Sweet little excuses...

Wow, has it really been FIVE MONTHS since my last post?  Yep, looks like it has-yikes!  I could go on and on with all sorts of reasons why I haven't had time to update this lovely piece of my life, but with three little people running around me in circles, do I really need to even try?  The funny part is that in my head I've written dozens of posts about such wonderful and entertaining topics that it's hard to believe its actually been five months.  Oh well, life goes on-obviously.
  Now, about those excuses.....
I have, actually, been filling all my...heh heh heh, 'free time' with little projects here and there.  Mostly of the 'sweet' nature.  After some prodding from friends and family I have thrown myself into a hobby that is becoming a source of income as well!  How sweet is that?!!?  My days have been filling up with pounds of sugar, flour, loads of butter, and more sugar.  Not to mention cake pans, mixing bowls, and icing bags.  Yup-I've started my own little cake factory!

  It all started with the little humans asking for the most random birthday cakes-things like an airplane, or a carousel.  Never stepping away from a challenge, especially an edible challenge, I went for it.  My perfectionism would kick in and suddenly the cakes were getting attention from others.  I had a few friends ask for special cakes, and then friends of friends! It has all been rather exciting, and petrifying!  I was even urged by those I know to try out for the TLC show 'The Next Great Baker'.  Though in the end I was not chosen for the cast, the experience in itself gave me more confidence and drive to do what I do better each time.
  Soooo, wanna see a taste (hee hee hee) of what I've been up to?!??  Well, ok then-since you asked! ;-) Well, first a few from the past years so you can see the progression.....

  Here's one from early on.  This was Bug's 'Up and Down Horsey' aka the carousel.  It was definitely a learn as I go kind of thing.  She loved it, and that's all that really mattered.

  This little guy was meant to be a Dino, but ended up looking more like a dragon-either way, I love his cute little expression and mischievous personality.  :-) This was one of my first attempts at carving out a shape, not easy.  Especially since this was made with a super moist deluxe cake mix......live and learn.  Cake mix is not the way to go.  I love my from scratch recipes and will only use a mix if asked-though why would you want that when you could have a homemade, delectable yummy cake???

                     This This was a fun one to do.  Pretty easy and self explanatory.  The burger 'patty' is actually brownie though-even better than cake!  The fries were sliced pound cake that I toasted under the broiler-so cute! It was a hit of course.  :-)was a fun one to do.  Pretty easy and self explanatory.  The burger 'patty' is actually brownie though-even better than cake!  The fries were sliced pound cake that I toasted under the broiler-so cute! It was a hit of course.  :-).

So this next one......let me explain.  I asked the Hubby what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday (which happens to be on St Patrick's Day-notice the shamrock), he jokingly said he wanted a butt cake.  Well, I'm not not one to disappoint!  Hee Hee.  I do have to admit though, while smoothing the fondant on these sweet cheeks I felt a little odd......or should I say 'cheeky'!
Oh-by this time I was making my own fondant.  Once I learned that it wasn't too difficult and could actually taste like something sweet and edible (unlike the premade store bought kind!-ick!)

  Alrighty then, on to a few of the newer creations!  In January it was Woo's first birthday, and I decided it was time to try something epic.  Well, epic for me anyway.  A stacked caked.  Something with multiple tiers, just to see if I could.  It was also quite the undertaking because I had decided that making cool cakes but using box mixes to do it just seemed, I dunno, wrong somehow.  When asked  "Did you make that?", I wanted to be able to reply with "YES!" and really mean it, like all of it!  So I scoured the Internet and chose a recipe which has become my standby, I've even become brave and changed a few things here and there!  So that is Woo's cutesie cake! Notice her in the background looking quite terrified! Haha! She was probably tired of seeing the thing by then.  It took me a good three days from start to finish, and we almost had a tragedy.  The Hubby was putting it in the fridge one night after I had covered it in fondant and he managed to ram the side into the little overhanging drawer, causing a rip in the fondant and a big ol dent! Aaaaggghhhh! I freaked out.  However sometimes those things cause amazing results-if it hadn't been for that little mishap I never would have made the fondant bow and ribbon, and I think they totally make the cake!

