Galaxy Sugar Cookies: How To

Stargazing season is upon us!  It is just warm enough to stay out at dark without freezing!  We enjoy gazing at stars, planets and galaxies like Andromeda!  I decided to task myself with a unique idea – making galaxy cookies without icing, just sugar cookie dough.  I thought of this idea after looking at one of my husband’s astro-images of Andromeda.  How pretty!

I decided to start with the pin wheel sugar cookie idea to create the “spin” of the galaxy with cookie dough.  These cookies are perfect for stargazing parties, astronaut themed birthdays, and even just because!

Here’s what you need:

1.  Sugar Cookie Dough – any kind will do, even prepackaged cookie dough should work fine.

2.  Food Coloring – I used red, pink, purple, and blue

Let’s get started!

First, divide your sugar cookie dough into fourths, and then divide one of the parts into half again.  You will have five parts in total.

 

Kneed food coloring into each section – blue, purple, and pink for the larger sections, red for one of the smaller sections, and neutral for the last section. 

After reviewing my galaxy image, I decided that I needed to have several layers to make several layers in the “spin”.  To make three layers, split all the colored balls into thirds.

Now, make three rainbow layers, white, then red, then pink, and purple and blue.  Roll them together so they are smooth stripes, but one layer of dough.  Repeat this with the other two sections, layer the rolled out dough using wax paper and pop them in the fridge for about 20 minutes to firm the dough.    

Pin wheel cookies are made by rolling the two or three different color layers starting at the same end, however to get the galaxy “spin” effect, you need to start the layers when the next color starts. To do this, lay the sugar cookie dough layers with the second layer’s neutral starting at the first layer’s red layer like below.

Start rolling!  Once completely rolled, put the roll in the fridge again for 20 minutes to firm up the dough.

Now the fun part!  Start cutting the dough into cookie sized slices.  The first few might not look like a galaxy depending on how smooth your layers where, keep cutting.  

Once cut, put in the oven according to the sugar cookie recipe. 

Enjoy!  Check out my Galaxy Cupcakes too! And happy stargazing!

Italian Night

We try to keep a “regular” dinner schedule, however it isn’t as formal as several meal planning methods you have seen on Pinterest, I am sure.  We use “theme nights” to give me a little more fluidity throughout the week rather than having to stick to a schedule.  I previously shared our Taco Tuesday routine, but I wanted to share a favorite “theme” which is Italian Night.

For me, the theme changes with the seasons, ie, what is in my garden that I need to eat before the squirrels get it!  When I have fresh tomatoes, we have homemade spaghetti. In the late summer we have eggplant parmesan fresh from the garden.   When the weather is cooler, I turn to pesto made from basil from my aero garden and marinara for a bruschetta chicken spin. 

Italian night is a fun theme because it can be as simple as spaghetti and homemade meat sauce (my basic recipe is below), or as fancy as stuffed shells with a caesar salad and breadsticks. 

I enjoy the fluidity of these theme nights because it takes the guess work out of meal planning much like formal meal planning, but due to our ever-changing schedules, I don’t feel like I’m tied to spending two hours in the kitchen after a 12 hour work day!

Basic Homemade Meat Sauce

1 lb Ground Turkey

1 large can (about 2.5 cups) tomato paste

1 can (about 1.5 cups) diced tomatoes

Cook the ground turkey in a large sauce pan.  Once completely cooked pour in the tomato paste and diced tomatoes and let simmer for 10 to 20 minutes.  Add herbs to taste, try oregano and basil!  This recipe does not have to be exact and can be changed up to include fresh tomatoes or different types of herbs to taste.

For other “Italian Night” related recipes, click here.

How do you get out of your dinner rut?  Have you ever tried theme nights instead of a formal meal plan?

Product Review: AeroGarden Harvest Wifi

This past Christmas, I asked Santa for an AeroGarden and he answered!  I was introduced to the AeroGarden while shopping at Sur la Table and automatically thought it would be a great addition to my kitchen!   I have grow lamps and shelves set up in my basement for the winter months, but having fresh herbs at my fingertips is fantastic!

If you haven’t heard of an AeroGarden before, it is an all-in-one aqua system for your kitchen. 

The first thing I did when I opened up my AeroGarden was read the directions.  There are certain height requirements to make sure you can raise the light source properly, but it fights under most kitchen cabinets.

Next, I set up the AeroGarden with water, the pods that came with the kit, the plant food, and then I waited!  Here is a picture after 4 days.  As you can see, my seedlings are growing!!

