November 16, 2009

With our SPCA Bake Sale looming on the calendar, I’ve been busy planning and test-driving a couple of new recipes.  The last thing I need during the baking frenzy is a recipe that doesn’t work!  I have a bunch of tried-and-true favorites that I’m making, but still wandered through my cookbook collection in search of some new goodies to try.  I flipped through Carole Walter’s “Great Cookies”, and found a dark chocolaty recipe called Triple Chocolate Peppermint Bars that sounded crazy good.

You make a dark chocolate shortbread base and then top it with a dark chocolate brownie filling that has peppermint schnapps in it.  Then you cover the whole thing with a thin chocolate ganache that has even more schnapps in it.  How bad could that possibly be!  It certainly deserved a test-drive!

I didn’t have schnapps so I used peppermint extract instead, and left the ganache layer off since I thought it might be too smeary and messy once it’s packaged in a cute little treat bag.  The top got a sprinkle of crushed candy canes instead.

Can I just say YUMMY??  Oh, mommy, these have an incredible chocolate flavor!  Maybe I loved them so much because I adore chocolate shortbread and brownies and peppermint.

Only one little problem…my bars didn’t come out looking anything like the photo.  I expected the bars to be kind of chunky and thick, but mine came out very thin; only about 1/2″.  Phooey.  I can’t figure out what I might have done wrong, if anything, but I guess it doesn’t matter.  I think the bars are too thin and fragile to work well for the bake sale, which is a bummer, but this recipe is a keeper!  If I make them again and don’t need to package them, I’ll definitely add the ganache layer!

~BigSis

November 15, 2009

Did you know that today is National Bundt Day? I probably wouldn’t have known it if I hadn’t been reading The Food Librarian. Thirty days ago, The Food Librarian started a project called I Like Big Bundts, a mission to make a different bundt cake every day for 30 days leading up to today. Pretty impressive, if you ask me.

I think this project got my attention because I also prefer baking a cake in a bundt pan. I don’t bake a lot of cakes but for some reason I have better luck using a bundt pan versus a regular 13 x 9 pan or round pans. I like bundt pans for some of the same reasons The Food Librarian says she likes baking with a bundt pan.

There are some terrific bundt cake recipes on The Food Librarian that I will try in the future, but for today’s cake, I didn’t want to start from scratch. (Hopefully we don’t have anyone reading this that is appalled by the use of a cake mix.)  🙂

This Eggnog Spice Bundt cake, posted recently by Evil Chef Mom, in her very clever way, really caught my eye and I knew right away that I’d be trying it soon. I don’t care for frosting, so I love that this cake is just sprinkled with powdered sugar. I decided that this would be the perfect cake for me to bake today for National Bundt Day.

I’ve had quite a few baking fiascoes, so I always get a little nervous when I bake something. If that sounds weird, then call me weird, but it’s true. Here goes!  (fingers crossed).  🙂

First, I get all my ingredients out and when I went to get my bundt pan, it was no where to be found. Missing In Action. I know I didn’t loan it to anyone. WTH? What happens to a bundt pan? I have no idea where it went. Luckily, my friend, D saved the day by loaning me hers.

Next, I proceed with mixing in all the ingredients. I don’t know how I managed to raise a child that doesn’t like nuts, but since my son doesn’t care for them, I omitted the 1 1/3 c. pecans that were called for in the original recipe. (I would have loved the pecans in this cake.) Since I omitted the pecans, I felt like adding a few little extra ingredients.

So, I added the grated carrots and zucchini and since I love cinnamon, I added a little cinnamon. Then, I found a vanilla bean in the pantry and thought that sounded good, so I scraped out the inside of a half of a vanilla bean and threw that in.

Since I added extra moisture with all the grated carrots and zucchini, I decided to cut back the yogurt to 3/4 cup instead of a cup.

So far, I think it’s going pretty well. I’ve got it all mixed together, so I pour the batter into the sprayed bundt pan. I glance over the recipe one last time and realize that I didn’t take the eggnog out of the fridge so it didn’t get added in. Sheesh! (No wonder I thought the batter was a little thick. You would think that I could have glanced at the recipe before I put the batter in the pan!)

