Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Me Want Cookies!



They might not be cookies but even Cookie Monster would enjoy them!





YUM YUM YUM!! 

Eight Six Seven -- Five Three Ohh Nine

How many of you know the song " 867-5309 Jenny" By Tommy Tutone??

Well Mommy and I know every word.

Driving in the car yesterday the song comes on the radio. We turn it up and start singing/yelling to it.

After the song ends I look at mom and say "Lets call Jenny!"

Mom says "1--800 -- JENNY??"

"No Mom, 867--53 Ohh Nieynee Jenny!!"

Because I was not the one driving I pulled out my phone and called her.

While the phone rang Mom asked me "What are you going to do if she answers??"

I simply say  "hang up!"

The phone rings and rings and rings.

The longer it rings the more excited I become.

Then all of a sudden the phone stops ringing.

Might I add the phone is on speaker so we both can hear.

Mom and I look at each other.

Then some lady on the other end says "I'm sorry, but the number you are trying to reach has been disconnected."

I hang up and put the phone down.

I am SOOO disappointed!!!

The song will never be the same for me again.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

"Handmade With Love"

Usually “Handmade with Love” translates to “Dude, This Took Forever!” 

However, these Double-Sided Receiving Blankets were quick and easy!  
I made six blankets for my cousin, Brenda’s new baby, Holly! 








Light Up Your Life!

Strings of lights are not just for Christmas!  Check out my Halloween Lights; I tied ribbons between the lights, so simple and fun. This will work for any holiday or special occasion! Light up your life!


Put away nice and tidy for next year

pulled away from the decorated the hutch for easier viewing

purchased ribbons at "Such-a-Deal Lace & Trim"


Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Monster Mash

It's a graveyard smash! I treated my seminary class to some creepy and yummy chocolate cupcakes with peppermint tombstones and glow-in-the-dark skeletons reaching out of chocolate frosting and crumbled cake!  Each one is a little different.  Simply delish! 





Candy Corn

Has anyone eaten Candy Corn and not received a tummy ache after??  My Family has.

I dislike the store bought Candy Corn, the waxy nasty flavor!

One day while flipping through the T.V. channels I landed on Alton Brown's Good Eats!! I thought to myself. "I LOVE this show!!"  So, I commenced watching his Halloween Candy Special.

I had all the needed ingredients to make Candy Corn.  I hopped onto my computer and opened up the link for the recipe.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/candy-corn-recipe/index.html

Funny enough I even had a butter cutter that I used to cut all the candy corn 




I set them on a tray to set and before I knew it half the tray was gone from family walking by grabbing handfuls.  I used some to top orange flavored cupcakes.  I bagged up the rest and gave them away as gifts. 





Heart Attack

When is a Heart Attack a good thing??

When it's in the form of a cookie!!





Orange Poppy

Some say that muffins are just ugly cupcakes.
I do not agree. Muffins are Delicious!

For my morning class I made Almond Poppy Seed Muffins with an Orange Glaze.
I experimented and  tried new things.

The end result was very scrumptious, may not have looked as pretty as I was hoping for, but who cares what they look like when they make a party in your mouth.






I challenge you to take a regular boring recipe and transform it into something new.

A Red Birthday!


This is your basic Red Velvet Cake.
However its special, it was delivered as as 16th Birthday present to my friend.




Red Velvet Cake, Cream Cheese frosting, Chocolate Chips, and chocolate curls on top.





Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Pumpkin Art



Made these bad boys last Saturday. Then gifted them to my friends.



All that glitters is not gold... or is it?? 




"Do my spots make me look fat??"

Friday, October 21, 2011

Collector or Hoarder??

When does one's curiosity, joy, collection and/or hobby become an addiction??

Is it when you have five or more of that category??

When you go to the store and find yourself buying things you think you "need" but in fact, maybe not...

Today we discuss our collections; groups and gatherings of items that perhaps have “materialized” into expensive and space grabbing addictions.

We can't deny that we have all been there...

For example in my early years I collected Nutcracker Dolls, Toy Poodles in all forms, Nesting Dolls, Chevron Cars, Lego's, and Barbie’s

More recently I have acquired “five or more” of Cookie Cutters, Belt Buckles, and I have just ventured into the world of Cows!  (I hesitate to officially count my belt buckles, less it ruin my pursuit of happiness so let’s just estimate the assortment at twenty something).

