Pretzel Bites - Take 2

I can tell it's close to the start of school.

The attitude of my oldest has gotten worse exponentially.  If this is what I'm getting at 7, I hate to see what she's like at 14...and 16...and...yeah, you get the picture.

Needless to say, the days have been rough around here.  I've got my foot planted on her backside and am ready to shove her out the door...I just need those darn school doors to open!

To beat the attitude, I thought, why not cook with the kids.  We could make something to take to their teachers for Back to School night tomorrow night.

I decided to go with an old faithful.  Chocolate Pretzel Bites.  You can't go wrong with chocolate and pretzels, plus this is super-duper easy for the kids to help with.

Last time we made them, I let Maddie pick the Hershey's Kisses and she went with the hugs.  If I had really been thinking (well, thinking of things other than how to get her in school ASAP), I would have stuck with the hugs.  They would have looked like white tiger stripes when melted (the school mascot), but we chose the cookies and cream Kisses instead...they still kind of go with the whole mascot thing.  And with a blue M&M on top and wrapped in cute little treat bags, they look very Caldwell Elementary festive. 

Now, I also decided to grab a bag of the caramel Kisses and some Reese's Pieces.  I absolutely love caramel and chocolate and peanut butter....reminds me of a Take 5.  This is how I had wanted to make them the first time, but I wasn't able to find the caramel Kisses, but today I scored them.

Now you know how when you are really excited about something...and how you picture the end result in your head...and it's perfect and beautiful and awesome and all those fantastic words?  Well, that's where I was as I spread a bazillion pretzels on the cookie sheet to make this batch of pretzel bites.

And then the perfectness all came crashing down.

After 2 minutes, the Kisses were not melted.  After another 2, barely melted.  Another minute and the very tippy top was melted, so I went for one more minute and then pulled the sheet out.  I mean, how can chocolate not be melted after 6 minutes?  Well, when you are a Hershey's Caramel Kiss, I guess this is possible.  I'm not sure what they do to make these things...or what they are even made out of, but the darn things were barely melted, so when I went to press the Reese's Pieces into the tops, the didn't squish down all ooey gooey like they should have...they kind of cracked and flopped and pretty much ended up looking like crap.

I should have known it wasn't going to work out my picture-perfect way....the attitude issues and rough day all around should have been my clue.

But I'm here to tell you, if you ever want to try making pretzel bites, just stay away from the caramel ones...it's really not worth the time. 

Chocolate Caramel Bacon Brownies

So our beach trips with my husband's friends are notorious for being on the pricey side.  Not because of travel costs or too many side trips taken, too many souvenirs bought or an expensive rental house.  Nope.  When it comes down to it, our trip cost is only inflated by one thing....food.

Overbuying tends to be a problem on the trip, although there is one person who takes overbuying to an entirely new level.

Four years ago, we sent him to the store to buy some frozen ravioli for dinner.  Four bags would have been sufficient...he came back with 8...or maybe it was more.  My mind has tried to block out the whole incident....we ate ravioli for way too many meals.

This year we were spared from ravioli....but not from the overbuying.  This year's product of choice: bacon.  An absurd amount of bacon.  I think in one trip alone, a minimum of 5 lbs of bacon was purchased.  Seriously?!

I mean, don't get me wrong...bacon is great, especially when it is baked to extra crispy so it melts in your mouth when you eat it.  But after eating bacon three mornings in a row and knowing there were still unopened packages of bacon in the refrigerator, well, I'm sure you get the picture.

While browsing around on Pinterest one evening, I happened to peruse my "Sweet Eats" board and there, in all it's glory, was my pin for Pecan, Bourbon and Bacon Brownies from Bluebonnets and Brownies.  YES!   A way to use up some of the vast amounts of bacon still left in the fridge while creating something chocolaty good.

I didn't make these exact brownies because I didn't have everything needed to make them.  (Although I WILL make these exact ones someday...I mean bourbon and pecans and brownies?!  What could be better than that?!)  But I figured I could come up with something similar using a simple box mix from the store and doctoring it up a bit.

Most people in the house were skeptical...I mean not many people think of throwing bacon in brownie mix.  But convince them I did, and 30 minutes later the most ooey, gooey, chocolaty brownies came out of the oven with just the tiniest hint of saltiness from the added bacon.  Not much else to say but yummo!

Chocolate Pretzel Bites

Seriously, I couldn't have married into a better situation if I tried again.

We all know keeping up with friends from our past is hard work (although definitely made easier since the invention of Facebook).  And when it comes to keeping up with friends, it's usually the women that have held on to their best buds.  Men, not so much.

So it is just completely amazing to me that after 30+ years, my husband is still tight as can be with the friends he used to run wild through the neighborhood with as a kid.  Not something you normally see.

