Birthday Cake Bark...

AKA...Holy Crap I'm going to gain 1,000 lbs. if I keep going on Pinterest...

Dear Pinterest:

Seriously, you have remove the food and drink section.  Seriously.  I'm not kidding. In the last week I've found way too many things that are way too easy to make AND more importantly, I've made two of them. Neither of which is low calorie for the record. FYI. Just saying.

So today's lovely delectable is Birthday Cake Bark, made honor of my sister Mary who turned 30 this weekend, not that she got to have any considering she lives in Texas and I live in Illinois.  Details always get me.

So here's what you need:

1/2 bag Dark Chocolate Chips.
1 bag White Chocolate Chips
3 T. of boxed cake mix (dry mix straight from the box)
Sprinkles, which to my surprise are called Jimmys.  Who knew, not me.

 Start by microwaving in one minute increments the Dark Chocolate chips until just melted.

Once melted pour onto a silpat mat or parchment paper and stick into the fridge until just hardened.  Now I know in the last post I extolled the virtues of room temperate drying, but in this case we are going to add another layer of hotish chocolate so you need to make sure that you have a good base.

Once cooled, melt your white chocolate in one minute increments until just melted and then add three heaping scoops of your cake batter.  No need to measure exactly, it's a taste thing so if you want to use two or four go crazy and adjust. Mix well and then spread on top of the dark chocolate making sure that you go just to the edges to completely cover the dark chocolate.

Then take a generous handful of sprinkles and scatter them along the white chocolate.

Let the chocolate set up and then break into serving size pieces.

Enjoy!

No Bake Truffles!

As I was perusing Pinterest for some fabulous ideas that I would never execute I came across a recipe for no bake truffles that seemed too easy not to try.  Here is the link to the original blog http://www.loveveggiesandyoga.com/2011/04/no-bake-vanilla-cake-batter-chocolate-truffles.html

So without further ado here we go:

You need:

1 cup vanilla cake mix

1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

1 t. vanilla

7 oz semi-sweet chocolate 

Add the first three ingredients in a mixing bowl and stir until mixed completely.  When your done it should look like the picture below

Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Form into balls and then back into the fridge for 30 more minutes.  I made larger truffles, think two bites vs. one bite, and got 14 out of the recipe, I think you easily get around 20 out of this recipe.

Microwave the chocolate in one minute increments until melted and then spoon/dunk/cover/paint the truffles with the chocolate.  I know I used semi-sweet, I'm sure that dark would work well too, but think that white or milk would probably be too sweet.

Allow to air dry on a silpat mat or waxed paper.  Now I know a lot of places you will see people suggest that you chill them in the fridge to hurry up the cooling/hardening process, I don't do that because I find that the chocolates sweat when you serve them after the chilling.  I know it takes longer to harden this way, but for me for a presentation stand point, it's worth the time.

I brought them to the office today and they are gone.  But I get to bring home the empty box so that I can refill it. 

Shoes tell a story

Because deep in his soul The Boy is a Corcoran he finds comfort in the familiar.  That explains why for the past 18 months I've bought the same pair of shoes in three different sizes.  Given the opportunity to choose a new color or style The Boy has declined and gone for the green converse low tops.  Where the other parent in his life suggests a change, I recognize the need for consistency, after all I owned four pairs of black Bass penny loafers in high school.

What I didn't understand as a child that I do now as a parent is the mess that is created by multiple pairs of the same shoe.  I've on more than one occasion gone to throw away the too small shoes only to sit there and think "am I sure this is the pair that should be tossed?"  At which point I am distracted by something shiny and before you know it another pair of green shoes has shown up to confuse me even more.

So one morning as The Boy slept, I lined up all the shoes and did what had to be done.  I took the picture and threw the too small pairs in the closet for next fall when we buy the fourth pair...

Sparkly Tree Part Two

Okay so remember the Sparkly Silver Tree of my dreams? Yeah, that one.  I knew that the tree needed to have some special glittery ornaments to make it perfect.  Pink and Purple ones.  Now you have to understand that once I get something in my mind that's it, nothing else will do.  So of course I was less than successful in finding glittery ornaments so I was forced to make them myself.

