Sugar Coated Pecans

About a couple of weeks ago my mom came to Fresno with her friend Susan to do a little shopping. While here they came by my job to pay me a visit and I got to hang out with them during my lunch break. Well while my mom found a can of burnt sugared pecans I have never had them before so I tried them. It was love at first bite. I have been thinking about them ever since. When I went home for Christmas I actually finished up the can we bought and I still can't stop thinking about them. Well as I was at the grocery store tonight I thought to myself that I should make some burnt sugared pecans of my own. Well I wasn't quite able to do that one reason being I didn't know how and two I could not find a recipe online or in my cookbooks. I did however find a recipe for sugar coated pecans on allrecipes.com and they came out amazing. They were so good that I have been munching on them as I write this post. So if you love pecans, you will love these. So I hope you enjoy them ax much as I have. :)

Sugar Coated Pecans

1 egg white

1 tablespoon sugar

4 cups pecan halves

1 cup granulated sugar

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 250*F. Grease one baking sheet. Mix the sugar, salt, and cinnamon in a small bowl and set aside. In a separate mixing bowl whip together the egg white and water until frothy. Add the pecans to the egg mixture, stir to coat the nuts evenly. Place the nuts in the sugar mixture and toss until evenly coated. Spread the nuts on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 1 hour stirring every 15 minutes. Enjoy. :)

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Elephant Ears (Palmiers)

I was bored on my lunch break the other day so I began to look at a Good Housekeeping magazine that I saw on our break room table. While flipping through the pages I saw a recipe for elephant ears and I got really excited. I remember eating these growing up and liking them a lot. So I went to the store and picked up one of the two ingredients needed and I got busy. When baking them pay close attention to them because they can easily burn. Other than that these are very simple to make and I hope you enjoy them as much as have and always will.

Elephant Ears (Palmiers)

2 cups sugar

1 package (17 1/4 oz ) frozen puffed pastry, thawed.

Preheat the oven to 450*F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper.

Pour 1 cup mixture onto work surface. Unfold 1 sheet puff pastry onto sugar mixture; pour another 1/2 cup mixture on top, spreading it evenly onto the pastry. With rolling pin, lightly roll dough into 13-inch square, pressing sugar into pastry on top and bottom. Fold two sides of square toward center so edges are halfway to middle. Fold again so the two folds meet exactly at middle of dough. Then fold one half over other half as though closing a book. (You will have 6 layers.) Cut dough crosswise into 3/8-inch-thick slices; place slices, cut side up, 1 inch apart on prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 6 minutes or until caramelized and lightly browned. Using a metal spatula or two forks flip each cookie over and bake for another 4 minutes until caramelized and browned on that side as well. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool and enjoy.

Here is a photo of how they look cut and placed on the pan.

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Coconut Cake Truffles

Coconut cake truffles are my latest cake truffle creation. Once again Jeni and I got or creative cake truffle ideas flowing and we came up with the idea of making them coconut flavored. So since my job was having a Christmas party today, I thought this would be the perfect time to experiment and make this new truffle idea and bring it to work to see if everyone would like it. Well they were a success. Even my coworkers that didn't like coconut loved them. So that lets me know that the coconut idea was a great one. Now I just need to sit down and think of another cake truffle idea. :)

Coconut Cake Truffles
1 white cake mix
1 can vanilla frosting
1 cup shredded sweetened coconut
1 package dipping white chocolate

More coconut for decorating

Bake the cake as directed on the box. When the cake is done let it cool until it is cool enough to handle. Crumple up the cake completely. Add in the entire can of frosting 1 cup coconut and mix thoroughly. Roll the cake mixture into small balls, about 1 inch each. Refrigerate until they hold their shape. When the balls are ready, melt the dipping chocolate according to package. Dip the cake balls into the chocolate one at a time. Shake off excess chocolate and place on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Sprinkle coconut on the tops of the truffles. Let chocolate dry then serve. Enjoy.

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Gingerbread House

This year I thought it would be fun to make a gingerbread house. For years now I have wanted to make one, but I have never actually sat down and made one. So this year I wanted to make sure that I finally sat down and make one. I also wanted to make the gingerbread myself instead of buying the kit, even though the kits would have been way easier. Going into this I had no idea how time consuming making a gingerbread house was. It took me so long to roll and cut the gingerbread pieces that I didn't even decorate it until days later. I had fun decorating it but then that was time consuming too and I didn't have time to put a lot of time into decorating it. So for my first gingerbread house I think I did an ok job. Next year I will plan out my time better.

Gingerbread House

1 cup (2 sticks) butter

1 cup sugar

1 cup unsulphred molasses

4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 cup all purpose flour

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter. Add and stir in the sugar and molasses until sugar is dissolved and is no longer gritty. Remove from heat and set aside to cool to lukewarm. In a separate bowl whisk together the 4 1/2 cups flour, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, pour in the lukewarm butter mixture, and beat to blend everything together. Work in the 1/2 cup of flour beating until the dough forms a ball ands pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Remove the dough from the bowl and knead 3 or 4 times on the counter until smooth and pliable. Wrap well and refrigerate until dough is cool. After refrigerating roll out and cut out house shaped pieces or gingerbread men pieces. Bake in a 350*F oven for about 12-15 minutes or until color darkens.