And what's cooler...they actually converge on OBX, NC once a year for some good old family fun (with geeky board gaming thrown in for good measure, because you can't have a trip and not play board games...it just isn't going to happen.)

This year, after a two year hiatus due to some cash flow issues, we were finally able to rejoin the ranks on THE TRIP, as it has been named.

Now what you need to know about the trip is that when it comes to food, well, let's just say the menu for the week tends to include a lot of sugar with some alcohol and chips thrown in for good measure.  Drumsticks are the mainstay in the freezer and it isn't uncommon to find 2-3 packs of Oreos (or beach cookies, as they were dubbed by my oldest daughter back when she was 3) sitting open on the counter.

So really, I couldn't have been dropped into a better situation this year...the baking bug hit and I had a houseful of people who were more than willing to eat whatever I made, meaning less for me to have to eat...although don't get me wrong, I partook in A LOT of what I made.

I took along my Carcassonne cookies from my previous post.  Those were a HUGE hit...especially with the kids.  I think every kid made sure that they had the chance to eat a cookie of every color...made for a lot of hyperactive kids.

I also took along the rest of the chocolate chip cookies I made...you know, the ones from my famous friend Megan.  And I was right...they are the best cookies ever...they didn't even make it through 24 hours.

But I couldn't just stop there.  No...all my browsing through Pinterest found quite a few yummy things that just had to be tried.  First up....Chocolate Pretzel Bites.

A quick Google search reveals that they are nothing new...seems everyone is making them with all sorts of different color combinations, depending on what holiday is right around the corner.  I wanted to try something a little different, but being stuck on a small island chain where you basically have one store to shop at and it only carries a small variety of any given product left me unable to try what I wanted....so I let Maddie be the picker, and she chose Hershey's Hugs with regular M&Ms.

They didn't turn out half bad, even if they weren't what I originally wanted.  (But that's okay because that just means I can make them at a later date.)  They were even pretty simple to make...and would have been more simple if a certain 7-year old would have helped me unwrap all those darn Hershey's Kisses, but we won't go there.

Anyway, if you are looking for a good sweet/salty treat to take to a get-together...you know, a Bunco night or a meeting of the nerd herd for some serious gaming, you just might want to check this babies out...you won't be let down.

Carcassonne Cookies

So here are the cookies I made with my first hand-crafted cookie cutter.  The cookies themselves turned out great.  I'm especially happy with the cookie recipe I decided to use.  It's Bridget's (from Bake at 350) Vanilla-Almond Sugar Cookie recipe and it is fan-tast-tic!!  I rolled my cookies a little thinner than normal and some of them ended up breaking while icing them, so I will definitely make sure to roll them 1/4" thick next time.  But that aside, they dough was so easy to work with and the taste was out of this world!!!

As for the actual decorating....at least the people that were eating them didn't care what they looked like.  I completely forgot about icing them until the night before we were to leave for our trip.  I knew there wouldn't be enough time for them to dry, so I opted to drag the icing and bottles with me.  In theory, this should have been no problem....but I'm pretty sure leaving tub-fulls of royal icing to swelter in a 90+ degree car for many hours was not one of my brigher ideas.  The icing didn't completely mix smoothly and I kept getting clogs in the bottles...and as usual I made the icing a little too runny and had no extra powdered sugar with me to thicken it back up.  But at that point I just wanted to get the darn things iced...and this is the final result.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

It's been awhile since I've eaten a good chocolate chip cookie.

Now don't get me wrong.  I've didn't say I haven't eaten chocolate chip cookies, because that's just plain absurd.  It's just been awhile since I've made chocolate chip cookies that weren't sliced off a log, scooped out of a plastic tub or mixed up from a pouch. 

But when you are craving...I mean really craving something, you know only the best will satisfy.  So I turned to my old high school yearbook where buried deep amongst big-banged girls and mulleted guys, I have preserved the one and only go-to recipe for chocolate chip cookies.

One of my best friends from high school, Megan, made the meanest chocolate chip cookie around.  I lived for the days she would whip up a batch and bring some to school to share with the rest of us.  I mean, these cookies were to die for.  I could never understand what she did to make them so good because I just could never make mine taste as good as hers.  (Here's a hint...she did not follow the recipe on the back of the Toll House bag.)  Her cookies just melted in your mouth and made you want another....but the catch was, you really shouldn't eat another.  They were so darn rich and good that a second one usually made me sick to my stomach which seems like a weird thing to say about a cookie that you absolutely love, but it is what it is.

