A quick comment

I just want to say a few things about last night's performances at La Vie Boheme.  Great music everyone!  There was a band of young men that I had personally not heard play before and they were phenominal!  Extremely talented and when I asked them what the name of their band was they said "We have been playing together for a year now and we still haven't figured out a name for our band". 

I told them name or no name keep doing what you do because you are good!

Here's a picture of two of the members.....the picture was taken from La Vie Boheme Bistro's website.

Now on a cookie/ muffin note.... we did as well as we always do as far as sales...so we want to thank everyone out there who enjoys our FOOTIE'S GOODIES.  

Cookies & muffins

MMMMM' CAN'T YOU JUST SMELL THE ZUCCHINI MUFFINS!
Well we have finally graduated from cookies to trying some muffins.  We baked zucchini muffins that we will be selling tonight at La Vie Boheme Open Mic Night.  Just in case you don't what day it is... today is Friday.....I know I have had some trouble these last several weeks remembering what day it is simply because we have had snowy overcast days now for too many days in a row!
I wake up and it seems like the day looks exactly as it had the day before.  Now that I am done complaining  about the lack of sun you may have guessed that I have mild seasonal affective disorder.  I definetly do better when we have more of that good old sunshine....plus I have to take more vitamin D when the sun is not out.

Well here is our FABULOUS FRIDAY COOKIE + MUFFIN MENU:

BLUE & WHITES.....blueberries, white chocolate & macadamia nuts

DOUBLE CHOCOALATE EXPRESSO WALNUT.....I think these are self explanatory

MINI ZUCCHINI MUFFINS

WALNUT CRISPS.....a waffer like crispy cookie with walnuts

CRANBERRY PECAN BISCOTTI

MINI COCONUT MONSTERS.....peanut butter, coconut, m&m's, chocolate chips

TASTY TREATS THAT GO GREAT WITH TEA OR COFFEE!

Clutter...clutter....clutter!

Is it too early to start spring cleaning?   My husband has been on my case for the last 3 days about the clutter in the house, but mainly in our joint home office.   It is hard when you share an office with a person who has a totally different style of storing papers, important documents and reference books ect.  I will begrudgingly admitt that I have been known to be a pack rat, but on the flipside he saves nothing!......  And when I say NOTHING, I mean even the records that you are supposed to keep for five years (or whatever the rule is in case the IRS wants to audit you)  gets tossed in the garbage, unless I am standing in the room and scream "don't throw that away"!

So come on let's compromise with this.  I like horizontal filing systems that are open so that I can see my papers; because we all know that I am not a spring chicken and if I can't see it.... I forget about it and that does include bills that have to be paid.  He likes enclosed filing cabinets that have folders to keep everthing separated.   In a perfect world we would have 2 offices, a his and a hers, but in the cozy little house we share there is only 1 room to be claimed as an office.   So I guess that we will have to come to a compromise after all. 

So if any of you out there have been in this pickle....feel free to weigh in on the sticky subject.....cause I will need any support I can get!

After the sugar wore off

How did everyone make out on Valentine's Day?  I know my family is still craving the sugar that had been consumed regularly since Friday afternoon!   My daughter and I did do some baking today.....we had to finish up an order that was to be picked up today.  After my daughter was done with the order she went off to play with a friend and I decided to experiment in the kitchen.

So from the fruits of my labor I give to you a recipe that I adapted.  This is a biscotti and believe it or not it really does not contain that many calories per cookie......of course I consider this to be a bonus since I have been working out like a maniac ever since we started this sugar crazed business.

Cranberry Pecan Biscotti with chocolate tips

2 1/4 Cups All purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. Baking powder
3/4 tsp. Salt
6 Tbsps. Unsalted butter room temperature
3/4 Cup Sugar
2 Large eggs
Zest of 1 whole lemon ( or 1/2 tsp. orange extract)...I used the lemon zest
1 1/2 tsp. Vanilla extract
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 Cup dried sweetened cranberries
3/4 Cup chopped pecans

