What came first, the chicken or the teriyaki?

Dinner last night was pretty simple, yet delicious. I asked hubby to take out some chicken in the morning, although I had no idea what I was going to do with it. I realized I had some leftover brown rice that I’d cooked, so I was thinking stir fry. However, it was hot yesterday, and I didn’t feel like cooking inside. So, I decided to bbq teriyaki chicken.

One problem – no teriyaki sauce.

Don’t you hate it when you think of something to cook, and you can practically taste it, and then you find out you don’t have the ingredients? I hate that! I think that’s one of the reasons I tend to overshop; growing up my mom had a huge pantry (I’m so jealous of it now) and she always had a few of everything in there. She was always prepared.

Anyway, being the resourceful gourmet chef that I am (no really, don’t laugh), I turned to my faithful friend Google and started searching for sauce recipes. Turns out it’s not that hard to make teriyaki sauce. Cool!

There are lots of ways to make teriyaki sauce. I chose a simple version of soy sauce, lime juice, brown sugar, ginger, and garlic. Remembering as always that I don’t measure, here is what I did (just taste as you go along, and you’ll be fine (unless it’s baking…then you have to measure)).

After gathering my ingredients, I poured approximately 2 cups or so of soy sauce in a bowl. I mixed in a couple squirts of lime juice, a lot of brown sugar (probably 4-6 big teaspoons…taste as you go, you can always add more soy sauce if you overdo it), a few teaspoons of ground ginger (I didn’t have fresh; actually I ran out of ground, too, so I may have added more if I’d had it), and then a few cloves of garlic. Since this was a marinade I didn’t bother to mince my garlic, but just cut it into big chunks.


I love, love, LOVE fresh garlic, and I’ve spent years looking for the perfect garlic press. I’m currently still impressed with the Pampered Chef garlic press, but I have yet to buy it. Why? Because I have a simple method for peeling garlic, and then I usually just chop it up (or I use roasted garlic…I’m planning on roasting some this week, so I’ll take pictures). Here’s how I peel fresh garlic.

Step 1: Pull a few cloves of garlic out of the head. Don’t worry about trying to get any of the paper-thin skin off.


Step 2: Take your nice, heavy salt or pepper shaker. On a cutting board (or other surface where you won’t crack a tile), give the garlic a good whack with the shaker.




Step 3: Ta-da! Easily peel that clove out of it’s skin.


I know, so simple.

Anyway, here is the chicken after marinating for just about an hour, if that.


Now, onto the grill (I love our new grill! I finally talked hubby into a gas grill…he loved his charcoal one, but I’m apparently lame and couldn’t ever light it).



Ah, bbq’d chicken – isn’t it beautiful? It was tasty, too. I can cook in the kitchen, but I’m not yet a master of the bbq. Good thing hubby is, and knows how to perfectly grill chicken (I think he gets extra points for the nice grill marks).



Delicious!

On a related note, even though it was hot last night, I did some other cooking in the kitchen (sorry, no pictures). I bought a bag of yellow onions at Costco, because they were just so cheap. I was sure I could do something with all those onions!

I decided to make French Onion Soup, for two reasons. One, I love it, and I’ve never made it before, and two, I use canned French onion soup when I make roasts, and that stuff costs at least $1.75 a can. Ridiculous! By making my own, I have a little I can eat now, and then I’ll freeze the rest so it’ll be ready when I make a roast. (You can find the best roast recipe ever here. And an addition to the best roast recipe ever here.) I also like the idea of making my own soup so that I know what’s in it; no preservatives, no junk, just onions and broth (okay, and butter and a little cheese).

I’ve started making my own stock, but I haven’t made beef stock yet, so I had to use canned broth this time (I know, there goes my hope of no preservatives…oh well). I don’t have pictures, but here’s what I did (and I measured this time!!).