Today I decided it had been too long since I'd had one (coming up on 20 years, to be exact), so I dug out the ol' yearbook and found the recipe...and promptly realized two things: 1) I did not have enough eggs to make the recipe and 2) when Megan gave me this secret recipe, she forgot to say what temperature to bake them at.  The egg problem was solved quite easily...a great friend gave me the one egg I needed.  As for the oven temp, I decided to just wing it and go with 350 degrees...because it seems like everything bakes at that temp.

I have to say, the cookies turned out almost exactly how I remembered them.  Not 100% the same, but I'm thinking that's just the extra added "Megan" touch that only she will ever be able to give to these cookies.  Still, it's nice to know when I need a blast from the past, I can come almost close enough to the real thing.

Now I'm off with my cookie and a glass of milk...I think some old 90210 re-runs are in order.

*Oh, and if you are wondering where the recipe is, it's hidden safely in my yearbook...according to what is written, there are only 3 others besides Megan who have this "special" recipe.  If you really want some, just ask me to make them for you!

Chocolate Cherry Milkshake

I just love the days leading up to vacation.  The anticipation of fun times to be had, only overshadowed by the hassle of having to do endless loads of laundry so that everyone in the family will be able to take along their most favored outfits.  And then there's the week of the most random dinners as you attempt to "clean out" the fridge so you aren't throwing away spoiled food when you come home.

That's where we are this week.  Between the mounds of laundry and the endless batches of cookies I'm trying to get baked to take with us, I'm pretty much pooped.  Dinner was less than stellar...one of those fend-for-yourself nights that our kids love because they get the Mac & Cheese and hot dogs they'd eat for every meal if we let them.  As I scrounged for what random items would become my dinner, I realized that we still have over half a bag of fresh cherries sitting in the fridge.  Seriously, what am I going to do with these?!  The kids aren't eating through them quick enough and it's just too many cherries for me to eat by myself in 3 days.  Then I happened to see a coupon magnet-ed to the freezer door...for a free Blizzard from DQ.  And it hit me.  I could make a homemade blizzard-y thing and I could throw in cherries...and chocolate, because you can't have a Blizzard and not have chocolate in it.  And so quick as a wink, I whipped up a batch of chocolate cherry milkshakes.  No real recipe, because let's face it, everyone has there preference for how thick a shake/Blizzard/Frosty thing should be.  I just tossed in some vanilla ice cream, a handful of fresh, pitted cherries, some milk and a few good squeezes of chocolate shop.  A few pulses in the Magic Bullet, a sprinkle of mini chocolate chips and BEHOLD....the Chocolate Cherry Milkshake.  The kids woofed it down (oh...not surprised about this at all) and asked for seconds.  (This was no surprise either.)  And then my oldest (the pickiest kid ever) claimed that it was better than a Blizzard from DQ.  Awesome...looks like we can save ourselves a little bit of money and start making our own concoctions here at home.

DIY Cookie Cutters

I heart Callye over at The Sweet Adventures of Sugarbelle.  Seriously, her cookies are simply amazing...I could only wish to be half as good as her.  A couple of months ago, she wrote a blog post about how she made her own custom cookie cutter.  I immediately tucked that bit of knowledge in the back of my brain because I knew someday I would need a cookie cutter that I couldn't buy.  Well, today is that day.

While out running errands this afternoon, I stopped by the local cake shop to pick up some things I need for the cookies I'm taking on our beach vacation next week....with the entire family in tow.  Of course, I couldn't just run in and grab what I needed...I had to peruse the cookie cutter section because there just might be something I needed.  The kids were of course touching everything...declaring we needed this cutter or that.  One of the cutters my youngest pointed out made my husband remark that it looked like a Meeple.

Now I know what you are thinking...what in the heck is a Meeple?!  Seriously, only a board game geek would know what one is...it's one of the playing pieces to the game Carcassonne (one of the greatest games out there).  Anyway, when I heard my husband say that, I immediately realized that this was something have to do.  I have to make Meeple cookies to take on our beach vacation where my husband and his friends will spend hours upon hours playing this geeky game.  And what would go better with the game than a nice cold beer and a Meeple cookie?! 

We scoped out all the gingerbread-y shaped cutters and I settled on a small one that had a similar shape to a Meeple.  I figured I could re-bend it a little to get a closer shape.  Yeah...easier said than done.  I think I abandoned that idea in about 2.5 seconds.  And then I remembered Sugarbelle's tutorial on how to make your own cookie cutters and knew that this was the day I would be making my first homemade cutter.

It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be to make the cutter.  Of course, it could have been easier to make if I weren't so much of a perfectionist.  But in the end I'm pretty pleased with how my first DIY cutter turned out.  I can't wait to test it out tomorrow!!

Cinnamon Chocolate Quesadillas

Seems like everyone has some sort of go-to recipe...you know, the thing you whip up for dinner when you don't have time to think about making something, or that one thing you always seem to take to pot lucks because it's easy to make and everyone raves about it.