Here is another January creation-the Maschine.  It's a digital music interface thingy.  That is my technical description.  It has buttons and knobs and can make really cool sounds.  Well, the real real one can, not the cake.  Although the knobs on the cake did in fact turn!  This was for a member of the Hubby's band.....did I mention he has a band? Well he does, check them out on iTunes or google play-They are called Spostah and their single 'Fire in the sand' is available.  Go now, I'll wait.  Seriously, it's a buck, just buy it and share it with all your friends.  :-) You can listen and buy it here too.
  Did you listen, did you like it? Of course you did!!!!   Anyway, it was a fun cake, but slightly annoying with all the buttons and hand painting with food coloring.

  So this was about the point that life started to get more busy.  I had some wonderful friends from back home come for a visit, I did all sorts of spring projects with and for they kiddos-all of which I had planned on writing posts about.  Oh, and Woo started walking, needless to say, life was instantly more complicated!!  
  
  This was also about the time I started making cakes for people other than family-scary!  The following a smattering of those-not all of them mind you.  If you want to see more you should definitely check out my Facebook page: www.facebook.com/SweetLibertyCakes.   And while you are there, you should 'like' my page and share it with your friends!  Yes, I am doing a lot of shameless self promotion.  But hey, I'm a stay at home Mom that wants a little attention to feel special.  ;-). Thought I'd try the pity party route and see if it would work!

  Ok, enough about all that, how about some more pictures!?! 

Gluten-free chocolate cake and hand painted logo cake!

My first gluten free creation!

 

Baby shower cuteness!

A 2D Angry Birds!  I did a 3D one, you can see that on Facebook!

  

Fun Firecracker cake

So festive!

I had to add this little hand lettered detail-you know, more self promotion! ;-)

I made this one for a benefit auction at a winery!

We like to call this the triple tier, chocolate flower cake of happiness. With that much chocolate and fudge, how could you not be happy?!?

Lego!  Little fondant lego men 'covering' a lego cake!      

  

R2-D2  :-)

                                                                             

  It was bound to happen, but I was afraid, petrified even.  The dreaded request for a wedding cake.  Maybe its just the thought of a table designated specifically to display a cake, maybe its knowing that if the cake is off, the whole experience feels off....or maybe its because birthdays and parties happen all the time but weddings are a once in a lifetime ( or are supposed to be at least).  But I was afraid!  I sucked it up and said yes and started pep talking myself.  I'm still learning afterall-I'm not great at sugar flowers, other than roses and daisies, and stacking tall cakes is an skill that takes time to get perfect.  But I did it.  She wanted clean lines, simple and elegant.  Sweet right?!  Well, thats what I thought, until I realized that without alot of decorations to cover the cake, it has to look perfect.  No cracks, not wrinkles, no smudges.  Deep breath.
  To add to my stress, I had two other cakes ordered and due to deliver the same day!! What am I, crazy?!?  Keep in mind I still have all three kids at home being crazy and needy during the whole thing.  Yeah, I'm crazy.
             

Ahhh, but look at that.  Three completed cakes, all lined up and looking delicious!

                                 Lets just say that I've been feeling pretty proud of myself about this latest feat!  But I don't get too much time to bask in the glory of a job well done.  I have another wedding cake next month, along with at least two birthday cakes.  It gets crazy, messy, overwhelming and tiring at times-with cake orders, kids being kids, hubby and the band, and all the other little daily life things happening, but I have to admit that when it comes right down to it-I have a pretty 'sweet' life.  :-)

An Epic Day Indeed.

