Fabulous Food Friday: Buttercream Frosting

Buttercream Frosting

In a large mixer bowl, combine 1 1/4 cup sugar, 5 egg whites and flavoring. Heat over a pot of simmering water. Wisk for 3 minutes.

Whip on high for three minutes using the wisk attachment. 

When frosting is thick, add 4 sticks of butter, a tablespoon at a time. Using the paddle attachment, mix until blended. Add food coloring and frost your cake.

This recipe makes a lot, so I usually only make half the recipe, which frosts one cake.

Fabulous Food Friday: Spooky Treats

Happy Halloween! 

Last year I had a lot of fun making Halloween treats for the kids. I made these cute mummies stuffed with chicken salad:

You can find the instructions for these mummies here.

This year, my friend Teri told me about a Halloween treat that she was making and I had to give it a try. They were really easy to make which was great because this year I seemed to be full of festive plans, but short on time.

STEP 1: insert chow mien noodles into double stuff Oreos. I used chocolate mint Oreos cause those are my fave, but I think there are orange Oreos this time of year that would be cool too.

Second melt 4 squares of chocolate almond bark to 1 C chocolate chips and drizzle over the "spiders." I found it was the easiest to scoop up the spiders with a fork, then using a mini ladle or large spoon, drizzle over cookie until coated. Let the excess chocolate drip off and then place on waxed paper to set. Lastly use two mini M&Ms for eyes. The kids had fun with this part and were trying to figure out which color was the spookiest for spider eyes!

Chocolate covered spiders...good enough to eat!

Fabulous Food Friday: Aebleskiver

Yesterday my friend Debbie and I drove for 2 hours down to Junction City to attend their Scandinavian Festival. We both have Norwegian heritage, so it was fun to spend a day celebrating our ancestors. One of the things we tried was a dish called Aebleskiver. They are little round waffle-like treats that are served with jam. I've never made them, but it was fun watching them make them at the festival. My mom has the iron to make these and we are planning to dust if off and make some soon.

Danish Aebleskiver
2 C flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 T sugar
2 T melted margarine
2 C milk
2 eggs, separated

Mix together dry ingredients and set aside. Separate eggs and beat whites stiff, not dry. Combine milk, egg yolks, margarine and add to dry ingredients. Fold in egg whites.

Use a heavy cast iron aebleskiver pan on medium heat. Put aprox 1 tsp veg oil in each hole. Pour batter in each to level top. Using a thin knitting needle, turn when bubbles appear. Continue turning to complete the ball shape. To test for doneness, insert needle. It should come out clean. each batch takes about 7-9 minutes.

Here you can see the woman pouring the batter into the hot iron.

Once they have cooked for a while, you turn them about a third of the way over and let them cook some more.

Then turn them again, using a metal skewer.

Lots of young girls were on hand to help turn the aebleskivers.

And there you have it...ours were served with strawberry jam and norseberry jam ~ yummy!

More pictures from the Scandinavian Festival 2008

There was lots of dancing by adults as well as children.

Here are some clogs that I thought were so cute. Click to enlarge the photos to see the rosemaling detail.

Many girls wore these flower wreaths in their hair...so sweet.
I couldn't resist taking this little girl's photo. She was adorable.

Here are some of the women representing traditional costumes from Norway. Many of the dresses were made by the ladies who were wearing them.

Fabulous Food Friday: Fried Won Tons

To make these yummy appetisers, you need to purchase won ton wrappers and whatever ingredients you want for the filling. I typically use a mixture of cream cheese, ham (or chicken) and chives.

Separate the won tons as you go and spoon a small amount of the filling into the center.

Fold over and wet the edges to seal.

And tuck the end up to the middle. Seal the ends using water. Fry in vegetable oil, a few at a time, until brown and crispy.

Now here are some photos of my newest hobby...bento lunches!

These are made with sticky (sweet) rice, using rice molds found in Asian markets or online. I got mine from my brother-in-law's fiance who brought them back from Japan!

I used my paper punches to punch holes and flowers for the eyes out of nori (dried seaweed)...see, crafty and tasty!


Here is a lunch I made for my daughter this past spring using the rice molds. This time, I didn't use sticky rice, just leftover rice that I added Yoshida's gourmet sauce to make it "sticky." The bunny has a carrot nose and is surrounded by Edamame. She loved it!

Fabulous Food Friday: Thai Basil Chicken

Since my brother-in-law is from Thailand, we have had the pleasure of eating many delicious Thai meals together. This is one of my favorites.

Note: Begin cooking your rice before you make this dish and it should be ready at the same time.

Thai Basil Chicken

12-16 sweet basil leaves
1 cup hot water
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 pound chicken, thinly sliced (I use 2 lbs)
1-2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 medium onion, sliced (I use 1 onion)
1-2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and sliced
1 tablespoon fish sauce, available at Asian markets
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar

In a small bowl, soak sweet basil leaves in hot water for 15 minutes. Drain and discard water.
In a large skillet or wok, heat 2 tablespoons oil over high heat for 1 minute. Add meat and cook over high heat, stirring constantly, until chicken begins to turn brown. Place meat aside in a bowl. Wash skillet and dry. Heat 1 tablespoon oil over high heat for one minute. Add garlic, onion and peppers and stir well. Cook, stirring frequently until peppers are soft. Add chicken, fish sauce, soy sauce, and sugar and stir well. Tear basil into smaller pieces and add to the mix. Cook, stirring constantly over medium heat for 2 minutes or until heated through. Serve over rice with some sweet chili sauce on the side. Mmmmm!

Fabulous Food Friday

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July. My daughter and I spent some time in the afternoon picking what might be the last of the strawberries this season. Anyone who lives in Oregon will tell you that our berries are the sweetest, most delicious strawberries around. They are smaller than the ones you typically buy in the stores, but they are packed with flavor and are something I look forward to every year. So many good summer treats can be made with these red gems...today I am going to share with you a yummy treat that I first made a couple years ago for Father's Day.

In the past I posted recipes every Friday to my family blog which is a private blog, but I have decided to add this feature to Paper Capers so I can share my recipes with all my blogging friends as well. So here is the first edition of Fabulous Food Friday on Paper Capers...Fourth of July style! I made this recipe to bring over to our neighbors who always do a huge fireworks show in their back yard. Hope you enjoy!

Strawberry Pavlova

INGREDIENTS

• 4 egg whites
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 1/4 cups sugar, divided
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 2 cups whipping cream
• 1 quart fresh strawberries, sliced

DIRECTIONS

1. Place egg whites in a large mixing bowl; let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Beat egg whites on medium speed until foamy. Add cream of tartar; beat until soft peaks form. Gradually add 1-1/4 cups sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating on high until stiff peaks form. Sprinkle cornstarch over egg white mixture; fold in. Fold in lemon juice and extract.
2. Coat a 14-in. pizza pan with nonstick cooking spray. Spoon meringue onto pan, forming a 12-in. heart; build up edges slightly. Bake at 250 degrees F for 45-55 minutes or until crisp. Cool on pan on a wire rack.
3. In a mixing bowl, beat cream until soft peaks form. Gradually add the remaining sugar, beating until stiff peaks form. Spoon over meringue; arrange strawberries over top. Serve immediately.