Pint Sized Baker

Mardi Gras Shooters

2012-02-20T23:07:00.000-05:00

I would like to share a local gem that I found the other day.

Tucked away across the Shenandoah River, in Charles Town,West Virginia, is the Bloomery Plantation Distillery.

I admit, I was a bit conflicted because I was thinking it was Whiskey and Vodka kind of back woods Moonshine making type of place. I have never watched "Moonshiners" on TV, but (to me) it really just brings up all kinds of negative stereo types.

When we walked into the place, I was pleasantly surprised when I met the owners Linda and Tom and learning about Limoncello. We learned that Limoncello is an after dinner cordial best served cold. Not just cold, but ICE cold!

The Lemon flavors just burst in your mouth and the sweet fruit of the raspberry just helps turn it into a decadent dessert. We got to taste the five different Liquors and a few different ways.

We added the Cello to Raspberry Sorbet and coffee! It was great!

So, we brought 4 bottles home and did a little experiment.

I was making my King Cake Jell-o and reserved some jell-o for some shooters.

I got these jell-o molds and went to work.

I dissolved a 3 oz box of jell-o into 1/2 cup water then added 1/2 cup cold water.

I put 1 teaspoon of the Limoncello into the molds and then filled the rest of the mold with the jell-o.

I placed them in the fridge for a few hours and then had some great Lemon, Lemon Crema, and Lemon-Lime Jell-o Shooters with my hubby!

(I put regular vodka in the grape shooters.)

Enjoy some Adult Jell-o!

I link up at these great blogs!

King Cake Jell-o

2012-02-18T23:36:00.000-05:00

Hello, Fat Tuesday!!

How many people are celebrating Fat Tuesday?? If it's an excuse to eat and drink - then I am IN!

I was thinking about making a King Cake and getting a plastic baby and all of that, but well, to be honest, Mardi Gras snuck up on me this year.

I mean, we just had Valentine's Day AND my daughter's birthday is later this week AND we have a Family trip to Disney World planned AND a hubby and wifey vacation to Napa Valley planned!

It's just too much for a girl to handle!

So I'm going for fast, easy, and "In-The-Spirit-Of" kind of King Cake!

I'm making Jell-o!

Here's what you need:

3 oz. box of Lime Jell-o + 1 Cup boiling water + 1/2 cup cold water
3 oz. box of Grape Jell-o + 1 Cup boiling water + 1/2 cup cold water
3 oz box of Lemon Jell-o + 1 Cup boiling water + 1/2 cup cold water
1/2 cup condensed milk
2 packets Knox gelatin
1/2 cup cold water

Here's what you do:

Make each Jell-o and allow 1 hour to solidify. You can see that I just left them in the measuring cups.

Spray a Bundt Pan with some Pam (or other spray).

Cube up the Jell-o and add to your bundt pan.

Combine boiling water with Knox gelatin and stir to combine. Add condensed milk and stir. Add cold water and stir a bit more.

Slowly pour milk mixture over the Jell-o chunks in the bundt pan. Place the pan back in the fridge and allow 1 - 2 hours to solidify.

Cut and serve!

Isn't it beautiful?

I think that it is!

Ok, ok... It's just another Stained Glass Jell-o, but come on, it's

"In- The-Spirit-Of" Mardis Gras. That has to count a little bit...

At least my Little Cup Loved it! And that's all that matters!

Have a Great Fat Tuesday, Carnival or Mardi Gras!

I link up at THESE great blogs!

Mint Chocolate Marshmallow Cake Pops

2012-02-16T21:00:00.000-05:00

I got my start down this baking road with Cake Pops! I love them! I love making them and decorating them and coming up with new ideas. February marks one year of making cake pops and I have been sharing them on Facebook ever since. This past year of cake poppin' has really flown by!
As a HUGE Thank You to my Facebook fans for helping me reach a milestone and then move on to another! I have just, just, just passed 2,500 fans!! Woo hoo!!
As a Thank You - I'm doing another giveaway!!

So the other day, I found THESE marshmallows and knew I had to make cake pops with them!

They are not big marshmallows, but they are not mini either. They are almost perfect pop-in-your-mouth size; which can be quite dangerous! They also added a bit of mint to hot chocolate!

I also picked up a bag of Wilton's Dark Cocoa Mint candy coating to go with my mint theme :)

I made a Devil's Food Cake and got to work!

Here's what you need:

1 box mix of Devil's Food Cake Mix and the required ingredients - baked and cooled

Candy Coating - I used the chocolate mint above and white candy coating that I tinted green

Chocolate Frosting

lollipop sticks

Peanut Butter Cup Candy Mold

Styrafoam or shallow cup to hold pops upright

Crumble up 1/4 of a cold cake and freeze the rest. Add a heaping tablespoon of the chocolate frosting and mix together until thoughly combined. I use my Kitchen Aid mixer, others use a food processor, some use their hands. Form balls using a tablespoon to measure. I use a 1Tbls cookie scoop which makes it very easy. Roll the dough balls by hand and set aside. You should get a dozen cake balls.

NOTE: The cake pop batter should not stick to your hands. If your hands are covered in sticky frosting, add more cake to the mix and combine. Next time, use less frosting.

Chocolate cake is already very moist and does not need a lot of frosting. Melt you candy coating. Follow the directions on the bag. I suggest 45 seconds at 70% power to start. Then just 30 seconds at 60% power and lots of stirring!!

Fill the cavities of the peanut butter molds half way with the candy coating and then add the cake ball. Let the candy harden 5 minutes in the fridge if necessary. Melt the white candy coating and add OIL BASED coloring only! This can be pricey, but a color with water in it will seize the candy coating. When in doubt, but pre-made green candy coating.

Push the lollipop stick through a marshmallow leaving 1/2 to 3/4 inch of the stick poking over the top. Dip the stick into candy coating and place the cake pop on to the stick. Leave it standing up to harden. Once all the pops are on the sticks, go back to the first one and dip the top into the green being sure to seal the edges in candy coating. If there are any holes, you'll get a gross looking oil leak going on.

I added half a marshmallow to the top while the candy coating was still wet.

For step my step pictures, visit this post!

These were super yummy! I don't think I would add any extra peppermint to the cake. The candy coating and marshmallows added enough for me!

As for the GIVEAWAY - I'll give you two chances to win a dozen cake pops!
This is open to US mailing addresses only. (sorry, funds are tight)
1. Leave me a comment here letting my know your favorite cake and frosting combination.
2. LIKE me on Facebook! I have a link to the right, you can click there and then leave me another message below letting me know you did.
**3. Add Pint Sized Baker to your circles on Google Plus :) i'm knda lonely over there...
Don't forget to leave your name and e-mail so I can get in touch with you!

The entries will be open from the 16 - 25th (midnight EST)
Good Luck!!

Nom, nom, nom!

I link up my posts at these parties!

Rose Cake Pops

2012-02-14T06:00:00.000-05:00

Roses aren't just for Valentines Day! They are also for Birthdays!

Over the weekend I got a request to make Rose Cake Pops for a Valentine Birthday! The best of both worlds!

Roses were one of my first "designer" cake pop creations so I was excited to make a new batch with my much improved skills and accessories.

First off - I have Luster Dust!!! I used CK Products Tulip Red which I purchased at Kitchen Krafts.

Second - I have a leaf mold!

I am not going to go into detail on how to make cake pops, sorry... but you can see my YouTube videos here and here to learn how I make my cake pops. I dipped my pops into Red Candy Melts and allowed them to dry. To make them super shimmery I added my dry luster dust to the pops and if they could, they would've sang! Watch my video to see how I add the luster dust.

See how beautiful!!! Love the effect!

To make the rose effect, I simply made a spiral around the top half of the rose using a red chocolate "pen" and then sprinkled it with various styles of sugar crystals.

To make the leaves, I added green candy coating to my mold and allowed it to dry. Then I added some green luster dust to the leave to give them some shimmer as well!

I think that version 2.0 is so much prettier than the ones I was making a year ago!

I hope the Birthday Girl Loved them just as much!

Like my Instagram Picture?? You can follow.me as here as well!

Have a WONDERFUL Valentine's Day!!

I love to Party with these wonderful bloggers!

My Valentine Treats

2012-02-13T00:24:00.000-05:00

I was soooo not in the mood to make more Valentine Treats for my daughter to take to school on Tuesday. I've been taking the treats that I have been posing here and delivering them to her class for after school snacks.

God forbid they stay in the house...

I digress.

She has been enjoying Valentine treats for the past two weeks and I feel so pressured to come up with the most fantastic party treats to take in. I don't work well under pressure!

So, when a friend asked me to make some cake pops for her son to take to class, I figured I would jump on that train and make some for my daughter.

So I baked and cake and got to work. For the season, I had to go with red and white and throw in A LOT of heats and sprinkles. I used a heart paper punch and the Wilton Sugar sheets to make the hearts.

I also wanted to add some variety, so I made a handful of chocolate covered pops and decorated them with pink, blue and orange jewel tone sprinkles.

I love the contrast!

The Wilton Sugar Sheets are very easy to work with. I buy a paper punch and reserve it for food use only.

I also found some Strawberry Marshmallows that were perfect for Valentine's Day!

Come on! They are PINK! How perfect is that??

And, because some people prefer sweet and salty, I made a few candy covered pretzel sticks.

These treats are all so easy to make. You just need the supplies to get going.

For the Marshmallows you need:

1 Bag of Marshmallows

Red Candy Melts

White Candy Melts

Lollipop sticks

Sprinkles

Stand for drying (Styrofoam, a short glass)

Insert the lollipop stick into the marshmallow and dip into the melted candy coating. Allow any excess to drip off, then add your sprinkles. Allow to dry standing up.

For the Pretzels you need:

Pretzel Rods

Red Candy Melts

White Candy Melts

Sprinkles

Cookie sheet lined with Wax Paper

Melt your candy coating as directed and pour into a deep (tall) coffee mug or plastic cup. (Another great use for your Blue Dixie Cup!) Dip the Pretzel Rod about 1/2 to 3/4 of the way into the melted candy coating. Allow the excess to drip off and then lay flat on wax paper. Decorate with Sprinkles!

If you are unsure about melting candy coating, see this entry.

If you would like to learn more about making cake pops, watch my YouTube videos, and see this entry.

Have a Great Valentine's Day!

XOXO

- The Pint Sized Baker

This is where I party!

White Chocolate Fruit Tartlets

2012-02-09T21:00:00.000-05:00

These were so, so, SO super Good!

I love berries. ALL berries! We have some sort of berry in the fridge at all times.

They also made a beautiful arrangement for a dessert tray that I made.

There was no baking involved.

I was able to bring the box of pre-made mini fillo shells, a baggie of granola, some washed berries, and my white chocolate ganache. Once at the party, it took me a few minutes to fill the tart shells and serve them.

Here's what you need:

White Chocolate Ganache (4 oz White Chocolate + 3 oz heavy cream)

Granola

Berries

Mini Fillo Shells

Heat heavy cream in microwave for 30 - 45 seconds. Pour warm cream over chopped chocolate and allow to melt for 5 minutes. Stir until all chocolate ins melted. Pour into a gallon sized baggie, squeeze the excess air out and place in fridge overnight.

Bring the tarts out of the freezer and the ganache out of the fridge.

Allow to come to room temperature (15 - 30 minutes).

Snip the corner off the baggie and squeeze into tarts.

Sprinkle on some granola. (Actually, that's optional. Some did not have the granola added.)

Top with a berry.

