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Friday, January 30, 2009

Funny Find

Cake Wrecks is a hilarious blog about...you guessed it, Cake Wrecks! Some of them had me laughing outloud and wondering what were these poor people thinking. Some of these people are professionals and some are just mommas like me. Here's just a sneak peak (you can click on the title to get the whole story of these cakes):


And here's a post about wedding blunders entitled Big Day, Big Wreck showing what was ordered and what was received:

Ordered

Received


Ordered
Received


You have to check out Cake Wrecks. It's really a hoot! I just hope one of my cakes or cupcakes doesn't end up on their blog. ;)

PS. They also have Sunday Sweets which is their weekly post about beautiful cakes!

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Review of Our Third Week

It's been taking us about 2 weeks to get through each lesson. I'm hoping to get it to one lesson a week as that was the original plan. But I don't want to rush it.

This week our theme was kittens. We had a lot of fun with it and on Friday we made a kitten door hanger. I found the pattern at Danielle's Place (she has a lot of neat crafts).


Our favorite kitten/cat books were:

Chicken and Cat
by: Sara Varon
(This book doesn't have any words but the pictures do tell a story. It was fun to "read" because sometimes I would tell the story and sometimes my child would tell it.)


Four Fierce Kittens
by: Joyce Dunbar








Four Hungry Kittens
By: Emily Arnold McCully

Vanilla Wafers

I got this recipe from Monica at Homespun Heart. They looked good and Vanilla Wafers are a favorite around here, so I decided it was time to give them a try.

Vanilla Wafers
makes about 50 cookies

1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup shortening
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups cake flour (I used all purpose)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp water

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Cream together first five ingredients.
3. Add the flour and baking powder. Add water and continue mixing until dough forms a ball.
4. Roll dough into 3/4-inch balls and flatten slightly onto cookie sheet.
5. Bake 15-18 minutes or until cookies are light brown.


They are good little cookies, but weren't like the original Vanilla Wafers. I used margarine instead of butter, so that could be part of the problem. I also thought about using almond flavoring instead of the vanilla. That could be a yummy "twist" on this cookie. Also, it helped when I sprayed a little Pam on my hands before rolling them into balls. The dough was a little sticky. And I would recommend NOT using an airbake pan. Check out what happened when I did. Yikes!!

Works-for-Me Wednesday: Kitchen Face-cloths

This is my first Works-For-Me Wednesday and I decided to participate because of all the wonderful advice I've read through Rocks In My Dryer. On to what works for me.


I get really grossed out by the kitchen washcloth. It's used for washing dishes and wiping counters. I try to get a clean one out every night because I can't stand that dirty wash cloth smell. Eww!!

I also use washcloths to wipe my kids' faces after eating. I started using regular washcloths but never knew which one was for the face and which one I was using to wash the bowl that just held raw meat. See what I mean? That's gross!!

My solution is to use baby washcloths in the kitchen. I buy the really cheap colored ones and keep about 10-15 in my kitchen linen draw. (I use only white baby washcloths in the bathroom so when I'm folding laundry I know where they go.) It's been a great way to keep our kids from the stinky washcloth in the sink. I've started bringing my own face washcloths to other people's houses because a lot of times they'll just use the kitchen washcloth for my kids' faces. YUCK!!

For more Works-For-Me Wednesdays check out Rocks In My Dryer.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Bloggy Giveaway

Bloggy Giveaways Quarterly Carnival Button

I just signed up for a bunch of giveaways and thought that some of you would be interested in these as well. Check it out:
  1. Many Little Blessings: $25 Amazon.com Gift Card
  2. The Homeschool Classroom: $25 Amazon.com Gift Card
  3. Two of a Kind, Working on a Full House: MediBag 4 Kids Pack (check out Me4Kidz for more products)
  4. Miss Musing: $100 Amazon.com Gift Card
  5. Robyn's Online World: $50 Amazon.com Gift Card
  6. Frugal Finds From Your Frugal Friend: $10 Target Gift Card
  7. Sweet Savings: $25 Borders Gift Card
  8. An Iowa Mom: $50 Target Gift Card
  9. Welcome to My Loonyverse: $25 Amazon.com Gift Card
  10. The Money Jar: $5 Starbucks Gift Card, Starbucks chocolate, and Warm Vanilla Bath and Body products.

I've entered a few more contests as there are over 600 giveaways to enter. Have fun!! And don't forget to leave your contact information!!

Monday, January 26, 2009

Stuff Christians Like - #478

Stuff Christians Like is a Christian satire blog by Jon. He's really funny and shares some truths about our Christian culture in a quirky way. His recent post, #478 Sitting Next to Sick People at Church, is so funny and true! Here are his tips (in bold) to dealing with sickies at church followed by my commentary:

"1. Wave to them during the meet and greet."
I agree with this one whole-heartedly, but it's hard for me because I don't want to look unfriendly. And I'm an affectionate person. I enjoy a good handshake and a greeting.
My husband's sister-in-law was visiting several weeks ago and as soon as we sat down after shaking hands, she put on the hand sanitizer. First, I was thinking, that's kind of rude. And then I thought, I really want some of that! She said that her church has stopped shaking hands for the winter because of all the sickies. I think it will take me a while to get used to the wave greeting.

