Color Spots June 3, 2012

A Color Spot using a quick picture I took of some garlic -- right before I chopped it up for dinner :)

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Keepin' it together

I picked up another tip from Pinterest (boy, this just doesn't get old, does it?). It's a great way to make baked potatoes and you can find the recipe on Seasaltwithfood. The first time I made these I had a little trouble with the cuts--it's really hard to stop just short of the bottom of the potato, especially if you have a really sharp knife :D

I usually ended up with two potato-halfes which I just pushed back together.
Then I had an idea. I wedged the potato between two chopsticks, so they stopped the knife on the down-cut keeping the potato in one piece. Brilliant!  I still need to improve on this method, as it got a bit hard to hold the two chopsticks together and holding on to the potato. Maybe I'll make a little potato-frame for next time.

 

Well, dinner turned out pretty well. Besides the awesome potatoes, I made some Schnitzel and everyone loved it! Mission accomplished.

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Speedy Pancakes

Once again, I found some awesome recipes on Pinterest; like these Pop Up Pancakes from makes and takes. So I was all ready to try this one on Sunday, until I noticed that I didn't have enough eggs for the batter--Rats!
Well, not to be outsmarted by my evil fridge (don't ask, that's another story), I was determined to make these yummy Pancake-muffin goodies. Luckily had just discovered Organic Batter Blaster. I'd seen it at the store and just thought I'd try it--it's pancake batter in a can (kind of like whipped cream)! Also, it's a lot quicker than making it from scratch (score!) They came out awesome; everyone loved them and I'll definitely be making them again. Yay Pinterest!

Don't these look scrumptious?

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Ready to take over the world

They're done! My Easter Bunny Ear Cupcakes are done. YAY! And, I must say, they don't look half bad--of course they don't look as fabulous as the one's from the Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle blog, but not bad for a first. After the prep work on Friday, we got down to the decorating Saturday. The Royal icing came out great (couldn't get it any stiffer, I had to scrape it off the whisk), and Katie really enjoyed decorating the cookies we made from the dough we didn't need for the ears.

After the cupcakes were done, I noticed that I didn't have any black decorations for the bunny eyes, so they ended up pink--maybe the bunnies have springtime allergies :D
Anyway, here is the bunny army ready to take over the world. These are the good ones, I have another plate with the 'zombie' bunnies that didn't come out so good.

And here are some of the cookies we made too.

Can't you just taste all that sugary goodness? Happy Easter everyone!!

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Hoppy Holidays

The other day, I saw the cutest ever (I think) Easter cupcakes on Pinterest--where else? They are a bit more work to prepare than your ordinary cupcake, since the toppers, in this case the bunny ears, are made of cookies. But they look so stinkin' cute, I think I will do the extra step and make the cookies--it's not like they're going to waste, right? Well, not in in this house, let me tell you.
So, Katie and I started making the cookies yesterday; she was a big help and did all the measuring and most of the cookie cutting (and, of course, some of the tasting too--hey, we gotta make sure they're done right!)
We used the Basic Sugar Cookie recipe from the Sweet Adventures of Sugar Belle site, which is a fabulous site; you should really go and check it out. The recipe is so simple and the cookies came out awesome!

Next, we'll make the Royal Icing (the recipe is also from the SugarBelle site) and prep the ears.

Stay tuned for updates on the cupcakes...

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Color Spots Jan 14, 2012

Wow, my first post in the new year--and the month is already half over! Well, now that all the Christmas decorations have been packed and put away for next Christmas, I can concentrate on the upcoming task of the annual tax return (blech). Not a task I am looking forward to. Every year, I have every intention of doing it really early jut to get it done and out of the way, and then I end up scrambling the last week before the deadline to finish it! Well, not this year, she said with every confidence; this year will be different! No, really, I mean it!
These Banana Nut Muffins I found on the Betty Crocker site look like a welcomed distraction from the long, strenuous process of receipt organization and figuring out deductions. I bet you wondered how I was going to get from Taxes to food to Color Spots, didn't you? Easy, there is always a way to connect food to just about any task you can think of, right?

