It's busy! I'm back just to share a few things I've found interesting lately...
- Janetha at Meal & Moves spoke at a small event the other day and shared her outline, resources and a small workout she created. I learned a few new things and thought you might too! You can find the post here!
- Found a new awesome blog that makes me happy... don't know why I wasn't following it already! It's called Confessions of a Cookbook Queen - check it out!
- Another blog that I found recently via Pinterest is mainly about easy, IMPRESSIVE hair styles! I love it - it's called The Small Things Blog. She made me really love the current length of my hair by giving me even more ideas!
Ok - that's enough for today... be back again tomorrow!
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Day 2 (30 Day Challenge)
Good morning! Checking in on day 2...
Workout dabble - I really like the Pinterest workout I posted yesterday - enough to get your heartrate up, but not too much to make you sweaty! Perfect way to start the day... Also on tap for today - Body Pump Class and Boot Camp. Lord help me!
Music dabble - I had a fun little find last night while I was working on my iTunes organization... They have an option that finds all of your duplicate songs for you! I have so many duplicates - now I don't have to rely on myself to find them. It made me happy!
TV dabble - For the first time in a long time, I actually have a LIST of shows I'm recording and actually watching...
- Criminal Minds (I always have at least 10 on the DVR, but I've seen most of them. Definitely watch the current season every week though!)
- Pam Am (love the setting, love the storylines!)
- Parenthood
- Modern Family
- Person of Interest (I love Jim Cavieziel!)
- Revenge (I didn't know this one would be so GOOD! Love it!)
- Biggest Loser (after taking a prolonged break from watching it, it's got me hooked again!)
And that's enough TV for me! Anything I'm missing?
Food Dabble - I'll go ahead and link to my birthday cakes for this year - they were PHENOMENAL! I made two cakes - one for Friday and one for Saturday (I LIKE to make my own cakes - it gives me a chance to bake something new that I've had my eye on for awhile...) I'm sorry there's no pictures - I need to get better at photographing them!
My favorite of the two was the Pumpkin Cake with Butterscotch Filling with Brown Sugar Buttercream. I found the recipe on Annie's Eats.
Pumpkin Cake with Butterscotch Filling and Brown Sugar Icing
Ingredients:
For the cake:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
½ tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. salt
1 ½ cups pumpkin puree
1 cup buttermilk
2 sticks unsalted butter
1 cup tightly packed light brown sugar
1 cup sugar
4 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
For the filling:
¾ cup heavy cream
¾ cup sugar
¼ tsp. fresh lemon juice
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into 4 – 1 oz. pieces
¾ cup chopped nuts, such as pecans or walnuts (optional)
For the icing:
2 cups tightly packed brown sugar
1 cup heavy cream
2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into 8 – 1 oz. pieces
¼ tsp. cream of tartar
Directions:
Line the bottoms of 2 round 9-inch cake pans with parchment paper. Grease the parchment, as well as the sides of the pans. Preheat the oven to 325°. Center a rack in the oven.
To make the cake, combine the flour, baking soda, spices and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside. In a small bowl, combine pumpkin puree and buttermilk and mix until smooth. Set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugars. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Increase to high speed and beat for an additional 2 minutes. Scrape down the bowl. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well, and scraping down the bowl between additions. Add the vanilla extract and beat on high for 30 seconds. With the mixer running on low speed, alternate adding the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients. Mix until just combined. Remove the bowl from the mixer and use a rubber spatula to finish mixing the batter, until smooth and thoroughly combined.
Immediately divide the batter between the prepared cake pans, spreading evenly. Bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pans 10 minutes. Invert onto a wire cooling rack and allow to cool completely.
To make the filling, heat the cream in a saucepan over medium-low heat until hot (do not allow to boil or simmer). Combine sugar and lemon juice in a separate saucepan and stir with a whisk to combine (the sugar will resemble moist sand). Caramelize the sugar for 4-5 minutes over medium-high heat, stirring constantly with a whisk to break up any lumps. Remove the saucepan from the heat. Add the hot cream, one half at a time. Add the butter, one piece at a time, stirring to incorporate completely before adding the next piece. Cool in the refrigerator 45 minutes. Place in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on high speed for 2 minutes, until light (but not fluffy). Add the chopped nuts and stir to incorporate. Set aside.
To make the icing, heat the brown sugar, heavy cream, 2 – 1 oz. pieces of butter, and cream of tartar in a 2-3 quart saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, while bringing the mixture to a boil. Allow the mixture to continue boiling while stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Transfer the bubbling hot mixture to a stainless steel bowl and allow to stand at room temperature for 1 hour before proceeding. Place the cooled mixture in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds. Increase the speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes, adding the 6 remaining pieces of butter one at a time, until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Increase the speed to high and beat for an additional 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat on high for an additional 1 minute until light and fluffy.