"2. Don't buy the 'it's just allergies' excuse."
It is winter and there aren't really an plants alive in our neck of the woods. But maybe it's the dust from all the artificiall greens. ;) I think that allergies are real and I think that I get them. But face it, it's cold and flu season and germs are running rampant. I'd like to say that my cold symptoms are an allergy (from dry furnace air, from the dust trapped inside our house for 9 cold months) but reality is...it's just a cold.

"3. Bring them Kleenex."
This actually sounds friendly. I have to say that I've never really seen anyone wipe their wet noses on their sleeves, but I have heard people trying with all their might not to blow their nose. There they are, so uncomfortable, sniffling away. I've done this many times because I don't want to draw any attention to myself by blowing my nose. As I give out this next bit of advice I'm really talking to myself: BLOW YOUR NOSE! You will feel better! And if you're uncomfortable with blowing your nose in public, excuse yourself. If you're one of the people trapped in the middle of the row, you will draw attention to yourself when you blow your nose, but remember it's only for a second. Sniffling through the whole service is a constant distraction, I know because I've been one, just ask my mom.

"4. If they bring their sick kids just give up."
I am very guilty of this. I don't want to take my littles to Sunday School when they're sick to avoid getting other people's littles sick. So I haul them into the service. It never works out. They can't sit still, they don't feel well, and instead of infecting their friend, their infecting the friend's parents. It's a vicous cycle. That's why I didn't go to church yesterday. I was home with my youngest son and his dripping nose.

The article is really funny, especially how he talks about his kids coughing right into his mouth. That is so true! You can check it out his commentary here.

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Decorated Cupcakes

After the Sunflower Cupcakes I made for a baby shower, I was hired to bake cupcakes for a bridal shower. I had one of the party planners look through the book I had (Hello, Cupcake!) and she picked the Black and White Cupcakes...but we went with the colors: brown, blue, and white.

After visiting half a dozen stores, I found all the candy and sprinkles I needed to make these adorable cupcakes. I liked making these because once I decided on how to decorate them, it wasn't so hard on my brain. But they were time consuming. I wanted them to look professional so I took more time to get the coloring right (still didn't quite get the bright blue I was going for, but it still coordinated with the lighter blue of the sprinkles).


My supplies:

1 box of white cake mix (I added in 2 tsp almond flavoring)
1 box of triple chocolate chunk cake mix

2 containers white vanilla frosting
1 container chocolate frosting
blue & yellow food coloring

pastel giant confetti
white nonpereils
chocolate sprinkles
white M'n'M's
blue salt-water taffy
baha blue Starbursts
Whoppers
licorice salt-water taffy

(bought and returned: 4-pack of white Tic-Tac's, Trolli sour worms, 1 lg box Jr. Mints)

My husband helped me decorate these cupcakes, and I think they turned out pretty cute.

Surprise In the Mail

The other day I received a surprise in the mail:


I was so super-pumped!! I thought it was wonderful to see a foodie magazine in my mailbox!! The next day I got a postcard in the mail saying that my mom had gotten me a 6-month subscription to the Food Network Magazine. Does she know me or what?!

There are a bunch of recipes that I want to try:
  • Watermelon Pork Tacos in Lettuce Shells (pg 50)
  • Almost-famous Pumpkin Cheesecake (pg 53)
  • Cornmeal Blini Bites - made with Jiffy corn muffin mix (pg 55)
  • Cranberry Pecan Biscotti - made with Jiffy corn muffin mix (pg 57)
  • Chicken and Black Bean Tostada - or tacos (pg 80)
  • White Chicken Chili Stew (pg 80)
  • White Pizzas with Arugula (pg 87)
  • Cincinnati Chili (pg 141) - I already have a recipe for this dish, but would love to give this one a try

Other features I enjoyed:
  • index of the recipes with pictures (I love to see what it's supposed to look like)
  • what wines to pair with what dishes
  • good boxed wines and what to use to serve the wine to make it look more elegant
  • gift-ideas based on cooks/chefs from the Food Network

What can I say, I'm hooked! The only disappointment was a chunk taken out of the back few pages. Happy to say that there were no recipes on those pages, so it worked out okay.


Yesterday I got a postcard to subscribe to the magazine: 1 year for $10. Sounds like a deal to me.

Oh, and included in the magazine was a little booklet "50 Toast Toppers." Amazing little book! I can't wait to give them a try. I might make a meal out of yummy french baguette toast and fun things to top them with. Yumm-O!!