Course 4 Advanced Gum Paste Flowers

I've been quite busy with classes and kiddies for awhile that I haven't had the chance to post anything. Well, I'm finished with my Advanced Gum Paste Flowers course and I received my certificate. Wooo Hoooo!!! : ) This is what we learned in class...

We learned how to create different sorts of flowers, flower buds and leaves. We learned the different sizes of wire gauges and how to wrap the wires with florist tapes. We learned how to paint the flowers as well. I need more practice to get the flowers just right.

Ivy leaves....

Lily leaves....

Gerbera Daisy... She loves me, she loves me not, she loves me, she loves me not....

No worries my sweet boy, mummy's got another one.. : )

She loves me!!! : )

Briar Rose...

Stephanotis... I chipped it on the way home and didn't get to put the stamen in.

Sweet Pea... It kinda got flattened.

Blossoms...

Stargaze Lily..

Flower Bouquet... I haven't attached the leaves just yet.

Oh, and this is my work area. I like took over 2 and a half tables. It's alright though there were plenty of space the tables were small. It worked out for everyone though we all took over 2. : )

Giant Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

The other day my daughter wanted some chocolate chip cookies. We didn't have any in our pantry so she decided she was going to bake a batch. This was her first time making one from scratch so she searched for the recipe. Fortunately, we had most of the ingredients we needed then come to fine out we were out of unsalted butter. I dreaded going to the supermarket as it was 111 degrees farenheit here (that's 111 ºF = 43.8888 ºC).

My daughter showed so much interest and excitement on how she was going to bake us a treat all on her own that I couldn't not go to the market. I loaded the kiddies in the hot oven temperature car with the AC on full blast and off we went. When we got to the supermarket, there in the entryway as the automatic doors slid open were pre baked and packed in a clear plastic box was some..........chocolate chip cookies! The whole point of not leaving the cool air conditioned house was she was going to make her cookies from scratch. We could've easily had purchased these grocery store cookies. But, there is nothing like homemade cookies.

I couldn't do that, my sweet girl wanted to bake us her very own. So we walked right passed the cookies and went straight to the butter fridge, purchased it and went straight home. We had to rush back since it was sooooooo haaaaawwt!.....the butter was beginning to melt! Ahhhh!! : )

My baby girl, well she's not a baby anymore but she's still is to me : ) gathered all her equipment, bowls and ingredients and all I see in the kitchen were fog of flour in the air lol! I stayed out of her way and relaxed in the living room while I watched Nigel Slater's Toast.

Once the cookies were put in the hot oven, the aroma of baked chocolate chip cookies started to linger around the house. Yummmmmm....Both kiddies especially my sweet 3 year old boy was waiting for the oven timer to beep as he was quite excited watching the cookies rise and bake.

Beep....Beep...Beep....Beep! "Sissy! It's done! It's done!" He was very excited indeed! : ) I took the trays out of the oven for her and we waited until it cooled.

We had our first bite..........it was very good all except and we all agreed it was way too sweet. We love our desserts and we do have a sweet tooth but one's that are not too sweet. So my clever girl decided she was going to make another batch and adjust all of the ingredients.

My sweet boy once again waited by the oven window watching the cookies bake with anticipation. : )
Beep....Beep....Beep....Beep! "Sissy! It's done again! Sissy! It's done!". I took the tray out of the oven and we couldn't wait to try this batch. We waited about 1 minute to cool it said let cool for 10 minutes LOL!

This one was perfect!!! Not too sweet at all, it was heavenly, scrumptious and of course the morsels had to be a good quality dark chocolate! We paired this treat with a nice glass of iced milk since the weather was too hot!

Well done my sweet girl! Well done!

Yummmmmy......These cookies are enormous!

Drool.......look at all the yummy dark chocolate morsels.

Here is her recipe version : ) She thought that they weren't baked enough so she let it bake for 24 minutes because they were so massive.

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Method

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.  
 Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside. 
In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. 
Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon. Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets (She used a massive ice cream scooper looked like about half a cup) 
Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.

 Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.