Royal Frosting

3 tablespoons Meringue powder

4 cups sifted powder sugar

7 tablespoons lukewarm water

Place meringue powder and powder sugar in a bowl, mix until blended. Add water and mix for 7-10 minutes at low speed until the icing loses its sheen. Place in a piping bag or a ziploc bag with a corner snipped off. Buy various candies and decorate the house however you like.

Gingerbread recipe comes the Joy of Cooking cookbooks and the Royal Frosting recipe comes from Wilton.

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Croquembouche

Monday December 13th was my Dad's and boyfriend Tomas birthday. And for their birthdays Tomas mom made him a cake and my mom made my dad his cake. Therefore when it came to Tomas I wanted to make him something else instead of a cake. Well I was looking at some of my old Food Network magazines and I saw this picture of a Croquembouche and knew that Tomas would love it since he loves cream puffs. So I decided to give it a try. I first started of by trying the recipe in the magazine, but I failed. My dough was too runny and therefore my cream puffs never puffed. So I researched online and I found a recipe at Easy French Food.com that was actually easier so I made a second batch as well. When it came to the filling I didn't want to do the one from the Food Network magazine because it called for to many eggs and vanilla beans and I didn't want to spend too much. So I found this great filling recipe on Allrecipes.com (which I changed a little). The one thing I did do from the magazine was the caramel crunch web that I swirled around the tower of creme puffs. Therefore I took three recipes and combined them to make the Croquembouche for Tomas. For being my first time making this I think I did a fairly good job, even though my tower is a little slanted, but the most important thing is Tomas loved it.
Croquembouche

Cream Filling
2 (3.5 oz ) boxes of vanilla pudding mix
2 cups heavy cream
1 cups milk

Choux Pastry (dough)
1 cup water
6 tablespoons butter
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup flour, sifted after measuring
3 large eggs

Caramel
3 cups sugar
3 tablespoons light corn syrup
1 cup water

First make the cream filling by mixing the vanilla pudding mix, heavy cream, and milk together. Cover and refrigerate. Preheat the oven to 400*F. In a saucepan mix the butter, salt and sugar with the water, and heat until the water boils. Remove from the heat and immediately add all of the flour. Beat with a wooden spoon until the dough forms a ball and detaches form the sides of the pan. The website warns that this next step is a workout and they were right. Add the eggs one at a time , fully incorporating each before adding the next one. To make the cream puffs, works with two tablespoons, one to scoop and one to scrape. Place mounds of dough on nonstick cookie sheets space them apart. Dip finger tips in water to smooth down the rough edges of the dough. Bake for 20 minutes. remove immediately from the oven and prick each puff with a toothpick to help the steam escape. After all the puffs have cooled you can now fill the puffs. Either you can cut off the tops and fill with the prepared filling or you can use a piping bag and tip and pierce a hole in the puff and fill with the filling. Place filled puffs bake in the fridge until ready to use.

To make the caramel crunch mix the sugar, corn syrup,and water in a saucepan, cover and bring to a boil over high heat; don't stir. Uncover and boil; swirling the pan, until the syrup turns a deep amber color, about 20 minutes. Immediately dip the bottom of the saucepan in a large bowl full of ice for a few seconds to slow down the cooking. Transfer the caramel to a liquid measuring cup and slightly cool. Draw about a 7-inch circle on a piece of parchment paper. Partially dip each puff in the caramel mixture and then arrange the puffs around the circle. Keep building the tower up until it comes to a point. Line your working area with parchment paper because things will get messy. Dip the tip of the fork in the caramel and wave it in circles around the tower to create a web of caramel strands. Let set. Cut the parchment paper around the tower and use two spatulas to carefully transfer the Croquembouche to a platter. Serve and enjoy. :)

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Sunflower Cupcakes

Today is national cupcakes day as well as my friend Melissa's birthday. So for her birthday I wanted to make her something special. We got in these dishes at my job that she really loved because they matched her kitchen. So I decided that i would buy the pitcher and I would arrange some cupcakes that looked like sunflowers in it. When putting it together I ran into some problems that I will definitely fix for the next time. For the brown center of the cupcakes I used Oreos. Well the Oreos seemed to be a little heavy and therefore I lost one of the flowers when it was positioned on the ball. So next time I am going to use mini Oreos instead of regular. The second problem I ran into was with the frosting. Since this was a red velvet cake I wanted to use cream cheese frosting. The problem I ran into with that was that it wasn't as stiff as the butter cream frosting I make. Therefore the petals didn't real hold their shape or hold the Oreo in place. Nest time I will also use green cupcake wrappers instead of white, but that is because I think it would make it look better. Even with my little mistakes Melissa absolutely loved her cake which made me happy.

