This blog is a hodgepodge of things I want to share, from the good deals I find to my newfound cake decorating hobby and everything in between. Enjoy!

Saturday, December 31, 2011

New Years Resolutions

It is officially New Years Eve! Time for everyone to think about the resolutions they would like to make for the new year. For me, it was easy to come up with a few things to "better" myself, which is what most resolutions are about, right? Basically, I want to continue my resolutions from 2011, which is the first year that I successfully completed what I set out to do!

First, I resolve to continue losing weight. Since I started Weight Watchers on January 13, 2011, I have lost 52 pounds, about a pound a week. If I can meet that same goal again this year, I will be where I want to be at a healthy weight! It has been hard at times, but for the most part, it has been much easier than I thought! As long as you track every bite, it will work! Considering that I haven't tracked when on vacation, and there have been many weeks where I was over my points, I think 52 pounds is something to be proud of!

Second, I am going to continue letting my husband choose one new food for me to try each month as I did in 2011 (and don't worry, I will blog about them)! So far from I have tried eleven new foods (I know, we are late on the 12th) and overall it has been a great experience. I learned that I like more foods than I thought I would, and most of the things I have tried I would eat again! I know my husband already has a list of foods he is waiting for me to try in 2012 and I am excited to learn to enjoy new things.

So cheers to those of you with resolutions and good luck meeting your goals! I know it isn't always easy, but it feels so good to accomplish something and look back at the end of the year knowing you did what you set out to do!

Month 11 (2011) - Chicken Pot Pie

November's food of the month was Chicken Pot Pie. My husband took me to KFC (yes, that is how lazy we are when it comes to cooking!) to try this food. I wasn't expecting to like it all that much, but I actually didn't think it was so bad. I only ate half (since it was so high in Weight Watchers points) but I could have eaten it all. My favorite part was the pie crust.


I know it is already the last day of December, so the month 12 food (port chops, I think) will be coming soon!

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Month 10 (2011) - Stuffed Green Peppers

For October's new food, Greg asked me to try stuffed green peppers. I am well aware that it is December, but we have been so busy the last few months, we forgot to eat new food! So, October and November's food will both be eaten in December. The important thing is that I try 12 new things, who cares if we are a few months off!

We decided to cook this one at home instead of eating out. We already had most of the ingredients to make the stuffed green pepper recipe I found online. All I had to buy was the tomato sauce and peppers! It took over an hour to prepare and bake, but it was well worth it. They had a great flavor, and I liked them quite a bit. We made 4 total peppers, and we each at one for dinner lat night and we each brought one for lunch today. Overall, not my absolute favorite, but good food!

Before Baking
After Baking




Tuesday, November 15, 2011

FREE clothing at Sears Outlet!

Show up at any Sears Apparel Outlet every Tuesday until December 27, show your rewards card, and receive a FREE piece of clothing, any price! The only exclusions for this offer are that you cannot choose Levi's, Leather or outerwear. Sign up for a rewards card online before you go or register for one in the store. (It's not a credit card, it's a free points card)

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Dirty Thirty Martini Cake 2

My first dirty thirty martini cake was such a hit, I had to try again for a friends thirtieth birthday. Enjoy!

Graveyard Cupcakes

Yummy graveyard cupcakes I made for a Halloween party this year. The graves are made from milano cookies, the dirt is made from crushed up Oreo cookes and the grass is frosting with the Wilton grass tip.



Saturday, October 15, 2011

Spin Master Games

Logo
I won another House Party! I have written about House Party before, but for those of you who haven't ready my past posts, it is a Web site where you fill out applications to host a party at your house featuring a product. If anyone has not been to the House Party Web site, yet, you must check it out now! So far, I have won 5 house parties, and each time I got to sample and share fun products!

Quelf
The party I most recently won was a Spin Master Games Party. My party pack included two board games (Quelf and Logo), magnetic chip clips, drink stirrers, coasters, napkins and of course, coupons!

We had friends over, ate dinner and then got playing! Both games were really fun! I have to say, since I LOVE board games, this was my favorite House Party so far!

Month 9 (2011) - Chicken Biryani

I know I am a little late with this post. I didn't actually try my September food until the beginning of October. What can I say, we have been busy!

I already knew that I liked some Indian food. Whenever we order Indian takeout, my husband gets chicken biryani and I get chicken tikka masala. I never wanted to try his because it looked gross.

