Wicked Cupcakes

I made these for teacher appreciation week, our theme was Wicked. Such a fun theme that I HAD to come up with a cute treat for make for the teachers and staff. I also did some red and purple flowers, but I forgot to photograph those.
The recipe for the cupcake is:
1 box devils food
3 eggs
1/2 C sour cream
1 c water
1/2 C butter
1/2 C chocolate chips
(if I knew I could resist Nutella I would have filled them with a Nutella creme filling.. but I that stuff is my kryptonite and I can't resist)

The icing I used was so fluffy and easy to work with:

 1 Cup Crisco Shortenin
1  Cup butter, softened at room temp
6-8 cups Confectioner's sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp clear vanilla
1 tsp almond extract (if you don't want it to taste do 2 tsp vanilla)
6 oz heavy whipping cream


Cream shortening and butter  until fluffy. Add confectioner's sugar  2 cups at a time and continue creaming until well blended.

 Add salt, vanilla, and whipping cream blend on low speed until moistened. Add additional whipping cream and or sugar if necessary (up to 2 ounces). Beat at high speed until frosting is fluffy. (May take 5 or so minutes. Then add bright green food coloring.

Here is the Wicked Cupcake Wrapper pdf printable. It looks weird when I uploaded it, please write a comment if it prints weird and I will try to figure it out.
 http://www.scribd.com/doc/93261681/Wicked-Cupcake-Wrapper


The hat is made of Wilsons fondant with black food coloring. (Hobby Lobby has a great food coloring for a great price). I used an extra large french tip.
Here is a great site for decorating tips:
http://decoratethis.blogspot.com/2011/03/cupcake-decorating-tutorial.html


The secretary was out of control with her amazing door decor and the hallways. I know this is generally a food blog, but I just have to share some of the decor as well. It was amazing. I did two of the doors; they came out OK, but not as well as I had envisioned. But I think are good for idea building, and now I know better for next time.. and I will remember that it takes WAY longer than 30 mins to hang everything ON the doors. I was naive and thought that would be the easy part.. WRONG!

The was what the Secretary made.. A-mazing! The yellow brick wall is cardstock with letters the students wrote for their teachers. It went all through the halls of the school! 

This was the door she did. OUT OF CONTROL! The poppies are made from card stock that she "softened" and used a Cri-cut cutter for the Emerald City.

This is the door I did for my sons teacher. Her face on Glenda. Cracked me up when I was making it. I glued tulle and material to the face that I had printed on photo quality paper.

This is the door I did for my daughters teacher. I was disappointed it didn't turn out as cute, but the idea was cute. All of the children in her class are made into Munchkins using Photoshop. "You've taught us so completely that we thank you very sweetly." I made the giant lollipop out of tissue paper.

Smurfday Party

 

A Great party starts with a great invite:

Here is the one I made and if you would like to use it here is a pdf version. Just download it and open it in Photoshop to personalize it.:

Smurfday Party Invite

Feel free to use my files and have a great party, but Please do not redistribute or make money off of my work.

The Costume:
I searched for Smurf costumes online and most of the reviews were pretty negative due to the cheaply made and high costs... So I made my own. 
Dress: I bought 2 yards of white felt. I folded the felt in half and laid a sleeveless dress on top (with the top shoulder part on the fold) , cut it out and sewed the sides.  Took about 10 mins.

I crocheted the Smurf Hat by using this pattern:
Smurf Hat Crochet Pattern
I bought the tights and leotard from Amazon.  (make sure you have at least 2 weeks b/c these weren't Amazon Prime and took at least a week or so).

I hung up an "autographed picture" from Smurfette. 
Here is one for you if you are interested. She loved it and has it hung up in her room:
Autographed pictured 

One of the games we played was Pin the tail on Azriel. We used a coloring page of Azriel to draw it on orange poster paper and cut out 5 tails from the remaining paper. Easy as pie. The kids had a blast.

Smurfday Cake. The cake is always the most stressful part of the party for  me. I literally PRAYED my way through this cake..haha.  I would recommend watching a video on Youtube on how to apply fondant.  Would have been Very helpful... too bad I didn't watch it until AFTER I made the blue bottom part. 

I used Wilson brand fondant and used the Wilson brand food coloring for the color. The bottom is made of 2 9 inch round cakes. I froze them before icing them with buttercream prior to adding the fondant. Freezing them before makes them much easier to work with.  To make the grass I rolled the fondant out relatively thin and used a paring knife. I used powdered sugar to prevent sticking, then applied the grass by wetting a pastry paint brush. This also gives the fondant a nice shinny finish and cleans up the edges.

My son made the little mushrooms for me. He did a fantastic job! Thanks Juddy! The big mushroom is made from Wilsons extra large Cupcake pan. (My tip is the use  baking spray AND add a generous amount of flour b/c 2 batches broke apart trying to get them out of the pan... give yourself plenty of time and extra cake mix.) I used the food coloring straight from the container to paint the windows and doors.

