Author: Cath Marshall

Powdered Sugar Icing

This flavorful, smooth, slightly translucent, shiny glaze is great for decorating sugar cookies or drizzling over other desserts.

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon butter, softened
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
food color, if desired

Combine powdered sugar, water, 1 tablespoon butter, corn syrup and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla in small mixer bowl; mix until powdered sugar is moistened. Beat at medium speed until smooth, adding additional water if necessary, to reach desired glazing consistency. Tint with food color, if desired.

Note: Originally found on the website of Better Homes and Gardens. I posted it here because it has disappeared from their website, and it’s a great recipe.

Firefox Add-ons

These are some Firefox add-ons that I find useful:

ColorZilla

ColorZilla is a Firefox add-on that provides tools for web page color analysis.  (As of September 2010, ColorZilla does not work with any other browsers.)  Once installed, ColorZilla provides an eyedropper and a pull-down menu in the lower left corner of the browser frame.  The eyedropper can be used to find and copy (in various formats) the values for any color on a web page.  In addition, the pull-down menu can be used to access a color picker, palette tool, and webpage DOM color analyzer.

Now Obsolete

Most of the add-ons I described in the original version of this post are no longer available or no longer relevant. For historical purposes, these are described below.

Flashblock

Flashblock was a Firefox add-on that prevented automatic execution of Flash objects. Since Adobe has ended all support for Flash Player (as of December 31, 2020) the best way to prevent execution of Flash objects is to uninstall all Flash Players.

BetterPrivacy

BetterPrivacy was a Firefox add-on that removed files created by Flash to store certain kinds of user data.

Xmarks

Xmarks, first known as Foxmarks, was a browser add-on that synchronizesd bookmarks across browsers and computers.  In addition, Xmarks stored the same bookmarks online for web access from any computer.  I really liked Xmarks, and I was happy when LastPass took steps acquire Xmarks in 2010 in order to keep it from going under. I was sad when LastPass decided to discontinue Xmarks in 2018.

Blender Hollandaise

Ingredients

  • 3 egg yolks
  • 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • hot sauce to taste (I use 1/2 tsp of Franks)
  • 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

Directions

  1. In the container of a blender, combine the egg yolks, mustard, lemon juice and hot pepper sauce. Cover, and blend for about 5 seconds.
  2. Place the butter in a glass measuring cup. Heat butter in the microwave for about 1 minute, or until completely melted, hot and bubbling. Set the blender on high speed, and pour the butter into the egg yolk mixture in a thin stream. It should thicken almost immediately. Keep the sauce warm until serving by placing the container holding it in a pan of hot water.

Tofu Pumpkin Custard

16-ounce can solid-pack pumpkin pie filling
1 cake (19 ounces) silken tofu
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup maple syrup or brown sugar
2 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice
1 tablespoon blackstrap molasses
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Place all of the ingredients in a food processor with the S blade inserted. Process until smooth and creamy. Taste. If needed, add more pumpkin pie spice. Spoon into dessert dishes. Serve or refrigerate.

Tofu Chocolate-Strawberry Sorbet

16-ounce package frozen unsweetened strawberries
1 cake (19 ounces) silken tofu
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/3 cup all-fruit strawberry jam
1 teaspoon orange extract
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Place all of the ingredients in an electric blender or a food processor with the S blade inserted. Blend or process until thick and creamy. Taste. If needed, add more orange extract or vanilla. Serve immediately.

For cherry-almond, use frozen cherries, cherry jam, lemon extract, and almond extract.

Tofu Chocolate Pudding

1 cake (19 ounces) silken tofu
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 tablespoon blackstrap molasses
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Place all of the ingredients in a food processor with the S blade inserted. Process until smooth and creamy. Taste. If needed, add more vanilla. Spoon into dessert dishes. Serve or refrigerate.