I dump everything back into my mixing bowl and add the eggnog. Of course, the batter has some of the Pam spray on it at this point, but I didn’t figure it would hurt anything, so I just wiped the pan out, sprayed it again and poured in the batter. And, guess what? It turned out great! (Hallelujah!!)

The bottom line is that this cake turned out very moist and spongy and tasty and yummy and everyone loved it!

Trust me when I say that this is not something my family sees on our dinner table very often.

Eggnog Spice Bundt Cake
(adapted from Evil Chef Mom)

1 (18 1/4 ounce) box of carrot cake or spice cake mix
1 (4-serving) box instant cheesecake pudding
3/4 cup nonfat vanilla yogurt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup light eggnog
3 eggs
3/4 c. grated zucchini
1/2 c. grated carrots
1/2 vanilla bean
1/4 t. cinnamon
Powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350F. Coat a nonstick Bundt pan with cooking spray. Combine cake mix, pudding mix, yogurt, oil, eggnog, and eggs in a large bowl. Mix until creamy. Stir in grated carrots, zucchini, cinnamon, and vanilla bean. Pour into prepared pan. Bake 40 to 45 minutes, until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack. When cool, dust with powdered sugar.

One thing I really love about a bundt cake is that you can get away with serving it for breakfast. It’s almost considered more of a coffee cake. How perfect would this be served for breakfast along with a nice cup of coffee?

~LilSis

November 14, 2009

The past couple of mornings when I used my Urban Decay Primer Potion, I knew that it was just about time. Time for what you may be wondering… If you’re a UDPP user, you probably already know what I’m talking about.

Urban Decay has an almost ‘cult like’ following when it comes to some of their amazing products. I think both of us have had some of the purple kool aid, too! 🙂 I recently mentioned how much I love Urban Decay’s 24/7 Eye Pencils and the Heavy Metal Glitter Eyeliner and BigSis mentioned her love for the eye pencils much earlier this year. And, months ago after BigSis told me how much she loved the Primer Potion, I bought myself some Sin Primer and have used it every day since.

There’s only one problem with this UDPP and it’s the cutesy container that it comes in. The wand can only go straight down into the container and loads of product is left stuck in on the sides and at the bottom. It obviously hasn’t kept us from buying it though.

When we were on our trip last month, (yes, still talkin’ about BlogWorld in Vegas), BigSis showed me her little jar FULL of potion that she managed to get out of her ‘what appeared to be’ empty UDPP bottle. She had seen “the hacking” mentioned on some beauty blogs after she bought the product so she knew there was precious potion hiding in the container. And luckily, she shared that with all of us.

If I hadn’t known about that, I would have tossed my “seemingly empty” bottle in the trash once I couldn’t get any more to come out on the wand. And after you see what’s left in this container, you won’t want to throw yours away either until after you hack into it.

I never did ask what she used to hack into her bottle but I decided that this should do the trick!

Here’s my unsuspecting little container!

Not much potion on this wand.

I was going to cut the bottle lengthwise but I decided that might be a good way to end up the ER, so I started by cutting off the top.

The plastic was actually much easier to cut than I thought it would be.

Just look at all the precious potion hiding in here!

Look closer.

Score!

Can’t stop now, I’m on a roll!

And look how much was stuck at the bottom.

It was a messy job, but…

time well spent!

Voila!!

(Note: My Primer Potion is the Sin Primer and it does come in a different bottle than the original PP so it is possible that this container is made from a different plastic. I have heard that the original bottle may be tougher to cut into!)

One final note, I noticed on Urban Decays website, they mention that the Primer Potion now comes with a new wand. Here’s what it looks like.

Hopefully this new wand will be of some help getting the primer potion out of the sides but it would have to also be longer to prevent all the waste at the bottom. I guess we’ll find out once we run out of our stash and have to buy a new one.

