First Attempt At Fondant!

I know it's been a while. At least I feel like I'm not alone in this bloggy funk... As I've been surfing the blogosphere these past few months (yes, yes, I am still reading everyone! lol) I've noticed the theme of lost mojo kind of floating throughout posts, a strand tying many of us together this summer in our absence.

There was one day in particular that TWO of the people I regularly read- Issa and Mammatalk, if you wanted to know- both posted about this phenomenon. I feel semi-guilty for not posting as much as I had hoped... But then I start to think again on who this blog is really for, and I cut myself some slack. If it's been a slow two months, then it has... I'm not going to force my own hand at keeping our memories recorded. When something exciting happens, I know I'll get it in here :) In the meantime, I've decided that everyone's mojo must be off on a tropical vacation together... Speaking for myself, I know my mojo is probably in Hawaii, a place I've always wanted to go, sipping Pina Coladas and getting the tan I can never achieve on a much more gorgeous beach than we have here in New England. I've come to terms with that... I'm just hoping it's considerate enough to bring me back some kind of a tchochke or at the very least "My mojo went to Hawaii and all I got was this lousy t-shirt"...

Now then. Onwards with today's post, I suppose!

Yesterday I was watching Cake Boss- which I actually don't like as much as Ace of Cakes, but you know, that's what was on- and I decided to FINALLY try and make some fondant. I've been wanting to for a while- I love watching these types of shows and have always been amazed at how beautiful the cakes come out- but I've been a little intimidated. It just looks daunting. Rolling it out big enough? Not ripping? Getting the color right? Eeeeeek!

Last night, though, I decided to go for it! I made marshmallow fondant- for two reasons... (1) I had heard it was easier to make, and I had the ingredients on hand; and (2) I have also heard that regular fondant tastes like CRAP. This fondant tastes SUPER sweet, but at least it tastes ok.

We decided on making a strawberry shaped cake (hubby helped me with this! I can't take ALL the credit) since the cake mix I had was strawberry flavored. Yes, I used mix... I wanted to focus my energy on dealing with the fondant, not making cake from scratch. Next time perhaps :)

Here's how it ended up:

Pretty cute for a first try, I think! Will had the great idea of using the mini chocolate chips for the "seeds" on the strawberry. I learned quite a bit from this one time, and I think maybe for Illy's next birthday I'll try something with fondant now that I have attempted it once... I won't be as scared of it as I was anymore!

So, what did I learn, you ask?

(1) Fondant kneading is a WORKOUT. Eep, it took forever to mix those colors in! I think next time instead of mixing the color into the fondant after making the batch, I'll make smaller batches and drop the food coloring in while I'm mixing the batch originally. That way I don't have to mix twice... Although I'm sure it's good for your biceps, if that's what you're going for!

(2) Fondant does NOT like to be red. This color? On my strawberry? Yeah. That was about 3 different doses of the "Super Red" color, which I assume is supposed to look like a firetruck. At least, that's what it looks like on the cap. And then some brown, too, to see if that would darken the color. It didn't. I finally gave up adding color and decided I'd have a pink strawberry and live with it. In the future... Avoid reds. lol!

(3) Don't use frosting as your glue to hold things together. Or, if you do... Use very small brushes, and very small amounts. I ended up with white frosting "glue" coming out at my seams and on the top of the cake, which totally stunk! Grrr...

(4) I also had some issues with ripping- so next time, I'll keep the rolling surface very well powdered (with powdered sugar)... and also cut the fondant bigger than I need it to be. I had a couple areas that didn't look so neat on the edges because the fondant wasn't big enough to "wrap" around the bottom of the cake.

That's all. I have to say, I am proud of myself! It's not perfect, but for a first try... At least it's recognizable as a strawberry! :D

(B)apple Streusel Cheesecake Bars

I'm telling you. These will KNOCK your SOCKS off. Sooo good.

I'm not one to post recipes to my blog often. However, I am one to delight in making people happy through food. And these bars will make you and your family very happy. Unless, of course, you're trying to diet- in which case, you will be very UNhappy to find that you cannot walk by the fridge without sneaking a bite. I know this from experience.

It's a Betty Crocker recipe, (a 2007 prize winning recipe, to boot!) and you can find it on their website, too. But just to make things easy, I'm posting it here and encouraging you to make it, ESPECIALLY if you have gone apple picking like us and need a good way to use some up.

