Three more days – I need three more orders

Can you help me do it? I bet you can.

There are only THREE more days to place your orders for houndstooth cookie baskets. After July 31, where else can you find handmade houndstooth cookies? Probably nowhere. So do yourself a favor and hop on over to the Etsy shop and order one today.

Remember there are two kinds of cookies (houndstooth or crimson awareness ribbons) and there is one listing for local folks (no shipping cost, because they can be delivered to you in Tuscaloosa) and one for out-of-towners with a small shipping fee.

The feedback I’ve gotten has been really good, so I think you ought to try them out for yourself, and help out my fellow UA folks by donating to the UA Acts of Kindness Fund.

Have questions? Just send them to me at bluebirdbaskets@gmail.com.

Happy Friday!

The Secret to Houndstooth

Before this adventure into houndstooth cookie land, I very rarely paid much attention to the pattern at all. In fact, from a distance it just looked like a distorted black and white checker board to me. But that was before I lived in Tuscaloosa – the houndstooth capital of the world. Around here, locals can spot “real” houndstooth from a mile away.

So when I decided I was going to make houndstooth cookies, I tried about five different ways to get the pattern onto sugar cookies with no success (and a lot of failures). Finally, I just bit the bullet and decided each one would have to be a custom job done by hand. Sigh.

So how does one even begin? First I found a photo of the print online and printed it out and enlarged it by 50 percent so I could look at the details up close. Then I just stared at it for a while, and eventually a pattern emerged. So here you go, the steps to drawing houndstooth:

First, I started with my blank canvas (in this case, a cookie):

Then you begin by drawing small squares that are equidistant from each other. That means that the white space in between each one should be the same size as the square itself.

Next, you just fill in the squares. Color in the lines, just like kindergarten =)

Here’s where things get tricky. We want to start at the bottom right corner of each square and draw what I like to call a “fish tail” on a diagonal. All it is, is two triangles that come out from the edges of the square. Like this:

The final step involves drawing little “arms” on your fishy so that they almost connect with the square above it and the one next to it. The first one comes from the bottom left corner of the square toward the top right corner of the next square. The second one comes from the top right corner and comes toward the bottom left corner of the next square. Opposites. Then voila!:

Then you’ve got yourself some houndstooth.

Of course if this looks like too much of a hassle, then you can just save yourself the 3-4 minutes per cookie and just buy a basket from me instead. =)

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

Kelli

Three more weeks until the home stretch!

I know that most of you are(hopefully) in the throes of a fun and eventful summer, but for some of us – namely the residents of Tuscaloosa, AL – we are still dealing with the aftertmath of the storm. I want to share a video about the storm that one of the students in UA’s College of Arts and Sciences (where I work) made. It actually won him a $5,000 scholarship at a film festival in California. It’s called “Portrait of a Storm”:

In his acceptance speech, he talks about how when something big like this happens, the whole world knows about it, but the way our society works, we quickly forget. What is the old saying? Yesterday’s newspaper is today’s wastepaper basket liner?

So if you decide to purchase a basket to benefit the UA Acts of Kindness Fund, then you are helping students like the ones who told their story in the film. We have all come to terms with what happened, but in order to get back on our feet completely, we have to look for acts of kindness from others.

In order to meet my original goal, I need to sell 6 more baskets by July 31. I know you can help me do it!

Kelli

Update on my Tuscaloosa tornado relief effort

Since my last post, I am happy to say that three more baskets were purchased. That puts me within reach of my goal if I can get 8 more baskets sold! You should be sure to participate before this offer expires! Check out the Etsy site  or send me an email for details.

Thanks to some kind words posted sbout this effort on College Confidential, I had some unexpected orders come from some UA moms in Missouri and Virginia. One of them sent a basket to her daughter who works in New York. She mentioned that it may drum up some extra publicity up there – so here’s to hoping!

Also, since the heat has been so dreadfully unbearable, I’ve been concerned that mailed cookies out of state may not arrive in as good of a condition as I would like them, so I may have to limit my sales to in-state shipping and local delivery only. I will post an update on that later if it becomes the case.

But I would just like to say that I appreciate all the support so far, and I look forward to making a donation later this summer!

Update on Cookie Baskets

In less than a week, there has already been such a positive response to the cookie baskets to raise funds for the UA Acts of Kindness Fund. Thanks to everyone who has already ordered – please tell your friends about this limited time offer!

