July 11, 2010

I didn’t even know that they still made Pop Rocks until a few weeks ago when a friend of ours brought them out at the end of a party. (Yes, we tend to get a little silly sometimes.) These little popping candies bring back some fond childhood memories for me so when I stumbled across Noble Pig’s Firecracker Cupcakes recipe with Pop Rocks, I knew that I would be making them soon.

By the way, Noble Pig’s Firecracker Cupcakes garnished with blueberries and raspberries are the most gorgeous cupcakes that I’ve ever seen!

I made my simpler version, Funfetti Firecracker Cupcakes last Sunday for our 4th of July Party but in all the excitement of getting ready for the party, I didn’t get photos taken of that batch. So, I decided to make them again since these fun cupcakes don’t have to be made exclusively for the 4th of July. They could bring a bang to any holiday or birthday celebration.  What kid doesn’t get a kick out of of Pop Rocks? (And most adults love them, too!)

Note: I don’t do a lot of baking from scratch, so this is my easy, breezy, simple way to make these cupcakes.

Funfetti Firecracker Cupcakes
(adapted from Noble Pig)

One Pillsbury Funfetti Cake Mix
3 eggs
1/3 c. oil
1 c. water
Pillsbury Whipped Supreme Cream Cheese frosting
One 1.75 oz Betty Crocker Rainbow Mix sprinkles
Assorted colors of Pop Rocks
Various candies or fruit

In a large bowl, add the cake mix, eggs, oil, and water and mix for two minutes on low mixer or whisk by hand for two minutes. Fold in the candy sprinkles. Line cupcake pan with baking cups and fill with batter. Bake at 350 degrees until done. If the cups are filled 2/3 to the top, the cupcakes should take 18-22 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool completely before frosting.

I prefer to fill the baking cups almost all the way to the top so they take between 22-25 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

When you're talking about cupcakes, a muffin top is a good thing!

I could actually enjoy one of these cupcakes just like this without the frosting, but decorating these cupcakes is where the fun comes in!

Frost the cupcakes or pipe on the frosting as I did and then sprinkle the tops with various flavors of Pop Rocks. I found a variety pack at Walgreens that contained one of each flavor: Strawberry, Watermelon, and Tropical Punch.

(I thought the Watermelon flavor in the green packet would turn out to be green Pop Rocks, but they were also pink like the Strawberry flavor.)

To achieve a good firecracker effect, sprinkle the Pop Rocks on just before serving. The moisture is what makes the candies pop, so they will start popping immediately.

How’s this for a big teenage boy bite?

It’s like a little party of explosions going off in your mouth!

Later this week, I’ll be sharing with you another fun Pop Rocks recipe. Ever tried a cocktail beverage with Pop Rocks?

~LilSis

May 3, 2010

Is it really May already? I must say this every month, but it does seem like time is flying by faster than ever before.  I know we had an early Easter this year but where did the rest of April go? We’ve got Mother’s Day already right around the corner and before you know it we’ll be celebrating Memorial Day and the Fourth of July!

But before we get ahead of ourselves, we’ve got Cinco de Mayo sneaking up on us in just two days. So, whether you’re looking for an easy appetizer to take to a party or you’re cooking for a large group of friends and family, here are some of our all time favorite recipes that are perfect for a Cinco de Mayo celebration.

Hatch Green Chile and Garlic Goat Cheese

Ceviche Salad with Avocado, Cilantro and Green Chile

Super Simple Guacamole

Roasted Garlic Dressing with Green Chilli

Homemade Pita Chips

(This is a terrible photo, but this soup is perfect topped with grated cheese, sour cream and toasted tortilla strips)

Chicken Enchilada Soup

Classic Tortilla Soup

Spinach Mushroom Enchiladas

Shrimp with Garlic and Chile Pepper

This next recipe is one of Bry’s favorite appetizers but every time he makes them they’re gobbled up so quickly we never have time to take a photo! Yes, they’re that yummy!

Bry’s Stuffed Peppers

15 fresh jalapeno peppers
1 pound Italian sausage
1 (8 oz) cream cheese
1/2 pound bacon

Cut peppers in half lengthwise. Clean out seeds with spoon. Set aside on foiled lined cookie sheet. Saute sausage and drain. Add the cream cheese to the sausage and mix well.  Spoon into peppers and wrap 1/3 slice of bacon around each pepper. Bake at 350 for approximately 20 – 30 minutes. Put under the broiler for a few minutes to further brown the bacon, if desired. Drain on a paper towel, then serve warm.

