Category: Farm Girl Bakes

 

Baking is a prerequisite on the farm, it’s one of those things you learn very young and continue to hone into adulthood. These are the beautiful things that give us that extra energy when tending the fields, or reward us over the winter.

‘Royal’ly Cool Ideas for Cookie Decorating (Part 2)

Posted on by Kasha
So you made all your cookies and you got all your pastry bags full of various colors of royal icing, right?  I know, I know... You've been waiting patiently for me to tell you HOW to decorate the cookies.  WHY?  How could you resist?  If you have never, ever decorated a cookie before, I urge you to just dive in and get piping (that's what you call it when you squeeze the frosting out of a pastry bag).  You'll get the hang of it, I promise.  And I bet you'll find that you get more creative, faster, and more confident...Read More

‘Royal’ly Cool Ideas for Cookie Decorating (Part 1)

Posted on by Kasha
Yes.  I think that's funny.  I'm lame like that. I was doing some Christmas shopping at Michael's craft store the other day and couldn't resist the adorable assortment of cookie cutters.   WHAT?  Michael's has great percent-off coupons!  I NEVER make rolled cookies and I NEVER have the time to decorate rolled cookies without a small child at my side.  This week, I had the time.  And obviously I now had the cutters.  I know, you're shocked.  My resistance is really low at Michael's, Target, and Bed, Bath and Beyond. It was cookie week on the Martha Stewart Show, and in...Read More

Anybody Baking Cookies This Week? Read This.

Posted on by Kasha
Anyone who has joined us at our farm Open Houses knows that I know a little bit about making cookies. We set up a table of assorted snacks and drinks for our guests to nibble on while they shop around the barn. There are times when guests/ vendors bring something to share, but most of the time I make about 100 dozen assorted cookies. Despite the number of times I've been asked, I do not sell them. It's basically all-u-can-eat while you're here. There are some tricks that I've learned over the 6 years we've held Open Houses, tricks that...Read More
Jam Crumble Bars, Or, What to Bring When You’re Invited to Someone’s Home for Holiday Meals

Jam Crumble Bars, Or, What to Bring When You’re Invited to Someone’s Home for Holiday Meals

Posted on by Kasha
Chances are, sometime in the next month you will be having a holiday meal -- either in your home or someone else's.  And if you're like me, you'll probably over-do it and make a ton of sweets and savories that will practically BEG to be shared because you just couldn't (read: shouldn't) eat another bite!  This is one of those sweets. This simple jam bar is adapted from a recipe torn from Real Simple magazine ages ago.  Seriously, ages.   I checked RealSimple.com and it was originally printed in 2006.  Goes to show just what a recipe junkie I am, huh? ...Read More

Peanut Butter Cookies Just Like Mom Used to Make

Posted on by Kasha
Rarely does anything taste as good as your memories of them. But sometimes, if you do it right, you can replicate that favorite cookie that your mom used to make once in a blue moon, complete with fork-made crosshatch pattern.  I swear I can still hear the fork 'tinking' against the ice in the small Pyrex measuring cup of water Mom used to keep the fork from sticking to the cookie dough balls. You remember that cookie... the one you used to snag off the cooling rack before it was truly cool enough to handle. The one that was so hot it would...Read More
Something Old, Something New… yada, yada, yada

Something Old, Something New… yada, yada, yada

Posted on by Kasha
We celebrated Thomas'  birthday a few weeks ago - no surprise he's a Taurus, huh? Full of  the bull, my boy is. On his birthday proper, I brought cupcakes to school so his class could celebrate this momentous occasion.  If he can't lose a tooth in first grade, at least he can turn 7.  I didn't want to buy canned frosting, although that would have been easier and the rugrats wouldn't have minded one bit, I'm sure.  I just felt all weird since I'm pretty much a 'from scratch' kinda gal. I did a little research and nothing tickled my fancy.  I have...Read More

When Life Hands You Lemons, Make Lemon Curd!

Posted on by Kasha
[caption id="attachment_1664" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Like a burst of sunshine!"][/caption] Top 5 Reasons to NOT COOK: 5) the chef is under the weather (repeatedly) 4) the chef's kid is sick and requires constant attention (also repeatedly) 3) the chef's cat is injured and requires care, including oral antibiotics - which we all KNOW is a near-impossible task 2) doctor and/or veterinary appointments take up much of the day And the Number One reason? 1) extended winter turns simple daily chores  into drudgery I can't be the only one who had the March from hell, right?   One crappy thing after another made me wish I could go...Read More
Breaking News….

Breaking News….

Posted on by Kasha
  [caption id="attachment_921" align="alignright" width="180"] Mmmm.... Limey![/caption] FarmGirl Stabs Self in Hand with Steak Knife.  Was Sandwich Worth Bloodshed? No.  It wasn't. But the fact that my darling boy had just gotten off the school bus in a pissy mood and was bitching and whining about lunch AS I IMPALED MYSELF led him to feel the most tremendous guilt I've ever seen in a 6-yr-old.  It was amazing.  He danced around like the floor was made of hot coals while offering up bandaids. He was so overcome by emotion that he actually started to tear up.  He KNEW that his yapping distracted me, and although...Read More