Recipe Cards...Works for Me Wednesday

Don't you love how easy it is to find a recipe these days?  Hop on a blog, check out a website, email a friend and, boom, seconds later, the recipe you were searching for...or maybe the recipe you didn't even know you needed...is printing out and in your hot little hands.

But you know what I miss?  Recipe cards.

Sweet recipe cards.  Recipe cards written out in actual handwriting.  Recipe cards that evoke memories as soon as your see them...not just of the recipe, but of the person who wrote them.

When I was in my 20's, I asked my mom to write down some of her recipes for me....she gave me a whole recipe box of them.

 

Now, the "recipe cards" are actually index cards, but I wouldn't trade seeing her handwriting on them for the world. 

Invitation Consultants emailed me about their recipe cards and I did a little happy dance.  I mean...how CUTE are these?!?

They have many different designs...and they are customizable!  Recipe cards make a perfect gift for a bridal shower, housewarming, birthday, or well, for yourself.

So, not one, not two, but FOUR of you are going to get your very own set of 20 custom, adorable recipe cards!!!

{...with your very own name, not mine!} ;)

To enter, pop on over to the Invitation Consultants website and leave a comment here (on this post) telling me which design you might pick.
(Don't worry, you can change your mind if you win.)

{Open to residents of US and Canada. Enter through Monday, February 6th, 8pm CST. Winners will be contacted via email.}

Bringing recipe cards back....works for me.

 

True Love

Ah, romance. 

These cookies were inspired by some of the most famous romances in history.

Lucy & Ricky....obviously.

Danny & Sandy...as a young girl, I was fairly certain I would don a leather outfit and high heels & sing "You're the One that I Want" at a carnival with my true love.
{It hasn't happened. YET.}

Homer & Marge...unconditional love if I've ever seen it.

Ken & Barbie...have you SEEN Toy Story 3?

Jim & Pam...I've only seen a few seasons of The Office on cable, but Jim & Pam are SO DARN SWEET!  Oh, I just love them.

Carrie & Big...don't tell me if they break up in the movies.  I prefer my Carrie/Big memories right where they ended for me, with the last TV show.

Gomez & Morticia...they just might be my all-time favorite TV romance.  Go back and watch The Addams Family again.  They make me smile EVERY time! ♥

I asked Mr. E if he could name some famous couples.  His first response? "Charles and Diana."  My (yelled) reply, "CHARLES AND DIANA?!?"  He looked at me like I was the crazy one.  After he explained himself for a minute, it occurred to me.  "Do you mean William and Kate?!?"  Him: "Yes."  Men.

No true love list would be complete without Rhett & Scarlett.  Every time I read Gone with the Wind, I hope they'll run across the yard at Tara and into each other's arms.  It never happens.  Darn it.

I had a few more on my list (Elvis & Priscilla, Fred & Wilma, Han & Leia, PW & MM, Roy & Dale) but as is always the case with "writing" on cookies, I had several mistakes.  Even on the "good ones,"  my handwriting is not as cute as it was in my head. :)

These are as simple as an outline and fill with royal icing...

• I used AmeriColor Super Black for the outline and writing,
• #3 tip for the outline, #1 tip for the writing,
• hearts: soft pink, deep pink mixed with electric pink, and super red (all AmeriColor)
• to avoid bleeding, I let the flooded hearts sit for a few hours before adding the names

 

Easy, peasy.

Actually, I liked the way they looked plain, too.  Simple black outline.  Love it every time.

What names would you put on YOUR true love cookies?

It's not you; it's your oven...Works for me Wednesday

A few years ago, we lived in a rent house...the rent house-that-must-not-be-named.
{It was not my favorite.}

Anyway, sometimes when I was baking, the kitchen would get REALLY WARM and my cookies would come out over baked.   So, one day, I invested in an oven thermometer. 

{They're really inexpensive.  This one is from Target and was about $7.}

What do you know, that oven would sometimes cycle all the way up to 500 (!!!) before cooling back down to 350.  It wasn't my fault!  It was my oven!!!

It's easy enough to check, just hang the thermometer inside your oven, let your oven heat up for about 15 minutes. You'll want it to come to the preheated temperature and stay there for 10 minutes or so, then check it.

My current oven showed exactly 350 (when set at 350)...but it took several minutes of standing with the oven door open to get my camera to focus on it.

Once you know if your oven is running cool or hot, you'll be able to adjust your oven temp when setting it.


One more tip....check to see if your oven has any hot spots.

Place pieces of white bread on a large cookie sheet and bake at 450 for about 10 minutes or so...until browned.

Now, take a look at the bread.  Are some pieces more browned than others?  It looks like I have a "cool spot" in the front left of my oven.  If you do notice a big difference in how the bread browned, be sure to rotate your pans during baking.

Blaming baking problems on my oven?  Works for me! ;)