To assemble the cake, place one of the pumpkin cake layers on a cake platter or a cardboard cake circle. Spread butterscotch filling evenly on top of cake. Top with remaining layer of cake, pressing down firmly. Frost sides and top of cake with brown sugar icing. Use remaining frosting to pipe decorative accents onto top and bottom edge of the cake. Refrigerate for 30 minutes before cutting and serving.
The other cake was a Salted Caramel Milk Chocolate Cake - I found the recipe on Food Network.
Salted Caramel Milk Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
18 ounces milk chocolate, finely chopped
10 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 1/4 cups heavy cream
1/2 tablespoon fine sea salt
1 1/2 sticks room temperature unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1 Chocolate Cake recipe, recipe follows
Sea salt flakes (recommended: Maldon)
Directions
Put your chocolates in a big bowl. Put the sugar and 1/2 water in a saucepan and place over medium heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves and bring up to a boil. As soon that happens, stop stirring and let it boil until it turns an amber color, 8 to 10 minutes or so. (If you think that it needs another stir, brush down the sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush, and stir the entire mixture, picking up the pot itself by the handle, being careful not to touch the caramel or else it could crystallize.) Once the mixture reaches that dark amber color, turn the heat down. Stand back from the pot and add the cream very slowly, stirring with a heatproof spatula. (If you are nervous about the steam, wear a kitchen glove to protect your hand.) Continue to stir until all is incorporated. Once the mixture is smooth, stir in the fine salt. Take off the heat and pour the caramel over the bowl of chocolate. Whisk to combine, making sure all the chocolate melts. Pop in the fridge for about 1 hour until completely chilled.
Take the frosting out of the fridge and beat it with a hand mixer just until it becomes spreadable. Add the butter in pieces and mix until it's all combined. Pop back into the refrigerator for another hour.
Place 1 cake layer on a cake platter, flat-side up. (You want the cake flat-side up so when you get into it you'll have nice and even layers.) Evenly spread 2 cups of the frosting over the top. Sprinkle with sea salt flakes, then put the other cake layer on top, flat-side up. Spread the rest of the frosting over the top and on the sides of the cake. Sprinkle the top with more salt flakes.
Chocolate Cake:
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened, plus more for greasing pan
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
4 eggs, at room temperature for 30 minutes
1/3 cup semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups well-shaken buttermilk (or 1 cup milk plus 1 tablespoon lemon juice
Put a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter 2 (9 by 2-inch) nonstick round cake pans. Line the bottom of each with a round of parchment paper, and then butter the paper.
Sift the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt together onto parchment paper. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy, 4 or 5 minutes. Add your eggs, 1 at a time, mixing until completely incorporated before adding each additional egg. Mix in the chocolate and vanilla, making sure to combine really well. Turn the mixer to low and slowly add the dry ingredients, alternating with the buttermilk, in 3 batches, starting and ending with the flour mixture. Make sure to let it mix thoroughly.
Pour half the batter in each pan and spread it evenly with a spatula or butter knife. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, 25 minutes. Remove the pans to racks and allow the cakes to cool for 10 minutes or so. Loosen the edges of the cake from the pan with a knife, then turn them onto the racks. Remove the paper and let the cakes completely cool. Yield: 2 (9-inch) cake layers
And with that... I'm done for day 2! See ya tomorrow!
Workout dabble - I really like the Pinterest workout I posted yesterday - enough to get your heartrate up, but not too much to make you sweaty! Perfect way to start the day... Also on tap for today - Body Pump Class and Boot Camp. Lord help me!
Music dabble - I had a fun little find last night while I was working on my iTunes organization... They have an option that finds all of your duplicate songs for you! I have so many duplicates - now I don't have to rely on myself to find them. It made me happy!
TV dabble - For the first time in a long time, I actually have a LIST of shows I'm recording and actually watching...
- Criminal Minds (I always have at least 10 on the DVR, but I've seen most of them. Definitely watch the current season every week though!)
- Pam Am (love the setting, love the storylines!)
- Parenthood
- Modern Family
- Person of Interest (I love Jim Cavieziel!)
- Revenge (I didn't know this one would be so GOOD! Love it!)
- Biggest Loser (after taking a prolonged break from watching it, it's got me hooked again!)
And that's enough TV for me! Anything I'm missing?
Food Dabble - I'll go ahead and link to my birthday cakes for this year - they were PHENOMENAL! I made two cakes - one for Friday and one for Saturday (I LIKE to make my own cakes - it gives me a chance to bake something new that I've had my eye on for awhile...) I'm sorry there's no pictures - I need to get better at photographing them!