We decided to make the biryani at home, so we went to our wonderful Schaumburg Whole Foods and bought some biryani sauce and basmati rice in the Indian section. It was easy to cook, smelled really good and tasted even better. 


Success for this month, which is good because we have a lot of rice and sauce left over! I promise to try to eat my October food in October!


Monday, October 3, 2011

Dirty Thirty Martini Cake

A friend at work asked me to make a birthday cake for her sister's 30th. Her theme was dirty thirty, and she wanted a pink martini cake. I baked a 9" x 13" cake and cut it to be shaped like a martini glass. I frosted it in white, and then added pink fondant to make the "liquid". I added pink sugar to the rim, made two lemon twists out of fondant and then added text to the cake.


My biggest problem with this cake was the lemon twists flattened out by the time I delivered the cake. Since I only used fondant, I think the moisture got to them. Next time I would use gum paste so they harden and don't flatten!

I do plan on creating another dirty thirty martini cake for another birthday this November, however it will be a dirty martini with olives instead of a pink martini with lemon twists. I will post pictures after I make it.

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Baby Shower Cake: Baby Blocks

We had a baby shower at work and I was asked to make the cake. Apparently, I am getting quite the reputation around the office for being the "cake boss". 

I went with the theme of the shower, which was blue and brown (for the future little baby boy!) and owls.


The baby blocks were formed with rice crispy treats, and the owls, bow and polka dots were made using fondant. I had a few problems (like the blocks drooping and the bow cracking) but overall it turned out really cute.

The cake itself was chocolate with raspberry filling (the guest of honor's favorite). I used chocolate cake from a box and frozen raspberries. For awhile after I put the raspberries on the cake, the cake looked as if it was bleeding out the bottom. Next time I may have to drain the frozen fruit first, however I did get a lot of good review on the taste of it and how moist it was since the raspberry juice soaked the bottom layer.


Monday, August 8, 2011

Month 8 (2011) - Sushi

When I first started the new year's resolution to let my husband pick a meal once a month, my only rule to him was no sushi. After my Seattle sushi experience, I decided I was ready to give it a try.

We went to Sushi Station. I researched what I wanted to eat before I got there, but ended up getting some other things as well.

For an appetizer, I got Shrimp Crispers: Crunchy deep fried shrimp made with lightly seasoned rice flour wrap. These were good, and of course I like them, I love shrimp.

The first roll I tried was the Spicy Tuna Roll: Minced tuna with spicy sauce. I didn't expect to like this one, but it was actually one of my favorites!

Next I tried a Hanako Roll: Cream cheese, tempura crumbs, imitation crab and green onions topped with mayo and teriyaki sauce. This roll was just OK, but not bad.

Then I got the Shrimp Tempura Roll: Shrimp tempura, cucumber, masago and tempura crumbs drizzled with unagi sauce. 

After this, I got the Paradise Roll: Shrimp tempura, toasted coconut flakes and avocado. Also one of my favorites! It tasted very tropical.

The last one I got was the Phoenix Roll: Spicy tuna, tempura crumbs and masago. I figured, since I like the Spicy tuna roll so much, I would like this one because it was basically the same but with some tempura.

Overall, it was very fun to pick sushi off of a rotating conveyor belt and I give this meal a 9 out of 10.
 

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Guinness Cake (inside and out)

Last night we had a going away party for a friend who is going to study in Ireland. I decided to make a Guinness cake for the celebration. When researching photos online of cakes shaped like a Guinness glass, I found a recipe for chocolate cake made with Guinness! Here is the recipe I used:

2 c. guinness
2 c. (4 sticks) butter
1 1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
4 c. flour
4 c. sugar
1 tbsp. baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. salt
4 eggs
1 1/3 c. sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bring stout and butter to a simmer in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add  coco powder and whisk until smooth. Cool Slightly. Wisk flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in a large bowl to blend. Using a mixer, beat eggs and sour cream in another large bowl. Add stout-chocolate mixture to the eggs and beat to combine. Add flour mixture and beat briefly on slow speed. Bake about 35 min.

This recipe is supposed to make 3 8-inch round pans. I used a 9x13 pan, and needed to up the baking time. I also had a lot of extra batter, so I made a small 6-inch round pan with the extra, which my husband took to work! If I did this again, I would half the recipe and use a 9x13 pan.

For frosting, I made Wilton's chocolate butter-cream. I also made a batch of non-chocolate butter-cream for decorating.

I couldn't be happier with the end result, I think it looked like a Guinness glass, and the cake tasted very delicious and moist!



