I wanna let y’all know about this great new e-book filled with Cupcake Recipes! With this e-book you will learn how to make more then 30 gourmet cupcakes just like they sell in bakeries around the USA! And with each recipe you get detailed directions on how to decorate it and they also included a full color photo of every recipe, which is a great idea cause I like to compare my finale treat to what the pictures says it’s suppose to look like. Some of the Cupcake Recipes included are Strawberries & Cream, White Chocolate Mud and Cherry Ripe. Just the names of them sound delicious! And the best part is it’s only $7! That’s right just $7 for more then 30 yummy and tasty gourmet Cupcake Recipes. I have a copy of the e-book and let me tell you I will be using these recipes often. Especially with Christmas coming up, these cupcakes will make great home made gifts! So what are you waiting for, head on over to cupcake-recipes.com and purchase this wonderful e-book! Trust me you won’t be sorry!

Plan good times to bake. Anticipate a child wanting to help. Keep on hand some easy mixes or ingredients for some easily made recipes. Cookies and muffins are where many on Betty’s staff got their start! You may even want to start younger children with ideas for snacks or sandwiches that require no cooking.

Think about where a “children’s baking corner” will fit in your kitchen. Younger children need more supervision, so it’s great if they can work in one area while you’re working in another.

Look over your baking equipment, and put items a child can use in a place they can get to easily. Bowls with handles and pouring spouts or with rubber rings on the bottom that stay put on the counter are good for kids. Or how about getting them a mixing spoon or whisk that’s just their size?

Have some simple rules. You are the best judge of the age at which your child should be allowed to use the range, oven, other appliances and sharp knives.

About that mess! Start baking by filling the sink with warm, soapy water! As we finish using a utensil (except for sharp knives), we put it in the water to soak. Knives are washed separately. Finishing up is easier when dishes are washed as they’re used.

Read the package directions or recipe all the way through with children before they start to bake. Explain anything they don’t understand.

Adult supervision whenever children use sharp knives, the range, the oven or small appliances.

Teach children how to correctly set the controls on the range and oven.

Teach children safe food-preparation techniques and how to handle hot foods.

When your child is old enough to use pot holders, provide ones in a size easy for smaller, less-adept hands to use.

When you think of Japanese cuisine what first comes to mind; Rice, sushi, and impeccably fresh ingredients? The Japanese eat rice daily, sushi, as many people think, is not just raw fish. Sure, some sushi does contain raw fish, but the word sushi means vinegared rice, referring to the way the rice is prepared; sashimi is raw fish. The reason the Japanese eat raw or just slightly cooked food is because they want the freshest and most natural flavors they can get. The Japanese diet is very healthy; it is amazingly low in cholesterol, fat, and calories, and high in fiber which may explain how Japanese people have the highest life expectancy rate. Rice is a very important ingredient to the Japanese; it has been around since about 200 years B.C. and was probably introduced by Southeast Asia. Fermented rice is what sake is made from, the signature Japanese alcohol. Rice and vegetables were very important also because, for about 1200 years, meat was banned from being slaughtered and eaten in Japan; in 1872, Emperor Meiji Tenno publicly ate meat and the flood gates opened to the public’s conception that eating meat was something new and fashionable. When eating in the presence of Japanese people or at a Japanese restaurant, there is some etiquette to follow so that you may not offend anyone.

* In Japan it is impolite to pour your own drink when eating with others–you pour your companion’s drink and your companion pours yours.

* If you don’t want any more to drink, leave your glass full.

* It’s customary to say “Itadakimasu” before eating and “Gochisosama deshita” after eating, especially if You’re being treated, as well as “Kanpai” for “Cheers”.

* Do not use your chopsticks to skewer food, move dishes around, and never dish out food to another using the same ends you just ate from

* When chopsticks are not in use, they should not be rested on the plate, but on a hashi rest if provided, if not, they should be rested together neatly parallel to the table’s edge.

* Don’t use your chopsticks to point at somebody, this is very rude.