    Something BIG happened at our house today.......Actually it was epic, awe-inspiring, fantastic, I would even go as far as to say it was downright miraculous!!
You ready for this?  The laundry in my house is done...DONE!!!  Not only is it all clean, it is all folded and put away-in the proper places!  This is a huge accomplishment-I can honestly say this may have only happened one or two times in my entire adult life!
   With 5 people in our house(3 being under the age of five)we generate a lot of dirty clothes.  It is a constant battle, trying to work the loads through, getting them all folded and put away, all while trying to accomplish other important things throughout the day.  Important things such as meals, cleaning, and of course, facebook and pinterest!  It's a pretty tall order to get all that done.  Most often there will be a basket of laundry waiting to be put in, sitting at the end of the hall, possibly one in the bathroom and always a random small pile in a bedroom or two.....well, not today!  The other familiar site is the ever-growing pile of clean clothes awaiting folding and proper distribution.  The Hubby is great at loading the washer and switching them over to the dryer, but then the cleans get piled in the corner for me to deal with, often getting infiltrated with 'not-so-cleans', which ends up making the entire pile needing to be washed again-such an evil cycle!
   I love clean clothes, especially right out of the dryer.  I don't even mind folding them-right out of the dryer.  But if they sit there and lose all that cozy, warm, fresh heat-I don't wanna.  Don't wanna fold them, don't wanna put em away, don't even wanna acknowledge their existence.  It's weird, I know.  But its the way I roll.
  Now putting them away is completely different.  I hate it, always have.  Trying to get everything to fit and in the proper place without too much wrinkling.....it's just not fun.
  A few weeks ago my Hubby decided to help me out.  -It was very sweet and thoughtful, and I in no way want to seem ungrateful. -Just need to say that now to preface this next part........
So, I am a control freak, I have come to realize this.  I fold things a certain way, and I like things to be done in a certain way.  My wonderful Hubs does things differently, it's not wrong, just not the way I would choose to do things.  No biggie, I can get over that....if I have to.  So, as I was saying...He folded a load or two and then , lovingly, put them all away for me.  It was fantastic seeing that pile of clean clothes disappear...........until the next morning that is.  Apparently he was having a little trouble getting Bug's skirts and shirts to all fit into one of her dresser drawers, so he just put them in the next drawer that had room, that happened to be Cub's drawer.  The following morning there was an all out brawl over why in the world there were skirts in HIS drawer.  And it just went on from there, 'Momma-why are my underwear in my bottom drawer, they belong in the top?', Momma-where are all my shirts?-why are they in HER drawer?', Momma-I think these undies are yours?'.  It was mildly disastrous, and quite out of control.  Apparently my kids are creatures of habit just like me, and having their clothes in different places just sent them into a tailspin.  Unfortunately I didn't realize the full extent of the situation, or that the kids had tried to rectify it on their own-making it worse.  In the end I had to completely empty all of their dresser drawers and redo the entire production.   But I was thankful for the extra help from Hubby, really I was. 
  Ahhhhh, but today, glorious day!  The only dirty laundry are the clothes we are current;y wearing-and a few dishrags that slipped past without notice-naughty little things!  I admit, I was actually tempted to strip the kiddos down and wash what they are wearing-kids like naked time right?!??  But then I realized I would have to do the same....which would be a little awkward.  So, here I sit, relishing in my accomplishment.  Fully aware that in a few short hours it will have passed.  There will be dirty work clothes to launder, a pile of discarded play clothes at bath time, and then the growing pile of towels...................

Oh look....a washer with nothing to do but sit there empty! Mwa-ha-ha-ha!!

Spring Fevers, Colds and Crafts.

The past few days have been cold, wet and snowy-and the kids have had colds, been whiney and snotty, such an appealing combination.  Everyone has been spending extra time in their jammies and wrapped up in various blankies.  To go along with their colds I've been dealing with a fever..spring fever I think.
   I needed to find some things to keep them occupied and give me a sense of accomplishment.  I've seen all sorts of crafts involving toilet paper rolls these days, but not so much kid crafts.  Seeing as we go through what seems like an unrealistic amount of toilet paper for a family of 5, we have lots of empty rolls around.  I will point out that there has been a large amount of nose blowing with the T.P. lately too, that might have something to do with the extra rolls!
  The first little project I decided on was a snake -what is it with kids' obsession with snakes anyway?  I took a couple rolls and cut them in a diagonal spiral, not really following the seam, that would make a really short and fat snake...I tried that first!  On one end of the spiral I did a little free-form snake head with a tongue(a little piece of ribbon would make a cute tongue too though).  I set up the munchkins at the table with markers-and a blank paper underneath- and let them color their custom snake friends!

Deciding on colors.

