Christmas Cakes

So for Christmas this year, I decided to bake for everyone instead of buying gifts. With 6 kids, 4 immediate family members and L's family, gifts were too expensive. Plus there's the whole "it's the thought that counts" thing - it was my hope that people would much more appreciate me taking my time and enjoying making the gift than buying something a store promoted and told me they would like. On top of that, now that I've got a few decorating tricks under my belt, I am working on learning to make amazing "from scratch" cakes.

So anyway, here was my Christmas gift list: a Kahlua cake for Mom, Herd Thanksgiving and L's brother. For Little Brother, an easy bake oven (which really fits into the theme but is more his style than actual dessert). Tiramisu - which I've never made before - for big brother's girlfriend, brownies for big brother, root beer popsicle for Dad, a cupcake wreath for L's parents, and two designs for my not-quite sister's families (really close friends of the family - closest thing to sisters I had).

Some failures - the Tiramisu had too much liquid and was runny. On the other hand, the taste was good so that rest is an easy fix. I never got to make Dad's popsicles even though by the time I got home I had perfected them. He's gone almost every day, but I wanted to wait to make them so he wouldn't see them. Wouldn't you know that he stayed up really late Christmas Eve watching movies and spent all of Christmas day in the kitchen while I baked. Although he said my being home and spending time with him was enough of a present (I know, sappy) I am still disappointed. I will definitely make them another time. I hope big brother liked the brownies. He likes them hard, which I find weird, but I tried anyway.

All of my Kahlua cakes were HUGE hits. I am learning how to make everything from scratch and apparently this new, denser version is MUCH BETTER than the old box version. People went back for seconds, thirds even.

Then there were the decorative cakes. One family has an open house each year where they display their Christmas village, so I played off that. That and their huge yellow lab. The other family likes bright colors and fun designs, so I used my new paisley pan on the top and stuck with blue, green and pink instead of traditional red, green and white. As far as the wreath cake, I was told over and over that it was too beautiful to eat. I had to beg someone to take a cupcake so others would join in and they wouldn't go stale. Enjoy the pictures!


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The leaves on top are made from using fresh mint leaves as a mold for melted white chocolate. The berries are made from M&Ms.

A Pumpkin Project - Part 3

This part 3 has been long in the making but let me tell you - it's worth it!!


So, I bought a pumpkin. Not a small, pretty pie-pumpkin - no, they were out of those. This was a big, ugly green thing. But I was assured this is what companies use to make their pumpkin purees. It was also a spur of the moment purchase. I went out to lunch with a good friend, watched a Tech game and then headed to Sinkland Farms to look for some kettle corn. Wound up with a pumpkin instead. And so the pumpkin project continued.

To get the darned thing open was ridiculous
:

Yes, that's a knife. Then that didn't work and I went to the saw. Then I jammed scissors in there and hammered them in. Then I kept switching between all three until I could pry it open. That took a good 40 minutes.

Once it was open, I covered it and baked it for, let's try to remember, I think about an hour and a half. I just kept checking it to see when it was done. I got a lot of great tips from pickyourown.org on how to cut, cook, puree, and use my yummy pumpkin flesh.

While that was going roasting, I prepared the seeds which I saved when gutting the pumpkin. I've never made roasted pumpkin seeds before so I figured I'd go ahead and try it. Let's just say they weren't bad but I'm also not a huge fan of sunflower seeds. I think I would have liked them if I were a general seed fan but I find that I just don't know how to eat them. Do you eat the whole seed or spit them out? I just don't get it.
I didn't add any salt and just used butter/pumpkin pie spice to flavor them. If they were saltier I would have liked them a bit more, but I still would have just sucked off the salt/spices and spit them out so really it wouldn't have changed a thing!



So then, using mostly the recipe from pickyourown.org I made a delicious SUGAR FREE pumpkin pie, using the pumpkin puree I scooped from my own pumpkin. It was so incredibly satisfying so know I made this - except that I used a frozen crust. Shhhh.

Sugar-free, no preservatives or other fillers pumpkin Pumpkin Pie!
(these amounts are only for fresh pumpkin because of the water content. I wouldn't use this for canned pumpkin)

3 cups pumpkin puree
3/4 cups of honey (more to taste - that's the sweetener)
*2 tablespoons pumpkin pie spice
4 large eggs
18 oz of evaporated milk (1.5 cans of 12oz size)
1 tsp vanilla extract

*the recipe called for separate cloves/cinnamon/allspice/ginger or 4 tsp of pumpkin pie spice but I didn't think it had enough spice so I added more to get to 2 TBS. I also added 1/2 tsp extra vanilla extract and did not add the salt- which was optional anyway.

Blend everything together, pour it into 2 pie crusts - bake at 425F for 15 minutes then 350F for about 45 mins to an hour. Test it using a blunt knife and it should come out completely clean.

This came out absolutely delicious, as confirmed by other friends and coworkers. I know people shy away from things that are sugar free because you're afraid it will have no taste but trust me this was wonderful!