Crepes

I think my new favorite food is Crepes. After eating at an amazing creperie in Seattle, I decided to try making these at home. As it turns out, a week after I got home, there was a recipe in the tribune! They can be made in two different ways, savory or sweet.

For savory crepes:
2c. milk
1c. flour
3 eggs
1/4 c. melted butter (plus a bit extra to grease the pan/griddle)
Using a mixer, blend the ingredients together until smooth. Use a 1/4 size measuring cup and pour batter into a buttered pan or griddle (my preference). Cook about 4 minutes. Add toppings. Enjoy!

Normally I only make half of the batter- which will make 4 good size crepes. This is perfect for two people to each have a savory crepe for dinner, and a sweet crepe for dessert

Disclaimer: The original instructions state that you should cook 2 minutes, flip and then cook the other side for another minute. I have learned from trial and error, that crepes are VERY hard to flip and keep in one piece. I have also learned, they are so thin, that if you leave them on for about 4 minutes they will cook all the way through and still taste the same.

I made my savory crepes with cut up chicken breast (cooked first), mozzarella cheese,and a garlic and melted butter spread. My husband added tomatoes to his. Be creative, you can add anything you want and they make a delicious dinner!

For sweet crepes:
(add the following to the savory crepe recipe)
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tsp. vanilla extract

My favorite sweet crepe is Banana Nutella, SO YUMMY! Again, be creative. When we had friends over for dessert my husband and the other guy added peanut butter M&Ms to their banana crepe.

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Month 7 (2011) - Polish Sausage and Sauerkraut

To continue my new years resolution of letting my husband pick one new food per month for me to try, in the month of July I tried polish sausage and sauerkraut. I have always liked polish sausage, so that wasn't an issue for me, but I have never really liked sauerkraut. I have always pushed it to the side in the past when it was mixed with sausage.


At first I just tasted a piece of sauerkraut, and I didn't think it was good, but then I took a bit of sausage with sauerkraut and decided that it was OK when paired with the sausage. I even went back for seconds. I liked the flavors mixed together and  would eat this again occasionally.

I give this meal a 7 out of 10.

Alcoholic Cupcakes

For my sisters engagement party, my mom asked me to make mini cupcakes. I thought, since the party is outdoors in July, why not make summery alcoholic drink themed cupcakes? I found recipes online for strawberry daiquiri and pina colada cupcakes, along with mojito bars.

Strawberry Daiquiri Cupcakes
The strawberry daiquiri cupcakes were made with white cake mix, strawberry gelatin and of course, rum. I also created a buttercream lime and rum frosting to top them off. These were the most popular of the three.

Pina Colada Cupcakes
The pina colada cupcakes were created with yellow cake mix and pineapples. The frosting was buttercream rum with coconut. These were the second most popular of the three.

Mojito Bars
The third thing I made was mojito bars. These are basically lemon bars, but lime with rum and mint added to the "batter". These were my favorite of the three, but not as popular with everyone else as the cupcakes.

These cupcakes were so good, my sister asked me to make her wedding cake. I will make a sample cake in September to make sure I can do it!

Congrats Jess & Luke, I hope you had a great party!

Friday, July 22, 2011

Vegas Themed Bridal Shower Cake

I can't beleive I didn't post this sooner. I made this cake back in May for a co-workers bridal shower. Her wedding theme was "lucky in love", so I made her a vegas themed wedding cake! This was my first experiment with fondant at home, and I was happy with the way it turned out!

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

New Foods in Seattle!


Crispy Roll

I am currently in Seattle for work. So far it has been a lot of work and a lot of fun.The food in Seattle is just about the same as in Chicago. I am sure that the seafood tastes better, but I haven't had the opportunity to eat fresh fish yet. I did discover a local beer called Mac & Jack. It is a darker beer, a little sweet, very tasty! I hope Binnys has it when I get home!

I have also had the opportunity to try some new foods while I have been here.

Our second night here, a coworker and I went to the Mexican Cantina. We started with an appetizer consisting of guacamole, mango salsa, ceviche and grilled provolone atop eggplant. The provolone eggplant was one of the best things I have eaten. It had amazing flavors that mixed in your mouth such as garlic and cilantro. Everything else was also very delicious including the chicken tacos we shared for an entree and the churros I had for desert!

Yesterday, I went out with some coworkers, including my bosses bosses boss! He took us to a Japanese restaurant (Izakaya Wann) and ordered a few happy hour appetizers for everyone to share. I knew this would be a good time for me to try new things.