And, lastly, we can’t forget about something sweet.

Mexican Chocolate Rice Krispie Treats

Hopefully, we’ve given you a couple of ideas to help you with your celebration, but whatever you decide to do on Wednesday, have a safe Cinco de Mayo!

~LilSis

April 2, 2010

Are you tired of coloring Easter Eggs the same old way? I am. I’m tired of just plopping a dye tablet in a cup, adding a little vinegar and water and taking turns putting the eggs into the cups. Boring!

And, if you’d like to be a little more health conscious and avoid the artificial dyes, you may want to consider using one of these natural dyes to color your eggs this year!

This was a little time consuming, but it was one of those projects that was so much fun because the end result is somewhat of a surprise. It reminded me of how I always feel when I open up my kiln after a glaze firing. It’s like Christmas! The anticipation almost kills me every time. When I had more time for ceramics, I would almost always find a way to incorporate some leaf or flower impressions in most of my projects. In my wall tiles and mosaic tiles, I’ve used a lot of the same leaves and flowers that I used for this project.

Alright, sorry I’m rambling about ceramics; let’s get back to the Easter eggs. This was my first experiment in making natural dyes so I was winging it a bit and didn’t have any idea of how these would turn out. I looked over a few recipes online but didn’t use one in particular, just the basic method, so let’s get started.

First, gather your leaves, flowers or stickers that you plan to use for this project. Here’s what I used.

Next, depending on which variation you want to make, you’ll use one of these.

1 head of Purple cabbage (If making the blue eggs.)
Yellow onion skins (I used the skin from 3 onions for this rust color.)
1 bag of fresh cranberries (For the disappointing brownish color.)

Whichever color you decide to make will determine the size of your pan. Obviously the whole head of purple cabbage will take a larger pan than if you use one of the other two ingredients.

Once you decide which color you are going to make, use the appropriate size pan. But, before you add the vegetable or fruit to your pan, place an egg in the pan and fill it with enough water to cover the top of the egg by at least an inch. Then remove the egg. Don’t add more water. If you use too much water, the color of the dye will end up being too diluted.

Place the sliced cabbage, onion skins, or cranberries into the pan and boil for thirty minutes, covered to minimize evaporation. Allow water to cool slightly, and then strain contents over a bowl, pressing pulp to remove any remaining liquid.

Rinse the pan, pour in dye water, cover, and return to low heat to keep warm while preparing eggs.

Here are the natural dyes all strained and waiting for the eggs.

Next, you’ll want to gather a few more items.

Vinegar
Scissors
Pantyhose
Twist ties
Slotted Spoon
Paper towels
Vegetable oil

Now, cut the pantyhose into 4 inch pieces.

(Some instructions I saw said that you needed to buy several pairs of knee highs and just use the toes, but I just bought two 99 cent pair of pantyhose, cut them into pieces and it worked fine.)

Now for the fun part.

One at a time, place leaves, flowers, or stickers on the egg as desired. Some of the plant materials will stick better if you dip them in water first.

Place the egg in your hand, and gently place the egg inside the hose, make sure your design is still how you want it, and then pull the hose securely it the back and secure with a twist tie. (I thought this was easier than trying to tie in a knot while holding everything in place.)

Trim the excess hose from the back.

Repeat with remaining eggs.

Return dye to a gentle boil and stir in vinegar. I used 4 T. for the purple cabbage and 3 T. for the onion skins and cranberries since they were in smaller pans.

Here are all my eggs ready to go into the dye.

Gently lower the eggs into the pan and boil for 30 minutes. Turn off heat, cover, and let stand for 2- 3 hours, or until desired color is obtained.

Remove eggs with a slotted spoon and place back on egg carton to cool slightly.

Here’s what they look like after you’ve taken them out of the dye.

Carefully untie the twist tie or cut the hose and unwrap eggs. Carefully pull off and discard any remaining plant materials or stickers.

I let mine sit for an extra 5 or 10 minutes after I unwrapped them just so they could cool a bit more.

Dampen a paper towel lightly with oil and buff eggs until shiny. Remove excess oil with clean paper towel.

Be very careful not to wipe too hard as some of the dye might come off.

Rust Natural Dyed Easter Eggs

Blue Natural Dyed Easter Eggs

Light Brown Natural Dyed Easter Eggs

Natural Dye Colored Easter Eggs

Natural Dyed Easter Eggs

Like I said before, this project was pretty time consuming, but it was so much fun for me! I feel like I got my creative juices stirring again.