I have a go-to recipe, and no surprise, it's a dessert.  It's perfect for those times when you have spent 2 hours of your afternoon buried knee-deep in a mess made by the kids, attempting to get them to persuade them to help clean.  Or those times when dinner is a nightmare because what you've made is "yucky" and results in grumbles and groans and all avoidance tactics, including hanging upside down off the chair.  Or for those times when both things happen in rapid succession.

If you haven't figured it out, last night was one of those nights.  And I was so grateful that this dessert was ever invented and that it could be whipped up in 5 minutes flat.  Best part of it is, most people have all of the ingredients needed just lying around their house waiting to be made into this wonderful dessert.  So what are you waiting for?!  Go get baking!!!

Total Dude Food

About a week ago, one of my friends on FB posted that she was going to be making brownies stuffed with Oreos.  Immediately my mouth started watering and I decided pretty much at that moment that I, too, would be making these yummy treats.  And then life got in the way, and days went by, and I never got around to making them...but that doesn't mean I didn't still think about them.  In fact, I was thinking about them so much that I was even trying to decide what other types of cookies I could try in the middle, and that's when it hit me....Nutter Butters.  I mean, what is better with chocolate than peanut butter?!  And that day I made sure to find a little time to hit the store for some brownie mix and Nutter Butters.  And then you know what happened...the stuff sat on the counter for several more days because I had no eggs and didn't have time to get out and get some.

Today, however, I promised myself that I would not go to bed until they were made.  Well, I just finished whipping up a batch and I must say, they are out-of-this-world fantastic!  They even passed the guy test...the group of geeks sitting around my kitchen table are finishing off the plate of them as I type this entry.  (Don't worry...I did save aside two for the kids...don't want to listen to their whining in the morning when they find none left.)

The recipe is super easy.  All you need is your favorite box of brownie mix (I used Ghirardelli dark chocolate brownie mix) and a package of Nutter Butters.  (If you're willing to eat generic, definitely check out Target...they have their own knock-off that are round so you wont' have to cut them in half to make them fit into the cupcake pan.)

Simply make up the brownie batter, following the directions on the box.  Dip each cookie into the batter and then place it into a heavily greased cupcake pan.  After each cookie has been dipped, cover the cookies with the remaining batter.  (Okay, I do need to say here that if you use the Ghirardelli mix I used, it was slightly difficult because the mix has these ginormous chocolate chips in the batter which made coating the cookies a little more difficult.  And if a chip got stuck to the bottom of the cookie, it wouldn't lay flat in the pan.  While it probably took a little extra time to dip the cookies, I think it was totally worth it because the chocolate chips made the brownies taste AH-MA-ZING!)

Anyway, I was able to make 18 brownies from the box of brownie mix.  Pop them in the oven and bake them at the temperature listed on the box of brownies (it will most likely be either 325 or 350) for about 15 minutes.  When done, remove them from the oven and immediately run a knife around the outside of each brownie to un-stick it from the side of the pan.  Allow to cool....if you can wait that long.  We couldn't. :)

Cookie Decorating Class

I love those Groupon and Living Social deals.  But that's probably because I love me a good deal.  So when Living Social posted a deal for half off a class at the local bake shop, you better believe I was going to take advantage of that.  I considered it a birthday present to myself.

Last night I was able to cash in on the deal.  Along with 3 other friends, I spent 3 wonderful, glorious hours learning how to decorate cookies.  Not that I haven't figured out how to do it...I mean I have spent countless hours in the past several months pouring over blogs on the web and then testing out what I've learned.  But I felt like I needed to take a class so I could actually see things being done...you know, see what good flood icing is supposed to look like, among other things.  Well, I'm so glad I took the class.  Not only did I finally see "real" flood icing, but I finally tried my hand at using other piping skills to decorate cookies.  I'm pretty pleased with how my cookie set turned out...and of course now I'm dying to bake a new batch of cookies to practice.

Next up on my class list....cake balls.  I will learn how to dip those darn things like a pro!!!

Oreo Balls

I love things that are simple...especially things that are super simple.  And if they taste good too, well then that's a bonus.  So when I found the recipe for Oreo balls and realized just how ridiculously easy they were to make, I made sure to add a trip to the grocery store to pick up the necessary ingredients: Oreos and cream cheese.  See, easy!  But even more exciting, I think I finally figured out how to semi-professionally dip these suckers...of course it took until the very end.  But I think my next go round at truffles or cake balls should be just about perfect...or just about perfect as I'm going to get something.

Anyway, here's the recipe for Oreo Balls.  Seriously, you need to run out to the store now so you can make a batch of these.  Trust me, you won't be sorry!!!