French Onion Soup (adapted from the recipe for Mimi’s French Onion)

2-3 large yellow onions, sliced fairly thin (about ½” slices)
4 15-oz cans beef broth
1 can beef consommé
½ stick (4 Tbsp) unsalted butter
Grated or shredded Romano or Parmesan cheese (okay, this one I didn’t measure; start with a ½ cup, taste, then add more; I think I used 1 cup)
Salt and pepper to taste

Sauté your slice onions in a large, heavy-bottomed Dutch oven (I have a Le Crueset 5.5 quart Dutch oven, and it was perfect for this recipe). The onions will need to cook, stirring occasionally, until they are soft and golden. Add the beef broth and undiluted beef consommé. Let the broths heat, then add the cheese, salt and pepper. Let cook over low to medium heat for 15 to 20 minutes.

I stopped at this point. If you are making soup to eat, rather than reserving it for cooking, you can put the soup in individual oven-proof crocks, add a slice of baguette and some Gruyere or Mozzarella cheese, then bake or broil your soup. Even without the topping, the soup is absolutely delicious (and your kitchen will smell so good!).

Waste Not, Want Not…Make a Cobbler!

I’m ashamed to say I used to waste a lot of food. I’d go to the grocery store and buy with the best intentions of making lunches and dinners every day of the week. Then, I’d eat lunch out, or be too tired to cook, and all my food would go bad. I’d go to the store the next week, again with the best of intentions, and when I got home I’d have to throw out all my spoiled food to make room for the new food. The ugly cycle would continue.

Lately, I’ve been trying my best to be less wasteful, in many areas of my life. I use canvas bags at the grocery store, a reusable lunch bag at work, and I even take my lunch in Tupperware containers, instead of ziplock bags. When it comes to food, if I haven’t used something and I know I’m not going to use it before it spoils, I’ll try to freeze it, like with fresh blueberries, make it into a soup like with chicken or rice, or find some other creative way to use whatever might go bad.

Last night, I noticed I had almost an entire bag of nectarines that didn’t get eaten this week. I planned poorly and overbought this week, purchasing raspberries, blueberries, and carrots at Costco, then purchasing nectarines at the grocery store. I like nectarines to be really firm, and these, while still good, were very ripe, soft and juicy.

I didn’t know what to do with them, but I didn’t want them to go to waste. I was searching around online for a recipe, and I came across a recipe for a peach/nectarine cobbler. With a little tweaking of my own, I made a very delicious nectarine cobbler!! (I should note it was also my first cobbler ever – I never really understood cobbler before, but now that I like fruit, it sounded tasty.)

I got this recipe from the Food Network website, but I did a little tweaking of it as well (I do love to tweak things).

Here is the standard, un-tweaked recipe from the Food Network Website.

Filling:
4 c. sliced nectarines
½ c. cold water
1/3 c. unpacked light brown sugar
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 Tbsp. unsalted butter

Topping:
1 c. all-purpose flour
½ c. sugar
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
½ c. milk
½ stick (4 Tbsp.) unsalted butter, softened.

Garnish:
Cinnamon Sugar

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

To prepare topping: In medium bowl, stir flour, sugar, baking powder. Add milk and butter and beat until smooth.

To prepare filling: In large saucepan, combine all ingredients. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture is thick and bubbly, about 5-10 minutes.

Pour filling mixture into 13x9 glass baking dish. Spoon topping over filling and spread carefully and evenly with a rubber spatula. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Bake 30-40 minutes until topping is golden brown and knife inserted into cobbler comes out clean.

So, now for my changes.

First of all, I don’t measure. I measure when baking, so my dry ingredients for the topping were measured. However, for the filling, I just cut up all the nectarines I had, added a ½ cup or so of water, and then spooned in a bunch of brown sugar, a little cornstarch, and some butter (in case you’re wondering the filling turned out beautifully).

In the topping, I added a splash of vanilla to the batter once it was mixed. I think this really added to it, and next time I’ll add a little more than a splash.

Here it is, step by step (although I may have forgotten to take pictures of a few steps, as I’m prone to do).