This project has turned out to be something truly inspiring!!!!

Turning 25

(Don't mind the two types of maroon and orange.
It clashed together but looked good separately.)

It's hard, you know, to go to college 7 hours away from friends and family. When I was a freshman, my early birthday meant I had few close friends and would probably be a little lonely. Luckily, I had one friend go to dinner with me - in the dining hall. Then my mom called my cousin and asked him to have a party for me. It was a wonderful birthday with him, his roommates and their friends. Ah, 19.

Then I turned 20 and being the lover of a good time, I invited 50 people over to our huge apartment. I did all the shopping, all the cooking, all the mixing. It was a great time, but terribly expensive and quite tiring.

When I turned 21, none of my friends were 21. Even though there are tons of places in town where "unders" could go, nobody would come down town with me. All I wanted was to go buy one beer in a bar. That didn't happen and I actually didn't get to celebrate my birthday at all.

22, 23, 24 - spent with L. We weren't dating yet when I turned 22, but he was there. 23 and 24 he made dinner and cake and we stayed in. They were lovely evenings, don't get me wrong. I do love to stay in.

This year, I decided turning 25 was the time when I would really celebrate myself. I deserved a vacation, a party, a re-dedication to things I love. So my mom, my godmother, little brother, three friends from high school and two friends from college all went to Massanutten resort in McGaheysville, VA. It was such an awesome time!

I took off Friday and met my mom and godmother at the resort around 12:30. Little brother came around 4. We all hung out, caught up, played with my new KINDLE (gift from L), and baked. Yes, I made some of my own birthday cake but it truly was one of the things I wanted to do on my birthday. Plus my mom made a second cake, so that one counts. My cousin and his wife don't live too far from the resort so they joined us for dinner. Other than hitting a deer in their Tahoe (which was fine, as were we) it was an awesome night. Buffet dinner, casting zings in each others' directions. Great family love.


Two friends arrived Friday night. Of course we stayed up late talking and catching up. Oh and learning that there are 58 different TYPES of bones in the human body. We played with 4S' Siri. We ate.

Saturday another friend arrived in the morning. We all played mini-golf in the afternoon. I came in 4th out of 7, but I was also the only person to get a hole-in-one! Woo-hoo! The vista from the mini-golf course was just amazing! Peak of fall colors, which we already know I love, and just so high up.















As if mini-golfing and hanging out wasn't enough, I got to cross something off my bucket list. WE WENT ZIP-LINING! I have always wanted to go and the resort offered it at a reasonable price so we went. It was so fun - four high-ropes elements and four zip lines: small practice one, one we had to go off backwards, one we sat down to get off the platform and the last we could run and jump off of. It was so much fun and I would definitely do it again. The guides were funny and reminded T and I of river guides - which it turned out one of them was. We had a really great time.
Although I haven't uploaded it, here's a VIDEO of our last zip line.


So that took a lot out of us, but it was so worth it. We relaxed a while at home and got ready for karaoke dinner! Little Brother and I sang "You're So Vain" and "Friends in Low Places" while I tried to eat buffalo chicken on a kaiser roll. Unfortunately there was simply not enough roll for the chicken so I only finished about half of it. It was still really good. The final two friends came that night after the Tech game. We stayed up late talking, laughing, dancing.

Late nights and early mornings. It was an amazing birthday weekend and I hope that leads into a wonderful year. Here's to the nights we felt alive.

A Pumpkin Project - Part 2

I know I left you with a cliff hanger about those pumpkin Cheerios and let me tell you - you have to try it!! I used the same pumpkin milk from the Pumpkin Spice Coffee recipe, still without the sugar, and uses that as my milk poured over plain Cheerios. It just made such a wonderful fall-tasting breakfast and I really enjoyed it.

Then today I made mashed sweet potato for the first time. I skinned it and boiled it, added salt, pepper, butter and milk, and mashed it like I would regular potatoes. I like lumpy potatoes so I didn't mash very long. It was really, really good. BUT THEN I MADE IT BETTER! I added some canned pumpkin puree to the mashed sweet and re-heated. I am sure the taste was just sweeter than it would be if you mashed pumpkin alone - but I've never done that and don't really plan on it. This was a great and EASY way to incorporate pumpkin into dinner. Paired it with some grilled ham steak and green beans. If there is one thing that makes any dinner better it's being extremely colorful on my plate! Pink, green and orange? Well, they didn't really go well together but it was still fun looking.

Stay sweet

A Pumpkin Project - Part 1

So I have had this can of pumpkin puree for a year - I bought a couple during last year's "pumpkin shortage." The only problem is, L isn't a big pumpkin fan so my thoughts of pumpkin pie and pumpkin roll just never came to be. Then I fell in love with pumpkin spice lattes. I've decided this is my year to discover new pumpkin recipes - cookies, lattes, breads - anything and everything.

Attempt 1:
Pumpkin Spice Latte which became Pumpkin Spice Coffee (what really makes something a latte, anyway?)

