One thing that I was craving recently were these Blondies With Pecans and Chocolate Chips from Epicurious.com.  I found this recipe several years ago when I was looking for the perfect Blondie recipe.  They are chocolaty, chewy, soft, and delicious.   Yummy!   I get complements every time I make them (and Erin, I think this is the recipe that you wanted, instead of the one I previously gave you!)  I highly recommend sharing them because you will want to eat the whole pan!  : )

Just a note:  I usually leave out the pecans because my husband isn’t crazy about them.  I just increase the chocolate chips to about 1 1/4 cups.  Also, this last time I was out of brown sugar so I added just shy of 2 cups of white sugar along with about 2 tablespoons molasses.  This gave it a really nice caramel flavor and I will probably do this next time even if I have brown sugar on hand.  Using dark brown sugar will give a similar result too.

Happy baking!

Anne

The first is called Black Bean and Corn Salad II from Allrecipes.com.  We have been making this one for years, sometimes leaving out the avocado if we know we will have leftovers (they turn brown and slimy when kept over night), adding whatever color of bell pepper is on sale, usually green, often doubling the whole recipe, and always adding cilantro.  This recipe is good any time of year but it is fabulous in summer with ripe tomatoes and sweet corn right off the cob!

The second recipe I came across the other day and just had to make it.  It’s called Creamy Lime-Cilantro Dressing from Our Best Bites.   It’s super easy to make, tasty on everything from taco salads, to hamburgers, and even fajitas.  We have really enjoyed having this on hand and will definitely be making it again. 

The last recipe was one I tried today.  I was looking for a marinade for fajitas since I had skirt steak in the freezer, and bell pepper, onions, and mushrooms on hand.  I looked at several fajita marinades at Allrecipes.com and based mine off of the Super Fajita Marinade. 

I didn’t write down amounts so I’ll just tell you what I did.  : )  I didn’t have fresh limes, so I added several squirts of lime juice from the bottle.  Then I added several generous squirts of soy sauce along with probably 20 dashes of Mesquite seasoning mix.   I continued to add 2 chopped green onions (kitchen scissors work great for this), 3 cloves of chopped garlic, about 1/2 c. chopped cilantro (again using scissors), and about 1/4 c. vegetable oil.  I also added about 1 teaspoon of cumin, I think!  I mixed it around in a plastic baggie, added the frozen skirt steak, pushed all the air out, and placed it in a bowl and filled it with tepid water (to help it thaw faster.)  This stayed in the fridge until supper time when my husband grilled it.  I believe he said it was “outstanding” and I thought it was very good too.  If you like a little citrus/cilantro flavor on your fajitas, you will probably like it too!

Just one word of warning–don’t try all three recipes at the same meal!  ; )

I made two different colors of orange royal icing (one a little darker with some burgundy added) and then filled the piping bag with both colors.  By lining up the tip correctly, many of the flowers ended up with dark orange at the centers with the lighter orange at the edges of the petals.  You can’t really see this in the pictures but I really liked the way they came out!  I then added burgundy centers to the flowers to tie them into the color of the ribbon.  I added a vine pattern to the sides of the cake to give the flowers a reason for being there!

I enjoyed making this cake–the smaller size (compared to last week’s cake) was much more managable and having wonderful child care for my son one day really helped out (Thank you!)

My first wedding cake!

For dessert this evening, instead of baking, I made Banana Cream Pie but I really cheated.  I had good intentions to make the homemade pudding and crust, but due to an egg allergy of one of our guests, we decided to get instant (vanilla) pudding instead.  I added some vanilla extract to the pudding as I was mixing it up which really added to the flavor.  Then poured it into a pre-baked store bought graham cracker crust topped with sliced bananas.  (The homemade crust didn’t happen because I decided to take a wonderful Sunday afternoon nap!)  Topped off with some real sweetened whipped cream and toffee bits from a Heath bar, I thought it was almost as good as homemade (with a lot less work!)

This week I made cake for my husband’s grandparent’s 60th wedding anniversary.  Yes, 60 years together!  I hope my husband and I can live long enough to reach that milestone also (and still love each other too!)

They wanted enough cake to feed 250 people so I made a small tiered cake and 7 sheet cakes (with flowers on each piece.)  I baked for three days, made 5 batches of buttercream icing (about 22 lbs worth!), three cake flavors (vanilla, chocolate, and lemon) and piped royal icing flowers every night after my son went to bed (and during nap times).   On Thursday, I loaded up my son and the cakes and traveled up to my mother and father in-law’s home to complete the decorating.  They watched my son while I decorated most of the day on Friday.  (I should have started earlier in the morning as it turned out to be a late night, but hind site is 20/20!)  As my mother-in-law said, I hit a low spot late Friday afternoon, but with a little company and a little help (thanks everyone!) I finally finished.  Woohoo!

Here is a sheet cake showing the flowers I made:  roses, apple blossoms, and forget-me-nots.

And finally, here is the serving table.  We cut the sheet cakes up and placed them in rectangular baking papers so we could easily bring the cut pieces to the table as needed.  (Please forgive my poor photography–my camera was not working correctly and I didn’t have a lot of time to work on a good shot.)  : )  One of the cousins is a professional photographer so hopefully I can get a copy of some of the pictures he took!

It turned out to be a great day!  My husband’s grandparent’s were honored, the whole family (including all the grandchildren, spouses, and great-grandchildren) were able to be together, and many friends and family members came to celebrate with us.  And the cake was good too!

It was a lot of hard work but now I know that I can do it and what it takes.  : )  This week I’ll be working on a wedding cake for Saturday.  It will be about half as much cake so I’m hoping it won’t take as long.   I know I need to get started on the flowers sooner than later, however, I still might take a much needed break tomorrow!