* Don’t leave your chopsticks standing up out of your food; it reminds the Japanese of the incense standing up in the deceased’s ashes.

* It is normal in Japan to pick up your rice or miso soup bowl and hold it under your chin to keep food from falling.

* Traditional Japanese food is served on several small plates, and it’s normal to alternate between dishes instead of fully eating one dish after another.

* Don’t leave a mess on your plate–fold your napkins neatly.

* Do not put soy sauce on your rice–it isn’t meant for that.

* Do not put sugar or cream in Japanese tea.

* There is no real custom like “help yourself”. Wait until the host offers something.

* Be aware that in Japan it is normal to make slurping sounds when you’re eating noodles.

Believe it or not, the first cookies were created by accident. In fact a lot of the famous history of cookies is filled with accidents. The very first cookies were just an oven temperature test. Early bakers used very small amounts of cake batter to test their oven temperatures before baking the final cake. These little test cakes were called “koekje”, which means “little cake” in Dutch. By accident, the first “cookies” came into being.

Early American cookbooks show that the earlier versions were called “Tea Cakes”. Our simple “butter cookies” strongly resemble the English tea cakes and the Scotch shortbread. The English also call them biscuits. The Spanish call them galletas, the Germans call them kels and in Italy there are several names to identify various forms of cookies including Amaretti and Biscotti.

Every country has its favorite kind of cookie. In the U.K. it is shortbread, in France it is sables and macaroons, and in Italy biscotti. And the favorite cookie in America and Canada is the Chocolate Chip Cookie. In fact at least half of the cookies baked in American homes are chocolate chip. Like many other great discoveries, the chocolate chip cookie was also a accident.

Ruth Wakefield invented chocolate chip cookies at the Toll House Inn she and her husband Keneth ran near Whitman, Massachusetts. Like a bed and breakfast she made food for her guests. One evening in 1937 she got the idea to make a chocolate butter cookie so she broke up one of the bars of semi-sweet chocolate that Andrew Nestle gave her. She thought that it would mix together with the dough and produce all chocolate cookies . Needless to say, it didn’t. However the cookies came out decent so she served them. They of course were so good they had to be done again. She published the recipes in several newspapers and the recipe became very popular.

Ruth called her cookie, the Chocolate Crunch Cookie. She also struck a business deal with Nestle that allow Nestle to put the recipe on their chocolate bar if they supplied her with free chocolate for her cookies at the Inn. Nestle was so enamoured with the whole concept that they included a small chopper in the package. The popularity of the cookie grew by leaps and bounds and in 1939, the Chocolate Morsels that we know today were introduced.

Below is the original toll house recipe which hasn’t changed much over the years.

Mrs. Wakefields Original Toll House Cookie Recipe

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 2/3 cups (11-oz. pkg.) semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped nuts

Directions:

PREHEAT oven to 375° F.

COMBINE flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels and nuts. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

BAKE for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

PAN COOKIE VARIATION:

GREASE 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan. Prepare dough as above. Spread into prepared pan. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown. Cool in pan on wire rack. Makes 4 dozen bars.

There are basically six kinds of cookies and I will try to explain them as best as I can.

Bar Cookies are made from soft dough that is usually spread in a pan. They can be crisp or chewy and can also be filled or layered. Brownies are considered to be in this category.

Drop Cookies are usually made from a soft dough that is dropped from a spoon in spoonfuls onto a baking sheet.

Cut Out Cookies are made from a stiff dough that are usually rolled out into a thick or thin sheet and then cut into a shape with a cookie cutter and can be decorated with icing, candies and other edible items.

Molded Cookies, Shaped Cookies and Pressed Cookies are made out of a stiff dough into logs, crescents or balls. They can also be pressed flat with a fork or the bottom of a glass. I usually use a cookie gun to make these types of cookies.

Sliced Cookies are also sometimes referred to as refrigerator cookies. They are also made from a stiff dough that is usually shaped into a long roll and chilled in the refrigerator. You slice the log and then bake.

No Bake Cookies are not really a type of cookie. They do not require the use of an oven and they usually taste more like candy.