Making your own Altoids®

We used to go through a lot of Altoids®.  I was not able to find a decent copycat recipe, so I invented my own.  This makes about 20 tins, with about 180 calories per tin.  (We ended up with lots of tins that I was able to use once we were satisfied with this recipe.)  These satisfy a sweet tooth with not too many calories.

First gather the equipment needed:

bench scraper

pan scraper

1/2 cup measure

small stainless bowl

small wire whisk

pizza wheel or pie crust cutter

teaspoons

rolling pin

heavy duty stand mixer (mine is Cuisinart) with paddle
3 cookie sheets

Ingredients:
1/2 cup cool water in the stainless bowl
4 teaspoons gelatin
       After this has softened, melt over low heat to fully dissolve.

1/2 teaspoon Xanthan gum 

Then whisk like mad to get out the lumps.  Xanthan gum likes to clump.

  

Put two teaspoons peppermint oil into the stand mixer bowl.  Make sure you buy food quality pure oil.  I made the mistake of using another that was peppermint in a strange oil.  Nasty.  Extract will not work.  You must use oil.  The little bottles of Loran oil will work - use two whole little bottles or more.  I make this often enough to justify the large bottle.

You will probably use slightly less than 2 pounds of powdered sugar.

I hold back about two cups from a two-pound bag to begin, and then add until it is a texture that is not too sticky to roll out.  `

I prefer to work on a cookie sheet than on the counter.  I worry about the oil being absorbed into the counter.  I sprinkle some of the reserved powdered sugar onto the cookie sheet to keep the candy from sticking and sprinkle some on top, too.  Then roll it out like pie dough.  About that thick, too.

 Then cut it with a pizza wheel or piecrust cutter.  We like the ruffled edges of the pie cutter.

Use the bench scraper to transfer the squares to another cookie sheet to dry.  Two pounds of sugar needs three cookie sheets (the half-sheet pan {18" x 13"}) to dry.  My house is not very dry much of the year, so I put the cookie sheets in the oven with the light on, and they dry in two to three days.  Then they can be stored in tins.

I did see a recipe once that suggested getting a straw from bubble tea (it's a large diameter), and use it like a cookie cutter.  You would have nice round mints.  Much too fussy for me.  We'll live with squares!

Cookies - Royal Icing

Every few years I forget that I am unartistic and uncoordinated.  I watch videos on icing cookies and I think, "I can do that. . ."

My student, Gina, made wonderful cookies for Halloween.  She shared one, but I ate it before I thought to photograph it. . . Perhaps that's good, since I have no proof of excellence!  But I was inspired to try my hand.

I used Gina's recipe:

Sugar Cookie Recipe

3 c flour

1 c sugar

1 1/4 t baking powder

1/4 t salt

2 sticks butter

1/2 t vanilla

1/2 t lemon extract

1 egg

2 oz cream cheese

mix, chill, roll, cut

350º, 12 minutes

It's Great!

I rolled out about four dozen cookies.

When they cooled, I made royal icing and colored some brown:

For the Royal Icing, I used meringue powder with water and powdered sugar, using the proportions on the meringue powder container.

The next day, I made blue and green frosting.  Handling the piping bag is a bit of a challenge, as you might guess from the pictures.  Also, it's a challenge getting the right consistency.

Next day brought the red icing - it looks kind of pink.  .  .  I am using concentrated color, and a little goes a long way.  Looks like I'm getting better at "flooding", but lines are still a challenge.

The following day I added the white.  I kept it thicker so that I could make "stars".  I also dusted some of the white with white or green sugar crystals.  I think the crystals may be useful for hiding mistakes.

Next is yellow. . .

And chartreuse

All done. . . 

I guess you don't need talent to have fun.

~ ~ ~

The beginnings of batch two:

Ain't we got fun. . . 

And now we're done:

And we had a good assortment to take to a "covered dish".

That was fun!

Pizzelle - Part Two

I blogged about the pizzelle I made a year ago.
http://muddleaged.blogspot.com/2016/12/pizzelle.html
They were not quite right - heavy and cakey.

Today we're testing out the new cart and a new recipe.

I wanted a movable work place in the kitchen.  One day, I lucked out on an Amazon Warehouse deal on a commercial cart.

It's title is:  "Metro MW Series Chrome Plated Wire Utility Cart, 3 Shelves, 375 lbs Capacity, 36" Length x 21" Width x 39" Height".  It was easy to put together.  Very sturdy.  Now, will it do what I want?

I need a work surface that is about table-height.  I think it's hard to work on a counter - tough on the arms and shoulders.  But the kitchen table is across the room from the cooking supplies.  Also, because the mixer is so heavy, it would be nice to have it live where it will be used.  This cart is the right height and the right location.

 This setup turns out to be excellent.  My back is to the kitchen sink and counter.

The drawer behind me holds baking tools - the portioner, skewers, measuring devices, scrapers.
The shelves on the cart hold flours and sugars.  The counter behind me holds the microwave.  Just need to get the eggs and butter from the refrigerator.

The pizzelle iron is probably at least 50 years old.  The cord has been replaced several times, but it still works well.

The recipe I used this time:

yield: ABOUT 30 PIZZELLES  

INGREDIENTS:

3 large eggs
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons whole anise seed
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon anise extract
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
a pinch of kosher salt


may need an extra 1/2 cup flour

Making the Kitchen Work

The kitchen had a few things needed.

The window wall had cupboards on the entire wall, with four wall cupboards and base cabinets.

There was also a free-standing tall cupboard.  (This picture is from the realtor listing.)
There simply was not enough storage.  And the workspace was limited.  (See the post with the cart here.)
We swapped places with the fridge and the tall cupboard.  It made it easier to work at the counter, but it didn't solve the storage problem.

The stove wall needed help!

We shifted the appliances to the left so that we could access the base cupboards.  (That meant moving the dryer vent, but that's a story for another time. . . )  But it didn't solve the storage problem.

Our guess is that the kitchen had been remodeled shortly before the house was sold to us, and D was able to find the exact match for the cupboards at Lowes.  And they were on sale.  And with a Lowes credit card you get a 5% discount!  The stars were aligning.  We bought the cupboards.

Oh my, they are heavy!  So we decided to call a contractor who had helped build the cider house.  He is young, and he can install the cupboards.  Alas, he did not return our call.  D was getting impatient.  "We'll do it ourselves," he said.  I said nothing because my jaw had dropped.

D came up with lots of tricks to make it doable.  We lifted from the floor to a chair,  from a chair to a table, from the table to the washer/drier, from that to the board screwed to the wall to rest the cabinets on.  And he clamped the one he had already screwed to the wall to the next cabinet so that it was well supported.

 

Cabinets up - doors put back on - ready for the range hood.

 All done!

D put both of the cabinets (between the fridge and the corner cupboard) without any help!!!!

Now we have a sensible amount of kitchen storage.

Next step is to put the things away from the top of the fridge!