CONSUME!

Now, you may ask why I did not make these with Strawberries for Valentine's... simple. The strawberries were too large and a bit overpowering for the white chocolate.

I thought about adding some chocolate sauce just before adding the berry, but then decided not to.

Try it and let me know how much yumminess it adds.

Once made, don't let these sit out for too long. The tarts and the granola will loose their crunch.

However, I won't lie, I ate them the next day :)

For more Valentine's Day Inspiration, Check out this Blog Hop hosted by One Tough Mother

Kristen has 11 great bloggers ready and waiting to share something new every day!

Feb. 1 – One Tough Mother

Feb. 2 – DIY Dreamer

Feb. 3 – Pitter and Glink
Feb. 4 – My Amazing Chaos of Life

Feb. 5 – Measure Once – Cut Twice

Feb. 6 – The Brown Eyes Have It

Feb. 7 – One Tough Mother

Feb. 8 – Pint-Sized Baker - Hey, that's ME!!

Feb. 9 – J Yipp Photography

Feb. 10 – Bird & Tree

Feb. 11 – Growing Up Gabel

Feb. 12 – Scrapity Anne

Feb. 13 – My Life and Kids
Feb. 14 – One Tough Mother

Grab life by the Berry!

Enjoy!

I shared this post with the following linky parties

Valentines Palmiers

2012-02-07T22:00:00.000-05:00

Want some fast and easy cookies tonight??

Want cookies that will impress friends and co-workers??

Want cookies that will make other Mom's wonder how you possibly have the time to bake such a wonderful treat??

Should I keep my day job and NOT go into "pitch- man" school??

If the answer is YES to all these questions, then you should make these PALMIERS!!

According to Epicurious:

palmier
[pahlm-YAY]
Also called palm leaves , this crispy delicacy is PUFF PASTRY dough that is sprinkled with granulated sugar, folded and rolled several times, then cut into thin strips. After baking, these golden brown, caramelized pastries are served with coffee or tea or as a dessert accompaniment.

Or, you can poke a stick through them and then add your own graffiti, like I did!

'Cuz, you know, they are for my kid...

Here's what you need:

sugar for the counter - I used white and red sugar for the holiday

1/2 package of frozen puff pastry - 1 sheet

1/2 cup sugar in a bowl

melted chocolate - I used some red

lollipop sticks

Preheat oven to 450 and cut parchment paper to fit in your cookie sheet. I preheated to 450 and then reduced the heat to 425 to bake.

Sprinkle sugar all over your working surface and lay thawed puff pastry on sugar. Pour more sugar over the pastry. DO NOT use all red sugar. I did and it was not pretty! Trust me on this one.

Roll pastry out to 13 X 13 inch square, should be 1/8 inch thick.

Fold edges in 2 inches, then in again, then over on itself. Place back in the fridge for 15 minutes before slicing. Keeps you from smooshing it.

Cut dough in 1/4 inch slices and coat cut sides with more sugar. For a picture, look here.

Place on cookie sheet and slide lollipop stick in the middle. Give it a little pinch around the stick, but the sugar will keep it from being sticky.

Bake for 6 minutes, flip over and bake for another 3 - 5 minutes until cookies start to turn golden brown.

They burn quickly and will look ugly and taste nasty - blech! See??

Cool completely and then dip into melted chocolate (for your high tea service).

Or have fun with the decorations and let your kids play Picaso with their food!

I loved how the sugar caramelizes on the edges. It really makes them look so lovely and elegant.
The red lightened to a beautiful pink which I thought was just perfect for Valentine's Day.
I can see making these again without a stick and dipping them into chocolate.

For more Valentine's Day Inspiration, Check out this Blog Hop hosted by One Tough Mother

Kristen has 11 great bloggers ready and waiting to share something new every day!

Feb. 1 – One Tough Mother

Feb. 2 – DIY Dreamer

Feb. 3 – Pitter and Glink

Feb. 4 – My Amazing Chaos of Life

Feb. 5 – Measure Once – Cut Twice

Feb. 6 – The Brown Eyes Have It

Feb. 7 – One Tough Mother

Feb. 8 – Pint-Sized Baker - Hey, that's ME!!

Feb. 9 – J Yipp Photography
Feb. 10 – Bird & Tree

Feb. 11 – Growing Up Gabel

Feb. 12 – Scrapity Anne

Feb. 13 – My Life and Kids

Feb. 14 – One Tough Mother

Enjoy and have a Great day!

I've shared this post with the following blogs: Ginger Snaps, Funky Polkadot Giraffe, Someday Crafts, Lady Behind the Curtain, This Chick Cooks, Something Swanky, Flour me with Love, Made Famous by...,, House of Hepworths, Diana Rambles

Chocolate Coffee "Ice Cream" Bundt Cake

2012-02-05T22:05:00.000-05:00

Who said Valentine's has to be about red and pink and fruity treats?

Valentine's should be rich and deep, smooth and silky, bold and full of sin.

Oh my, I think I just entered in to a porno.... Not my intention...

I believe that a decadent chocolate cake also cries out LOVE!

Your significant other will think that you slaved for hours making this wonderfully rich and moist chocolate cake. However, if you make it home from work at 5 and pop this into the oven while eating dinner, you'll have the best chocolate cake for dessert!

I found this recipe and knew I had to make it.

Here's what you need:

1 box Chocolate Cake Mix

1 pint coffee ice cream, softened (or chocolate)

1 cup of water

3 eggs

Here's what you do:

Preheat oven to 350 deg F.

Grease a bundt pan, then dust with cake mix powder.

Beat all ingredients together for 4 minutes.

Pour into bunt pan and bake for 45 minutes.

Sprinkle some powdered sugar on top.

SAVOR!

Let me introduce you to my NEW MacKenzie-Childs Cake Platter! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!!

I need to have it stored away under lock and key and never, ever put food on it...

Oh well! It's too beautiful NOT to use it!

I am a HUGE fan of frosting on my cakes, however, this one just does not need it!

I did make this cake with Coffee Ice Cream. I was hoping that it would give it some Mocha Coffee type flavor, but it was not there.

Next time, I plan on adding a cup of cold coffee in place of the water.

I also want to try Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream!

Can you see just how moist and rich this cake is? Can ya?

You don't know what you are missin'!

Indulge! You deserve it!

Enjoy!

For more Valentine's Day Inspiration, Check out this Blog Hop hosted by One Tough Mother

Kristen has 11 great bloggers ready and waiting to share something new every day!

Feb. 1 – One Tough Mother

Feb. 2 – DIY Dreamer

Feb. 3 – Pitter and Glink

Feb. 4 – My Amazing Chaos of Life

Feb. 5 – Measure Once – Cut Twice

Feb. 6 – The Brown Eyes Have It

Feb. 7 – One Tough Mother

Feb. 8 – Pint-Sized Baker - Hey, that's ME!!

Feb. 9 – J Yipp Photography
Feb. 10 – Bird & Tree

Feb. 11 – Growing Up Gabel

Feb. 12 – Scrapity Anne

Feb. 13 – My Life and Kids

Feb. 14 – One Tough Mother

I shared this post on the following parties: Marvelously Monday . Everyday Sisters, Mrs. Happy Homemaker, Just a Pinch, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Making the World Cuter, Skip to My Lou, Cupcake Apothecary, I Should be mopping the Floor, Crazy for Crust, Inside BruCrew Life, It's A Blog Party, Sweetology 101, the Kurtz Corner, Ginger Snaps, Something Swanky, Flour me with Love, Made Famous by..., House of Hepworths, Diana Rambles

Strawberry Jell-o Love

2012-02-02T21:34:00.000-05:00

Simple, fast, easy. Straight to the point!

Send some love in their School Lunch box this week!

Large box of Strawberry Jell-o

1 1/4 cup boiling water

non-stick spray

cupcake pan

Cored, sliced Strawberries

Boil water and pour over Jell-o waiting for tit to completely dissolve.

Spray cupcake pan with some Non-stick spray.

Pour into cupcake cavities and lay strawberry slices on top. Press down to cover the fruit in the gelatin.

Place in the fridge for 2 hours.

Pop out of the pan and store in containers for school lunches.

I used my mini bunt pan and got 9 molds.

My daughter LOVES these in her lunches!

For more Valentine's Day Inspiration, Check out this Blog Hop hosted by One Tough Mother

Kristen has 11 great bloggers ready and waiting to share something new every day!

Feb. 1 – One Tough Mother Feb. 2 – DIY Dreamer

Feb. 3 – Pitter and Glink Feb. 4 – My Amazing Chaos of Life

Feb. 5 – Measure Once – Cut Twice Feb. 6 – The Brown Eyes Have It

Feb. 7 – One Tough Mother Feb. 8 – Pint-Sized Baker - Hey, that's ME!!

Feb. 9 – J Yipp Photography Feb. 10 – Bird & Tree

Feb. 11 – Growing Up Gabel Feb. 12 – Scrapity Anne

Feb. 13 – My Life and Kids Feb. 14 – One Tough Mother

I'm bring this treat over to the Dollhouse Bake Shoppe Valentine Party! Jump over to see what other fun Valentine decorations and treats will be there!

To my Little Cup!

Love You, Mom

I've shared this post with : Alli-N-Sons, Whipper Berry, Tidy Mom, Blissful and Domestic, Simply Sweet Home, Petals to Picots, Living Life Intentionally, Sweet as Sugar Cookies, Mom to 2 Posh Divas, Marvelously Monday . Everyday Sisters, Mrs. Happy Homemaker, Just a Pinch, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Making the World Cuter, Skip to My Lou, Ginger Snaps, Something Swanky,

Valentines Heart Lollipops

2012-01-31T21:00:00.000-05:00

OK Valentine's Day - I'm ready!

I finally put away my Christmas stuff that piled up in the basement hallway and I pulled out my Valentine's decorations. I'm thinking hearts and red and love!

My chocolate lollipops were such a hit, I decided to revisit the idea and make some hearts!

What you need:

Red/ Pink Candy Melts - 1/4 of the bag

Lollipop sticks

Sprinkles

Wax paper lined cookie sheets

Sandwich baggies

An eager assistant (optional)

Melt your Candy Melts as directed. I like to use the microwave for 45 seconds at 70% power in a ceramic bowl and allow the heat of the bowl to slowly melt the wafers. Lots of stirring between heating. DO NOT overheat - bad things happen....

While the wafers were melting, I prepped my work space with various shaped sprinkle hearts, sugars, chocolate covered sunflower seeds, etc, etc, etc... Pick as many or as little as you like.

When the wafers are melted, pour some into a baggie, press out the air, and seal the top. Snip off a corner of the baggie being careful not to squeeze out the candy. Premature extrusion is always messy...

Draw the outline of your heart and then fill in. If you don't think you can free hand a good heart, print a template and slide it under the wax paper. These are maybe 2 to 3 inches across.

Gently shake the cookie tray to even out any lumps that you may see. The heart will flatten out and fill in any gaps. Roll the lollipop stick in the candy and lay flat on the cookie sheet.

Decorate as desired. My Eager Assistant LOVES her sprinkles. The more the better in her opinion.

For more Valentine's Day Inspiration, Check out this Blog Hop hosted by One Tough Mother

Kristen has 11 great bloggers ready and waiting to share something new every day!

Feb. 1 – One Tough Mother Feb. 2 – DIY Dreamer

Feb. 3 – Pitter and Glink Feb. 4 – My Amazing Chaos of Life

Feb. 5 – Measure Once – Cut Twice Feb. 6 – The Brown Eyes Have It

Feb. 7 – One Tough Mother Feb. 8 – Pint-Sized Baker - Hey, that's ME!!

