Ugliest. Cake. Ever.

To celebrate Charlotte's first birthday I wanted to make a cake and try using cake decorating supplies for the first time.  I wanted to make a chocolate stout cake with a raspberry frosting using fresh raspberries. My idea was to make a two tiered cake with frosting rosettes around the whole cake. In my mind this was going to be beautiful and girlish.  I  was off to a good start with the cake portion of this project. The chocolate stout batter was delicious.  And then I hit the frosting.  What a nightmare.  I could not figure out how to get the filling and frosting thick enough to keep it from running off the cake.  I made several attempts to thicken the frosting but failed miserably.  This has to be the worst looking cake I've ever made.  

This beautiful cake is from i-heart-baking.blogspot.com.  This is what I wished my cake looked like.  Instead it looked like this:

 At this point in putting the cake together I should have realized it would have been better to walk away. Instead I persisted and ended up with a cake like this:

Hurray!  Hahaha, I have to laugh at myself for this.  After all the effort and thought I put into this cake it looked awful.  Also, if it looks like I threw handfuls of sprinkles at the cake, its because I did! I don't think I will have a career in cake decorating. At least it tasted pretty good.  But the battle between me and the frosting isn't over yet.  I still have a birthday and St. Patty's day next month to test out my skills.  I know I can get it to work.  Round Two between me and frosting is just around the corner!

Boston Terrier Sugar Cookies

Well, Charlotte's 1st birthday is a week from today.  I can't believe she is almost 1.  It feels like it wasn't very long ago that I brought the little munchkin home but at the same time I cannot imagine my life without her in it.

This weekend I started getting ready for her birthday.  Yes, I am one of those pet owners that likes to celebrate their pet's birthday and special occasions.  Anyways, yesterday Brandy came over and helped me bake and decorate some sugar cookies in the shape of boston terriers.  They turned out really cute. Some of them even look like Charlotte.  They were very simple to make as well.  To make the frosting Brandy whipped up some powder sugar icing that we found a recipe for in the Betty Crocker cook book and then added black icing paste by Wilton that we found at Joann Fabrics.  I'm glad Brandy was there to help me because I don't think I could have decorated 30 cookies by myself!

I put the cookies in the freezer to save for next weekend when we throw a small birthday party for Charlotte.  I still have some craft projects for the party that I need to throw in between now and Sunday.  We'll see how much I get done this week!

Superbowl Feast (Pancake Maple and Bacon Cupcakes and Hashbrown Skillet Dish)

 The Superbowl Sunday crew

The first Superbowl I remember watching was Superbowl XXX when I was in 4th grade.  I think this was the first time we threw a party because I remember my mom getting excited about decorating for the game.  She was busy making football shaped brownies with icing stitches when I asked her who was playing in the game.  She stopped, looked at me, and started laughing and said she had no idea.  I had to go ask my aunt, who actually watched sports, to find out it was the Cowboys and Steelers playing.  I also remember having a blast because at half time we went sledding down the hill outside our backyard when we lived on Nob Hill in Klamath Falls.

I've always had fond memories of watching Superbowl since this first one.  Even if its just for the food! This year for Superbowl Sunday I decided to take a different route when it came to food.  Usually I make buffalo wings and some sort of chili or dip but this Sunday wee served breakfast items, fruit and veggies.

The Pancake cupcake with maple, cream cheese frosting topped with crisp bacon strips.

How to:

Follow the pancake recipe on the side of a Bisquick box.

Line a cupcake tin with paper wrappers and fill with Bisquick mixture.

Bake cupcakes at 350 degrees for 12-17 mins or until lightly browned.

Icing:

11 oz. cream cheese

3/4 cup butter

3 cups powder sugar

1/2 maple syrup

Mix cream cheese and butter together until smooth.  Then add in powder sugar and syrup.  Then spread on cooled cupcakes.  Add fresh crisp bacon on top.

 Yummy!  Tasted just like a pancake and bacon breakfast.

 I also made a country skillet dish that is amazing.  

In a separate pan, brown some sausage on medium heat.

In a large pot, cook a package of hash browns (I dethawed them over night), 1 medium diced onion, and 1 diced green pepper. And to hash browns and cook on medium.  When the hash browns are heated and the veggies are tender, add in the cooked sausage and stir together.  Then using a large soup ladle, make 5-6 bowl shaped dips in the potato mixture.  Crack an egg into each bowl shape.  The bowls keep the eggs from running everywhere. You should have 5 or 6 eggs in there.  Keep the heat to medium and cover the pot with a lid to cook the eggs faster.  It will take about 20mins. to cook the eggs.  Once they are mostly white, take off the stove and add shredded cheddar, avocado and tomato.  Add sour cream, pepper, salsa or any other toppings you wish.