To begin, I took the skin off all of my nectarines with a knife, which was easy to do considering they were so ripe (and incredibly messy, since they were so juicy; yet another reason I like nectarines when they're firm).



Then I placed all of my nectarines in a saucepan (again, the recipe calls for four cups...I put in what I had left, which was about 6-7 nectarines). I put 1/2 cup of water over the nectarines, then added brown sugar, cornstarch, and unsalted butter.



After it had simmered over medium heat for 5-10 minutes, it looked all thick and yummy, like this.



While the filling was cooking, I made the topping. I put the flour, sugar, and baking powder in the super cute pink KitchenAid mixer, then I added the milk and butter. I also added a splash of vanilla, which I think added tremendously to the dish.



In a small bowl, I mixed the cinnamon and sugar, to sprinkle on top of the cobbler before it went in the oven. Then, I poured the filling into an ungreased 13x9 pan (it says to use a glass pan, but I used my favorite white porcelain pan...it bakes better than anything I've ever seen).





The recipe then says to drop the topping onto the filling and spread evenly and carefully with a spatula.

That was impossible.

Maybe I did it wrong, but my topping was rather sticky, and my filling still very hot, so the topping did not "spread evenly over the filling." Instead, I just mixed it all up, making sure there was some topping dough fairly evenly throughout the pan (I actually like the way this turned out, too, when the cobbler was done baking).



I sprinkled some cinnamon/sugar on top and put it in the oven. After just about 40 minutes, it looked like this.



I wish I could describe to you how good this smelled...it was absolutely amazing. Here it is on a plate - you should really make this, it was so good!



Just for fun, here's my baking center. This is the section of my kitchen where I keep all my baking supplies, and on the counter is my mixer. In the drawers below (that you can't see) I have cake decorating supplies, and all the mixer attachments, plus parchment paper and that sort of thing.





I've found that I do a lot more baking having everything in one place in my kitchen. And, I never used my mom's KitchenAid mixer when I was little, because I had to take it out from under the counter, use it, then put it away when I was done. Having it sitting on the counter makes me use it more often, and it's next to the fridge, so it doesn't take up much space, and it's hidden from view most of the time (not that I don't want to look at it, I just don't like having a lot of things out on my counter).

And finally, Bruiser. He was all worn out after a day in the kitchen!





Now for my next dilemma - what to do with my summer squash?

Concerts in the Sticks

I’ve never really been a fan of concerts. Sure, I’ll go to them, but there’s so much work involved: you have to get there early, pay for parking, struggle through the crowds to your seat, then sit through one or two bands (and their set changes) you may never have heard of until you finally get to the main event. Then there’s expensive food and drinks, $40 T-shirts and $60 sweatshirts, if you so desire.

There have been a couple of concerts I’ve really wanted to go to, and enjoyed, but usually, I’m not one to spend my money on tickets. However, months ago, a friend asked if I wanted to see the No Doubt concert that was coming to town. I said sure – I’d never been to the venue, and it was with a group of people that I knew I’d have fun with. I’m not actually a fan of No Doubt, but I thought, What the heck.

I love No Doubt.

I’ve never, EVER been to a better concert. On the radio, I really don’t like No Doubt much; I’ve never been a fan of Gwen Stefani, either. But Friday night, I was truly, thoroughly impressed. The first two bands were okay – I’d never heard of the first band, and although their singing was terrible, the music was pretty good. The second band, Paramore, wasn’t bad either.

Then, No Doubt came out. The stage was amazing, and the band truly looked like they were having a great time. Gwen Stefani was fabulous – she never, ever stopped moving and dancing, even when she wasn’t singing. And her voice – wow! Usually, a singer sounds worse in concert than they do on the radio, but she was the opposite. I found myself enthralled throughout the entire time they played (almost two hours). Her voice live is wonderful. Plus, she really seemed to enjoy the crowd, more than just to say “I love you guys” like most singers do.