Oreo Balls
Ingredients
- 1 package Oreos
- 1 block of cream cheese
- dipping chocolate of your choice

Directions
1.  Using a food processor, finely grind the entire package of Oreos.  (Don't have a food processor?  No   worries.  A Ziploc baggie and a rolling pin will do the trick.)
2.  Add the entire block of cream cheese to the Oreo crumbs and process until completely blended.
3.  Roll the mixture into bite-sized balls and chill for at least 30 minutes.
4.  Dip the chilled balls into your melted chocolate and lay on waxed paper. Feel free to garnish with drizzled chocolate or sprinkle with crushed Oreos.  Allow them to harden for at least 30 minutes.
5.  Store in a covered container in the refrigerator.

Simple Fruit & Yogurt Parfaits

I'm sure it surprises no one that I have very few problems getting my kids to eat any of the sweets I make.  (Except the donuts....but like I said yesterday, I'm working on that one.)  But meals (be it breakfast, lunch or dinner), that's an entirely different story.  If they had it their way, it'd be donuts (the fried variety), mac & cheese, hot dogs and pizza for every meal.  So I'm always looking for creative ways to hide or present the good stuff in a way that has the kids fooled.

Now my kids have this affinity for those little yogurt parfaits you can find in the yogurt section of the grocery store.  You know...those overpriced little containers of yogurt that are loaded with sugar and fake fruit.  So this morning I decided to make my own version.  I'm not sure why I didn't do this sooner.  They are ridiculously easy to throw together...and make them in a wine glass and the kids will think you hung the moon.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that these will become a more regular staple on the breakfast menu....I can use more smiles like this in the morning.

Baked Blueberry Donuts

After seeing several people post about the greatness of the Wilton Donut Pan, I figured I had to give it a try.  The kids are so obsessed with donuts that they ask for them pretty much every weekend.  If I could get them to buy into this healthier, baked version, then I don't think I'd mind as much if they had them for breakfast.

Jeremy actually made the first go at it last weekend.  He followed the recipe that came with the pan (and even had to make his own buttermilk because I forgot to buy some).  His creation was a basic baked donut with a rich, chocolate glaze.  The verdict:  Lizzie thought they were out of this world.  Maddie, on the other hand, told him she'd stick to the unhealthy version.

There was some batter leftover from his attempt, so this morning I pulled it out of the fridge and decided to see if I could doctor it up and win Maddie's approval.  I added a bunch of fresh blueberries and coated them in a basic white glaze.  I'm not sure if it had to do with the batter being a week old or coming straight from the refrigerator, but the donuts didn't rise as well as they did last week, but the results weren't half bad.  To me, they tasted like glazed blueberry muffins.  Again, Lizzie gave them 2 thumbs up (but then again, when does she not?) and Maddie...yeah, she took two bites (the second one was forced upon her by me) and turned up her nose at them.  I am determined that I will get this child to like the baked donut...and I still have some different recipes up my sleeve.  Don't count me out yet!

Mixed Fruit Tartlets

I've had some packs of mini graham cracker crusts sitting in my pantry for awhile.  You know how it is.  You see them at the grocery store and buy them because you can use them to make something really yummy to take to a get-together.  But then life happens and you never get around to making that yummy thing to share (and instead run to the grocery store where you buy that plastic box of baked goods from the bakery).  And there the mini graham cracker crusts sit, patiently waiting on the shelf for months until you finally decide it's about darn time they get used.  (Thank goodness they have a long shelf life!)

The other day, an email from Pillsbury showed up in my inbox with a great recipe for a Mixed Berry Cream Tart.  While it didn't call for using mini graham cracker crusts, I immediately realized this would be the perfect way to use up those crusts before they expired....plus I needed something to take to a 4th of July BBQ and what could be better than mini berry cream pies?!

I ended up making a few changes to the recipe...partly because I let the kids at the container of strawberries and they ate over half of it before I remembered I needed them for the dessert.  Still, they were super simple to make and even better to eat!

4thof July Cookies

So I've been meaning to try making a batch of chocolate sugar cookies.  I've never tasted one (I know!) but I figured they can't be bad...I mean they have chocolate in them for goodness sakes!  But as the Fourth crept nearer, I figured I'd have to put them on the back burner.  In my head, it just didn't make sense to make 4th of July cookies using chocolate dough.  But then the chocolate craving started to elbow it's way in and the next thing you know, I'm online, searching through my extensive list of cookie blogs to find the  recipe for chocolate sugar cookies....and of course I couldn't for the life of me remember which blog I found it on.  I finally came across this entry:  The End-All Chocolate Cookie Recipe over at LilaLoa.  I know it wasn't the one I was looking for but a) it was a chocolate cookie recipe, and b) she touted it as the best one ever...the one all the cool kids are doing.  Made me laugh I guess because her enthusiasm reminded me of me.  No need to search any further...this would be the one I tried.  The dough was amazingly easy to make, even easier to work with and with only a 6 minute cook time, I think I might just have to make chocolate sugar cookies all the time!

