Minecraft Cake with Creepers

For Gavino's 11th, E and I crafted him a fun   chocolate and vanilla cake with lime fondant decorations.

Whole Foods

Delicious, quick, and easy.

Standard Fare

If you focus on getting in all the servings of produce you need everyday, as well as healthy protein, meals are beautiful, nutritious and delicious (and pretty easy too).

Lime Thai Salad

http://canadiangiftguide.com/2011/10/14/foodie-fridays-fresh/



So. Amazing.

Bûche de Noël

My sister-in-law knows that we do a Bûche de Noël every year, and so she sent me a photo from Bon Appetit, and I just had to make their version for this year. Here's the recipe online, and I especially love the meringue mushrooms!  

Cheers!!!

Wordless Wednesday: A Very Harry Birthday...

Baking Away...

Pie, pie, me-oh-my... Smitten Kitchen's pecan, First Prize Pie's cranberry dream, Joy The Baker's sweet potato pie filling done for Wednesday. And some loaves of "stuffing bread," that I'm recreating with inspiration from a store-bought loaf that Karen introduced me to a couple years ago (but that QFC no longer carries). Bread with stuffing spices. 

I still need to make apple crisp for Joel and pumpkin pie, and some cranberry-orange breakfast rolls for Friday (and as a hostess gift). And, maybe some pretzel rolls if I go crazy. (Oh, who am I kidding? I'm totally making the pretzel rolls...)

Such a pretty little cake...

made by Erik and me for Bea's birthday. It's a fantastic white cake recipe from Glorious Treats called "Perfect Vanilla Cupcakes." Paired with my usual simple buttercream, and some sprinkles and sugared nasturtiums, it was the perfect cake for a wee 2-year old. We baked it in my 4-inch mini Bundt pan, and this one is two layers since we had enough batter for this and Modi's cake too.

100 Christmas Cookies

Fifty white-chocolate dipped (and green-sugar sprinkled) gingersnaps and 50 classic gingersnaps for 100 kids in a Ukrainian orphanage sponsored by our dear friend's church.

Not Fried Green Tomatoes

This fantastic recipe is from our friend Jennifer, and she and her husband Matt reportedly fight over who gets to eat more of it...

Since I had so many green tomatoes today, and I didn't feel like making fried green tomatoes, I made a quadruple batch of Matt and Jennifer's salsa and sent some off to work with JT. Jennifer gives it a thumbs up.

Green Tomato Salsa
Makes about 2 cups
Time: 10 minutes

1 cup cored and finely chopped green tomatoes (or tomatillos - I might have done mine in the food processor, not positive)
2 tbsp minced cilantro leaves
1 tbsp lime juice
½ tsp sugar (or to taste)
½ tsp minced garlic (or more)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Cayenne or crushed red pepper flakes to taste

Mix all ingredients, taste, and correct seasoning.  Serve immediately, or refrigerate for up to a week.

Back to School

Snacks &  lunches, ready to go. Now, to manage the rest...

Summer: Blackberry Pie

Minecraft Block "Cake"

There are some fantastic ideas on the internet, and this "cake" is no exception. It was M's other favorite birthday cake idea, but not ideal for the pool party last weekend. What kid doesn't love frosted, sprinkle-covered brownies, crispy-rice treats, and Jello blocks?

Add to that the fun Happy Birthday sign that M found at the cake-decorating shop last week, and the fantastic (free printable) paper crafts from PixelPapercraft, and we had a winner! Ten rainbow candles topped off this fabulous creation!


It was very cool to find a girl "Steve" for the cake, and (of course) a cake block, and she loved the mini squid, TNT block, bookcase block, and mini pumpkin. And, perhaps her favorite, the crafting table block that cousin Sophia and Grammy assembled (although I did pull it apart for quick reassembly since they glued the white tabs on the outside of the block...)

All-in-all, a fun and easy cake. The paper crafts took the longest, and next time I'll make the fabulous Colophon chocolate cake for grass blocks instead of brownies. 

Happy 10th Mads!

Chocolate Chunk cake recipe from The Colophon Cafe. Cake Crafted, inspired by Minecraft.

Colophon Cafe Chocolate Chunk Cake
-a dark, dense, chocolate cake that's not too sweet, with a chocolate frosting to match. I also spread several tablespoons of fresh raspberry jam between the second and third cake layers to cut the full-on chocolate power of this cake.

2/3 c. cocoa powder
1 c. boiling water

First, add the boiling water to the cocoa powder, whisking slowly. Set this aside as you prepare the rest of the batter. 

3/4 c. softened butter
1 1/4 c. brown sugar
2/3 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
1 Tbs. vanilla

Cream the butter and sugars, add the eggs and yolk, then the vanilla. Once creamed, mix in the slightly cooled cocoa mixture. 

Then add, 

3 c. all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

And, blend to combine. Then, with your stand mixer on medium-low, slowly pour in 

1 2/3 c. buttermilk

Scrape the sides of the bowl and mix again for 60 seconds. 

Pour batter into baking-sprayed 10-inch square baking pan and bake at 350-degrees F for about 35-40 minutes, or until toothpick-test comes out clean. (I used a professional anodized aluminum baking pan, so baked my cakes at 325-degrees F for almost 50 minutes). 

I baked two of these, then sliced each cake layer into two layers to fill and stack. I filled with the Colophon's chocolate frosting, slightly modified with vanilla extract, and frosted the whole cake with it too, then topped it with my usual buttercream (which I don't measure anymore, and would guess that I make with only about 5 c. of powdered sugar now) with a splash of almond extract and about 1/3 cup of cream cheese, plus some powdered lemon peel from Penzey's.

Colophon Chocolate Frosting

1 c. softened butter
1 1/2 c. cocoa powder
1 tsp. vanilla 
3 1/2 c. powdered sugar
1/2 c. half-and-half

Cream the butter and cocoa powder together, then add the vanilla and a splash of the half-and-half, and mix. Then, mix in the powdered sugar, and slowly add the rest of the half-and-half to the frosting, scraping the bowl as needed. 

#minecraftcake

Summer: Kids in the Kitchen

Uncle Andy's smoked salmon and Ritz crackers got Erik to try cream cheese again. Which he loves now... So, after eating two batches of these this weekend, we had to make these with dinner last night.