Cake Pops

This holiday season I was introduced to cake pops - a highly addictive and easy to make treat.  My husband came home from work one day praising a new sweet he had tasted at work.  A wife of one of his co-workers had made the cake pops and my husband was relentless to get the recipe.  I'm glad he did... sort of...I've put on a few pounds because of these.

Clearly I took the liberty to use a lot of chocolate, which is why my cake pop is sporting a crew cut.  They're supposed to be completely round. Some people decorate them to look like Rudolf the red nose reindeer (here).

Here's a peek at the inside of the cake pops...

The above cake pop is made with funfetti cake.

This one is made with red velvet cake.  Me like-y a lot!

Here's how I made mine:

Ingredients

• Cake mix or make your own cake from scratch.  So far, I have made cake pops with pumpkin cake, red velvet cake mix and funfetti cake mix.
• Cream cheese frosting or make your own from scratch (mix powdered sugar with cream cheese until it taste like frosting).
• Dipping Chocolate
• Paper Sucker Sticks
• Wax Paper

Directions

1. Bake the cake by following the box directions or your own if making from scratch.
2. When the cake has cooled, crumble the cake into small crumbs in a bowl with your hands.  The cake mixture should be fine.
3. Using a rubber spatula, mix in cream cheese frosting a 1/2 cup at a time.  Mix in enough cream cheese frosting until the cake mixture is moist enough to roll 1" balls.  You probably wont need to use all of the cream cheese frosting.  
4. Roll 1" balls out of the mixture and place them on a wax paper lined pan (jelly roll pan or cookie sheet). 
5. Stick the sticks into the center of the balls.  Freeze for about 15 minutes.
6. Prepare the melting chocolate by following the instructions on the bag.  I melt mine in the microwave by heating and stirring in 30 second intervals until the chocolate has melted.
7. Dip the pops and cover them with chocolate.  Let the excess drip off (I usually skip this part).
8. Place the pops back onto the wax paper with the stick facing up.  Let it cool.

That's it!

After Googling cake pops it turns out there are a couple of cake pop cook books and a Martha Stewart appearance.  I have not had the opportunity to flip through the cook books, but I imagine there's a whole new cake pop world out there waiting for me to explore.

Cheers,

Jamie

Chocolate chips + sweet rolls = happiness

I made these a couple of weeks ago and all I can say is they were worth every calorie!  There was enough dough left over to make cinnamon rolls the next morning and then some.  I tried to give the extras to my neighbors but they weren't home, so I ended up eating them for dessert that evening.  That weekend will go down in the history books as the weekend I put on the most pounds.  And I'm ok with that. 

Here's a link to the Chocolate Chip Cookie Sweet Rolls.

Enjoy!

Jamie

Cinnamon Bun Pancakes... YUM!

It was DELISH! Sunday morning, I made cinnamon bun pancakes and we (my family and I) were all very happy for the rest of the day. For such a slice of Sunday morning happiness, they were very fast and easy to make. The recipe didn't call for any surprise ingredients; everything I needed was in my cupboard and fridge. A cooking frustration of mine is to not have an ingredient and let alone to have never heard of the ingredient. Not so with these yummies. The recipe is from Tasty Kitchen and here is the link.

Jamie

Jalapeno Bagels

I made bagels!

This is a first for me and I never would have attempted it had it not been for my oldest. The other day, while picking my son up from school, a teacher (not my son's teacher) came up to me and told me that my son had taken an interest to her Jalapeno bagel that she had baked. I'm still fuzzy on when, why, and how he came about her bagel (may have been rainy day schedule and she was the room teacher for the kids... I don't know...that's not the point), but he asked her all sorts of questions about it, tried it and liked it. My oldest then asked her to give the recipe to his mom and she did.

I had no idea how physically exhausting the bagel making process can be. The directions call for kneading the dough until it's tough. By the time the dough was tough enough, I was out of breath!

After the kneading workout, it all went smooth. I baked it to a perfect golden color. It smelled good. It looked good. And then I took a bite. YOWZA! Muy Caliente! Translation: Insane hot! Next time, I will decrease the Jalapeno peppers by 1/2 the amount. Although, with a lot of cream cheese and jelly it was worth the calories. Plus, my sinuses were all cleared up after eating the bagel.

Below is the recipe. If you like hot salsa or Tabasco sauce, you probably won't want to modify the recipe. However, if you are more of a mild salsa kind of person, then decrease the Jalapenos by about 1/2.

Jalapeno Bagels

• 1 3/4 cups lukewarm water
• 1/2 teaspoon dry yeast
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
• 5 to 6 cups flour
• 1/3 cup jalapenos, chopped
• 1/4 cup dried red peppers

Mix water, yeast, salt, and sugar. Add flour and jalapenos and mix into a ball. Knead for 10 to 12 minutes, adding more flour if necessary, until dough is stiff. Add red peppers and knead for 3 minutes. Let dough rest 10 minutes, then cut into 12 pieces with a knife.

