Monkey Business....Sock Monkey's Gone Wild
I said sure.....then she told me 4 dozen. (insert silence...after all I have 5 kids and these take a few days)...but you know how I love to bake. Bring it on....Little did I realize that I am no artist and it was not like I imagined in my head. I was to the point of just giving them to her for free instead of charging her....
I ended up making 64 sock monkey cookies though.....I just knew I'd mess up a few when decorating. (glad I did)
The outlining was probably the hardest part for me...I don't have a steady hand and the black isn't forgiving....by monkey #50 I got the hang of it...yep #50.
I know practice makes perfect in decorating...but hello...5 kids = not a lot of time to play around baking and messing up the kitchen.
I thought I'd pass on a fun trick though for decorating with sprinkles and having the glitter...or sugar dust just where you want it...
First...when making icing....most recipes call for Meringue Powder...I bought the Wilton brand and read other "pro cookie decorators" talk about how horrible the Wilton brand is....(I thought it tasted pretty good) they mentioned other brands....one was the Ateco brand....
LET ME JUST SAY THEY ARE NOT THE SAME...THE ATECO BRAND SMELLS AMAZING RIGHT OUT OF THE CAN.
The prices are comparable...so you're not saving money by using the Wilton brand
Make a solution of 1 tsp of powder and a couple of tsps of water...stir until lumps are gone.
Using a sm child's paint brush...brush the liquid just where you want the sprinkles
Next...take your sprinkles and sprinkle away. I used a coffee filter to catch the excess to pour back in and use again...
It's ok to cover the whole surface
Shake off
Viola. Ain't they cute....
**side note: anyone try the Beaba Baby Food Maker? We are starting Reid at 6m on baby food in a few weeks and would love to know everyone's thoughts on making your own and what you use...
Comments
shel xx
As for making the food, we just used our regular mixer! We tried a baby mixer (from Babies R Us) that was MADE to puree/chop up the food, and it was horrible. Our regular mixer though works wonders. :)
Baby food - I made all P's baby food and LOVED doing that. We just used our kitchen aid food processor, steamed, baked and mashed foods.
I used measuring cups and ice cube trays at first to make the process less messy, but as the foods were able to get thicker, we just spooned them into containers.
I LOVE my Inno Baby food containers for after they were frozen, to tote around. Which you can find at their website or I know Buy Buy Baby carries too.
Ziploc freezer containers or plastic bags worked well for freezing too.
:)
Check out http://dandybabyfood.blogspot.com/ she has a bunch of great recipes!