Ingredients:
1 tbs pumpkin puree
1 cup milk (I used 1%, whole would make it thicker and, if I had it, I would try almond or something similar)
1/2 tbs vanilla extract (I used imitation because I need to finish it so I can open my pure but pure would be better)
1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 cup strong coffee (I used half-caff)
1 tbs half and half
sugar to taste, whipped cream for the top and a sprinkle of nutmeg for aesthetics

This is a combo-recipe of a few I found. Except it's late-ish, I've worked all day and have tests to grade so lets say I made a lazy version of my own recipe.

Mix together pumpkin, milk, vanilla, and spice. I don't have a milk frother and didn't feel like getting out my mixer and whisk, so I used a fork to make it "frothy." Didn't really work. Anyway, heat it up in the microwave about 2 minutes.

Add half the new "pumpkin milk" to the coffee. Stir in the half and half. Put the rest of the milk in the fridge for tomorrow. Add sugar - I forgot this part and I'm only in the living room but I like what I have so I'm not going into the kitchen for sugar. I also don't have any whipped cream - which is clearly optional anyway. I couldn't find the nutmeg. Remember, I said I'm tired.

So what I've ended with is a delicious pumpkin spice coffee. Love it, really. So now I need to decide what to do with the rest of the pumpkin milk. Of course, I could make more pumpkin coffee in the morning. Or - I am thinking of using it in a bowl of plain Cheerios - delicious or disastrous? I'll let you know ;)


Love you Pumpkin ;)

Easy TASTY Turkey Burgers

Last time I tried to make turkey burgers, I tried all sorts of fancy things: stuffing them with avocado and spices. It just didn't work out. They were good but they still didn't have a lot of flavor. So instead tonight I decided to try it one more time. This time, a definite success. Easy, too. Here's what you need:

ground turkey
steak sauce
Adobo (my favorite spice)

Put 'em together and grill 'em up! Simple is always better. The steak sauce gave it that "beefy" taste without making it too wet.

Here's to trying everything twice!

Irony or Injustice?

A tragic irony of life is that we so often achieve success or financial independence after the chief reason for which we sought it has passed away.
Ellen Glasgow

At first, I thought it was just ironic. I can't consolidate my private loans because I don't have good enough credit or a strong enough cosigner. They can't be sure I can afford my monthly payments. Who do they think has been paying my current loans, which are higher than they would be if I could consolidate? Me! I haven't missed or been late on a payment since I started paying them back! Then, I tried to consolidate my federal loans. They have an income-based repayment plan for people who join lower-paying careers such as public service (so, teaching). Here's the thing though: if I was just a teacher, I would qualify. Because I also work at a grocery store in order to make ends meet, I no longer qualify for lower payments.

At first, I thought this was quite ironic. Then I spoke to my dad who got me thinking that it may be nearer to injustice. When I was starting college, I didn't qualify for scholarships or grants because he made too much money. With all the property we own, in NJ no less, and his 3 children - we really don't have a lot of money at all. He especially did not have a significant amount to contribute to college payments. So instead I put 5 years of out-of-state Virginia Tech payments on student loan. Now I'm broke (but not complaining - if you follow along you know I love my life!!) and trying to get just a little help. I know that the gov't will pay back some of my loans after I complete 5 years in a low-income school system, but they won't actually pay that until I've completed it.

Okay, so like I said I'm not complaining. I am, however, wondering about the state of things. Like my dad says, nobody will loan you money until they're sure you don't need it. Isn't that always the way it works? If a person works more than one job because they need to pay bills, then they might not qualify for government assistance. Yet the people who would rather sit around and be lazy, they gladly welcome their supplements each month. Is that fair? We are punishing those who really give it their all - to go to school, to work full time and part time jobs at the same time, to do everything on little sleep - and rewarding those that don't. Now, I do understand multiple sides here. I absolutely know there are people deserving of assistance and I do wholeheartedly agree with giving it to them. I also know that some people, like myself, make their life harder by choice. I chose to go to Tech, knowing I would pay back student loans until I retire. Do I regret it? Not a day in my life! I had amazing experiences and met the wonderful L because I was here. Heck, I got two degrees in five years and I'm still living in this area. I could not have pictured myself going anywhere else.

I'll take a second to tell those of you who don't know about my college-Cinderella story. I first came to Tech my sophomore year of high school to visit my cousin E. I knew then that this is where I needed to be. As soon as I stepped on campus, there was no doubt in my mind that I would be a Hokie. When it came time to applying, I applied to Tech, one safety school in case I didn't get in anywhere else, and one in-state school to please my dad. I wasn't too worried - I knew Tech would be my home. Home sweet home. :)

Anyway, I just think it's pretty unfair that I see so many people who can't scrape together two dimes while they remain honest and fair, but yet so many people are making thousands selling blow, meth, or themselves on street corners and are still getting assistance from the government. A few bad apples definitely ruin the bunch, but it is really upsetting that it's allowed to happen.