Roll each piece of dough on a table to form long tube-like shapes. Then, for each of the twelve pieces, connect the two ends by overlapping them about 3/4 of an inch and rolling the ends together to make a ring shape. Make sure each joint is secure or it will come apart while boiling.

Cover with a damp towel and let rise 1 to 2 hours in a warm spot. In a large pot, bring 1 to 2 gallons of water to a rolling boil. Place bagels in boiling water and boil until they float. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Enjoy if you dare!

I think I'll substitute the Jalapenos with blueberries next time.

Jamie

Julia's Sweet Quiche Recipe

This past Sunday, I, along with my family, celebrated my Pop's 62 birthday.

62 years old and still surfing! I hope to say the same when I'm 62. This past summer my Pop taught both my sister and myself how to surf. It was scary, fun, and extremely hilarious. Memories I will forever keep close to my heart. There are pics, but they involve things like bathing suits, surfboards, and awkward body poses. So, I don't think I will be sharing them anytime soon. Plus, my sister would find a way to hack into my blog and destroy any evidence of the event =)

About the birthday party - my sister made an amazing quiche. I am not a quiche person... at all! However, Julia's quiche was different in a great way. It's sweet and has sausage, shortbread, yellow & red pepper, garlic, and all sorts of ingredients that when combined make for a yummy quiche. Not only did I have 2nds, but I had 3rds =0
Here's the recipe...

Julia's Sweet Quiche

1\2 red pepper
1\2 yellow pepper
1\2 red onion
1\2 lb jimmy deans maple sausage
1 shortbread pie crust {pre packaged}
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cummin
1 tsp pepper
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp evoo {extra virgin olive oil}
1\2 cup of graded mozzarella
1\2 cup shaved Parmesan
5 eggs
1 cup half&half

Cook sausage for about 10 to 15 minutes at med/high on stove. Drain excess oil on plate with paper towel then cook red onion, garlic, salt, pepper, cummin, peppers (red and yellow) in evoo till lightly brown (about 10 to 12 min). Heat oven to 375. Wipe pie crust with an extra egg or egg white and bake pie crust for 5 to 10 min to brown slightly. Turn oven down to 325. In a large bowl mix eggs and cheese. Then add cooked maple sausage, peppers, and onions to bowl and mix. Pour all ingredients into the pie crust. Bake for 50 min or until center is done. Test with a toothpick.
Hope you enjoy!!!!!

The beautiful chef and my hair stylist.

Cheers,

Jamie

White Chili for the chill

Oh my goodness! It's not going to be 104 degrees today?! Break out the scarfs, mitts, and warm chili, because it's in the 70's my friends. Hooray!
Seriously, isn't it funny how after it's been hot for a really long time, like weeks long... make that months long, 78 degrees feels like winter. I'm sure that all of you whom are from the really cold regions just laugh at us Southern Californians with our knitted scarfs and crocheted beanies on when it's a chilly 78 degrees outside.

In anticipation and celebration of Autumn, below is one of my favorite recipes to make, which is White Chili. Not only is it a favorite for Autumn, but it's also a favorite dish I make for friends that are in need of a meal, be it a new baby, recovering from surgery, or just an excuse for a sweet visit. I must say (and I'm not braggin here), that I'm always asked for the recipe after someone tries it for the first time. I'm just sayin. Plus, my Great Aunt Josie whom I haven't seen in some time (lives in Arkansas), reads this blog and really liked my chocolate blueberries recipe post. My mom told her I have a good white chili recipe that she may be interested in. So, Aunt Josie, "This ones for you."

White Chili
It can be made in a pot, dutch oven, or the slow cooker (my favorite).

• 1/4 cup of Margarine or butter
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 4 cups of chopped chicken (I like to slow cook 3 to 4 big chicken breasts with 1 can of chicken broth. Once the chicken is fully cooked, I then shred the chicken with a fork and add all of the ingredients for the chili. Slow cook for at least 1 hour after that.)
• 3 cups of chicken broth (or 2 cups if you used 1 cup for cooking the chicken)
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 tablespoon of dried basil leaves
• 2 teaspoons of chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 2 cans of great northern beans, undrained
• Tortilla chips and/or rice (optional)
• Cheese (optional)

1) Melt margarine and cook onion and garlic over medium heat (stir occasionally). Cook until onion is tender and clear.
2) Add remaining ingredients except cheese, chips, and/or rice. Stir.
3) If you are cooking the chili in a pot or dutch oven, bring chili to a boil then reduce heat to low. Simmer for about 1 hour. For slow cookers, the longer you slow cook the better it will be.
4) You can serve it with tortilla chips or rice. My kids love it poured on top of white rice. Add cheese if you please.

If you are making it for kids you may want to leave out the onions and basil. My kids freak out when they see "leaves" floating around in their chili. Or, like the other day when my 3 year old asked me, "Mom, why you eat weaves?" I was eating a salad. I wuv weaves =)

Enjoy!