Source: www.bettycrocker.com

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That's it for Summer

Looks like Summer's over. One day it was nice and 80 degrees and the next day it was about 20 degrees colder. And soon after, the rain was back. Don't get me wrong, living in the great Pacific Northwest, I like the rain--just not non-stop for, you know, four months or so. I also enjoy nice, cool, sunny Fall days. Which reminds me, I better get started making Nick's Halloween costume. He wants to be Minecraft Steve (don't ask). I tried to get the Steve-Head online, but apparently it's quite popular and was sold out everywhere! But I managed to find some instructions to make it myself--sheesh, what did we ever do before the internet? Well, I better start getting out the Halloween decorations--time flies, right? I've picked up some great ideas on Pinterest already.
In the meantime, here is a shot from our last official summer outdoor cooking extravaganza. Nice, yummy corn to bid summer farewell. I got the idea for the color swatches from the Coffeeshop Blog. I used Kuler to pull the colors from the picture and create my own color swatch. If you don't feel like making your own, you can download Rita's here:

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On Top of Spaghetti...

Recently, it's been taking a little longer to get meals on the table; not because I take a long time to cook--ok, maybe a little, but because if it looks good, I want to take a picture of it.
Ok, that didn't come out right--I meant if it looks what I call Pin-worthy, I'll want to find a nice plate or bowl and take a couple of shots (maybe a few more than a couple). I'm not saying that our other meals aren't good, or we eat off plastic dishes--not that there's anything wrong with that :D, but I have started a small collection of props for food photos and take every opportunity to try them out.
No one has complained yet; you know, as in family members milling around, tapping their feet, snarling "let's go Mom, make with the picture, we're hungry!!!" but I expect it's just a matter of time. Hey, a girl has to practice to get better at it, right? I managed to get a couple of pictures (and by a couple, I mean two--they're my first--you gotta start somewhere) on Foodgawker (yay), but also have had a fair amount of rejections (boo). So, I'll just keep practicing and submitting and checking out other food blogs for inspiration and tips.
Anyway, here's a shot of my homemade spaghetti and meatballs. One of these days I'll have to write down the recipe--it usually varies a little. Sometimes I use fresh garlic and sometimes I use left-over roasted garlic from my (also homemade) garlic butter.
Ok, all this talk about food has made me hungry. Let's eat!

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Summer Yummies

Now that it appears as though Summer has finally arrived in the Pacific Northwest, I'm taking every opportunity to get some outdoor shots before the rainy season returns.
So, when I saw beautiful sunlight this morning, I grabbed my little table, my tripod, and my camera and set up on the front porch. I had just bought some lovely little mini watermelons and decided to cut them up and prepare a little summer fruit snack. No recipe, just yummy fruit :D

 

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Mmmmm, bacon

I found this recipe while looking at the latest uploads to pinterest and thought immediately that I must.try.this.asap!! Because, of course, it has bacon and eggs and toast and, did I mention bacon? Oh, I did, well, it does and as we all know, if it has bacon, it must be good. :D
Turns out this recipe comes from the Martha Stewart website (should have guessed that one) and is incredibly easy to do, except the part where you have to wait patiently (about 20 minutes) while your breakfast cups of bacony goodness are getting ready in the oven, but it's worth the wait. Trust me.
For my first time, I think they came out pretty darn good. Hubbs and kids loved them. Personally I like them a bit softer, so next time I might take a few out early just for me.

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Second Harvest

Just picked another bowl of red currants fresh from the garden. I started this little plant from a 1 gallon container I bought at a garden center a few years ago. I don't have enough yet for a pie or any other recipe that requires more than a couple of cups worth, but we have fun picking them and watching more berries grow each year. In the meantime, I love them on ice cream or in my morning yogurt. Yum!

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Bite Sized Bits of Yummy Goodness

I love coffee. A lot. Drink it daily. I am a Starbucks Gold Card holder (got mine before my husband--hehe, sorry sweetie, have to rub it in) Well, as we all know afternoon coffee must have some sort of treat, right? Right? I can't hear you! Just repeat after me: Why yes, yes it does. What kind of treat were you thinking?

