Archive for October, 2009

Sponge Toffee

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!

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Meringue Flowers

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!

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Grilled Mediterranean Chicken Pouches

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…)

Very cool… err, I mean.. “snygga”!

Monday, October 19th, 2009

Every 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!