A few notes:

I kept one egg without any decoration to put in each dye color and I didn’t care for any of those three at all.

I used just plain yellow onion skin on one egg in each dye color and a couple of those made some beautiful marbling. The one with the onion skin in the purple cabbage dye was probably my favorite. It had a gorgeous brownish-blueish marbling effect.

I was disappointed in the brownish color that I got from the cranberry dye, but on one egg where I used a purple flower, it gave off a beautiful blueish color in the center of the white flower. I don’t think that I would bother using cranberry again for this project. I was expecting a purplish color, not brown.

The dark rust color from the onion skins is probably my favorite. And this dye didn’t even need to sit for two hours before it intensified in color. You could probably even take these out after 30 minutes or so.

I just love this method of using the leaves and flowers for contrast in color on these eggs. I’m already thinking of ways to use this for another project.

I should have posted this sooner, but I hope you give these a try if you have a little time before Easter!

Have a great weekend and a Happy Easter!

~LilSis

March 31, 2010

I can’t believe Easter is just four days from today! If you’re like me and don’t enough time to make a cute Easter Bunny Cake or Easter Basket Cupcakes, here’s a quick and easy candy treat.

I decided to try two different versions of the Easter Bird’s Nests. They’re a little messy, but I think they turned out pretty cute.

For the first batch, I used this recipe that calls for butterscotch chips and peanut butter. If I made these again, I would just eliminate the peanut butter. These were more gooey and took longer to set than the ones with just the chips.

Bird’s Nests

2 c. butterscotch chips
1 c. peanut butter
2 c. Chow Mein noodles
Any egg shaped Easter candy (I used Robins eggs and M&M’)

Cover a baking sheet or pan with waxed or parchment paper. Either melt the butterscotch chips and peanut butter in the top of a double boiler or in the microwave (heat 1 minute, stir, continue heating in 10 second increments until melted and smooth.) Stir in Chow Mein noodles. With buttered fingers shape mixture into one big nest or individual ones. Place on prepared pan. Refrigerate until firm. Fill with jelly beans or other candy.

For the second batch, I simply melted 2 cups white chocolate chips and added 2 cups Chow Mein noodles. I thought the little white nests would look cute with some grass inside them so I made some green grass by adding a few drops of green food coloring to a little coconut and shaking it up inside a baggie.

I think that I like the white chocolate version better but I could have used an extra cup or more of Chow Mein noodles because they seemed a little runnier than they should have been. These firmed up really quickly though which makes it easier to get them decorated if you’re in a hurry.

So, what’s next in our Easter treat lineup? Come back tomorrow to find out!

~LilSis

March 29, 2010

The April 2010 issue of Martha Stewart Living is loaded with creative and crafty ideas for celebrating Easter. If I had the patience, I would have attempted the adorable Easter Egg Sugar cookies, but I knew they would never have come out as beautiful as the ones in the magazine.  So when I saw the adorable Easter Candy Parade, I thought these cute little jars might be something I could put together since they didn’t require any baking!

These are perfect little gifts for teachers, friends, neighbors or coworkers. I think they’re a lot more fun and colorful than just giving someone a bag of candy or a chocolate bunny for a Happy Easter gift.

WalMart had a huge assortment of pretty, colorful Easter candy this year. I used a combination of Speckled Malted Milk Balls, Mini Robin Eggs, Pastel Peanut M&Ms, Speckled Jelly Bird Eggs, SweetTarts Jelly Beans, Reese’s Pieces Pastel Eggs, the white chocolate bunny, and even some edible green apple grass. I also got the apothecary jars at WalMart for around $3.00 each.

These are so easy to make that the kids would even enjoy putting these together themselves. I went a little overboard so I’ve got to go get more jars so I can make more gifts or else we’re going to end up with way too much Easter candy left in this house!

~LilSis

March 16, 2010

Need an idea for a quick and easy, green and glowing cocktail for St. Patty’s Day? If so, I think you’ll like this one. It’s super quick and easy and looks really festive served up in a nice martini glass. This cocktail is a little on the sweet side for me but it’s always the hit of the party.

I’ve got just a teeny, tiny bit of Irish in the blood so maybe that’s part of the reason why I enjoy putting on a fun-filled St. Patty’s Day Party every year. SirHoney got the Irish genes from both his dad and mom so he’s a little more fond of corned beef, cabbage and potatoes than I am, but I’ll pacify him on this one day. I actually get to take a break from hosting the party this year.