As a busy business professional, it is nice that the AeroGarden blinks when it needs food or water, you don’t have to worry about the levels!

I had a few issues connecting the AeroGarden to the wifi in order to use my tablet as a remote, but I was able to figure it out.  I ended up not using the remote feature as often as I assumed I would.  The AeroGarden is more of a “set it and forget it” appliance.

As far as the plants that come with the herb kit, the dill is growing at a much faster rate (as expected), therefore I have been harvesting it and using it in recipes or drying for longer term storage.  I have harvested the basil once already and made a batch of pesto!

AeroGarden has kit combos including a tomato kit, herb kit, and a blank kit for your own seeds.

After almost two months of use, here is my review:

Pro:

    1.    Fresh herbs at your fingertips, what is not to love about that?

  2.    Self monitoring and blinking reminders means I don't need to remember             the water and feeding schedule.

  3.    Option to grow any type of seeds using the different types of kids.

Con:

  1.    Wifi App was a bit confusing and took several tries to connect, but the               app is not necessary to use the AeroGarden.

  2.    The LED lights are bright, and I mean BRIGHT!  The AeroGarden is the               brightest light in my house - not a deal breaker, but should be noted.  

If you are on the fence about getting an AeroGarden, I highly suggest it!  I love mine and use it everyday!  

DIY: Bulb Vase

I love making homemade gifts for no reason at all!  You don’t have to wait for a holiday to celebrate the everyday!  When I told you about accidently “forcing” my tulip bulbs, I took the opportunity to share the touch of spring with family.  Finding single bulb vases can be tricky if they aren’t in season, so I decided to make my own.  

I took a few items from around my house to make bulb vases and wanted to share to hopefully spark some spring time creativity of your own!   

For a single bulb vase, I needed something that was transparent in order to see the bulb grow, as well as hold enough water for roots to grow, but not so much that the bulb would root.

While looking in my craft room stash of containers, I found a Nacho Cheese Container (cleaned of course) to use as a bulb vase.  In order to sit the bulb above a water line, I decided to use vase filler stones.

I’m so excited to share these with my friends and I can’t wait to see what they look like when they bloom!

For updates on this DIY project, as well as other updates, follow Classy Event Organizer on Facebook and Instagram!

How to Start Seeds Indoors

Last year when I started seedlings I started them all at once without much of a plan.  This wasn’t a huge issue, except all my tomato, pepper, and eggplants flowered and went to fruit about the same time.  This meant I had to harvest and start canning in order to use up my plants before the squirrels got to them.

This year, I plan on growing my plants in shifts.  Once every two weeks I will start a handful of seedlings in order to enjoy my plants throughout the season instead of harvesting all at once.  Planting in shifts will also help me have a good idea of how may plants I have and not plant too many.  I live in zone 6a, therefore I start my seeds indoors in February!  Today I’m planting tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, arugala, basil, and cilantro.

Here are a few steps to plant your own seedlings indoors:

First, decide which seeds to plant! 

1.  Find your options - I went through my seed stash to see what I already had on hand, but most stores start stocking seeds at the end of January, early February.  You could also order seeds from online vendors.

2.  Calculate when to plant -  I turned over the seed packets to look at when they should be transplanted outside and how long the seeds should be indoors before transplanted and do the math backwards!  Use a calendar to help you calculate the number of weeks. 

3.  Decide how many of each to start – I decided I want to start a few seedlings this week, and a few more next week, so I started about four seedlings of each type. 

Second, decide how to plant the seedlings!  For my first set of seedlings, I decided to use Jiffy Windowsill Greenhouses, one new and one using refill pods.  When using kits, make sure you follow the directions. 

If using soil or refill pods, the goal is to make the soil extremely moist.  I let my pods soak fully for a solid twenty minutes before pouring out the excess.  Once the soil is ready to go, you just need to place the seeds as low into the pods as the back of the seed packets suggest.  If you aren’t using seed packets, I try to get the seeds about half an inch into the soil.  I use a nail to make a hole in the soil and then drop the seeds in! 

Third, make sure you label the pods which the seed type because it is hard to tell which type of plant is which until real leaves grow.     

Be patient with seeds, they can take a week and a half to show any activity because they are growing in the soil.  Growing a quick sprouting seed like arugala is fantastic to start with because you see results fairly quickly!  Here is a look at my week old arugala seeds.

Make sure you follow along on my Instagram or Facebook page where update photos are posted regularly!