Rosie Cake

I made this cake just for fun and to get some practice making buttercream roses. I like the sprinkles and roses but think I probably should have stuck to one color rose rather than this ombre effect. It might be a little too much. Some of the roses got a little smooshed while I was trying to take the cake in and out of the fridge.

This Weekend

The view from the (frigid, windy) bridge across the Mississippi, heading from our neighborhood down to the Winter Carnival parade....

...and the white squirrel who lives in the tree next to our house. We call him "Al" - actually, we call all white squirrels Al (short for Albino). I think he's happy that there is finally a little snow around to camouflage himself.

The parade was fun! There were Vulcans and Klondike Kates (crazy traditions that I barely understand), bands, and unicyclers.

A trip to Mojo Monkey Donuts! Yay! This place is right on my way to work and has been open for months. Lucky for my waistline that I hate getting up early more than I love donuts :) Still, it's gotten rave reviews so I was excited that I had time to stop by this morning.

Mmmm....Mango Coconut, Maple Bacon, and Carrot Cake! I tried all three. My favorite was the mango coconut and I'm not usually a huge fan of raised donuts. Delicious!

This orange guy on the dashboard always looks like he's looking disapprovingly at the speedometer. The purple dude is dejected because the weekend is over.

More Drawings

More drawings this week! They're an outlet for my spring/growing things yearnings :)

I've also been reading The Happiness Project (book) by Gretchen Rubin. She also has a blog:

http://www.happiness-project.com/

It's a quick read and has enough substance to be thought-provoking while not being a drag to get through.

Been Drawing

Currently, I'm working a temp job to pay the bills. I answer about ten phone calls a day (average call time ten minutes), which leaves me about six hours of free time. Unfortunately, no internet allowed and I don't know how to knit. So, I've been messing about with Microsoft Paint (a frustrating program at best) and doing some colored pencil drawing (pronounced drawer-rings, please).

Marshmallow Oreo Bars

Happy New Year!

I have been absolutely horrible about updating my blog over the holiday season. I did a little bit of baking and a little bit of crafting but have generally been in a somewhat of a creative rut. I've got lots of plans for the new year, though, and will have a flurry of posts soon :)

I made these bars over Christmas after seeing the idea on Pinterest (yes, still obsessed). I called them "coal" and gave a batch to my nephew. The process for making these is the same as Rice Krispie treats - very easy! I am thinking about trying other cookies to see what else might work. The oreos work well since they aren't a super sweet cookie and the mini peanutbutter cups I added provide a nice salty touch. These look quite a bit like brownies but are chewy like Rice Krispie treat.

Marshmallow Oreo Bars

Ingredients

1 package oreo cookies
1 package marshmallows
4 Tablespoons butter (1/2 stick)
toppings such as mini peanut butter cups (optional)

1. Prepare pan by lightly greasing (I used a 9"x9" pyrex pan but anything works, since you aren't baking it. If you use a larger pan then your bars will just not be as thick)


2. Crush oreos (the whole cookie, including filling) in a food processor until fine crumbs. You can also crush them by putting them in a plastic bag and crushing with a rolling pin. The finer you get the cookie crumbs, the more consistent the color/texture of you bar will be. I wanted mine to look very dark without a lot of chunks or streaks so crushed them as fine as I could.


3. Melt butter and set aside.


4. Microwave marshmallows on high until melted (about 2 minutes?). If you make Rice Krispie treats then you know the deal. They will puff up quite a bit but should stir easily when you stir them with a wooden spoon or spatula.


5. Stir butter into marshmallows. Work somewhat quickly as you don't want the marshmallow mixture to cool.


6. Add cookie crumbs and stir vigorously, folding and mixing to make sure there are no dry pockets. I'm not gonna lie - this is a messy and difficult process. The faster you work the better.


7. As soon as it is sufficiently mixed, pour mixture into prepared pan, making sure to press into corners. A metal spoon or stiff spatula is helpful to get as much out of the bowl as possible.


8. If using, sprinkle toppings and press them down into the top. Let cool and set about an hour. Wrap airtight.

Compost Cookies

I have wanted to try to make "compost cookies", based on the famous Momofuko Milk Bar recipe, for quite some time. After reading several of the recipes online AND all the comments about them, I wasn't sure if I should try. Many people complained about the cookies spreading too much and being really flat - even after chilling the dough. The original recipe called for mixing for 10 minutes after you add the eggs and vanilla (!) which seems excessive. Based on several of the comments left on various blogs, I decided to mix them for the amount of time that I normally do (3 minutes-ish), add additional flour, decrease the baking powder, and eliminate the corn syrup.

These are great! I've made them twice now - once using pretzels, some frosted shredded wheat, some oats and few gingersnaps as the "snack mix" and once using just pretzels and oats. I never have potato chips around but I think they would be good. The cookies themselves are crunchy on the outer edges and chewy in the middle.

Compost Cookies

• 2 sticks of softened butter (16 Tablespoons)


• 1 cup sugar


• 3/4 cup brown sugar


• 1 tsp vanilla


• 2 large eggs, slightly beaten (room temp)


• 9 oz. flour (about 2 cups, if you don't have a scale)


• 1 tsp baking soda


• 1 tsp baking powder


• 1 tsp salt (or 1/2 tsp sea salt)


• 1 1/2 cups snacks (pretzels, etc)


• 1 1/2 cups baking ingredients (in this case - chopped dried apricots, semisweet choc chips, cocoa nibs)

1. Cream together butter and sugars until fluffy and light in color (2-3 minutes)


2. Crush snack pieces (pretzels, etc) by putting it in a plastic bag and hitting it with a rolling pin.


3. Add eggs and vanilla, a little at a time, until fully incorporated (again, probably 2-3 minutes on medium speed)


4. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Whisk to evenly distribute ingredients.


5. Add half of dry ingredients to wet and mix on low. Add other half until just combined (there may be a few dry spots but don't overmix).


6. Add snacks/pretzels and choc chips/whatever and finish mixing by hand (I use a wooden spoon or a stiff plastic spatula). If you use the mixer, the dough can get overmixed and develop too much gluten.


7. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about an hour.


8. Remove dough and place golf ball sized scoops onto parchment-lined baking sheets. I used and ice cream scoop. You can make them smaller, but these make nice bakery-size cookies. Put back in fridge and start preheating oven to 375F.


9. After 20 minutes, remove cookie sheets from fridge and place in preheated oven on middle rack.


10. Check cookies after about 12 minutes. When cookies are brown around the edges with just the middle part looking a little raw then they are done. If you cook them until they are completely browned then they will be overdone and too crunchy! My cookies took about 14 minutes but your oven will vary.


11. Allow cookies to cool on tray for 5 minutes then transfer to cooling rack to finish cooling.


12. Store airtight 3-5 days.

Jack-O'-Lanterns - A Few Days Later

Here are our jack-o'-lanterns a couple days after Halloween (my sister's above and mine below). Since they were scary faces to begin with, I think they've improved with age! I thought about leaving them out there to become really gnarly but I guess it's time to move on. I'm sad that Halloween is over for another year but on to Thanksgiving and Christmas!