Here's what I used:

Glitter from Jo-Anns it was a pretty large chunk glitter

As an adhesive I used decoupage gel.

Start with a glass ornament and tie a piece of ribbon or string through the loop.  It you are a neat crafter then I suggest tying on the ribbon that you are going to use to hang the ornament.  Next, cover the  ornament ball with the decoupage gel.  I made it kinda thick all the way around the ball.  Sprinkle the glitter generously around the ball.  If you feel the need, press the glitter into the decoupage gel and add a second layer

Hang the ornament to dry.  I gave them a good hour to really set up and then shook them to get off any excess glitter and then let them sit one more hour.

 Please note the bamboo skewers that we bought for shishkabobs came in very handy for this drying process and the paper towel kept the glitter off the kitchen island. Sorta...

When completely dry, add to tree.

Once again, Arthur approves.

Ugh....

Came home and the furnace was out.  I think I reset it and it seems to be working.  Seems crying works on the furnace gods.   Michael says its the runny mascara that did it.

A case of the Mondays...

I think that there is no more dreaded day in the week than Monday.  I know that poor Monday didn't ask to be the beginning of the work week.  I mean if Monday knew the hate and vitriol that would have been hoisted upon him, I bet Monday would have glad defer to Tuesday.  As it is Tuesday just kinda hangs out there with no real purpose except as a line saver for Wednesday who got the cool nickname.

So today I have a case of the Mondays.  I know what your saying, so do the rest us, suck it up.  Well, I am petitioning for some extra whine time.  See, in my world Monday means that my husband get up at 3:30 and heads off for another week of working in Ohio.  Yep, we live in Chicago and he works in Columbus.  Now I know that I should be thrilled that he has a job and believe me everyday I thank God that he is employed, it's just that today I wish that he was employed in the state of Illinois.

Okay, whine over.  Carry on with your bad self Monday.  See you in a week.

Paper Tree

So this year, being the first year that I'm not in retail, I have decided to go all out on the Christmas decorating because well, I don't have to go crazy, now it's all about want to.  (Yes, I know I ended that sentence with a preposition, deal.)

So one morning and afternoon while waiting for the ATT guy to show up, I decided that the work desk needed a little Christmas spirit. Now if you look at any kind of crafting magazine you know that these little trees have been around for years, but this is my first attempt so excuse the amateur end result.  Okay?  (And no that was not an attempt to garner compliments.)

So here's what you need:

That's the 12 inch size foam cone:

Various styles of Scrapbook paper.  Some are Christmas Themed, some aren't. Some are double sided, some aren't.  Thing is, it's about what you like so go crazy.

This one is Arthur's favorite.

I was partial to the musical one because I think I spent the ages five through thirteen learning every Christmas Carol know to man for the yearly Christmas Pageant at School.  That's the beauty of Parochial education, you get to double down on the Christmas Carols and I think I'm the only person who knows every verse to Joy to the World.

Cut the paper into strips of one inch by two inches and strips of one-half inch  by two inches. 

Take the Strips of cut paper and darken the edges with the ink of your choice.  I like StazOn, it's dark and covers completely.

Next the strips and wrap them around the end of a foam brush or a pencil.  I only wrapped it half way up the brush so the paper was more flippy than curly.  

Then with a glue gun start at the bottom of the tree and working in around the cone slightly overlapping the strips of paper.

As you work your way up the tree, use your best judgement on the next row.  The closer the rows the denser the tree will appear, the farther apart the more "Charlie Brown Tree" will appear.

I also alternated one inch and one-half inch strips to give the tree a little more texture until the top three rows where I went all half inch strips to make the curve easier to manage.

So when you are finished it should look something like this:

Don't worry if there are empty areas, the beauty is you can go in and tuck a strip in where necessary and it will still look fine.  Trust me, I speak from experience here. Now the more daring, might add a bauble or doodad, a little glitter, but I controlled myself for the first attempt.  Next time though...

Let it Snow, Let it Snow,Let it Snow...

First real snow of the season!  Woo Hoo! I love it.  Yep, I'm the nut job who loves the snow.

