Spot the Dog - Birthday Cake

For Annika's 2nd birthday, I decided to make a dog cake since she adores dogs in all shapes and sizes. After checking out my site of inspiration for birthday cakes, I picked a Spot the Dog cake for my project. Here's what I did.

First, I baked two 13 x 9" yellow cakes, recipe from Smitten Kitchen. I cooled them completely, wrapped them in foil, and froze them a day before cutting out the shape I wanted. I drew the basic outline that I wanted on paper, then laid it on the cake to make the cuts.

I re-froze the cakes until the day of the party, when I decorated them. Frozen cakes are MUCH easier to both cut and frost, fewer crumbs that way. I made my usual buttercream frosting:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup shortening
7 cups powdered sugar
1/4 t. salt
1 T. vanilla extract
1/3-1/2 cup heavy cream

Whip butter and shortening together on med-high speed (in your mixer) for at least 10 minutes. Reduce speed to low and gradually add powdered sugar. Take your time - you don't want to spray your kitchen with sugar! Add salt, vanilla, and cream to desired consistency.

I used a Tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa to tint most of the frosting a light brown; Wilton's pink food coloring for the gift, and a small amount of black for the outline.

I also melted some chocolate chips and carefully made the circle and tail spot on wax paper and froze it until hardened. The gift was decorated with candy....I loved the ribbon! Spot's tongue was a piece of candy too. All the candy was bought at a specialty candy store by a friend....thanks Ellen!

He didn't turn out perfect, but everyone thought he was super cute and Annika loved it....so that's what matters. And I did have fun making him.

CVS - Take 2

The kids and I made our second trip to CVS today.....after I had spend WAY too much time trying to figure out all the coupons and possible deals and ECBs. At this point, I'm still not convinced that it's worth all my effort and time...but I'm hoping that I'll get better at it with practice and I'm not giving up just yet.

So.

Today I walked away with the following:

1 Glade candle - $6.99 - with $6.99 in ECBs. I had a $3 coupon printed from online also, so I MADE $3 on this one. Cool.
1 Pantene hair gel - $3.49 - with $1.50 ECBs. I had a $1 coupon.

Subtotal came to $7, I paid with $6.99 ECBs from last time, and ended up with some weird little tax charge of $.52. Still can't quite figure that out, but I wasn't going to put up a big fight over a piddly amount like that. Especially since I got an extra $2 ECBs on my receipt, just for shopping at CVS. :)

Okay, so then I asked about toothpaste, because I couldn't find what was advertised in the flier. Turns out they didn't have it, but they would match the price with other tubes. So I got:

2 Colgate Max Fresh toothpastes (6 oz each) for $4.99, with $2 ECBs - I had a $.75 coupon, so I paid with $4.00 of ECBs and another $.51 cash.

Basically, I spent $11 of ECBs and $1 cash and got back $12.50 in ECBs. I have a candle, spray gel, and 2 tubes of toothpaste, all for free.

Can't complain about that. Except for the time and energy spent figuring all that out....and the hassle of dragging the kids to the store to try to find the exact right products. Worth it? I dunno. But like I said.....I think I'll get better at it.

It's a Trifle Bar....You Gotta Have One!

The baby celebration party I hosted last week was so much fun! A couple of friends helped me with the food and decorations and we had 15 ladies at the party! We did a trifle bar.....with beautiful dessert dishes for everyone to fill up with their culinary creations. It was a huge hit!

This is Mocha Punch, which my friend Heather made. In all its delicious frothiness, it almost overflowed the bowl!

My dining nook....beautifully decorated with nothing of my own! I don't even own a nice white tablecloth...gotta get me one of those.

The dining room....with the bounty of food. We had brownies, pound cake, angel food cake, chocolate cake, vanilla pudding, chocolate pudding, whipped cream, cool whip, mandarin oranges, strawberries, cherry pie filling, homemade chocolate syrup (recipe coming soon!), caramel sauce, chopped up oreos, walnuts, and chopped Heath bars.

The ladies barely made a dent in all this food. You wouldn't believe how much was left over.

