      
Archive for October, 2009
Thursday, October 22nd, 2009
Sponge Toffee was one of my favorite treats as a kid. We used to get it at corner stores, farmer’s markets, and gas stations… or make it at home. I loved the contrast between the appearance (bubbles!), and the crispy texture. Whether I’d let it melt in my mouth slowly, or chomp through (and pick the sugar off my teeth for a long time afterwards!), it was just a fun food to enjoy.
As I got older, I realized that gas station sponge toffee is just *no* match for homemade. This is really easy to make, and a lot of fun for kids to watch (From a distance! Hot sugar can be dangerous!). It makes a unique holiday or hostess gift – especially when you dip the finished nuggets of toffee in melted chocolate!
(more…)
Posted in Candy, Gluten Free, Kid Favorites, Recipes | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, October 20th, 2009
Detail photography spotlight again!
This cake was from a wedding in June 2008.. but I’ve always loved the close up detail shots, so I figure it’s about time to share!
This was a really cool cake to do, just very time and labor intensive! Each individual petal was piped in meringue, baked, assembled into flowers and held together with more meringue, then re-baked!
The meringue flowers were made from around 7 different shades of white, ivory, silver, and pink. Rather than being a load of frosting flowers all over this cake.. it was frosted with brown sugar swiss meringue buttercream, then covered in these crispy meringue cookies!
Very cool.
Posted in Cakes, Photography | No Comments »
Tuesday, October 20th, 2009
My husband and I love cooking ethnic – or ethnic inspired – dishes at home. Sometimes we’ll come up with ethnic “Iron Chef” style menus, where we’ll pick some of the foundational ingredients of a certain cuisine, and mix and match them for all of our dinners that week. This recipe was as the result of one of those weeks! (more…)
Posted in Ethnic, Gluten Free, Low Carb, Main Dishes, Recipes | No Comments »
Monday, October 19th, 2009
I LOVE jambalaya! Actually, ever since a trip to New Orleans back in 2005, I have a particular affection for most cajun and creole food in general. It’s always full of flavor, and very, VERY satisfying!
This recipe makes a ton of Jambalaya. With flavoring the stock as I do, and with all of the chopping involved, it is a bit more labor intensive than the average dinner recipe. I like making a huge batch of this on a weekend, then pretty much living on it for a week or two – it makes GREAT leftovers! It freezes fairly well, but never lasts long enough to make it to the freezer (more…)
Posted in Budget Meals, Gluten Free, Main Dishes, Recipes, Seafood | No Comments »
Friday, October 16th, 2009
Weekly Recipe Roundup.
Going to start something new here!
As you may know, we have a recipe blog Here. Lately, I’ve resolved to be better about blogging in general, which gets hard where I have two of them. So, I’m going to start a weekly recipe link roundup on this blog, covering the past week’s worth of recipes. I’ll be posting this every Friday.. or at least that’s the goal.
Of course, I’m posting this FIRST one early on Monday morning, backdating it to Friday to feel better about it.. but I digress!
Here are the past week’s worth of yummy recipes posted over on our recipe blog:
Pepper Jelly
Breakfast Pizza
Sauerkraut Balls (Pyrizhky)
Brownie Frosting Recipes
Yum. Enjoy!
Posted in Weekly Recipe Roundup | No Comments »
Friday, October 16th, 2009
Growing up, this was my absolute favorite breakfast. It was a bastardized version of my grandma’s baking powder biscuits recipe, and was definitely a treat.
Though I’ve since discovered I’m allergic to wheat, I occasionally misbehave myself enough to indulge in this recipe. Nom.
(more…)
Posted in Breakfast, Kid Favorites, Recipes | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 14th, 2009
Exciting New Media Coverage!
So, I’m a little late in blogging about this.. so you may have read about it on our Facebook albums already. If you’re a fan, anyway. If you’re not, what are you waiting for? 
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On Facebook:
Celebration Generation’s Page
Celebration Generation Owner, Marie, on Facebook
Celebration Generation Gifts app
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I digress…
Anyway, a few months ago I got together with one of my favorite people, Jean from Violet’s Flowers to work on a project. We were both involved in putting together an article for an industry magazine, Flowers &. Flowers & Magazine is put out by Teleflora.
I wrote the magazine article, which was all about how to incorporate fresh flowers with high end fondant cake design. Written, of course, from the point of view of a caker.
I had an absolute blast designing and creating 4 cakes with Jean, which were then photographed by my husband, Michael from Happenstance Photography. Each cake was loosely themed around a season:
Winter: White cake with snowflakes and LED lights all over it, separated by lush blooms in shades of pink and white
Spring: Hot pink cake with flame colored tulips, kumquats, and split leaf philodendron.
Summer: Waves of white fondant wrapped around round tiers, hand painted green leaf accents, with fresh purple Vanda orchids “glued” on with frosting.
Autumn: Pale cocoa fondant, handpainted with orange-tinted cocoa. It was surrounded by a “cage” mad eof curly willow, and accented with chocolate colored fresh cymbidium orchids.
Anyway, the article came out at the beginning of October, and I’m THRILLED with it. 8 full pages, large gorgeous photos, and everything!
Check out our Facebook page for the full article!
Posted in Media Coverage, Vendors | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, October 14th, 2009
I recently obtained this recipe from my aunt, by way of my grandmother. My husband was professing his love for sauerkraut, and I recalled the sauerkraut balls that this aunt used to make around the holidays. I remembered them being really addictive little bread balls filled with sauerkraut and bacon, but couldn’t remember much past that – it had been 2 decades since I’d had one!