I'm enjoying my meal with a nice cold brew.

Oz and Jesse hanging out on the couch that actually watched the game.

The kids were engaged in their own game of chase and wrestling.

Yay for football!  I think Brandy was the only one who was watching the game and not the dogs.

Wheat and Corn Free Treats for your Dog

This morning I made Charlotte some delicious dog cookies.  Since Charlotte is a breed that gets lots of food allergies I make sure not to feed her any corn or wheat products because these are common food allergies for dogs.  I found these two recipes from a really cute website called Life with Lulu and Wally too!  Its about two Boston terriers and their daily antics.


The site has some great homemade dog treat recipes, both wheat and wheat free versions.

So this morning I made the Wheat Free Blueberry Flax Dog Cookies.


Mine looked different than the ones from Life with Lulu, mainly because she cut hers into nice looking squares while I rushed it and threw them on the tray in giant heaps!

The ingredients are:
2     cups rice flour
3/8  cup flax meal
1/4  cup blueberries
1/8  cup coconut oil
1/8  cup apple sauce
1     cup water

Bake at 350 degrees for 30nmins or until they turn light brown.  Then, turn off the oven and leave them inside to slowly cool for an hour with the oven door closed to keep in the heat.

I couldn't find any flax meal at the grocery store so I skipped this part, but I think the cookies turned out just fine.  They were a little on the chewy side but Charlotte still enjoyed them.  She loves blueberries!  Even I sampled them and thought they were pretty darn good.

That looks like a happy customer to me

 Mmm, thanks mom!

 Then, we made some peanut butter cookies using more rice flour. Another wheat free recipe from Life with Lulu.

The ingredients for this recipe are:
1   cup peanut butter
2   cups rice flour
1   cup milk

Mix ingredients together. Roll flat so dough is 1/4 inch thick.  Cut dough into squares or use whatever cookie cutter you have in the kitchen and place on a baking pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 15 mins and let cool before feeding to your hungry kitchen helper like Charlotte.


This recipe made a lot of peanut butter cookies.  I gave some away and am saving some for another dog treat recipe coming later this month.  They turned out delicious.  I sampled these ones too.  If they had any sugar added to them they would taste just like regular peanut butter cookies.

 While I was busy making the cookies, Charlotte was busy cleaning the peanut butter container out for mom.  What a nice girl.

Melted Snowman Cookies

 I found a cute tutorial for making melted snowman cookie recipe online and HAD to make it.  I didn't have a lot of time so mine were a little sloppy but they were still cute and tasty!

This is the original snowman cookies and recipe found at http://www.trulycustomcakery.com/tutorials/25.html.  Theirs is much more professional than mine but mine took a lot less effort.

 I also made a snowman cheese ball...another great idea off line.  

Here is the table spread from the party.  I made fondue, many different cupcakes, cheese and meats, snowmen cookies, deviled eggs and pigs in a blanket.

Recipe: Blackberry Smoothie Served with a Purple Mustache

 I've been making the most out of the  black berries from the vines in the backyard.  Mostly I've been adding them to smoothies in the morning for breakfast.  They are fast and easy and very filling.  I add different ingredients depending on what is in the fridge.  For this one I used black berries, strawberries, a banana, a peach, a few scoops of ice cream, milk and Odwalla super food smoothie mix.  I usually just wing it when it comes to measurements, so add what ever you feel like.  Oz's niece and nephew were visiting last week and I made these smoothies for the kids and they loved them.  They got a little silly and ended up with smoothie mustaches on their faces.

 Oz with his nephew Dominic and niece Imani.

Imani with smoothie on her face!

Recipe: Straight from the Garden Blueberry Zucchini Muffins with Cream Cheese Filling

 For this dessert I actually combined three different recipes; zucchini bread, blueberry muffins and cream cheese filling used in pumpkin rolls.

 I used 4 cups of blueberries I bought Monday at the blueberry farm and 2 small zucchinis that were ripe in my garden.  (I have TONS more blueberries and zucchini I still need to find recipes for this week).


