Thomas and Friends

So my little nephew decided that he wanted some Thomas and Friends cupcakes for his birthday this year. He also decided that he wanted pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. So of course, being the awesome auntie that I am, I go and search out Thomas and his one hundred friends. Since they wanted 30 cupcakes at this party, I decided to do 14 different characters, and the number 5, since he was turning 5. I think they turned out pretty well :)






Next on the list: making cabbage rolls, and Christmas baking!!!

Baking Update!!!!

I finally had some time to upload some photos of cakes that I've made recently!
This first one was for some friends who were making a move halfway around the world. I thought this was a nice send off for them:




This mini project was for my nephew's birthday, who specifically asked for carrot cake. So, what do 4 year old boys like other than carrot cake?? THOMAS!! So of course, it had to be a Thomas themed cake. With some help from husband, this is what we came up with: (and yes, everything was edible except for Thomas, Percy, and the candle...and the toothpicks that helped the trees stand up incase a strong wind came through!)

News

old news: I didn't win any of the Chuck give-a-ways that were happeneing...but our Chuck shirts did come in time for us to wear it on the premiere!!

new news: Arty's been getting a work out this past week and a half!! I did some baking for a bake sale benefiting the United Way last week:



I made a red velvet cake with a white chocolate cream cheese frosting, and some maple cupcakes with maple frosting and marzipan leaves.


We were invited to a friend's house for Thanksgiving, and what better gift to bring than...cupcakes! I tried out a new recipe for Devil's Food Cupcakes, and they turned out pretty yummy (as I was told...)

Next up is a clothing exchange and dessert night at church. A bunch of women are bringing in clothes to swap or donate to the local women's shelter, and we are going to eat some desserts and mingle! I was convinced by husband to make some red velvet cupcakes with the white chocolate cream chees icing. I'm sure he only kept suggesting that so that he could have a taste!

That's all the baking that Arty has been up to, but we've also put him to work making pasta!! We made spinach pasta the other night with or mixer and pasta roller attachments. Things turned out well for the fresh batch, but note to self: do not store fresh pasta in refridgerator! Store in the freezer!!!

Rediscovering...

the blogging world...
I think that blogging has something to do with me being in student mode. I stopped shortly after I finished post-secondary education, and now that I've been taking a course this summer, I have a sudden urge to blog....maybe it's a procrastination tool...maybe it's because when I'm in front of the computer for a long time, I need to start writing.
Since I've been supply teaching, tutoring, and baking, things have been so busy that there would be a string of days where I don't even turn the computer on! Hrm...anyways, we'll see how long this lasts.

Here are some pictures of cakes I've made recently:


This was a 2-tired cake with fondant roses


This was a Windsor Spitfires cake....thought my nephew-in-law would appreciate it

Chestnuts Roasting...

in a toaster oven....
I remember when my mom used to make these, and they were just so delicious.
So the other day while we were grocery shopping at Farm Boy after church, I saw a big barrel of chestnuts and decided that I could roast (toast) them and make them for Danny.



This is how it all turned out:

























And this is our little toaster oven that did all the hard work :)

Pulled Pork

While selecting items for our registry, Danny really wanted a slow cooker. I was a little bit hesitant because I've never used one before, but I also wanted to include his items on it as well (after all, it was our wedding registry).
He ended finding this great recipe from the metro, and it turned out so delicious! This is going into our meal rotation for sure! Here is our version, based on the one provided the metro.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb pork loin (they suggested a 2 lb boneless pork shoulder roast with excess fat removed)
• 2 tbs prepared mustard
• 1/2 of an onion thinly sliced
• 3/4 cup maple barbecue sauce
• 4 buns

Dry Rub:

• 1 tbs each granulated sugar and paprika
• 1-1/2 tsp each brown sugar, ground cumin, and black pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt

Method:

1. Spread mustard over pork
2. Make the dry rub by combining all the ingredients in a bowl, and then pat evenly over the pork
3. Put the pork loin in the slow cooker, top with onions, and cover with barbecue sauce
4. Cook, covered, on low for 7.5 hours or until very tender
5. Transfer the pork to a cutting board to cool slightly, and shred using two forks
6. Cool, then cover and put in refrigerator
7. Put the cooking liquid in a tall bowl and refrigerate so that the fat will solidify and float to the top
8. Remove the fat and transfer the liquid to a saucepan
9. Bring liquid to a boil and cook to thicken it
10. Add the meat to the sauce and stir until well blended
11. Serve on buns

Yummy!!!!!

Oh Martha...

Since I've taken on the role of head chef/baker in this household, I've been tuning into Martha Stewart every morning (well, almost every morning). Luckily, she has all the stuff on her website, so if I do miss an episode, I can always see what interesting things she did on that day. A few weeks ago, Emeril was on the show, and he made a duck and pumpkin risotto. I was inspired to make my own version of chicken risotto, and it turned out really nicely! Then, on today's show, they made pierogies. Now I want to go and make pierogies. Maybe I can add all those ingredients on the list so that I can pick them up when I go to pick up some fresh fish tomorrow...!!! We will see! Unfortunately, my camera is not with me, and I have let a many meals go without documenting them properly. Hopefully when I get it back, I'll be much better at presentation, and I'll be able to post up some pics!