So, after a couple of calls, I received an email with the vague recipe. I *immediately* set about making a batch for my husband. Between the bread, kraut, and bacon, I think he was about to start foaming at the mouth if I didn’t get right on it!
Sauerkraut Balls (Pyrizhky?)
Dough:
1/2 cup warm water
1 tsp sugar
1 envelope yeast
4 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs, beaten
1 cup sour cream
Filling:
1 lb bacon, chopped
1 bag saurkraut (about 19 oz), drained
1 medium onion, chopped
Salt
Pepper
Melted butter
Prepare the dough:
Gently mix together warm water, sugar, and yeast. Allow to sit for 10 minutes.
In a large bowl, mix together flour and salt. Form a well in the middle, and pour oil, eggs, and sour cream into it. Mix
well, then add the yeasty water. Mix until everything is well incorporated, then knead lightly for 2 minutes. Place dough in
a large, greased bowl. Cover and allow to rise for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
As you are waiting for the dough to rise, prepare the filling:
Cook bacon & onions until bacon is almost cooked, but not crispy. Add saurkraut to the pan, cook and stir well until bacon fat is absorbed and everything is heated through. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Let cool.
Assemble the sauerkraut balls:
Roll dough out to an even 1/4″ thickness. Cut rounds that are between 3″-4″ in diameter.
On the center of each round, place a mound of about 1 Tbsp filling. Gather edges of the round and seal the filling in (like a drawstring bag). Roll around between your hands a bit to get a uniform spherical shape, and place on a lightly greased / sprayed baking sheet. Repeat with the rest of the dough/filling, leaving at least 2″ between dough balls.
Loosely cover cookie sheets with plastic wrap, and allow to rise another hour.
Heat oven to 350F. Remove pastic wrap from cookie sheets, bake for 25 minutes, or until golden. Remove from oven and brush liberally with melted butter.
Great served hot, fresh out of the oven, cold, or even reheated. IF they last that long.
Posted in Ethnic, Holidays, Recipes, Side Dishes, Snacks and Appetizers, Ukrainian | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 14th, 2009
In honor of our “Jacked Up Java” Brownie Mix’s big public debut, here are 2 brownie frosting recipes, as well as a great serving suggestion!
Easy Brownie Icing:
3 tbsp. butter
1/4 cup heavy cream or half and half
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 tablespoons cocoa
2-4 cups powdered sugar
Melt butter together with cream in small saucepan.
Add vanilla and cocoa to cream mixture, stir until smooth.
Gradually stir in powdered sugar until desired consistency is reached. Spread over cooled brownies.
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Mocha Brownie Icing:
3 tbsp. butter
1/2 cup heavy cream or half and half
3 Tbsp coffee beans
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 tablespoons cocoa
2-4 cups powdered sugar
Melt butter together with cream in small saucepan.
Add coffee beans. Bring to a simmer, then turn off the heat. Allow coffee beans to steep for 5-10 minutes. Strain.
Add vanilla and cocoa to cream mixture, stir until smooth.
Gradually stir in powdered sugar until desired consistency is reached. Spread over cooled brownies.
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Freestyle “Jacked Up” Rocky Road Brownies
1 package Jacked up Java Brownie Mix
4 eggs
1 cup butter, melted
Mini Marshmallows
Chocolate chips
Coffee Beans
Nuts (optional)
Prepare brownie mix according to package directions, using eggs and melted butter.
In the last 5 minutes of cooking time, remove brownies from the oven. Sprinkle mini marshmallows over the top, completely covering the surface with a single layer of marshmallowy goodness.
Sprinkle chocolate chips, coffee beans, and/or nuts over the marshmallows, using as much or as little as you’d like.
Return brownies to the oven for another 5 minutes, or until everything is melty and awesome.
If you’d like the marshmallows browned a bit, turn the broiler on for 30 seconds-2 minutes or so – keep a CLOSE EYE on it, they will burn easily.
Posted in Chocolate, Desserts, Entertaining Ideas, Great for our baking mixes, Kid Favorites, Recipes | No Comments »
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Very cool… err, I mean.. “snygga”!
Monday, October 19th, 2009Every once in awhile, I like to go through my site stats, and see where our inbound links are coming from, etc.
There are always the usual suspects – wedding directories, media articles, etc etc.. but then there are always entries that raise my eyebrows. For instance, some of the search terms used to find this site.. there are always some really weird, random terms. Always good for a laugh.
Anyway, the “.se” domain designation on this one link (http://obsessivecuteness.blogg.se/2009/july/coola-tartor.html) caught my eye, and I had to investigate!
A blog entry in Sweden! In Swedish! How exciting! Unfortunately, my Swedish is limited to a few very crude, crass phrases (Thanks, Anders!), so I had to enlist the help of a friend in Delaware. You know, I really have no idea how people got by before the internet. I digress…
Anyway, “Maria-the-sickeningly-multilingual” (that’s my jealousy coming out!) was nice enough to translate for me:
” ‘The Star wars cake comes from here (embedded link) and the
Mario cake from Celebration Generation cakes. And when my
man and I get married I also want a cool cake like these’
The comments mostly say “cool cake” and “I love the Mario
Cake”. “snygga” means “stylish” or “way cool”. ”
Awesome. “Snygga”. My new word of the day!
Posted in Commentary, Compliments | No Comments »