Cream Cheese Filling

Combine in a mixer

• 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
• 6 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 cup powdered sugar

Mix until smooth and set aside



Cream Cheese Filling

  For the Muffins:
In a bowl combine and mix

• 3 eggs
• 1 cup olive oil
• 3 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cups sugar

Then gentle stir in 2 cups shredded zucchini

In another bowl mix:

• 3 cups flour
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. cinnamon

Stir into zucchini mixture and then gently fold in 2 cups of blueberries.  Spoon a little bit of mixture into baking cups.  Make sure to leave enough room for cream cheese and another layer of zucchini dough.  Spoon into the center of each cup 1 tsp. cream cheese.  Then top with more zucchini dough.  Bake on 350 degrees for about 20 mins.  Let cool and enjoy.



Spoon in cream cheese mixture




They are looking tasty already




Fresh from the oven




 These muffins were very tasty.  Any food with cream cheese is a winner in my book.  I had enough cream cheese mixture and fresh produce to make two batches of muffins plus a mini bread loaf as well.  I liked these best served warm.  Top them off with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  I'm sending a batch to work tomorrow for the co-workers.

Bacon and Apple Breakfast Burritos

Today I made some delicious and easy breakfast burritos using bacon and apples as the main ingredients.  They were very tasty.  The salt from the bacon really complimented the apple's sweetness.

I used:

• 5 strips organic bacon
• 8 eggs
• 3 slices of cheese diced
• 1 apple diced
• 1 small scallion diced
• tortillas

Cook bacon on grill or on stove.  While that is going saute scallion for 5-8 mins with small amount of water in a large pot.  Take pot off heat and mix in eggs, diced cheese and diced apple.  Put back on burner on medium heat until egg is fully cooked.  Prepare tortilla and add 1-2 strips bacon and a spoonful of egg mixture.  Fold tortilla and enjoy.

 I really like using apples in my cooking these days, I've been adding it to my grilled cheese and now to my burritos.  I really liked this dish and it was easy to make.  It took less than 20 min.

Recipe: Martha Stewart's Firework Cookies

If you've perused the magazine collections while at a check out line in a grocery store this past month you may have noticed some red and white and blue star burst cookies on the cover of the July issue of Martha Stewart magazine. 

Pretty awesome pinwheel cookies right?  After seeing these, I just had to make them.  Usually I'm not that into holidays outside of November/December but this year I decided I wanted to go all out for 4th of July and make some Patriotic cookies!  So here's what happened:

I was off to a good start until 5 mins into making my cookie dough when I dropped an entire eggshell into the mixer while it was on high.  I thought about leaving them in there, but then I decided no one at the picnic tomorrow would want to eat crunchy cookies.  I had to take out all my dough and dig through to make sure I didn't leave any pieces behind. 

After that little incident it was smooth sailing until I got to the part of making the icing.  The recipe called for meringue powder which I hadn't even heard of until reading the ingredients list.  I followed the icing instructions pretty well I thought.  I mixed it until it looked like Elmer's glue, just like the recipe said.  Then I added my different colors and spread them on the cookies just like Martha (so I thought).  After I finished decorating all my cookies they slowly started melting to one side and dribbling off the cookie edges, taking my pinwheel patterns with them.  So now I am left with sad little cookies look like they were left in the sun too long. 

I'm not sure where I went wrong.  Maybe my cookies weren't cool enough or maybe I should have mixed the icing longer or maybe I didn't add enough powdered sugar.  Either way, it was fun to make them and I am still excited to show them off tomorrow.  I also have festively dyed red and blue palms to match my outfit tomorrow!

The cookies shown below are the best ones of the batch.  The firework didn't totally slide off the cookie yet.  I had extra icing left over and added solid colors to half my cookies and topped them off with sprinkles.  You can't mess sprinkles up...right?

Recipe: Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler

Its time to pick rhubarb and make some tasty dishes with its bright red stalks.  I came across this recipe for Rhubarb cobbler on allrecipes.com.  It turned out quite delicious for my first go at baking a rhubarb dessert.  I also added strawberries to my version.  I thought it was extra sweet this way. 

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup orange juice (I used pineapple mango juice)
• 4 cups sliced fresh or frozen rhubarb
• (I added 1 cup sliced strawberries )
•  
• DUMPLINGS:
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup quick-cooking oats
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• TOPPING:
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions 

In a saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch. Gradually stir in water and orange juice. Cook and stir until thickened and clear. Add rhubarb and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat. Pour into a 2-qt. baking dish. For dumplings, combine flours, oats, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Combine milk and oil; add to flour mixture, stirring lightly until blended. Spoon over rhubarb. Combine topping ingredients; sprinkle over dumplings. Bake at 425 degrees F for 40 minutes. 