Even 'Tinkerbell' loves snakes!

 

The coloring actually kept them busy for quite a while, they wanted them to look just right!  Once their snakes were colored they had lost a little of their curliness.  To get it back I rolled them up and set them inside of a jar for a little while....they regained their twirl and the kids wore them like bracelets!  As they gradually stretched back out, they became little pets that ended up joining us at the table for lunch and dinner.....a little weird, but so are my kids!

Crafty supplies out and ready!

 Well we were on a 'roll' (hee hee hee), so I decided to try another T.P. roll craft.  This time we made bracelets on purpose.   So, first I cut a slit from one end to the other and then cut three equal-ish pieces from side to side.  Since I wanted these bracelets to hold their curve shape a little better than the snakes did I decided to not have the kids color directly onto the cardboard.  Instead I traced the shape onto colored paper of their choice and let them decorate to their little hearts' content.  It would have been fun to have stickers, but I haven't found my sticker stash yet.  Once they had their coloring done(and added words or pictures with the help of momma) I cut out the rectangle and glued it onto the piece of tube.  We could have stopped here and called it good....but I like to complicate things!  I also like to make things that will (hopefully) last longer than a day.  I am a BIG fan of super tape.  You know, the clear tape on the huge roll.  I have a habit of 'self-laminating' many projects.  It can get annoying if your tape strips move or stick to each other in the wrong way, but hey it's way cheaper than a trip to the copy center to get things laminated!

The 'tape sandwich'.

Trim the tape about 1/8 inch from the edge.

So,all that being said, it was tape time!  Taking a strip of tape a little longer than the bracelet, lay the tape sticky side up on the table and place the bracelet on top.  Taking another piece of tape gently stick it to one end of the bracelet and slide it up the inside-sticking it to sticky side of the first tape....basically a tape sandwich with cardboard in the middle.  Honestly, that's the hard part.  Then just trim the edges and grab your hole punch!  Punch a hole in each end and tie a small piece of yarn or ribbon through the hole.  Ta-Da!  Fun little bracelets, or maybe more like arm-cuffs, either way.  They are cute and the kids love that they made them........well, kinda.  ;-)  

Custom bracelet designed by the Cub.

So much style on little arms!

Pile of fun bracelets ready to share!

   Ok, one more little tid-bit of fun from the past few days at our house.  Yesterday morning the kids were feeling generally yucky and needed distraction.  Feeling a little less than inspired I wandered over to Pinterest to find some......not like I need an excuse to wander onto Pinterest!
   Well, the first thing I came across looked just about perfect.  A free'build your own cupcake' printable!  So perfect, on so many levels-first of all, it's free, and second, it has to do with baking-the obsession of my little people!  Yay!!  So after printing out these adorable things I spent the next hour cutting them out....takes a lot longer to do things when I always decide to make double!  So, as I mentioned before, I have a slight obsession with super tape.  Well, this project was no different.  I figured if I was going to spend all this time cutting these little cupcakes out, I didn't want them destroyed in a matter of minutes!  On, to the 'laminating'!

2 'Laminated' sheets ready for cutting!

In the same way as before I sandwich the cut-outs between strips of tape, once you get the hang of it, it goes pretty quickly.  Each set of printables has pieces to put together 8 complete cupcakes: 8 cakes, 8 papers, 10 frosting choices, and 10 decorations. So cute! I stumbled upon a fabulous discovery while putting these cupcake kits together-ready? It's big......super tape covered paper and a fine mist of plain old water on a window creates instant window clingies!!! Woo-HOoo!  My kids LOVE window clingies.  The only problem is that since they are gel like when they fall to the floor they pick up all sorts of nasty, and then they end up getting tossed.  Well, these little wonders easily stick with a single spray of plain old water, stay up for a long time, and when they do fall off, all you have to do is wipe them off!  I have to admit, I felt pretty amazing when I figured this out.  My littles played with their cupcakes on the window for a while and then on the table for a while longer.  It was fabulous and definitely worth the time it took to cut them out.  And best of all, they are safely put in a baggie for the next time they want to play!

Instant window clings!

