This past weekend, we got four inches of snowfall. The snow started falling on Friday night and kept right on going into Saturday. When we woke up early Saturday morning, we were living in a world of crisp white.
To make it even more fun, we were babysitting our nephew on Saturday morning and his mom packed all of his winter gear. The little guy kept clamoring to go outside, so Hubby buried him under snow pants, a sweatshirt, a warm coat, a hood, fleece hat, and of course mittens and boots. The poor kid looked like Ralphie from A Christmas Story!
Sidenote: when they finally headed outside, I had to stay in because I am suffering from yet another sinus infection (make it go away already).
The dogs wanted to go outside just as bad as our nephew. Grace and Judson absolutely love snow; they love to eat it, roll around in it, sniff it, make it change colors (if you know what I mean), and just generally romp the fluffiness out of it. It is really fun to see them get so excited.
Hubby and the little guy originally started out sledding on our wee little hill at the very back of our yard, but I guess the little fella really wasn’t into it. Instead, they decided to build a fort and a snowman. As I watched out our back porch window, I was impressed by the little guy’s drive; for a two year old- he was serious about building a great snowman (his very first one actually). The sad part about that is every time he stuck more snow on, Judson would come along and chomp it off (it was sad, but funny too).
In the end, the two of them (with no help from the dogs) built a fantastic snowman. It wasn’t the biggest on the block, but it had an awesome carrot nose, two coal eyes, a hand-knit scarf and a Santa hat- pretty impressive.
In honor of our nephew’s very first snowman, I want to share the cutest recipe with you that I found on The Decorated Cookie blog of Meaghan Mountford.
You will need:
dough
frosting
Americolor soft gel pastes (Bright White, Orange, Electric Green or any color for buttons)
sharp knife
frosting bag with 4 tip
small spatula or knife
white rolled fondant
Black Americolor gourmet writer
light corn syrup
optional: frosting bag with 2 tip, Chocolate Brown soft gel paste (can also use a black or brown gourmet writer)
notes on supplies: You can also substitute concentrated pastes for the soft gel pastes, but I much prefer Americolor, as they are tasteless. Concentrated pastes, the frosting bag and tip, the rolled fondant, and maybe even the gourmet writers are available at major craft stores. Or, check on the Americolor site for links on the many, many places you can buy on the internet.
step one: bake your blob cookie
Roll out your dough and cut out a blob shape with a sharp knife. I drew my shape first on paper and cut around the paper. Don't make the blob too big, about 4 inches. If the edges are rough from cutting, pat with your fingers to smooth. Bake on a parchment paper lined baking tray and let cool.
step two: frost your blob
Color some frosting with the Bright White gel paste and fill the bag with the 4 tip. Outline cookie with frosting and let set a good half hour. Take some frosting in a bowl, color white and add water, little by little, stirring until it's syrupy. Pour the runny frosting onto the middle of the cookie and spread to the edges with a small spatula or butter knife. Let set til firm a good two hours, even longer if possible.
step three: make your snowman parts
Take a few teaspoons worth of fondant, knead (you can add a few drops of White coloring to brighten) and roll between your palms to form a sphere. If the fondant gets too sticky, let it sit for ten to fifteen minutes. Set on a piece of parchment or wax paper to harden for about an hour. Do the same with the carrot and buttons. Knead a small amount of fondant with the Orange color and form a triangle with your fingers. Set on the wax paper so the tip of the carrot points upward. Knead any color into fondant and roll small spheres for your buttons.
step four: make your face
When the snowman head has dried til firm enough to write on, make your face with the black edible gourmet pen. Choose from smiley (happy about melting) to shock (not happy about melting).
step five: assemble your snowman
To adhere the fondant pieces to each other and to the cookie, dab your finger in light corn syrup and rub on the areas that will be adhered. Start with the head and press firmly but gently onto the blob. Next, attach the carrot to the face. Then the buttons. For the sticks, I used brown frosting in a bag fitted with a 2 tip and piped. But you can also just draw them on with a brown or black edible pen.
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