Remember back when I debuted the photos of our finished bathroom renovation, with Fibonacci sequence tiled into the main wall, and a few digits of pi tiled behind the toilet? It was a last minute design idea, and it was to be a subtle, small nod to our nerdiness.

Well, one thing led to another… and now we have 159 digits of pi tiled into our kitchen backsplash. If you follow me on Twitter, you’re probably sick of hearing about it by now… but I not only have the final photos, I have a tutorial on how to do it yourself! Now, I know we went sort of nuts with the pi day celebrations last year… but this really takes it to a whole new level. We’re happy to have this in place in time for this year’s party, but… damn. No idea how we’ll top this for Pi day 2013. Or, you know, 2015, when we should really go all out! (3/14/15!)

I guess the one good thing about getting your house destroyed by a tornado is that it forces you to get off your butt, make a bunch of design decisions and actually DO renovations on the house, rather than just talk about “someday, it would be cool if…”.

We still have quite a ways to go, but the house really is looking great. We won’t have cabinet faces and doors for a WHILE – still waiting for the lumber we had milled to be properly dried, so we can build all that. Oh well. I think the fact that the black walnut that destroyed our kitchen is being used to rebuild it is badass enough to be worth the wait! Anyway…

Now, I realize that the odds of anyone else tiling pi into their kitchen is fairly slim… but this tutorial is also good for anyone who wants to put in a new backsplash, but with a personal twist. The photos and specifics here are for pi, but the principles can apply to any design you can think up, with 2″ x 2″ tiles.

For instance..

- Using two favorite colors to create a custom checkerboard design, should you not be happy with the small amount of pre-fab options out there.

- If you look at the tiles as “pixels”, you can do pretty much anything you can come up with that is 9-10 squares tall, by however long you want.

- Tetris!

- Music fans or musicians could make an amazing “equalizer” type design!

I can’t tell you how rewarding it is to look at a finished, completely custom backsplash, and know that it is YOURS… and it wasn’t the difficult! On to the tutorial….

Decide on your design and color scheme. For us, we wanted to tile as many digits of pi as would fit around the areas requiring backsplash. The counters were a green granite, so we wanted the matching green granite 2″ tiles to extend upward from the counter, each vertical bar representing a digit of pi. The void space above each digits bar would be a contrasting color tile – we finally settled on a sand colored travertine tile.

Measure the area of your backsplash, both the total length, and the approximate height. Use this information to calculate how many tiles you will need. Buy em. Try not to have a heart attack at the price.

Cut one of the pieces of tile mesh – usually 6 tiles by 6 tiles, glued to a mesh backer – and use it to measure out where everything will be going. Start at the edge of wall you want your design to begin, make a tck on the wall between each tile. When you come to the end of one row, make a tick at the edge of the final tile, and reposition the strip to allow for the appropriate space in between – 1/8″, in this case.

When you come to corners, figure out how you want the tile to lay, and account for that when making your ticks.

Due to the nature of our design, I numbered each tile space, so I’d know which digits of pi went where. (Not the digits themselves, just the digit position.).

Write those down! For instance, the wall to the left of our stove would be 1-27 digits of pi, the center back wall would be digits 28-47, and so on.

I transferred the digist positions – as well as the actual digits that will be represented – into a table, along with any notes I felt I needed about the locations.

I created another document where I not only listed the digits that would be on each wall, in order – I counted the number of times each digit showed up in that wall area, and created a chart.

For our purposes, our main design was 9 blocks tall. 1 green tile = “1″, two tiles = “2″, and so on. No greens = “0″. Once I inputted the needs for green tiles, I figured out how many beige tiles I would need to complement. If I had five “Ones” in green, I would need five “Eights” in beige, etc.

Using the chart above, I cut and prepared strips of tiles. Be sure to cut the extra mesh from either side of the tiles, as leaving it there can lead to thicker grout lines. (Tiles for the long counter – 3rd large block of pi – are what’s pictured… NOT the “behind the stove” beginning digits mentioned in the above charts!)

Paper off your work area to protect your counter top.

If your walls are smooth (ours were freshly painted, brand new walls!), scuff them up with a sander, so that the tile adhesive will actually stick to it.

Before mixing up your adhesive (or opening your tub of pre-made!), lay out your tools. We used tiles, tile spacers, a level, and paper towels.

Use a 1/4″ notched trowel to apply tile adhesive to your work surface. Apply it to cover your work space top to bottom, but only a few feet at a time, across the horizontal. You’ll be adding your columns one at a time.

Starting at one side of your work area, apply your first “digit” of pi, with it’s complementing strip of lighter tiles above it. Use tile spacers between the two strips – any tiles that are attached to a strip should remain spaced out automatically.

Use a level to check that your strip is perfectly upright, then lay the next column. You can use spacers between your vertical columns – we mostly eyeballed that.

Continue working along your adhesive-prepared workspace, adding more mortar as needed.

Carefully lay your tiles around any outlets that may be present. We removed all face plates before getting started, and loosened the screwed enough to be able to slip tiles behind each tab. We were lucky that we didn’t have to do much in the way of cutting – but a wet tile saw makes quick work of any cuts that need to be done.

Allow backsplash to dry for 24 hours, leaving all tile spacers in place.

Remove all tile spacers. If there are any globs of mortar sticking out anywhere, use a chisel to carefully remove them.

