Posts Tagged ‘food’

Creative Ways to Use Cookie Cutters #9: Quesadillas

Tuesday, April 30th, 2013

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Wouldn’t you love to delight your children with delicious quesadillas shaped by cookie cutters? Yes. Your children will smile when you pile these onto a plate. You might even be able to sneak in tiny amounts of vegetables without them noticing, because they are so everjoyed by the happy-looking lunch in front of them.

You will obviously need flour tortillas and cheddar cheese. You can experiment with different kinds of cheese. Throw small bits of ham into the quesadilla, and maybe tiny bits of tomato, green or red bell pepper, or scallions. Mushrooms are delicious as well.

Make the quesadillas first, before shaping them with the cookie cutter. You can do this in the microwave or in the skillet. It tastes way better when fried in a skillet with olive oil. Set a flour tortilla on a plate. Grate the cheese and throw in whatever else you want on top of the tortilla, making the filling evenly spread. Top with another tortilla. Place the uncooked quesadilla into the frying pan and fry both sides. When golden brown, place on a cutting board and cut out shapes with your cookie cutter.

If you’re a tired mom and you just want to make the quesadilla in the microwave, you can do that. I’ve got to say it’s easier to cut with cookie cutters because the quesadilla is softer. Use the kitchen scissors to make your edges sharper if the edges aren’t clear. Also, if you cut around the cookie cutter with a knife, the process is easier.

Now serve these delicious quesadillas with salsa or Ranch dressing for dipping. Enjoy!

Creative Ways to Use Cookie Cutters #5: Pancakes

Wednesday, April 24th, 2013

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“What are other creative ways to use cookie cutters?” I asked my sons one afternoon.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” answered my oldest son. “Haven’t you done enough with a cookie cutter?”

“Nope. Think of something else we can do.”

“Pancakes!” shouted my youngest son.

creative-ways-to-use-cookie-cutters-9“Brilliant!” I shouted back. I thought I would be able to pour the pancake batter into the cookie cutter sitting directly on an oiled frying pan. But no. Don’t even try it. It sticks to the cookie cutter.

On my second attempt, I oiled the cookie cutter, and the pancake came out, only to spill the upper contents onto the pan, looking like the melting witch in The Wizard of Oz. Not a very pleasing shape.

My third attempt was to make the pancake thinner, and it was barely okay. I thought, “I’m writing this blog post series for tired moms to impress their children. They are not going to want to work this hard for a tiny, thin pancake.”

So I scratched my head in thought. I made a regular pancake and threw it on a plate. “Eureka!” I shouted to myself as I used the cookie cutter AFTER making the pancake. That was SUPER easy for a haggard mom to make. Slam dunk.

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The flower shape came out without much of a problem. The gingerbread man shape needed help with a table knife to pull the scraps away from the cookie cutter. It only took a few seconds and was not frustrating like the previous procedure with the cookie cutter inside the pan.

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Decorate the pancakes however you want. I used chocolate chips for the eyes and buttons of the pancake man, and chocolate syrup for the mouth and background. For the flowers, I put a cherry in the middle of each flower and drizzled maple syrup over them. The children munched on them happily.

Stay tuned for “Creative Ways to Use Cookie Cutters #6.” Hint: Something fun to do outside on a spring day after a rain.

Creative Ways to Use Cookie Cutters #3: Sandwiches

Monday, April 22nd, 2013

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Next up in our blog series, “Creative Ways to Use Cookie Cutters,” we will be making shape sandwiches, perfect for taking to your next tea party. Last time I attended a women’s tea party, someone brought some delicious circle sandwiches. I thought to myself, “I bet someone used a round cookie cutter, or the lid of a mayonnaise jar. I wonder if I could make a different shape.” Sure enough, I could.

creative-ways-to-use-cookie-cutters-5The good thing about having circle sandwiches was that they had cream cheese and a large slice of tomato, with some chopped fresh basil and pepper on the top. Yum. That was so good, and the tomatoes were the exact right size for the sandwiches. They were open-faced sandwiches, and they looked colorful and fresh.

I preferred to use the cookie cutter on the bread, one slice at a time. Then I used the cookie cutter on the ham slices, and the cheese slice. Then I stacked them all on top of each other, after spreading mayonnaise and mustard on the fabulous ham sandwiches.

If you make the ham sandwich, or cream cheese and cucumber, or pastrami, or even peanut butter and jelly, keep in mind that if you mash the cookie cutter on top of the sandwich, you will squash the sandwich, flattening it and making it look ugly. On the other hand, if all you have on the sandwich is cream cheese (no tomato or cucumber), you could press the cookie cutter on top, sealing the cream cheese into the bread. In other words, the top bread squashes itself onto the bottom bread, making a “surprise sandwich” because you don’t know what’s inside. If you make surprise sandwiches, make sure you use flat ingredients.

If you put tuna into the shape sandwich, eat the sandwiches immediately. Just take my word for it…

Stay tuned for the next exciting instalment of “Creative Ways to Use Cookie Cutters #4.” Hint: These were surprisingly beautiful and easy-to-make decorations.

Creative Ways to Use Cookie Cutters #1: Fruit Shapes

Friday, April 19th, 2013

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I’m starting a blog series called, “Creative Ways to Use Cookie Cutters.” The first way to use a cookie cutter in an unusual way is to cut fruit into the shape of the cookie cutter. If it’s winter, cut the fruit into snowflakes or gingerbread (fruit) men. If it’s autumn, cut the fruit into a maple leaf shape. If it’s spring or summer, use a flower cookie cutter.

When cutting melon, you need to cut from the side to get a piece flat enough to shove the cookie cutter through. Don’t just cut the melon like you normally would, or the melon will be curved and will look like a lousy wilted flower instead of a cheerful flower that’s not about to die.

I obviously cut the grapes in half for the center of the flowers; otherwise the silly grapes would have rolled off the flowers. I’ve seen flower stores selling fruit flowers stabbed into bamboo skewers, making a gorgeous edible bouquet. You can make these fruit flowers as fancy as you want.

Stay tuned for “Creative Ways to Use Cookie Cutters #2.” Hint: You can’t eat this one; it’s made out of two kinds of paper.