I'm An Egg Person

For some reason, I have a passion for eggs and the gazillion ways that they can be prepared.  I find myself constantly adding new ingredients for flavor.  At this point...plain eggs just won't ever do!

Whole Wheat Caesar Egg Wrap

Needless to say, breakfast was delish today!  And again, as with everything else, it is so simple and quick to make.

You'll need the following to create this wrap:

• Whole wheat wrap
• Shredded cheddar cheese
• Once slice of sharp cheddar cheese
• Sliced mushrooms
• Fresh garlic (2 small pieces); put through the garlic press.
• Salt, Pepper & Garlic Powder
• 2 Eggs
• Heavy cream

I start off by sauteing the mushrooms until they are well cooked.  Then add in the garlic and mix around for a minute (be careful your heat isn't past about 3 or 4, your garlic will burn). 

 Whisk the two eggs and approx 1 tsp of heavy cream.  Add in a pinch of salt, pepper & garlic powder.  Once the mushrooms and garlic have sauteed enough, add in the eggs. 

 Scramble as you normally would and right before they reach their cooked point, add in a bit of the shredded cheddar cheese.  Not too much, we're only adding it to keep the eggs moist. 

Lay out a wheat wrap and break a slice of cheddar cheese into two pieces, lay them vertically on the wrap and microwave for 20 seconds to get the cheese melted.  Once that is done, go ahead and lay your scrambled eggs on to the wrap.

Now, to top it ALL off, add some Caesar dressing for ultimate flavor.  This wrap will have you full for hours. 

Although I don't warrant it being the ultimate healthy choice - its OK - stop and enjoy the great tastes of life!

Very Merry Cake Pop

So, the final product is done and WOW, I am kind of proud of myself.  I think they came out looking pretty darn cute.  I have a few more to finish up today - birthday & wedding themes!!  Pictures to come. 

What do you think about this Very Merry Cake Pop?

Homemade Christmas Wreath

A couple years ago I had an itch to buy our first home's first Christmas wreath.  I searched high and low for a pretty one at a decent price and had no such luck.  I was shocked to find some ugly ones at a whopping $40-$50 price tag.  It wasn't until I went to my last store that I realized it's not very difficult to make my own.  In the end I paid half the price and came out with a one of a kind creation.  This is a wreath that I handmade and will be able to hang every year as a tradition; eventually passing it on to my children.  Here's how I did it & you can too!

I was in Target and saw they had bare wreaths for about $18 (with the pine cones).  I went into their wrapping section and picked up a few bows that had twisty ties on the back, along with a huge white one and the red bow with gold bell hanging (approx. $10 total).  Then I discovered in their "mini tree" decorating section they had the tiny colored ball ornaments in a variety of colors so I picked up two packages of those, along with the "mini tree" ornament wire hangers (approx. $5 total).

 I started off by laying the wreath on the table and chose where I wanted the main white bow to go.  I then took the red bow with gold bell and tied it around the center of the white bow.  Be sure to do this before attaching the white bow onto your wreath.  From there I simply spaced out the smaller white bows and twisty tied them onto the branches.  The last step was to put on the colored ball ornaments.  When you're done with the bow placements, lean the wreath against a wall or chair.  You will have a better view this way and will get an actual sense of where you want the ball ornaments hanging from.  Put the ball ornaments onto the wire hanger and once you hang them on the branch make sure to squeeze the hanger closed.  You'll be happy when it comes time to put the wreath away; nothing will fall off.

Waa Laa!!  You've now got  a one of a kind (cheaper) wreath that you'd never find in any local store.

Happy Holidays to you & your loved ones! 

Cake Pop Trial

I finally overcame my fear of creating cake pops.  Although these treats look to be easy - they're far from.  Two valuable lessons I learned are patience and then more patience when you lose that first bit of patience.  The entire process takes approximately 5 hours or more.  It really depends on how creative you want to be.

I started off by making a cake recipe I know I am good at - that eliminates the unnecessary trial and error or messing up the first step in making cake pops.  I've had a recipe for a few years now that always seems to be a hit around the holidays - Red Velvet Snowball Cake.  I baked the cakes first and let them completely cool - as per the cake pop instructions I found on Etsy.

Usually, this cake yeilds 16 servings so you can imagine I had plenty to make about 50 cake pops.  I also made the frosting that goes along with the Red Velvet Snowball Cake recipe.  The cake & icing itself are actually pretty easy to do.  I'll include that in another blog post.  You can easily use a store bought cake mix and your choice of icing. 