As for what shapes to cut out, that was a toughie...I have seen SO many different 4th of July cookies this past week out in blog land.  I settled for using my flag cutter (that I bought for another occasion and never got the chance to use), a scalloped round and a small star.

It's funny how the end cookie result isn't always what I pictured in the beginning.  I'm sure a lot of that has to do with procrastinating and then being rushed to finish the cookies.  Of course, this was the case again.  My flags came out okay, but if I had had more time, I would have done them differently and I think they would have looked better.  Still, I can't complain...they don't look that bad.  As for the scalloped rounds, those I envisioned as being fire works.  In the past several days, I saw numerous references to the Martha Steward "firework" cookies that are on the front of this month's Martha Stewart Living, so I figured I'd have to give those a try.  They were pretty easy to make and turned out very nice, but I think I like my version of a firework better.  They look less like a flower and more like what you would seeing bursting in the sky...if you didn't live in Texas where it is drier than the desert and has resulted in the cancellation of all fireworks.  We'll just have to settle for cookies.

As for all the stars I had to decorate, let me start by saying I'm not sure what I was thinking when I cut them all out.  Staring at the pile of undecorated cookies, I started to dread the daunting task before me.  But in the end, it was the stars I enjoyed decorating the best.  I'm not sure which style I like the best, but I like how they look with the tiny hearts on them...especially the ones with the tiny burst of hearts in the middle...again, they kind of remind me of fireworks.

Overall, I'd have to say I am VERY pleased with how my cookies turned out.  I cannot wait for the next holiday...bring on the start of school!!!

Peach Raspberry Crumble

Don't you just love it when you take the kids grocery shopping with you and they beg and plead and annoy until you buy them whatever the thing is that they just have to have or the world will come crashing down?  Well, I dealt with that a couple of weeks ago when my kids were begging and pleading for peaches.  I know...I shouldn't complain because they are asking for something healthy instead of the usual crap like candy or sugared cereal.  But this time they begged me to buy peaches, and then, because they had to help, I ended up with a large bagful of peaches instead of the 3 or 4 I would have chosen to buy.  And of course, you know the drill.  They get home, each eat one, and then never revisit the peaches and there they sit in the refrigerator, sad and neglected until they start to wrinkle and wither and now there's no way on God's green Earth either of my kids will ever touch one because now they look yucky.

Today I found 4 such peaches in my fruit drawer.  I am so frugal and I just can't stand wasting things, so I decided I had to find a way to salvage these things.  I figured the easiest thing to do would be make some sort of cobbler-y, crumbly dessert so I did a quick search and found a base recipe from which to start.  With the addition of some raspberries (which is the kids' fruit of the week this week) and a few tweaks to the crust, I whipped up individual crumble desserts for everyone in the family.  And might I say, they were divine, especially when topped with vanilla ice cream that melted from the heat of the crumbly goodness!  So what are you waiting for...go whip up a batch tonight!


Peach Raspberry Crumble
Ingredients for Filling
1 pint fresh raspberries
4 fresh peaches, pitted and chopped
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/3 cup white sugar
1 pinch cinnamon
1 Tbsp flour

Ingredients for Topping
1 1/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 pinches salt
2 pinches cinnamon

Directions
 1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
 2.  In a bowl, mix the raspberries, chopped peaches, lemon juice, white sugar, cinnamon and flour. 
 3.  In a separate bowl, mix the oats, butter, brown sugar, white sugar, vanilla, salt and cinnamon. 
 4.  Fill four ramekin dishes (or other small, oven-safe dishes) with equal amounts of the raspberry and peach mixture, and top with equal amounts of the oats mixture. Arrange the ramekins on a baking sheet. 
 5.  Bake 35 minutes in the preheated oven, until crisp and golden brown. 
 6.  Cool 10 minutes, then top with vanilla ice cream and serve.

4th of July Cake Pops

First off, I just have to say that the person who invented the cake ball is just pure genius.  I love that I can use all my "leftovers" to whip up such an amazing dessert in such a perfect, bit-sized package.  For this attempt, I used scraps of my red, white and blue cake mixed with strawberry and vanilla icing leftover from Maddie's birthday.  They are dipped in white chocolate and sprinkled with Wilton's Patriotic Mix.