Feb. 9 – J Yipp Photography Feb. 10 – Bird & Tree

Feb. 11 – Growing Up Gabel Feb. 12 – Scrapity Anne

Feb. 13 – My Life and Kids Feb. 14 – One Tough Mother

I'm bring this treat over to the Dollhouse Bake Shoppe Valentine Party! Jump over to see what other fun Valentine decorations and treats will be there!

Have a Great Day!

I've shared this with the following parties: It's A Blog Party, Sweetology 101, Two Maids a Milking, BruCrew Life, It's Overflowing, Cooking with Karyn, Crazy for Crust, the Kurtz Corner, Creating Your Home, Someday Crafts, Mrs. Fox's Sweets, This Chick Cooks, Lady Behind the Curtain, Thistlewood Farm, Michelle Paige, This Southern Mom Cooks, Something Swanky, Somewhat Simple, Ginger Snaps, Alli-N-Sons, Whipper Berry, Tidy Mom, Simply Sweet Home, Petals to Picots, Blissful and Domestic, Itsy Bitsy Paper, Suzie QT Pies, Living Life Intentionally, Sweet as Sugar Cookies, Mom to 2 Posh Divas, Marvelously Monday . Everyday Sisters, Mrs. Happy Homemaker, Just a Pinch, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Making the World Cuter, Skip to My Lou, Cupcake Apothecary, I Should be Mopping the Floor, Funky Polkadot Giraffe, House of Hepworths

Whiskey Cake

2012-01-29T14:30:00.000-05:00

I wanted to bake a special cake for my husband's birthday. He's a lover of chocolate and peanut butter and I was going to plan on making him some sort of Reese's Cake. Until.... I came across a cake in the Cake Doctor book called "Mindy's Jack Cake with Tennessee Drizzle" which is made with Jack Daniels. I knew I found my cake!

I reviewed the recipe and then realize I did not have Jack Daniels and I did not want to bake a sheet cake, so I improvised and came up with my own Whiskey Cake!

I used some of Mr. Pint's Jim Beam in place of the Jack Daniels and placed my cake into two 6 inch pans and the rest of the batter into smaller 2 inch mini cheesecake pans.

I had a "vision" of these awesome cakes with caramel and ganache dripping down the sides of the cake in place of sweet butter cream frosting. I wanted it to be a strong and masculine cake and the vision in my head was just that.

However, my execution needs some refinement...

The Recipe according to the Cake Doctor: (My version)

Box of Yellow or Vanilla Cake mix with Pudding (Pillsbury Yellow Cake)
1 1/2 sticks (12 oz.) melted butter

3 eggs

1/2 cup Jack Daniels (1/2 cup Jim Beam)

3/4 cup milk

1 cup pecans (couldn't find in cupboard, must have eaten all of them)

1 cup mini chocolate chips (regular chocolate chips)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Mix cake, melted butter, milk, eggs, and whiskey in mixer until combined and pour into prepared 9 x 13 pan. Sprinkle pecans and chocolate chips and bake for 35 to 40 minutes.

Drizzle from the book:
4 tablespoons melted butter
2 tablespoons whiskey
1 tablespoon milk
2 cups powered sugar

Drizzle over cooled cake, wait 10 minutes, cut and serve.

Once they were done, I decided not to add the sugar glaze to the cake that the book had and decided to go with my vision of extreme decadence.

I took 1/2 - 3/4 cup of caramels and melted them in the microwave with 2 tablespoons of whiskey. I thought I was saving time, effort and energy by using the caramels, but I should have made my own... That's what I get for cutting corners. It just took so long for the caramel to smooth out and for the lumps to go away. Lots and lots of stirring.

Love, love, love the look of this!

When it finally was done, I poured it over the cake and LOVED the look of it just running down the sides.

With the two tiered cake, my vision called for caramel and ganache on both layers, but how do I do that?? I decided to same time, effort, and energy again, and added some melted Hot Fudge sauce to the first later. I thought I was being smart, turns out I was just cutting corners again and I should have waited until the ganache was made instead. Lesson learned.

I covered the cake and popped it in the fridge overnight, so I could get a hours of sleep.

The next morning, I made some Whiskey Ganache.

9 oz chopped milk chocolate

1 cup cream

1 tablespoon whiskey

Heat cream to just a boil. Watch it so it doesn't boil over. Pour hot cream over chopped chocolate and let the heat melt the chocolate for 5 minutes.

Stir in the whiskey gently so as to not add excess air to the ganache.

Let cool and thicken. I let mine sit for over 30 minutes. Should have put it into the fridge...

Pour the ganache over the center of the cake and allow it to fall off t he edges and pool around the bottom. Once it stopped dripping, I decorated it with gold sprinkles.

Well, it didn't turn out exactly as I envisioned it, but it sure was delicious! Mr. Pint sure did like it and that is all that matters.

Love ya, Babe!

I shared this with the following Linky Parties:
Marvelously Messy, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Add a Pinch, Skip to my Lou, It's Overflowing, Crazy for Crust, the Kurtz Corner, Someday Crafts, Mrs. Fox's Sweets, This Chick Cooks, Lady Behind the Curtain, Tidy Mom

Naan Bread

2012-01-25T21:35:00.000-05:00

Damn.... It's COLD outside!!!

I really don't like the winter. I don't like everything that comes along with the winter. The cold, the wet, the snow, the shoveling, the ice storm we had over the weekend... Yuck!

However, stew just tastes better in the winter. Some hot stew in a bowl to wrap your fingers around and warm up with your family.

To go with my stew, I made some Naan Bread.

I have bought Naan Bread from my local grocery store for paninis and pizzas. It also holds up well to dipping into soup in place of crackers.

I found a lot of recipes online and decided to make this one. I've made it twice now and LOVE it!

The first time I made it with the garlic and much prefer it with the extra kick of flavor.

Here's what you need:

1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast

1 cup warm water

1/4 cup white sugar

3 tablespoons milk

1 egg, beaten

2 teaspoons salt

4 1/2 cups bread flour

2 teaspoons minced garlic (optional)

1/4 cup butter, melted

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand about 10 minutes, until frothy. Stir in sugar, milk, egg, salt, and enough flour to make a soft dough. Knead for 6 to 8 minutes on a lightly floured surface, or until smooth. Place dough in a well oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and set aside to rise. Let it rise 1 hour, until the dough has doubled in volume.

Punch down dough, and knead in garlic. Pinch off small handfuls of dough about the size of a golf ball. Roll into balls, and place on a tray. Cover with a towel, and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.

During the second rising, preheat grill to high heat. At grill side, pulling gently around the edges of the ball of dough, stretch out into a thin circle. Lightly oil grill with melted butter. Place dough on grill, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until puffy and lightly browned. Brush uncooked side with melted butter, and turn over. Brush cooked side with melted butter, and cook until browned, another 2 to 4 minutes. Remove from grill, and continue the process until all the naan has been prepared.

On the first side. See the bubbles forming around the edges? So Good!!

Flipped over golden yumminess! This is about the size that you see sold in the store.

I also made a bunch of smaller ones.
I used my Griddler to make these.
I did try a few with both sides pressed down like a panini grill, but it did not allow the bread to bubble and rise. The grill marks were too deep and the bread browned a bit more than I wanted it to.

Stay Warm!

I shared this with: Tidy Mom, Whipper Berry, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Marvelously Messy, Add a Pinch

Blueberry Jell-O

2012-01-23T06:00:00.000-05:00

I am so not ready for Valentine's Day yet. I just don't have oomf to get into it yet. I mean, I still have Christmas stuff sitting in the basement hall waiting to be put back into their "homes" for the next 11 (soon to be 10) months.

I'm not in a pink or red or hearts and love kind of mood. At least not yet.

However, don't get the wrong impression - I'm not blue either. I just happen to have bought a ton of blueberries at Costco the other day and thought this would be a great way to use some of them up :)

I actually find the blue very calming and makes it makes me happy. I hope it brightens up your day as well :)

Here's what you need:

1 box BLUE Jell-o

1 package Knox gelatin

3/4 cup boiling water

blueberries

Here's what you do;

boil water

add jell-o and gelatin stir until dissolved

spray pan with Pam

pour into pan

add blueberries

refrigerate

eat with fingers! Enjoy :)

I used my mini bunt pan to make these little babies. You could pour it in to an 8x8 pan and just cut squares or use a cookie cutter for fun shapes.
These were great to send along to school in my daughter's lunch box. No spoon required!

She loved them!

Ok, ok... if you want to make them Valentine-y make them with strawberries instead. The kids will love them just as much!

Enjoy some giggle today!

I shared this post with some friends : One Tough Mother, Crazy for Crust, It's A Blog Party, The Kurtz Corner, Sweetology 101, Lady Behind the Curtain, Mrs. Fox's Sweets, Ginger Snap Crafts, Whipper Berry, Tidy Mom, Alli-N-Sons, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Marvelously Messy, Add a Pinch, Skip to my Lou

Rainbow Molasses Cookies

2012-01-19T20:03:00.002-05:00

I won't lie to you - these Soft Molasses Cookies were intended for Christmas. I made a TON of them and sent them off with my daughter to school in the beginning of December. We left for vacation on Dec 11 and I never did get the post ready to go. The recipe was in a cookbook at home and I wasn't going to fake a recipe I didn't make.

I left some of the extras in the freezer and pulled them out the other day when we had a slight freezer defrosting issue.... So, I wanted to transform my Christmas cookies into Happy "Anytime" Cookies!

And, that is just what I did!

I could have decorated them with Valentine's Sprinkles and hearts, but I'm not ready for that....

I wanted happy, joyful, fun for the kid, put-a-smile-on-your-face kinda cookie design!

Did I succeed?

I think so :)

Here is what you need for Soft Molasses Cookies:

1 Cup Sugar

1 Cup MELTED Shortening

1 Cup Molasses

1 beaten egg

4 teaspoon baking soda

2/3 Cup hot water

1 Tabelspoon Vanilla

5 Cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoons EACH cream of tarter, ginger, cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 Cup canned Vanilla Frosting

In a mixing bowl, combine sugar, shortening and molasses then add the egg.

Disolve baking soda in the hot water and add vanilla; mix and set aside.

Sift together the flour and spices - cream of tarter, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and salt.

Combine the water mixture with the flour mixture.

Add to mixing bowl with molasses mixture and combine on low speed.

Place dough on plastic wrap. Cover and refiedgerate for 3 hours.

Roll out dough to 1/4 inch thickness and cut into desired shapes. I needed to add a lot of extra flour to the counter because the dough was very sticky and not firm like sugar cookie dough.

Bake at 350 for 7 minutes let cool.

When ready, melt vanilla frosting in morcowave at 10 second intervals and stir well. Dip the cookies into the melted frosting and leave "nakkid" or decorate as desired.

I have a ton of sprinkles, and I enjoyed making these Rainbow themed.

Does your kid know about Roy G. Biv?? Mine does and I had that song playing in my head while I was making these cookies! Just in case you don't know who Roy G. Biv is, "He's a colorful man whose name spells out the whole color spectrum." Red, Orange, Yellow (ROY) Green (G.) Blue, Indigo, Violet (BIV)

Isn't that cute?

Only problem is... I don't have Indigo colored sprinkles. So I skipped it.

See... that's a picture from what would have been my original post.

My happy daughter so proud of all the cookies we baked together.