Makin cupcakes!  :-)

  Here's the link again for the free printable: 'build-your-own-cupcake'

Nothin says lovin' like somethin' from the oven!

.............Or in my case, nothin says emotional like something from the oven.  Doesn't quite have the same ring to it though.  These past few weeks I've been baking up a storm; cookies, cakes, scones, truffle stuffed cake balls, more cookies, more cookies, more cookies! It's getting a little rediculous!  All these yummies mixed with my new passion for sauteing and breading and sauces makes for supreme self sabotage when it comes to my weight loss plans! 
  The past few months have been a roller-coaster.  Actually, it's more like this past year.  The hubby went to work in Alaska for 3-4 months last April.  When he returned home we decided to make the move across 2 states. We were moved by Halloween and in our own place by Thanksgiving.  Talk about a whirlwind!  It seems the dust is finally starting to settle, settle right into spring fever unfortunately.  Now that I have kind of found a routine with the little people and almost feel moved in to our house I am starting to realize how much I miss our 'old life'.  Funny when I reliaze it was the day in-day out monotany (that I so loathed at the time), that I find myself wishing for!  I miss our pot-hole minefield of a driveway, my too-small kitchen, lack of decent radio stations, and living so far from anything that resembled a real city.  And of course, my family and dear friends.  Being able to 'stop-in' for a quick visit, a cup of coffee or for no reason at all other than we were in the neighborhood. 
  Most people would come to the conclusion that since emotions have caused me to make all sorts of sugary sweet treats that I must be an emotional eater.  But I don't think so-I am an emotional baker!  It's not so much the desire to devour these tidbits of goodness, it's just MAKING them.  I think it's a bit of my controlling nature coming to the surface, the sweet, sugary, calorie-filled surface.  I like baking, borderline on love baking.  It's fun, creative, makes my house smell good, and I can CONTROL every aspect of it.  I get to decide what to make, how to make it, if I want to change things in the recipe-or go all out and try something completely on the fly.  And then, I control the speed at which things get mixed up(something I so wish I had control of in my everyday life!)  When all is mixed I get to decide the size and/or shape of what I am creating.  And then the pay-off!  You may think I am referring to eating the finished product, and as much of a benefit as that is, it's not the big pay-off I am referring to.  I mean the completion of a project.  Start to finish, in my time-frame.  That. Is. Huge. 
  We have dreams, this little family of ours, and they are not the small time 'normal' dreams.  We're not talking owning a home with a white picket fence and 2.5 kids(since we already have 3, that part just wouldn't work anyway!).  Our dreams aren't the kind you can save up for and purchase.  They are the kind where all has to be in place by divine order and timing.  The kind where you sacrifice the 'normal' for the small chance of the extraordinary.  Giving all and then some to try for the seemingly unobtainable.  All that being said, our dreams are not like cookies.  So in my life of uncertain outcomes, cookies(and baking in general) give me a sense of power and control.  I made my kids, but I can't control them, I'm trying to make a life here, but I can't control it, I made a routine, but it tries to control me!  But cookies...I can control them, mwa-ha-ha-ha!!!!  I am the Cookie Dictator!!!  And if I'm really feeling the need, I can even control how many I will consume..........but letting go of control sometimes is a good thing, right?  That's what I've always been told!

Reusable shopping bags into fun library book bags!

Last week we finally took the munchkins to the local library and signed them up for their very own library cards.  Who would have thought that such a simple thing could bring so much excitement.  You'd think we had given them a freebie pass to Disneyland!  They rushed into the kids area and began collecting books with me trailing behind.  Seeing as the library has no limit to the number of books they are allowed to check out, they were determined to get as many as their little hearts desired.  I had visions of armloads of books being dropped into puddles, misplaced or ruined books and library fees coming in the mail on a weekly basis.  I quickly realized limits must be enforced.  My first offer was 5 books each, but I'm pretty sure by the time the words left my mouth I was already holding more than 10 books.  I stuck to my guns with the 10 book each limit however.  Even then , 20 books is a lot to carry!  The library recycles grocery sacks to carry your treasures out the door, but seriously?-a flimsy plastic grocery sack?!  No, not a good long term solution. 