Wash backsplash, allow to dry. If using granite or another natural stone (rather than glass), apply sealer, following manufacturer’s directions. Allow to dry for 24 hours.

Grout the backsplash.

Sit back and enjoy your work, nerd!

We haven’t had the use of the dishwasher since May’s tornado – it’s been used to store the glassware ever since! We’ve been living off takeout. While my access to the kitchen has been sporadic at best, my brain hasn’t taken a break, so I’ve had this LONG list of ideas and theoretical recipes brewing, with no ability to do anything about it, short of write them down. I tell you, working through those ideas on paper, while being stuck with months crappy fast food? Torture.

One of the things I wanted to make this whole time was a proper tourtiere (“tortiere”, for some). It’s a French Canadian meat pie, and it’s soooo good when made properly. Also, as part of the planning process, I worked on a gluten free pastry crust that wouldn’t make me grieve for my inability to eat wheat.

I did it! Yesterday was my first day with the new kitchen, so I rolled out of bed and almost immediately went to buy groceries. With 3 items I wanted to make, Tourtiere was to be made in the afternoon, closer to suppertime. Couldn’t handle it, dug in to the preparation right away! I tell ya, the filling, as it’s cooking, smells amazing on the best of days. All those fresh veggies, herbs… yum. To someone who’s eaten more Wendy’s takeout in the past few months than anyone should have to in a lifetime? Absolutely amazing.

The crust also turned out extremely well – you’d never peg it as being a gluten free crust. Very rich and flaky! Oh, so good. I just had some leftovers for breakfast – this recipe is definitely a winner!

Oh, and if you want to make a regular, non-gluten free version? Just swap out the crust for your favorite double-crust recipe, or premade dough.

Tourtiere Recipe

1 lb ground pork
1 lb ground beef
1 small onion, finely chopped
4 ribs celery, finely chopped
2 carrots, grated
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
2 large potatoes, peeled and cut into ~ 1/3″ cubes
1-2 Tbsp dried savory
2-3 tsp pepper
2 bay leaves
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cloves
2 cups milk
1 1/2 cups broth

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 (8oz) brick cream cheese, softened
2 3/4 cups all purpose Gluten Free flour
1/4 cup corn starch

1 egg
1 Tbsp cold water

Combine meats, vegetables, and seasonings together in a large pan or pot, stirring until everything is relatively uniform. Add the milk and the broth, stirring once again.

Bring mixture to a boil, then turn the heat down to medium and simmer – stirring often – until the liquid has cooked off, and the meat has broken down almost to a paste. This should take about an hour, give or take. Once it’s ready, remove from heat and cool to room temperature.

Beat butter and cream cheese until well mixed and soft. Slowly add flour and corn starch. Once all flour is added, turn out and knead until well incorporated and smooth. Form a disk, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for about 30 mins.

Preheat oven to 425 F

Divide dough into 2 parts – one slightly bigger than the other. Roll the bigger section out , use it to line a deep-dish pie pan – carefully working it into the corners. Fill pie pan with meat filling, spreading it into the corners and mounding it in the center.

Roll out the second part of dough, cover the pie filling. Crimp the edges as desired, poke a couple of slits in it. If desired, roll any extra dough very thin, cut into shapes, and apply to the crust for decoration. Whisk together egg and water, brush over the entire tri

Whisk the egg together with water, use a pastry brush to coat the entire crust with a thin wash of this glaze.

Bake at 30-40 minutes until crust is golden brown, serve warm or cold.

While I’d originally planned to have a few guest bloggers while my kitchen was incapacitated (an idea that came FAR too late in the game, LOL!), consider me inspired – I’m going to try and make this guest bloggers thing a regular thing. As I find Wednesdays to be the BEST day of the week, I figured it’d be the most appropriate day to spread some awesome!

I figure that I should start off this post with an introduction. Hi, I’m Katrina. I usually post over at Kitchen Trials. That should pretty much cut it right? We are all here for the food after all. I’m going to help out Marie with a little guest post while she gets her fabulous kitchen finished. Lucky Marie! I’m sharing my recipe for Roasted Butternut Squash Ravioli. Take a look at this baby!

This is a really great recipe, and with Valentine’s Day just around the corner (how did that happen so quickly), it could just be the perfect meal to impress someone with. It’s takes a little (lot) of time, but I promise you, it is so worth it. Every bite you take, from the first to the last, will scream: this was worth it!

There are a couple of things that you can do ahead of time to make it a lot easier on you though, which I highly recommend. The day I decided to give it a go I was pretty much in the kitchen all day. I’m a quick learner though, so I soon figured out that the filling, pasta dough, and roma tomato sauce can all be made a day ahead and just stored in the fridge. I can’t stress enough that you should really consider doing this. I had this meal two days in a row (I made a lot of it), and there was absolutely no difference in taste. All I had to actually prepare the second day was the ravioli.

If you’re wondering where the inspiration came from for the dish, I can’t take any credit. There’s a restaurant here in Canada called Milestones that makes a butternut squash ravioli which I love. A second restaurant, East Side Mario’s, also made a version of it (which is now gone from their menu). I took all the things I loved from both and gave it a go. Don’t tell them, but I think this one wins (and I’m not biased at all).