Like my instagram picture? You can follow me!

I also LOVE my Grid Lens app on my i-phone.

Hope this makes you happy! It worked for us!
Enjoy!

I shared this with : Tidy Mom, Alli-N-Sons, Simply Sweet Home, Blissful and Domestic, Petals to Picots, Living Life Intentionally, Add A Pinch, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Marvelously Messy, Skip to My Lou, One Tough Mother, Crazy for Crust, The Kurtz Corner, Sweetology 101, Lady Behind the Curtain, Mrs. Fox's Sweets, Ginger Snaps Crafts, Inside BruCrew Life

Chocolate Lollipops

2012-01-18T10:20:00.000-05:00

While I was on vacation in Hawaii, I learned something new about my Step-dad. He watches a lot of the Food Network - Including the Barefoot Contessa!

That's right! My Step-dad will watch football one minute and Ina Garten the next minute.

And that's ok with me. If I weren't watching with him, I would not have seen the episode where she made these.

I always have a bit of leftover chocolate when I am making my cake pops and I thought this would be a great way to use up those precious few ounces that I am reluctant to throw away, yet it's not really enough to save.

Here's what you'll need:

Melted Candy Coating (any color or flavor)

lollipop sticks

dried fruit, candy, nuts - basically anything that tastes good coated in chocolate

wax paper lined cookie sheet

Here is what I used:

Dried Kiwi

Dried Pineapple

Dried Mango

Dried Papaya

Almonds

Gummi Bears, Sour Patch Kids, and Nerds

Chocolate and White Candy Coating

Here's what you do:

Pour a small amount of melted chocolate on to the wax paper. Not too much, just enough for a 2 inch circle.

Roll 1 inch of the lollipop stick in the chocolate coating and then let lay flat.

Add toppings before it hardens.

I also swirled some white and chocolate for some extra fun!

Aren't these beautiful? The orange and yellow stands out so nicely against the white. Makes me very happy :)

The kids LOVED the gummies and sour patch kids on theirs! So much fun for them to decorate!

Like my instagram picture?? Follow me here. You don't have to have an i-fone to enjoy my posts.

Enjoy! Have a Scrumptious Day!

I have shared this post on the following blogs - check them out, too :)
Inside the BruCrew Life, Lady Behind the Curtain, Sweetology, This Chick Cooks, Mrs. Fox's Sweets, Two Maids a Milking, It's a Blog Party, Sugar and Dots, Someday Crafts, It's Overflowing, Made Famous By..., Hugs and Cookies XOXO, Fireflies and Jellybeans, Tidy Mom, Alli-N-Sons, Simply Sweet Home, Blissful and Domestic, Petals to Picots, Living Life Intentionally, Add a Pinch, Marvelously Messy, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Skip to My Lou, Crazy for Crust, One Tough Mother, The Kurtz Corner, Ginger Snap Crafts

Easy Quiche

2012-01-16T06:00:00.000-05:00

I miracle happened! My husband went to the grocery store!

I know! And he actually got what I asked him get!

Including Eggs.

Unfortunately, I was at the grocery store the day prior and bought 36 eggs.

He brought home an additional dozen.

What is a girl to do??

Make Quiche for Dinner! That's what!

I am all for minimal input and quick dinner recipes. I also NEVER have all the ingredients on hand to make something, but when I can across THIS recipe, I figured I could substitute my ingredients! Brilliant!

Here's what went into my Quiche

4 eggs

1 can (10 3/4 to 11 oz.) Cheddar cheese soup

1/2 cup milk

1 c. shredded Swiss cheese

1/2 cup diced cooked ham

6 slices bacon, cooked, drained and crumbled

1 cup spinach, cooked

1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust

Ground nutmeg

In medium bowl, beat eggs until foamy. Gradually add soup and cream, mixing well.

Sprinkle cheese, meat and vegetable evenly over pie crust.

Pour the egg/soup mixture over.

Sprinkle with nutmeg.

Bake at 350 degrees F. for 50 minutes or until center is set.

Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Makes 4-6 servings.

Yummy! Make this for your husband and enjoy!

I shared this post with:
Lady Behind the Curtain, This Chick Cooks, It's a Blog Party

Happy Birthday, Mom!

2012-01-12T23:21:00.000-05:00

Happy, Happy Birthday to my Mom!

The woman who brought me into this world and the woman who threatened to "take me out" of this world :)

The bestest Mommy in the whole wide world! (When I was 5)

The meanest, cruelest Mother in the world! (When I was 12)

The most out of touch and completely unfair woman, EVER! (When I was 16)

The best person to turn to for advice. (When I was 24)

The woman who taught me how to be a Mom. (When I was 30)

My Mom, my friend, my adviser and my confidant.

Thank you for all that you have done for me since becoming my Mom.

In celebration, I baked you this Chocolate Cake made with buttercream frosting and topped with white chocolate ganache.

Your Granddaughter knows your favorite color is RED, so that's the color we went with!

Don't worry about your diet - with a virtual cake, there are NO calories involved :)

See how considerate I am?

Oh... And here are the "Additions" that your Granddaughter made to your slice.
Notice the plethora of sprinkles! Enjoy!

I shared this post with:
Tidy Mom, Whipper Berry, It's Overflowing, Cute and Crafty, Alli N Sons, Sweet as Sugar Cookies, Sweetology

Brownie Cookie Bars

2012-01-04T23:03:00.001-05:00

First off, I would like to congratulate my TWO winners of the Chocolate Truffles with Chocolate covered Kona Coffee Beans! Brenda Combs and Karen A-B! Please send me an e-mail to collect your Truffles!

Second, I've been in a mad dash since Christmas and haven't had time to really, bake-bake. You know, from scratch... I'm a busy working mom - not super mom.

For Christmas, my husband bought me one of those funny All Edges Brownie pans. He was super excited and really, really wanted me to write about it.

So, I picked up a box of Betty Crocker Supreme Bars with Brownies AND Chocolate Chip Cookies baked together. What is not ti like?? In the words of Joey from "Friends" - "Cookies; Good! Brownies; Good!"

I followed the directions and baked them up! I was a bit worried that the mixture would not be enough. The brownie layer looked pretty thin and the cookie batter was very thick.

It was a bit difficult add the mixture into the pan. The edges made it hard to get around, but I managed.
Now, I actually really, really like the center piece of brownie the best!
I don't seek an edge or a corner, I want the soft and chewy inside piece. That is the little slice of heaven that I covet.
However... I did eat at least half the pan. I'm not that picky :)

Doesn't that look Scrumptious?!?!

These tasted GREAT! I was very happy with the outcome of the boxed cookie/brownie.

There was more than enough once they were cooked and cooled.

I would make these again! Great for picnics, bake sales, church luncheons and book clubs.

Enjoy!

I shared these Delicious Treats at: One Tough Mother, Mrs. Fox's Sweets

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T23:45:00.001-05:00

I hope that 2011 was a great year for everyone and that you are full of excitement and high hopes for 2012!

I'm back from my Christmas vacation in Hawaii and I am pooped!
(To see some of my pictures from my vacation, click here.)

Why is it that you need a vacation after the vacation?? Coming back home to laundry, putting away all of your goodies and getting over jet-lag is bad enough, but I also added Christmas to the mix. We did Christmas presents on the 25th, the 26th and 27th! Way too much excitement!

So, with that in mind, I really, really did not have time to make cookies from scratch or come up with an original idea. I've seen Midnight Clock cookies all over the internet. But, I have been running on empty... so I cheated... Sue me!

I picked up a snack size bag of Betty Crocker Sugar Cookies and followed the instructions. (I only had 1 egg in the house, so it's a good thing this only required butter and water.)
I cut them out with my cookie/biscuit cutters and placed them on my NEW Silplat cookie sheet liner.
I also stuck a few sicks on some for Cookie Pops at my daughter's request.
I baked and cooled them according to directions and then it came time to decorate!

I whipped up a modified version Royal Icing because I didn't need TONS of icing...
1 cup powered sugar
1 teaspoon Meringue Power
1 teaspoon Almond Extract
3 -5 teaspoons of water (you want it thick, yet still gooey)

I am NOT a decorated cookie expert. I've read the blogs and tried their advice, but I just don't have a great steady hand... I have to keep my decorations basic!
So, I did the outline and then came back to flood the face of the cookie. I added my decorations while the icing was still wet and then left them overnight to dry.
Seems like my Royal Icing is just a jester in the court because it did not harden completely.
I drew on the clock hands with my edible markers, but I did punch through a few times. Oops!

They tasted GREAT and my family loved them and that is all that matters :)

Anyway...

While I was gone, I hit 2,000 Facebook Fans!! Hooray for me! Thanks so much to my fans - I promised you giveaway!

Every morning I got to have a hot mug of 100% Kona Coffee! Yummy!

I know you are jealous.

http://mrbeankonacoffee.com/

Sorry!

To make up for it, I am giving away one dozen Milk Chocolate Cake Truffles topped off with a Chocolate Covered Kona Coffee Bean to two lucky fans!

Isn't that pretty? A huge cookie cutter flower!

All you have to do is leave a comment letting me know how you like your coffee. (Don't forget to leave a name so I can contact you.)

Do you drink it dark and bitter, like my husband does?

Or full of Splenda and milk, like I do?

Do you like to add a flavored creamer, like my mother?

You can even tell me your favorite evening coffee, like a Keoke Coffee.

~~You can enter NOW through Jan 7, 2012. Winner will be announced on Jan 8th.~~
The giveaway is CLOSED

Thanks again!

I shared this with the following blogs - check them out, too!

Crazy for Crust, Mrs. Fox's Sweets, Lady Behind the Curtain, Gluesticks, Food Corner, It's a Blog Party

Merry Christmas from Hawaii

2011-12-23T05:00:00.000-05:00

Mele Kalikimaka!

Merry Christmas!

My Daughter and I have been in Kona, Hawaii since Dec 10th!

I grew up on Oahu and moved away when I started college. The last time I celebrated Christmas with my mom was in 1995 (I think). So, this is my daughter's first Christmas in Hawaii with her Gramma and Papa! She's a very lucky girl to have been to Hawaii before, just not for Christmas.

Here she is at the Airport getting ready to leave the cold and nasty East Coast weather for the warm Hawaiian sunshine! It's a long trip to the West coast and then on to the islands, but once you get there, it's so worth it!

Apple Chips

2011-12-20T06:00:00.000-05:00

I'm always looking for something fast, easy and yummy for my family. When it's Healthy, that's even better! With all of the holiday Cookies starting to get passes around, I made some Apple chips instead.

Fun-Da-Middles Candy Cane Cupcakes

2011-12-17T05:00:00.000-05:00

Have you seen the new Betty Crocker Fun-Da-Middles in the grocery store?? I've seen them, but wasn't too impressed initially. But then I got into this Candy Cane fix and thought about adding Candy Cane crumbs into the center filling for special holiday treat! It turned out great!

Snowflake Cake Pops

2011-12-15T05:00:00.000-05:00

A freaky thing happened in October... It snowed!! I wasn't ready for snow before Halloween!

Now that it's December, I'm ready for some winter weather.

Guest Post At Mess for Less

2011-12-09T06:00:00.000-05:00

Today I am guest posting over at Mess for Less. Vicky does a lot of arts and crafts with her kids, so I wanted to share an edible craft project with her.

Me, My Little Cup and her friend made Gingerbread Homes out of Graham Crackers.

Check it her site to see how I made them!

Enjoy!