1. Pre-heat oven to 350F.  Line baking sheet with parchment paper
2. Sift Flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl.
3. Use mixer to beat butter and sugar until well blended. Then beat in eggs 1 at a time, next mix in lemon zest or orange extract, vanilla, and cinnamon.
4. Beat in flour and nuts ( dough will be really sticky).  Turn dough out on a lightly floured surface. Divide dough in 1/2.  Roll each half into a 12" log.
5. Place both logs about 4" apart on your lined sheet and bake for about 28 minutes or until almost firm to touch and still pale in color.
6. Remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes on sheet. Turn oven down to 325F.  Remove biscotti with parchment paper onto a cutting board.
7. With a serrated knife gently cut crosswise into 1/2'' thick slices.  Place all slices on sheet lined with parchment cut side down and bake again for about 9 minutes.  Then flip the slices over to bake on the other cut side down for another 9 minutes.  Cool on racks.

*Optional
Melt about 1 Cup of dark or white chocolate chips in the microwave: stirring frequently until completely melted.  Then dip 1 end of each biscotti slice in the chocolate. Place them back on the parchment lined sheet and refridgerate for about 30 minutes or until the chocolate has hardened.

Hope you enjoy these!  We sure have.

Wicked Cool

My daughter and I had a lot of fun on Friday a La Vie Boheme.  Lots of cookies sold and I met a really talented artist who does drawings in ink.  The music was great and yes the girls did get up and sing, but not my daughter.....at the very last moment she chickened out, but in the end they all had fun so that is really all that matters.

On another note, my husband and I really had no plans for this Valentine's Day weekend....partly because he works a crazy schedule and we never are quite sure how tired he will be or I will be for that matter!  Sucks to get older, you just can't run yourself ragged and expect to recover like you used to.  So as usual we had to make our plans spur of the moment!

Since our daughter was invited over to a friends house yesterday/evening....We decided to try out a local restaurant that some of our friends have been raving about.  Of course with it being Valentine's Day weekend we thought how perfect is that.  So at 5:15pm I called the restaurant....."ZABROSO" and made a 5:30pm reservation.  Good thing it isn't far from our house.  The restaurant is housed in part of the Oneida Community Mansion House here in Oneida that once was the home to the religious based perfecionist community that was started by John Humphrey Noyes.  The Mansion is a 93,000 sft. property that operated between 1848-1880.   Enough on the history lesson......this picture to the left is the part of the building that "ZABROSO" is housed in and this is the restaurant's entrance. 
The atmosphere in this place is simply awsome!  Between the interior of the great old architecture and the european decor it definetly sets the stage for the food that is to be indulged in.  Let me give you a taste of what my husband and I had last night.  The menu was a special offering for the holiday.  We started out with a small appetizer of swordfish on a bed of quinoa salad....this was then followed by our choice of goat cheese and pear tartlett with greens and balsamic vinagrette......we then had our main course.  I chose lamb chops on a bed of rice spiced with cumin and laced with chunks of butternut squash and spinach, while my husband had the hanger steak that is topped with a avocado sauce and a side of mashed potatoes. ( He wants to thank our friend Ramona for that suggestion).  We ended the meal with of course a dessert that was to die for and you know that here at Footie's Goodies we like our sweets.  We both chose the molten chocolate cake with jalepenos and hot vanilla sauce with a side of chocolate ice cream.  That was a mouth full to say.  I have to state that we give that meal 5 stars out 5 stars!  We will definetly go back.  If you want more info about the Oneida Community Mansion House or Zabroso go to: ocmh@oneidacommunity.org

Sweets for your sweets

Well we have made the turn into what I call the last half of winter.  Here in upstate NY winter seems to drag on and on and by the time we get into February and March I think most of us have really had enough.  Unfortunately we can sometimes get snow all the way up until to Mother's Day and I have lived through that several times since moving back up here.  By the way the picture to the left is of our coconut monster cookies.  Which I just baked and of course I had to eat one.  They are delicious!

Enough though on the winter blues and blahs.....lets get into a Valentine's Day Spirit!  My daughter and I were searching through our makeshift baking cookbook and really were not finding the inspiration that we wanted for our Valentine's Day cookies that we would like to bake for our weekly selection at La Vie Boheme Bistro. So we have made up our own recipe to get into the spirit..... with of course a red and white theme.  We have appropriately named them RED & WHITES.....a twist of cranberry, white chocolate and nuts.