The waitress brought us a sample of the crispy roll. I have no idea what was in it, and I have never been a fan of sushi, but I actually really liked it. I had the opportunity to try a California roll also, which I didn't really like. I do not like the seaweed that is wrapped up in the roll. The texture of it bothers me, but it wasn't horrible. The only roll I didn't try was the spicy tuna roll, I am not ready for that!

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

My First Great Deal!

I recently started couponing. I have been saving coupon inserts by week from the Chicago Tribune. Whenever I am ready to go to the grocery store, I search coupon database sites such as www.couponmom.com or read a local blog to find out what is on sale, and where I can find the coupons to match with the sales.

I have been saving a little bit of money, but nothing crazy. I kept reading that when something is on sale, and you have a coupon, you should stock up on it. I hadn’t come across anything great, until Monday. The blog I read informed me that Dominick’s had Goldfish crackers on sale buy 2 get 2 free. I also remembered that on my Dominick’s fresh values card I had a Just for U coupon for a free bag of Goldfish, and a special price of $1.63 whenever I bough Goldfish.

I figured, I could get 4 bags for $1.63. This is a great deal, since normally they are over $2 a bag, and I eat them almost every day for lunch. When I got to the store, I noticed an end cap with Cheddar Goldfish. The bags had a peelie for $.75 off when you buy one cheddar and one flavor goldfish. I wasn’t sure how much this would save me, but I knew it would be a really good deal if I bought 8 bags. The way I figured it:

Dominicks Receipt
8 bags at $2.39 is   $19.20
4 bags free (B2G2) -$9.56
1 bag free (J4U)     -$2.39
J4U my price          -$2.28
4 MFR coupons     -$3.00
                         =  $1.97

If you look at my receipt, there are three lines of goldfish, that add up to $2.00. I am not sure how the computer calculated it, but for some reason it came out 3 cents above what I thought it should be. I will not complain over 3 cents!

This is the first time I have been able to use my coupon “skills” to stock up on something, I am very happy with myself that I got 8 bags of goldfish for less than the cost of 1 regular priced bag! I now have enough goldfish for a few months, and hopefully they will be on sale again by then.


My Stockpile of Goldfish!


Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Month 6 (2011) - Chicken Kiev

In June, my husband decided to have me try chicken kiev. I wasn't sure how I would like it, but I went into it with an open mind. While at Dominick's, we picked out two types of kiev. We got broccoli cheese, and butter with spices. I liked the overall flavor of the butter kiev better, but the broccoli one was also really good. I would eat either one of them again, although the broccoli one was 2 less weight watcher points than the butter one so that would probably be the healthier choice!


While at Dominick's, we realized we needed to get something else to eat with the kiev. We looked at the pre-made pasta salads in the deli section and decided to try buffalo chicken pasta salad. It was OK. The flavor of the sauce, chicken and pasta was really good, but I didn't like the texture of the celery that was mixed in, or the flavor of the blue cheese. I don't think I would buy this again, but I can see how people who like blue cheese would love this salad.


Butter with spices kiev, broccoli cheese kiev, buffalo chicken pasta salad
I give this meal a 7 out of 10.

Friday, June 17, 2011

Toy Story Cupcakes - "The Claw"

My nephew is having a Toy Story themed 2nd birthday party, so my sister-in-law asked me to create some cupcakes to look like the "claw aliens". I used a blue cupcake wrapper and died the cake mix blue (since the aliens wear blue suits.) I created ears and the antenna out of gum paste. For the ears, I used a leaf cut out and shaped them to look like alien ears. I used homemade butter-cream died "alien green", then added butter-cream eyes and a mouth with a round Wilton tip.



Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Month 5 (2011) - Fish

Ok, so I know I didn't technically eat any fish in May. We were planning on it, but May turned out to be a really busy month for us, so today was the earliest we could get around to it! 

We wanted to go out for fish. Having never cooked it at home, I was a little worried about how it would turn out, so we went to Bonefish Grill.

To start out, we ordered the Bang Bang shrimp, tender, crispy shrimp tossed in a creamy, spicy sauce. It was amazing. One if the best shrimp appetizers I have ever tried. I would definitely get this again, it was perfect for two people to share.