 I bought the little figurines from Amazon.com, cupcake toppers. They are really cute and good quality for the price.
After the cake was served we played "Smurf Hunting". We hid the smurfs around the yard, each child got one smurf. They loved it.

I bought a iron on Paper and made this image. But I didn't save it.. DANG IT! Otherwise I would have shared that too. He loves this shirt and wears it regularly.

Carma playing Smurf Bingo. Here is the file to download it:
Smurf Bingo 1
Smurf Bingo 2
Smurf Bingo 3
Smurf Bingo 4
Smurf Bingo 5
Smurf Bingo 6
Smurf Characters for Calling

To play smurf bingo I cut each character from the "characters for calling" page and showed the picture to the kids to call Bingo. We really didn't use the letter part of  BINGO.. We just let the kids put a  marker (York Pieces candy) on the picture that was called. It was too confusing and would have taken forever otherwise. I hope that makes sense. If not leave a comment and I will try to answer it better.

Treat bags:
I used simple blue bags (10c each from Walmart). I made the "thank you for coming to Carma's Smurfday Party" tag and printed it on a shipping label. Inside the treat bags were the mini- coloring books, Smurf stickers, candy, Smurf key chain tags, random dollar store toys).
Here are the files for the mini-coloring books:
 Coloring page 1
Coloring Page 2
Coloring page 3

The food:
Papa Smurf's Smurfberry juice- I bought the Blue Cool-aid from Walmart 8 for $1.00 and added a label.
Smurfette's Smurfalicious Sweets- different kinds of Candy
Greedy Smurf's Smurfberries- Twix Wildberry cereal
Brainy's Nerds: Nerds Candy
Gargamel's Smurf Essence - Pixy Sticks
Papa Smurf's Smurfberry Jello: Blueberry Jello, with blueberries and whipped cream
Azriels Catch: Goldfish
Baker Smurfs Mushrooms: White chocolate dipped donuts with white chocolate chip or multi colored sprinkles.
Gutsy's Can you handle the heat poppers- fireballs
Grumpy Smurf's Sourpuss treats- Lemon heads

Here are the files for the Treat lables:
 Treat Label 1
Treat Label 2


On the door I had a poster of Smurfette with balloons and a welcome sign.  (Oh, I got a set of Mylar balloons on Amazon for a great price... 5 HUGE balloons for $11.00 and Smiths filled them for me for really cheap). http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0064RJUJU/ref=oh_o05_s00_i00_details

Here are some of the Smurf Cake toppers:
 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005MPQ516/ref=oh_o00_s00_i01_details
these were part of her present../ I paid $17.00... but we used them for cake toppers and decor:
 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004GXL8GC/ref=oh_o04_s00_i00_details

 Here are some of the Treat bag items:
 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005M511JC/ref=oh_o00_s00_i00_details
 Smurf Rings:
 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003RQ2XOA/ref=oh_o01_s00_i00_details
Smurf Stickers:
 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0069L7ORQ/ref=oh_o06_s00_i00_details

Baked Potato Soup

I made this soup for Michael on our second or third date... Now we are married. Was it the soup? I don't know, but I know it is AWESOME and he loved it;)  I have to make soup for a church activity and I went to look for my recipe and realized I didn't have it posted. So here it is... too bad I can't eat it.  Wish me luck as I make it and resist this deliciousness. (I am going to try to come up with my own Butternut Squash soup to take its place as I don't eat potatoes or too much fat. I will post it if it tastes good).

But who says you can't, trust me, your family will thank you and sing your praises. It is even better when served in a bread bowl.

12 slices bacon 2/3 cup margarine 1 small onion, minced 2/3 cup all-purpose flour 7 cups milk 4 large baked potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 1/4 cups shredded Cheddar cheese 1 cup sour cream 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon ground black pepper  4 green onions, chopped

1.	Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium heat until browned. Drain, crumble, and set aside.
2.	In a stock pot or Dutch oven, melt the margarine over medium heat. Whisk in flour until smooth. Gradually stir in milk, whisking constantly until thickened. Stir in potatoes and onions. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently.
3.	Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes. Mix in bacon, cheese, sour cream, salt, and pepper. Continue cooking, stirring frequently, until cheese is melted. Top with green onions.

I haven't posted for a while

It has been MONTHS since I have last posted a recipe. The explanation would be that I started attending a 12-step  recovery program for food addiction/eating disorders. Email me if you are interested in the name of the program, anonymity reasons.

I also  have a blog for no sugar/no flour recipes if you are interested. justfortodaynosugarnoflour.blogspot.com.