I've shared this post with:

Sweet Peas and Bumblebees

Tidy Mom

Living Life Intentionally

Sweet as Sugar Cookies

Mom to 2 Posh Divas

Cupcake Snow-Couple

2011-12-05T00:30:00.000-05:00

These were so fun and easy to make! I followed the directions (with a few modifications) from

"Hello, Cupcake"!

Bake some vanilla cupcakes in white liners in both regular and mini sizes.

I didn't have any coconut on hand, so I used some white pearls instead.

Mocha Chocolate Chip Cookies

2011-12-01T21:42:00.000-05:00

So, the other day I had my recipe and was getting ready to bake something special. It never got made, because I messed up the ingredient amounts and needed to find a new recipe that accommodated what I already had in the mixer.... so I made these Yummy Mocha Chocolate Chip Cookies!

Red Velvet Candy Cane Cupcakes

2011-11-28T22:16:00.000-05:00

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Did everyone have a great Thanksgiving holiday with family and/or friends? Was it total chaos or a quiet family gathering? I guess it depends on how many kids there are and if you have a crazy relative that just never knows when to shut-up or how to behave.

My family celebrated on Sunday the 20th. It was a fun time with family Wii games...

Yep! That's Mr. Quart and his Sister, battling
it out on the Wii.

... And a pre-made dinner cooked and delivered via Costco!

Please don't laugh.

It was the easiest Thanksgiving dinner I have ever had!

Easy cook and clean up.

Time with my family.

Plenty of leftovers.

And, not totally exhausted at 6:30am when my alarm clock went off on Monday morning.

I did make fresh rolls from Bakingdom and the Pumpkin Pudding Pies with real whipped cream topping. So, please, give me some credit ;)

On Thanksgiving Day, Mr. Quart was working and my Little Cup was with Grandma and I had the house to myself. It was peace and quiet and leftover pie! I watched 2 movies and a few more episodes of Mad Men while putting together scrapbooks of my daughter's 5th birthday (only 10 months later) and a our first trip to Disney World! That's two things to check off my "to do" list.

When everyone was back home and together for the weekend, and I wanted to get into the Christmas spirit!

I love candy canes - so what better treat than Candy Cane Frosting?

But this isn't regular 'ol butter cream, this is the Whipped Cream frosting that I made!

I took ten mini candy canes and crushed them in a baggie with the back of a spoon.

Then I sifted the "dust" from the chunks with a wire colander.

I made the frosting, and folded in the candy cane "dust" just until mixed. Sorry, but I really didn't measure how much I added. If I had to guess I'd say I had about 2 tablespoons of candy cane to 2 cups of frosting.

I topped off some Red Velvet Cupcakes with the frosting using a Wilton 1M tip to pipe on swirls. Be careful with the tip and the candy. There were still some larger dust pieces that did clog the tip and make some marks on the cupcakes.

Then I topped them off with the left over candy cane chunks. After an hour or so, I did notice the white frosting starting to tint pink. It didn't get bad, but it is something to be aware of.

I love, love, loved them! I would recommend this Candy Cane frosting to go with chocolate or vanilla cake. And the Red Velvet was just perfect for the holiday!

Enjoy the Sweetness of the Season!

I shared this post with a few Blog friends - check them out :)

One Tough Mother
Add a Pinch
Sweetology
Tidy Mom
Sweet as Sugar Cookies
Cupcake Apothecary

Gumdrop Turkeys

2011-11-22T08:00:00.000-05:00

I found this somewhere in blogland and pinned it! I thought the little Gumdrop Turkey was a perfect Arts and Crafts project for my Little Cup. While out picking up you last minute Thanksgiving ingredients at the store, stop by the candy or bulk foods section and pick up some supplies!

While my Little Cup and two other friends played, I got 3 plates of the "ingredients" ready for them to create! All the kids will enjoy this project while you slave away in the kitchen.

Here's what you need:

8 - 10 small gumdrops in various colors

1 large gumdrop

6 toothpicks

1 marshmallow

nerds for eyes and beak

red fruit roll up

Here's what you do:

Attach one or two gumdrops to five of the toothpicks. These are the tail feathers.

Break the last toothpick and half. This is the neck.

Attach one gumdrop to the short toothpick.

Pull off three small bits of the marshmallow and attach for the eyes and beak.

To the marshmallow, add the nerds.

Cut a small sliver from the fruit roll up for the hang down.

Add all toothpicks to the large gumdrop and Enjoy!

Watch the weight of the tail in the back. We had some issues with Turkeys falling over backwards.

The girls had a lot of fun making these and I hope that you do too!

Smile and Enjoy the Moment!

I shared this with a few blogs, Check them out!

Sumo's Sweet Stuff One Tough Mother The Kurtz Corner

Dittle Dattle Sweetology Ginger Snap Crafts

Add a Pinch It's A Blog Party Crazy for Crust

My New Favorite Frosting!

2011-11-18T06:00:00.000-05:00

This is my new FAVORITE frosting!
I found this recipe in BH&G magazine and saved it for "later". Over the weekend, I was getting out my Costco sized bag of powered sugar to make some frosting and I remembered this recipe. I didn't need to weigh out a pound of sugar or use two sticks of butter!

This was a total life saver!

It is light and fluffy. There is a hint of sweet. It won't over power your cupcake flavor.
If you are a fan of home made whipped cream, then this is for YOU!

Here's what you need:

2 Tbsp cold water

1 tsp unflavored gelatin (Knox gelatin)

2 cups heavy cream

1/4 cup granulated sugar

Here's what you do:

In a heavy pot, heat up an inch of water to a boil.

Combine cold water and gelatin in a glass measuring cup and let stand for 2 minutes.

Place the measuring cup into the boiling water and stir until the the gelatin is completely dissolved.

Remove from heat and allow the gelatin to cool at least 5 minutes.

While that is cooling, in a mixing bowl, beat heavy cream and sugar on medium speed. Once the cream starts to thicken, slowly add in the gelatin mixture.

Continue beating until stiff peaks form.

This first time, I did not add any extracts or flavors, but I want to experiment with them soon!

I placed the frosting into a piping bag and used a basic Wilton 2A tip.

Then, I just added some sugar pearls and called them Beautiful!

The gelatin will help the frosting keep its shape for 2 days, but I did find that it got slightly firm (not hard - just firm like jell-o) on the outside. The inside was still fluffy and tasted like whipped cream.

If you have used this recipe and like it, please let me know. It's new to me!

Don't bother with the Cool Whip -THIS would also be GREAT on that pumpkin pie that you have planned for Thanksgiving! Enjoy!

P.S. I would not use this frosting for cake pops... Just sayin'.

Smile and the World Smiles with You!

I shared this with:

Whipper Berry

Hoosier Homemade

Guest Post - Pumpkin Pudding Pies

2011-11-16T23:09:00.001-05:00

Hi everyone!
Just wanted to let ya'll know that I am guest blogging today over at One Tough Mother!

I made some Pumpkin Pudding Pies for Kids to decorate as Turkeys AND a Pumpkin Pudding Pie for the adults! You get the best of both worlds!

So, head on over and check it out!

Enjoy!

I Shared this on the following Blogs:
Living Life Intentionally
Whipper Berry
It's A Blog Party
The Kurtz Corner
Ginger Snap Crafts
Crazy for Crust

Sneak Peak to My Guest Post

2011-11-16T10:40:00.001-05:00

I am so super Excited!!!! I have been sharing my blog on a few Linky Parties with fellow bloggers and have made some new friends. One of my new Bloggy Friends is Kristen of One Tough Mother, and she asked if I could do a guest post for her tomorrow!

I have a confession to make - I am a guest blog virgin. Please don't laugh.

I am nervous and excited and I just want people to like me.

BTW - Thank you to my new fans for liking me :)

I see the little count go up little by little and I really appreciate the positive comments and feedback!

So, here's a Sneak Peak of what I created for One Tough Mother. Check back Thursday, 11/17, for the full blog on how to make this kid friendly, Arts and Crafts, Thanksgiving dessert!

Life should be FUN!

Chocolate Covered Cherries

2011-11-11T08:38:00.000-05:00

I wanted to test out some "early" Christmas treats.
I thought these little chocolate covered cherries would be great for:
a) Holiday Parties
b) Home made gifts
c) yourself!
And you know what? I was right!

These little bites of pure sugar sweet bliss were Fan-Tas-Tick!
Loved each and every bite... and then they were gone.
Another great thing about this treat, is that you make them 2 weeks in advance of the party. They are made so far ahead of time, you don't have to stress about them right BEFORE the event. One less thing to take care of. If only I could get my husband ready 2 weeks in advance... sigh...

I found this in my Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book
Here's what you'll need: (and here's what I made)
60 maraschino cherries with stems (maybe 20 cherries with stems)
3 tablespoons butter, softened (1T butter)
3 tablespoons corn syrup (1T corn syrup)
2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar (2/3 C powered sugar)
1 pound chocolate confectioners' coating (Baker's Dipping Chocolate )

Here's what you do:

Drain cherries on a paper napkin for several hours. Flip them a few times to ensure that all the liquid has drained out.

Mix the butter and corn syrup and sift in the powered sugar. Mix with a spoon to combine. As the mixture gets thicker, use your hands. You may have to chill it if it becomes too soft to handle.

Shape 1/2 teaspoon of the sugar around each cherry. Place the covered cherries on a baking sheet lined with wax paper and chill for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Melt the chocolate according to the directions in the microwave.

Hold the cherry by the stem and dip into the melted chocolate. Make sure to completely coat the cherry and not to allow any holes or bubbles to allow air to get to the cherry. Let the excess chocolate drip off and place back on to the wax paper.

Once all are dipped and chocolate is hardened (you may place back in fridge to speed up the process) place the cherries into a Tupperware container and ~~hide in the back~~ store in the fridge for 1 to 2 weeks. The time in the fridge allows the sugar to soften and liquefy.

One week in fridge. See how the sugar is still thick and defined?

They still tasted great! Some might prefer this texture.

Two weeks in the fridge. The sugar is melting and gives that great melt in you mouth feeling. Some might prefer this texture.

Take the cherries out of the fridge a few hours before serving them and keep the container closed. Condensation will form on the chocolate and lead to sticky, sweaty chocolate and nobody wants that. Serve on a pretty platter with other holiday treats for guests to enjoy!

*** Valentine's Day Update: Make them in the beginning of February to give to your special someone for Valentine's Day! ***

Make Ahead for a Stress Free Treat!
Enjoy!

I've shared this in the following Blogs - Check them out!
Whipper Berry
Alli n Son
One Tough Mother
The Kurtz Corner
Everything Under the Moon
It's Overflowing
Mrs. Fox's Sweets
Somewhat Simple
Something Swanky
The Crafty Blog Stalker
The D.I.Y Dreamer

Death By Chocolate Cookie

2011-11-08T22:08:00.002-05:00

Easy Peasy! Lickety Split! Death By Chocolate Cookies are sure to satisfy your chocolate tooth.

These were easy to make, considering I was recovering from surgery when I made these for me my family.

They are soft and chocolaty, and my daughter LOVED decorating them herself!