Happy baking,

Anne

One friend decided that she wanted to make these for her daughter’s party, so we got together and made ladybugs and practiced making the grass.  It’s easier than you think, if you have the correct piping tip (#233), but you have to do it a few times to get it right. ; )

This is what we made:

I colored some marshmallow fondant red (always remember to wear gloves with red!) for the bodies and for the heads and spots we used Tootsie Rolls (this was in order to avoid using all the black food coloring that it would take other wise.)  We softened them for a few seconds in the microwave and then pinched and rolled little balls.  We stuck the heads on with just a dab of water and we just poked the spots in.  The Tootsie rolls got hard after a while, so next time I might try putting a few in a bowl over simmering water.  Maybe then they would stay soft and pliable. 

You could also use marzipan or regular fondant to make these.  They are very easy but they will take a little bit of time. 

Be sure to check out MarthaStewart.com for cute cupcake ideas (among many other things!)  Many of the cupcakes from her Martha Stewart Cupcakes book are available there with instructions and recipes. 

Happy Baking,

Anne

Roasted Leg of Lamb (neither of us had made this so we were excited to try it)

Steamed Asparagus

Mashed Potatoes

Crescent Rolls

Carrot Jello Salad (we grew up eating Jello salads a lot–also known as Grandma’s crazy salads!)

a Lemon Curd Meringue dish

Not being one to be told what to make : ) I decided to make a Lemon Curd-Filled Angel Food Cake instead (plus I was looking at the recipe just as we were discussing the menu. )  It only got two stars on the review but I think it was much better than that, however, I did make a few substitutions. 

Instead of 1/2 t. of rum, I just used an extra 1/2 t. of vanilla

Next time I would double the amounts of vanilla, lemon juice, and orange extract and add orange and lemon zest–this combination smells so delicious, like Fiori di Sicilia, and I’d love to have more of this flavor.

I had lemon curd and orange curd on hand, left over from some recent petits fours, so I mixed them together to tone down the tart lemon flavor and used this between the layers.

The cream cheese frosting was a bit heavy for my taste, although my husband loved it.  Next time I would halve it, thin it down with milk, and drizzle it over the top and sides. 

Instead of cake, you could use this same recipe to make cupcakes using panettone baking cups–don’t they look delicious!

For another good  great Angel Food Cake recipe try Lemon Angel Food Cakeby Barefoot Contessa.  This is my standard recipe for this sort of thing!   In her cookbook, she suggests serving it plain, with sweetened fruit, or drizzled with 1/2 c. powdered sugar mixed with 1 T. of fresh lemon juice.  The latter is my favorite!

Annie

I almost hate to admit it, but I do like Cadbury Eggs so these Because I Can Cadbury Creme Egg Cupcakes caught my eye.  Or if Caramel Creme Eggs are more your thing (and you don’t care about calories), you can always try these Deep Fried Cadbury Caramel Eggs! 

Of course Martha Stewart has some Easter creations too that you can check out here.  Aren’t these cute?

The idea of a delicious carrot cake also appeals to me (and might be the favorite choice of those we are celebrating with) so I’ll be looking for the perfect recipe.

Of course, you could try these adorable Spring Chickensby Bakerella.

Happy Baking,

Anne

I also made star shaped toppers out of marshmallow fondant which almost resulted in disaster!  I usually make these several days in advance to give them time to firm up but for some reason I didn’t.  (Actually, my husband was out of town and I didn’t really have any free time, but I digress.)  I finally got around to making them one day ahead of time but I was trying to figure out how to speed up the drying process.  I thought heat would help them dry out, so I set the oven as low as it could go and popped them in for 10 minutes.  I’m glad that’s all the time I gave them because they were almost melted when I pulled them out.  I should have realized that they would melt because they are basically pure sugar, but I wasn’t thinking!  Anyway, they had puffed up a bit and were very soft, but they ended up drying very quickly and they still looked nice and puffy!  I was delighted that I hadn’t ruined them and they actually turned out better that way!  I painted on some edible pearl luster dust to bring in the cream color and because stars are supposed to sparkle!

I think they turned out well!

It’s a good thing we stayed in town, because on Sunday morning, my sister called before church and asked if we could come over that night to celebrate my niece’s birthday.  (We were planning to celebrate later in the week but those plans had just changed due the K-State win.  ; ) 

She also asked if I could make strawberry cupcakes.  I had wanted to make something for her birthday so I was thrilled to get to do it!

I took whole strawberries and pureed them in the food processor.  After straining out the seeds, I added the puree to both the cake batter and to the buttercream icing.  I added some fresh lemon juice to each to add a citrus note too.  The cake turned out very moist and the icing had a fresh, subtle strawberry flavor.   Delicious! 

Later this week I’m making fondant cupcake toppers and cupcake wrappers for some baby shower cupcakes.  I think they will be very cute!  (And I get to borrow an SLR camera to photograph them!  I’m excited to play around with it and see if it improves my photography skills!)

Now it’s a year and a half later.  Every once in a while, my husband would come home from work and mention that our friend had asked if I was done yet.  And I never was.  Until two days ago. 

I pulled out all my gardening books and finished up all the details that I had been ignoring for so long.  I’d had the primary trees and shrubs picked out about a year and half ago and then put away the project because 1) I knew he was busy and didn’t have time to plant (or it was the wrong season) and 2) he wanted reds,  bright yellows, and pure blue plants and those colors scare me!  I love purple, lavender, and pink but he wanted none of those, understandably. : ) 

As my apology for being so tardy, (and because he loves wedding cake) I suprised him with this landscape cake!

Replica of landscape plan

Detail of front planting bed

I hope you enjoyed your cake James!  Happy planting!

Anne