Wednesday Wisdom

About a week ago, my brother posted something on his photography blog that made me think. He talked about the fact that we all have knowledge that can be shared with others. He was talking about photography, but it hit me in the broader sense. In my twenty-one years I have acquired a little wisdom -- whether it be the proper way to structure a sentence, how to make nearly perfect buttercream icing or how to wear a scarf (when I worked at Reitmans, I was asked this question almost daily). I've thought a lot about how I can share my knowledge, and it came to me yesterday while sitting in my Institute class: Wednesday Wisdom (yeah, I'm a sucker for alliteration).
Today, I will share my recipe for buttercream icing. This is a recipe from my mom, but at times I will modify it to achieve different results.

4 cups icing sugar
3 Tbsp. milk
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup shortening
1 tsp. vanilla
1/8 tsp. salt (optional -- I rarely use it)

First, you will need to cream the butter and shortening in a mixer until smooth, then add the vanilla. Next, add the sugar -- but only one cup at a time! (Otherwise it's super messy and won't blend very well). Also, make sure that you scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to get everything. Add the milk and blend until completely mixed and smooth. If you want to colour the icing, add your colouring in and mix the icing a little more to spread the colour evenly. Make sure to cover the bowl with a damp cloth to avoid drying out.
This recipe will give you great icing that is yummy and super creamy.
If you want more of a vanilla taste, add one or two extra teaspoons to your mix. It won't affect it too much, but you will notice a slight difference.
Also, if you don't want to make as much icing, you can reduce the amount of sugar, but you don't necessarily need to reduce the other ingredients. I did that once, and it still turned out quite good. The icing was much more creamy that with the extra sugar, and took a little longer to set, but it was still quite good!

Happy baking! If you try it, let me know what worked for you!

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Another tip: if you have icing left over (as you probably will), do not throw it out! Instead, spread some on graham crackers or soda crackers to make a little cracker-icing sandwich. Best treat, trust me!