Super Mario

A cake I made for a friends little boys birthday!

Henry's birthday cake

My baby boy celebrated

his 4th birthday yesterday

with family.

He wanted a "Transformer"cake,

and this is what he got.

An Autobot symbol.

It was my first time using fondant

which was very challenging

in 90 degrees weather with 100%

humidity. I only made a couple

mistakes.

The cake is a 3 layered marble

and vanilla cake with a

chocolate butter cream.

It was darn good. Not a fan of

the fondant though....

Bacon Shallot and Gouda Souffle.

This is the first attempt on making a souffle and it came out delicious. It could have looked better if I owned and used a traditional souffle dish. But it was scrumptious!

I used a basic souffle recipe for the base and added my own goodness.

The recipe is at the end of this post.

Gather and prep ingredients.

Butter dish then coat with fresh bread crumbs and parm cheese

Melt butter and add flour to make a roux.

Add milk. Combine and bring simmer and stir till it's thick.

Beat egg whites until peaks form.

Add spices and such.

Add egg yokes.

Transfer into bowl, let cool for a few minutes.

Add the rest of the goodness.

Combine whites.

Pour into a souffle bowl, or in my case whatever will work.

Cook until it's nice and brown on the top and puffy.

Scoop that deliciousness onto a plate and enjoy with a couple

slices of a fresh baguette. Yum!!

INGREDIENTS

1. 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus softened butter for brushing
2. 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
3. 1/4 cup fresh toasted bread crumbs
4. 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
5. 1 1/2 cups milk
6. 3/4 teaspoon salt
7. 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
8. 1 teaspoon of a blend of parisian spices
9. 6 slices of bacon
10. 2 sliced shallots
11. 6 large eggs, separated
12. 6 ounces shredded aged Gouda
13. 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 375° and brush 8-cup ramekin with butter. Lightly coat the Parmigiano-Reggiano and bread crumbs and set them on a sturdy baking sheet.
2. Saute bacon then shallots until caramelized.
3. In a medium saucepan, melt the 4 tablespoons of butter. Whisk in the flour and cook over moderate heat for 1 minute. Whisk in the milk and cook over moderately low heat until smooth and very thick, about 2 minutes. Stir in the salt and cayenneand parisian spices. Off the heat, whisk in the egg yolks. Let cool slightly. Transfer to a large bowl and stir in the Gouda, bacon and shallots.
4. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites with the cream of tartar at medium-high speed until frothy. Increase the speed to high and beat until firm peaks form. With a rubber spatula, fold the egg whites into the soufflé base until no streaks of white remain.
5. Spoon the soufflé mixture into the ramekin filling it to 1/2-inch below the rim. Run your thumb inside the rim of each ramekin to help the soufflés rise evenly. Sprinkle the remaining Parmigiano-Reggiano on top and bake in the bottom third of the oven until the soufflés are puffed and golden brown, about 35-40 minutes. Serve immediately.

I got my basic souffle recipe from Food and wine and then made it my own.

Mother's Day Cupcakes

I made these little cuties for mother's day. It was the first time I have ever written with chocolate. Some of the words fell apart because they were to thin. I learned that a wider circle tip is better.

I also made the flowers.

I wish that I could get better pictures.

Hopefully someday we can get a quality camera.

Birthday goodness

For My mom's birthday I made dark chocolate and white chocolate vanilla bean mousse filled Charlottes. I even made the lady fingers from scratch. They were so delicious.

Some tasty treats for Easter

The cupcakes were perfect for the kiddos. I got the recipe from the famous "Magnolia Bakery" in NYC. It was vanilla cake with old fashion buttercream frosting.

I even made the cute little apple blossom flower candies for the decoration. I learned how to make those last week at my Cake decorating class.

This cake was probably the best tasting I have ever had.

If you like lemon you will be a huge fan. I think this recipe would also make amazing cupcakes.

Chicken Pad Thai

I made this tasty meal a couple night ago.

It was yummy.

The Rainbow Cake

Henry and I made a rainbow cake a couple weeks ago. It took forever but it was fun. Henry had a blast mixing all the colors into the cake batter.

