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Showing posts from June, 2014

Chonky Boys: The Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches that Scream Summer!

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Featuring my thick and nuggy Chonky Boy Chocolate Chip Cookies, these ice cream sandwiches are the stuff that summer dreams are made of.  If you've ever had the Cookie Ice Cream Sandwich at Disneyland , you are going to LOVE these!  These big and bold chocolate chip cookies are based on a recipe from my culinary school studies at Auguste Escoffier, but with a few modifications to give them that Jennuine touch.  They make the perfectas book for a fat slice of real vanilla bean ice cream.  And those mini chips?  You just gotta have that extra cronch! Thank goodness this recipe only makes 8 sandwiches, otherwise I would be eating them for breakfast lunch and dinner.  This way, my big family can help save me from my inner child diet-saboteur.   Print With Image Without Image Chonky Boy Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches Yield: 8 Author: Jenn Erickson Loaded with chocolate chips and buttery, brown-sugary vanilla flavor, these mall-sized cookie...

Book Review & Giveaway: Washi Wonderful ~ Creative Projects & Ideas for Paper Tape

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I asked and Rook No. 17 fans on Facebook responded:  When given a choice of three different new and fabulous craft books for me to give away and review, the hands-down favorite was Jenny Doh's Washi Wonderful .  So, here we go... The first part of the book is all about using washi tape to make fanciful custom cards.  My favorite is the "Welcome to the Neighborhood" card tutorial from designer Ishtar Olivera Belart on page 32. If you're not familiar with Washi Tape, it's a colorful patterned paper tape from Japan that has taken the craft world by storm.  This artful and versatile little tape is the subject Jenny Doh's latest book, Washi Wonderful:  Creative Projects & Ideas for Paper Tape (April 2014, Sterling Publishing, 144 pages, $19.95, ISBN 978-1454708117) .  It's one of the first books of its kind -- devoted entirely to showcasing the creative potential of this fun and affordable medium. The second part of the book is brimming w...

Ephemera Files: World's Columbian Exposition Chicago 1893 Tickets (set of 4)

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Hello friends!  Summer is here and the kids are out of school, but I've been busy getting all of my ducks in a row so that I have my teaching credential all lined up for the fall.  In addition, I've decided to toss my name in the hat for a position as a culinary arts teacher at our local high school.  In order to teach culinary arts, I need an additional credential, so I've been burning the midnight oil putting together my application and culling my archives to come up with evidence of my work in the culinary industry over the past five years to share with the credentialing board.  In the process, I came across this set of four original admission tickets to the World's Fair in Chicago in 1893.  What incredibly beautiful tickets!  It's no wonder why the original bearer kept and mounted them for posterity! I've scanned the tickets and made them available here for you to use for your creative projects.  Enjoy.  I hope you're having a wonderfu...

Bake-Ins: Cupcakes Baked in Terra Cotta Flower Pots

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  There are many variations on the flower pot cupcake, but this one's mine.  Both at home and at my boutique cakerie, I've enjoyed baking cakes in unconventional containers.  Jars, cans, bowls, teacups, boxes and even hollowed-out citrus fruits make wonderful vessels for your favorite cake batter, and provide a springboard for boundless creativity. Top row from left: Baby Food Lookalike Cupcakes , Teacup Chamomile Tea Cakes , Terrarium Cakes . Bottom row from left: The original CAKE OUT™ , Snow Cone Cupcakes , Soft Serve Hi-Hat Cupcakes . I've done several variations on the flower pot cupcake theme, but created this freshly "minted" version as a donation for the cake walk at my daughter's elementary school carnival.  I broke the batch up into groups of three and packaged them in gardening caddies that I made out of cereal boxes and washi tape. I used wooden coffee stirrers as my garden stakes.  I stamped them with the type of cake (fudge cak...