Do Better

My kids turned 6 years old today. It feels like a lifetime ago when they came into the world. So much has changed since then.

Here’s a photo of me on July 12, 2002 (my twins original due date), as we were leaving for the hospital.

And here were are today…

Then…

And now…

Think he liked the cupcakes?

Here’s how I made these R2-D2 Cupcake Toppers.

I made dog candies for my daughter’s cupcakes. She loves dogs.

One mom asked where I ordered the dog candies from! That was a nice compliment (I think). To make these I picked up a dog candy mold from Michaels. The hard part was doing the dogs one at a time. First the nose, mouth and eyes. Then the dog collar and tongue. Then the dog tag. And finally the whole dog. After each part I had to put my candy into the refrigerator so it could quickly set up.

It was a super fun day, but now I’m beat…back to the gym tomorrow!

How embarrassing! My goal was to make an edible pie that would be eaten rather than thrown into the garbage…I never expected (or even hoped for) 1st Prize!

Continue reading Award Winning Pie?…

Look! Look! My very first lattice crust! Isn’t it pretty?

Blueberry pie with a lattice top seems like the quintessential Church Picnic dessert, so I wanted to try one this week and consider it for submission into the Pie Contest.

I found this recipe on Food Network from Chef Alton Brown. The filling was very easy to make and set up beautifully. Next time I’ll substitute cinnamon for the orange.

Blueberry Pie a la mode…fantastic!

And don’t worry about all of these pies in my house. I took this pie to my parents house. They just arrived home from 3 weeks in Italy and this pie was the perfect “welcome home” pie!

Continue reading Blueberry Pie…

This is Chocolate Cream Pie done right! And, it couldn’t be easier! Forget the eggs, milk, and cream…this one has a secret ingredient. You can find the recipe and it’s secret ingredient here.

This Chocolate Cream Pie is luscious and creamy with great chocolate flavor. If you don’t believe me, ask my husband. He just had his second slice.

How did I get the pie right? First of all, I carefully followed the recipe. (That’s 2 cups of chocolate chips, not 2 bags of chocolate chips). Secondly, I adapted the crust and it worked great.

Chocolate Cookie Crust

• 3/4 cup of chocolate cookie crumbs (I used Trader Joes Cats Cookies)
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 1/4 cup melted butter

Press the mixture in a pie pan and baked it at 325 degrees for 10 minutes. Allow the crust to cool to room temperature before adding the Chocolate Cream.

I liked it best covered in fresh whipped cream.

But it’s also good with just a dollop.

Really, it doesn’t matter how it’s dressed, this Chocolate Cream Pie tastes great.

See, I told you so, I’m no good at pies. Case in point, this chocolate cream pie. Or, as my daughter described it, “frosting pie”.

Allow me to describe: the crust…too much butter, not enough cookie crumbs, too thin, too hard, not good! And the chocolate cream was way too rich. Kinda tasted like chocolate fudge, and not so good tasting. And take a closer look at how the chocolate cream never attached to the chocolate crust. Not good.

Trouble was, the online reviews for this recipe were incredible. I must have done something wrong. And as it turns out, I did do something wrong. Even worse, I did more than one thing wrong. Did I mention that I don’t do pies! I’m no good.

With our church’s Pie Contest on Saturday, I was hoping to try several pies this week. The thing is, I am not hoping for 1st or 2nd or 3rd place…my hope is that my pie will be eaten and not thrown into the garbage!

And besides that fact that pies are not my thing and I really really need the practice, the bay area has been suffering through a heat wave this week, so turning on the oven is just not an option. Did I mention that I don’t have air-conditioning? As I write it is 12:45am and my house is still 82 degrees. I get very cranky in the heat….and apparently pretty whiny too.

Why why why did I enter our church’s Pie Contest? I don’t do pies! I’m no good at the crust! The filling always runs!

And why did I encourage my girlfriends to enter? They are all master bakers. Quick thinking. Creative. Me, I get by.

Hoping to avoid disaster and total humiliation, I am brushing up on my pie baking skills this week. And thank goodness for Diannes Dishes. She posted a beautiful looking Red White and Blue Pie on July 4th that I just had to try…FABULOUS!!!

So Dianne, I just have to say Thank You!

This pie was good

to

the

last

bite.

And if anyone knows of a pie recipe that would be good for me to try, please pass it along. I need all the practice I can get before Saturday!

My son is a HUGE Star Wars fan. So it was no surprise when he said he wanted a Star Wars party. My mind immediately went to the cake, wondering how I would pull it off. (Did I mention my kids turn 6 next Sunday?)

Then I remembered Bakerella’s Mother’s Day Post and wondered if I could use the same technique to create R2-D2’s…it worked!!!!

Here’s what I did…First I searched the computer for an R2-D2 that I could (or hoped I could) draw. Once I found it I traced it onto a sheet of parchment paper using a permanent marker.

