A few quick Updates

There hasn't been a lot of going ons recently but I figured I could post a few things. Season 2 of Glee premiered on Tuesday so we had a Glee watching party to kick off the new season. It was really an excuse for me to make a cake. The original plan was cake with yellow frosting and red writing to match the Glee colors but I really wanted to make this chocolate cake. It is amazing and what makes it amazing is the chocolate fudge frosting, so I just did the red writing. The cake recipe has a layer of cheesecake in the middle but I left that out this time and it is still great. We had friends over had had fun watching the show and eating chips and dip and cake.

Saturday was BYU's second home game. It was hot again and sadly this time the game didn't result in a win. This year Jonny and I have seats with our sisters and our friends Jess and Steve so at least we get to hang out with friends even when the game doesn't go the way we want. I have a feeling this is going to be a rough season but I have high hopes for a year or two from now when the team isn't so young and inexperienced.

Other than work that is pretty much what I have been doing recently. Nothing too exciting but I hadn't posted in awhile so I figured I should put something.

Addicted

I have an addiction to cooking and baking. I am always thinking about what I am going to make next. I look through cookbooks and cooking blogs to find my next "fix." I don't know what it is but I love to do it. The other day I was looking at the cakes on Food Network's Web site and I found one I am dying to make. It is a ice cream cookie cake. It is cookies and cream ice cream sandwiched between two layers of chocolate cake and topped off with ganache. Does that sound amazing or what? I wanted to go home and make it right away. However, I realized that I had no reason to make it and to make it for just me and Jonny seem kind of silly. So my solution to not making that cake? Make this one instead!

I made a chocolate cake mix and then added coconut. I made the cake at about 10:30 pm so I let the cake cool overnight (I like to stick it in the freezer, I think it makes it easier to frost) and then decorated it the next day. I think it turned out kind of pretty. I just used chocolate frosting then topped it off with coconut. After I made it, I realized I still had a cake for just me and Jonny. However, this one didn't seem quite as crazy because it didn't have the layer of ice cream. But it's still an entire cake! So if you are in the Provo area and want cake come see me. haha

I told you I'm addicted. I figure there are worse things to be addicted to. I guess I should be happy I enjoy cooking and baking since it is an important part of having a family. If you have any recipes send them my way! Recipes for anything, not just cake.

Happy "Birthday" Dave!

My cousin David's birthday was a few weeks ago and I wanted to make him dinner and cake but he was in California for his birthday so we celebrated on Sunday. We had a BBQ at a park. We had burgers, potato salad and cupcakes. Luckily the weather was nice, cloudy but still warm. It was lots of fun. I was lame and forgot to take pictures of all of us. I did, however, take pictures of the cupcakes. I have been wanting to make these for a few months now and Dave's birthday gave me the perfect excuse. They are Bakerella's s'mores cupcakes (recipe here). You put graham cracker cake on the bottom, then you put in half a marshmallow, then put chocolate cake on top of that. You top it off with a graham cracker and brown sugar crumble and bake. Once it is cooled you put on chocolate ganache, a marshmallow and more of the graham cracker topping. I think they turned out well. Very yummy and I just thought it was a fun idea! So here are are some pictures.

Before the ganache and marshmallows.

Most of the marshmallow melts away but some of it comes to the top. You can see it in the picture below.

And the final product. Yummy!

Jonny's S'mores

On Saturday Jonny and I were trying to decide what to do and I was talking about s'more cupcakes that I had been wanting to try and then Jonny had a great idea... S'mores brownies! So I suggested that we go ahead and make them. I'm always looking for an excuse to bake/cook. We just made it up as we went and it turned out amazing! (I can say that because Jonny did most of the baking.)

What you'll need:

1. One 13 oz. jar of Jet-Puffed Marshmallow Creme
2. One 2.3 oz. box of Betty Crocker Fudge Brownies brownie mix
3. 2/3 Cup Vegetable Oil
4. Two eggs
5. One 14.4 oz. box of Honey Maid Honey Graham Crackers (3 plastic packages)
6. Six tablespoons of butter
7. 1/3 Cup of Sugar

We started with a graham cracker crust. Crust Ingredients: 1/3 cup of sugar, 6 T melted butter and 1 1/2 cups finely ground graham cracker (about 1 1/2 of the Honey Maid Graham Crackers plastic packages.)

Mix the sugar and ground graham crackers together, then add the melted butter (it's easier to mix the dry ingredients first).

Press the mixture firmly into a 9x13 pan. You can put parchment paper on the bottom of the pan to make removal easier, but it's not necessary.

Bake the crust for 7 mins at 350.

While the crust is baking, prepare brownie batter according to the instructions on the box.

Once the crust is done pour the brownie batter over the graham cracker crust and bake it according to the time and heat instructions on the brownie box.

Now comes the hard part. Let the brownies cool slightly, then spread about 1/2 to 2/3 of the marshmallow creme over the *warm* brownies. You still want the brownies to be slightly warm so the marshmallow creme will soften and spread easier.