As a funny aside, I was having trouble locating a red, white and blue sprinkle mix.  I did find a red and white mixture from Wilton but what are patriotic cake balls without blue sprinkles?!  So I decided to improvise...I had a large container of mixed sprinkles and I spent the last 2 days (with a little help from the kids) sorting through it to get out all of the blue sprinkles.  This afternoon, before I assembled the cake balls, I made a quick trip to HEB to get some things I forgot on yesterday's trip, and of course this is when I found the container of patriotic sprinkles....go figure!

Anyway, I'm am slowly learning how to make the perfect cake ball, but I have to admit that dipping those darn things is a lot harder than it looks...at least if you are going for perfection.  I decided to go the cake pop route because I thought this would make them easier to dip.  My guess is it is, but I think I might have used a little too much icing, because the batter was a little on the moist side, the balls didn't firm up as much as I would have liked them to and they kept slipping off the sticks.  Still, I managed to only completely destroy four out of the entire bunch and ended up with half-way decent looking cake balls.  Maybe I just need to sign up for a cake ball class so someone can show me how simple it really is.

A Little Bit of Heaven

After Maddie's cupcake bar at her birthday party, I was left with a bag of toffee bits covered in chocolate.  I knew I needed to find a use for them quick or I would just eat my way through the bag.  Surprisingly, there were not a ton of great recipes on the Hershey's website so I was ready to try my hand at an original recipe when this was posted on one of the blogs I follow:  Coconut Toffee Temptations.  First off, it has the word "temptation" in the title...how can you go wrong with a sinful word like that?  Plus I actually had every single ingredient on hand.  A perfect fit.  Today I took the time to whip up a batch.  I had to keep beating the kids back from the bowl and oven because the smell was just that amazing.  But what came out was even better...a gooey mess that is almost identical to Chili's Chocolate Chip Paradise Pie.  With a small scoop of vanilla ice cream, the kids and I enjoyed a little piece of heaven this afternoon!

When Life Gives You Bad Cupcakes...

I'm not sure what I was thinking when I decided to make some cupcakes from scratch.  While I'm all for making my own cakes here at the house instead of buying them from a store, I do still surrender to using boxed cake mixes.  But I was in need of cupcakes to decorate and had no boxed-mix on hand, so I did an online search for a cake recipe that doesn't call for butter (because I didn't have that on hand either).  The recipe I came upon had a high rating and I actually had all of the ingredients here in the house, so I went for it.  That night after dinner, I gave each of the kids a cupcake as a treat.  They didn't go over very well.  The kids ate, at most, two bites and then walked away telling me they didn't like the muffins.  Hello!  They were cupcakes...how can you not like a cupcake.  And then I took a bite.  They were the densest, nastiest cupcakes I had ever tasted.  Great.  I had about 16 of them left.  So I decided to whip up a batch of butter cream frosting to put on them....try to mask the nastiness of the cupcakes.  Taste test 2 was a failure.  So now I had about 14 iced, nasty cupcakes left.  They sat there for about 2 days, cluttering the counter.  Finally, my husband asked me what I was going to do with them.  I was having trouble just throwing them away because it was good food going to waste.  His comment: "Too bad you can't reconstitute cupcakes."  And that's when it hit me...you can.....you can make cakeballs!  The next day Lizzie and hit the store for some canned chocolate frosting.  We mixed it together with the nasty, iced cupcakes and dipped them in white chocolate...and behold, the goodness of cake balls came into our house.

Our first attempt at them was not very attractive, but they tasted fantastic.  You wouldn't have had a clue that they were made with nasty "muffin" cupcakes if I hadn't told you.

Teacher Appreciation Week allowed for attempt 2 and these turned out much nicer.  We went with a vanilla cake/strawberry icing combo covered with chocolate.  They tasted just like chocolate covered strawberries!

Attempt 3 is waiting patiently in the freezer for a reason to make them...well that and I need to buy a set of dipping tools to see if this will help in making the coating look a little more uniform.

I Have a New Love

Who would have ever thought that taking a cake decorating class could end up turning me into a cookie addict, but that's just what happened.  As soon as I figured out that royal icing is what professionals use to make those cute, decorated cookies you see in bakeries, I just knew I had to try my hand at it, so I used some of my leftover icing from one of my classes to make these Easter cookies.

They weren't bad for my first attempt, especially considering that I had not done too much research on all the techniques out there that go along with cookie decorating.  I immediately did an online search for cookie blogs and was amazed at what I found.  The things some people out there can do with icing and a cookie is beyond incredible.  I figured with some more practice, I could pretend to be as good as them.  Up first: Teacher Appreciation Week and cookie bouquets.  I'm slowly understanding the importance icing consistency and dry time.

Next came the end of Lizzie's soccer season and of course, I just had to make soccer cookies for the coaches and her teammates.