We even threatened that they would have to leave if they didn't eat seconds. Didn't work.

Shannon and Heather, my sweet friends who helped throw the party.

Christen, the guest of honor, who just had her baby (her 3rd daughter!).....wait for it.....only four weeks ago. Oh Christen, we all wish we could get our figures back so quickly. But we love you anyways!

Beautiful new mama. One of the sweetest people Ever. Amen.

Party Punch

I had the priviledge of hosting a baby celebration party for a friend last week.....and among the things I made was this delightful punch. I got the recipe from Allrecipes and actually made it just as directed! Everyone really liked it, but because I had the ingredients for a double batch, I ended up with a lot left over. And it still tastes great! It's perfect for a baby girl shower....or just about anything, really. I'm thinking I'll make it again for Marissa's birthday...my little pink-loving girl.
Be sure to make it at least 30 minutes before you intend to serve it....so the sherbet can melt down a little and really flavor the punch.

Recipe:

6 oz. frozen lemonade concentrate
6 oz. frozen orange juice concentrate
3 liters lemon lime soda
1 quart raspberry sherbet

Mix first three ingredients together in a large punch bowl. Scoop in the sherbet and let it sit for awhile before serving.

That's it!

Broccoli Salad

This is one of my favorite ways to eat broccoli. It makes a great potluck dish or side dish for a cook-out....and nearly everybody likes it. It is definitely best eaten within a day or so, because the bacon gets soggy and the nuts lose their nice texture. I made it with grapes, but you can certainly use raisins or dried cranberries with good results as well. The original recipe (from Allrecipes) also called for sunflower seeds, but since I couldn't find any already shelled, I used toasted walnuts instead.

Recipe:

8-10 slices bacon (I used turkey bacon)
1 large head fresh broccoli, cut into bite size pieces (I used 3 small heads)
1/4 cup red onion, chopped
1/2 cup red grapes, cut in halves/quarters OR raisins
3 tablespoons white vinegar
3 tablespoons white sugar
1 cup mayonnaise (light is fine)
1 cup toasted chopped walnuts OR sunflower seeds

Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside. (I cook turkey bacon on a foil-lined cookie sheet @ 400° until browned)

In a medium bowl, combine the broccoli, onion and grapes. In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, sugar and mayonnaise. Pour over broccoli mixture, and toss until well mixed. Refrigerate for at least two hours.

Before serving, toss salad with crumbled bacon and nuts or sunflower seeds.

Gingerbread Men

Corban just recently read the story of the Gingerbread Man for school.....and after reading that, the kids wanted to make some gingerbread. I've actually never made gingerbread before, so this was a great idea to me! So yes, in the middle of August, our house smelled like fall/winter and Christmas time...and that was just fine with me! I thought these were fantastic cookies! I wouldn't choose them over chocolate chip cookies, mind you, but they're delightful for something different. We'll certainly be making them again when the weather cools down. The recipe came from Allrecipes.

Recipe:

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup molasses
1 egg
2-1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Frosting/decorations (optional)

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Stir in molasses and egg. Combine the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg; blend into the molasses mixture until smooth. Divide dough in half, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for at least one hour.

Preheat the oven to 350°. On a lightly floured (I used powdered sugar instead of flour) surface, roll the dough out to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Place cookies 2 inches apart on cookie sheets lined with parchment paper.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes (exactly 8 for me) in the preheated oven, until firm. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks. Frost or decorate when cool.

I just made a little glaze of powdered sugar, milk, and a dash of cinnamon and piped on for my frosting. The buttons are raisins, "glued" on with some frosting.

Pregnancy Photos.....27 Weeks

Just in case anyone was wondering what I look like these days (ahem....MOM.....), here ya go.

Funny story: The day these pictures were taken, we had a gathering with our small group for a cookout. The 20 month old son of our friends was sitting in his high chair waiting to be fed and happened to turn around and see me right behind him. He grinned, pointed right at my belly, and yelled,

"BALL!"

Well, I thought it was funny. Especially since just that morning, a friend came up to me in church and said it looked like I was trying to smuggle a basketball into church in my shirt.