Just wanted to explain where I have been for the past 6 months. I lost 60 lbs and actually have found peace with food (most days). It feels great. I never thought I could have peace with food and peace with my body image. Just for today I will live this way.

Crockpot Cream Cheese Sausauge dip

Ingredients

• 4 (8 ounce) packages Philadelphia Cream Cheese
• 2 (16 ounce) packages jimmy dean original breakfast sausage
• 1 (10 ounce) cans original Rotel tomatoes & chilies
• 1 (10 ounce) cans hot Rotel tomatoes & chilies
• tortilla chips

Directions

1. Brown both packages of sausage in a skillet over medium heat.
2. Drain the sausage in a colander.
3. Cube the cream cheese into a crock pot.
4. Add the sausage to the cream cheese in the crock pot.
5. Add both cans of rotel (with the juice) to the crock pot.
6. Heat the mixture in the crock pot on high heat for approximately 1 hour, stirring occasionally until the dip is well mixed.
7. Reduce heat to warm/low and serve with tortilla chips.

Cupcakes

I made these for my sisters baby shower. These were not only adorable, they tasted amazing (if I can say so myself... and I DO! ... hehehe). She just adopted twins... hurray! They are tiny and beautiful! But more about that on my family blog. This is about food and cute food!

I made 64 cupcakes! I made Nutella cream filled ones with Nuttella frosting, Coconut cream filled ones with pina coloda frosting,, Raspberry filled with Cream Cheese icing, and vanilla pudding filled ones with butter cream frosting.
 (I wish I would have written down the cupcake recipes, but I didn't. I will try to remember them and post them.)

Here is a description on how I made the peas in the pod and flowers: 


I made the peas and flowers out of fondant 4 days earlier. I used Wilson's brand fondant and and kneaded the color in to get the exact colors I wanted. (tip: use powdered sugar when it gets sticky.. but only add as needed as to not dry out the fondant).

I used a tad of brown, yellow and pink to make flesh color peas and obviously green for the pea pod. I cut the pea pod using the center of it a small canning lid and used a butter knife to cut it (using the outside of it made too big of a pea pod). I waited for the baby peas to dry before I folded them into pod so they could keep their shape. I wet the edges with a clean, small paint brush to clean them up a bit and wet the center for the baby peas to fit in. Then folded them to look like the peas. I wet the edges to stick them together. I let them dry overnight then hand painted the faces on.

I used a cookie cutter for the flowers, put the flowers in bent aluminum foil to give them a curved 3D look.I made a paste out of powdered sugar and water to glue two of them together. I made the circles, let them dry enough to handle, (put on a sheet of paper to catch left over glitter) then painted them to get them wet and sprinkled them with edible glitter.( I didn't even know that stuff existed. It made them a million times cuter.. thanks Heather!) Then used the "glue" to stick them to the flowers. I sprinkled the left over the cupcakes.

Artisan Bread

This came from my friend Amiee, one of the best cooks I know! (her blog rollmeouttahere.blogspot.com)

This bread was RIDICULOUSLY easy, the only thing is that you have to remember to make it first thing in the morning. It is the perfect bread for working moms. You make the bread in the morning the same time you stick something in the crock pot. When you come in, throw it in the oven. (which is why it is labeled with crock-pot even though you don't cook it in the crock pot).

3 c. flour (i used half all purpose, half bread flour, not sure it matters?)
1/4 tsp yeast
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 c. warm water

Let yeast & salt dissolve into warm water. Then add flour. Mix well (I used a bosch but I think you could just do this by hand). If you are used to making bread, you will be very worried at how "loose," wet and sticky the dough is when you're done adding flour. That's Ok. We want it to be that way. Place dough mix in a covered bowl and let it sit out at room temperature for at least 8 to 10 hours (I've also been told that doing it overnight works just fine, too).

When the time is up, you'll need to find a large oven-proof covered pan. I used a dutch oven pot. Preheat oven AND covered pan to 475 degrees.

Then put a LOT of flour on your counter. Plop your dough out into the flour (mine was so "loose" that I had to scoop it out with a spoon!) and COAT it with flour and shape into an oval shape.

Take pan out of oven and grease the bottom. Carefully and quickly pick up your dough and place it into the oven. Bake for around 20-30 minutes with the lid ON. Then remove lid and bake another 5 to 10 minutes until browned. Cool on wire rack so heat can escape and keep the bread crusty.

YOU ARE GOING TO LOVE THIS! FYI: I used this bread with crab cakes and red pepper sauce. YUUUMMY to sob up the sauce.

*NOTE* If you have left overs, don't wrap in plastic, rather put it in a brown paper bag or wrap it in a cloth.

I want to try it with whole wheat flour next time or with herbs, like rosemary and pepper.

I think it would also be great dipped in balsamic vinegar, olive oil and Parmesan cheese, yummy!