To assemble the cake can be a little tricky, but it is actually easier than it appears. first you need to pick out the vase you want to use and then you need to get a styrofoam ball that will fit on the top. Firmly push the styrofoam ball through the opening until it stays put. In the case for this cake my opening was too small to hold the ball so I found this circular shaped styromfoam thing and pushed that into the opening. I them shoved about 5 wooden skewers into the ball and then into that circular piece to hold it is place. Next make your cupcakes (depending on the size of the ball will depend on how many cupcakes will fit). My arrangement took about 2 dozen. Now when it comes to decorating the cupcakes you can either do it before placing it on the ball or do it when they are positioned on the ball. For this one since my frosting wasn't holding too well I decorated then first. To put them on place a few toothpicks in the place you want to put the cupcake. Using a hand on each side firmly push the cupcake down on the toothpicks. Because I had the Oreo center it helped in pushing the cupcake down. Keep going until the whole styrofoam ball is covered. To fill in the gaps between the cupcakes and on the bottom of the ball I bought some fake leaves and hot glued them into place. In the end you end up with a flower arrangement of cupcakes. Enjoy :)

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Peanut Brittle

About a year ago I made some peanut brittle and brought it to work. Ever since my co-worker Anthony has been asking when will I make it again. I told him about a month ago that I was going to make it, but I didn't get the chance until now. So after I made some I placed some in a bag and brought it to work. A couple of days later I asked if he enjoyed it and turns out he didn't even get a piece. He placed it on the table at his house and his dad got to it. Therefore Anthony got none of the peanut brittle, but his dad absolutely enjoyed it. The peanut brittle recipe I am going to share with you is one I have been using for about 10 years now. I got it from my Foods and Nutrition teacher and my family and I have been enjoying it ever since. I hope you enjoy it too. :)

Peanut Brittle

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup light corn syrup

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup peanuts
3/4 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons butter

Combine sugar, water, and corn syrup in a 3 quart saucepan. Boil to a hard ball stage (250*F-268*F). Remove from heat. Add peanuts. Mixture will be thick. Return to heat and boil until syrup is golden brown. Stir in butter, baking soda, and vanilla. Pour onto a buttered 10x15 cookie sheet. When cool crack into pieces. :)

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German Chocolate Brownies

Today has to be one of the greatest national food holidays out there because today is national brownie day. So to celebrate I made my most famous brownies that everyone loves. Those brownies happen to be my German chocolate brownies. Unfortunately, I will not be able to eat any because I made them for my friend Mallory. Tomorrow is her last day at work, so I wanted to bid her farewell with some wonderful brownies. Since I am giving her this pan of brownies I don't have a picture to share of what they look like cut, but believe me they look and taste amazing. So I hope you get a chance to one day enjoy these brownies for yourself and I also hope you have a wonderful national brownie day. :)

German Chocolate Brownies

Brownies

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup butter

2 tablespoons water

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

Topping

25 caramel squares

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons milk

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup toasted coconut

Preheat the oven to 325*F. Grease a 9-inch square baking pan. In a small bowl, mix together the flour and baking soda and set aside. In a small sauce pan, combine the sugar, butter, and water. Bring to a boil over a medium heat; remove immediately from heat. Stir in the 1 cup chocolate chips and vanilla until chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Transfer the mixture to a bowl. Cool complete,y. Stir in eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually stir in flour mixture until smooth. Pour into the prepared pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

To make the topping toast the coconut under the broiler until it turns a golden brown. Mix the coconut, chocolate chips, and chopped pecans together and set aside. In a microwave safe bowl place add the caramels, butter, and milk. Microwave for 1-2 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds until melted. Pour the caramel mixture over the cooked brownies reserving a little caramel for drizzling on the top. Add the chocolate chip mixture to the top of the caramel and then drizzle the excess caramel on top. Let it cool and then enjoy. :)

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Chocolate Chip Cookie Cupcakes

I can't believe how fast time is going by. I feel like my days are not long enough because I have so much I need to do and not enough time to do it. Luckily my Christmas shopping is done because that would just mean one more thing to add to my to do list. Well anyways I want to share these cupcakes I made that look like chocolate chip cookies. I actually wanted to share these two days ago on the 4th because that was national cookie day, but since I had no time I will share them now. These cookies are actually really simple to make. Just make your favorite cupcake flavor, if you want to be more creative make chocolate chip flavored cupcakes. Then after the cupcakes are baked and cooled use vanilla frosting to frost the cupcakes. Then dip the cupcakes in crushed vanilla wafers and push the chocolate chips down into the cupcakes. After all said and done you will have yourself a cupcake that resembles a chocolate chip cookie. Its like having best of both worlds. Enjoy :)

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Central Valley Health Network Cake

This here is my latest cake. It is not something easily recognized because it is the logo to my friends company. About a week ago my friend sent me a picture of their logo and asked if it would be possible to put it on a cake, I told her it would be no problem at all. It actually looked easier then what it was. It was the logo I had issues with because I I was never satisfied with the orange color. In the end it worked out just fine and she liked it. Lets just hope her job liked it too. :)

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M&M Pancakes

What melts in your mouth and not your hands? M&M's of course. Those colorful candy coated chocolate bites are perfect inside many recipes, but have you ever tried them in your pancakes? Ever since I made Butterfinger pancakes I decided that I wanted to get creative and make different types of fun pancakes, with M&M pancakes being one of them. I don't know why I didn't try this sooner. It is basically the same thing as chocolate chip pancakes, but more colorful. I still added chocolate chips to the batter because I didn't want to over power the pancakes with too many M&M's, but feel free to add more M&M's if you like. Well I hope you enjoy these fun pancakes and I can't wait to share the next fun pancakes I am going to make I just have to decided what I am going to do next. So many possibilities out there :)