My favorite of the two was the Pumpkin Cake with Butterscotch Filling with Brown Sugar Buttercream. I found the recipe on Annie's Eats.
Pumpkin Cake with Butterscotch Filling and Brown Sugar Icing
Ingredients:
For the cake:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
½ tsp. ground cloves
1 tsp. salt
1 ½ cups pumpkin puree
1 cup buttermilk
2 sticks unsalted butter
1 cup tightly packed light brown sugar
1 cup sugar
4 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
For the filling:
¾ cup heavy cream
¾ cup sugar
¼ tsp. fresh lemon juice
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into 4 – 1 oz. pieces
¾ cup chopped nuts, such as pecans or walnuts (optional)
For the icing:
2 cups tightly packed brown sugar
1 cup heavy cream
2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into 8 – 1 oz. pieces
¼ tsp. cream of tartar
Directions:
Line the bottoms of 2 round 9-inch cake pans with parchment paper. Grease the parchment, as well as the sides of the pans. Preheat the oven to 325°. Center a rack in the oven.
To make the cake, combine the flour, baking soda, spices and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside. In a small bowl, combine pumpkin puree and buttermilk and mix until smooth. Set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugars. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Increase to high speed and beat for an additional 2 minutes. Scrape down the bowl. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well, and scraping down the bowl between additions. Add the vanilla extract and beat on high for 30 seconds. With the mixer running on low speed, alternate adding the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients. Mix until just combined. Remove the bowl from the mixer and use a rubber spatula to finish mixing the batter, until smooth and thoroughly combined.
Immediately divide the batter between the prepared cake pans, spreading evenly. Bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pans 10 minutes. Invert onto a wire cooling rack and allow to cool completely.
To make the filling, heat the cream in a saucepan over medium-low heat until hot (do not allow to boil or simmer). Combine sugar and lemon juice in a separate saucepan and stir with a whisk to combine (the sugar will resemble moist sand). Caramelize the sugar for 4-5 minutes over medium-high heat, stirring constantly with a whisk to break up any lumps. Remove the saucepan from the heat. Add the hot cream, one half at a time. Add the butter, one piece at a time, stirring to incorporate completely before adding the next piece. Cool in the refrigerator 45 minutes. Place in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on high speed for 2 minutes, until light (but not fluffy). Add the chopped nuts and stir to incorporate. Set aside.
To make the icing, heat the brown sugar, heavy cream, 2 – 1 oz. pieces of butter, and cream of tartar in a 2-3 quart saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, while bringing the mixture to a boil. Allow the mixture to continue boiling while stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Transfer the bubbling hot mixture to a stainless steel bowl and allow to stand at room temperature for 1 hour before proceeding. Place the cooled mixture in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on low speed for 30 seconds. Increase the speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes, adding the 6 remaining pieces of butter one at a time, until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Increase the speed to high and beat for an additional 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat on high for an additional 1 minute until light and fluffy.
To assemble the cake, place one of the pumpkin cake layers on a cake platter or a cardboard cake circle. Spread butterscotch filling evenly on top of cake. Top with remaining layer of cake, pressing down firmly. Frost sides and top of cake with brown sugar icing. Use remaining frosting to pipe decorative accents onto top and bottom edge of the cake. Refrigerate for 30 minutes before cutting and serving.
The other cake was a Salted Caramel Milk Chocolate Cake - I found the recipe on Food Network.
Salted Caramel Milk Chocolate Cake
Ingredients
18 ounces milk chocolate, finely chopped
10 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 1/4 cups heavy cream
1/2 tablespoon fine sea salt
1 1/2 sticks room temperature unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1 Chocolate Cake recipe, recipe follows
Sea salt flakes (recommended: Maldon)
Directions
Put your chocolates in a big bowl. Put the sugar and 1/2 water in a saucepan and place over medium heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves and bring up to a boil. As soon that happens, stop stirring and let it boil until it turns an amber color, 8 to 10 minutes or so. (If you think that it needs another stir, brush down the sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush, and stir the entire mixture, picking up the pot itself by the handle, being careful not to touch the caramel or else it could crystallize.) Once the mixture reaches that dark amber color, turn the heat down. Stand back from the pot and add the cream very slowly, stirring with a heatproof spatula. (If you are nervous about the steam, wear a kitchen glove to protect your hand.) Continue to stir until all is incorporated. Once the mixture is smooth, stir in the fine salt. Take off the heat and pour the caramel over the bowl of chocolate. Whisk to combine, making sure all the chocolate melts. Pop in the fridge for about 1 hour until completely chilled.
Take the frosting out of the fridge and beat it with a hand mixer just until it becomes spreadable. Add the butter in pieces and mix until it's all combined. Pop back into the refrigerator for another hour.