Really, I’ve never enjoyed myself more at a concert. If you have the chance to see No Doubt live, you need to go.

But here’s the fun part…I didn’t have my camera, but I did have my phone. And while I was waiting for the first two bands to finish, and waiting during their half hour to 45 minute set changes, I watched the crowd. You should know, the venue where we saw the concert is out in the sticks, and the people you see out there are, well…interesting. I now present to you my photojournalist essay of the concert, or at least, the concert audience. Enjoy!!

***Editor's note - I LOVE people watching. Love, love, love it. And, I'm sorry, but I'm judgemental right from the get-go. I figure people are judging me right away, so I don't feel too bad judging them. If any of my comments below are harsh, it's just my first impression of people (and if you were there, I'm sure you'd agree with me). And sorry they're not the best quality pictures - they were taken on my phone.

So, I was wearing capri jeans and a cute polka-dot t-shirt...nothing fancy. At a concert you can see anything from shorts, to this. These ladies were a little dressy.



Then there was this gal - the total opposite end of the spectrum. She was having a GREAT time, dancing around...maybe too great a time.



Here's another one. She looked fairly normal - until I looked down and saw her socks. I'm not really sure how they contributed to her outfit.



This group was truly disturbing (and although we were surrounded by people getting higher than a kite, this group wasn't...which makes it all the more disturbing). The girl who is showing the camera to her friend sitting down was taking pictures - of herself. Now, I take pictures of myself too. My face. This girl was sticking the camera UP HER DRESS and taking pictures, then showing the pictures to her friend. I kid you not. Her friend sitting on the ground then stuck the camera down her own shirt and took pictures. The guy with them stuck the camera down his pants and took pictures.

Yes, these were really people sitting near me.



I don't really think you need much of an explanation for this one.



These are just to show you how many people were there...apparently it was the first time the venue had been sold out in seven years.





The aftermath...look at all the trash.





All in all, a great concert. Sorry I don't actually have any pictures of the band!

Thankful Thursday!

Today I was reading a few new blogs, which happen to be written by people I went to high school with (it’s so fun to catch up with people I used to know!). One of the blogs has a regular feature called “Thankful Thursday.” Each week, the blogger writes what she’s thankful for that particular week.

What a great idea!

Since today is Thursday, I thought I’d start my own weekly Thankful Thursday feature. I’ll warn you now that they won’t always be deep, gut-wrenching things I’m thankful for…it may just be a particularly good latte I had or a nice customer service agent. Anyway, here are the ten things I’m thankful for this week:

1. Home cooked meals. So far this week I’ve made a pasta bake, tortilla casserole, and chili. Yum!
2. Fresh fruit. After being on vacation and not eating healthy every moment of every day, it’s great to have a freezer full of bright, fresh strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries.
3. Starbucks iced venti decaf latte. Yes, I started drinking coffee again (just lattes), and after being on vacation for five days, one of those babies was heaven.
4. Air conditioning. While on vacation the a/c broke in our house – and it was over 100 outside. Today they fixed it…six days later.
5. Overtime. They are now offering overtime at work, which is nice since I’ve had 15% of my paycheck cut.
6. Cleaning. I didn’t get to do my usual weekend cleaning since I was on vacation, so my house is a little dirty. Today I’ve enjoyed doing dishes, picking up, doing some laundry…yes, I do like cleaning!
7. My niece and nephew. They were with us on vacation, and they are a constant source of entertainment.
8. JoAnn’s. I’m still in a very crafty mood, so I paid a visit to JoAnn’s yesterday for some fabric. I’m going to make a quilt with simple 9-patches…I’ll post pictures as I make it.
9. Gardening. I got two tomato plants from my neighbor, and this weird tree-like clipping from my grandpa. Yesterday I finally got them all in the ground! Yes, this is the extent so far of my gardening.
10. Dinner with my mom. Yesterday I was going to run some errands and my mom happened to call as I was walking out the door. She was in town and so I ran errands with her, and then we went out to dinner. It was so nice to have dinner with her; since she retired I don’t get to have lunch with her at work anymore.

