I'm A Slacker.

Okay, so once again I've procrastinated and now I have a lot to catch up and don't know where to start.

-The Jambalaya I made for Fat Tuesday was delicious. And I forgot to take a picture.
-I made the cupcakes with the cheesecake filling that I got from Confessions of a Cookbook Queen. I was missing the condensed milk for it, but they still came out okay. And I didn't use any raspberries in it, just raspberry syrup.

Then, around St. Pats Day I felt inspired by a coworker to make a red velvet/cookies and cream cake. But since it was St. Pats Day I decided to do a green velvet. I made a red velvet cake, simple recipe, but made it green and then added crushed oreos into the batter. The batter was so good. Then, I made the cookies and cream butter cream and had a little easier time with it this time since I food processed the cookies. And I wanted to practice making a topsy turvy cake so I made some marshmallow fondant (Super easy, and tastes good.... marshmallows melted with a little water and then just knead in powdered sugar until it's the right consistency) All in all, the cake was fantastic, and I need little more work on carving cake, but for my first time it was a good turn out.

After that, I had to make a cake for Chuck's Grandpa's 85th birthday which I decided to do a "Banana Cream Pie" Cake... A banana cake filled with the cream you make for the pie, which was really easy. I did four layers and put fresh bananas between the layers and covered it in butter cream. Then I wanted to make it look like a present when I covered it in fondant, but about this time, I was running out of time and patience (the day before I made a cake for my nieces 4th birthday... that will be next). So I was low on fondant and didn't want to go to the store to get more marshmallows so I winged it and it didn't turn out too bad, but not at all like I wanted to be.

But it tasted good, and everyone seemed to enjoy it.

So, the day before I had to make a cake for Amelia. My mom asked me to since we missed her party because we both had to work. Amelia loves princess stuff, so a princess cake it would be. I did a cookies and cream cake with a simple butter cream frosting and then some more marshmallow fondant. I wanted to make a better chocolate crown, but once again I was getting frustrated and had to deliver the cake in two hours. So I ended up do a flat crown and propping it up. But I think this was a pretty good try. And after all, it was for a 4 year old and they love anything that's just for them.

So in the very near future I am going to talk about the best freakin cupcakes ever that I made a few days ago. Chocolate cupcake with peanut butter frosting.... and let me tell you... the frosting was heaven.... mmmmm.....


Until then, I just wanted to let you know, I'm addicted to brussel sprouts.

It's Fat Tuseday, and I Got a Lot of Food to Blog

Once again, life got in the way and I was just super busy. Well, I was reading an awesome book and there was a huge sale at work so I really didn't have much spare time. Also, Chuck has been closing at work, so he doesn't get home until around 11 at night, so cooking isn't really top priority. But I have a lot of stuff to update you all on, and I even made myself a list so I wouldn't forget anything.

First off, I read an awesome book, called How to Bake a Perfect Life by Barbara O'Neal. My best friend Jeannie and I have started a book club to be able to have a common ground in life when we live 1800 miles apart. So this last book we read I loved, and she loved too. There was a little of everything for both of us to relate to. It also had a lot of recipes. Mostly for bread which I'm still working on perfecting. Bread isn't easy, folks! But there was a recipe for muffins that I just had to try! It was supposed to have raspberries and blueberries in it, but I am not a fan of raspberries so I put strawberries in them. And I have to say, for my first time really attempting muffins, these were delicious. They didn't puff up quite like normal muffins, but I think that's because my baking soda and powder are a bit old (which I now replaced.)

These had yogurt, honey, oats, wheat flour, walnuts and fresh fruit. They were scrumptious.

Next up, my aunt from Indiana came to visit, so I decided to do a mexican fiesta. Chuck and I made green chili pork, tortillas, sauteed peppers, and mini polla asada taco cups. I also made some cake truffles for the occasion, even though they weren't mexican themed.

These were made by putting two won ton wrappers in a cupcake pan and baking until golden brown and slightly crispy. While those were cooking, pollo asada was being grilled and chopped into little bite size pieces. The chicken was put in the little taco cup and topped with some shredded mexican cheese and put in the oven to melt. Add a dollop of sour cream and sprinkle with chili powder and you have an awesome appetizer. We also had some guac and salsa out for people to put on top.

For the green chili pork, we had two pork sirloin roasts in the crockpot that had been salt and peppered. 505 Green Chili Salsa was added with a little water, with diced onion and garlic. After about an hour and half we added 2 Anaheim chilies and one and a half jalapenos that were chopped in the food processor. When the pork was about done, I chopped it up roughly and then added 4 ounces of cream cheese into the sauce. When it was all done, I drained the meat off and left the leftover juices in the crockpot and added some cornstarch to make a gravy. (And this gravy was soooooo good. It was bottle up and sell worthy.)

So all in all, that was a delicious meal and I'm glad that my aunt was there to enjoy it.

On Sunday, Chuck was off early for once so we wanted to have a nice dinner. We got some steaks, some more peppers to saute, and brussel sprouts. I know what you're all thinking, YUCK, but no, brussel sprouts are so good. So for all you haters out there, you can go suck on a brussel sprout if you know what's good for you!  Either way, it was a great dinner to end the work week with.

And this morning I made the absolute best banana pancakes ever, and I had to mention it and take photos because words can't describe how good they were!

Now tonight I am making cheesecake filled cupcakes that I saw on Confessions of a Cookbook Queen Blog, and I've been wanting to try them. Also since it is Mardi Gras, I am making jambalaya to have tonight when Chuck gets home. So now you have more to think about until next time!

Happy Mardi Gras!