Halloween, One Day Late

Although these pics are seriously delayed, I finally managed to snap a pic of my halloween version of cupcake pops. These were for another co-workers's daughter's halloween party. Apparently they were a pretty big hit, I delivered 55 pops and she said there were only a few leftovers. I wish I had managed to take pics of all of them (much more impressive) but after I finished 58 of these boogers I was tired! I'm getting a little better with using the candy writers, but there's always room for improvement!

We spent last night handing out tons of candy for little trick or treaters. Thankfully most of them were adorable little ones, instead of surly teenage trick-or-treaters. Speaking of little ones....check out how cute of a skunk my niece is....



And my other niece is super happy to have her pic taken....

And just in case anyone was worried, my cat Gizmo seemed to have survived the onslaught of Halloween just fine...

The Long Awaited Cupcake Pops

I finally got around to loading the pics of the latest cupcake pop adventure. A coworker of mine requested an order of cupcake bites for a dog party. Which is...I guess a party where you bring your dog? A party for the dogs? I'm not totally sure. Anyway, I suggested making half an order of cupcake bites and half cupcake pops styled like dogs, as I saw on Bakerella's blog. So after much experimenting (and by experimenting I mean lots of wasted money and quite a bit of cussing), here are my results.









Some of the pics are a little blurry, sorry. I'm definitely not a food photographer. But you get the general idea. My next challenge is a set of Halloween themed cupcake pops. I'm thinking pumpkins, of course, and maybe a few other things I saw on Bakerella the other day. Sorry, Bakerella, I'm a complete idea thief! If anyone else has any suggestions, please add your comment, I'd be happy to hear them!

Fall of the Evil Deck

Aahhh, sweet relief. Our devil-spawn of a deck is finally gone. We hacked that bad boy up with chainsaw and it now currently resides in pieces in a big ugly dumpster on our driveway. The super fun news....the siding behind the deck is all rotten and yucky. So we get to replace that, too. I often watch those home repair/house flipping shows and they always end up finding 10x as many problems when they rip stuff up....it's totally true. We ripped up the deck because we had water come in our basement. Now that the deck is gone, we've spent $2000 on a new patio but we also have to replace the siding. Oh yeah, and build new steps. Oh, and repaint the basement floor. And shampoo the carpet. And cut out the drywall where I'm mortally afraid that what my husband calls "dirt" is actually killer black mold.
On a more positive note (what?) the new patio is wonderful. No maintenance, except for sweeping. I have big plans for doing some nice landscaping around it and buying a cute little firepit.
Ah, the joys of home improvement!

So...tired...need....sleep...

...but it ain't gonna happen! Well folks I'm almost halfway through the dreaded internship phase of my M.Ed. 300 hours down, 300 to go. Who needs sleep anyway when you can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel? Hopefully in a few months I'll be an actual gainfully employed counselor.
So moving on to other random things, I have become a cupcake bite-making maniac. I found the recipe for these little jewels on Bakerella's blog and have since made them several times. After bringing them in to work several times a few co-workers began requesting them for private parties. I had no clue what to charge but my first "customer" gave me $25 for a batch so I guess I'll stick with that. I have 2 more upcoming orders so we'll see how that goes. Just don't tell the IRS I'm running a little side bidness, I'd like to keep my kneecaps intact.
I'll be attempting a new spin on the cupcake bites with the next batch so I'll be sure to include pics!

Aahhh, the luxury of a day off...

I'm using my stolen time to finally make the leap and change my last name. My last name is a short one that tends to be complicated for people to prounounce. I'll never understand how so many people mangle my last name. Seriously folks, it's completely phonetic and only one syllable. How hard can it be? Well, now I'm moving on to one of the most common last names in the world. I won't share, just in case one of my readers happens to have sociopathic stalker tendencies, but suffice it to say that it's in the league with Smith and Jones. I'm definitely sad to leave my last name behind though. It does feel like I'm giving up a part of me. But the other part of me is definitely too lazy for a hyphenated last name. Bah, too much work, and much too long of a signature!

Cupcake Bites

I realized the other day that I haven't really posted any cupcake-relate recipes. So when I found this recipe on Bakerella's blog, I couldn't resist. These fulfill my crazy predilection for tiny things very well, plus they're REALLY good. I'll refer you to Bakerella's blog for the recipe, but here's a few pics of the cupcake bite-making.





Are those not the cutest effing things you've ever seen? I searched for mini M&M's to put on top like little cherries but alas, the local Schnuck's apparently does not carry them. I looked through so many check-out candy displays that the checker became concerned and came over to help me. Oh well....the little candies on top still work. I'm having a little fourth of July shindig next weekend and these babies will definitely reappear for the event. This time I think I'm using strawberry cake for the middles. Or maybe cherry chip? Call me a wild woman.

BBQ Food

Whoo, I've been MIA for a long time! May has been the month of birthdays and celebrations and I've spent most of my free time either shopping for gifts or attending parties. I'll try to do better with posting!

All this warm weather has me thinking of different foods to barbecue or grill. And when I have a nice long day to prepare food, I make pulled pork. Mmmm, so tasty...and time consuming. But I promise it's worth it! Go all out and buy the day old bread from Jimmy John's to make it even better.

Pulled Pork

5 lbs bonless pork loin (I love to get the tenderloin, don't get the pre-seasoned one though)
1 T black pepper
1 T garlic salt

Preheat grill to medium heat. Set up grill for indirect cooking (coals on one side, or in a gas grill, turn on burners on one side only). Sprinkle garlic salt and pepper on meat. Grill for about 1 and a half hours to 2 hours, make sure internal temp reaches 160 degrees. Food poisoning isn't fun, kids.
Once the meat is cooked, let it rest for a while or you'll burn your fingers off trying to shred the meat. While it's cooling, make this awesome sauce.

Sauce

1/4 c butter
2 c finely chopped onion
2 c ketchup
2 c barbecue sauce (I like Sweet Baby Ray's)
1 can beer
1/4 c brown sugar
2 T chili powder
2 T cinnamon
2 T worcestershire sauce
1 T prepared mustard
1 T vinegar

Heat butter in large saucepan. Saute onions until clear (about 5 min or so). Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for at least 30 min, 45-1 hr is better. Some people find this too vinegary, just add more bbq sauce if that's the case. Or omit the vinegar altogether. Whatever floats your boat.

Now that your sauce is made, start shredding the meat. I use two forks. Make sure the grain of the meat is running horizontally in front of you, then shred to your hearts content. Or you can just throw on some rubber gloves and use your hands. Toss the meat into the saucepan, and simmer together for a little while.

I usually toast the bread a little, just to stand up to all that saucy goodness. Here's what you get!



Now I'll add in another quick recipe. Or an approximation of a recipe, because I'm one of those jerks who doesn't measure add anything and just adds stuff in until it "looks right" or "tastes right".

Grilled Corn on the Cob

Soften a stick of butter. Add in salt, garlic powder, onion powder, a teeny bit of pepper, chili powder, and dried parsley. Smear this mixture generously over fresh corn, then wrap tightly in foil. Once grilled, this will make the best darn grilled corn on the cob you've ever had. Unfortunately I have no pics to back it up but you'll just have to trust me. I wouldn't lie to you.

Happy grilling!