Next, I cut and taped my flipped parchment paper onto an upside down sheet pan. (I worried the edges would impede my piping skills and I didn’t want the marker to run into the candy).

Then, I melted some Winton candy melts, stirred in some blue coloring and started with the outline and blue squares and shapes. Whoops, while piping the candy I realized that R2-D2 does not look right flipped so I improvised with my squares and circles.

Again, I melted more candy melts to fill in the gray areas. Then, more melted candy for the bright blue circle.

Again, melt more candy melts to fill in the white areas. Make sure you bang the pan against the table or counter to release any air bubbles and force the candy into the nooks and crannys.

Finally, patience patience patience as these set up in the refrigerator.

These easily moved once they set up on the parchment paper. I had no trouble flipping them over with my fingers.

So, I am quite happy with how these turned out. Now, I know that they are not wonderful, but they will make for a very happy 6 year old boy! Plus, I have 6 little R2-D2’s that will look great on my son’s cupcakes. Thank goodness we didn’t invite too many kids. Although this didn’t take too long.

I have these sitting in an airtight container in the freezer, but I am slightly worried about breakage. So, I will probably make more again this week, just to be on the safe side.

I know, with me it’s either jello jello jello or cupcakes cupcakes cupcakes. Not a lot of variety. But I’m a traditionalist, and when I know something works I stick to it. Like these cupcakes for example.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

beatty’s chocolate cake
from barefoot contessa at home, by ina garten

• 1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
• 2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup cocoa powder
• 2 t baking soda
• 1 t baking powder
• 1 t salt
• 1 cup nonfat milk*
• 1 T vinegar*
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 t vanilla
• 1 cup hot coffee

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pan with paper liners. I get 36 cupcakes from this recipe.

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into standing mixer’s bowl. In another bowl, combine the milk, vinegar, oil, eggs and vanilla. Turn mixer on low and slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. Keep the mixer on low and slowly pour in the hot coffee. Be sure to scrape down the sides and mix again.

Because this is a wet batter, I pour it into a 4-cup measuring bowl and then pour it into my cupcake liners. Fill 1/2 way to 2/3 full.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Allow to cool completely on wire racks before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

• 1 stick of unsalted butter softened to room temp
• 1 block of cream cheese softened to room temp
• 1 box of confectioners sugar
• 1 tsp of vanilla

Cream the butter and cream cheese. With the mixer on low, add the sugar slowly. Then the vanilla.  The frosting made enough for 24 cupcakes.  I would make 50% more to frost all 36.

I put the frosting in a piping bag with a big star tip. Start by going around the outside of the cupcake and then work your way up to the center. Store covered in the refrigerator.

When you are ready, bring the cupcakes to room temperature and decorate with sprinkles and fruit.

I brought these to our neighbor’s Fourth of July party and they were a hit. The first dessert gone and finished (the jello was second, of course!)

Happy 4th of July! We are celebrating with our neighbors later today. There will be a BBQ, desserts, fireworks, and jello. Yes, that’s right, surprise surprise, I’m bringing jello.

I made these the same as my rainbow jello and heart jello, only with blue and red jello. Last year I did a white center with condensed milk, but I just couldn’t get over the milk gelatin, so gross sounding! So I just stuck with red and blue on my white plate, still effective, and much better tasting.

Of course, with all of the leftovers, I had do add something white. So I dropped the scraps into a glass jar with some whipped cream.

It’s been a long time coming, but I’ve finally made the switch from paper and plastic to Re-usable Canvas Bags.

I got my first four canvas bags from Pixar. My hubby had done some work for them, so we had the privilege of seeing Ratatouille in the Pixar theater. After the movie, Pixar treated us to goodie bags filled with Ratatouille items. Probably the thing I was most excited about was the goodie bags themselves, they were canvas bags, perfect for shopping. (I think this speaks volumes about Pixar as a company, have you seen Wall-E, by the way? It’s EXCELLENT).

Here was the problem with the bags. I had no system. They pretty much sat in my house unused. Okay, my hubby was good about putting one in his car and using it. But that was about it.

Then last year I bought three canvas bags from Trader Joes. I used them for a bit. But again, had no system for them. They would be in the house or in my car. I’d forget to bring them in. They were just off of my radar.

Finally my dear friend Mary gave me a canvas bag from Whole Foods. Ah-ha! The heavens opened up and I found my system. Here’s how I remember to bring my canvas bags to the store:

1. All of the bags get stored in the Whole Foods bag in the trunk of my car.

2. When I am ready to do some shopping, I guesstimate how many bags I’ll need and bring those in. I’ve found most places gives me a 5 cent rebate per bag. At Trader Joes we fill out tickets that are entered into a weekly drawing for a $25 gift card, my hubby even won once!

3. At home I unpack my groceries and immediately take my bags to the front door and hang them on the door knob.

4. The next time I walk to my car, my bags are right there waiting for me to put back into the car. And so the cycle continues.

So, what do you do to remember to bring your re-usable canvas bags into the store with you?