Roasted Butternut Squash Ravioli
Total Time: 2 hours, Make 8 servings

3 tbsp butter
½ cup minced shallots
3 cups butternut squash puree (1 large squash)
salt
pepper
½ cup + 1 tbsp heavy cream
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
½ tsp nutmeg

1 batch Fresh egg pasta*
1 egg, beaten

1 batch Roma tomato sauce
Candied pecans (directions below)

2 tbsp butter
chevre cheese for garnish, crumbled
toasted candied spiced pecans for garnish
fresh basil chiffonade for garnish

* When you make the egg pasta, use only all-purpose flour for ravioli. It makes a smoother dough when you need it to be very thin.

First off, we’ve got to make the filling.

Split a butternut squash right down the middle and get out all the seeds. Drizzle with some extra virgin olive oil, sprinkle with some kosher salt, then roast at 400ºF for 45 minutes to an hour. It depends on the size of the squash, so just keep your eye on it. You’re looking for it to be nice and soft all the way though, and just starting to brown on the top. Once it’s cooled, peel off the skin and throw the flesh in a bowl; give it a quick beat with your mixer until it’s nice and smooth.

Pre-roasted squash pictured, I forgot to take one when it came out of the oven. I forget a lot of things most days.

Now, put some butter in a large skillet and leave it until it just starts to brown (this will be just after it goes foamy). Add some shallots and cook for about a minute, until softened. Add the squash and cook for about 3 minutes until it starts to dry up a bit.

Wet squash:

Dry squash, 3 minutes later:

Stir in the salt, pepper, and heavy cream. Cook for about two minutes.

Turn off the heat and stir in the parmesan cheese. Phew, the filling is done! Now, let it cool then put it in the fridge until tomorrow because you took my advice and you’re not making it all in one day!

Ok, now it’s time to make the ravioli. Here’s a link to the pasta dough that I make (it whips up in a food processor in mere seconds!a). I use 100% all-purpose flour for the ravioli though, so replace the semolina flour with all-purpose. The key to great ravioli is getting it paper thin (if you can see through it you’ve got something incredible happening), and semolina flour is just a bit to course for this.

Roll out the dough to the thinnest setting on your pasta roller. If you’re doing this with a rolling pin, please know that I’m admiring your forearms from here. Lay out your first nice, long, strip of pasta on your counter. Put your filling in a piping bag or zip-lock bag with the corner cut out, and pipe a tablespoon of filling every few inches. Also, ignore the mess on the island. I’ll lie and say is doesn’t always look like this to some degree.

Brush some beaten egg around the edge of the pasta, including between all of the filling. This is going to help it stick together. Then, fold the bottom of the pasta up over the filling. Use your fingers to press as much of the air out from around the filling as you can. This is a really important step because it stops the ravioli from exploding while boiling. Then, use a round cookie cutter to cut the individual raviolis out.

Give all the edges a good pinch to make sure they’re well sealed. Now, isn’t that a nice looking ravioli!

Add the ravioli to some boiling, lightly salted, water and cook for just a couple of minutes. When they float, they’re done.

In a large skillet, get some butter browned again, then throw in the cooked ravioli and lightly fry. You just want a kiss of colour added to them. This adds a nice hit of nuttiness and a bit more texture to the ravioli.

Here’s how I plate it: Put the pasta in a row down the center of a large plate. Top with a row of chunky roma tomato sauce. Sprinkle on some candied pecans, chèvre goat cheese chunks and fresh basil chiffonade. Unless you’ve got a nut allergy or something, I really wouldn’t leave anything out. It’s all the little pieces that come together to make this dish outstanding.

Candied Pecans:

Throw a handful of pecan pieces in a small skillet over medium heat and toast until they smell nice and fragrant. Stir them fairly frequently to prevent them from burning. At the end, add a sprinkling of white sugar and a dash of cinnamon. Stir until the sugar has dissolved and just kind of melted into the nuts.

I haven’t had a functional kitchen since we bought this house, a year ago. The kitchen, as we bought it, was only barely functional – you may have seen the “before” pictures and description on twitter. Don’t worry, I’ll be posting the awful “befores” when I can finally post the “afters”!

This weekend is all about building the cabinetry to surround the slide-in oven, which has been free-standing since we moved in. By Monday, I should not only have the base cabinets, but tiled counter AND backsplash there, also. *CANNOT WAIT*. I’m not being facetious there, either. We’ve been discussing all of the great foods I haven’t been able to make in a long time, as well as the recipes I’ve been mentally designing ever since losing my kitchen. All of this takeout food… ugh.

So, we went to the store to pick up groceries for the first couple of meals I’ll be able to make, and I used one of my new counters – and my freshly-installed sink area! – to make Cod au Gratin on Friday night. Aw yeah. Cod au Gratin is a traditional Newfoundland dish, and one of my all time favorites. Generally speaking, it consists of cod, Béchamel sauce, and cheese / bread crumbs on top… but – of course – I started bastardizing it the first time I made it. Béchamel because a hearty cheese sauce, filled with tons of sharp cheddar. I’ve made this with dill, with asparagus, with bacon, and with other seafood involved. It’s just one of those recipes that I make by “feel”, and I’ve never written down measurements or anything as I’ve gone. Til now.

This version is for a good base cod au gratin – there’s a lot more going on in it than the basic, traditional recipe – but that’s how I like it. This version uses a lot of my favorite flavors to combine with fish – lemon, parsley, garlic, onions. Feel free to add or substitute items as you like… dill instead of parsley. Add some veggies. Change the cheese. Top with buttered bread crumbs or smashed potato chips… it’s a very versatile recipe!