Place 1 cake layer on a cake platter, flat-side up. (You want the cake flat-side up so when you get into it you'll have nice and even layers.) Evenly spread 2 cups of the frosting over the top. Sprinkle with sea salt flakes, then put the other cake layer on top, flat-side up. Spread the rest of the frosting over the top and on the sides of the cake. Sprinkle the top with more salt flakes.
Chocolate Cake:
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened, plus more for greasing pan
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
4 eggs, at room temperature for 30 minutes
1/3 cup semisweet chocolate, melted and cooled
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups well-shaken buttermilk (or 1 cup milk plus 1 tablespoon lemon juice
Put a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter 2 (9 by 2-inch) nonstick round cake pans. Line the bottom of each with a round of parchment paper, and then butter the paper.
Sift the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt together onto parchment paper. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy, 4 or 5 minutes. Add your eggs, 1 at a time, mixing until completely incorporated before adding each additional egg. Mix in the chocolate and vanilla, making sure to combine really well. Turn the mixer to low and slowly add the dry ingredients, alternating with the buttermilk, in 3 batches, starting and ending with the flour mixture. Make sure to let it mix thoroughly.
Pour half the batter in each pan and spread it evenly with a spatula or butter knife. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, 25 minutes. Remove the pans to racks and allow the cakes to cool for 10 minutes or so. Loosen the edges of the cake from the pan with a knife, then turn them onto the racks. Remove the paper and let the cakes completely cool. Yield: 2 (9-inch) cake layers
And with that... I'm done for day 2! See ya tomorrow!
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
November 1 = 30 Day Challenge Begins!
November is always a good month to get the blog kicked up again...
I'm sticking with the theme of dabbles - it seems I'm good at dabbling in a lot of things!
Cookie Dabble - These are the latest cookies I designed for Brelynn's 1st birthday - the theme was simply a '1st' birthday party in pink and brown, so I made little '1' cookies, iced them in brown and then put them on a pink scalloped square. To add a little pizazz I put brown polka dots on them and then made them into little hearts - they were pretty cute! Happy Birthday Sweet Brelynn!
Music Dabble - Miranda Lambert's new album, Four the Record, came out today! I'm in love... I want to be like her when I grow up!
Workout Dabble - I'm doing the workout I found on Pinterest (MY NEW OBSESSION!) for 30 days straight. It's what I'll start my day with... And will also be hitting the gym at lunch, after work, or even before work if necessary!
More on this to come...
Food Dabble - I'll share the birthday cakes I made for my birthday this year soon (I only had one little piece of each and seriously gave the rest away - YAY!) But for now, I'm giving a basic outline of my eating plan moving forward:
Breakfast: Green Monster
Morning mini: Apple + Turkey lunchmeat + LC Wedge
Lunch: WW Pasta w/ turkey meatsauce or wrap or sandwich on sandwich thin, etc.
Afternoon mini: Greek yogurt w/ fruit, etc.
Dinner: Salad or Lean Protein + Veggies (NO carbs other than veggies)
There will be quite a few more dabbles in the days ahead - Pinterest will be a huge one, friends blogs, posts I've found interesting, music, events, friends... wheeee!
Excited to be back! Now to make this last...
Happy Tuesday!
I'm sticking with the theme of dabbles - it seems I'm good at dabbling in a lot of things!
Cookie Dabble - These are the latest cookies I designed for Brelynn's 1st birthday - the theme was simply a '1st' birthday party in pink and brown, so I made little '1' cookies, iced them in brown and then put them on a pink scalloped square. To add a little pizazz I put brown polka dots on them and then made them into little hearts - they were pretty cute! Happy Birthday Sweet Brelynn!
Music Dabble - Miranda Lambert's new album, Four the Record, came out today! I'm in love... I want to be like her when I grow up!
Workout Dabble - I'm doing the workout I found on Pinterest (MY NEW OBSESSION!) for 30 days straight. It's what I'll start my day with... And will also be hitting the gym at lunch, after work, or even before work if necessary!
More on this to come...
Food Dabble - I'll share the birthday cakes I made for my birthday this year soon (I only had one little piece of each and seriously gave the rest away - YAY!) But for now, I'm giving a basic outline of my eating plan moving forward:
Breakfast: Green Monster
Morning mini: Apple + Turkey lunchmeat + LC Wedge
Lunch: WW Pasta w/ turkey meatsauce or wrap or sandwich on sandwich thin, etc.
Afternoon mini: Greek yogurt w/ fruit, etc.
Dinner: Salad or Lean Protein + Veggies (NO carbs other than veggies)
There will be quite a few more dabbles in the days ahead - Pinterest will be a huge one, friends blogs, posts I've found interesting, music, events, friends... wheeee!
Excited to be back! Now to make this last...
Happy Tuesday!
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