Now let me digress a little here and tell you what La Vie Boheme Bistro is...... .it is a wonderful family run bistro/coffee house that resides in our downtown business district here in Oneida, NY.
You may think to yourself that the City name of Oneida sounds familiar...well it should since we have the Oneida Silver factory here....this is where the silverware that you use on a daily basis probably came from, but that is another topic completely.  So back to La Vie Bohem Bistro.   It is a place that you can go and have a sandwich...which I really enjoy their chicken salad with cranberries and almonds...they also have homemade soups and salads that they offer daily.... and we can't forget homemade desserts including you know who FOOTIE'S GOODIES!  The coffee is always fresh and for you tea lovers they have a great selection as well.  They offer free WIFI and you will catch me there at least once a week doing some work on the netbook while having lunch.

On friday nights La Vie Boheme Bistro has an OPEN MIC NIGHT....so now you are officially invited to grab the family and your instruments, singing voices, poetry, comedy stand up routine or anything else you can think of and come join us from 6pm to 10 pm every Friday Night.  You will see yours truly there with daughter and friends in tow and we can't forget our Fabulous Cookies for Sale!

So as my post title anounced without further interruptions "SWEETS FOR YOUR SWEETS"

Here is our cookie menu we are Baking Fresh for tonights La Vie Boheme Open Mic appearance:

Red & Whites ( cranberries, white chocolate, macadamia nut)

Coconut Monster Cookies ( m&m's, peanutbutter, chocolate chips, coconut)

Blue & Whites ( blueberries, white chocolate, macadamia nut)

Double Chocolate Expresso (chocolate, expresso, walnut)

If the Red & Whites are a hit tonight we will include them in our list of regulars. 
If you would like to just buy half a dozen or a dozen to go we always have to go bags while selling at La Vie Boheme.  You can also buy our cookies at The Market @ Oneida Commons here in Oneida, NY. Again find the link to the right for the Market's Website.

If you are a local and are not quite sure you want to come down to La Vie Boheme Bistro you can watch OPEN MIC NIGHT by going to their website and clicking on their LIVE STREAM, yes folks you can see and hear everthing that is going on live! Their link is on the right side of this blog. Check it out!

My daughter and her friend think they want to try and sing tonight.....I hope I can keep it together.  I have heard them singing around the house and I am not so sure that they will make it through a whole song without completely cracking themselves up, but what can you do they are only 12 years old.  Got to give them credit for wanting to try in front of an audience.  This ought to be good tonight!  Wish us all luck and thanks for reading my ever so long post.

OH AND I WANT TO SAY HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY TO MY SWEET!

Confessions of an amateur baker

Just so you know I am not a baker by profession, I kind of just fell into this because of my 12 year old daughter's desire to learn how to bake and have a business where she could make a little money.

I am a Skin Therapist or you may know the professional term used.... Licensed Aesthetician.  I have my own  practice where I live here in upstate NY.  It is called All About You and you can find my website by clicking: http://www.allaboutyou.skincaretherapy.net/

The reason I bring this up is simple, there are many organic and natural foods out there that can be used as an effective skin care treatment and regimen.  So I thought since we have recently been exploring pumpkin in our baking adventures that I would give you all a recipe for a pumpkin facial mask.

Pumpkin Facial Mask Recipe:
You can buy canned pumpkin...the very same kind that you would make a pumpkin pie with or you can use fresh pumpkin.  Pumpkin is rich in vitamins.... especially vitamin A.  It will help to soften and exfoliate your dry winter skin and it smells good as well. 

1/2 Cup of pumpkin
2 Tbsps. honey
1 Tbsp. of milk
1/8 of a banana peeled and mashed
 If you have an allergy to milk or milk products omitt the milk
*optional ground almonds---omitt if allergic to nuts
For skin only.

Directions:
1. Mix all ingredients together.  You can leave the mask out for a little while for it to become room temperature.

2.  Apply to your face avoiding contact with eyes.

3. Leave on for about 10 minutes.  Wash off with warm water. Follow with your favorite moisturizer.

4. Have a little fun and put it on while soaking in a bath.

I hope you try this and pamper yourself a little.  Tell me how you liked it.