~LilSis

November 13, 2009

I’ve been searching for a vegetarian – or ideally a vegan – alternative to pork bacon that is crispy and smoky and delicious.  And by the way…I’m still looking!  Along the way, I found and tried an odd little product called Bacon Salt.  To be honest, I didn’t love it although I gave it kudos for originality.  🙂

The Bacon Salt people saw my review, and emailed me to see if I’d like to try the natural variety of the salt, as well as their Baconnaise, which is a vegetarian bacon-flavored mayonnaise type spread.  Well, this girl just saw Zumanity, which scared the tweet out of me, thanks for asking.  If I can survive that and live to tell about it, surely I’m tough enough to handle bacon-flavored mayo and more Bacon Salt, right?  Right?  Ehhh, ummm, sure…?

The bad news first. I still am not a fan of Bacon Salt.  Frankly, I think the “unnatural” version tastes better than the natural one.  The natural variety just tastes harsh and fake to me.

However!  The Baconnaise is another story.  The flavor is not bad.  It’s smoky, savory and bacon-ny, but pretty darn salty too.  I started thinking of how it might be used other than just lightly spread on a tomato and lettuce sandwich.  I think potato salad would be a good fit since potatoes drink up a lot of salt, but I don’t know how to make less than a giant washtub-sized vat of it so I settled on deviled eggs.

Baconnaise Deviled Eggs
(vegetarian)

5 or 6 large eggs
1 tblsp or more Baconnaise (can dilute with some plain mayo)
2 tsp dill pickle relish
1 tsp spicy brown mustard
Pepper to taste

Place eggs in a saucepan, and cover with water.  Bring to a boil and boil for 20 minutes.  Run cold water over eggs until cool enough to peel.  Peel, rinse and dry eggs.

Cut eggs in half lengthwise and remove the yolks to a small bowl.  Add all the other ingredients and mix well.  Add a little more Baconnaise to reach the consistency you like.  Fill each egg half, and refrigerate.  BigSis Note: I like to sprinkle my eggs with Penzeys Shallot Pepper before eating them.

The final verdict?  Baconnaise is pretty good, but it’s a little strong for me.  I’d recommend mixing it with regular mayo to smooth it out a smidge.  I think that’s what I’ll do the next time I make these eggs, or a vat o’ tater salad!

~BigSis

November 12, 2009

Urban Decay 24/7 Sets

You know what I love more than my new Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencils? Give up? Okay, I’ll tell ya. It’s my new Urban Decay Heavy Metal Glitter Eyeliner.

I’m so glad this eyeliner was included in my 24/7 Set because otherwise I never would have tried it. The set I bought came with the Glitter Eyeliner in Midnight Cowboy and I love it! 🙂

The sets come in two choices, either the Stereophonic or the Hi-Fi, and both are a great bargain at $29.00. Each comes with four 24/7 eye pencils and one Heavy Metal Glitter Eyeliner.

I was on the phone with BigSis while I was in Ulta shopping last month before our Vegas trip.  I remembered her telling me that she loved her Urban Decay eye pencils, so when I stumbled upon the display of these sets, I asked her about them and she said they were the same pencils!

These eye pencils are unbelievable. Not only do they go on really creamy, but they are also waterproof and stay on all day! I’m so glad that I picked up one of the sets.  I love every single color that came in my set.

The Hi-Fi set includes the new shade, Mildew, a deep green, which is exclusive to this set. The set also includes Zero (black), Flipside (teal), 1999 (plum), and the Heavy Metal Glitter Eyeliner in Distortion, an iridescent sparkle.

I picked the Stereophonic set that features the new shade, Crash, which is a rich eggplant color that is exclusive to this set. This set also includes Zero (black), Underground (metallic taupe), and Gunmetal (dark gray like it sounds). And my favorite item in this special set is the Heavy Metal Glitter Eyeliner in Midnight Cowboy, a beige sparkler.

Urban Decay Heavy Metal Glitter Eyeliner

I think the main reason that I even tried this eyeliner is because we were in Vegas and I thought it would be something new and fun to try! And, I haven’t stopped using it since. It’s really easy to apply with a tiny, precise brush so you can apply as much or as little as you like. Just a little line of this over the 24/7 eye pencil adds just the right amount of glitter! You can even add a dab to the inner corner of your eye for a real pop!

The Heavy Metal Glitter eyeliner comes in over ten amazing shades! These usually retail for $18.00 each so getting one in this set with four eye pencils for only $29.00 is a real deal!

