Blush and Bashful Frosted Cookies #MoviesandMunchies

For this month's Movies & Munchies Debra of Eliot's Eats has us watching Steel Magnolias in honor of the amazing Dolly Parton. It's funny, the day she died, my family and I watched this movie. I had no idea it would be an upcoming event. Since I hadn't been watching it with my foodie glasses on, I watched it again!

On the Screen

Though we were watching this for Dolly Parton, there are so many female powerhouses in this movie. I mean, Olympia Dukakis, Shirley MacLaine, Sally Field, Julia Roberts, and Daryl Hannah star. How can you go wrong? Then add Tom Skerritt (who has also just passed! Boo.), Sam Shepard, and Dylan McDermott and you have ensemble cast magic.

The movie takes place in a small town in Louisiana. Annelle (Hannah) comes into town and lands a job at a salon owned by Truvy (Parton) where a small group of friends Clairee (Dukakis), Ouiser (MacLaine), M'Lynn (Field), and Shelby (Roberts) support and love each other through all of life's ups and downs. Skerritt, Shepard, and McDermott play the husbands of M'Lynn, Truvy, and Shelby, respectively.

The title, according to the play's author, is the perfect description for the women it profiles: They're simultaneously delicate like a magnolia blossom, but also hard as steel. M'Lynn embodies this strength as she stayed by her daughter's side when they unplugged the life support system; neither her husband nor her son-in-law could handle it. Sorry for that spoiler!

Perhaps my favorite line is when Shelby is begging M'Lynn to understand why she chose to get pregnant against medical advice.

I would rather have thirty minutes of wonderful, than a lifetime of nothing special.

This is a timeless movie about women supporting women. I love it!

Blush and Bashful

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There is a scene in Truvy's salon when they are asking Shelby about the colors of her wedding.

Truvy: What are your colors, Shelby?

Shelby: My colors are "blush" and "bashful."

M'Lynn: Her colors are "pink" and pink."

Shelby: My colors are "blush" and "bashful", Mama!

M'Lynn goes on to describe the church as looking as if Pepto Bismol exploded all over the altar. I looked up the Pantone designations for those colors and, honestly, no dresses in the wedding scene resembled any of those colors! And none of them were what I remember Pepto Bismol to look like.

There was more food in the movie than expected. There was the armadillo groom's cake though I have never been able to master a red velvet cake without a bottle of food coloring, so that was off my list. I was almost tempted to make Truvy's Cuppa Cuppa Cuppa Cake; Truvy explains "it's just a cuppa flour, a cuppa sugar, a cuppa fruit cocktail with the juice just mixed and baked at 350 till goooooold and bubbly!" My teeth hurt just looking at that ingredient list.

During the Christmas Festival, Truvy and Annelle are scooping up hearty helpings of Low Country Boil. I have shared a Cajun Shrimp Boil that looked similar. Annelle also makes Red Beans and Rice for when M'Lynn and Shelby are going into the hospital for a kidney extraction and transplant. And Ouiser and Clairee buy Pork and Beans at the same time. I have shared my Baked Beans and my Fagioli all’Uccelletto. Red Beans and Rice seems very similar to Gallo Pinto which is on our table often.

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I decided to try and make something blush and bashful! These are all pink roses from Birdsong Orchards, an organic farm just up the road from us. I tried to make a pink frosting that matched one of these, but completely natural food coloring results in much more muted colors. Oh well.

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Ingredients

makes approximately 3 dozen 2-1/2" cookies

Shortbread

• 20 Tablespoons butter (2-1/4 sticks)

• 1 cup organic granulated sugar

• 1 Tablespoon aquavit

• 3 eggs beaten

• 3-1/2 cups flour

• 1 teaspoon Peruvian or pink peppercorns, crushed or ground in a spice mill

Frosting and Finishing

• 3 egg whites, or more to thin icing

• 6 cups organic powdered sugar, or more to thicken icing

• juice from 1 to 2 organic lemons

• natural food coloring (the red I used was made with beets), optional

• Peruvian or pink peppercorns for garnish

Procedure

Shortbread

Beat the butter and sugar until fluffy. Stir in aquavit until well combined. Beat in the egg. Add in the flour and ground peppercorns and mix until everything is moistened.

Roll the dough into a long cylinder. Put the dough in plastic wrap or parchment paper and chill for about an hour, until the dough is firm enough to slice.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Using a sharp knife, cut the dough cylinder widthwise into 1/4" slices and place, slightly apart, on the baking sheets. Place in the oven and bake for 16 to 18 minutes until slightly browned.

Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Frosting

Beat the whites until stiff but not dry. Add sugar and lemon juice. Beat for another minute. If the icing is too thick, add more egg whites; if it's too thin, add more sugar. Beat in the food coloring, if using. This icing may be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

To Finish

Spoon the royal icing over cooled cookies and push to the edge as much as possible. Crush one pink peppercorn over each cookie. Let icing set before storing or serving.

Dolly's Favorite Sip: Dirty Road Cocktail

When Dolly died at the end of August, D, my resident mixologist, sent me a grocery list for Dolly's favorite cocktail. We made it and it wasn't a hit with anyone in the house. Still I thought it was worth a mention in this post.

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Ingredients

• ice as needed

• 2 ounces vodka

• 2 ounces unsweetened tea

• 1/4 ounce brine from Italian Giardiniera Mix

• Spanish Queen martini olives (pitted or stuffed), for garnish

• vegetable pieces from Giardiniera, for garnish

• Also needed: cocktail picks, cocktail shaker

Procedure

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Pour in vodka, tea, and brine. Shake well to chill. Fill a serving glass with ice. Strain martini over ice. Garnish with olives and vegetable pieces on a cocktail pick.

That's a wrap on my offering for our November Movies & Munchies event. I can't wait to see what the other gals are inspired to make. Cheers!