Next, we had ceasar salad. The other couple we were with ordered anchovies on their salad, and they convinced me to try one. I figured, since it is my day to try fish, I might as well try an anchovy. Surprisingly, I didn't hate it. I mean, I wouldn't order it on my own, but it wasn't horrible, all I could really taste was salt with a slight "fishy" taste.


For an entrée, I ordered Chilean Sea Bass. The texture was good, and it had a nice clean taste to it. It wasn't "fishy" at all. The restaurant Web site says "This rich, melt-in-your-mouth fish is tender, buttery, and moist with large, thick flakes." That pretty much describes it. To top it off, I had warm mango salsa. It complimented the sea bass wonderfully. With steamed broccoli as a side, it was the perfect amount of food, and very healthy also. 


Overall, I really enjoyed the fish. I would definitely eat this again, and I would go to Bonefish Grill again. This has been one of the better months for tasting new foods.


Bang Bang Shirmp, Anchoy, Chilean Sea Bass




 I give this meal a 9 out of 10.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Month 4 (2011) - Hamburger Helper

For April, my husband wanted me to try Hamburger Helper. He really wanted me to try the cheeseburger macaroni Hamburger Helper, and I wanted to try the crunchy taco Hamburger Helper. Since we couldn't agree, I said I would try both. Then I found a coupon for 75 cents off of any 3 hamburger helpers, so we had to pick a 3rd for me to try! We chose the four cheese lasagna.

The cheeseburger macaroni was just OK for me. I have never really liked meat mixed with noodles, so although the overall flavor was good, the texture kind of bothered me. I would eat this again, but not all the time.


Surprisingly, I really LOVED the crunchy taco one. The flavor was just like a taco, and I think I enjoyed it because it is made with rice instead of noodles. I will 100% be buying this again!


I haven't tried the lasagna one yet, but I suspect it will be similar to the cheeseburger one.

I give the cruncy taco meal a 10 out of 10 and other hamburger helper flavors a 7 out of 10.

April Cupcakes (Birthday & New Baby)

For my husbands birthday, we had a party at Dave and Busters. If I brought a cake, I was told there would be a $50 cake cutting fee! I guess this is because they would need to provide us with plates and forks. Since I didn't want to pay for that, I decided to make cupcakes instead! Greg wanted funfetti cupcakes, so that is what I made with blue buttercream frosting and sprinkles! Simple, but classic.


In addition to it being Greg's birthday in April, my sister-in-law had a baby girl! Her request was that I make chocolate cupcakes with cherry filling to celebrate the birth. I bought cherry pie filling, blended it up and inserted it into the cupcake using the Wilton cupcake filling tip. Since I had extra cherry filling, I decided to try mixing some with the buttercream frosting I made. The frosting tasted a bit fruity and had bits of cherry in it, perfectly complementing the cherry chocolate filling. For the baby girl, I made them pink with purple flowers!

Monday, April 4, 2011

Wilton Gumpaste and Fondant: Week Four

Week Four was spent entirely decorating our cake. We started by rolling out our fondant. This was the easy part, although I think I rolled mine out a little to thin. Once we got the fondant on our cake, we were supposed to lift and smooth it out until it set nicely around the cake. Since my cake was so tall (three layers of strawberry and white cake with fresh strawberry's in between) it was very hard to get the fondant to lay flat. I had a lot of folds in the fondant, and since it was so thin it started tearing.

My original plan was to put light purple and yellow stripes on the cake. As I started adding the stripes, I realized that if I also added dark purple stripes the same color as the fondant on the cake, it completely covered up the sides and the folds/tears. At this point I was very satisfied. I know it wasn't perfect, but it was pretty good for my first try!

I then added the carnations, daisy's and calla lilies that I prepared before class and then the leaves. Overall, I was very satisfied about the way it turned out! I can't wait to try using fondant again on my next cake and perfecting my skills.

Wilton Gumpaste and Fondant: Week Three

During week three of the gumpaste and fondant class, we learned how to make a mum and daisy. I purchased some shimmer powder to use when I make flowers, and I added some purple to the daisy. I don't like the way it turned out, but when used correctly I think it will add some nice sparkle to the flowers.


In addition, we covered a cake board with fondant, to be used in class 4 for our final cake. I went with yellow. I have decided that I wanted to make a purple and yellow cake with white flowers. Pictures to come!

Friday, March 18, 2011

Wilton Gumpaste and Fondant: Week Two

This week in class we finished the roses, calla lilies and carnations we started last week. They took a long time, but I think they turned out great and I will most likely use some of these flower types on top of my cake the last week of class!