Note: Yep, I’ve made this gluten free, because I’m self serving like that If you’re a purist, feel free to start this with a Béchamel sauce, rather than my milk-and-cornstarch base!

Cod Au Gratin

4 lbs boneless cod loins*
1/4 cup corn starch
4 cups milk
3 Tbsp prepared Dijon mustard
2 tsp minced garlic
1 small onion, finely chopped
Zest of 1 lemon
1/3-1/2 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
Salt
Pepper
2 cups shredded white cheddar
1 1/4 cup freshly shredded Parmesan or Asiago cheese

Preheat oven to 350.

Cut cod into 1″ pieces, arrange in a 9×13″ baking pan. Set aside.

In a medium sauce pan, whisk cornstarch with 1 cup of milk, until smooth and no lumps remain (floating, or stuck to the bottom edges of the pan. Add remaining milk, mustard, garlic, and onions, whisk till well incorporated. Heat over medium, until steaming.

Once sauce mixture starts to thicken, add lemon zest, parsley, and 1 1/2 cups of white cheddar cheese, stirring until thick and smooth. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Pour sauce over fish, stirring to coat and distribute evenly. Scatter remaining white cheddar cheese across the top of the fish mixture, followed by all of the Parmesan.

Bake – uncovered- for about 1 hour, or until fish is cooked through, and sauce is bubbly. Serve hot.

Makes 8-12 servings

* If using frozen fish, partially thaw it, cut it, then allow it to fully thaw and DRAIN before putting it in the baking pan.

It was actually a last minute substitution for the original photo we’d planned for the cover… while our “Citrus Splendor” cake is gorgeous – and super delicious! – it just lacked the “ominous” and “evil!” look I was aiming for, for this cover. B052 cake, on the other hand, did NOT disappoint. Look at these photos. That cake is leering at you, just daring you to make it! B-52 cake was a favorite from my cake flavors menu back in the day, and was actually a fairly popular choice for wedding and groom cakes. It’s something that anyone can make, but it definitely involves a bit more time, effort, and dirty dishes than many of the other cake recipes on this blog, and in Evil Cake Overlord.

The ambitious will be rewarded for their efforts though – this cake is stunning both to the eyes AND the mouth! Alternating layers of blood orange and mocha cake are filled with alternating layers of Irish cream buttercream and Blood Orange chocolate truffle ganache!

Give it a go… and be sure to send us pictures!

B-52 Cake

3 cups Cake flour
2 1/4 cups Sugar
2 Tbsp Baking powder
1 1/2 tsp Salt
3 1/2 oz box Instant vanilla pudding mix
6 Eggs
1 1/2 cups Butter, melted
3/4 cup Water
2-3 tsp Blood orange essential oil
Orange food coloring, optional
1/4 cup Cocoa
3/4 cup Strong brewed coffee

1 recipe Milk chocolate whipped ganache
2 tsp Blood orange essential oil

1 batch Swiss meringue buttercream
1/4 cup Bailey’s Irish Cream

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Liberally grease two 8″ round cake pans with vegetable shortening, and/or spray with baking spray.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and pudding mix in a large mixing bowl. Add in eggs, beating just until smooth. Carefully add melted butter to the batter, mixing on medium speed until smooth. Divide batter evenly into two bowls. Add water and blood orange essential oil to one bowl, beating until well incorporated and smooth. Taste, adding more blood orange essential oil if desired. Tint orange, if desired. Add cocoa powder to second bowl, stirring until evenly distributed. Add coffee, beat once more until fully incorporated and smooth.

Divide batter among prepared cake pans, one flavor per pan. Bake until golden and knife inserted into center of batter comes out clean and cake springs back – about 45-60 minutes. Allow to cool 10-15 minutes before turning cakes out onto baking rack to cool fully. Ideally, allow to cool to room temperature, wrap tightly with plastic wrap. Allow cake to sit overnight.

Prepare a batch of milk chocolate whipped ganache, flavoring the whipped cream – while heating – with blood orange essential oil.

Prepare Swiss meringue buttercream, flavoring it with Bailey’s instead of the vanilla.

To assemble cake:

Remove plastic wrap from cake layers. Carefully slice the domed top off each round, leveling the surface of the cake. Carefully cut each cake in half, horizontally, for 4 thin rounds of cake in all.

Place one round of orange cake on cake plate, spread with ganache. Top with a round of mocha cake, spread with buttercream. Top with second round of orange cake. Spread with a final layer of ganache, and top with remaining layer of mocha cake. Frost sides and top of cake with remaining buttercream. Serve at room temperature.

Note: This cake gets VERY hard when chilled. Always serve cakes at room temperature! Cold cake is DRY cake.

Now, I may not be directly in the wedding industry anymore, but I’m still on a lot of mailing lists – too lazy to get myself removed. Plus, sometimes there are nuggets of entertainment in there. The wedding industry, when watched as a former member, is probably something akin to the sleeziest reality show out there. You know it’s gross, lowest-common-denominator at times, and that a lot of the characters are just loathesome… but it appeals to some twisted voyeuristic (schadenfreude?) section of the brain. I do enjoy when friends behind those “enemy lines” keep me up to date on the current gossip in the local industry, LOL.

Anyway.