On the Etsy shop, I decided to make things easier by splitting up the listings. There is now:

• one listing for houndstooth cookies for locals
• one listing for Crimson and White ribbons for locals
• one listing for houndstooth cookies to ship 
• one listing for Crimson and White ribbons to ship 

I hope this makes it easier when ordering online. I still need about 11 mored orders to reach my goal – please help out a good cause.

Have great day!

Kelli

Limited Time Only! Tuscaloosa Tornado Relief Cookie Baskets!

Hi everyone,

As many of you know, my city of Tuscaloosa was hit pretty hard by an EF-5 tornado on April 27.  Fortunately, my husband and I are safe, and all of our friends in town are safe too. But there was still a lot of devastation, and even a month later the city looks completely wrecked. (For early accounts, see my personal blog).

So as a means to raise funds for the recovery efforts, I am opening up the shop again to offer limited time cookie baskets with cookies made in either hounds-tooth pattern, or Crimson and White Awareness Ribbons. If you know me at all, you know I am an Auburn football fan (despite working and going to grad school at UA), so for me to lovingly draw a houndstooth pattern on countless cookies is a real act of will and kindness on my part (ha!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The proceeds from the sale of these baskets will go directly to the UA Acts of Kindness Fund, which was set up to help UA employees and students affected by the storm. It is a good cause. There are many good causes out there – United Way, Recover Tuscaloosa, etc. but this one was closest to my heart because it will help my peers and colleagues.

So please help me reach my goal of 15 baskets by July 31 so that I can donate $250 to the fund. Email me or purchase one on Etsy today!

Happy June-

Kelli

Taking a little break…

Since I have completed my first round of Treat of the Month club subscribers, I am going to take this time to take a little hiatus from Blue Bird Baskets. I will be closing the Etsy shop temporarily, but if you still need to make some orders, please feel free to contact me. I am planning to regroup and come back with some very exciting things.

Also, if you feel the need to keep up with what is going on in my personal life, feel free to check out my personal blog.

Until next time-

Kelli

Treat of the Month Club – month #3

So for this third and final month of the Treat of the Month club, I decided to go out on a limb and try something new to send to my little customers. Over Christmas, my friend Abbie sent us these amazing spice cake balls, and I decided to do a version of one of her cake ball recipes. I am quite pleased with the results. I went with the Strawberry Chocolate Chip Cake Balls.

The thing about cake balls is they are unlike any treat or dessert you may have had before. We all love cookies, but those can get pretty mundane. We all love cake, but come on, who eats a whole cake without feeling guilty about it? So cake balls are perfect. You get your cake fix, but it is all done up in a cute liitle package just like a cookie would be.

So, to begin you will need:

• Vanilla Cake recipe or cake box mix
• Fresh or frozen strawberries, pureed
• Cream Cheese frosting
• Mini chocolate chips
• White or milk chocolate, for melting

The first thing to do is assemble your favorite homemade or made-with-help-from-the-store vanilla cake mix. In place of any water or liquid, add in the same amount of pureed strawberries and include an extra egg  to the batter. Bake it into a sheet pan. Once the cake has baked and cooled completely, you get to do the fun part:

Crumble the cake into a bowl, discarding any edges

Thanks to my hubby for posing for this picture (and helping!). Once all the cake is crumbled, add in 3/4 of a jar of cream cheese frosting and some of the mini chocolate chips. After giving it all a good stir, then take the mixture and start forming it into balls.

 

Cake Balls

A tip is to use a cookie scoop so that all of your balls are the same size. Another tip is to lightly spray your hands with some Pam baking spray so that the balls don’t stick or fall apart in your hands. Put all of the balls on a wax paper lined tray and cool them in the refrigerator for two hours, or in the freezer for 15 minutes. The last step is to coat them in melted white chocolate or milk chocolate:

 

cake ball with white chocolate

As you can see in the photo, my chocolate covering skills leave something to be desired, but I will just say it adds to the “homemade” look, right? For this particular order I alternated white chocolate and milk chocolate and topped them off with more of the mini chocolate chips.

 

Assorted white and chocolate cake balls

I’m pretty excited about how these turned out. So once again, these are going out to Mark and Jenny Zimmerman in Tennessee. Thanks guys for being my inaugural Treat of the Month Club subscribers!