Okay, so is anyone thankful for the same things? Or, what are you thankful for this week? Let me know!

Chili Cook Off!

I absolutely love chili.

My favorite chili in the world has always been my mom’s chili. I remember her making a big pot of chili and some cornbread on a cold winter night; it was one of my favorite meals. I always make my chili just like my mom does, but tonight, I decided to do something a little different. I started off with the basic recipe, and then tweaked it a little bit.

Mom’s chili recipe is:
- 1 pkg Jimmy Dean sausage (or the sausage links that come ten to a package in the white package…I can’t remember the name)
- Ground beef (if you choose, Mom didn’t always put this in)
- 2 cans kidney beans, with juice
- 2 cans red beans or navy beans, with juice
- 2 cans diced tomatoes (I think sometimes Mom added more)
- 1 bottle chili sauce
- Lots of chili powder
- Corn and olives if you choose

You basically cook the sausage and ground beef (if using beef), and then throw everything else in the pot and let it cook until it’s hot (I absolute LOVE one-pot dishes). It turns out more soupy than some chili I’ve had; it definitely has sauce, which is what I always liked about it. I can’t even describe the delicious flavors to you, but the chili sauce and powder are key.

Lately I’ve been trying to use up everything I buy, even if it means freezing things. I’ve also been into cooking meals ahead of time and freezing them, or just prepping meals for cooking later. I decided to make chili tonight and then put it in the freezer so I’d have a meal ready when I didn’t feel like cooking.

At the grocery store this week I made a new discovery (well, new for me). I was looking for a can of Dennison’s Vegetarian Chili, which is something I’ll put over brown rice (instant meal – delicious!). The grocery store I went to didn’t have any vegetarian chili that was just beans…they all had other junk in them.

In the bean section I found plain old chili beans – something I’ve never bought before. I know what some of you are thinking – seriously, how have you never had chili beans? Here’s the thing – I love beans. I could live off of them. However, growing up, we had canned refried beans, canned kidney and garbanzo beans, and that was it. It wasn’t until recently that I started eating black beans, pinto beans, etc. So anyway, I noticed these chili beans, and thought they’d be perfect; they’re just pinto beans in a tomato sauce with garlic and a few other spices. And let me tell you – they’re perfect!

I forgot to take pictures while I was cooking, so I’ll just tell you about the chili I made tonight, which is now my most favorite chili in the entire world (and remember, I tend not to measure things…I just go by taste

April’s Amazing Chili

1 pkg Jimmy Dean light sausage, cooked and drained
2 30-oz cans chili beans, with juice
2 15-oz cans kidney beans, drained but not rinsed
2 15-oz cans diced tomatoes
1 bottle chili sauce
Garlic salt
Mexican spice mix (I’ll explain this in a bit)
Chili powder

Cook the sausage. In a large pot (I used a 5.5 quart dutch oven) combine cooked sausage, chili beans, kidney beans, tomato sauce, and chili sauce. I added 1/3 to ½ bottle of chili powder (start with ¼, then add more according to your own taste), and then added garlic salt to taste. I didn’t measure it, just sprinkled a bunch in the chili.

Finally, I added some of my own “Mexican Seasoning” (no, it might not be the most appropriate name, but sorry). (For my special seasoning, I purchased those $.99 packages of seasoning you get in the Hispanic food aisle – one cumin, one curry, one chili, one cayenne, and one ancho chili (I think…it was the dark one, although not hot). I combined the entire packages of curry, chili, cumin, and ancho chili in a large spice bottle, and added about a third of the cayenne package. I like spicy things, but you may prefer not to add the cayenne at all. Shake it up and you’ve got a great new seasoning!)

Cook it until everything is hot, and you’ve got amazing, thick, and delicious chili. If you want to try it, come to my house and I’ll make you some. Or, make it on your own – I promise, you won’t be disappointed!! This chili is great just cooked, and even better the next day.