 

Result

 I had enough rhubarb to make 2 1/2 full sized cobblers so I made extra for the Schmidts crew and for another friend. Everyone that tried it has loved it so far (unless they were just afraid to hurt my feelings)!  I thought it was the perfect dessert to start off the summer.  The only part of the recipe I would change would be to make a second batch of the dumplings for the top.  I feel like most recipes skimp on the crust or the shell, in this case it was the dumplings, so I would have made more to fill in the top a little better.  I also would add some ice cream or whip cream to compliment the dish.  I would definitely recommend making this dessert if you have any rhubarb on hand.

Recipe: Stuffed Zucchini and Potato Side Dish

Ever since coming home from spring break I have not been in the mood to cook at all.  Last week I finally decided I need to start making real food for dinner so I tried out a few new recipes.  This night I made a stuffed zucchini dish with baby russet potatoes with mashed peas.  We had lots of leftovers from a few different nights and I used them to fill the zucchini dish.

Stuffed Zucchini: 

Take two zucchini and cut lengthwise and scoop out contents and leave the shell intact.  Fill shells with cooked brown rice (I just put in enough to cover the bottom of the zucchini shells, maybe 1/4 a cup)  Then in a mixing bowl cut up the contents of the zucchini and mix with chopped mushrooms, cooked Italian sausage ( I used a grilled bratwurst since that's what we had on hand), chopped sweet onion and Parmesan cheese.  Put mixture onto of rice inside zucchini shell. Bake on 350 degrees for 20 mins.

Potatoes:

Boil 10 baby russet potatoes until you can stick them through with a fork.  Meanwhile heat on the stove fresh or frozen peas until hot.  Take off stove and mash peas with chives, basil, pepper and salt.  When potatoes are done cut in half and scoop peas on top.

The Result:

The zucchini was delicious.  I really enjoyed this dish. I recommend trying this recipe. The potatoes were not my favorite.  It tasted like they were missing something.  I took the potato recipe from the current issue from Martha Stewart magazine and tweaked it.  Maybe I should have stuck with her instructions but I still don't think it would have tasted better.  Next time I would probably just top the potatoes with some plain yogurt or sour cream. 

Harry Potter Madness 2

This is the second of three posts recaping the Harry Potter party I hosted this past weekend.  Today's post will be about the Harry Potter menu. 

Lets start with the drinks:

Butterbeer- 1 liter of rootbeer soda
                   1 quart heavy cream
                   1 bottle butterscotch schnapps (or 1 container of butterscotch
                   topping for non 21ers)

Serve warm.  A crockpot works great.
(Everyone loved this recipe.  I found a few recipes online and I altered them to come up with this one and it was delicious.)


Witch's Brew- 1 gallon apple cider
                       1 1/2 cup orange juice
                       1/4 cup lemon juice
                        1/2 cup brown sugar
                       1/2 tub caramel
                       2-3 cinnamon sticks
Stick in a crockpot on low.  This is a friend's recipe and we have been serving it at all our holiday party's since we discovered it.

Swamp Punch-  1 tub sorbert (lime is a good color and flavor but
                         if you can't find it use rainbow sorbet)

                         1 liter lemon lime soda

Food:

Troll droppings (stuffed artichoke mushrooms)

Devil's eyes (deviled eggs with olive eyes)

Witch fingers and squash dip (pilsbury breadsticks with almond finger nail and dip served in a carved out pumpkin)

Bandaged toes (weenies wrapped in pilsbury cresent roll).  These were so popular they were gone before I could take a picture.  This one is from Women's Day magazine.

Spiderweb nacho platter (put sour cream in a plastic bag, snip a small hole in the tip and create a spider web pattern.)

Dessert:

Pumpkin pasties (they taste like mini pumpkin pies)

Here I'm making Chocolate frogs with a peanut butter center

This is what I imagine the Harry Potter Chocolate frogs look like

Fossiled cookies.  ( once you roll out each cookie on a baking sheet use your choice of critters to imprint them on the center of the cookie)

I also served Hagrid's coffee cake (mini zucchini muffins) and a Bloody Body Parts candy platter my mom found at the Halloween supply store