If you have someone on your Christmas list that loves trying new things with eye makeup, one of these Urban Decay sets would make a perfect gift, for under $30.00.

And, believe it or not, just a little glitter does make a girl really happy! 🙂

~LilSis

November 10, 2009

Hey LilSis, I think it’s a really appropriate time to talk about stress since we’re all about to go into Turbo-Speed Stress Season. We all have holiday stress for different reasons. Many of us get so excited at the holidays that we overcommit and underestimate how much time all of these things will take. We may have financial issues that make the holidays stressful, and unless we decide to be smart when it comes to our financial planning, there is a chance that this money may not see us through the rest of the month. When we start the holidays off on the wrong foot, like not having enough finances, it could seriously affect how the rest of the break goes. It nearly happened to my friend once, but luckily he decided to invest in things like Bitcoin and even went one step further and decided to Buy Bitcoin with other payment methods, or Bitcoin mit anderen Zahlungsarten kaufen as they would say in his native language of German and because of the trading that he did, it wasn’t long until his financial issues were no more. He managed to get rid of them and could live the remainder of the holidays in a much better way. Unfortunately, this doesn’t happen to everyone and they may have other pressing matters to worry about.

Some people are sad at the holidays and dread going through it, and feeling like they have to do things they really aren’t up for. Other people have family issues that can’t be avoided at get-togethers. Many us of just feel pulled in too many directions at one time. One of my friends was having a lot of stress surrounding caring for her elderly parents, who could no longer care for themselves, therefore they could try and get some in-home assistance to give her a break and enjoy her time with her parents again. There are many places that can provide this service such as Seniors Helping Seniors Baton Rouge, and help take the weight off a family member’s feet.

For whatever reason, we’re ALL going to have stress to some degree over the next couple of months. Maybe we can all help each other out by sharing some ways to tame stress since it’s such a universal experience! I’ll start us off.

• My favorite way to manage holiday stress is to plan and start early! I already mentioned that I’m doing another Christmas bake sale for the SPCA on December 14th. How can I commit three full weekends to baking, just before Christmas? It helps that I’m kuku/kookoo (how do you spell that?), but I actually started planning a week ago. The baking team has already had a meeting, and we all know pretty much what we’re baking, except for a couple of new recipes that I’m going to test-drive this week. I’m going to have all my Christmas shopping done before baking time starts, as well as all the bake sale shopping, and packaging for the bake sale goodies will be ordered this week.

How does my bit of planning translate to organizing your holiday season?

• Even though it seems way too early to start thinking about the holidays, do it now! How often do you hear yourself say that the holidays just “snuck up on you”? There’s no sneaking! Christmas comes at the same time year after year! We just haven’t planned for it!

• First of all, have a brainstorming session with yourself. Find half an hour of quiet time, and just make a rambling list of everything you can think of that you need to do between now and New Year’s Day. As more and more things come to mind later, add them to your list. Just getting thoughts out of your brain and onto paper will give you a serious chunk of peace of mind. Sign me up for some of that!

• Now go back over the Master List you brainstormed, and start making Detailed Lists. If you included “buy gifts” on your Master List, then make a Gift Idea List. List everyone you want to buy for, and then start listing any gift ideas you have. You can see where the holes are. If you have no ideas at all for Uncle Paul, then make yourself a note to call Aunt Paula to find out what Uncle Paul wants. If your list includes “send Christmas cards”, then start a separate list of the recipients, and check to see if you’re missing any addresses. Look for those addresses now, and not on December 22nd! You’ll also know how many cards to buy when you’re in the store, and won’t have to run back out for more at the last minute.

• Make yourself a notebook, folder or binder with all of your lists and keep it with you! If you work outside your home, take it with you in a tote. It doesn’t do any good to have a plan if you don’t have it available to refer to when you need to.

