Decorated Butter Cookies

Decorating cakes and cookies these days are much easier than when I started twenty years ago. Wow! I can't believe it's been that long or should I say...I'm getting old ha.ha. Anyway, you can now buy ready to roll (RTR) icing or fondant to finish cakes and cookies. I used to make fondant icing from scratch. Yes! from scratch. Hooray for these RTR icings. I conveniently buy online. There are also coloured icings available.

Made some cookies for a work colleague and my daughter months ago. I tried Martha Stewart's butter cookie dough recipe and it was ok. After the baked cookies have completely cooled down, it's ready to be finished. Roll the icing thinly around 1/8 inch and cut using the same cutter you used in your cookie dough. Occasionally dip the cutter in icing sugar to prevent the sides from sticking. I use water as adhesive for the icing to the cookies. Voila! Decorated cookies.

Mango & Melon Salsa ...Missing Philippine Mangoes

Tomorrow, summer officially starts here in Australia. Mangoes are everywhere but nothing beats Philippine mangoes, in my opinion. They might not be as huge as what we have here but the sweetness is so different. Most of the Philippine carabao mangoes are exported.  Oh well, I have to make use of what is available.

Sharing with you a great side dish for barbie...as what we call barbecues here. Mango and Melon Salsa. My younger daughter enjoyed it to my surprise. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

3/4 c Ripe mango, diced
3/4 c Rock melon, diced
1/4 c finely chopped onion or red onion
1/4 c red bell pepper, diced
2-3 tbsps. Lemon juice
Salt to taste
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Few pieces of mint leaves, finely chopped

Procedure:
Mix all ingredients together. Chill for an hour or two for the flavours to blend together.
Serve with grilled meat or seafood.