M&M Pancakes

Pancake mix

Bag of M&M's

Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

Prepare the pancake mix according to the directions on the package. Preheat a lightly greased skillet. Pour the batter in the skillet depending on what size pancake you want to make. Sprinkle a desired amount of M&M's and chocolate chips on top of the pancakes. When edges look cooked flip the pancake over and cook on the other side until pancake is fully cooked and no longer doughy. Remove from skillet and place on a plate. Top with whipped cream and sprinkle some M&M's on top. Enjoy. :)

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Mini Chip Snowball Cookies

Now today is actually national chocolates day but I forgot and ended up making cookies instead, but at least there is chocolate in the cookies. Well anyways I was craving something sweet, but I didn't know what I wanted to make. So I first went to my pantry to see what I had, then I visited verybestbaking.com. While searching around I came across these really good looking cookies and it just so happened that I had all the ingredients as well. Lately every time I go into the kitchen to bake something I find out that I no longer have anymore of the ingredients and I usually don't find this out until I have already mixed some of the ingredients together. This usually happens because I have roommates and I never know if they finished the items until I need to use them myself. Well let me get back to these delicious cookies. They are called Mini Chip Snowball Cookies and they are so amazing. As they were coming out of the oven I kept sampling them. I think I eventually ended up eating ten by the time they were done. My boyfriend Tomas loved them as well, he ate a bunch too but not as bad as me. Well I hope you enjoy these delicious bites and don't say I didn't warn you can't stop eating them yourself. :)

Mini Chip Snowball Cookies
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter, softened
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups (12 oz package) semi-sweet mini chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped pecans
powdered sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven to 375*F. Beat the butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt in a large mixer bowl until creamy. Gradually beat in the flour, stir in the chocolate chips and nuts. Shape level tablespoons of dough into 1 1/4 inch balls. Place on an ungreassed cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until cookies are set and lightly browned. Remove from oven and after a couple of minutes transfer the cookies to a cooling rack. Dust some powdered sugar on top and enjoy. :)

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Turtle Cake

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, I know I did. I went home to Atwater and spent time with my family. Unfortunately I could only stay for the day because I had to work the next day at 6:30 in the morning. Well anyways did you know that there was another day worth celebrating on Thanksgiving? The 26th of November was also national cake day, So to celebrate I made a turtle cake. It was actually a death by chocolate cake, but I made a turtle topping and poured it on top. Everything came out great and tasted wonderful. However there was one problem with my caramel sauce; it was a little on the thin side. But it turned out to not be a bad thing because it just soaked into the cake making the cake have a moist caramely top. Well I hope you get to enjoy this cake and I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and ate lots of great food. :)

Turtle Cake

Death by chocolate cake

4 eggs

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup oil

1 package chocolate cake mix

1 package instant pudding mix

12 oz package semi-sweet chocolate chips

Caramel Turtle Topping

25 caramel squares unwrapped

2 Tbsp milk

2Tbsp butter

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350*F. Beat together the sour cream, water, and oil in a large bowl. Add the cake mix and pudding mix. Beat until smooth. Stir in the chocolate chips. Pour into greased bundt pan and bake for 1 hour. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack.

Next prepare the topping. Melt the caramels, milk and butter in the microwave for a minute and a half. Make sure to stir every 30 seconds. Cook until melted. Place the cake on a plate and pour the caramel on the top of the cake. Next sprinkle the pecans and the chocolate chips on top. Serve and enjoy :)

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Pomegranate Champagne

It has been a while since my last post. I have been so busy I had no time to make anything or even post it if I did. So once again I missed out on a lot of great national food holidays, which I love celebrating. So to get back into the spirit today I will be celebrating national cranberry day. I wish I could be sharing a great cranberry sauce recipe for Thanksgiving, but unfortunately I don't have one because my sister makes the cranberry sauce every year, which is delicious. Instead I am going to share one of my favorite drinks, which is very versatile. This tasty drink is pomegranate champagne and since today is national cranberry day I placed a few frozen cranberries on top for a festive touch and it also keeps it chill. Well I hope you have a wonderful national cranberry day. :)

Pomegranate Champagne

1 bottle of your favorite champagne (mine is the Spumante and Moscato one put out by Barefoot)

1 bottle of flavored syrup ( I love the Pomegranate one put out by Monin)

Pour yourself a glass of champagne. Add about a tablespoon of the flavored syrup. Gently stir it. Add a few frozen cranberries on top if you like. Since you will have more champagne leftover after one drink, then go ahead and make yourself another glass and enjoy. :)

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Cookies and Cream Cake Truffles

Guess what? I have another cake truffle recipe to share. While I was working the other day, my friend Jeni found these cookies and cream sprinkles. So we came up with the idea to make cookies and cream cake truffles. I am glad we did because once again they came out great. So let me warn you again that these will not last long because everyone will love them.

Cookies and Cream Cake Truffles

1 white cake mix

1 can vanilla frosting

1 package of chocolate melting chips

10-15 crushed chocolate sandwich cookies.

