So Glad April Is Over!

I'm sure about you but at my house April is not only filled with 8 birthdays but also Lent and Easter. I had three very important cakes to make, one for my youngest brother, another one for my son and and the last one for a very good friend of mine who came for a visit.


My baby brother is a fan of Oreos so I decided to try to make him an Oreo cake. The cake itself is chocolate and a cream based frosting with Oreo cookies chopped up into it.


The "glass of milk" is 4 biscuit cutouts of chocolate cake wrapped in white fondant and topped with buttercream frosting and the straw is just fondant. The Oreo cookies are just left over cake with buttercream frosting in the middle.



The birthday boy's Batman cake.



The fabulous Harley Quinn....



Batman and The Joker....



Robin without his cape....



Two-Face...



The birthday boy with his Batman cake.



I made the Hello Kitty out of a mixture of gum paste and fondant. I actually used store bought this time instead of trying to make my own.


Hello Kitty is sitting on a 4 layered chocolate cake with buttercream frosting.


So this is what I was doing during the last few weeks of April in my oh so tiny kitchen. Not sure if I'll try this again next year but we'll see.


Missy

Chili Con Carne

So we just had this crazy snow storm down here in Atlanta and since the roads were iced up there wasn't anything to do but to make chili. I love chili. I love all types of chili. Chili with ground beef, turkey chili, chicken chili, bean chili, bean-less chili and even a vegetarian chili. The chili I made the other day has wine in it. Yummy red wine.




What you'll need:

2-3 pounds lean ground beef
1-2 large onions, chopped
6 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 Tbsp dried ground cumin
1 Tbsp dried oregano
2 Tbsp chili powder or fresh chili peppers
1-2 Tbsp molasses or honey
2-3 (14 1/2oz) cans beef broth
1 (15oz)can tomato sauce
1 (14.5oz) can diced tomatoes
1 (28oz) can tomato puree
1 can each black beans and kidney beans, rinsed and drained
Coarse salt and fresh ground pepper

Garnish
Sour Cream
Grated cheddar cheese
Chopped green onions

Heat a large heavy bottom pot or dutch oven over medium high heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Saute the beef, onions, and garlic until the meat is no longer pink. I like to cook the beef, onions and garlic in a separate cast iron just so I can drain the fat from the beef.



Next you're going to add the beef broth, tomatoes, cumin, oregano, chili powder, salt and pepper.


Stir to combine all the ingredients. Bring to a light boil over medium high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer, cover. Stirring occasionally for the next 3-4 hours.


Half way through I like to check the liquid level on the chili. This is where you can add some more beef broth or water but I like to add red wine. I normally add anywhere from 2 to 2 1/2 cups of red wine. Stir and cover.


Around the last 30-45 minutes of cooking add the beans and continue to simmer.


Like most stews, the flavors develop as the dish sits. So after the chili cools down, refrigerate overnight or up to 2 days so the flavors marry. I myself like to eat the chili right away, I'm not much of a waiter.
You can garnish the chili with sour cream, cheese and green onions or in a bread bowl or with some crackers.


Enjoy!

Missy

My First And Maybe Last Gingerbread House

Have you ever seen something on one of those food network channels and thought to yourself, "I can do that, it doesn't look too hard." Well that's what happened to me just the other day. They were making gingerbread houses and after watching for about an hour I decided that I could do that too. Let's just say that I totally need more practice.

This is my house...


this was my house last night right before I went to bed. Not cool at all.


My gingerbread man.


The chimney


The candy cane walk-way


I really really love this picture. I love how you can see my tree in the back...well except for my chair that's blocking most of it that is.


My not so bad Christmas tree


Ahh the finished project! Not bad for my first time though in my head I had real working lights, puffs of smoke coming out of the chimney, Christmas music playing from within the house and so-forth. Oh well there's always next year.



Missy

The Beginnings Of A Trash Talker

So I'm in my bathroom doing my hair, getting ready to go hang out with my friends when I hear my 4 year old talking really fast in his excited voice. I'm not thinking too much about this because I know that I have a tendency to talk or yell if you like at the T.V. myself.

But after a few minutes he gets a little loud and then he starts to giggle, still no need for concern on my part over here.

But then all of a sudden I hear him say,

Ohh you are SO in trouble!

I can't believe that you just did that.

That's just not right, why would you do that?

My Nana is gonna whoop you! (Wait. What? Yeah my mom's not going to be happy about this one)

And my favorite line he said,

If you keep being bad I'm gonna tell Santa not to bring you any toys!

So what was the cause of this? My son was playing Blur which is an Xbox game and at some point he jumped to playing online. I have no problem with this since Blur is a race car game but to actually hear him on there trash talking! I'm not sure if I should be proud of him or have a talk with him because seriously how bad is it when a 4 year old tells you to be good for Santa? Is that really considered trash talking?

