One of our favorite projects of any holiday is planning and building (and eating of course) Gingerbread houses. There is much togetherness time spent developing floor plans, and rolling, cutting, baking, and trimming the pieces. In the few day the house takes to harden, we scour stores for cereals, cookies, and candies for decorating our house. Todays holiday marketing has made it easier than ever to design unique homes for Easter and Halloween too.
My sister, aka partner in culinary crime, and I are planning a Victorian Gingerbread home for Christmas. After looking at the recipes out there fit for building a gingerbread house, I will be posting my own favorite ASAP. My children just love decorating these goodies, although I have to make sure to make lots of extra pieces. The recipe is not only functional but good enough to eat! For tips on construction and decorating, check out Gingerbread Houses for All Seasons! This site also has pictures of our very first Haunted Gingerbread House for Halloween 2000.
My latest addition to my culinary experience is cake decorating classes. I've taken Wilton I basic decorating course, Wilton II which features flowers and decorative borders, and Wilton III Wedding cake class. I took these classes through Michaels Crafts, although JoAnnes ETC and a few other stores also offer the courses. I've added a link to Wilton, where you can find an instructor near you. Some day, I want to take the courses necessary to become a pastry chef from a culinary institute. My sister will be living our dream this winter as she starts the Patissery program at Hocking College. I am so excited for her!
It has been really hard to find great recipes for cakes and frostings, especially Italian Buttercreams. There are quite a few available from the Wilton site. Martha Stewart has featured some fantastic recipes too. One of my favorite sources is The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum. She also has written The Pie and Pastry Bible which I am excited to get hold of. I'm willing to share what I've found so far.
Cake Decorating Archive (Cakedeco1.zip)
One of my favorite recipes (and definitely my husband's favorite) is for German soft pretzels. These are a real hit any time! Another party or anytime time favorite would be my salsa recipe. It's delicious, easy, and FAT FREE. My Dad's favorite is Hershey's Best Brownies from Hershey's Cocoa Cookbook. I have compiled a small book of My Favorite and most used recipes. I hope your family loves them as much as mine does!
For those of us looking on the lighter side of life, here are some tried and true recipes that were contributed by members of the Circle of Hope. They are healthy, delicious, and most are Weight Watcher points converted.
One of my favorite places to download new recipes isTV Food Network. This page will provide all kinds of wonderful recipes for those of you who don't get the Food Channel, or those of you who are interested in recipes featured on your favorite shows. Some of the Lists are from The Essence of Emeril, Emeril Live, Malto Mario, and Good Eats. Check it out!
Hot List!
These are some of my favorite links full of many wonderful and familiar sites listed. Enjoy!
For more non cooking related web sites follow these links!
Last edited November 24, 2002