Bake the cake as directed on the box. When the cake is done let it cool until it cool enough to handle. Crumple up t he cake completely. Add in the entire can of frosting and mix thoroughly. Add in the crushed cookies Roll the cake mixture into small balls, about 1 inch each. After they are all rolled place in the refrigerator for about an hour. After that melt the chocolate according to the package. Dip the truffles into the melted chocolate. Shake off excess chocolate and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Sprinkle some crushed cookies on top or some sprinkles. When dry, then serve and enjoy. :)

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Fried Ravioli

Today's national food holiday is national fast food day. I didn't make a food that you would be able to get at your local fast food joints, I did however make something that is fried. I ended up making fried ravioli for me and Tomas, which happened to be the first time I made them for him. My mom use to make these at her parties all the time, which is how I learned how to make them. They are best served warm with some marinara sauce fr dipping. But let me warn you now, they are so good that you will have to keep making them because the plate will be empty before you know it. :)

Fried Ravioli

1 package already made refrigerated cheese ravioli

About 1/2 cup canola oil for frying

Marinara sauce

Heat the oil in a skillet over a medium high heat. When the oil is hot, gently drop a few ravioli at a time into the skillet. Cook 15 seconds on each side or cook until they turn a nice golden brown. Transfer the ravioli to a paper towel lined plate. Continue until all the ravioli is cooked. Serve warm with marinara sauce and enjoy. :)

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Cherry Blossom Cake

Guess what? I made another cake. I have been making cakes like crazy lately, but I don't mind one bit because I absolutely love it. It is also great practice. I made this cake the other night for my friend Amie. It was her birthday and they invited me and Tomas to come over for some drinks. I didn't want to show up empty handed so I hurried up and put together a cake for her. While making it I was saying that I felt like I was partaking in one of those cake challenges because I had this cake finished in less than 20 minutes (not including baking time though). What made this cake a little easier is I made the cherry blossoms a few days back, so all I had to do was pop them on. One special thing about this cake, for me at least, is that it was one of the first times I used fondant. I tried using it years ago, but I had no idea what I was doing, therefore the cake suffered a little. However, this cake came out cute, it has a few mistakes (such as it being a little short and the branches are a little too thick) but hey I'm learning. :)

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National Vanilla Cupcake Day

The only thing special about my post today is that today in national vanilla cupcake day. So I couldn't help but make a vanilla cupcake to celebrate this holiday. I have a pretty busy day today, so I didn't want to make a complicated or time consuming cupcake. Therefore I kind of cheated by buying a French vanilla cake mix. I did however make my own butter cream frosting, which I posted the recipe for a while back. I didn't want to do too much when it came to decorating so I just put the frosting in a piping bag and used a frosting tip #2D to frost the cupcake. To top it off I used harvest color sprinkles for decorating. Well I hope you have a great national vanilla cupcake day. :)

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Fried Won Ton Wrapped Rolos

After Halloween I stocked up on a lot of candy, especially since they were half off. I let every one at my house eat most of the candy besides the Rolos because I was going to make these candies called Pecan Pretzel Turtles that my mom made on her blog. Well while I was working yesterday this idea popped in my head to wrap a rolo in a won ton wrapper and fry it, almost like I did when I made the Fried Nutella Won tons. They came out so good and I loved the warm chocolate and caramel centers. The only tricky part was sealing the wrapper completely so the oil didn't go inside or so a Rolo didn't escape, which did happen once. But after you get the sealing part down they become easier to make. Well I hope you love these little crispy pillows of goodness. :)

Fried Won Ton Wrapped Rolos

Small square Won ton Wrappers

Rolos, unwrapped

Oil for Frying

Heat up the oil in a fryer or a pot on the stove. Take a won ton wrapper and wet the edges with a little bit of water. Place a Rolo in the center. Bring up the edges to the middle and seal the edges by firmly pressing them together leaving no openings. Gently place in the hot oil and fry until a nice golden brown. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate to cool. Dust with powdered sugar and enjoy warm.

This is my attempt of taking a photo of the chocolate caramel goodness on the inside of the Won ton. It doesn't look as pretty as it taste.


I was just having fun with this shot.

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Dessert Nachos

I feel like it has been a while since the last time I celebrated a national food holiday and the sad thing is I missed out on some good ones that would have been fun to do. So to get back in the game I decided to celebrate today's national food holiday but with a twist. Today is national nachos day and instead of me making regular nachos I decided to make dessert nachos. I started off by making baked cinnamon and sugar won ton chips (which I will provide the recipe below)and I topped them off with some apples and chopped peanuts and then I drizzled chocolate sauce and caramel sauce on top. There is no right or wrong way when it comes to what you want on top of your dessert nachos because you can put what ever you want on top. Just remember to have fun and be creative on national nachos day :)


Now I don't have a precise measurement for the won ton chips because it depends on how many you want to make and how much cinnamon and sugar you want to sprinkle on top. These chips are pretty yummy so you might just end using up the whole package.