Enjoy!!

It is sooooo vacation time

That's right, I'm outta here.

Tomorrow morning, bright and early, I leave for Yosemite with P-Dawg and her monkeys. It's time for our annual trip, and I'm so looking forward to it. This year it's a small crowd - just eight of us. That may not be small to some of you, but when you consider there are 35 of us on a full year, it's pretty small.

I'll be trying to think of good blog posts while I'm there, although I won't have access to a computer. I will take tons of pictures, however.

And, on a random note, I'm trying to think of more blog topics that aren't just me rambling to you about my life. I was reading P-Dawg's blog and I saw that she asked for questions from her readers, and she's doing a Q&A type thing. What a great idea!!

So, is there anything anyone wants to know about me? My job, my home, my family, or my mad cake pop making skills? Cooking, cleaning, my obsession with Martha Stewart and Monica Geller?

Go ahead, ask away!!

And bye ya'll. I'll be back on Sunday.

OMG people read my blog!

How cool is this?! I got an email from a woman who works for a public relations firm that works with Home Goods. She read my blog post about my awesome shopping trip this weekend, and all the great stuff that I got at Home Goods.

This is part of what she wrote:

I wanted to let you know HomeGoods has a Customer Finds section on our website where shoppers like you can submit great finds at great prices. Here is a link to the site: http://openhouse.homegoods.com/index.php/finds/ – as you know our merchandise is always changing and this site is a great way for us to spread the word on great finds. We would love it if you’d share your finds with other HomeGoods shoppers!

So, now I'm off to write about my fabulous finds on the HomeGoods website. Maybe you guys should do the same!

Look what I made!

I think I'm one step closer to domestic goddess.

I’ve always loved “home-maker” activities – cleaning, cooking, baking. I know, call me strange, but I think I spent a previous life either as a 1950’s housewife or a woman on the prairie (I get so excited over new appliances - you should have seen me when we got our washer and dryer!). I love doing crafty things at home, and now that I am infact a wife and a homeowner, I love making things for my own home (I did before as well, but it’s different when you’re living in an apartment).

So this weekend I’d been spending a lot of time looking at people’s blogs, especially Bakerella’s. I love her blog – she makes cake bites, cupcake bites, and cake pops. They are so incredibly creative, and I can only hope to one day make cake pops as well as she does. She was even featured on Martha Stewart!!

I spent yesterday shopping for things for my house. My day didn’t start out that way, but I’d been looking at several websites the day before (Cost Plus, Pier 1, etc.) and found several things I just “had” to have.

I should mention here that I’ve also been re-watching my Friends dvds. Can I tell you a secret? (I thought so.) I wish Monica Geller were a real person, so I could meet her and talk cleaning and cooking. I also wish I could meet her so she could tell me where she got all the fantastic things in her apartment; I swear she is my decorating guru (no, I don’t have purple walls, but I love her dishes, bowls, coffee table…I seriously take pictures of the tv so I can remember a specific item and then I shop around for something similar. Yes, I really do).

So with Friends, blogs, and home-maker stuff on my brain, I headed out. I got a great platter and pitcher at Cost Plus, then I went next door to Home Goods; I really shouldn’t have. Here I got some plates, and a great serving bowl. I put back a LOT of stuff (my family makes fun of me because when I shop, I shop for a long time. I put everything I like in my cart, then as I walk around the store some more, I decide I don’t need everything and I put stuff back. If I go in and out of a store quickly, grabbing things and then heading straight for the register, I’m in trouble. Then comes the buyer’s remorse and the flurry of returning).