This particular publication was loudly declaring that “vintage big-top circus” is going to be HUGE as a wedding theme this year. I wish I could include the photo that’s attached to the article, but I’d rather not get DMCA’d over it. Let me describe:

Bride is wearing some sort of bustier costume. The bodice is completely obscured by a large, red bouquet of… fluff. Probably ostrich feathers. The skirt is a lime green and fuschia tutu – very short – with black fishnets and knee-high boots. The groom is in a “ring master” costume, with a pink-and-purple clad clown standing next to him, complete with a huge, bright orange wig. Next to the bride – but seated – is a fushia wigged clown. Behind them, there are balloon arches in red, yellow, green, and blue…. while the aisle leading up to them is adorned in fuschia, lime green, and orange bows.

It’s an incredibly disturbing photo, on many levels. (I personally think that the mixing of primary-plus-green colored balloons with those bows is the biggest crime).

On its own, I could see this as being a pretty badass wedding, and unique theme for a wedding – for a special type of couple. It would REALLY need to fit the couple and their friends though, for it to not be a complete joke.

However, this is being used alongside an industry article about wedding trends… one that has just proclaimed “big top circus” to be a major theme for the coming year.

Wedding consultant Candice Benson is the person quoted about the circus theme trend, and the article goes on to say:

She advises that the themes will be carried out thoughout the invitations, décor, florals and stationery.

… and therein lies the rub.

Brides, grooms, and anyone involved with planning a wedding (who is not getting paid to do so!): Please, for the love of all things holy… do NOT ever trust when something is being marketed as a wedding trend. The key word here is “marketed”.

You know how a wedding “trend” starts? Someone in the industry thinks of something they’d like to do – a color they don’t work with as often as they like, a flower they don’t get the opportunity to use often, etc. In the worst cases, it’s when a vendor overpurchases something, and wants to offload it. Call it the next big thing, and there you go!

The thing is, working in the wedding industry can get very, very stale – but you won’t hear that from the people currently working in it. Truth is, photographers are asked to do the same photos over and over. Cake people get the same requests, ad nauseum. Florists get sick of preparing the same flower for a huge portion of the weddings they get. It gets boring.

So, I can understand why there is the desire to start something COOL trending. Hell, I once wrote about my own dream trend for wedding cakes… but that was just it – it was my dream trend. Has it gotten trendy? Nope. Ah well.

Had I been a less scrupulous industry member, however… a “trend” could have been born pretty quickly. Wedding magazines, in particular, have a lot of power to drive the dream trends of their advertisers… and they do.

You know what? I bet it would be an awful lot of fun to work on a “vintage big-top circus wedding”. Colors, entertainers, getting to do all kinds of fun things that wedding pros don’t get a lot of chance to normally… really getting to flex some creative muscle? Hell yes. We ALL love that.

Do I see couples, en masse, suddenly deciding that what they have ALWAYS WANTED for their wedding is a bunch of creepy clowns? Developing a sudden love for balloon decor? Hell no.

However, it could come to pass that circuses are a somewhat popular theme this year, as this has now been published as fact. As an industry publication, this goes out to various different types of wedding vendors around the country – and the world. The seed has been planted. The juices are flowing. The next time a couple sits with a wedding planner and says they’d like “vibrant colors”, it’s not altogether impossible that the planner will rave about how circuses are the next big thing.

And so it goes.

If you have always dreamed about having a circus wedding – or a wedding that happens to follow whatever crazy “trend” the industry starts reporting on – by all means, go NUTS with it. Weddings that are personal to the couple and go crazy with the unique details are usually the best, most fun, and memorable weddings out there.

Just remember, as I mentioned in this older blog entry: Taffeta was trendy once, as were butt-bows and huge pouffy sleeves.

The industry is a well oiled, incredibly manipulative engine – and it has been for a very long time. While their “trends” govern things like how available your choice of bridesmaid dress color is – it should never goad someone into having clowns at their wedding!

I mean, really.

My third cookbook should have been coming out right about now… but it was backburnered when we were hit by the tornado just over 8 months ago. Given that I still don’t have a functional kitchen (1 week to go!)… it was a good decision.

Anyway, given the subject matter of the book – greasy, cheesy, deep fried, baconny “Guy Food”… all of this talk about Superbowl Party food has me a little sad for what could have been, you know? Ah well.. next year!

I’m not one to wallow, so I went through all of my past blog posts and culled the absolute best recipes for sporting event parties – all linked here (click on the photos)! Appetizers, Main Dishes, and Sweet Treats.

Hope you all find some great inspiration here, and have a fun party!

PS: Be sure to take a photo of anything that you make from our recipes, and post it to our Facebook page! We love seeing what you come up with!