Here's what you'll need;
1 box Devil's Food Cake mix
1/2 cup melter butter
1/4 water
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cup chocolate chunks (I used a mix of dark and milk chocolate)
1/4 cup white chocolate chips

Here's what you'll do:
Preheat to 350deg F.
Combine cake mix, butter, water, egg, and vanilla on med speed for 1 minute. Stir in chocolate chunks.
Drop heaping tablespoons of dough on baking sheet 3 inches apart. I used my Norpro cookie scoop and got 3 dozen cookies.
Bake 12 - 14 minutes until puffed. Cool for 2 minutes prior to transferring to a cooling rack.
Melt white chocolate chips in a baggie in the microwave. 15 sec at 70% power and knead bag until all melted. Snip off small corner of the baggie to add some design drizzle on cookies.
Eat and enjoy!

To allow your children to have some fun - mix up a few different colors of the chocolate by either buying pre colored melting wafers, like Wilton or Make N Mold, or add OIL based coloring to the chocolate. Do NOT add waster based coloring! It will be B-A-D! and the kiddos will be S-A-D! If you don't have either the colored chocolate or oil based coloring, make some fake Royal Icing with powered sugar and milk. The kids will eat it up!

Design courtesy of my Little Cup!

Enjoy the easy things in Life!

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Fudge Part II

2011-11-07T09:14:00.000-05:00

While I was playing with my Pumpkin Butterscotch Fudge pictures, I wanted to do more than just cut out squares. So, I got out my mini fall leaf cookie cutter and got busy!

These little leaves were a great find! I've used them before for other baked goods. It's a fall decoration I use on pies and tarts to add a bit of pop. I also had some Wilton Fall Leaves sprinkle to add to my fudge to give some needed color.

I cut out the leaf shapes with the mini cutters and then melted some chocolate chips in a baggie in the microwave and drizzled it over the fudge. Then I added a few leaves to the wet chocolate and let them dry.

Since I am a cake popper at heart, I made some Fudge Pops. These were formed with the left over scraps from the leaves. I just gathered them up and formed a ball. The candy coating is red and brown that I marbled together. To see a video of my marble technique, click here.

Finally, with a few more fudge pieces, I made some Fudge Truffles. I used the same technique I did here and "tried" to be sophisticated with my designs of swirls and lines. I wan't too happy with the results, I've done better...

The Pumpkin Butterscotch Fudge was already very sweet and the extra sweetness of the candy coating was a bit too much for my pallet. The leaves were the best with just the hint of chocolate without overpowering the taste buds with a sweet bomb!

Make Life Fun!

Enjoy!

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Pumpkin Butterscotch Fudge

2011-11-06T10:22:00.000-05:00

I made Pumpkin Butterscotch FUDGE!

And I finally used my candy thermometer! I have always made fudge in the microwave. Easy, minimal mess and time involved. But, I figured if I'm gonna make it, I'm gonna make it right!

So I was trying to figure out what I could make with pumpkin that wasn't pie or bread and I saw a note about Pumpkin fudge! I started researching recipes and I came across this one! I figured it sound the best and used up my Butterscotch chips! I am so happy that I made it!

Here's what you'll need:

2 cups sugar

1 cup packed light brown sugar

3/4 cup butter

2/3 cup evaporated milk

1/2 cup pumpkin puree

2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

7 oz marshmallow creme

1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

11 oz package of Butterscotch morsels

Here's what you do:

Line a 9x13 inch baking pan with foil.

In a heavy pot combine sugar, brown sugar, milk, pumpkin, butter and spice. Bring to a full boil and stir constantly. Continue for 12 to 15 minutes until candy thermometer reached soft-ball stage, 234 to 240 degrees F.

Remove from heat and quickly add in butterscotch, marshmallow, 1/2 cup nuts and vanilla. Stir until butterscotch is completely melted and then add to pan. Add remaining 1/2 cup nuts to the top of the fudge.

Allow to cool for at least 2 hours.

Cut into 1 inch squares, removing the foil, and share with good friends!

Store in an air tight container in the fridge.

This fudge was very sweet! I made it with and without the walnuts. The walnuts helped to bring the sweetness down a bit. If you like super sweet fudge, this is the treat for you!

Enjoy a taste of Fall today! And Check out more Fudge Pictures HERE!

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Baked Apples

2011-11-02T00:39:00.000-04:00

It got cold here in the West Virginia panhandle. You may have heard about the freak snow storm we had this past Friday - in OCTOBER! ~~Winter~~ Fall is upon us. The leave are changing and the night air is cold and crisp - perfect night for Baked Apples! I had one large Honey Crisp apple left in the fridge, so this is just an Apple treat for one. (But, I did share it with my Little Cup). These apples are tart and juicy and one of the best fall apples! I can't get them any other time of year. So they are an annual treat for me!I left the apple out to warm to room temperature (which was all of 64 in the house) for 3 hours.

Wash the apple and preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Core the apple, without puncturing the bottom of the apple. I used a sharp knife and spoon to do this.

Stuff in 2 Tbls of brown sugar (I used dark brown sugar)

Top with a 1 tbls pat of butter. Sprinkle with cinnamon.

I have cinnamon sticks! Love the fresh cinnamon smell when I grate it with my Microplane grater. This is the best grater/zester that I have ever owned. FYI - Watch your finger tips and knuckles when using it.

Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes, until sugar begins to caramelize and apples are tender. Let cool for a few minutes and slice into it! The apple was warm, but not mushy. It kept a lot of the crunch and the tart apple with the dark brown sugar was so good!

You can also stuff it with your favorite apple pie flavors like chopped walnuts or pecans, raisins, dates, or craisins under the butter, or make an oatmeal crumble topping. There are so many different ways to make a baked apple. Have fun, use what you have on hand.

Enjoy and Keep life Simple!

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Halloween Cake Pops

2011-10-30T19:51:00.000-04:00

Happy Halloween!

I would like to wish everyone a happy and safe Halloween!

I made a bunch of pops for Halloween gifts.

We've got Witch's Cauldron's!

To make these, dip the pop in black candy melts and place down on wax paper. When dry, dip the flat side in some green candy melts and add the Bonez candy. Allow to dry upright.

Use orange candy melts to create the fire around the stick. Then add a touch of Red Cake Mate Gel with toothpick.

We've got Ghosts!

These cake pops were pre-shaped into a pear-ish shape. Dip into white candy melts. Just as the candy is firming up (15 to 20 seconds) place a finger at the base and "pull" down strands of candy to give it this stringy look. Add facial features with some black candy melts or a black food writers pen.

Creepy, Crawly Spiders!

Dip these critters into black candy melts and add black licorice legs and eye balls. My Little Cup helped me add the legs to these guys. She also insisted that they were "Happy Spiders" because there were getting candy! The red is the Cake Mate Red Gel again.

Trick-Or-Treat Buckets!

Dip cake pops into orange candy melts and place down on wax paper to dry. Dip the flat side into white candy melts and dip into fun colored sprinkles or colored chips. Add some black licorice as the handle and decorate a jack-o-lantern face with black candy melts.

Eye Ball Martini, anyone?

I made these eye balls and my daughter just happened to have watched Shrek earlier in the day, so I made an eye ball Martini just for Shrek!

These were dipped in white candy melts and placed upright to dry. I added the dark green candy wafer to a few, then added the lighter green candy melts to the others. Add some iris establishments with black and white candy and add the red veins with the Red Cake Mate gel.

Glowing Jack-o-Lanterns

Again, my Little Cup was watching Monsters Vs. Aliens and the Mutant Pumpkins short and the Jack-o-Lanterns came to life to take over and eat all the Halloween Candy. Their featured glowed blue/green in the show and looked pretty fierce. I could not reproduce the effect, so this is what ya get!

With you cake balls, take a stick and make 5 indention's around the ball and give it a little squish on the top to widen it. Dip into orange candy melts and add a pretzel stick top for the stem. Add green features and enjoy!

Happy, Happy Halloween!

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Halloween Cake

2011-10-28T21:43:00.000-04:00

FYI- I am a Halloween Baby! My mother always teased me about her long delivery and ultimate C-section in the wee hours of October 31. She was very upset at the Doctors for not delivering me sooner - like on Oct 30. I, on the other hand, LOVE that my Birthday is on Halloween. When I was a kid, I told every house that it was also my birthday and they would give me extra candy. When I was 9, I had a broken leg and had to gimp around Trick-or-Treating. That was the best Halloween Candy Haul EVER! I even kept on Trick-or-Treating into High School, because, you know, it's my BIRTHDAY!

Now, Halloween is more about by Little Cup's Trick-or-Treating experience. She is quite timid and scared of just about everything, but if you tell her she'll get candy if she walks past the fake ghost, she'll muster up the courage and get her treat!

So, since the holiday is more for my daughter, I wanted to make a fun Halloween/ Birthday cake for myself and this is what I made.

All Recipes from Better Homes &Garden Cook Book!
Devil's Food Cake
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup shortening
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
Preheat oven to 350 deg F

Combine dry ingredients. Add milk, shortening and vanilla. Mix on low to combine then turn to high for 2 mins. Add eggs and beat for 2 minutes more. Pour into prepared 9 inch round pans cook for 30 -35 minutes.

Yellow Cake
3 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
1 Tbls baking powder
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 softened butter
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
a few drops of orange food coloring
preheat oven to 375 deg F

Combine dry ingredients. Add milk, shortening and vanilla. Mix on low to combine then turn to high for 2 minutes. Add eggs and coloring and beat for 2 minutes more. Pour into prepared 9 inch round pans cook for 30 -35 minutes.

Frosting 1
4 cups powered sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/3 cup butter
1/4 cup milk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Beat butter and cocoa until fluffy. Gradually add 2 cups powered sugar and slowly add milk and vanilla. Add remaining powered sugar until frosting consistency is reached.

Frosting 2
2 1/2 cups powered sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup butter
3 1/2 tsp boiling water
1/2 tsp vanilla

Combine all ingredients on low speed until combined. Beat for 1 min on med speed.

I knew I was going to have a TON of chocolate frosting on top of the cake and I was not too thrilled with making another batch of frosting and using even MORE confectioner's sugar, so I took some canned frosting and tinted it orange and used that between layers. Please don't judge.

The chocolate cake was very rich and moist! I liked it a lot!

The vanilla cake was eh. It was a bit dry. Maybe I over cooked it, maybe the food coloring messes with it... I don't know. I'm not sure if I'll make it again. There are so many vanilla recipes to try!

Frosting one was a crusting buttercream which was very good. I was hoping that frosting two would be fudgy-er, but it was still good.

WARNING: If you let your 5 year old lick the frosting from the beaters, a Chocolate Zombie may result. Take Caution and be prepared!

Happy Birthday to ME!

Enjoy :)

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Mini Chocolate Tarts

2011-10-25T08:05:00.000-04:00

What to do with all of your left over Halloween chocolate candy??
Make mini chocolate tarts, of course!

These were super easy for the kids to help with. My daughter had some friends over and they were practicing for Trick-or-Treating while waiting for the delicious treats to melt.

Here's what you'll need.
1 box of mini-fillo shells (15 to a box) find them in the freezer section
mini candies - Rolos, Kisses, mini Peanut butter cups, chopped up Butterfingers,
Snickers, Milky Way, etc.
Garnish- Whipped cream, Cool Whip, marshmallows, nuts, more chocolate... just go nuts!
SPRINKLES!!!

Preheat the oven to 350 deg F.
You can place the frozen shells on a foil lined cookie sheet, or place them in a mini cupcake pan like we did.
Unwrap the candy and place them in the shells.
Bake for 5 minutes.
Using the back of a spoon, press down on the melted candy and flatten out the chocolate.
If you want to melt marshmallows on top, place the pan back in to the oven to soften the marshmallows or put them under a gas broiler to "roast" them.
Let cool for 5 minutes, so as not to burn your tongue and eat all warm and gooey.
Or let cool to room temperature to add whip cream.