I have secret, I even love shoveling.  

Ohhhh, Shiny.....

I was lucky to grow up in a time when children didn't have to be kept in plastic bubbles and your parents didn't hover over your every move.  It meant that I was able to do really dangerous things like lay in the back window of the car while my parents dove on the highway, or ride bikes in the street or go out and play and return home "When the street lights come on."  Yep the good old days.

Now one of my favorite memories from the good old days is shiny Silver Metal Christmas tree that we used to have.  If you lived through the 1970's you remember what I'm talking about. Ours was about four feet high and was kept in the basement in the play area.  I loved that gaudy shiny thing.  When you covered it with lights it glowed like Chernobyl. Sure my younger sisters got to grow up in the house with the pool but I had the shiny Christmas tree.

The Shiny Tree has become a thing of legend in my family.  A story to be passed down to future generations like the lore of a magical Christmas Elf.  So imagine my surprise when I dragged The Husband to Target on the saturday after Thanksgiving, a task he relished with delight I might add, and while walking through the Christmas aisles I came across a Shiny Silver tree.  Now, much to my chagrin they no longer make the Shiny tree out of metal which means a new generation will not have the chance to cut their hands while decorating, but this is what happens when lawyers become involved.

I stood there in awe, suddenly a six year year old girl again I had to have it.  The Husband, being of the Jewish faith and male, knew we were there to replace a Christmas tree skirt and to get Spaghettos. He didn't stop to look at the tree, to reach back to a simpler time when Christmas was about wonder and light. No, he walked right past it toward the cat litter. So as stood there I had to make the decision myself. As I liberated the tree from it's lowly place on the shelf I knew it was meant to be, I was going to be whole again.

The Husband looked at me as if I were insane as I came out of the aisle.  "What is that?" he asked.  What is that? What is that? Well it's only the embodiment of my childhood memories. It's only the symbol of a time when Santa was real.  It's only the thing that I have been searching for my entire adult life and as I stood there in Target and explained the significance of the tree he looked at me and said, "Ok. Do we need anything for lunch?"  Do we need anything for lunch? Really? Men.

So here we are thirty-ahem years later and my life has come full circle.  My shiny tree replaced in my life except this time as the Mom I get to put it in the Kitchen and not in the basement.

Chernobyl here we come.

The Festival of Lights

So the beautiful thing about being a multi-religous family is the many holidays that we get to celebrate. Last night started the celebration of Hanukkah.  The Boy and I had a great night making the traditional Latkes and some Matzo Ball Soup.  My cooking skills being based more in the "sugar based" creations we have usually made our Latkes and soup out of a box.  Yep. Just like mac and cheese.

Done shaking your head? Okay, this year since I have a helper that gets "extra credit" for his cooking class if he helps make meals we decided that we, meaning The Boy, would make home made latkes.

So first The Boy had to peel the potatoes.

I told him not to join the Navy and if he did not to get into any trouble because his peeling skills were lacking and his whining would not be well received.  We almost put an end to homemade Latkes one and a half potatoes into the process.  But as soon as I pulled out the Cuisinart his little eyes lit up and he played through the pain just so he could shred.

Bless him, he had a good time with that shredder.  What is it about men and things that cause destruction?

I even got him to chop onions:

And let me tell you how happy he was to have to squeeze the water out of the potatoes:

See the face? Excitement and murder all in one look.  You have to love it. It was almost as good as the look I got when I told him he needed to mix everything up with hands.

All that kept him going was the promise that I would let him cook. On the stove. With oil. So the first thing I say is, "What should you remember about cooking with oil?" To which he answers, "If it catches on fire throw water on it." Now a less seasoned parent might freak out and take the spatula away from him, but not me, no. I know we live less than a mile away from the fire station so we probably wouldn't wreck the whole kitchen. After I lecture The Boy that he was in fact completely incorrect and that he should do the exact opposite of his answer we were ready to go.

 

Look at that face. I think he had the spatula like that so he could take a swing at me if I tried to take it away. 

Not bad for Christian and a 13 year old.  Tasted pretty good too.  Happy Hanukkah to everyone!