Now, on to the recipes…

Cheesy Mushroom Turnovers	How to Make Proper Queso Dip	Jalapeno Popper Stuffed Pretzels
Poutine – The Way *I* Do It!	Sauerkraut Balls	Reuben Poppers

Muffaletta	Jamaican Beef Patties	Perogie Pizza
Scotch Egg Meatloaf	Peppery Chili	Chicken, Shrimp, & Sausage Jambalaya

Midwest Goes Southwest Hotdish

Sweet Treats

Clodhoppers Candy	“Game Day” Fruity Glazed Popcorn	Jalapeno Beer Peanut Brittle
Hop Flavored Dark Chocolate Truffles	Jalapeno Beer Baklava	Hop Flavored Beer Lollipops
Cookies N Cream Cake	Spumoni Cake	Tiger Tail Cake
Double Chocolate Walnut Brownies	Sponge Toffee	Banana Walnut Brittle

Lynchburg Lemonade Cupcakes

Frozen Buttercream Transfers

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]]> http://www.celebrationgeneration.com/blog/2012/01/24/massive-post-of-super-bowl-party-food-inspiration/feed/ 1 http://www.celebrationgeneration.com/blog/2012/01/23/free-crochet-pattern-1-up-mushroom-baby-hat/ http://www.celebrationgeneration.com/blog/2012/01/23/free-crochet-pattern-1-up-mushroom-baby-hat/#comments Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:47:57 +0000 admin http://www.celebrationgeneration.com/blog/?p=2695 Still without an at-all functional kitchen (not so much as a sink hooked up, at this point!), let’s go for something completely different today!

This weekend marked a first for me – attending a baby shower. I tend to meet friends after they’ve finished spawning, and my younger friends tend to be happily childfree. The opportunity to attend such a shindig just hasn’t come around.

Not that I really minded, btw. From what I’ve heard (Games involving melting chocolate bars into diapers and “identifying the poopie”, for instance)… they sound sort of horrible. I’m not a huge fan of anklebiters in general (though I’m sure yours are awesome, dear readers!), and I’m not the type whose uterus shudders with delight at the idea of teeny tiny socks.

Yep, sometimes I just fail at being a girl! Haha!

Jenni, however, is awesome. Awesome person (I mean, she’s a librarian… I’ve yet to meet a less-than-awesome one of THOSE), total geek… one of the very first friends I met through Convergence. Love her!

Still, I was super stressed out about attending. After looking up her registry, the idea of shopping at “Babies R Us” terrified me. I don’t know what ANY of that stuff was for, but it mostly looked… tremendously unsettling. LOL. Yep, I was gonna have to wing it, and make something. Besides, making something meant no risk of duplication of gifts, right?

In honor of the geeked-out beginning of our friendship (and the guest list for the shower!), I decided that I would crochet some baby hats based on “random fandom” – 4 hats in total. This one – for a Super Mario Brothers inspired baby beret – was my favorite of the lot. I’d like to show you how I made it! Now, a bit of a caveat: I learned to crochet when I was a little kid, and I crochet like I cook. I decide what I want to make, pick up a needle, and just… do it. I’m not a recipe/pattern kind of person. I don’t know what “guage” I used, I just did it.

Not only do I not USE crochet patterns/instructions, I’ve never written them out for anyone else, in my LIFE. First time, babay! SO… I hope this set of instructions is ok. I’m sure it doesn’t really follow proper formating or whatever, but hopefully it’s easy enough to understand for those who already crochet! It’s about the right size for a newborn, but feel free to play with needle size / number of stitches or rows to make it bigger or smaller as needed.

Also, if you DO make one of these… be sure to send me a picture! Either email or post to the Celebration Generation Facebook page – I’d love to see it!

By the way – True to form, Jenni’s shower was nothing like the nightmare events I’d heard of, and everyone had a good time. It was really touching to be there as the gender of her baby was revealed, by cutting into a specially made cake. When she found out – along with the rest of us – that she was having a girl, Jenni cried tears of happiness!

“1 Up” Mushroom Baby Beret – Free crochet pattern

Emerald green colored yarn
Light tan colored yarn
White colored yarn
Black yarn

Size G crochet hook

Hat

This works its way down from the top of the hat

Using green yarn, chain 2.

Round 1: 15 Double Crochet (dc) into the second chain from the hook. Join final dc with a slip stitch (sl st) into the top of the first dc.

Round 2: Chain (ch) 2, 2 dc in the next stitch, 1 dc in the following. Work around the entire round that way – 2 dc in one stitch, 1 dc in the next. Join final stitch to top of beginning chain with a sl st.

Round 3:. Ch 2, 2 dc in next stitch, 1 dc in each of the next 2 stitches. Work around the entire round that way – 2 dc in one stitch, 1 dc in each of the next two. Join final stitch to top of beginning chain with a sl st.

Round 4: Ch 2, 2 dc in next stitch, 1 dc in each of the next 3 stitches. Work around the entire round that way – 2 dc in one stitch, 1 dc in each of the next three. Join final stitch to top of beginning chain with a sl st.

Round 5 and 6: Repeat Round 4

Round 7: Ch 2, 1 dc in each of the next two stitches. Use a decrease dc stitch for the next two stitches (to make one stitch of the two). Work around the entire round that way – 1 dc in each of three stitches, then join the next two stitches into a single, decreased dc. Join final stitch to top of beginning chain with a sl st.

Round 8: Repeat Round 7

Round 9: Ch 2, 1 dc in each stitch the whole way around. Join final stitch to top of beginning chain with a sl st.

Round 10: Switch to light tan colored yarn. Ch 2, 1 dc in each stitch the whole way around. Join final stitch to top of beginning chain with a sl st.

Rounds 11 and 12: Repeat round 10, continuing to use the tan colored yarn.

Round 13: 1 Single crochet (sc) in each stitle the whole way around. Join final stitch to top of beginning chain with a sl st, tie off.

Use a yarn needle to finish off all hanging ends of yarn.