Of course, my thoughts began to wander and as we were later walking through the grocery store it settled...right on the rack of reusable grocery bags.  Perfect! Nice and big, square bottom, and the best part: less than $1 each!  (of course I have multitudes of these bags in various places in our home already-but these needed to match, and not have dried who knows what already spilled on/in them!)  I told the kids at the store what they would be used for and once again, they were very excited-new books and a new bag!! All in one day-best.day.ever!  Now these nondescript plain old bags would have worked just fine.  I could have just tied a colored ribbon to each one to identify which bag belonged to which munchkin.  But, no-that's not how this Momma rolls.  If I'm going to do something I may as well do it right...or at least do it crafty.  A few days passed and my thoughts on how to customize these bags 
culminated.  I wanted to make them easily identifiable and cute-of course!  And seeing as the kids' library cards were going to become just one more thing for me to try to keep track of and would most likely be misplaced or lost in the bottom of the diaper bag, I wanted a special pocket to keep them.  I sketched out a general idea for each of them:  A dino for the Cub, and a lady bug for the Bug.  I realized as I began that I would be covering both sides of the bag, not just one-way to make the task twice as long....oh well. 

So, over the past few years felt has become my craft medium of choice.  Its so versatile and colorful, and to be honest-cheap!  I dug out my various boxes of random felt pieces and began piecing my bag-patched together.  As I snipped and figured out the layout, the kids had a blast taking all the scraps and making little 'pictures' out of them, I had to be watchful or they would snag the pieces i was actually needing!  I decided that if I was making a bag to carry stories, maybe the bag should tall a story too!  For Bug's lady bug, the front has the little lady on a leaf, on the back, no bug, and a bite out of the leaf!  (not sure if lady bugs eat leaves or not, but whatever!)

  Cub's dino was the design I had come up with first actually.  The front has the volcano, and the dino, the back has no dino and smoke coming out of the volcano...hee hee, kind of cute I think!  I had to get the designs approved by the little first, and they had all kinds of suggestions-like a frog onn the dino's back and some birds, and more flowers, etc.  I get veto power though-so there! ha!

  Putting it all together went pretty quickly actually, felt is so easy to work with!  Once The main background was sewn I had to figure out how to make the dino and ladybug the card pockets.  The easiest way I found was to lay the actual card on the shape and sew around it.  I wanted it to be a tight fit, but still a fit!  It worked pretty well.  :-)  Probably the most difficult part of the entire project was sewing the patches onto the bags.  Trying to keep them straight and not lumpy proved to be a little interesting when the bulk of the bag was all scrunched up in the machine.
 
When all was said and done however, I have to say I am pretty happy with the results.  The cards fit well, the bags are easily identified and the kids love them!  Happy Day!

The fronts.  Bug's card is tucked away under the ladybug's wings, Cub's card is behind the dino's back! Yay!

The backs.  :-)

Happy kids with a bag full-o-books!  

  Now we have happy munchkins with custom book bags, and a happy Momma who won't have to worry about losing library cards!  And since they like their bags so much the books stay in them any time they aren't being read-woo hoo!!  I see many trips to the library in our future.

           

Fudgey Truffle Stuffed Cake Balls..........no seriously.

    So, it was that time again.  Time to make something tasty, chocolatey and completely indulgent.  Well honestly, it's always that time!  I just like to have an excuse to give in.  The birthday of a friend is the perfect excuse!
    Like everyone else out there, I've seen a lot of cake pops and variations of them.  They are cute and wonderfully bite-sized, well....at least they are supposed to be.  But if something is worth one bite, shouldn't there be at least two? I think yes.  Whenever I do anything I always tend to do it a little bigger and a little different.  My cakes end up larger than expected, my projects undeniably take at least twice as much time as I think they should, etc.  So why would my cake balls be any different?  Well, they weren't
   I've been wanting to try cake balls/pops for some time now, but this was my first.  But why do plain old cake balls, why not mix things up a bit.  What could I add to something so yummy and tasty ad small-well something else yummy and tasty and small-truffles!  ((confession: I have never before made truffles either))

mmmm, look at that chocolatey naughtiness!