Now it would be a crime against my own gender if I didn't say anything about shoes.  Between all the females in my family (some males included too) we could provide footwear to a small country.  Secretly, I am searching for some really cool Cow-High Heel Shoes.




One that I am ashamed to admit I added to yesterday was cake plates.  I don’t know how it happened! Really! There I was wandering around TJ Maxx when I stumbled upon a very unique, vintage looking, cake plate.  I had to have it.

Now keep in mind that I generally do NOT buy new.  I adhere strongly to the belief of Reduce, Recycle and Reuse, discounts and coupons. Clearly this one fell into the discount category.

Sadly I have used every excuse in the book to add to my collection(s).

Maybe I need an intervention, but recognizing my problem is the first step to recovery. Right....??

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Frankenstein pumpkin roll cupcakes

You know its that time of year when you see Pumpkins of all sizes popping up in the store.

Mom and I went through all of our recipes picking out all of the pumpkin dishes.

The real question was where do we start??  Pumpkin Pie?? Pumpkin cookies?? Pumpkin cake?? Pumpkin cupcakes?? Pumpkin rolls??

Yes that was it! Pumpkin rolls!

We had everything we needed! "Oh goodie" I thought to myself.

I started mixing and measuring and looked good so far!

Then a visitor came over. My boyfriend came by after class to see me! :)

He was starting to be a distraction so I kindly reminded him he had some homework to do.

When i was ready to start pouring I noticed it seemed a little runny.

I checked the instructions again and I realized too much pumpkin.

Now I didn't think that was possible, but if I ever wanted this to set correctly it was too much.

So what do i do now??

It was time to make the call

(insert dramatic music here)

"MMOOOOMMMM!!!!! Can you come here pleassseeee??"

Well duhhh moms know everything.

She knew just what to do.  (I knew she would she is soo creative)

"Just add chocolate cake mix and make a bunch of chocolate pumpkin cupcakes."

I do just as she says and have the boyfriend do the "test."

Lick the beaters to see if my Frankenstein pumpkin roll cupcakes are deadly or yummi.

Into the oven they go.

I'm excited to see how they will turn out.

The house is smelling of Pumpkin, Spices and Chocolate so that is a great sign.

It's now time to frost. Chocolate Frosting sounds good with it! :)

The chocolate frosting was on the bitter sweet side.

Hopefully no one will notice.... :)






HOORAY!! the Pumpkin roll disaster rescued by 911 chocolate cake mix.

Birthday Brownies!

In my class when someone has a birthday I like to make them a little treat let them know they are loved and cared about. 

I decided brownies would be a good idea! I even had a heart brownie pan!

I had the plan set. It was going to work and be great! :)
Walking into the pantry I realize NO BROWNIE MIX!!!

I had stalled all day and now I am running out of time. (W.O.W. really sucks you in for hours)

No problem this can be fixed. I have my licence! Quick run to the store and we are good.

**30 min later**

The birthday brownies are all mixed and in the pan. Now to go into the oven.

When I pull them out I find a little heart inside my bigger heart. :)


When it was time to flip the brownies over and out onto the plate to be dusted with powder sugar we came to another little bump in the road.

They stuck...

With help from my mom and some power tools we got it out.

The design was a little messed up, however that can be fixed as well.

Frosting it is!

Chocolate frosting is sooo hard to resist!!  Your finger just wants to slip inside the bowl so you can lick it off, or just pipe it right into your mouth.

The brownies eventually got finished, I ended up with chocolate allover my fingers and face :)



With a lime green candle in the middle to finish it off.

They turned out great!

Happy Birthday Sonny Smith!

Friday, October 7, 2011

Think Pink

October is great for many reasons.


1. It's my birthday month!! :) 

2. It's also Breast Cancer Awareness month!! 

We must all remember to Think Pink, Save the Ta-Ta's, Love Boobies, and Fight Like a Girl! 

We all should wear some sort of pink if not everyday but this month! I have never been a fan of pink but if it's for Breast Cancer I will get it. Even if you are just wearing a little pink ribbon show your support! 




I wanted all of my class to remember that it was not only Halloween this month.

 What is the best way to get to teenagers?? Same way for everyone.. TREATS!! :) I made breast cancer Strawberry cupcakes!! To please the heart and show awareness! 