Cinnamon Sugar Won ton Chips

won ton wrapper squares, cut into triangles
Splenda or regular sugar
Cinnamon

Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray. Line up the cut won ton wrappers on top of the greased pan. Spray the tops of the wrappers with a little cooking spray. Sprinkle the Splenda or sugar on the tops of the wrappers and then sprinkle a little cinnamon on top of that; you can also premix the cinnamon and sugar in a small bowl and then sprinkle that on top of the wrappers. Place in the oven and broil until they start to brown a little. Let cool and enjoy. :)

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Another Guitar Cake

Omg!!! I cant believe that this is my 100th post, that means I made a lot of tasty things and lots of fun cakes. Speaking of cakes, I was asked to make another guitar cake. Next to the Death Star Cake this is one of my most requested cakes. And each time I am asked to make this cake it always comes out different because everyone ask for it to resemble the guitar of the person they want me to make it for; which is probably why it is such a big hit. So once again I hope that the one receiving the cake loves that it looks just like his guitar. And I cant wait for all the post that I will be sharing in the future. :)

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Butterfinger Pancakes

OMG!!!! This has to be my new favorite way to eat my pancakes. I use to love chocolate chip pancakes, but now I am in love with Butterfinger pancakes. My friend Jeni first introduced me to these pancakes when she took me to this new breakfast restaurant in Fresno called Batter Up. She highly recommended that I get the Butterfinger pancakes, I did and they were amazing. They were so good I decided that I need to learn to make them myself that way I can make them all the time. Now these pancakes may not be the most nutritious breakfast to eat, but they are so good that they are worth having once in a while, especially on special occasions. :)

Butterfinger Pancakes

Pancake mix
1 cup crushed Butterfingers (or more if desired :)

Follow the directions on the back of the pancake box to make batter. Fold in the crushed Butterfingers. Preheat a lightly greased skillet. Pour the butterfinger batter in to the skillet depending on what size pancakes you want to make. When the edges look cooked flip the pancake over and cook on the other side until finished. Remove the pancake to a plate. Top with whipped cream and sprinkle some crushed Butterfinger pieces on top. Serve and enjoy :)

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Larry Birds Celtics Jersey Cake

I have been asked to make so many cakes lately. Its like as soon as I finish one, I am asked to make another. Luckily I don't mind because I love making all these different cakes. Its like it is a piece of art and the cake is my canvas. Well my latest piece of art would be my Larry Birds Celtics Jersey Cake. One of my friends contacted me and asked if I would be able to make a cake for her boyfriends birthday. She wanted it to be Larry Bird's Jersey from the Celtics. It seemed like it would be easy so I agreed to squeeze it in to my busy schedule. The cake took no time at all to make and it came out looking great. I hope her boyfriend liked his birthday cake :)

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Candy Apple Cupcakes

Happy Halloween!!!!!!!!!

We all know today is Halloween, but did you know that there is another holiday going on today worth celebrating? Today is yet another national food holiday and today it happens to be national candy apple day. Now I really wanted to make somethings to celebrate this occasion, however I'm not a big fan of candy apples because they are too hard for me. Therefore I came up with candy apple cupcakes. Unfortunately they don't taste like candy apples, they just sort of look like them. I would have loved to make them taste like an actual candy apple, but I settled for white cake and vanilla frosting because I just did not have the time to be that creative. These were actually very simple to make. All I did was bake them in red cupcake wrappers. When they were cool I frosted them and then dipped them in red sanding sugar. To top it off i stuck a lolly pop stick in the center and placed a white cupcake wrapper underneath the cupcake for decoration. Well I hope everyone enjoys their two holidays today and eats lots of sweets.

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Candy Corn Cake Truffles

Great news, today is national candy corn day and to celebrate I made candy corn shaped lemon cake truffles. They are just like the regular lemon cake truffles I make, but this time I shaped and dipped them to make them look like jumbo pieces of candy corn. I brought these to work for our Halloween party potluck and they were a hit. Everyone kept coming up to me to tell me how wonderful they were and by the end of the day they had vanished off the plate. These cake truffles were surprisingly easier to make compared to the original ones. I put these in the fridge for an hour and it helped them keep their shape as I dipped them into their different colors. When it came to dipping I started off by dipping their bottoms in the yellow chocolate and then I set them on a parchment lined baking sheet. After they were all covered in the yellow I flipped them upside down and dipped the rest of the truffle in the orange chocolate and then I put them aside again until they were all dipped. Last I just dipped the tips in the white chocolate and then I set those aside to dry. I did not use any tools when it came to dipping. Since they held their shape pretty well I was able to use just my hands to dip them in the chocolates. Well I hope everyone has a wonderful day on national candy corn day.

Fun Candy Corn Facts

• More than 35 million pounds of candy corn is produced every year. That equates to 9 billion pieces, which is enough to circle the moon nearly 4 times if they were laid end-to-end.
• Halloween accounts for 75% of annual candy corn production.
• A cup of candy corn has less calories than a cup of raisins.
• Candy corn was first invented by George Renninger and produced by the Wunderlee Candy Company in the 1880's.
• Candy corn comes up for other holidays other than Halloween. There is reindeer corn for Christmas (red, green, and white). Indian Corn ( chocolate and vanilla). For Valentine's Day there is Cupid corn ( red, pink, and white). And for Easter there is Bunny Corn ( which is pastel colors).

I got this fun information from Candy Corn Wonderland.