The challenge came when it was time to create the cake pops themselves.  You need both cakes to be completely cooled.  I allowed mine to cool for a few hours before attempting the next step.  Once both cakes were completely cooled, I cut them into 8 sections so they were easier to crumble.  Ah, the crumbling - a VERY important step.  You have to make sure there are absolutely NO cake clumps in the bowl.  I ran my hands through the completed cake crumbling for about 2 minutes, just to make sure.  Eventually I reached a "sand-like" texture.   

Next up is the frosting!  You will need to slowly add in the icing because too much can make the cake balls overly moist.  Keep in mind, you can always add but never subtract when baking.  When in doubt - add slowly until you reach the right consistency.  I started off by adding in 12 oz of frosting.  Be sure to use a metal spoon, you're going to be putting a lot of elbow grease into this mixture.  Once the mixture became a huge ball I flattened it out some and felt it needed a little more frosting.  I'd say that I eyed about 6 more ounces of frosting.  Maybe a little too much I thought, but in the end I am glad I did.  Begin making the cake balls by taking a small handful of cake and roll it into about an inch size ball.  In my opinion, it may be better to do them a bit smaller.  I thought to myself "maybe if I make them a bit smaller, people won't get too full and it'll keep them wanting more".  Again, this amount of cake should yield at a minimum; 50 cake balls.

Place the cake balls on a wax sheet and chill them in the fridge for a few hours.  Yes, hours, chill them for at least 2 hours.  You need them nice and firm in order for the lollipop stick to stay put.

After a few hours of chilling the cake balls you will need to begin by melting the chocolate or candy.  I opted to try Ghirardelli white chocolate morsels and also two different colors of Wilton's melt-able candies.  I found the Ghirardelli white chocolate to be difficult.  As it melted, it stayed pretty thick, making it hard to "dip" the cake ball.  It was more like I had to keep rolling it around.  Wilton's definitely takes the gold in my opinion.  Melt the candies according to the instructions on the bag.  You'll need at least 3 inches deep of melted chocolate for easier dipping and full coating.

Take the lollipop stick and dip about 1/2 an inch into the melted candy and then insert it into the cake ball.  Be careful not to insert it too far or else you may break apart the cake ball.  From there, dip the cake ball into the melted chocolate.  Let it hang for a few seconds over the chocolate or melted candy so the excess can drip off.  If you're thinking about tapping the lollipop stick to drip it - STOP!  Don't do that.  You will risk the cake pop falling off the lollipop stick.

At this point there are two options when it comes to letting the melted candy or chocolate harden.  Either place the lollipop stick upright into a sturdy styrofoam square or take a piece of wax paper and turn it upside down.  I opted for the wax paper, myself.  Either way is fine.

You can either have a plain colored cake pop or get as creative as you want.  I chose to put colored sprinkles on mine.  It came out looking pretty cute if it was for a birthday celebration.  For the upside down harding method I used a base color and then drizzled the second color across them.  To do this you will need a small size ziploc bag.  Put a few spoon fulls of the other melted candy inside and squeeze it down to the corner of the bag.  Take scissors and cut off a very small end of the corner (I stress VERY small).  You can continue to pipe what ever design you like from there.

Happy Cake Popping to you!!

Fall Has Arrived

It's that time of year where the festivities begin and party planning kicks into high gear.  We've just wrapped up Halloween decorating and there is enough candy to last us until next year.  If your home is anything like ours, you've already packed up the orange and black decor and begun replacing it with Fall inspired wreaths and scents.  There is nothing more inviting for your home than the sights & scents of Fall.

Glade has just released their Limited Edition Fall Collection.  There are three warm and inviting scents to choose from: Cashmere Woods, Country Spice & Harvest Medley.  You can find all 3 scents in the form of a candle, plug-in or room spray.  I, personally, enjoy the plug-ins.  I tend to keep them on a mid releasing level - they can become over powering if on high (level 5).  And what's great is that they last for approximately 30 days.  Just in time for the winter holiday collection to arrive.  You can find information on these products at Limited Edition Glade Fall Collection.  

If you're looking for the perfect wreath for inside or outside your home, there are tons of resources online.  You may want to check a store such as Michael's or Target for available supplies.  Personally, I found the bare wreaths to be most affordable at the local Target store.  I purchased small knickknacks from there as well as Michael's for the decorations.  A nice wreath does not take a lot of effort and can be done in about an hour.  You can find the "recipe" for a gorgeous wreath on HGTV's web site by clicking here.  If you live up north you can even find materials in your backyard.  You may have pine cones galore that you can either spray paint or blot with glue and roll into your choice of glitter colors.  Now, if you're daring and have extreme patience you can also give Martha Stewart's Pine Cone Wreath a try by clicking here for instructions.