Friday, May 20, 2011

Photo Friday! Take my picture Momma!

Any time that I take out my camera Delaney screams out "Take my picture Momma!!!!" I guess she is just so used to everyone wanting her picture all the time that when one comes out she is posed and ready for her next "Photo opp" a few days ago i said "Ok get ready" and here is what she did!


She is just too much! 
I think she was trying to show her "good" side...
We may have a little model on our hands... heheh she's just too cute if you ask me!


Happy Friday! 
Hope you get a few great shots of your little ones acting like little models...

Thursday, May 19, 2011

New Linky Parties!

There is something so flattering about being invited to another persons Linky Party!
I love it! 
And it kind of goes along with this weeks Tell the Truth Thursday!
It makes you feel like hey someone likes my project that much!
It's so nice to hear and it makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.... kinda makes your day!

So this week I will be linking up to two brand new Linky Parties!

Heck Fridays is hosting their FIRST ever Linky Party THIS week! Stop over and Check it out! And thanks for inviting me for the fun!




Thrifty 101 is hosting this week too... This blog is for me! I love it! and if it has Thrifty in the name you know its been calling out for me too...

So go and have a look at all the great links that are up on these two Linky Parties and share some blog love not only with them but also with the Linkers!

Tell the Truth Thursday!

I feel like a real blogger now... Sounds silly but I really do. 

Now that more than me and Robyn read it and follow it, plus I've been linking and blog hopping and getting myself out there in the blogging world. 
I really feel like a blogger!
The comments, ideas and tips from other bloggers make it so much fun too! 
I love reading the great things that people have to say about me, my blog and the things I do. It makes me giddy! 

I call out across the house "Robyn I've been invited to another linky party!" or "Hey listen to what this other blogger said about my blog". 

I'm in love with blogging! 

 (Almost as much as I love Friday)

I'm a Junkie! 

I think about my blog all the time, I make notes as to what to post and what new projects I want to do(not because I want to do them but because I want to post them!) 
I think about the blog and the comments all the time and I'm flat out in love with blogging!

It makes me feel like I am not just a stay at home momma, I'm not just a wife and homemaker I have something to do with my time and people who will read it. 
It sounds kind of silly but it makes me feel like I'm not always alone, and no I don't think that your really here with me or anything crazy, I just feel like hey there is someone else out there who thinks that what I do or say might be a cool idea, a good project or might be fun to try to make.

So thank you for stopping by, thank you for looking at my projects, thank you for reading my ramblings, thank you for making me feel like a real blogger! 

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

So as I have mentioned a few times... Myself and my girl friends threw a shower for our Best Friend this past weekend. it went off without a hitch and a great time was had by all! 

We didn't really go all out with a theme but we centered around cooking and baking as this is one of our brides biggest hobbies. 

We had more prizes than we knew what to do with and they were some great prizes.... 

Here are just some of the pictures of the decorations and such!


Cake as detailed on make it Monday!




Prize/ gift table

Scrap/Guestbook  I had put out lots of scrapbooking tags and paper and pens for guests to send her well wishes. I also asked for guests to bring a recipe with them (most didn't) and I will be putting it all together for the Bride.


 For our tables we kept it simple... our center pieces were martini glasses with the Brides favorite candy in them, we also placed the favors (two heart shaped cookies wrapped in cellophane bags) at each seat.


The food... of course this was before anyone showed up so by the time we were said and done it was doubled.

And our brides favorite part (truth.... it was every ones favorite part I think) the Chocolate fountain! this should be a must at every party!

We didn't decorate with balloons as the Mother of the Groom has a fear of latex balloons so instead I made these in the wedding color which is peacock...


with directions from Martha!

As for games, we played a few of the traditional ones... guess how many gum balls are in the jar, we had two door prizes and a unscramble the couples game... the pairs were household things like Peanut butter and Jelly or Salt and Pepper.

We also had a questions game where the guests filled in what they thought were the "best" answer and then I read the answers out to the Bride and she picked her favorite answers without knowing who said them... 
the questions included... 

Which kitchen tool do you think best describes The Bride and Groom to Be's  relationship?
What baking ingredient best describes The Bride to Be's personality?
What desert best describes The Bride to Be?
Which spice name do you think that Groom to Be would use to describe The Bride to Be?

We also had a guess that spice game where we wrapped up about a tablespoon of a spice in tissue paper (so you could smell the spice through the paper) and had each guest sniff the packet of spice and try to figure out what the spice was... the guests found this one a bit hard only 2 people git all 5. 