Instead of using the canned apple pie filling like it calls for, I used real apples. I would highly recommend you do this, even though I haven't tried it with the canned filling... I think canned filling is both worse for you and lacks a lot of the taste that real apples have. It's worth the extra work to use real. Here's what I did:

I peeled, cored, and sliced thin (into about 1/16ths) about 12-14 small apples, then tossed them in 3/4 cup of sugar and 1 tsp ground cinnamon. I brought a splash of apple cider to a boil and then threw in the cinnamon sugar apples and stirred for about 20 mins, or just until the apples were starting to tenderize. I know this isn't very exact, but I did it on the fly, and it worked. You don't need to cook the apples all the way through on top of the stove, because you're going to bake them in the dessert- you just don't want them to be crunchy when you get them out. Don't worry- apples are hard to ruin.

I also used chopped hazelnuts instead of walnuts- just cuz I don't like walnuts, and I'm the Momma, and I'm the one who made them. :) Oh, and neufchatel cheese instead of cream cheese. Because it has 1/3 less fat. And I think this recipe had plenty of fat without the real cream cheese, thankyouverymuch. It didn't change the texture at all, so don't be hesitant to do this if you want! It will lower the guilt level of these treats :P

And here's the rest of the recipe:

1	pouch (1 lb 1.5 oz) Betty Crocker® oatmeal cookie mix
1/2	cup firm butter or margarine
2	packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened
1/2	cup sugar
2	tablespoons all-purpose flour
1	teaspoon vanilla
1	egg
1	can (21 oz) apple pie filling
1/2	teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4	cup chopped walnuts

1.	Heat oven to 350°F. Spray bottom and sides of 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray.
	Place cookie mix in large bowl. With pastry blender or fork, cut in butter until mixture is crumbly and coarse. Reserve 1 1/2 cups crumb mixture; press remaining crumbs in bottom of pan. Bake 10 minutes.
2.	Meanwhile, in large bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar, flour, vanilla and egg with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth.
3.	Spread cream cheese mixture evenly over partially baked crust. In medium bowl, mix pie filling and cinnamon. Spoon evenly over cream cheese mixture. Sprinkle reserved crumbs over top. Sprinkle with walnuts.
4.	Bake 35 to 40 minutes longer or until light golden brown. Cool about 30 minutes. Refrigerate to chill, about 2 hours. For bars, cut into 6 rows by 4 rows. Store covered in refrigerator.
High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): Bake 40 to 45 minutes.

I'm not putting the nutrition information for obvious reasons. If you REALLY want to know, head on over to Betty Crocker and find out for yourself. But don't say I didn't warn you- things that taste so good are never quite as good for your butt. :P

Food, food and more food!

Will and I have really been getting into cooking in the past year or two... We figure no matter what, we have to eat, so why not enjoy cooking together and make it the best we can? Now that Bendy is getting a little older, I hope to be able to expose her to a lot of new tastes and types of cuisine, and teach her a love of all foods yummy! She's getting to the point now where she is really curious about our foods and always wants bites, so I'm excited to see her getting ready to be eating our dinners too like a big girl!

Many of you have probably heard of this site, but if you haven't and you like to cook (or even if you don't, because it has handy tips and easy recipes and reviews from other users to help you out) DEFINITELY check out ALLRECIPES. They are so user-friendly and free too! You can save your favorite recipes, add your own for review and placement on the site, and search by nearly anything you'd like: ingredient, dish type (appetizer, entree, etc), or name, just to name a few. On top of that, they always have cute ideas for holidays- not just food ideas, but decorating and crafty things too. I found the BEST recipe for pizza dough, and now I never buy those pre-mixed dough packs in the store- they just don't taste as fresh and they don't rise up as well-and I always rag on Will now when he wants to order... With making it at home being so easy, who wants to waste the twenty bucks?

Another food comment of note: Buy a crockpot/ slow cooker. They ROCK! Most stay-at-home Moms already know this trick... You can throw 5 ingredients in there in the morning, and come home to a nice, hot, delicious meal with a bonus- everyone can eat when they feel like it, and it will still be just as good for the last person (if not better! longer time=yummier with the crock!) as for the first. I bought one for my cousin who had just gotten his first apartment last Christmas, and I've had many thanks from him and his girlfriend already. You would really be amazed at HOW MANY things you can make in a slow cooker- not just the go-to beef stews, chilis, and pulled pork. You can make delicious desserts, scrumptious sauces, delectable dips, and appealing appetizers too. One of my favorite recipe sites for slow cooker stuff is Southern Food on About. But there are plenty of other sites out there, too! If you know of any good ones, feel free to post 'em, I'd love to check them out!

All this talk of food has made me hungry... Time for lunch I guess! Happy eating!