Add toppings and decorate!

The girls (and adults) LOVED these mini tarts!
They were pop in your mouth good!
Easy and fast to make!
Uses up that Halloween candy, that you KNOW will be sitting there taunting you until Christmas!

You know you want some!

Enjoy!

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French Bread

2011-10-23T19:39:00.000-04:00

I love to bake fresh bread when it gets cold out. There are so many easy recipes that are fast and easy to make. Don't be scared to make a fresh loaf tonight with some chili, stew, crock pot roast beef. Oh.My.Gosh! That all sounds so good. If you have been following me on facebook, then you know that I have been suffering from some gall bladder issues. Not to get too scientific on ya, but the gall bladder secretes bile to aid in the digestion of fat. As a result, when I eat fatty foods, my gall bladder can't do its job properly and it feels like I was hit in the stomach with a baseball bat. Yeah, it really is that bad.

So, I am on a NO FAT diet. Which I really hate because I have been all protein and low sugars for so long, that I just don't know what to eat. Well, except for bread and hard candies....

So, this is one of my go to bread pages and recipe for French Bread at Bread World. This really is an easy recipe to make and follow. Everyone in the family loves it and it's good for two to three days. Pull it out of the oven, let it rest for 20 minutes, slice in add some butter. Enjoy!

Bake some Love tonight!

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Adding Sprinkles to a Cake Pop

2011-10-19T09:17:00.000-04:00

Sprinkles, sprinkles, sprinkles! I LOVE me some sprinkles!

I hate walking on them.

I hate sweeping them up.

I hate finding them hiding in the corners of my kitchen.

I hate spending lots of $$$ just to have them scatter across my counter tops.

I hate ending up with a blue sprinkle in the the pink sprinkles!

So... In the spirit of "Works for me Wednesday", here's what I do.

I take an 8 inch strip of foil and rip it in half.

I take the half and I fold up the edges to make 4 sides.

I hold my pop over the foil square and sprinkle the sprinkles on to the pop.

When all of the sprinkling is done, I make a little funnel and pour it back into the container.

No mess.

No waste.

No mixed sprinkles.

I also have a small funnel that I use to get sprinkles back into those multi-chamber containers with the six different sprinkles mix. You know the one. The nice thing about the funnel, is that it has a wide base to allow the larger sprinkles through.

Add some Sparkle to Today!

Be Creative!

Easy Homemade Applesauce

2011-10-17T10:48:00.001-04:00

I could not believe how easy and fast it was to make applesauce! I'm not sure why I thought it would be difficult, but it wasn't. If you can make homemade mashed potatoes, you can make applesauce.

I went through my "Joy of Cooking" book and found this recipe.

Here's what you'll need:

3 pounds of apples - have a variety of 3

1/2 cup apple juice or cider

1/2 squeezed lemon juice

1 large cinnamon stick

1/2 cup sugar - white or turbinado or 6 Tbls honey

Optional - 1/2 tsp ground ginger

Optional - 1/2 tsp ground mace

Optional - 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Wash and thinly slice up the apples. I had Granny Smith, Gala, and Honey Crisp apples.

Place in a heavy cooking pot with the juice and cinnamon sticks and squeeze 1/2 lemon over.

Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir often over low heat.

Apples should be tender, but nut mushy.

Add the sugar or honey and any optional ingredients you wish to flavor. FYI - I did not care for the mace.

Once the sugar is dissolved, remove the cinnamon stick and use a potato masher to mush into sauce. Depending on your level of chunkiness desired, use a spoon for much chunky, a masher for medium chunky and a food processor for a smooth sauce. Give your kids a job and let them mush up the apples.

I made 1/3 of this recipe, and it was the perfect amount for my family of 3. I like medium chunky and I did not add any optional ingredients into my sauce. I left the skins on, again like mashed potatoes. Next time, I would cut the apple slices in half to have smaller pieces of peel in my sauce.

Make it along with some pork chops tonight!

Everyday should be this sweet!

Enjoy

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Mummy Pretzels

2011-10-15T21:04:00.000-04:00

These Mummies are fast and easy for you kids to make!

Here's what you need!

12 Pretzel Rods
Black Cookie Icing
24 Candy Eyes-mini m&m's, candy sprinkles, sugar eyes, fondant, etc.
6 oz. White Chocolate
Cookie Sheet lined with wax paper
Baggie

Here's what you do!

Line up pretzel rod on the wax paper. Add a dot of black cookie icing. This is the glue that'll hold the eyes in place.
Place the eyes on the icing.

Melt white chocolate in microwave or over double boiler. Spoon into baggie, press out air, and seal. Snip off a corner of the baggie. How much you cut will determine how thin or thick your "rags" will be.

Squeeze the chocolate in a zig-zag motion across the pretzel avoiding the eyes. Do two passes over the pretzel for a random criss-cross patter for the rags.

Let dry for 5 minutes in the fridge.

Enjoy! At least it should keep the kids busy for 5 minutes...

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Maple Apple Walnut Tarts

2011-10-13T22:13:00.001-04:00

I was standing in line at the grocery store the other day, so I picked up a little cookbook that they have sitting next to the tabloids and magazines. I was flipping through it and decided on a whim to buy it. I mean, I have enough cookbooks. I don't need more books that never get used. I could stay busy FOREVER with The Joy of Cooking Book. But, I hate long recipes. I hate recipes that need to be exact and precise. I'm all for fast and easy and what I have on hand.

So I came home with this little Pillsbury Holiday Dessert recipe book and sat down with my daughter and asked her what Mommy should make. One bummer about The Joy of Cooking is no pictures. I want pictures. I need pictures.

Their Maple Apple Walnut Tart sang to me. I had apples. I had walnuts. I had maple syrup. AND I had a frozen pie crust waiting to be used. So, this is what I made.

For a full size Tart or 8 mini tarts - You will need:
frozen pie crust package (2 crusts)
2 eggs
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 cup melted butter
2 Tbls flour
dash of salt
2 cups sliced peeled apples
3/4 cup chopped walnuts

Heat oven to 350 deg F. Unroll pie crust and line tart pan. Trim off edges.

Mix eggs, brown sugar, syrup, butter, flour and salt. Stir in walnuts and apples. Pour into pie pan. Make fancy decorations out of extra crust to add to top. I used mini leaf cookie cutters.

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes for a full size tart, 30 minutes for the mini tarts or until golden brown. Cool 2 hours before serving with whipped cream and syrup.

These had the perfect crunch from the walnuts and sweet from the maple syrup all coming together with the apples... mmmmmm! Serve it with whipped cream or ice cream with some maple syrup drizzled over top.

Make Some Yummy Tonight!

Enjoy

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Pint Sized Cheesecakes

2011-10-12T08:25:00.000-04:00

I was so inspired when I saw these Cheesecakes! Incredible! Wonderful! Stunning!

I soooo wanted to make them! I found the pans online, but then looked around locally for them. Yeah, not so easy when you local shopping centers consist of Kohl's and Wal-Mart. I had to venture out to the city! Over the hills and through the woods (literally) to the Outlet Mall. I found my pan at a Corningware store. They have little disks that pop out of the bottoms so you just push the disk up and remove them from the pan. It wasn't as easy as it seems because my fingers are short and they are tall. I did have to smooth out a few fingerprints from the sides. But, it still worked great!

So for my first test run, I went and made some Jell-O No Bake Cheesecake mix. Yes, from the box (eek!) - you know- for testing purposes. Wouldn't want to waste good cream cheese. From the box mix I got 6 pint sized cheesecakes. I followed the directions and then split the batter in half and colored one yellow and one orange. Added the layers, set in the fridge, and whipped some cream to top it off.

NEXT time, I'll make the real deal and see how it goes. I'll use more filling - to me, these look a bit stumpy. I want to try different flavors and colors. I am so excited to make some cheesecake treats!

FYI - those Gummy Candy Corns on top were GROSS! I spit them out! Even the kids did not like them! Blech! But at least they looked pretty for the picture.

Apple Turnovers

2011-10-11T09:15:00.000-04:00

Apple Turnovers ... OR Homemade Hostess Apple Pie Take-a-longs!

I found the recipe here, ignored the directions and made my own! You should follow the instructions.... I had way too much apple filling and small turnovers.

But small is good if you're on a diet :)

Here is what you'll need:
Frozen Puff Pastry package
2 -3 apples (different ones add more flavor)
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 tsp flour
1/4 squeezed lemon (1 tsp lemon juice)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg (optional)
1 beaten egg
Cookie sheet lined with parchment paper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Remove Puff Pastry from freezer and wrapper and allow to defrost.

Wash and chop up apples.

Mix together in a bowl, apples, brown sugar, flour, lemon, cinnamon and nutmeg.

Once Puff Pastry is thawed, cut into 9 equal squares. They will be roughly 3 x 3 inch squares.

I used my Wilton Pastry Wheel. I use it for cutting dough, fondant, and soft candy. Love it!

I made turnovers, but the "Instructions" are different. Place pastry square on a parchment lined cookie sheet. I pulled my square a bit long and folded it over some of the apple filling. Cut a crescent or L shape in the top of the dough to act as a vent. Press edges to seal.

Brush beaten egg on top of turnovers and cook in oven for 20 minutes until golden brown.

Golden, Yummy Goodness! Serve hot for breakfast or dessert (or lunch). If you want the "full" turnover experience, make a glaze with 1 1/2 cup confectioners sugar and 3 to 4 Tsp. milk.

Drizzle over top.

So stinkin' Good!!!

Go make some memories!

Enjoy!

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Homemade Butterfinger Pops

2011-10-09T21:16:00.001-04:00

Have I mentioned I have a sweet tooth? I first heard about homemade butterfinger candy, like, last week! Since starting this blog, I have seen to soooo many different blogs with wonderful pictures and recipes. Honestly, I had no idea that there were a gazillion cooking blogs and about 90% of those were for sweets. I have a long list of great things I want to make.

So, let's start with these!

Here's what you need:
1/2 pound Candy Corns
1/2 cup Peanut Butter
Chocolate Candy Melts
lollipop sticks

Here's what you do:
1. Melt candy corns in a microwave safe bowl at 30 second intervals at 50% power. It will take about 2 to 3 minutes total to melt all the candy corn. Stir every 30 seconds.

2. Mix in peanut butter. The mixture will be thick and sticky. Use a rubber spatula covered in Crisco to keep it from sticking. Then I used a metal spoon to scrap off the inside of the bowl to get all of the melted candy corn mixed in.

3. Spray mini cupcake pan with cooking spray and fill cavities with the mixture. Let chill in fridge for 1 hour.

4. Form balls and rechill for 30 minutes.

5. Take 5 out of the fridge at a time and add the stick. Dip the stick in melted candy melts then into the butterfinger ball. Place them back in the fridge until you have them all done.

6. Take 1 at a time out of the fridge and dip pop into melted candy melts. Tap off excess and stand up in cake pop stand or Styrofoam. Decorate as desired.

This will easily make 2 dozen pops.
FYI - because they never got very hard, they did threaten to fall off the stick several times. It may be less frustrating to make pops with the stick up (candy apply style).

I had some Keebler Mini Graham Cracker pie pans, so I filled them with the extra melted mixture. Place them in the fridge to harden. Then, I added the Jack-o-Lantern face with the melted chocolate.

The homemade Butterfinger doesn't harden quite like the candy bar does. It stays a bit chewy, not so much flaky.