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Pasta Fagioli

Last night for dinner I wanted to make this delicious soup that I saw in this months issue of Food Network Magazine, but when I went to the store to pick up the ingredients I soon realized that I couldn't find some of the ingredients and the ones I did find were a little costy. Since that dinner plan went down the drain I had to quickly think of something else. I began to read recipes on the back of some of the products at the store, but I was still having no luck. Then I saw a website listed on the back of a package. So I pulled out my phone and looked up the website called Barilla. I decided to look up soups and the first one that came up was one that looked exactly like the soup I was originally going to make but cheaper. So I grabbed the ingredients I needed and gave the recipe a try. I changed the recipe a lot to accommodate to my taste, therefore the recipe provided below is how I made it. Since I changed the recipe I also had to change the name of it as well. So if you want the original recipe then click this link to go to Barilla.com :)

Pasta Fagioli

1 1/2 cup pasta shells

4 medium carrots sliced

4 cloves garlic

32 oz chicken broth

2 cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

2 cans of Italian style tomatoes

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Add carrots and garlic to a large stockpot and saute for a few minutes or until tender. Add broth and beans; heat to a simmer. Stir in tomatoes, pasta shells, 2 tablespoons parsley, oregano, pepper and salt. Boil 10-12 minutes or until pasta is tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in remaining parsley and 1/2 cup cheese. Serve with some cheese on top and enjoy. :)

This is the picture Tomas took with the garlic cheesy bread we had with it in the background

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Bear Sleeping on the Beach Cake

This is my latest cake creation, and I would have to say it came out pretty cute. This cake was for my friend Christina's birthday, and her and her dad came up with this design, which has special meaning for her. The beach represents Huntington Beach, which I think is where she is from but I'm not a hundred percent sure if she is or not. The bear sleeping on the beach represents UCLA, which is where she graduated from. And the owl perched on the bear's shoulder represents law school, which she is attending right now. When she asked me to do this cake she wanted to know if this would be feasible for me. I instantly had an idea for the beach and the sleeping bear, I just didn't know how I was going to do the owl, so I took the challenge. I figured the best way to make the owl (unless I bought one at the store) would be to mold one using fondant. The only problem with that is I never used fondant before and I never molded or sculpted anything before. Well to my surprise I did pretty good because it only took one try for me to make an owl. Then I started to get a little more creative and I made the pail, shovel, and beach ball out of fondant as well, which I then painted with some of the dyes I had. Overall I think the cake came out great and my friend felt so too. :)

Here is a closer look of the bear falling asleep and the owl that I am proud of.

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Golf Cake

Even though I have already made a post today for caramel apples, I wanted to share another post. This here is the golf cake I just got finished making. It was for Cory, the father of the kids I watch. I made it while watching them today, so I had them help me a little since it is their father's birthday cake. While the cake was in the oven, we made their dad birthday card books. I think he is really going to love his cake and card books.

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Caramel Apples

Today is a really tasty national food holiday because it is national caramel apple day. I didn't want to make just regular caramel apples for this special day, instead I wanted to go crazy and dip them in chocolate and drizzle them with nuts as well. I really never made caramel apples before so this was a first for me. Turns out I did a good job because they didn't last long in my house. I will definitely be making these again because they were so delicious. Well I hope you can enjoy national caramel apple day with a caramel apple of your own, even if you go buy one from the store. :)

Caramel Apples

1 package of caramel squares unwrapped

2 tablespoons of water

5 apples

5 Popsicle or lolly pop sticks

1 package of melting chocolate (milk, dark or white, you decide)

Chopped nuts (optional)

Heavily butter a baking pan and set aside. Place the sticks in the apples and set aside. Melt the caramel squares and water in a saucepan over a medium heat. Stir constantly until melted. Dip the apples in the caramel and scrape off excess before transferring to the buttered pan. Repeat until all apples are covered. Chill for a few minutes. Melt the chocolate in a microwave safe dish, making sure to stir constantly making sure it doesn't burn. Dip apples in the chocolate and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Sprinkle nuts and drizzle chocolate on the apples if you desire. Let cool and enjoy. :)

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Extreme Chocolate Cupcakes

Today is a really great national food holiday because it is national chocolate cupcake day. Therefore, I figured the best way to celebrate it is with an extreme chocolate cupcake. When it came to making these I didnt use any special recipe. All I did was use a chocolate cake mix and a can of chocolate frosting. The only special thing I did was the choocolate decorations that I made to put on the tops of the cupcakes. To do those I used melting chocolate, which I placed in a bag with one of the corners snipped off. I then layed out a piece of wax paper on a cookie sheet and began making random designs with the chocolate. I let them harden for a while and then I placed one on each of the cupcakes. Everyone in my house thought they came out really nice and I hope everyone at my job likes them too because I am bringing them to work today so they can enjoy these extreme chocolate cupcakes on national chocolate cupcake day.

