl) and lighter (in weight) than my mother’s KitchenAid, but when I started mixing with my Hamilton Beach, I found that it was a valuable resource and a life-saver for me. Now I understand that just like cars, my standard sedan (Hamilton Beach) will get me where I need to be and get the job done, but a luxury sedan (KitchenAid) may get me there faster and offer more frills.

Since the purchase of my Hamilton Beach stand mixer, baking (shortbread and bread) has been much more enjoyable. Do I need a KitchenAid? Well, since my current stand mixer is getting the job done, at this time I don’t. Although it’s not as efficient as my mother’s KitchenAid, it’s an extreme improvement from my GE hand mixer. Meanwhile, I am constantly researching and reading reviews on stand mixers, because my next purchase will be a valuable investiment (probably a KitchenAid). What do you think?

UPDATE – December 2014:

I finally got that KitchenAid (pictured above), and I was able to get the exact one that I wanted. It is wayyyyy better than my Hamilton Beach. Life is so much easier in the kitchen.

After the Holidays, Can ShortbreadSwee-T’s Still Deliver?

Posted by Tee Dee on February 24, 2012
Posted in: The Journey. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 1 Comment

Wow, the 2011 holiday season was fantastic.  It was a fabulous end to a wonderful year.  Now, ShortbreadSwee-T is coming through for birthdays, anniversaries, and whatever else comes to mind.

While I was preparing for Valentine’s Day, I hit a real glitch.  First, after I removed my batches from the oven, I found that the cookies did not look like I wanted them to look, and I can’t show/give cookies that aren’t up to my standards (and my standards are high).  I didn’t worry too much, because I knew I had an extra day before Valentine’s Day was here.

The second glitch was a neighborhood power outage.   On day two (the last day), when I planned to remake the cookies, I came home to a complete blackout.  There was no power at all for almost an hour, and when the power returned, it was only a little while before the power went out again.  The intermittent power outages went on for a while.  I soon figured out that there would be no shortbread cookies that night.

I was totally unprepared for that mishap, and I didn’t know what to do.  Here it was, the middle of the night on a work/school night, and I was walking around with candles and flashlights and making PB&J sandwiches for dinner.  At the end of the night I was extremely disappointed because I didn’t have my shortbread cookies ready for Valentine’s Day.

That power outage was a great lesson for me.  I know now that I need to prepare for the unexpected (have the dough and toppings ready – before I’m ready to start baking).  Hopefully, that will never happen again.    ShortbreadSwee-T’s home-made cookies and sweet treats need to be available even during a power outage.

A few days ago, I presented my cookies at a jewelry party, and they were a hit.  It is always good to see people enjoying something that I put my heart into.

Peace & Blessings.