This recipe easily doubles if you want to make an 8x8 pan and cut out rectangles to make candy bars. Be sure to line the pan with parchment paper to make it easy to remove.

These were fun and easy to make :)

Enjoy!

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Elphaba and Glinda Cake Pops

2011-10-07T22:44:00.000-04:00

Why are Halloween Witches always bad, evil, and ugly? There is the Wicked Witch of the West (and East), but there is also Glinda, the Good Witch of the North! Many of you know them from the Wizard of Oz and most recently from the book and screenplay Wicked. I've read all of the Wicked books by Gregory Maguire with much interest! I love the books.... but I digress.... There is a Good Witch - not a Princess - a Witch!

These cake pops took more time than I thought they would. I tried different hats, I tried different hair, but I ended up with what worked best for me.

Are you a good witch or a bad witch?

Here is how I made these:

Elphaba Glinda

Hat: Chococone Candy Hat: Bugle Chip

Brim: Necco Waffer Candy Brim: Necco Waffer Candy

Hair: Black Shoestring Licorice Hair: Yellow Shoestring licorice

Eyes: Orange Jimmies Eyes: Black Licorice sliced very thin

Nose: Point of a Star candy Nose: Candy coating dot

Mouth: Black Cookie Icing Mouth: Small Heart Sprinkle

1. Make Cake Pops. I colored white candy melts with some green and pink, oil based food coloring. Don't use water based coloring; it'll seize the chocolate.

2. I used Wilton Black Candy melts for Ephalba's hat. If you can't find it in a craft store, you'll have to order it online from Wilton.com. Dip the candy base into the chocolate and secure to Necco wafer. Let dry. Completely dip the hat in the candy melts, remove with a fork and tap off excess like tapping a truffle (see video here). Lay aside to dry completely.
For Glinda's hat, I attached a Bugle chip to a Necco wafer and dipped into pink candy melts. Remove with fork, tap off excess and set aside.

3. Dip the cake pop into the melted candy, tap off excess and start attaching pre-cut licorice hair. If you go all the way around the pop you'll need a lot of licorice. I did not attach the hair to the top of the head - there is a bald spot up there for the hat to sit on. I found that the added hair was too bumpy and the hat did not sit nicely.

4. Work fast and attach the eyes, (Elphaba's) nose and (Glinda's) mouth with a tweezers. Don't let fat fingers mess up the faces. Set aside to dry in a cake pop stand or Styrofoam.

5. Pops and hats should be dry now. Dip the bald head into melted candy and attach the hat.

6. Decorate features.
For Elphaba I used some black decorator gel to add detail to the hat. Her mouth is Wilton black Cookie Icing that I applied with a toothpick. I also added a wart to her nose.
For Glinda I used pink Pearl Dust on her hat and cheeks. To apply dry pearl dust watch the video here. Using the black cookie icing and toothpick, I added the eyelashes and a beauty mark.

Have fun! I'm sure your Princess will approve of these witches!

Enjoy!

This was Shared with
One Tough Mother
Mrs Happy Homemaker
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Strawberry Ice Cream

2011-10-06T08:10:00.000-04:00

It's the end of summer...Oh heck - it's October, it's really Fall... Strawberries are still in the stores, but alas... it's time to put away the berries. Whether you can them, jam them or freeze them, they won't be the same again until Spring.

The strawberries in my fridge were looking a bit past the due date, so I decided to send them off in style! I made Strawberry Ice Cream with them!

I posted a simple Vanilla ice cream which has a great cream base by Ben & Jerry.

This cream base is even EASIER!! (Still from the Ben & Jerry Ice Cream book)

You will need:

2 Cups of Light Cream

1 Cup cold sweetened condensed milk

1 pint strawberries, clean and hulled

1/3 Cup sugar

Lemon Juice

Thinly slice and chop up the strawberries. Mix in the Sugar and squeeze 1/2 a lemon over the fruit.

Cover and place it in the fridge for an hour.

Chopped strawberries before going in the fridge

Chopped strawberries after chilling out in fridge

Mix the cream and condensed milk in a bowl then add to you Ice Cream Maker.

I have an ice cream bowl that attaches to my Kitchen Aid - LOVE IT!

You can add the strawberries at the beginning of the mixing or wait, like I did, until the last 2 minutes before adding the strawberries for a chunkier ice cream. You can also puree the strawberries and have a more uniform pink ice cream without fruit chunks. Do what makes you happy.

Place the soft ice cream into a freezer safe container and freeze overnight. You'll get 2 Pints from this recipe! More to share.

Enjoy the End of the Season - Fall is knockin' on the door!

Banana Bread with Drunken Pineapple

2011-10-04T07:44:00.001-04:00

I have used this Banana Bread recipe for years! I have it written on a little piece of paper that is stuck to the side of my fridge. I have no idea where I got it from, but it's the only one I use and make. It's a great, basic recipe that is fast and easy to make.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit

Pineapple chunks swimming in Whiskey

2 dried, sugared pineapple rings

Sliced thin, but still chunky

Pour whiskey or rum over to cover pineapple slices and let soak

1/3 cup Butter

2/3 cup Sugar

2 eggs

2 -3 Bananas (1 cup mashed)

1 3/4 cup All-purpose flour

2 tsp Baking Powder

1/4 tsp Baking Soda

1/2 tsp salt

Uncooked batter

Cream the butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time to incorporate. Add banana in chunks. I don't pre-mash the bananas. I just break it up and let the Kitchen Aid do the work.

To that, add the dry ingredients and blend just until mixed.

Drain pineapple chunks and fold in to batter.

Now, if you are concerned about the alcohol in the pineapples, don't be. I don't know all of the science, but the alcohol evaporates in the oven while cooking. Doing some research online, I've found that after 1 hour of baking about 25% of the alcohol remains. I used maybe 1/3 cup of alcohol and then dumped it out. All that was left was what the pineapple soaked up. If you are still worried, just omit soaking the pineapple.

Fresh from the oven

Spray bread dish or muffin pan with Pam with flour (or butter and flour) and pour batter in. Bake for 1 hour to 1+10 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

I start checking around 50 minutes.

The smell in the house is Wonderful.

This is a dense bread that is very filling.

Other favorites to add in are:

Raisins, Walnuts and Pecans, Chocolate Chips, Grated Apples, and Cinnamon.

Enjoy a warm loaf of Banana bread on a cold morning - or afternoon.

Melted butter.... warm bread...mmmm....

With a glass of Milk - to make it healthy

Yes, this was my lunch!

Enjoy this toasted the next day. It won't hold up in a top loading toaster, but if you have a toaster oven - pop it in and enjoy for a few mornings.

Enjoy!

Happy Baking :)

This was shared on It's A Blog Party!

Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Ice Cream

2011-10-03T05:00:00.000-04:00

So, I had some "extra" peanut butter cookie dough (not sure how that happened) and I was craving some ice cream.... So genius me.... Combined the two.

I made my homemade vanilla ice cream and added in little chunks of the cookie dough.

Form small-ish cookie dough balls and set into freezer while the ice cream is churning.

Add in the peanut butter cookie dough to the ice cream as you remove it from the ice cream bowl attachment and are filling up a Tupperware container.

Layer the dough and ice cream and then give it a quick turn before placing it into the freezer.

You can also just sprinkle the cookie dough on top of ice cream.

Just a few bites of heaven.

I was tempted to thin out the cookie dough and make it more like a ribbon in the ice cream, but I thought that would be saved for another time. Like with a chocolate ribbon all combined and yummy deliciousness just bursting in my mouth. Some combinations just can't be beat.

Happy Baking!

Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Cups

2011-09-30T07:00:00.000-04:00

Peanut Butter Week!

You say you are no good at cake pops...

You ask me for help with pops falling off sticks...

You want to know how to make great looking truffles...

Well, look no further! These candy molds may be the answer you are looking for!

Make your Peanut Butter Cookie Dough (or any cake pop batter). Scoop it, roll it, and refrigerate it.

Melt your candy wafers.

Add a teaspoon of melted chocolate to the mold filling it about half way.

Fill mild half way

Place a cookie dough ball into the wet candy. Do not push the dough into the chocolate. Allow the weight of the dough to fill up the cavity and push the chocolate up to the lip. If you put too much candy in, it will over flow a bit. Just scrap it away with a butter knife or small spatula. Work only a few cups at a time. Don't fill up all cavities and then add all the balls. You risk the first ones hardening up.

Add the cookie dough not pushing to bottom

Place the tray in the fridge for 5 minutes to allow the chocolate to harden and the dough ball to re-chill. The cups will pop out of the container with a slight push on the bottoms.

I melted peanut butter flavored candy melts in a small bowl and then dipped the top half of the dough ball.

The chocolate cup base is great to hold on to. Just don't use "hot" fingers and
melt the chocolate. Rinse hands in cold water and dry well prior to handling chocolate.

Just dip the top of the dough forming a seal at the middle.

When dipping the top, ensure that all sides of the dough are covered. If there are any gaps between the chocolate and peanut butter tops, just use a tooth pick with a touch of candy to fill in the holes. The chocolate coating seals in the yummy treat .

If you would like to take it a step farther and add a stick. Add it before you dip the top. Using a knife tip, make a small hole in the bottom of the cup (or find a weak point in the chocolate), dip the lollipop stick into some candy melts and insert. Allow 5 minutes for the chocolate at the base to harden prior to dipping the top. This method makes a really cute Cupcake Pop!

These can be stored in a container on the counter for a few days or in the fridge for about 2 weeks.

Enjoy!

Nutty Bar Pops Giveaway!

2011-09-29T08:33:00.000-04:00

Peanut Butter Week - and A Giveaway!

First, I'm going to show you how I made these delicious Little Debbie Nutty Bar Cookie Pops!

Then I'm going to let you know how to WIN them!

Ritz Peanut Butter No Bake Cookies

2011-09-28T08:00:00.000-04:00

Peanut Butter Week

I love baking with my Little Cup, especially when there is no baking required!

Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Truffles

2011-09-27T08:41:00.001-04:00

Peanut Butter Week!

After I made my Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Pops, I moved on to truffles!

Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Pops!

2011-09-26T09:54:00.003-04:00

Welcome to Peanut Butter Week!!

I love Peanut Butter and my heart aches for all of the kids that I know who have peanut allergies. Cooking in my household would be so different if my Little Cup was allergic to peanuts, but thank goodness, she's not.

I have seen so many Chocolate Chip cookie dough truffles and pops recently. I wanted to make some and almost did, until I saw this post and knew I had to made them instead.

Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

2011-09-22T10:27:00.002-04:00

I love making homemade ice cream. It is simple to make and so much easier now that I have the Kitchen Aid ice cream bowl attachment!

This is an easy no-cook ice cream from the Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream & Dessert Cook Book. It never let's me down. Make it the day before or early in the morning to allow time to harden in the freezer.

Oreo Cakesters Pops

2011-09-19T11:20:00.000-04:00

Who does not love an Oreo?

NOBODY!

So for a donation to my daughter's school, I made some Oreo Cake Pops!

Unconventional Rainbow Jell-O

2011-09-17T15:19:00.002-04:00

My Little Cup Looooves Jell-o! She asks for it all the time. Problem is, I never have it made and ready when she wants some. For a special treat, I made her some Rainbow Jell-O, the Pint Sized way!

Little Debbie Swiss Rolls Cake Pops

2011-09-14T05:00:00.000-04:00

I've been on a Little Debbie kick recently... So I decided to pick up some Swiss Rolls and try my hand at turning these into cake pops!