Then, crumble more graham crackers (another 1 1/2 plastic packages) until you have cracker pieces that are roughly the size of a penny. Then, evenly spread the cracker pieces over the entire surface until thoroughly covered (may not use all of the crumbled pieces). You may need to press the pieces into the marshmallow creme a little bit, otherwise they may not stick.

Then cut, eat, and enjoy.

Easter Celebration!

The Easter celebration started with decorating eggs on Friday. I think it has been a few years since I decorated eggs, I've missed it.

The finished products.

Our "stop light" eggs.

Then on Sunday we had a big Easter family dinner. We had wanted to do it at a park and have an Easter egg hunt. Sadly, on Easter morning I woke up to snow all over the ground.

Made for a cool picture but not great for a picnic.

So we moved the party to Karleigh's and had David (cousin), Weston (3rd cousin), Kirstin, Lexi, Jonny and me. We still had an Easter egg hunt around the library.

Jonny helping Karleigh run and find eggs since her foot is injured.

Searching around the statue.

Trying to figure out where else to look.

Showing off their spoils.

After the hunt we enjoyed Easter dinner. I made ham and potato salad, Karleigh made fruit and biscuits.

The dinner spread. It was delicious.

Then for dessert David brought delicious brownies, made from scratch, and I made, you guessed it, cake pops.

Easter egg cake pops. Thank you Karleigh, Kirstin and Jonny for helping. Decorating this many would have been exhausting.

This one cracked and looked like frowning face so we made it into one.

He went with our funny faced egg.

It was an excellent Easter. It was so fun getting to spend time with everyone celebrating Easter.

My Man's Birthday!

Birthday number three... Jonny! Jonny's birthday was on Friday. I had to work in the morning but had the rest of the day off. I had decided to attempt a 14-layer cake for his birthday cake. I got the recipe from Bakerella (found here.) I was really nervous about it working and tasting good. Luckily I had Karleigh to help me. Thank you to her I wouldn't be able to do it alone. Unfortunately, Jonny had an Econ test and Stats homework to do on his birthday, but at least that kept him occupied while I baked. Basically you make a massive amount of batter (it barely fit in my biggest bowl) and then scoop it into 14 pie tins.

We baked for at a time and it is only 12 mins each so it didn't take too long.

Then you make the chocolate icing. This was the scary part for me I was worried I would scorch it or something. At one point it almost boiled over. And then you start stacking and stacking and stacking, layering icing in between. No they are not pancakes.

Now according to the recipe the picture below is what it looks like done but like Bakerella I didn't like the look so I added frosting.

Jonny took a break from school work and we went out to dinner with Kirstin. Then we came back to my place and Katie came over for presents and cake.

He got clothes from my parents and me, an N64 game from Katie and a game from Kirstin. Kirstin and I had fun wrapping her present to him. We used three different wrapping papers and went around it 3 times with each. Showing off all the paper and his present.

Then time for cake. I couldn't wait for him to cut into it! He gets his wish!

And here it is, 14-layers...

It actually worked! It tasted good too! None of us could even finish a piece though!

On Saturday we went to dinner with a bunch of his cousins. I had texted them all the week before to get them together for a birthday dinner. We went to Rumbi at The Gateway. It was so much fun! I think we were done with dinner after about 30 mins but we we hung out talking for like 3 hours.

I think overall he had a pretty good birthday. One year older and wiser!

Happy Birthday to Karleigh

And the month of birthdays begins! Karleigh's birthday was yesterday but we went out and celebrated tonight. We started out at California Pizza Kitchen. We pretty much went there to get one specific pizza: The California Club. It is amazing. It is pizza with a mayo sauce and then chicken and bacon and topped with lettuce and avocado. (Not the best picture but you get the idea.)

It sounds weird but it is delicious! We told the waiter it was her birthday so we could get free ice cream.

And Steven came to visit for her birthday. He got here on Saturday and will be here for the week.

Then we came back to my place for presents and cake. My mom sent lots of presents, all of which were adorable. I got the idea for the cake I made from a picture on Ashley's blog. The cake in the picture had all 7 colors of the rainbow. I didn't go that all out but I still think it is cool.

The color in the picture is a little dull and it is far from professional photography but it was the best I could do with the apartment lighting.

So happy birthday to Karleigh.

Super Bowl!

I love Super Bowl Sunday. All the food, the commercials and the game. I have come to appreciate the game more as I have gotten older. I didn't know who to cheer for this year so about 2 minutes before the game I decided to support Austin Collie (being a former Cougar.) Guess I picked wrong. This year we were having a big group of people so we made lots of food. Karleigh brought her roommate and friend. Kirstin brought a bunch of friends. And Katie came.

I made two platters of 7-layer dip, a buffalo chicken dip, chili/cream cheese dip, pigs in a blanket, and cake pops (of course!) Then Karleigh brought a dip and Katie brought fruit pizza. I bought 6 pounds of chips and Kirstin brought 4 bags of Fritos. People didn't eat very much this year so we will pretty much be eating chips and dip for the next month or two!

Karleigh, Kirstin and I made these cake pops the day before the game. I think they turned out awesome. I am seriously addicted to making them!

Now the question is what cake pops do I make next?