I am taking a cake decorating class, it's a lot harder than I thought it would be. This was my first attempt before I actually learned how to pipe.

I'll have to remember to take pictures of the cakes I make on a weekly basis.

The cake had 6 layers!! The pictures does no justice to the color. It was vibrant!

Some good grub

Pasta and Chicken with Lemon and Thyme Sauce

I made this last night for dinner and it was yummo.

I came up wit the recipe myself.

1 large shallot finely diced

2 large cloves of garlic smashed and chopped

1 1/2 tablespoon fresh thyme

1/2 cup of sherry

1 cup fat free low sodium chicken broth or stock

1/4 cup of cream or half and half

1/2 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese

zest of a lemon

1/4 cup of fresh lemon juice

Olive oil

butter

flour for dusting (seasoned with spices)

chicken (boneless)

pasta (any type)

For Chicken:

How ever much chicken you want to make is up to you...

*Take chicken and pound flat so it's about and inch or so thick and even.

* In a saute pan add about a tablespoon of olive oil and butter and heat on high. (I like the two mixed, the butter gives it nice flavor)

*while your pan is heating, dust chicken with a seasoned flour (whatever spices you want)

I used salt, lemon pepper, garlic powder and thyme.

*When oil and butter is heated add chicken and lightly brown on both sides. (the chicken should cook pretty fast because it is thin)

*When chicken is done, I put it in my oven on warmer so it stays warm.

For Sauce:

*In a saute pan on medium heat add 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil and tablespoon of butter.

*Saute shallot, garlic, thyme for a few minutes until shallots are translucent.

*Then add sherry and chicken broth, let simmer for a few minutes.

*Then add cream and cheese and let simmer and thicken for a few minutes.

*Lastly add lemon juice and zest.

Boil pasta and drain.

Add most of the sauce to the cooked pasta reserving a little for the chicken.

Drizzle left over sauce on top of chicken.

Hope you try and enjoy it.

Sorry about the directions. Not very good a explaining what I did!

If yo have any questions please feel free to leave comment.

Pins and Needles

I was trying to think of something to get my 90+ year old Great Aunt for her birthday........ what do you get for a 90 year old?
She loves to crochet and sew, so I made these holders for her pins and needles. You can't tell by the picture, but the needle holder has to pages of fabric to store the needles in. It's kind of like a book. I also made her a holder for her crochet hooks.
I really like the needle holder... I'm thinking of making a bunch of them and selling them at a craft fair. What do you think?

Grapefruit Goodness

The other day I saw that grapefruits were on sale and I was really craving a refreshing fruit juice. So, I bought some grapefruits, rosemary, and some sparkling water to make this luscious concoction.

First, I squeezed about 6 grapefruits, strained into a canister, then I took a whole pack of rosemary and pounded the steams with the back of my carving knife to release the aromas. Then added the rosemary to the grapefruit. I then put the juice in refrigerator to let steep for a couple hours. In the meantime, I made a quick simple syrup using a 1/4 a cup of pure cane sugar and a 1/4 cup of water, bring to a boil until the sugar dissolves, let cool then add to grapefruit juice.

Finally I filled a glass with ice and poured half the glass with the sparkling water then the rest with the tasty juice. It definitely quenched my craving.

Molten Lava Cake

Last night I made my brother a molten lava cake for his birthday. It was so darn good.

I got the recipe from Paula Deen from the Food Network. The only changes I made was I added Starbucks chocolate liquor instead of the orange liquor and I used a 4 oz ramekin. I cooked the little cakes for about 7 minutes instead of the recommended 12 minutes. If you are a chocolate lover, I highly suggest you make this recipe. You can find her recipe here.

The picture came out terrible.

WOOOO HOOOOO!

I am so excited! My skirt tutorial was featured today on this sweet blog.

It feels good that someone out there used my tutorial that took me hours to put together! I had no idea any would actually use it.

I got about 150 hits today. I guess I'm going to have to start getting busy and creative! Scary.

Thanks again, Ayumills, from Pink Penguin!