Pink Peppermint Popcorn

I realized today that I really love popcorn. I came to this realization after 4 days of pretty heavy winter storms. We've gotten somewhere between 6-12 inches where I live. It's hard to tell at this point, the freezing rain have compacted it quite a bit!
I think half of wester Washington is without power tonight. For most of the day actually. Our lights flickered quite a few times and I got nervous.
I decided I needed to prepare for the worst and truthfully the only thought I had was to make popcorn ahead of time because if we lost power I wouldn't be able to.
I didn't even bother to locate the candles or make sure the flashlight had batteries.
I went straight to kitchen and tossed a bag of good old popcorn into the microwave.
Seriously.
Thank I thought, what if I want something sweet? Maybe I should drizzle some chocolate of half of it.
I've always kept a level head in times of crisis :)
When I peered into the cabinet to gab some chocolate I saw a bag of Hershey's Candy Cane Kisses! Lucky day! I mean if it's finally gonna dump snow here. I am gonna have my white Christmas :)

So I tossed a handful into a measuring cup and melted them in the microwave. Than I spread the popcorn out and waxed paper and drizzled the chocolate onto the popcorn.

After about 20 minutes the melted chocolate sets up and the popcorn is ready to eat!
I am eating mine with a big mug of hot cocoa.

You should give it a try! It's pretty darn good. Even if you're not snowed in. But you can always turn the lights off, light a few candles and pretend you're in Seattle during a snow storm!

Make it! Enjoy it!

SAP
Flour De Lis

999 Facebook Fan Giveaway (it's FINALLY here)

Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! 1,000 times over! I joined Blogger back in 2010 and started posting to Flour-De-Lis a little over one year ago. I never would have guessed I would meet so many wonderful people and make so many friends doing what I loved!

I started my Facebook page in September 2010 and have had so much fun this past year and a half!
I promised a giveaway when we reached 1,000 fans on FB and since we did that around the same time as my 1 year blogiversary and my birthday I decided to go BIG!

So without too much more blabbering about how much I love cookies and how happy I am to have all of you wonderful readers here to support me, here is the giveaway!

Wilton's Gumpaste and Fondant Lesson Plan book

Wilton's Decorating Basics Lesson Plan book

Wilton's Flowers and Cake Design Lesson Plan book

100 Assorted plastic cookie cutters

4 oz bottle of Nielsen-Massey Vanilla Bean paste

Wilton's 3 Piece St. Patrick's Day cutter set

$10 Michael's gift card

A $25 gift code for Fancy Flours. 

And finally the very, very generous group over at CopperGifts.com has offered a $25 gift certificate to help us celebrate!! If you have never ordered from Coppergifts.com before, you must register and create an account to get this gift card. It's easy to do :)

Thank you so much Beth and Ray! We love your beautiful products your great customer service and your generous hearts!

You have 6 chances to win this giveaway, but you must leave a separate comment on this blog post for each entry to count!
Required Entry: Become a fan of Flour De Lis on Facebook. And leave a comment here letting me know you are a fan.
Extra entries:
1. Share a link to this giveaway on Facebook. And leave a comment letting me know that you do.
2. Follow my blog. And leave a comment letting me know that you do.
3. Become a fan of CopperGifts.com on Facebook. And leave a comment letting me know what cookie cutter you want the most!
4. Follow me on Twitter. And leave a comment letting me know you do.
5. Follow at least one board on Pinterest. And leave a comment letting me know which one.

Winner will be chosen from all eligible comments using random.org on February 9th!

Good luck :) and thank you all so much for your support! I truly appreciate each "like" and every comment you leave!

SAP
Flour De Lis

Happy Birthday A.A. Milne!

Today is A.A. Milne's birthday. You may know him as the creator of Winnie the Pooh! I loved reading the story as a kid and still sit down and watch when I see it on t.v.

You can learn a lot from Winnie the Pooh. The stories are always heartfelt and full of wisdom.

My friend Karen over at Trilogy Edibles shared her cute cookies today and gave me the idea to make these! You should click over and take a look at hers! Aren't they cute?!
I just love all the wonderful characters in this series.

If you haven't read the book yet, you really should. It's a masterpiece. A truly wonderful tale of friendship.
To celebrate Winnie the Pooh day, I made these cookies and in true Pooh fashion I am sharing them with you!