—

Eyes (Make 2):

Using black yarn, ch 6. Work 1 sc into each chain. Tie off.

—

Large dots (Make 3):

Using white yarn, chain 2.

Round 1: 15 Double Crochet (dc) into the second chain from the hook. Join final dc with a slip stitch (sl st) into the top of the first dc.

Round 2: Chain (ch) 2, 2 dc in the next stitch, 1 dc in the following. Work around the entire round that way – 2 dc in one stitch, 1 dc in the next. Join final stitch to top of beginning chain with a sl st.

—

Small Dots (Make 3)

Using white yarn, chain 2.

Round 1: 15 Double Crochet (dc) into the second chain from the hook. Join final dc with a slip stitch (sl st) into the top of the first dc.

—

Use a yarn needle and matching yarn to sew each dot and “eye” into place.

How did I do for writing down a crochet “pattern”?

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]]> http://www.celebrationgeneration.com/blog/2012/01/23/free-crochet-pattern-1-up-mushroom-baby-hat/feed/ 0 http://www.celebrationgeneration.com/blog/2012/01/16/how-to-make-cream-puffs-boozy-pastry-cream-and-croquembouche/ http://www.celebrationgeneration.com/blog/2012/01/16/how-to-make-cream-puffs-boozy-pastry-cream-and-croquembouche/#comments Mon, 16 Jan 2012 17:59:01 +0000 admin http://www.celebrationgeneration.com/blog/?p=2392 Cream puffs / profiteroles are a great “fancy” dessert option. Not only are they insanely easy to make, they take very little in the way of ingredients, and can be customized many ways.

Cream puffs start out with the batter – Pâte à choux, or “choux pastry”. It’s a basic recipe that’s used to make everything from cream puffs and eclairs to cruellers and churros. It doesn’t contain any leavening ingredients (yeast, baking powder, baking soda, etc), instead relying on its high moisture content to puff during baking. Baked at a high temperature, the water becomes steam and creates large air pockets in the final product. Fill them however you want – with pastry cream, pudding, mousse – and there you go. Fancy dessert!

If you want to up the badass factor though, consider assembling cream puffs into a croquembouche. A croquembouche is a spectacular dessert. It’s traditionally served at weddings in various European cities, but is also becoming a popular alternative to wedding cakes here in North America. It’s also great for holiday dinners, or fancier potlucks. A bit of a disclaimer here: This is an easy recipe to make, however, it’s also sort of dangerous. I won’t kid you, there is nothing worse than a hot sugar burn. If you drop the sugar onto skin, it will burn, it will stick, and it will HURT! Please exercise caution when dealing with the caramel in this recipe. If you do make this for a group, and you do manage to burn yourself in the process.. I promise the reception it will receive – and the amount of brownie points you’ll gain – will be worth it. Be careful anyways, though.

The recipes below – the cream puff dough, filling, and caramel to assemble the croquembouche – are all from my first cookbook, The Spirited Baker. Used together, you can make a croquembouche from scratch, start to finish.

HOWEVER, I realize this may be more ambitious than everyone has time or energy for. So… a couple suggestions if you need to “cheat” it:

1. Use instant pudding, Cool Whip, or another pre-made filling to fill the homemade cream puffs… or

2. Buy pre made cream puffs, proceed directly to the croquembouche recipe at the bottom.

Personally, I think it’s fun to do the start-to-finish thing… and gives you huge bragging rights. Also, it’s not difficult at all, or even all THAT time consuming. The pastry cream can be made ahead, and the puffs themselves work up really quickly.

Pâte à choux (cream puff dough)

1 cup Water
1/2 cup Butter
1 tsp Sugar
1/2 tsp Salt
1 cup Flour
3 Large eggs
2 Egg whites

Preheat oven to 425°F (220°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking sheet. It’s very important to not grease the pan – it will cause the pastries to flatten!

Combine water, butter, sugar, and salt in a medium sauce pan, heat to a boil. Remove from heat, add flour, stirring until well incorporated.

Reduce heat to medium, return saucepan to stove top. Cook for another minute or so, until the dough comes together, leaving the sides of the pan. Transfer dough to the bowl of your mixer. Using the paddle attachment, beat the dough for a minute or so to allow it to cool slightly.

Meanwhile, beat together eggs and egg whites in a small bowl. With the mixer set to medium, add egg mixture to dough a little at a time, allowing eggs to fully incorporate into the dough before adding more. It may look like a separating mess, but I promise it will come together!

When all of the eggs are incorporated and the dough is smooth and shiny, it’s ready to pipe! It’ll be soft and a bit sticky, but more or less be able to hold it’s shape.

Using spoons or a pastry bags, make tablespoon-sized mounds of batter, leaving 2″ of space between each. Use a moistened finger to pat down any peaks of dough that may form as you finish piping each.

Bake for 12 minutes, then -WITHOUT opening the oven door – turn the temperature down to 350°F (180°C) and bake for another 25 minutes. Crack the oven door open a few inches, turn the heat off, and allow the puffs to cool in the oven for 30 minutes. This step allows the insides to dry out, providing a stronger structure to prevent collapse.

Fill a pastry bag with your choice of pastry cream, pudding, or mousse. Once puffs are completely cool, jam the tip of the pastry bag into the side of a puff, and fill!

If you’re not planning to make a croquembouche, dust with powdered sugar, drizzle with chocolate, and/or serve with fresh fruit or berries.