Treat of the Month Club – month 2

For the second month of the Treat of the Month club, I decided to get in the Valentine’s Day spirit and do something heart-shaped and lovey dovey. I went with sugar cookies with a few modifications, because who doesn’t like sugar cookies? Here are the basics for Chocolate Orange Cocoa Hearts:

• Make your favorite recipe of sugar cookies
• To the dry ingredients, add 3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• Separate dough in two pieces and then chill for two hours
• Roll out to 1/8 inch thick using powdered sugar instead of flour on your board
• Cut into heart shapes and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet

Cocoa Heart Shaped Sugar Cookies

 

Then make a filling with these ingredients:

• 2 ounces finely chopped bittersweet chocolate
• 3 tablespoons orange marmalade

Place one teaspoon of the filling onto each cookie and then brush the edges with an egg wash (one egg white and a teaspoon of water)

chocolate and orange marmalade filling

putting on the egg wash

Top each of the cookies with another heart cookie and press the edges together to form a seal. Coat the tops of the cookies with the egg wash and then sprinkle with sanding sugar (I used pink sugar). Bake according to your recipe’s directions. They should look something like this:

Chocolate Orange Cocoa Hearts

I also did a variation of this cookie where I substituted raspberry filling in the middle and it tasted great.

I hope all of you got a special treat for your Valentine’s Day. Tell me about it in the comments section!

Treat of the Month Club – month 1

So January is officially the first month of the Treat of the Month Club, and after some polling (mostly asking my husband=) I decided the first shipment would be something simple, and something everyone likes: Caramel and Chocolate Covered Pretzels. Yum!

These are great because they are simple, but they always end up looking gourmet. Here is how you make them. I got the original recipe from The Ultimate Cookie Book from Better Homes and Gardens. It has been one of the best cook books in my collection, because every Christmas I have hundreds of recipes to choose from. Thanks Emily for such a great present!

To begin, you will need:

• pretzel rods
• caramel
• whipping cream, or half and half
• chopped mixed nuts
• white chocolate candy coating
• chocolate candy coating
• shortening

First you need to melt the caramel with the whipping cream. If you try to melt it without it, then your caramel will be too thick. Did I make my own caramel, you may ask? No. Why? Because my first few encounters making my own caramel cost me a perfectly good stainless steel pot, which I burned the bottom out of so badly I couldn’t cook with it anymore. So for this particular recipe, just use the store bought caramel candies, it will make your life easier. They also have these great caramel bits in the baking aisle of the grocery store, so you don’t have to waste all the time unwrapping individual candies. But if you are ever interested in trying a caramel recipe, I recommend this gem from Alton Brown.

 

So after the caramel is good and melted (be patient, it will take a while on low heat), all you need to do is slather it all over your pretzel rods. Only cover about 3/4 of the rod, because you want to be able to hang on to the rod at the end. Be sure to shake off the excess. If you have too much caramel on there, the nuts will sort of slide to the bottom and your finished product won’t look as good. It’s tempting to go overboard with all of these yummy components, but please try to exercise restraint!

Immediately after you have gotten the caramel on there and shaken off the excess, then you will roll your pretzel rod in the chopped mixed nuts until all of the caramel is covered with nuts. You could use any combination of nuts, but mixed nuts add a nice variety to the texture.

Once you have gotten the nuts onto the caramel, put the pretzel rods on a buttered baking sheet and let it set until the nuts no longer fall off. This can be anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour.

After they are set, all you need to do is add the chocolate. Simply melt the chocolate with 1 teaspoon of shortening (this helps to thin it out – never use water in chocolate! it will seize up) and then drizzle both kinds over the pretzel rods. Let them set up for 30 minutes to an hour. You can even put them in the fridge, just be sure to let them come to room temperature before you wrap them up individually.

So there you have it – yummy gourmet pretzels. This lovely batch is going to my inaugural Treat of the Month Club members – Mark and Jenny Zimmerman in Knoxville, TN. If you are interested in becoming a member, be sure to check out the Treat of the Month Club page for more information.

I still haven’t decided on next month’s treat. I suppose it should be Valentine’s themed? Should it be savory or sweet? Leave your thoughts in the comments section!