One of my good friends is hosting the “shindig” at her house and she always throws a great party so I’ll have to make a conscious effort to “behave” since it falls on a work night this year. I don’t want to wake up Thursday morning with the “Glowing Gecko Cocktail” flu! (That could get ugly!)

I mentioned this cocktail last year when I talked about St. Patty’s Day Party ideas and I’ve served the original Glowing Gecko recipe at a couple of my parties but I decided to adapt the recipe a bit this year. I’ll be taking all the ‘fixins’ to my neighbor’s house so we can make this new version tomorrow night.

I’m not a big fan of rum and most of our friends aren’t rum drinkers either, so I eliminated the rum. And since we all know that Sweet & Sour mix is loaded with calories, I eliminated that also. Here’s my adapted concoction.

Glowing Gecko
(adapted from RecipeZaar)

2 oz. vodka
2 oz. Midori melon liqueur
1/2 oz. fresh squeezed lime juice or Rose’s lime juice
1 oz. club soda

Combine first three ingredients with ice in a shaker. Shake and strain. Serve either straight up or over ice in a martini glass. Pour in club soda and garnish with lime.

Have a safe and happy St. Patrick’s Day!

~LilSis

December 30, 2009

The weekend before we left for Chicago, I decided that I was going to make Almond Toffee to give to our friends and neighbors for Christmas. It probably wasn’t the best timing to try a new recipe as we were still finishing up Christmas shopping, wrapping, and packing in preparation for our trip to Chicago the following day.

On top of all that, we ended up spending most of the weekend in Mission Bay at HayHay’s surf competition since he made it all the way to the finals. But, somehow, in the midst of all that, I did manage to make two batches of toffee.

I’d like to give a “shout out” and a “huge thanks” to Anna of Cookie Madness for taking the time to reply to me via email regarding a couple of questions I had about the instructions.
I really appreciate it, Anna!

This recipe is one that Anna has made for many years and since the directions are a little long, I think it’s best for you to go to Cookie Madness for the Best-Ever Almond Toffee recipe. You’ll also want to read her Almond Toffee Revisited post which has more tips on making this toffee turn out “just right”.

Pecan Toffee

For my first try at this recipe, I just made the small batch so I could get a feel for it. I substituted pecans for the almonds, since I had some on hand, but I didn’t like it as much as I thought I would. Other than that, this batch was just a teensy bit thicker than I would have liked, which may have been because the temperature got up to almost 295 before I poured it out of the pan. It was still crispy and crunchy, just not perfect.

BigSis has made this toffee almost every Christmas for as long as I can remember. And, guess what? Hers is always perfect. Mine turned out pretty darn good for being my first time to make it, but it wasn’t perfect. That’s okay though, I still gave myself a little pat on the back for trying something new and not having a meltdown over a slightly thick batch of toffee.

Best-Ever Almond Toffee

For my second batch, I went ahead and doubled the recipe since I was feeling a little better about the process. This time I did use almonds, but since I discovered that I don’t like chopping chocolate, I used semi-sweet chips instead. (I shouldn’t have done that!) When I asked for a couple of expert opinions from the chocolate lovers in my house, they both noticed that the chocolate in the first batch was better.

This batch also turned out a little too thick, as you can tell in the photo, but it was still good. I don’t think anyone else really noticed, but this batch got a little chewy after the initial crunch. It wasn’t as crispy and crunchy as it should have been, but I think I know why. I panicked just a little after I poured it into the pan and I think I gave the pan one too many teeny, tiny taps, which Anna specifically advised me not to do. I knew right away that some of the air bubbles were popping and apparently that’s what keeps this toffee so crunchy.

When in Chicago, my mother-in-law happened to pull out some toffee that her brother-in-law had sent to her from Florida. Even though I usually bypass the sweets, I was curious to try it because of my recent attempts at toffee making. This toffee was even thicker than my second batch but somehow was still really crunchy and crispy. It’s supposedly made at some special store and our uncle loves it, so if I ever end up with a perfect batch of toffee, I’m going to send some to him and my mother-in-law. I’m sure they’d both be surprised!

All in all, in the end, I did learn a few things about making toffee.

First of all, toffee making is not for wimps. I never knew how long it took to get candy up to 290 degrees and with constant stirring, it’s a bit of a workout. Secondly, I would invest in a new thermometer before attempting this again.

