Change of Air Date: This segment will air Wednesday February 10th, all day on Channel 8 News Austin- Tune In!

Today Monday February 8th at 10AM, I will be on News 8 Austin sharing one my favorite Valentine’s Day entertaining treats. Tune in anytime to Channel 8 and you will probably catch a glimpse of the segment since it will air for 24 hours. I was lucky enough to be on News 8 Austin once before back in December 2008 and it was so much fun. They are such a great team over there. For those of you who live outside Austin here’s the yummy treat I’ll be demonstrating today.

Don’t forget to order your Valentine’s Day cookies now! The sweet holiday is this Sunday February 14th.

White Chocolate Lattice Hearts: (recipe below)

It’s really easy, fun and inexpensive to celebrate Valentine’s Day and make last minute festive gifts and delicious treats for friends and family. I bet you already have all the ingredients and supplies at home. This is great activity to do with your children.

Everything tastes better when you add chocolate and these white chocolate lattice hearts are not only simple and very cheap to make but they give a beautiful gourmet touch for Valentine’s Day. It’s so simple, takes only minutes to make.

If you have a heart shape cookie cutter, you can trace it with a permanent marker on wax paper (or you can just draw it) and then flip the paper over to avoid any marker mixing with your food. Next, you melt good quality white chocolate (or milk or dark works great too) in a microwave for 1 minute or until melted, stir it, and then pour it into a zip-lock bag, snip the corner and start to draw.

First, trace the outside of the heart then just go back and create the lattice. You can sprinkle red sugar to be festive or I love adding ginger, granulated espresso beans or kosher salt for a gourmet touch.  Also, you can infuse flavor into your chocolate by adding a few drops of pure extract, like orange, mint or raspberry.  If you want to make them into lollipops just insert a stick at the base, and then let them firm up in a fridge for about 15 minutes.  You can serve them facing either way up.

Lattice Hearts add a fancy touch to ice cream, or “covers” for hot drinks like, hot chocolate, coffee (turns it into turn a mocha) or if you’re feeling really festive, add it Kaluha and coffee. Also they make great gifts for loved ones or guests.  Package them in a food grade plastic bag with a red ribbon bow or you can put them on the top of cookies for a celebratory touch.  Because they are made of chocolate it is best to keep refrigerated until you are ready to serve them. The best part is that you can’t mess up; each heart will be unique, different and delicious!

Recipe: For 4 Large White Chocolate Lattice Hearts
Ingredients:
4 oz. Good quality white (dark or milk) chocolate
Garnish: red crystal sugar, granulated espresso beans, ginger or kosher salt
Directions:
1. Heat chocolate in a microwave safe bowl (approximately 1 minute)
2. Place a piece of wax paper on a cookie sheet. Using a heart shape cookie cutter trace the hearts with a permanent marker or draw hearts free-style on wax paper. Flip the wax paper over.
3. Stir the melted chocolate and using a spatula pour the chocolate into a zip lock plastic bag. Push the chocolate down into the corner. Make a tiny snip in the corner with a scissor.
4. Begin to draw your hearts by tracing the outside of the heart first then fill in the center adding diagonal lines and then crossing them over to create the lattice.
5. Garnish as you like, gently sprinkling on your topping. You can add a stick here to create a lollipop.
6. Place hearts in the fridge to firm up (15 minutes). Keep them refrigerated until serving.
Enjoy!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Sweetly,

Alexandra

Here are a couple of pictures of me with Karina Kling, from News 8 Austin. Both Karina and Ed, who did the filming, are so lovely and made today really  fun and easy. Also please check out the video of 1 of the 5 segments that aired today. Please ignore the alarm sounding in the background. (Long story which involves me at 5 A.M trying to prove to an officer that I am not trespassing in my own lobby!)  The segments that aired on TV, luckily had the alarm edited out.

* This part was written before the show was taped…I am so excited that today (Wednesday December 24th) I am going to be on News 8 Austin! I love being part of the Austin community so I was thrilled when asked if I would share some easy last minute holiday ideas for entertaining and gift-giving. There are a total of 5 segments, each focusing on a different fun, easy, and inexpensive way to dress-up your holiday table and last minute gift ideas. The segments will run all day on Channel 8. Here are the topics and recipes I discussed today, all of which are great activities to do with your kids. Now that’s the way to get in the family holiday spirit!