• Now that your lists are in the works, next get yourself a calendar going. You might like a big wipe-off calendar that can be displayed in the kitchen for everyone to see, or maybe a calendar in your planner or on your phone works bet for you. Whatever it is, start adding every party, every cookie exchange, every school function and every travel itinerary on it as you find out about them. Grill your family for all of their commitments. Update this calendar immediately as new functions are discovered. Threaten your family that failure to notify you of a commitment means they have to eat the fruitcake that’s been regifted since 1974. Or you could say that Santa will bring them a lump of coal, but that would be pretty mean. 😀

• Practice saying “no”. The reality is, you won’t be able to do everything that is asked of you for the next couple of months. It doesn’t mean you’re a bad person. You can say “no” to good things in order to say “yes” to the best things!

That’s how I get my holiday season organized, and it really seems to help me to just write things down! It’s a simple thing but it has a huge impact. You won’t wake up in the middle of the night worrying about whether you’re going to forget to bake the two dozen cupcakes for the school if you’ve already put that on the calendar.

If you have other ideas, please pass them on. Over the next few weeks, we’re going to be on a mission to find other thoughts and tips that we think might help us all enjoy this glorious season even more!

~BigSis

November 9, 2009

I saw this report on Lifehacker and thought it was pretty interesting. Some of these results are actually a bit surprising.

The majority of people polled for the past two years claim that music is their number one stress reliever. I fall into that same group but I actually combine the top two! When I need a stress buster, I put on my iPod and head out the door for a walk or a bike ride. I always feel better when I return home after a good five mile walk and some great music! I’m surprised that meditation and yoga fall so low in the survey. Yoga is another great stress buster for me.

One thing that has certainly been largely written and spoken about in regards to stress is medical marijuana, over the years, more and more people have moved towards the more natural and herbal side of relief and they have become a lot more open-minded to the idea. It has now turned into a vast business and people are being able to get the medical aid needed without having to take traditional medicines that have caused them previous issues. These companies will look at helpful tips from the best seed banks guide, as well as others, so they are giving their customers what they require. Growing marijuana is an important job, so companies do make sure they get everything right. Most companies will just use female seeds as they are believed to be better. To learn about identifying female marijuana seeds, it might be worth looking online to do some research. That will help people to understand the differences between male and female seeds. Anyway, stress can take over a life, but with the right tools, day by day, it can diminish and bring people to a happier and healthier conclusion.

Where do you fall on the stress scale? What do you do to relieve stress?

~LilSis

November 8, 2009

We’re already gearing up for our Third Annual Bake Sale, which will be held on December 14th.  This is the second year that 100% of the proceeds will go to SPCA Texas, and we’re beyond excited to get crackin’ and bakin’!  We have a lot of work ahead of us: shopping, baking, wrapping, labeling, transporting, and promoting, but we all agree that we have more fun doing this than pretty much anything else all year!

The little-baking-team-that-could this year is me, SisMama, my coworkers K and SAA, and K’s sister L.  Our goal for the one-day sale is $3000 again!  Last year, our final total was $3055, so we’re hopeful we can exceed the goal again. We’re not totally crazy though, so the goal isn’t increasing!

To help us reach our goal again for the SPCA, we could really really use your help!  We know what recipes worked for us last year – and which ones didn’t move – but we’d love to know what your favorites are.

Pretend that you went to a fund-raising bake sale at Christmas to buy cute packaged homemade gifts to give to your babysitter, hairdresser, postman, Bunco friends, kids’ teachers, kids’ friends, Secret Santas, etc.  What would you like to find?  Traditional items like gingerbread, pound cake, biscotti and sugar cookies?  Or indulgent items you might not make yourself like almond toffee, fudge, pecan pie bars, and fancy brownies?  Would you be interested in something savory like a spicy snack mix or nut blend?  Or something else altogether?

Maybe you’ve had some great success yourself with certain items at bake sales.  What works best for you?  Or maybe you have specialties that you think would be an awesome hit at a Christmas bake sale?

If you have ideas, please pass them on to us!  Thanks in advance from us – and all of the animals at the SPCA – for your suggestions!

~BigSis

November 6, 2009

How am I ever going to get through this Holiday Season without gaining a pound or two, or ten? Seriously!

I don’t even have a sweet tooth, but lately I find myself drooling, (literally) over the lavish amount of desserts featured on some of my favorite food blogs!