This is the thermometer that I used, which is the “attach-to-the-pan” type that Anna advises not to use. It’s all I had and I didn’t have time to go get a new one, so the fact that both batches turned out thick probably means that my thermometer was a bit off.

Lastly, just stick exactly to Anna’s Best-Ever Almond Toffee recipe! Don’t make substitutions, use a good thermometer, and follow the instructions to a tee and I bet you end up with a perfect batch of toffee!

~LilSis

December 29, 2009

For the first time since 1926, Dallas got a White Christmas!   It snowed all day Christmas Eve, and we ended up with around 3 or 4 inches of blowing little flakes.  Our weathermen actually called it a blizzard!  I think that folks up north who know what a real blizzard looks like would have laughed their butts off to hear that!

For us, the snow caused lots of traffic problems since it turned to ice just as everyone in the area was on the road, but it was gorgeous and we thoroughly enjoyed it.  Here are some images from my Christmas this year…

After a day of snow, still snowing.

We hope you had a wonderful Christmas, and that it had a few surprises for you as ours did!

~BigSis

December 28, 2009

We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!!

I’m sure that lots of you had snow on the ground for Christmas morning, but if we had stayed in California, we definitely would not have had a White Christmas. I think I mentioned earlier that HayHay was really hoping for a White Christmas, and, as the saying goes, you better be careful what you wish for because it just might come true!

A week ago, Sunday before we left for Chicago, he was doing this!

And two days later, he was doing this!

It really was beautiful though.

We wouldn’t have seen icicles like this in San Diego!

We had a great time with all the family and are so thankful that we were able to spend Christmas together this year.  It was 15 degrees when we left Chicago on Sunday so I have to say that I am glad to be back in the San Diego sunshine again, even though we do already miss everyone!

And, in case anyone was wondering, HayHay was back on the surfboard at 8:00 this morning!

~LilSis

December 16, 2009

I love lists! I’ve discovered over the years that it really motivates me to have an ongoing “To Do” list, not only on my Outlook, but also specific tasks and phone calls written down in my planner each day. Not only do I check it off of my Outlook task list when it’s done but I also mark it off my written list with a big fat red Sharpie. I don’t know why I enjoy this so much, but I do.

Luckily, I finally made some progress on my Christmas “To Do” List. Yes, it is now officially crunch time! Only eight days and some odd hours til Christmas!! How are you doing on your list?  I’m still a bit overwhelmed with all there is left to do before we leave on Monday, but I’m making progress.

I’m doin’ a little happy dance today since I FINALLY got all my Christmas cards in the mail and finished up the shopping on gifts that need to be shipped out of state. I know, I know, for all the early birds out there, this probably seems late to be doing this, but I’m just so glad that it’s finally done.

This morning is now designated for wrapping, and packaging the gifts that need to be shipped. I’m sure I’ll still be standing in line at the post office as you read this.

I don’t mind though. I’m actually going to take my iPod with me to the post office to listen to some Christmas music while I’m in line. I may even wear a Santa Hat today! I’m so thankful that I finally got some Christmas spirit. I had almost decided not to decorate this year since we’d be out of town, but then I decided that wouldn’t be fair to HayHay. (Christmastime is still really hard on our family since we don’t have our Dad with us so we all have to make a real effort to not be down in the dumps.)

So, that being said, I’m just happy that it’s starting to feel a bit like Christmas around here! Once we decided to go ahead and decorate, we had to get in gear! In the past two days, we’ve got the decorations out of storage, put up all the lights and outdoor decorations, decorated the inside of the house, put up and decorated a small tree, addressed and mailed all the cards, bought wrapping supplies and containers for neighbor gifts, and finished up the shopping for out of town gifts.

Once the packages are shipped this morning, I think this is all that’s left on my list to do before we leave on Monday.

• Finish shopping for gifts we’re taking with us on plane.
• Wrap gifts and pack in suitcase. (Pray it doesn’t get lost.)
• Make list of ingredients needed for neighbor gifts.
• Make, package and deliver neighbor gifts.
• Buy boots and scarf for trip.
• Pack laptop, camera, iPod, video camera, and chargers.
• Dig through closet for warm clothes to pack.

At least by Sunday night, I’ll have everything marked off my list and we’ll be able to enjoy Christmas with the family without any last minute rushing around.

I am not at all prepared for the below freezing temperatures in Chicago, but HayHay is going to be thrilled if we have a White Christmas this year.

~LilSis