1. The “ACD Quickie”: This is our version of a quick “White Chocolate Peppermint Bark”. I have shared this super fast recipe with step-by-step photos, in a previous Talk Is Sweet entry; click here for the recipe (and scroll down). Today, I showcased some additional types of bark; for the gourmand, add shaved almonds, dried cranberries & shredded coconut to white chocolate; for the kids, add mini marshmallows and green and red gummy bears.

2. Rum Egg Nog Pudding with White Chocolate Peppermint Tortilla Chips: Couldn’t be easier and truly makes a festive addition to your holiday feast. You may already have all the ingredients at home.

Rum Egg Nog Pudding:

Makes 2 Servings (1/2 cup each)

Ingredients:

7 oz. Vanilla Pudding

A little less than 1/4 cup Sugar

1 Teaspoon Salt

2 Teaspoons Cinnamon

1/4  cup Egg Nog

3 Teaspoons Rum

Directions:

Put all ingredients in a bowl and whisk…how easy is that! Let chill for 30 minutes and serve.

White Chocolate Peppermint Tortilla Chips…for an unexpected touch add as a garnish to your pudding.

Makes 10 chips

Ingredients:

10 flat and unbroken Tortillas Chips (I like “Tostitos  Restaurant Style” )

6 oz. White Chocolate

2.5 oz. Peppermint Stick

Directions:

Separate tortilla chips on a piece of parchment paper.

Melt chocolate in microwave (for approximately 1 min) or in a double boiler on the stove.

Crush peppermint stick, by placing it in a sealed zip lock bag and using a hammer or mallet.

Using a brush, paint the white chocolate on one side of the tortilla chips and then cover the chocolate in crushed peppermint stick. Place in the freezer for 10 minutes. You can then flip the tortilla chips over and paint the other side with white chocolate and freeze again for 10 min. Then store before use in an airtight bag or container. For kids, it is also fun to add green and red colored mini “M&M’s”, instead of peppermint.

3. Chocolate Cookies With Peppermint Bark: Everybody loves cookies, and the holidays are the perfect time to add a festive twist to your favorite cookies. Adding white chocolate peppermint bark, not only adds a seasonal touch but it so easy. The trick to getting the peppermint bark to stick and not melt into the cookies, is to sprinkle on some plain white chocolate chunks before the cookie bakes. Then after the cookie bakes, you can sprinkle the peppermint bark on top and the white chocolate works as an adhesive to help the peppermint bark stick. In the ACD ”White Chocolate Holiday”, we add bark to a chewy chocolate cookie, and on top of the bark, we sprinkle kosher salt, creating a satisfying mix of savory and sweet. Placing the cookies in a line on a narrow plate makes a great presentation.

Cookie Name Place Holders: At ACD, we always get requests to make cookie name place holders and peppermint bark cookies are perfect to seat your holiday guests. Just wrap each cookie individually with ribbon and add your guests name to an attached card. It’s a sweet and welcoming way to bring your friends and family to the table.

4. Dressing Up Your Stemware and Serving Pieces:

The holidays are all about friends and family being together, however, it seems I always invite more people to celebrate with us then I have of my “good glassware” or “good china”  to serve with. Here’s my favorite easy, inexpensive and fun solution to keeping your holiday table supplied. I buy inexpensive champagne glasses, martini glasses, and glass bowls and I add peppermint bark to the rim and bases using royal icing. It’s so simple! For the rims, put masking tape around the glass about 1/2 an inch from the top. Using a finger just spread the icing around so that it is thick enough to hold the bark. Then either roll the top of the glass in the bark or pick each piece individually and glue it on. For serving pieces, you can decorate the bases in the same manner. For kids, it is fun to use plastic champagne glasses and add green and white “M&M’s” to the royal ice and sprinkle with sparkly decorating sugar. Then fill with cranberry juice or pink lemonade for a festive “adult like” mocktail.