I’m one of those people who never thinks about making a dessert when I host a party or have friends over for dinner. (I know, I know, that’s rude.) I guess since I don’t eat dessert, I forget that for some people, dinner just isn’t complete without dessert. Now, when I have a get together, my friends and family will usually call and offer to bring the dessert. (Because they know if they don’t, then we won’t have one.) I’m going to try to work on that.

If I made a dessert every night, I’d probably be as big as a house, but I do need to treat my guys, who both have a sweet tooth, to an occasional treat. I’m also going to try some of these recipes for the holidays and maybe even surprise my friends with a dessert at our next dinner party. (They would be shocked!)

In no particular order, here are several “to die for” desserts that I can’t wait to try. If these don’t make you drool, nothing will!

• Argo Classic Cheesecake from Cookie Madness

• Upside Down Apple Pie by Noble Pig

• Oatmeal Maple Bars from Lisa is Cooking

• Coconut-Crusted Sour Cream Pound Cake from A Southern Grace

• Coffee-toffee Pecan Pie by Evil Chef Mom

• Deluxe Pumpkin Cheescake from Culinary Covers

• Vanilla Yogurt Cake with Orange Glaze from Culinary Concoctions by Peabody

• Apple Walnut Gorgonzola Rustic Tart from Simply Recipes

• All in One Holiday Bundt Cake from Baking and Boys

• Brown Sugar Pear and Cranberry Bars from Peanut Butter and Julie

• Pumpkin Swirl Brownies from The Kitchen Sink Recipes

• Blueberry Pound Cake from My Wooden Spoon

• Tunnel of Love Apple Spice Cake from Cinnamon Spice and Everything Nice

And last, but not least,

• Texas Sheet-Not Cake by BigSis

(Yeah, I know BigSisLilSis isn’t technically a food blog, but she is my sister and this is my post so I’m including her cake recipe. )

It would appear that maybe I do have a sweet tooth, after all! 🙂

Could someone please tell me how you can make such amazing, tempting desserts on a regular basis and keep from eating half of it yourself? Do you share it with neighbors, take it to work or invite a bunch of teenagers over to devour it? Or is it just plain and simple will power? I’d love to know your secret!

~LilSis

November 5, 2009

Before we went off to BlogWorld, I was on a mission to find a vegan, or at least a vegetarian, alternative to bacon since so many of us seem to be enamored with it.  I’ve actually heard of people who are vegetarian except for bacon!  I haven’t eaten bacon or any other meat product in over 15 years, but I have confessed that I do love the smoky aroma and I long for the crunchy yumminess that you get from bacon.  I just don’t want a pig to have to die for me to get my crispy-urge satisfied!

So the search continues.  One of my favorite guilty-pleasure meat analog products for years has been MorningStar Farms’ Bacon Strips.  I say “guilty-pleasure” because these guys are full of all kinds of ingredients that are hard to pronounce and identify.  If you like to fill your body with as many unprocessed foods as possible, these strips won’t be on your menu very often.

Right off the bat, they fail the vegan challenge because they contain egg whites, carrageenan and non-fat dry milk.  On the upside, they contain 60 calories per serving (2 strips, which is a pretty dinky serving), 44% less fat than pork bacon, and zero cholesterol.  So on the whole, they’re a far superior choice to pork bacon.

But, how do they taste?  The package declares that these strips have “the delicious hearty flavor of smoked veggie bacon with a crispy bite”.  I think that’s a fair claim to make; they taste pretty darn good!  I like to nuke mine on a paper towel til they’re really crispy; almost burned in spots.  I let them cool a second, then peel off the paper towel and make a faux BLT.  To be honest, I usually cook 5 or 6 slices at a time for a decent sandwich. The flavor is appropriately smoky and I get the crunch I crave.  With some good tomato, lettuce, mayo and maybe some avocado, you’ve got an excellent sandwich.

The verdict: tasty and crispy!  These strips aren’t the healthiest option in the world because of all the processing, but as an occasional treat, they aren’t a bad choice and they do satisfy a little of the bacon craving in me.  Would your meat-eating friends gobble these up and say yummy?  Probably not.  But if you’re like me and don’t want to eat pork, or just want to consume less fat, cholesterol and calories, then give these a try!  The bonus is they smell awesome while they’re nuking!

~BigSis