Friday, September 9, 2011

DIY Friday

 "Eye See You"
Spooky Halloween Wreath




I spray painted a grape vine wreath high gloss black, added googly eyes and called it a day... well Friday


Minions Assemble

Despicable Me Minion Cupcakes 

I made these bad boys for Friday morning Seminary.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Cow Tipping in SacTown



Sacramento’s heritage celebration, Gold Rush Days, takes place every Labor Day weekend. That’s right, four days of the sweet smell of road apples and dust.  All 28-acres of our historic River City, was painted in dirt.  Wooden sidewalks were crowded with city slickers, unrestrained whippersnappers and them-thar evil contraptions ya’ll call strollers.     

Dirt lined streets were filled with gunfights, ladies of the boulevard, horse drawn carriages and stage coaches, US Soldiers, medicine men selling life-saving elixir’s and Mormon’s!  That’s right, I said Mormons.  The courageous Mormon Battalion and their families were at hand. Ever ready to defend and support America’s honor at any given notice.  I was there too, in my candy-apple red cowboy boots!  Along with hundreds of wannabe sidewalk cowboys and cowgirls!  I mean really, just because ya’ll purchase a calico bonnet at The Old School House or wear a cowboy hat does not a wrangler make.

I know this because I single-handedly saved the day!  Well, nearly single-handedly.  Okay, there were others who participated, but it was MY idea!  Ya’ll see, what began as a simple cattle drive through town, roping and barrel racing event soon turned into an all-fired cattle stampede!  A few innocent gun shots and BAM!  Those spooked cows were off and running wild!  Cowpokes jumped in their saddles, mommas rounded up their babies, women with feathers ran for shelter, and me, I just stood my ground.

You see, thar was nothing to be fearin’ cuz in California we have “happy cows”.  I knew this, so I just moseyed on over to the next block,  takin’ a short cut thru Firehouse Alley and headed them thar cows off at the Wells Fargo.  I jumped in front of those crazy cows and began to serenade them with my best cowgirl poetry. 

You hafta know, by now, a sizable crowd had gathered ‘round to watch.  The sound of my voice slowed down those thousand pound milkshake machines and I was able to run into that pack and give a little push with my candy apple red Laredo’s and tip over those happy cows right over.  Others, seeing the fun I was having, began to join in. Soon, all ‘em stampeedin’ cows were resting quietly on their sides. 

~KDH 

 **no mam’ no cows were ever harmed in the retelling of this here story.**

Friday, September 2, 2011

Life is Peachy





It was Thursday morning and I was in my kitchen slaving over a batch of peach cupcakes.  I hoped this time I would not mess up like my last batch of cupcakes ((chills)). No prob, all was going great!!   I was mixing and cutting.  The best part was it smelled delish!!!  I was eating peach batter and couldn’t wait for them to be done so I could just eat them all!!  Finally it was time to frost.   Not only did the peach cupcakes look good but the peach frosting was to die for!! J   Task completed, I put them in the freezer so they would stay yummi and hidden from the members of this house.

It’s Friday morning and my peach cupcakes are still there!!!  I plop into the car; sleepiness still attached to me.   A peach cupcake tower full of heaven is sitting on my lap!  I just want to scoop a finger full of peach frosting and eat it; oh no, I just want to lick all of the peach frosting off the peach cupcake!   All is going great and I am almost to class when a mean driver cuts in front of our car and my mom, she slams on her breaks and peach cupcakes go flying!  You guessed it right into my lap!!!  And the only thing out of my mouth was “I CAN’T GET PEACH FROSTING OUT OF CASHMERE!!!” I am sooo upset words couldn’t describe!  I gently placed each peach cupcake back into the tower and made the peach frosting look presentable. I grab a handy-dandy-baby-wipe (I don’t leave home without some!) from the back of the car trying to clean myself off.   I walk into class.  The peach cupcakes were a success!  This was not a kitchen failure. J  (dark memories of spinach & blueberries still haunt me!)

~KDH

**no peach cupcakes were harmed in the making of this story nor was a cashmere sweater.** 

What Came First?


