My new best friend : OnStar (and a tip about white royal icing)

"People let me tell ya 'bout my best friend..." (Raise your hand if you are old enough to recognize that song.)

OnStar...yes, OnStar is my new best friend.  There for me in an emergency, always answers my call (no matter the time of day), helps me find my way when I'm lost...sounds like a best friend to me!

One the perks of test-driving this Chevy Malibu this month is getting to play around with the OnStar system.  I always used to cry during their commercials, but I didn't realize everything else that OnStar does!  The turn-by-turn directions are definitely my favorite part. It's like having my own little concierge right there in the car.

If only it would go fetch me a Starbucks without my having to leave the house.

I brought these cookies over to the Chevy dealership where I picked up the car two weeks ago.  Maybe they think I'm crazy professing my love for OnStar in cookie form? 

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Let's talk about making white icing...

Royal icing looks pure white when you make it, but have you ever had it change to an off-white color as it dries?  It happened to me only once in a blue moon, but that was enough to drive me insane.

Here's how to fix it: Americolor Bright White gel food coloring.  Add some to your white icing....and add more than you think you need. It's a toughie because your icing is going to look white already and it depends on how much icing you are coloring.  Pretend you are making a "color" icing and go from there.

(These cookies were made with royal icing colored with AmeriColor Bright White and Americolor Royal Blue mixed with Navy Blue.  Letters and star were piped with a #2 tip.)

{psst....if you live in the Houston area, you can click here for a chance to win a trip for 2 to the Ojai Valley Inn & Spa from Gotta Love Chevy Houston!}

Buttermilk Dipped Fried Ravioli Appetizers with Marinara Dipping Sauce

Crunchy, light pillows of ricotta cheese filling dipped in a delicious Marinara Sauce. How does that sound to you? When my Co-Worker, Kelly, described this delicious appetizer her eyes were rolling in the back of her head. "It's the buttermilk that gives that nice tang", she said. Kelly is my kind of woman. She's a foodie, just like me. Sometimes, the two of us describe what we're craving, or what we made and it's a language that nobody else we work with can fully understand. We foodies are a strange breed, aren't we? Am I the only one whose pulse rate goes up, when I describe flavors and the other person understands? This is the language of food love. Kelly speaks it. I get it. So, I had to make these. I bought a package of fresh cheese ravioli. I made my own marinara sauce, which doesn't take that long. Sometimes I stock Trader Joe's Tuscan Marinara Sauce for a quick meal. I'll still love you if you don't make your own-- but try it sometime! It's not that hard! What else? I have basil growing in the backyard. Buttermilk is a staple in my fridge. I was psyched. Plus, Craig and I were having a vegetarian as a dinner guest. I decided to GOOGLE "Fried Ravioli" and there was Giada's recipe. Giada uses buttermilk, but I had to make a couple of changes. I'm like that, at times. I swim against the current. So, here we go:

Instead of using Italian breadcrumbs, I decided to try using Panko Crumbs. Kelly has never used them. Welcome to the world of golden crunch, folks. I love panko crumbs, and I stock up on them whenever they are at Trader Joe's. They're actually easy to find in the international section of your grocery store.

I seasoned the Panko crumbs with my own blend of Italian seasoning. It's so much cheaper to make my own, since I already have dried herbs on hand. If you don't have panko crumbs, use regular breadcrumbs. Again, I make my own breadcrumbs with a food processor. It's a great way to use stale bread.

This is 1% Buttermilk. I figure I can cut a fat gram or two, since I'm will be deep frying in oil! Ha! Speaking of oil, Giada uses olive oil. Well, that's a bit pricey for me. I use peanut oil, which I buy in bulk. You can use vegetable oil, too. Start heating the oil until it reaches 325 degrees. Use a thermometer. Keep an eye on it, and if you have kids-- keep them at a safe distance.

Soak the ravioli in the buttermilk, for less than a minute. I figured four per person...

Dip.

Repeat.

I refrigerated these until my guest was ready to arrive. Then, I got the oil heated and preheated the oven to WARM. Prepare a plate with some paper towels...

I love this tool for deep frying, or even fishing out cooked pasta. Have some Parmesan cheese waiting...

Very carefully, slip the ravioli into the oil...

Cook them in batches so that they don't crowd. Turn them over when they are golden on one side-- about 3-4 minutes.

Almost there...

Carefully remove and set on a paper towel. Keep them warm in the oven.

These suckers blew up like a blowfish! No worries...

They smell incredibly good....

Now grate some fresh Parmesan all over!

Taste test. I'm diving in. Crunch.

VERDICT: Crunchy. Surprisingly, very lite and not greasy or heavy. Cheesy. The marinara sauce brings it home. Our guest really liked them. So did I. Kelly, you're a very smart woman. Muwaaaaah!

While I make my own Marinara sauce and seasoning mix, I don't make my own Ravioli. That is still on my recipe bucket list. One more thing-- I was surprised at how little oil this recipe really used. I filter my oil and our it back into a bottle. It can be reused a few more times. I'm posting a printable recipe at the bottom of this post, plus how I make my own Italian seasoning and Marinara sauce. I have no Italian DNA in me, that I know of. It doesn't matter. I love Italian food!