Boozy Pastry Cream

To make this recipe alcohol free, substitute 1/2 cup half and half for the 1/2 cup of liqueur, add 1-2 tsp of Vanilla (or other flavor) extract.

3 Large egg yolks
1/4 cup Sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp Flour
1/2 cup Cream liqueur of choice.
1/2 cup Milk
2 Tbsp Butter

Whisk yolks together with sugar until fluffy and pale yellow. Add flour, whisk until incorporated and smooth. Set aside.

In a small saucepan, bring liqueur and milk to a light boil.

Measure about 1/4 cup (50 ml)of the hot milk liquid, and stream slowly into egg mixture while whisking. Continue streaming liquid and whisking until it is completely incorporated, and mixture is smooth. Repeat with another 1/4 cup (50 ml) of hot liquid.

Remove saucepan from heat, pour egg mixture into milk mixture, whisking constantly. Once fully incorporated and smooth, return to heat. Turn heat down to low. Continue whisking mixture constantly, cooking until mixture is very thick. Remove from heat, whisk in butter until fully incorporated and smooth.

Cover with plastic wrap, chill until needed.

Croquembouche

2-3 batches of profiteroles, chilled
2 1/2 cups Sugar
2/3 cup Water

In a medium saucepan combine sugar and water, bringing to a boil over high heat. As soon as sugar begins to change color – about 300°F (150°C) – remove pan from heat. Set pan in a larger pan of warm water, on heat proof surface. This will slow the cooking, but keep the caramel warm enough to work with.

Work quickly to assemble your croquembouche. I like to freestyle it, not bothering with a form, but your mileage may vary. Feel free to use a styrofoam cone – like a craft store Christmas tree form – covered in parchment paper if you’d like.

Carefully dip a profiterole into the hot caramel, place on serving plate. Repeat with 15-20 more puffs to form a large circle. Make a second row on top of it, using less puffs and attaching them slightly to the inside of the first row. Continue making gradually smaller rings, until closing off the top with a single profiterole. Depending on how generous you are with the dipping, you may want to make a second batch of caramel at some point.

When your tower is assembled, drizzle caramel or melted chocolate all over it, dust with powdered sugar, and/or garnish with decorative items such as candied flowers, nuts, etc.

If you’re feeling adventurous, you can try making a web of sugar strands around it. Cut the very end off a wire whisk, or use 2-3 forks held together. Dip the tines of the forks / whisk into the remaining hot caramel, and use a swift motion to spin trails of caramel around the croquembouche. You can spin as much or as little sugar as you’d like, to achieve your desired effect.

Serve within 2 hours of making. It’s best to serve as soon as possible, as the caramel threads (if used) are very sensitive to moisture in the air – and in the dessert itself – and will melt.

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]]> http://www.celebrationgeneration.com/blog/2012/01/16/how-to-make-cream-puffs-boozy-pastry-cream-and-croquembouche/feed/ 0 http://www.celebrationgeneration.com/blog/2012/01/13/french-martini-marble-cake-recipe/ http://www.celebrationgeneration.com/blog/2012/01/13/french-martini-marble-cake-recipe/#comments Fri, 13 Jan 2012 16:53:32 +0000 admin http://www.celebrationgeneration.com/blog/?p=2333 If you remember my “Going Ananas” post this past summer, you’ll remember the French Martini – a delicious cocktail featuring pineapple juice and Chambord liqueur.

This recipe had been originally photographed for inclusion in “The Spirited Baker“. It ended up cut from that book, in favor of including the recipe (sans photo!) in “Evil Cake Overlord“.

This cake has a subtle but sophisticated taste. The berry taste of the Chambord liqueur is the perfect complement to the pineapple juice!

French Martini Bundt Cake Recipe

3 cups Cake flour
2 1/4 cups Sugar
2 Tbsp Baking powder
1 1/2 tsp Salt
3.5 oz package Instant vanilla pudding mix
6 Eggs
1 1/2 cups Butter, melted
2 Tbsp Pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup Pineapple Juice
1/2 cup Water
1/4 cup Chambord liqueur

1/4 cup Chambord*
2+ cups icing sugar

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Liberally grease a bundt cake pan with vegetable shortening, and/or spray with baking spray.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and pudding mix in a large mixing bowl. Add in eggs, melted butter and vanilla to the batter, mixing on medium speed until smooth.

Divide batter evenly into two bowls. Add pineapple juice to the first bowl, stirring until fully incorporated. Add water and Chambord to the second bowl, stirring until fully incorporated and smooth.

Divide batter among prepared cake pans, using whichever marbling technique that you prefer. (Random globs work best for this recipe.) To marble the batters, use a butter knife, held straight up-and-down. Starting at one side of the pan, run the knife through the batter in a long zig zag motion – hitting both the inside and outside rings of the pan – all the way around the tube, to the other side. Then, run a knife once around the center of the batter.

Bake until golden and knife inserted into center of batter comes out clean and cake springs back – about 60-70 minutes. Allow to cool 10-15 minutes before turning cake
out onto baking rack to cool.

Mix as much icing (powdered, confectioner’s) sugar into the 1/4 cup Chambord as it takes to make a very thick mix. Melt it in the microwave for a few seconds, then drizzle over the cooled cake.

* Feel free to substitute pineapple juice for the liquid in the glaze… or use a combination of Chambord and pineapple juice!

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