My mind was spinning, complete with 3-D Technicolor and surround sound as I lay in bed last night pondering what came first the chicken or the egg??  Then it hit me like a flying disk!! IT HAD TO BE THE FEATHER!!  I started to wonder about things with feathers and my thoughts jumped to Monty Python and the Holy Grail … “In order to maintain air-speed velocity, a swallow needs to beat its wings forty-three times every second, right?  But what if that swallow is carrying a coconut?”  Then I thought about where the saying “Horse Feathers” came from.  This of course, led me to think about the Pegasus and Unicorns. Naturally, the next image that popped into my mind was Flying Pigs!  It was then my smell-a-vision kicked it, BACON!!  A natural place for my brain to stop short at, after all, I am self-acclaimed meat-etarian.  There was my answer, Eggs. Eggs came first.  Eggs and Bacon and Bacon and Eggs!  The rest is just horse feathers.

~KDH


Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Deceptively Delicious, Blueberry Cheesecake Cupcakes


Yesterday was Test Kitchen Tuesday.  I wandered towards the pantry in my fuzzy-pink, bunny slippers and wondered what I delectable dish would I create.  My mouth and stomach wanted cupcakes.  I perused the recipe books and decided to try one of Jessica Seinfeld’s “Deceptively Delicious, Blueberry Cheesecake Cupcakes”.  Just the word cheesecake made my mouth water.  

I checked my pantry with the ingredient list and found that I had all the needed components with the exception of yellow squash puree.  So, I thought to myself, I will just substitute applesauce for the squash after all they’re both yellow—right?

The recipe also called for spinach and blueberry puree.  I got the blueberry part, but spinach in a blueberry cheesecake cupcake??  In faith I continued.  I put a few handfuls of fresh spinach in the pan to wilt, mom said, “You will need more than that to make ½ cup puree”.  I added more, and more, till the spinach box was empty and the 14-inch pan was overflowing.  Less than two minutes later I was staring at a few scraps of slimy green spinach which I transferred to the Vita-Mix.  It was time to measure the dark-green sludge into a cup. I began, but could not complete the task.  I found myself pushing the blender into mom’s hands while I ran for the back door ready to hurl my bagels with strawberry cream cheese.  My delicate senses could not cope with the smell of cooked spinach—and for the record Spinach Quiche does not smell like this!  Mom slid the entire contents of the green slop into a ½ cup measuring bowl.

After prepping the remaining ingredients I began the task of combining and mixing.  Now I had two bowls, one larger bowl of icky, smelly, dark-green, blueberry—spinach, cake batter.  And a smaller bowl of runny, cream-cheese, applesauce, filling (it was so runny; I expected it to run off at any moment).  

Because of the horrid color I decided to use some happy, colorful, polka-dot, cupcake papers.  I commenced to layer smelly-green goo and the [funny rilling] into my cute, paper-lined pans. 

Twenty-five minutes later I opened the oven with caution.  The smell of twice-cooked spinach wafted over me *gag*.  I set the pan aside to cool on my bright-orange Fiesta Ware counter top.  Now, I wondered to myself, who will I get to test this poison?  Bailey, the dog, is nowhere in sight (she is smart).  Mommmm, I call, come taste my cupcakes.

Mom walked into the kitchen which smelled like baked spinach—mulch.  Bravely, she put on a smile, and with her most encouraging voice mom said, “Oh, honey, they look good; m-m-m-m they smell good; I bet they taste good too.”  She kindly did not even mention the concave in the once fluffy cupcakes.  Mom placed a small bite on the tip of her fork as she softly said, “I can’t wait to taste them.”  As she raised the fork to her mouth my whole world slowed down to that of  a Baywatch Babe running across the beach. My heart leaped out of my chest as my brain screamed, “if she dies from this sketchy science experiment who will clean this kitchen of confusion with the blueberry, spinach, applesauce mess, sprinkled with flour and egg shells?”  I tried to yell stop! But like a bad dream, no sound was coming from my mouth.  It was too late.  As mom chewed her smile began to fade.  Oh sure, she tried to hide the disgust from showing, but I knew the moment she knocked me down leaned over the kitchen sink spitting out my “Deceptively Delicious, Blueberry Cheesecake Cupcake” that today’s test kitchen was a total failure.  

In the end I have learned that the “deceptive” part of this recipe was the ‘blueberries’ and the ‘cheesecake’.   I doubt that Popeye would have even touched this with a grappling hook.

And, yes, I did clean up my own blue-green mess.

~kdh