Jamie

Chocolate Covered Blueberries.

No, no, no this is not another gross food post. This pic doesn't come with a "viewer discretion is advised" warning.
Those are chocolate covered blueberries and they are delicious. Not only are they tasty, I figure they are somewhat healthy. The antioxidants that are found in blueberries totally offsets the evil nutrients found in milk chocolate. Actually they just cancel each other out so it's all good ;)

How to make Chocolate Covered Blueberries

I made these by melting milk chocolate in the microwave. I know I'm supposed to melt the chocolate in a pan over the stove and that I'm supposed to temper the chocolate, but being as I have no idea how to temper something other than my kids foreheads... in the microwave they go. Once the chocolate is melted, add some butter or shortening. I added about 1 tablespoon of butter. Most of the recipes on allrecipes.com recommend shortening. I didn't have any shortening on hand, so I went with butter. Love the butter flavor.
After the shortening or butter is mixed into the chocolate, you then add the blueberries. Warning! Before you add the blueberries be sure they have had time to dry off from their washing. Another mistake I made was not drying the blueberries before I added them to the chocolate mixture. This made the chocolate mixture a little watery (go figure) and the chocolate didn't stick to the blueberries as nicely as it should have. However, it still tasted like chocolate and that's all that mattered to me.
Next, spoon the chocolate blueberry mixture on wax paper and refrigerate for about a 1/2 hour. Lastly, take them out of fridge and eat them all by yourself =) They were so good, and I bet they're even better had I followed proper directions.

Have a great weekend!

Jamie

Sin-oh-man rolls!

These cinnamon rolls are insane! I made them yesterday morning for my family and I am now considered a great baker =) My oldest son hummed while he ate. My daughter said "I love you mom" several times while she was eating them. My youngest some only eats McDonalds, so he doesn't count. Lastly, and perhaps the best response of the morning was when my husband said "These taste better than Cinnabon." That made the extra calories and fat grams totally worth it. Here is the recipe link.

Jamie

Roasted pumpkin seeds and a pumpkin girl doodle

I roasted these pumpkin seeds a couple of hours ago. The recipe is from All Recipes (click here for the recipe). In the past, when I've baked pumpkin seeds, they always seem to be missing something. This time I added sugar and cinnamon to the butter mix and "I wuv it" as my son would say. Hmmm... now that I think of it, everything I don't like seems to be missing sugar ;) Yes the seeds are slightly burnt, but it was still delicious.

Don't forget about the Freaky Fabric giveaway tomorrow. Nope, the fabric won't be freaky. Well... unless you want it to be =)

My pumpkin girl doodle.

Happy Halloween Eve.

Jamie

WARNING: the following cookies are highly addictive.

If you should make these delicious cookies, I will not be held liable for sabotaging any pre-holiday diets. I made these Iced Pumpkin cookies the other night and had to fend off the little cookie thieves just so I could get some decent pics of the cookies. Let me tell you how good they really are. Basically, up until I first made Iced Pumpkin cookies, I was strictly a chocolate chip cookie girl (occasional sugar cookie). Then, a friend of mine (Mary) introduced me to this recipe and I have been unfaithful to the chocolate chip cookie every since =) You can get the recipe here, but Mary modified it by adding 1tsp of orange zest to the ingredients and using orange frosting (super yummy). Here's the recipe for Mary's orange frosting:

2 cups of Powdered sugar

3 tablespoons of orange juice (fresh is best)

2 teaspoons of grated orange peel

1 table spoon of melted butter

Directions:

Combine all of the above ingredients. Add orange juice as needed, to achieve drizzling consistency.

The fall pumpkin smell these cookies produce is intoxicating.

*** Tagged ***

Alrighty, Deborah over at Comfort Joy Designs (very cute blog) tagged me. I'll make this short but sweet for you all.

Rules:

1) Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.

2) Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.

3) Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blog.

4) Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

7 facts about me:

~I'm a Christian

~I can still do the Worm (a break dancing move).

~I love really bad reality shows like Sunset Tan.

~I can't stand the noise or sight of paper rubbing paper. It gives me the chills, similar to nails on a chalk board.

~I like "old people" candy (big red cinnamon gummy bears and chocolate buttons covered with sprinkles).

~ Favorite all time book is Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers.

~ I married my husband the day after I turned 20. I met and married him in a year. Usually, when I tell people that, they get a puzzled look on there face like "Really????" I then respond with something like this: "Well, at the time I had 8 kids. All with different fathers, except the last 2. They may have had the same father. I'm not sure. Anyhow, he was the only man that would marry me." I then pause for about 3 seconds and finally I'll tell them "I'm kidding.... I know who the daddies are." Yes, I'm still joking =)

I tag:

Jewelry by TKG

Housework Rules

Noble Knits

Life is sew complicated

... and if anyone else wants to be tagged, let me know in the comments section. I have to pick 3 more blogs.

Jamie