Lucy in the Sky with . . . Polka Dots

Usually when I use my icing printer, I format the image to the size I want before printing.  I decided to play around with something new and print out a patterned page frosting sheet and cut it to fit my cutters.

Some of you have asked....my printer is an Epson WorkForce 30 Color Printer ; it is compatible with the food coloring cartridges.  You can find a list of all the compatible printers from KopyKake.  The printer itself is pretty affordable; it's the ink that is expensive....$90 for the set.  {That's why it took me so long to order one!  It was a major dent in my Starbucks fund.}

First, I ordered some digital paper from etsy.  Oh my gosh, there are SO many cute designs available!  I think I now have 100 digital papers in my arsenal.

{The smart thing would have been to TRY my idea before buying all of them, but I got a little carried away.}

Second, I printed the image on a full sheet of icing paper.

Third, using a food coloring pen, I traced the cookie cutters I used and then cut the icing sheets.

Forth, the cookies were outlined and filled with white royal icing.  While the flood icing was still wet, I applied the icing sheet.  It's not a perfect fit, so....

Fifth, after the cookies were dry, I went over the borders and added piping.

Do I love my icing printer?  Yes.  

But here's my problem with it...and maybe somebody can help me. 
The original image was this:

It looks so different on the cookies.

But, when I made these cookies, the colors stayed pretty true.  I'm so confused.

Anyone have experience with this they'd like to share?

Buttermilk Dipped Fried Ravioli Appetizers with Marinara Dipping Sauce

Crunchy, light pillows of ricotta cheese filling dipped in a delicious Marinara Sauce. How does that sound to you? When my Co-Worker, Kelly, described this delicious appetizer her eyes were rolling in the back of her head. "It's the buttermilk that gives that nice tang", she said. Kelly is my kind of woman. She's a foodie, just like me. Sometimes, the two of us describe what we're craving, or what we made and it's a language that nobody else we work with can fully understand. We foodies are a strange breed, aren't we? Am I the only one whose pulse rate goes up, when I describe flavors and the other person understands? This is the language of food love. Kelly speaks it. I get it. So, I had to make these. I bought a package of fresh cheese ravioli. I made my own marinara sauce, which doesn't take that long. Sometimes I stock Trader Joe's Tuscan Marinara Sauce for a quick meal. I'll still love you if you don't make your own-- but try it sometime! It's not that hard! What else? I have basil growing in the backyard. Buttermilk is a staple in my fridge. I was psyched. Plus, Craig and I were having a vegetarian as a dinner guest. I decided to GOOGLE "Fried Ravioli" and there was Giada's recipe. Giada uses buttermilk, but I had to make a couple of changes. I'm like that, at times. I swim against the current. So, here we go:

Instead of using Italian breadcrumbs, I decided to try using Panko Crumbs. Kelly has never used them. Welcome to the world of golden crunch, folks. I love panko crumbs, and I stock up on them whenever they are at Trader Joe's. They're actually easy to find in the international section of your grocery store.

I seasoned the Panko crumbs with my own blend of Italian seasoning. It's so much cheaper to make my own, since I already have dried herbs on hand. If you don't have panko crumbs, use regular breadcrumbs. Again, I make my own breadcrumbs with a food processor. It's a great way to use stale bread.

This is 1% Buttermilk. I figure I can cut a fat gram or two, since I'm will be deep frying in oil! Ha! Speaking of oil, Giada uses olive oil. Well, that's a bit pricey for me. I use peanut oil, which I buy in bulk. You can use vegetable oil, too. Start heating the oil until it reaches 325 degrees. Use a thermometer. Keep an eye on it, and if you have kids-- keep them at a safe distance.

Soak the ravioli in the buttermilk, for less than a minute. I figured four per person...

Dip.

Repeat.

I refrigerated these until my guest was ready to arrive. Then, I got the oil heated and preheated the oven to WARM. Prepare a plate with some paper towels...

I love this tool for deep frying, or even fishing out cooked pasta. Have some Parmesan cheese waiting...

Very carefully, slip the ravioli into the oil...

Cook them in batches so that they don't crowd. Turn them over when they are golden on one side-- about 3-4 minutes.

Almost there...

Carefully remove and set on a paper towel. Keep them warm in the oven.

These suckers blew up like a blowfish! No worries...

They smell incredibly good....

Now grate some fresh Parmesan all over!

Taste test. I'm diving in. Crunch.

VERDICT: Crunchy. Surprisingly, very lite and not greasy or heavy. Cheesy. The marinara sauce brings it home. Our guest really liked them. So did I. Kelly, you're a very smart woman. Muwaaaaah!

While I make my own Marinara sauce and seasoning mix, I don't make my own Ravioli. That is still on my recipe bucket list. One more thing-- I was surprised at how little oil this recipe really used. I filter my oil and our it back into a bottle. It can be reused a few more times. I'm posting a printable recipe at the bottom of this post, plus how I make my own Italian seasoning and Marinara sauce. I have no Italian DNA in me, that I know of. It doesn't matter. I love Italian food!

Enjoy!,