Cakes, what a headache.

So just as i am getting excited about doing cakes again...

this happens.

Let me just say that this cupcake was so good.  

I don't like cake and i would eat all 4 of those right now if given the chance.

(i say this because it wasn't my recipe, it was Giada's)

The customer wanted marble cupcakes with buttercream frosting.

I had never made marble from scratch so flustered i tried a few recipes.

While working hard on finding one that was good enough to be proud of i forgot that she said buttercream...

I stayed up all night (the day Jack was born) making these cupcakes and each individual Raphael head to go on top of them.  Then finish the cake and the large full bodied Raphael.

Then, when we got home from the hospital i had a message.

Asking for all of her money back.

DUDE.

I charged $30 for ALL of this, 24 cupcakes and the cake that will feed 8.

$30 didn't even cover the supplies.

The frosting was delicious, i am not lying.  It was a pudding frosting.

She wanted buttercream, so she wanted her money back.

OUCH.

No more cakes for me.

Spinach, pesto, buffalo mozzarella, pine nuts and some tomato sauce that i fancied up a bit with basil, pepper and garlic.

Farfalle, pine nuts (yes i like pine nuts) pesto chicken and bacon bits with a little bit of garlic infused olive oil.

barbeque sauce, liquid smoke, Worcestershire, honey, red chili flakes, red onion and chicken.  I pulled the chicken once it was cooked through.  Topped with bacon bits on an onion roll.

This is my first attempt at tamales.  

I used Emeril's recipe but scatterbrained me, didn't have all the ingredients or the time...

so shortcuts were definitely made.

 They were pretty good even though i baked them in foil instead of steaming ... oops!

 french dip with onion fries

 epic fail

 I thought that if i lined up my pecan pieces and topped them with caramel then baked just a bit to melt them down enough to stick to each other i would be good right?

wrong.  These definitely just need to be made completely from scratch.

I was just too afraid to try and make caramel again after the halloween incident.

If you want chewy turtles instead of melt in your mouth ones... you can do it my way! 

My Valentines

Yes, Jack had an outfit change, he is a baby, i knew he would spit up.

Plus that was a perfect opportunity for me to purchase two valentines day outfits :)

I'll take any excuse i can get!

I love my boys.

They make me giggle.

L.O.V.E.

First, how cute is my mom?!!

Precious, i told her i wanted to have some pennant banners for every holiday (and in between) and this arrived in my Valentines day box.  

And yes, she sends me valentines day boxes!

 So here is the Valentines pizza i made for my friend Kelsey who offered to watch Jack for a few hours.

Perfect since Nick and i were going to have fondue, and that isn't the easiest meal to eat with a newborn squirming around :)

 I made a white chicken pesto pizza on whole wheat crust, you could also stop here... and have a vegetarian pizza.  I used my grandma's alfredo recipe and added some red pepper flakes, pepper and parsley to give it some more flavor.  Then i whipped up some basil and marinated the chicken in that before grilling it.  I toasted some pine nuts and threw everything on the crust with italian cheese and tomatoes.  I was going to cut the tomatoes into heart shapes as well, but then i realized they are already in kind of an organic heart shape :) No fuss.

P.s. this meal also made me realize that there is no reason i should not be making my own breads. 

The crust seriously took 10 minutes hands on time.  It smells so good rising too!

 I had no need for these felly's but i wanted to try the recipe my mom found, so instead of making the 9" round cake that the lady suggested, i thought i would make a smaller one and try the same idea in cupcakes.  Here they are.

They are fun, but i don't think i would make like 24 of them.  

2 was fine.

I followed her tutorial pretty much...

 Heart Cake Tutorial

I just ran out of flour (who does that?)

so luckily i had a cake mix, i used the cake mix with 2 sticks of butter, 1 cup of buttermilk, 1/4 cup of oil, 1 T of vanilla and 3 T of cocoa and red food coloring to make the red velvet cake.

It turned out quite well.

Her recipe for white cake was delicious!

Oh i also used homemade cream cheese frosting instead of her recipe.

 My heart turned out kind of techno looking, but oh well i tried.

Next time i will know to make my cones more round.

 Now to dinner...

 bleu cheese fondue with pesto chicken, grilled red potatoes and top sirloin.

 Chocolate and Hazelnut fondue for dessert!

I would have just put a straw in that bowl...

yummy.

All in all the night was a success, except we both missed Jack.

<3

Sushi

For a long time now Nick and i have both been wanting to try and make our own sushi.  I tried once (and tried not to use seaweed but something else, i can't remember) and Nick ended up eating a California salad, notice there is no "roll" in the name.  :)  I didn't do too well.  This time i watched Ina roll the sushi on her show and figured eh, we will give it another whirl.  So we did...

 We made my favorite, cream cheese, cucumber, avocado, and shrimp :)

Salmon and Pot Roast

Mexican salmon

For this i just chopped everything that i would normally put in guacamole (avocado, lime juice, cilantro, tomato, jalepeno, onion, garlic, salt and pepper) and tossed it instead of trying to cream it.  Served over mexican rice :)  Nick's new favorite

 Ina's Company Pot Roast

Greek Salmon

This is simply kalamata olives and feta.  I seasoned the salmon in salt and pepper, period.

The tzatziki is a mix and some low fat sour cream, and the meal is served with cous cous.

Easy!

Birthday in a box

Cake spy cookies

Jacques & Pico

Turtle bar

Jar of peanut butter cookies

p.s. the tape was supposed to be eclectic and urban,

i know it just looks trashy but brother will know i tried!

Jar of puppy chow 

(not pictured)

S'more bars

&

Funfetti cookies

(also not pictured)

All the recipes except the sugar cookies are from The Goose berry Patch, so i can not reveal them ( i think) and the sugar cookies are also a recipe from a friend, sorry!

ALL are delicious, i was very pleasantly surprised :)

I hope brother is too!