Saturday Cake Baking; Why can't things turn out like the picture... and always have a Plan B

So it was another spring weather weekend here in SLC which means anything from sun to snow... and all in between. It was going to be an indoor project weekend since yard work is best left to days when it isn't hailing. I had seen a recipe for a Chiffon cake that look interesting and appealing (translation super yummy looking) in a random newspaper flier insert and decided to give it the good ole college try.

yea... mine DOES NOT look like that 

Spring Has Sprung... and Apparently So Has My Motivation

Spring is Here! The weather has been slowly getting better and better (which, I assume will take a turn for the worse any day now... we're due up for at least one more blizzard) but it means pool season is just around the corner! In preparation for summer there have been some good things going on around here... a few weekends ago we cleaned the house top to bottom, which is such a cliche way to kick spring off but hey... it works. The sun comes out, the layers come off and as we stumble out of our winter hibernation it's nice to just get the dust off everything (and in our case cat and dog hair).  Once done on the inside I moved outside to the project that is our back yard. Having gone all winter without a helping hand and being abused by three dogs the yard was in pretty poor shape, nothing a few choice words for the pine trees and the dogs for both equally littering the yard with their droppings and an hour of steady raking (seriously though, our yard isn't that big) it started to look more like the cute quaint space I fell in love with, than the hazardous waste sight it had become over winter. This last weekend we decided to gate the grass and patio off from the dogs and throw down some grass seed hoping to fill in some of the barren spots. My fingers are crossed that my (plant) killing spree has ended and the little seeds take root. Maybe if I pep talk the yard everyday and lay out my vision for this summer it will rise to the occasion and grow, let's hope I have ambitious grass.

Pine needles everywhere you look

My December...

Where oh where did the month go! I tell ya just the other day I was musing on about pies and here we are almost to the new year. So it's recap time! I started the month off pretty much how I ended November... Baking! December is the best time for treats... not sure if it's the holidays or that space in time between Thanksgiving and the New Year when calories don't count but I love it! This season was filled with all new treats! Started the treat making with Cake Pops

it's tradition that my dear friend, Jen and I make treats. Years past have been chocolate covered marshmallows and this year we decided to mix it up a bit, though the same process was involved with sticks, melted chocolate and toppings... lots and lots of toppings!

They turned out super cute and tasty! next up were the hundreds of turtles I must have made over the course of the month. these are the easiest treat ever. Pretzel, place a Rolo on top and soften in the oven for a few minutes, take out of the oven and smoosh a pecan on top! let cool and set and viola done!

There are roughly 56 Rolo's in a bag... I think between making them at my Moms', mine and my sisters' houses I made maybe 8 bags worth... you do the math, but they are a hit every where they went. Probably my favorite baked good where the little spritz cookies i made with the cookie press I received last year. I had never used such a contraption but it was surprising fun and easy and who doesn't like a cookie gun! One batch made quite a bit but they were little so it was actually the perfect amount. (p.s. yes, after this I am the cookie pro!)

They turned out so freaking cute and delicious! I will be making those again! In between treat making... there were some crafting to be had so here is this years project. cute little mason jar snow globes.

Surprisingly this was all crammed into the first half of the month... add to that a couple Christmas parties, including one with a stay at Stien Erickson Lodge up at Deer Valley, and one filled with friends food and fun and by the 15th I was pooped but the fun was just starting. That day I flew out to Seattle for 5 days to stay over during my sisters Birthday. The trip was filled with catching up with old friends, feeding a Zebra, a photo-bombing peacock  (more on that later) a couple Ferry Boat rides, a gorgeous sunrise a spectacular sunset over downtown, eating food I can't get in Utah, a Birthday party whew. 

Once back from Seattle it was a mad dash to the Christmas finish line where the F-Hub and I spent Christmas Eve eating Chinese Food with my family and watching A Christmas Story (Clint's first time). Christmas morning was started with traditional waffles and present opening. The party didn't end there, we drove back to Logan to spend the rest of Christmas with Clint's family eating another delicious meal and exchanging gifts. I'm glad the timing worked out that we were able to spend the holidays with both our families. I know that that can get hard as relationships and families grow. I also know how extremely blessed I am. I have a great family, am gaining another one in Clint's and speaking of Clint I am so grateful to have such a wonderful man in my life, words can not explain what he means to me and how excited I am for the upcoming year planning and continuing our lives together. I started this year off a little rocky and a little lost but could not be ending it on a better note. I hope everyone had a fantastic holiday and I wish everyone a Happiest of New Years! 

xoxo

The Good, the Bad (looking) and the Delicious!

I hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving and maybe did a little Black Friday shopping... I sure did. it was a very low key event with my closest Family (minus the sis) and the F-Hub. We ate, we lounged, we ate some more and then went home, where I promptly passed out on the couch and only woke up to reposition myself in bed. I had originally thought I would partake of the growing (and slightly out of control) tradition of Black Friday shopping, but I was unable to wrap my head around what I would actually go for and the thought of the cold and the crowds were to much a deterrent... so I woke up and got online. I was still able to get some pretty good deals so i feel like I was more then successful.Anyhoo... back to the purpose of this post... PIES. I made four this year... which considering there were only 7 of us at dinner may have been overly ambitious but I had the time and the want so why not!!

First up... Pecan Pie. once of my favorites and really one of the easiest to make (and by make I don't mean the crust... no need to slave away piecing together pastry dough when you can buy a perfectly good frozen crust for a few dollars)

Ingredients- easy enough

Pre-Bake

Perfection- and tasted great too!

Next was a Banoffee Pie- a what? you say... well its  Banana- Toffee Banoffee... its made with a can of sweetened condensed milk that's been cooked till its basically toffee... there are different ways to achieve this. Once is to boil the unopened can in a pot of water (the can must be completely submerged AT ALL TIMES for 2.5 hours and then cooled and poured over the sliced bananas or it contents of the can can be microwaved for short intervals (so as not to boil over) until the right consistency is reached. I prebaked the graham cracker crust for 10 minutes and then chilled the pie overnight.

super easy.. right

Bananas and Toffee sauce

Finished with fresh whip Cream and mini chocolate chips

Third up isn't really a pie per se but its in a pie crust so I'm going with it. It was a Pumpkin cheese cake. I'm not a big fan of Pumpkin Pie but I love a good cheesecake. Although this one tasted fine, it reaffirmed that I don't like pumpkin pie and it was more that then cheesecake but others liked it just the same... 

ingredients

pre-bake : note best not to overfill the pie as you will end up with this...

it wasn't quite the Grand Canyon of Cheesecakes but it ended up with its fair share of cracks and crevices. but luckily it did taste better then it looked.

Lastly the piece de resistance... Homemade Apple. I may have gotten a little carried away with the apple part of this pie as I was determined to fit as many in the pie as possible apparently. The end result looked a little bit like a nursery rhyme pie but I loved it!

once again pretty basic ingredients

piled high and dotted with butter

kinda expecting black birds to fly out... 

Glorious! and tasted perfect to boot!

 nomm nomm nomm nomm...

I hope everyone had a great Holiday and is enjoying the weekend... I got plans I'm off to get the Christmas Decorations out of storage and get to work!

The Great Zucchini Bread Experiment...

One of my favorite things about late summer/early fall is the "harvest" or in my case picking through whatever my parents either haven't eaten or are sicking of eating from their annual garden. My favorite is snagging an over grown zucchini that isn't good for anything but making baked goods with (or slicing it up, battering it and frying it... but that's a whole other post). So back to Bread... I'm a huge fan of making quick breads like banana bread or zucchini bread mostly cause they're easy. No yeast to kill, or waiting for it to rise hoping you didn't screw it up and kneading bread sucks. I'm all about the mix and bake variety. This time though I decided to try a new recipe and compare it to my good ole trusty one. so compare.

the first is from my good friend Betty Crocker, the other a little more fancy. Major difference in the second is the sour cream and orange zest oh and the call for a "topping" that I nixed. Anyhoo I gathered my ingredients.

ha! I realized It's practically an ad for the "Great Value" brand... you're welcome Wal-Mart

and went to work. I mixed up separate batches of both recipes and once in the pans you could tell the difference by the color variation. Quick tip... aside from greasing and flouring the pans I lined the bottoms with a strip of parchment paper to ensure they didn't stick when removing them from the pans. best trick ever. 

not the greatest picture I realize but one side the batter is darker then the other

once baked up you could see the difference a little better. 

the mini loaf pan is one of my favorites right next to my mini cupcake pan

after about an hour I had this...

 

After trying slices of each you could tell a few differences. The Orange scented bread really did smell like oranges and it was dare you say more "moist" then its Betty Crocker counterpart. I think Betty cooked up better and was a sturdier loaf but all in all they were both good and I would use either recipe again. I wish I had more user input, maybe done more of a taste test lol, but lets be honest I don't know many people in Logan. The day after I made the bread I did head to Salt Lake for a few days and brought some with me for my family and a friend (Jen- you never did tell me which you liked best lol) but I think they were just stoked to get baked goods that deciding which was better wasn't their first priority... eating it was. If anyone wants to know more info on the recipes etc. just hit me up I'm happy to pass it along...