Right after that, Lizzie graduated from Preschool so I made graduation cap cookies for everyone in her class.  I was happy with how these cookies turned out.

And then we arrive to Maddie's 7th birthday.  Here theme this year was cupcakes...the first theme in 7 years that didn't actually have me making a themed cake or cupcakes because we set up a do-it-yourself cupcake bar.  But you know me...I couldn't just not do anything, so I made cupcake cookies to put in the goodie bags.  The boys all got cookies like the ones below....the cookies for the girls were pink instead of blue.

Back to School

I love the creativity in designing and making cakes/cupcakes for my kids birthdays, but I didn't really have the know-how to create the visions I come up with in my head.  So back in March 2009 I signed up for my first Wilton cake decorating class.  While I loved learning all of the decorating techniques, I quickly began to realize that beginning cake decorating and perfectionism do not go hand in hand.  I don't think I was ever more frustrated in my life.  Every new technique I tried never came out looking like the picture in the booklet.  But with a little bit a lot of patience and practice, I was able to create this for my  final cake project.

It took me 2 years to go back and take the remaining Wilton courses.  I'm not really sure why I waited so long...in fact I really wish I would have taken the classes sooner.  I learned SO much from them.  And just to think of the cool cakes I could have created if I had just known the techniques....

These were my first attempt at gum paste pansies.

My final project for the Flowers and Cake Design class.  They are jumbo cupcakes decorated to look like flower baskets.  I'm not overly happy with them, but that's partly because I had to create them in what I consider a backwards order.  I think they would have looked better had I been able to do the basket weave on the bottom first and then finished doing the tops.

This was my final cake for the Gum Paste and Fondant class.  I wanted to put cut out stars shooting out of the bow as well as a couple around the sides, but I ran out of colored fondant and couldn't justify the cost.

In the Beginning...

I'm not completely new to baking.  I'm one of those people who refuses to buy a cake from the store because, I'm sorry...you can make it at home for a lot cheaper.  And by no means am I saying my cakes are better....I fully admit that store bought cakes are way better looking than mine, but like I said, the cheap me always wins out.

My first true cake attempt was for Maddie's first birthday.  The theme was bees so I tried to make 2 beehive cakes with bumblebee cupcakes.

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We're just going to skip over Maddie's second birthday.  The cupcakes were nothing special and the tooth mishap at the park made it so the display was never put together. Really, you aren't missing anything.  

For Lizzie's first birthday, I stuck with the bug theme...this time ladybugs.  Unfortunately, I forgot to take pics of the display.  This is the best picture I could come up with....I know, not too great, but the ladybug cupcakes were really cute...you just have to take my word for it. :)

For Maddie's 3rd birthday, it was all about Dora.  My cake decorating skills really hadn't progressed much so I made a cupcake scene and slapped some Dora figures on it.  Voila!

I was rushed to make the cupcakes for Lizzie's second birthday.  With not a lot of time to get them done, this was the best I could do for a Mickey Mouse birthday party....and of course, I spiced it up with some Mickey and Minnie figures.

To celebrate her 4th birthday, Maddie insisted on The Backyardigans, but it had to be the volcano sisters Backyardigans episode.  Thus, the volcano cake surrounded by flower cupcakes....oh, and must not forget the figures!

Mickey was still Lizzie's number one guy as we approached birthday 3.  Again, I was pressed for time to make the cupcakes and I was having to come up with something different for the same theme used the year before, hence Mickey and Minnie cupcakes with mini Oreos for the ears.

I figured it was time to step up my cake decorating skills, so I took a Wilton cake decorating class.  While my first cake isn't the most elaborate, it shows a move in the right direction toward a store-bought-cake look.  This is the resulting High School Musical megaphone with musical note cupcakes.

I can finally say I was not pressed for baking time when Lizzie's 4th birthday rolled around.  The theme:  Grease.  The cake: a record with star cupcakes for accent.  While it was nothing elaborate, it was my first attempt at using fondant for decorating and making homemade chocolate butter cream icing.

Phineas and Ferb was all the rage in the house as Maddie turned six so it only made sense that this would be the theme.  Since I am a huge fan of cupcakes at kids' parties, I made some beach themed cupcakes with fondant surf boards to go along the Backyard Beach we were creating.  Still, we couldn't have a Phineas and Ferb party without a Doofenshmirtz cake, so I recreated the pink, triple-tiered cake.

And finally we reach Lizzie's 5th birthday, which I have to say was my best cupcake attempt yet.  The original theme was supposed to be unicorns but I was having one heck of a time coming up with cool ideas for a birthday party, so I convinced her to change to Scooby Doo.  I found the design for these cupcakes online and was actually able to replicate them without too many problems.