Well for right now I think I'll just leave him alone and make sure that his "trash talking" doesn't get any worse then what it is now.


Missy

Super Mario Brothers Birthday Cake

A few months ago I had asked my daughter what kind of birthday party she wanted. I had assumed that she wanted another Princess party, boy was I wrong. My very awesome daughter informed me that she wanted a Super Mario Brother's party and cake.

So for the next few weeks I looked online, made a few calls and visited a few bakeries. There is a lot of talent out there, A LOT but my only problem was the price. You see this was for a soon to be 6 year old you would look at the cake and "ohh and ahh" at it but then in the end would just go out side and play. The moonwalk took prestige over everything you see.

So after having a mini heart attack and the attacks of the sweats under my arms I decided that this inexperience baker with only 2 years under her apron would attempt to make a Mario cake.

And so you have it, the results of two very long days of baking, making and shaping...


So as you can see the bottom of the cake starts off as the water world and it works it way all the way up to the castle in the sky.




On the side of the cake I made thee number 6 in gold coins.




I added blocks, more gold coins and a pipe on the other side of the cake.




And as you can see here in the front of the cake I have a vine coming out of a block going all the way up to the castle. I also added a green turtle shell.




I'm going to have to say that making Bob-omb was my favorite to make only because he was the easiest to do though making the pipe trap wasn't as hard as I first thought.




Now looking at this cake I'm sure you've notice a few missing characters like Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach and Toad. Well let me tell you that trying to make characters out of fondants is a lot harder than it looks. Maybe next time I'll try making cupcakes with the characters.




But overall the cake was a hit and my kid loved it to no end.


Missy

Oh My Whoopie!

Now I've always liked whoopie pies but a few weeks ago I realized that I REALLY love pumpkin whoopie pies. I mean really really love pumpkin whoopie pies. So what is a whoopie pie you ask? They're like two mini cakes with frosting in between them, a little bit of heaven in your mouth if you will.

So I was at Williams-Sonoma about a month or so ago and I had picked up this little gem.



Now let's get started on making whoopie!

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.



What you'll need:

3 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
2 Tbsp ground cinnamon
1 Tbsp ground ginger
1 Tbsp ground cloves
2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
3 cups pumpkin puree, chilled
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

In a large bowl you're gonna whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and cloves. Now scoot the bowl over to the side.



In another large bowl whisk together the brown sugar and oil until combined.


Add the chilled pumpkin puree and whisk together..


Next add the eggs...


and the vanilla extract. Now whisk until everything is well combined.


Add the pumpkin mixture to the flour mixture and mix it together.


Using a small scoop or spoon drop about a Tbsp of dough onto the whoopie pie pan or onto a non stick baking sheet about an inch apart.






Bake until cookies are just starting to crack on top and a toothpick comes out clean about 10-15 minutes. Let cool in the pan for about 5 or 6 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack.

Now for the Cream Cheese Filling.



What you'll need:

3 cups confectioners' sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract

In a mixer cream the butter and then add the cream cheese.


Next sift the powdered sugar and then add it to the cream cheese butter mixture a cup at a time. Add the vanilla next and beat until smooth.


The filling can be made a day before, just cover and refrigerate, let it stand at room temp to soften before use.

When cookies are cooled completely use a pastry bag and pipe the filling on one half of the cookie.


Start smooshing them together and EAT RIGHT AWAY!! But if for some reason you can not eat them right away then you can refrigerate the whoopie pies in an air tight container for up to 3 days.



Hope you enjoy them, I know we did!

Missy

My New Favorite Brunch Item

I came across this Croissant French Toast recipe in the Rachael Ray magazine. Normally I'm not a fan of croissants but I thought I would give it a try. So glad I did.



What you'll need:

5 croissant, cut in half horizontally
1 cup sugar
2 cups whole milk
2 large eggs
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup

Butter a cake pan all around.


In a saucepan add the sugar, 2 tablespoons maple syrup and 1/2 cup water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and without stirring, cook for 5 minutes.


Boil the mixture until it gets to a light golden color or the candy thermometer reads 240 degrees, about 5 to 8 minutes.


Pour the maple caramel into the buttered cake pan and then set aside.


In a large bowl add the milk to the eggs...


and the remaining 1/4 cup maple syrup. Whisk the mixture together.


Soak the croissant halves in the mixture.


Start layering the croissants in the cake pan over the maple caramel and gently press down on them.


If you have any milk egg mixture left go ahead and pour it over the croissants.


Place the cake pan in a large pan, a roasting pan, turkey pan, or a lasagna pan.


Start pouring hot water in the pan until the hot water reaches halfway up the cake pan.


Bake the croissants for about 45 minutes until the croissants are a nice golden color and the toothpick comes out clean.


Once they're done remove the cake pan from the hot water and cut into wedges.


Serve warm and enjoy!



Missy