First time for everything right?!  And while I'm in the mood to try out new concoctions, why not introduce the two together to create the ultimate Frankenstein of decadence!!  dun--dun--DUN, may I introduce to you for the first time ever:  Truffle stuffed cake balls!!!!
   So I miscalculated the amount of chocolate I would need to cover these little bites (not surprising seeing as it was my first time) and that is why these are 'drizzled' rather than 'dunked'.-Still yummy though!

red velvety goodness

  This really is just the combination of two treats, making one ultimate morsel.  I will say this though-these seriously took me ALL DAY to do.  Not only were there many steps and quite a bit of waiting time between steps, but the three littles kept interrupting and needing me for one thing or another-sheesh, have they no respect for the creative baking process?!?  ;-)  Well, that and they knew there was chocolate to be tasted in different forms through out the day!
  Ok then, lets get to this shall we?  You kind of need to start from the outside and work your way in, then back out.  Start with the basic cake pop, which is just a cake mix.  I went with the classic red velvet (if I ever attempt these again I will opt for ultimate fudge or some such nonsense-just because).  Bake your cake as directed on the box and let it cool completely.
      While your cake is cooling its a good idea to make your truffle filling, seeing as it has to set up in the fridge for at least 2 hours. 
                          Basic Truffle Recipe
                         8-10oz dark chocolate chips/chunks   
                         8-10oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
                         1 can sweetened condensed milk (14oz)
                         flavored extract of your choice---optional

  Put your chocolates and condensed milk into a double boiler and stir that gooey yumminess!
  Once its all melted and smooth you can add a few drops of whatever flavored extract you choose.  I just couldn't decide so I split the batch between two bowls and did both orange extract and vanilla butter nut.....yum!  Cover the bowl ad put it in the fridge to set-at least two hours. 

  Now comes that waiting time I was telling you about.  Be productive, fold laundry, plan meals, vacuum...Or not.  I drank coffee and checked my facebook.  Then, being the ultimate of lazy-heated up some mini raviolis for lunch for the munchkins, they were happy and it was easy-yay for Saturdays!
  Ok, back to the project.  Once your truffle filling has set up, take small spoonfuls and roll them into little balls, lots and lots of little balls.  ((another confession:I forgot I had two bowls of filling and only rolled one into balls!!  It's yummy eaten by itself too though!))  So once you have neat little rows of balls you'll need to melt your chocolate covering-I chose white baker's chocolate, it looks pretty. 
  Once again, heat your chocolate using a double boiler and then remove from the heat to keep it from scorching!  Pour it into a bowl or cup for easy dunking.  Drop each ball in the chocolate and roll it around a bit to coat the whole thing.  If you use a fork, the extra chocolate will just drip right though back into your dunking bowl.  Lay the covered balls onto waxed paper to harden/dry. 
   While these little gems set up lets get back to the cake!  By now it hopefully will have cooled.  Rip chunks of that cake and crumble it to smithereens!  It's really quite satisfying.  If I had been feeling braver today I may have even let the kids in on the fun, but I was making a big enough mess o my own!  Once your whole cake is crumbled dump a tub of frosting in the bowl. Any kind will do.  Mix, stir, smoosh it all together until the contents of your bowl resemble a cake paste.  It is sticky, remember that.

left over truffles!

   Now comes the messy part.  Make sure your truffles have set up completely before this next step(you may want to put them in the fridge/freezer for a short time if they are not.)  Take a blob of cakey paste in the palm of your hand and flatten it a little, place one truffle in the middle and begin to form the cake around the truffle, continue to roll it into a ball.  Thats it!  The basic truffle stuffed cake ball!  Continue until all your cake goo is used up.  Once you have formed your cake balls set them in the freezer for about 20 minutes-ish, until they feel firm to the touch.  Meanwhile begin to melt more chocolate coating.-once again, in the double boiler.  The same way you covered the truffles, do so to the cake balls.  They are larger and softer so be gentle and don't rough them up too much!  Like I mentioned earlier, I miscalculated the chocolate to cover these, so I really can't say how much you'd need for an entire batch....or even how large a batch turns out to be!  I ended up with 22 cake balls from one cake mix, but I had twice as many truffles-and that was only using half the batch of filling!  I kind of feel like the mis-matched hot dog vs hot dog bun problem.  Always more of one than the other, but hey-truffles are good without being hugged by cake, and truffle filling is good without being made into balls...so I say, who cares!  experiment, maybe you'll come up with some amazing and weird use for the extra yummies!

mmm, truffle-stuffed cake ball and a hot cuppa tea!