All in all the decorations, the games, the food and the cake went over so well everyone had lots of fun and commented that we did a great job! It was a great compliment and it felt great to get to treat our Bride to Be to a great day of no wedding planning and relaxation with her family!

Monday, May 16, 2011

Make it Monday! Vanilla Pound Cake and marshmallow fondant!

As you may know I am a box cake baker....
For cupcakes(which I have never made from scratch... maybe someday), regular birthday cakes, or for everyday I feel the need to bake a cake (you have those days to right...... right...), I make boxed cake! But for special cakes, like a certain little girls "toodles" birthday cake, my Best Friends stack of books cake (both seen here) and also for this beast of a cake!


This is the cake I made for my Best Friends Wedding Shower!
I call it a beast because it took me a few hours to get the cake and fondant made and then I cursed on it for about another hour because I couldn't get the fondant to lay right..... (perfectionist much...)

Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures while making the cake or while putting the fondant on it as I was a little busy cursing under my breath at it to take a picture....

So... back to the cake...
This is the pound cake recipe that I have used for about a year now and it has been flawless everytime!


3 Cups Flour
3/4 Tsp Baking Powder
1/4 Tsp Salt
1 1/2 cups Butter
2 2/3 Cups Sugar
5 Eggs
1 Cup Milk
1 Tsp vanilla

****** DO NOT PRE-HEAT YOUR OVEN!******
grease or spray your pan... tube or other (to make the bride cake I used a bunt pan)
Mix in a seperate bowl your flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl cream your butter and sugar for 5-10 mins. Add your eggs one at a time mixing well before the next addition then add your vanilla.
Next add in alternate additions your milk and your flour mix. (kind of like a muffin recipe) 
Pour into prepared pan and place in the oven at 350
Bake until a cake tester comes out clean. (it will vary depending on what type and size of pan you use!)
Allow to cook in pan for 1 hour before removing. 
Cool completely before icing.

As for the Fondant I used this recipe for Marshmallow Fondant from Show Tell Share!

Marshmallow Fondant

Ingredients

  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1 (16 ounce) package miniature marshmallows
  • 4 tablespoons water
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 pounds confectioners' sugar, divided

Directions

  1. Place the butter in a shallow bowl, and set aside.
  2. Place the marshmallows in a large microwave-safe bowl, and microwave on High for 30 seconds to 1 minute to start melting the marshmallows. Carefully stir the water and vanilla extract into the hot marshmallows, and stir until the mixture is smooth. Slowly beat in the confectioners' sugar, a cup at a time, until you have a sticky dough. Reserve 1 cup of powdered sugar for kneading. The dough will be very stiff.
  3. Rub your hands thoroughly with butter, and begin kneading the sticky dough. As you knead, the dough will become workable and pliable. Turn the dough out onto a working surface dusted with confectioners' sugar and continue kneading until the fondant is smooth and no longer sticky to the touch, 5 to 10 minutes.
  4. Form the fondant into a ball, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight. To use, allow the fondant to come to room temperature, and roll it out onto a flat surface dusted with confectioners' sugar. 

I really like this recipe as it was so easy to prepare and I found that it made soooo much fondant! It was way more cost effective (and yummier) than any fondant I've ever purchased pre-made! (Robyn even said that it was better than what was on our wedding cake... and he was right!)
I got lots of compliments on it too Everyone loved the cake and my Best Friend actually asked me... "why doesn't your fondant suck?" which if you knew us was a huge compliment!

When I actually got down to putting the cake together I carved down the edges of the bunt cake to make sure it was actually rounded the way I liked it, then I did a "crumb coat" of my butter cream icing (recipe found here) and let it sit for a few minutes while I rolled out the fondant to the thickness I liked. Then I laid the fondant over the cake and smoothed it out with a few small folds at the bottom to make it look like the skirt. Then I covered the doll body to make the bodice of the dress mannequin/ form and put it in place on the cake... this is when the cursing began... I had to find a way to prop the doll part up which turned out to be a toothpick container filled with extra fondant and then covered by another layer of fondant on the top... I then piped little dots onto the top layer of fondant to make it look like it was beaded and to take away from the crease in the fondant where I had to cut it to make it fit just right.... you can see it in the pictures but no one commented on it or said anything really about it!



Either way the Bride to Be and her Mom and everyone loved it! I was told by no less than 10 people that I should turn this whole party planning/cake making hobby into a career... Ahhh maybe someday... maybe.

Have you made any great cakes lately? or are you planning on making your first fondant cake? I'd love to hear about it... either way I hope your next cake endeavor doesn't involve as much cursing on the project as mine did!
PS more about the shower, including decorations, games and such tomorrow!