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Fortune Cookie Cupcake

Today is National World Food day and that is why I thought it would be perfect if I shared my fortune cookie cupcake with everyone. I wanted to make something Slovakian, since my boyfriend Tomas is Slovakian, but I didnt know any slovakian recipes, plus I was super busy this week. Now if you look closely at the cupcake it is not a real fortune cookie, it looks like one but it is not. It is actually a caramel square that I rolled out and shaped into a fortune cookie. I got this idea from my the book Whats New, Cupcake? It is actually pretty easy to do. Just take a caramel square and roll it out into a circle using a rolling pin. Then fold in half and then bring the two ends together making a fortune cookie shape. You can even gie it a little creative touch and put a small fortune inside the cookie. Well I hope you enjoy this national food holiday of world food day with you favorite international dish. :)

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Lentil Soup

I was first introduced to lentil soup at the day care that I went to when I was a child. I absolutely loved that soup and still think about it to this day. My mom has tried recreating it, as well as myself, and every time it does not taste the same as the one that my daycare would make. Don't get me wrong, the soups that my mom made were great and the one I just made was really good too, but there was something about their lentil soup that is making me crave it to this day. I try to tell myself that my taste palate has changed since I was younger and that the lentil soups I eat today probably taste the same. But not matter how much convincing I do, I still think that lentil soup was the best soup ever.

Even though this lentil soup I made is not the same as my childhood, it is still pretty good. Everyone at my house loved it so much that there was not even a drop left in the pan, as a matter of fact there want even a single lentil left in the pot. I got this recipe of the back of the bag of Market Pantry Lentils from Target and I made a few changes to accommodate our taste. So I will provide the revised recipe below. I crinkled cut the vegetables for presentation purposes, but you don't have to do the same if you don't choose to. Well I hope you enjoy this tasty soup. Enjoy :)

Lentil Soup
3 cans chicken broth
3 cups water
1 cup lentils
3 medium carrots, diced
5 red potatoes, cubed
1 can diced tomatoes
3 tablespoons Herbs De Provence, or Italian Seasoning
1 kielbasa sliced



Slice the kielbasa and place in a 10-inch skillet. Saute until they are a little browned; set aside. Add everything, besides the kielbasa into a pot and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a medium-low heat and simmer for 30 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Add the kielbasa and cook for another 10 minutes. Serve and enjoy.

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Fluffernutter Brownies

I really wanted to make these fluffernutter brownies back on the 8th of this month because that was national fluffernutter day. Unfortunately, I was busy doing other things, therefore I wasn't able to make these brownies until now. For those of you that do not know what fluffernutter is it is actually a sandwich that is made with white bread that has a layer of peanut butter and marshmallow in between the two slices of bread. Though my brownies are not a sandwich, they still have the combination of peanut butter and marshmallow. Now when it comes to the brownie recipe, I got it off the bag of Reeses Peanut Butter Chips. Then I decided to take the marshmallow cream and mix it into the brownie batter. Well I hope you enjoy these tasty brownies.

Fluffernutter Brownies

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

1/4 cup peanut butter

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 package Reeses peanut butter chips
1 cup marshmallow cream

Preheat the oven to 350*F. Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish and set aside. Beat the butter and peanut butter together. Add sugar and brown sugar.;beat well. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Blend in vanilla. Stir together the flour, baking powder and salt; mix into the peanut butter mixture. Stir in peanut butter chips. Spread into the prepared pan. Drop marshmallow cream by spoonful on top of brownies. Take a butter knife and swirl the marshmallow into the brownies. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until lightly browned. Enjoy :)

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Pomegranate Angel Food Cake

Today is going to be a heavenly day because today is national angel food cake day. So to celebrate I wanted to try a new angel food cake recipe. A while back I discovered this wonderful company that makes dried fruits. What is good about these fruits is when they dry them they don't add anything to them; they are naturally sweetened with their own sugars. They also make dried vegetables, but I haven't tried any of those yet. When I first tried them I had the cherries which I thought were amazing, so I wanted to see what else they had. When I saw they made dried pomegranate I got really excited. I thought it would be nice if I put them in angel food cake, since I saw that someone else has done it before. I put off making it for the longest time, but I thought with it being national angel food cake day that it would be only best I gave it a try. Unfortunately,after all this time planning to make it, I personally was disappointed. It wasn't really the cake I was disappointed with, it was the pomegranate. One thing I didn't pay attention to was that the seeds are still in the pomegranate. I know that some people do eat the seeds, but I personally don't like it. I usually have to spit the seeds out when I eat fresh pomegranate just because I don't like them. So if you don't mind the seeds then you will like this cake, however if you don't like pomegranate seeds then I wouldn't recommend that you make this. So therefore you should make a different angel food cake to celebrate this national holiday.

Pomegranate Angel Food Cake

1 angel food cake mix

1 cup dried pomegranate seeds

Follow directions on back of package. Fold the pomegranate into the mix. Then bake as directed on the back of the box.

That is the company that makes really delicious healthy dried fruits. I recommend you give them a try.

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Super Mario Bros Cake

This Would have to be one of the funnest cakes I have made in a while. When I was asked to make the Super Mario cake I got so excited that I started to draw it out right away. Well while I was drawing it out I happened to be babysitting at the time and the little boy I watch started to draw the Mario characters as well. When I came back to babysit a couple of days later I saw that he ended up drawing dozens of Mario pictures and he was so excited to share them with me. His drawings were very cute and I loved how much I influenced him to draw them. When it came time to make the actual cake I had a lot of fun, so much fun I started singing the theme song in my head, which is still playing in my head as I write. I really enjoyed making this cake and how colorful it came out. Because of the cake I now want to play a game of Mario, which I might just have to do when I get of work today. :)

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