  So, if anyone else out there decides to attempt this insanity please post pictures of your creations!  And any improvements as well!  It will most likely be quite some time before I undertake such a task again, but if I do, I will plan ahead and make the truffles the day before to give them more time to set up......and more time for me to devour them. 

Sweet Little Somethings....the chocolate cookie saga

   I love cookies.  Especially chocolate cookies, and especially if they look as good as they taste.  This year for Valentine's Day I decided I would make cookies for all those special people in my life.  And since many of those people are out of state, I decided to make them in advance and send out little packages of goodness to spread the love around.  Well, the Queen of good intention strikes again.  I rule over a land of well thought out plans and half executed projects.  (good thing I'm not responsible for real executions!--ewww)  

How could I resist??  Look how cute and tasty.  And they were all whispering sweet nothings to me!

  Anyway, on a sweeter note......  It all started out well enough.  I perused the internet for a great new recipe-which I found here.  Amazing yummy chocolate sugar cookies-YUM!  The only change I made was to use dark chocolate cocoa powder rather than regular.  I'm a sucker for anything dark chocolate!  I admit though-I am not a fan of royal icing.  It takes weird ingredients and I never have them.  At Christmastime I found a recipe for a sugar glaze icing, I call it my 'non-royal icing'...maybe that would make it a 'peasant icing'?  I dunno, but it works well for the Queen of good intentions.  So here is the link for the icing that I love!! It's easy, yummy, and takes no weird ingredients!  Happy Day!

The kid's cookies, I think they did a pretty good job!

  So I whipped up a batch of oh so yummy chocolate sugar cookies and some of my non-royal icing and went to town decorating! Not sure how I managed it, but I was able to get the majority of the cookies decorated before the kids realized what was happening in the kitchen-it was amazing!  Of course I set a few aside for each of them to decorate.  They love the cookie process as much as I do.

Cub-performing his own little taste test!

   The house smelled wonderful and the cookies looked beautiful!  I set a couple aside for our own personal consumption and the rest were for all those special people out there......or so I thought.  I really should have known better.  There they sat, awaiting packaging and shipping, slowly dwindling in number.  .....just one more with my afternoon tea.....and one after dinner........and one for a pre-bedtime snack.......oh look-it's midnight, time for a cookie!  It's pathetic.  But they were so pretty and yummy, I couldn't help myself!  I felt like Alice in Wonderland every time she came across a little cookie that said 'eat me'.  She should have known better-good never came of such things!!  But alas, there were but a few lonely stragglers remaining (one of which I am putting out of it's misery right at this very moment! It goes so well with coffee!!)

mmmm-so yummy!!

    But what of my friends out there who have missed out on such yummies due to my lack of self control?  I apologize, sincerely, from the bottom of my heart shaped cookie.  However, there are two ways you could look at this:  1. You could think of it as a charitable gift on your behalf-given to me for my enjoyment-in that regards, I thank you!  I did thoroughly enjoy them!  or 2. I have given you the links to the recipes so you can relive this saga in your very own kitchen!  Yay!!  It's stretching it, I know.  But even if I made another batch and shipped them out today, it would be after Valentine's Day when they were received, and well, that's just tacky!  Maybe I'll try again for St. Patrick's Day......little green shamrocks could be quite cute..........and tasty........with my coffee.............


Just because I am so sweet (goodness knows I should be with all these cookies in me!)  here are those links again-and a big 'Thank You to the original websites for sharing with myself ad other sugar addicts!
     Chocolate sugar cookies
     Glace icing aka 'Non-Royal-Icing'


                                            Happy Valentine's Day!

Woo tried to resist their power.......

........but it was too strong!!  She too gave in to their sweetness!!