I'm so glad you asked. Starbucks started to offer Cake Pops and the whole family loved them. Of course I immediately started to wonder how these were made (don't ask, I'm like that with a lot of stuff) and how I could make them myself (and cheaper, of course).
Enter Google Search (of course--how else can anyone find anything?), type in Cake Pops and the first thing that pops (hehe) up is the Bakerella site. Jackpot! So, for the next couple of hours I got sucked into the yummy world of mini cakey goodness in the form of Cake Pops, Cake Balls and Cupcake Balls.  And it just so happened that the first post I see is the announcement for the release of the Cake Pops Book (yay). Off to Amazon to check it out.

I decided to get the Kindle version, so I could prop up the iPad in the kitchen and follow along. Of course getting all the supplies wasn't quite as easy as I thought (it never is, isn't it?). I ended up going to three different stores to get everything. Now, what to make...hmmm. oh, I know. Katie, my 6 Year old, loves pigs. I think that would work for a first attempt. Let's see, what do I need:

• 1 box of Cake Mix - check (I used Lemon)
• 1 can of frosting - check (I used whipped vanilla--yum)
• Pink Candy Melt - check
• Lollipop Sticks - check
• Candy-covered Sunflower seeds (for the ears) - check
• Pink M&M's for the snout - Uh Oh, hitting a snag here--no pink stuff anywhere. Note to self: stock up on pink candy next Valentines Day and/or Easter (and hide them so you don't accidentally eat them). After consulting with a very helpful World Market employee, we came up with Sweet Tarts. OK, that'll work - check
• Edible Ink Pens for Eyes - check

OK, ready to go. First, the cake. If you don't have the book, you can get the basic instructions on the Bakerella site--and sooo many wonderful examples of all kinds of sweet stuff you can imagine. Be warned, though, you will be drooling! Here how I did it:

1. Prepare the cake mix as directed on the box and let it cool completely.
2. Crumble into a large bowl (make sure the little ones wash their hands for this if they're helping)
3. Add about 3/4 of the frosting and mix. This is the messy, sticky part, so you may want to use gloves.
4. Roll your cake balls. I'm not that good at estimating, so I used a small ice cream scoop. Plus, the kids were helping and this was easier for them. I had them do the scooping and I did the rolling.
5. Chill for a couple of hours. If your freezer is big enough, you can put them in there for about 15 minutes (according to the book)
6. Melt your candy dip either in the microwave or in a double-boiler. The microwave might sound easier, but I have yet to be able to get it right. The last time I tried to melt chocolate chips for a yummy strawberry dip desert, I couldn't get the stuff to melt, so I kept microwaving it until I ended up with a stinky/burnt/curdling mess (blargh). We don't mention this incident in this family. So, double-boiler it is.
7. Now comes the fun part. Dip the lollipop stick into the candy melt (just the tip) and gently push into a cake ball. While it's still wet, push two little pink sunflower seeds into the head for the piggy ears.
8. To dry (harden), push the sticks into a block of Styrofoam.
9. When the little piggies are dry we can add the snouts. Feel free to test or, you know, dispose of cracked or broken pops. Gotta make sure they, uhh, taste right, right? I just used one of the lollipop sticks to dip into the candy melt, spread some on the snout-candy and apply to pig face--tadaa, almost done.
10. All that's left is to add the eyes. Now, here's where I had problems. From what I'd read, you must use the edible ink pens, right? Well, I must have gotten different pens, because they were so hard that they started to dent the candy coating without leaving any ink--rats! Luckily, I had also bought some candy colors, just in case I couldn't get pink. I just used a toothpick dipped in candy color and lightly dab on the eyes (worked great for adding the mouth, too)

And that's it! You're done. Oh, don't forget to do some more testing. You never know--gotta make sure they're still good.
P.S.: Like the Frames? They are free from Isabelle Lafrance Photography. Check it out, there are lots of cool freebies, actions and textures.

Hey, it's a Blog-Hop! Amy McMaster from Olive Juice Shoppe started a Fall Recipe Blog Hop and I decided to add my Pink Army of Cake Pop Pigs. This is my first Blog Hop, so I'm excited to see how many great recipes will show up. Add yours today.

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