You can win all the cookies pictured here. 1 dozen of my Vanilla Bean Cookies with Vanilla Royal Icing.
Just leave me a comment telling me what book or character has inspired you.  Maybe the first book you learned to read or the book your parents read to you or a book you read to your children now! It can be any book at all, it doesn't have to be a children's book.

Leave a comment below with an email address so I can contact you.
I'll draw a winner tomorrow afternoon or evening and get these cookies off right away!
SAP
Flour De Lis

Mint Chocolate Chip Cut-out Cookies

As promised, here is the recipe for Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies!

It took a little tinkering from the first attempt, but I am happy with the result.

Mint Chocolate Chip Cut-out Cookies

adapted from my Citrus Vanilla Bean recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/4-1/2 tsp peppermint extract
• 2 drops Americolor food gel coloring "mint" (optional)
• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips

Directions:

    1. In large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth and fluffy.

    2. Add egg, extract and food coloring. Mix well.

    3. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt.

    4. Add dry mixture to creamed mixture in 2-3 additions. Mixing lightly between each.

    5. Add chocolate chips after the last dry mix addition.
    6. Mix all ingredients well, until dough pulls away from the side of the bowl and is soft but not sticky         

       to touch.

    7. Roll dough into ball and place on lightly floured surface.

    8. Roll out dough and cut into desired shapes.

    9. Place cookies on cookie sheet and freeze for about 10 minutes while oven preheats to 350 degrees.

    10. Bake cookies for 8-10 minutes depending on size.

    11. Cool cookies completely before decorating.

This recipe makes about 3 dozen cookies.

You can eat these yummy treats fresh out of the oven for a warm, minty, melty chocolate experience if you want. Or you can decorate them any way you like.

I did a few with simple white on white "lace". 

And than I got a great idea and decided to dip some of them in chocolate. I just melted some dark chocolate I had on hand, added a few drops of oil to give it a glossy, smooth shine and dipped my cookies right in!

If you go this route, let them sit on a bit of waxed paper for a few minutes until the chocolate sets and then you can enjoy! They taste a bit like thin mints. 

**A few people have asked, so I thought I should leave an afterthought here with the answer. I used Wilton Dark Chocolate candy-melts for this project( but I am sure most chocolate would work, including milk chocolate or semi sweet chips). I used about half the bag and about 1/4 tsp of vegetable oil. Melt the chocolate in a microwave safe dish for about 1 minute to 1 1/2 minutes, stirring every 20 seconds to prevent scorching. When completely melted, add vegetable oil and stir. This little bit of oil helps keep the chocolate from setting too fast and gives is a lovely shine. This does not change the taste of the chocolate and it will set normally. I hope you enjoy the recipe.**

SAP
Flour De Lis

Brown Sugar Bailey's Cut-out Cookies

If you are looking for a soft, sweet, delicious cookie recipe; maybe something a little different than your normal cookie recipe. And if you are not afraid to add a little booze to your cookies, this one could be for you!
The wonderful, talented and very sweet Callye of The Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle shared her recipe for Brown Sugar Cookies awhile back and I couldn't wait to try it! Everything she makes is perfect, so I knew the cookies would be too!
The first chance I got to test out the recipe was for my sisters birthday, and since she turned 21, I decided to make the cookies a little different.
I added Baileys! I am a huge fan of all things creamy and Irish-y and Baileys falls into that category.

Here is the recipe I followed and a link to the original in case you want to give it a try too!

Brown Sugar Baileys Cut-out Cookies
Adapted from Sugarbelle

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup cold unsalted butter
• 1 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 TBSP Baileys Irish Cream liquor
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3 1/3 cup flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda

Directions:

1. Cream together butter and brown sugar.
2. Add egg, liquor and vanilla.
3. In small bowl mix together flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda.
4. Add about 1/3 of the dry mixture to the wet mixture and mix until mostly incorporated. Repeat with remaining dry mixture and mix until all the ingredients are blended. 
5.  Roll cookie dough into ball, wrap in plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
6. Roll cookie dough out on lightly floured surface and cut into desired shapes.

     7. I always, ALWAYS place my cut cookies on a try and place them in the freezer for about 10 minutes before baking. I've never had cookies spread and lose their shape with this tip.
    8. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, while cookies chill in the freezer.
    9. Bake for about 8-11 minutes depending on the size of your cookies and your ovens quirks.

    10. Cool cookies before decorating.

You simply must try these cookies! They are heavenly! The sweet, caramely flavor of brown sugar is enhanced by the creamy, sweet addition of Baileys. 

It's cookie magic :)

SAP

Flour De Lis