I'm not sure what I will do when these classes are over. I really enjoy being creative every Wednesday for a few hours, it is a really good stress releaser! Until next time...

Friday, March 11, 2011

Wilton Gumpaste and Fondant: Week One

I was very excited to start my next Wilton class. I learned a few things in the decorating basics, but there were a lot of things I already knew. I have never worked with fondant, so I had a lot to learn!

The first week we spent time learning how to roll, cut and dye the fondant. We prepped some flower bases for next week and we were also tasked with making a bow! I chose teal for my bow color and I was very pleased with how it turned out.



I let the bow sit and harden, and Thursday night my husband said his coworkers had Thursday cake with drawl. I told him that if he baked the cake I would decorate it with some left over chocolate frosting and the bow I made.

He got out the yellow cake mix, and I was shocked when he started adding peanut butter and Heath bits. I wasn't sure how it would turn out, but it tasted delicious! I decorated it with frosting, lined the edges with Heath and set the bow on top! Oh, did I forget to mention that the middle is layered with banana? YUMMY! This is our chocolate, peanut butter, toffee, banana cake creation:

Month 3 (2011) - Meatloaf

My food to taste for the month, decided by my husband, was meatloaf. Myy biggest problem with meatloaf in the past has been that I don't like the shape. Meat shouldn't be shaped like bread. As I was thinking about this, I started wondering why it had to be in a loaf pan, I have been making a lot of cupcakes lately so why couldn't I make mini meatloafs in the cupcake pan?

It turns out that I wasn't the first one to think of this (duh...) so when I Goggled it I got all sorts of ideas! Some people even put mashed potatoes on top of the meatloaf to make it look like frosting. Once I saw this, I knew I had to do it!


I think they turned out really cute, and most of all they didn't taste all that bad. My husband liked them a lot and as I have said of the other two months of tasting food I thought I hated, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be!

I give this meal a 6 out of 10.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Taco Cupcakes

A co-worker had a few of us over for dinner, and she made taco's. I thought a good desert to bring would be taco cupcakes! For the taco shell I rolled out caramel candies. For the ground beef I used crushed up chocolate cheerios mixed with a tiny bit of chocolate frosting. I died coconut green for lettuce and just used yellow frosting and a small round tip to make the cheese.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Wilton Decorating Basics: Week 4

The final week we learned how to do letters in both print and cursive. We also learned the Wilton ribbon rose. Then we got to decorate one final cake however we wanted. Since I feel like the roses are a little old fashioned, I used drop flowers on my cake. I cannot wait to start the next Wilton class, Gum Paste and Fondant next Wednesday!

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Wilton Decorating Basics: Week 3

This week in class we set out to learn a few different flower types and also decorated cupcakes. Some of the flowers looked a little old fashioned, but there was one I thought were really cute. This is the flower you can see on my cupcakes below.

For my cupcakes I decided to make yellow cake with chocolate butter cream frosting. I filled the cupcakes with Boston cream filling using the Wilton bismark tip. They are my cupcake version of a Boston cream donut!

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Chocolate Covered Bacon

This week I wanted to try to combine two already delicious foods: Chocolate & Bacon. I have had bacon chocolate candy bars before, and I have heard of bacon slices covered in chocolate before and thought, it can't be to hard to make!

I cooked the bacon in the oven until it was crispy. Then I went to melt the chocolate chips. I tried using the double boiler, but the chocolate melted then turned hard and was a big mess. I put the mess in the microwave to try to melt it again, and it burnt. I was out of chocolate chips, so I ran to the store to grab more, and I picked a bag that had microwave instructions on the back. Turns out my issue was that I was microwaving them on full power, not half power as recommended.

Once I finally got the chocolate properly melted I dipped the bacon and Wala- Bacon Covered in Chocolate!



After tasting this bacon, it became clear that the ratio of bacon and chocolate was off. There was to much chocolate flavor and not enough bacon. 

A few days later I needed to bring a treat to work to celebrate a coworker's promotion, so I decided to try again. This time I used my Wilton decorating bag and drizzled the chocolate on the bacon. It tasted great and the ratio was perfect.


Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Wilton Decorating Basics: Week 2

This week at class we frosted the cake we were instructed to make. I made a funfetti cake at the request of my husband and his coworkers and frosted it with Wilton buttercream. We then learned about dimensional piping, and got a chance to try the technique on our cake. I decided to pipe a fish! Overall class two was fun. Next week is flowers and cupcakes!