5. White Chocolate Peppermint Popcorn:

Everybody loves to munch on popcorn at parties and with red and white bark it is festive too. When filled high and served in a clear bowl, it makes and impressive, delicious and inexpensive holiday table centerpiece.

Ingredients:

2 (3oz) Bags of Popcorn

6 oz. White Chocolate

2.5 oz. Peppermint Stick

3 Teaspoons Kosher Salt

Directions:

Pop the popcorn as directed on the bag.

Melt the chocolate in the microwave (1 min) or in a double boiler over the stove.

Place peppermint stick in a plastic bag and using a meat mallet or hammer, crush the peppermint into chunks.

In a large bowl toss all the ingredients together. You can store in a sealed plastic bag, and popcorn stays fresh for at least a week.

For A Great Hostess Gift: package the popcorn first in a food safe plastic bag. A great trick is to cut the bottom of a plastic cup and use it as a funnel to help keep the sides of the plastic bag from getting sticky. Seal the bag closed with tape, and then put the popcorn bag into a clear plastic container. Finally wrap a festive ribbon around the base and top, add a gift card and tie a bow in front. Your host will be glad you did!

ACD Wishes You a Delicious Holiday and Sweet New Year!

A personal note from Alexandra & ACD

From all of us at Alexandra’s Cookie Dreams, we want to truly thank you for your generosity, encouragement, participation and enthusiasm in making our first 5 months of business a success. We wish you and your family a peaceful, joyous and fabulous holiday season and New Year!

Sweetly,

Alexandra & The ACD Cookie Dream Team

* Please note that ACD and “Our Shop” will be closed from Thursday December 25th until Sunday January 4th. If you would like ACD cookies during that time, please contact us now so we make arrangements for you. Thank you!

CustomerService@AlexandrasCookieDreams.com
Phone: 512.482.8210
Fax: 512.482.8241

Click here to enter The ‘Insatiable’ Cookie Chase…only 7 days left to play and enter to win FREE Gourmet Gifts..

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday! With the welcomed addition of “Aaron Feldman’s Famous Southern Mac n’ Cheese”, I have to say it was our best feast yet! Email me if you want the recipe, I may be able to sneak it you.

Good Morning Texas Here We Come!
With the next holidays just around the corner, Alexandra & ACD will be on GOOD MORNING TEXAS offering fabulous cheap and chic tips on how to dress- up your holiday desserts and holiday table. Tune in Monday December 8th at 9 AM to WFAA-TV Channel 8 in Dallas. And for those who love to bake, shape and design, Paige Mc Coy Smith, on-air contributor for Good Morning Texas and creator of the informative website Not-So-PerfectParent.com, will be launching a gingerbread house contest! Alexandra’s Cookie Dreams will also be proudly debuting our “Castle Of Cookie Dreams” gingerbread house (picture above). On Monday on our blog, Talk Is Sweet we will be offering helpful instructions and tips on to help you make your fantasy gingerbread house come true, and the secret recipe for the ”ACD Quickie” No, not that sort of quickie, it’s a shortcut to make quick peppermint bark :).

Home Sweet Austin…
We are proud to live, bake and create in Austin Texas! To show our appreciation, we have created a “for Austin” page on our website, filled with special offers, cookie packages, and services only for our local neighbors. Also is an updated list of incredible local charities that ACD proudly supports.

Steven Richter Photography, Check It Out!

Rich and I had the wonderful pleasure of dining with Gael Greene, Insatiable Critic, and her talented companion Steven Richter, Photographer, this past Friday opening night at David Burke’s new restaurant Fishtail in NYC. Food was delicious, company was spectacular! I suggest you view  Steven Richter’s Photogrpahy on Laumont Gallery’s site (click on ”Artists” on the upper left side and then click on ”Steven’s Richter” when you land on the next page). Then you can email Steven directly for prices at stevenrichternyc@aol.com. His photogrpahs are taken from all around the world and give you an engaging glimpse of beautiful diversity. (Here’s a photograph of Central Park in NY). Wow that photo makes me miss NY snow!  Gael also let me know that right now if you buy a photogrpah from Steven, the frame is included. His photographs already framed, now that makes a truly special and “pre-wrapped” holiday gift. Enjoy!

Sweetly,
Alexandra