Then I went to Pier 1 and got some great glasses and a couple of mugs. Next was JoAnn’s…I went there only for felt, because I got the idea to make my own plate separators (I saw plate separators at Bed Bath and Beyond, and almost bought them but thought, Why pay for these when I can buy a yard of felt and make my own in multiple sizes? Now I have separators for plates, bowls, platters, etc.) I also bought some fat quarters because there were buy two get one free, although I have no idea what I’m going to make with those. Finally, I found a yard of upholstery fabric in the remnants section. It was originally $39.99 a yard, but because it was a remnant it was $19.99 for the yard, and it was GORGEOUS!! I’ve been looking for fabric to recover a bench I have in my entry way for years (I haven’t really been looking that hard, but I’ve been meaning to recover this bench for years), and so I snatched that right up (pictures coming later of the bench; I have to wait for hubby to bring his heavy duty staple gun home from his shop).

Finally, I went to Michael’s to check out the cake decorating stuff (oh I got some at JoAnn’s as well). I want to head out to Cake Castle, which is the only true cake decorating store that I know of in or around town, but it was too far to go yesterday and Michael’s was just fine for what I needed. I got fondant and gum paste mix, so I can play around with those. I got cute cupcake wrappers, a few new colors to make different frosting (including copper, which apparently is used to make flesh tones…so exciting!), some candy melts, and a few candy molds, plus lots of other stuff. It was so much fun!! The only thing I couldn’t find was edible ink pens to draw on the cake pops and/or cupcakes.

When I got home, I unloaded everything (making a huge mess) and got to work unwrapping stuff, putting a few things away, and working on my bench (this was before I found out there was no staple gun to be found in our home). I got the bench seat uncovered, and I put an oil on the wood of the bench to brighten it up a bit. It looks good!

Then, I got to work on the cake balls. I forgot to take pictures in the beginning stages, when I crumbled everything up, but I’ll do that next time.

First, I made a regular old chocolate cake.


Then, I let the cake cool completely, and I crumbled it in my food processor (I got a new one, but more on my food processor later). Next, you’re supposed to mix almost an entire can of frosting into the crumbled cake; however, the only frosting I had was funfetti, which I don’t think would work very well. So, I whipped up a batch of buttercream icing using my absolutely freaking adorable pink KitchenAid mixer…I know, I felt so Martha Stewart.



Then I mixed the frosting with the crumbled cake, and formed the cake mixture into little balls. Meanwhile, I melted my candy melts. I then placed the balls on a parchment-lined baking sheet, and inserted popsicle-stick things (the round paper ones, I am blanking on the name right now) that I had dipped in my melted candy melts halfway into the pops. Then they went in the freezer.





I left them there for ten to fifteen minutes, just to firm a bit so crumbs wouldn’t make it into my candy melts. Next, I dipped the cake pops into the candy melts, let them drip off the excess, and rolled them in different sprinkles. Finally, I stuck them in a piece of foam to dry.





They turned out so cute!!

I wrapped each one in a little cellophane bag and they were ready to go!



Now, I just have to figure out what to do with them…

Okay, so here is what I learned on my first foray into cake pops:

1. Bakerella says that you make the balls quarter size, and that a regular cake mix will make 40-50 balls. My mix made 22 balls. Clearly, I made them a little too big.
2. Apparently one of the reasons to make the cake pops into small balls is so that when you’re rolling them in the melted candy melts, they don’t fall off into the candy because they’re so heavy. I ended up sort of tapping them in the candy, rather than rolling; when I rolled them they came off their stick.
3. It must take a lot of practice to make them perfectly round; mine were not, although the melted candy and sprinkle coating did help hide their imperfections.
4. Getting the melted candy perfectly smooth seems impossible. I’m not sure how Bakerella does it.
5. Next time I’ll put a little less buttercream in the cake mixture. I didn’t measure because I had homemade frosting, rather than a can; they came out fine (and are actually pretty darn tasty) but they could use a little less frosting.
6. Even though I had a few mishaps and my cake pops aren’t perfectly round, they are absolutely freaking adorable and I had fun!!
7. Cake pops are messy, and your kitchen may look like this when you’re done.




And just to finish it off, here's a shot of some of the stuff I got yesterday


Alright all you crafty people - I showed you mine, time to show me yours. What will you guys come up with next??