Halloween Marshmallow Pops

I still rip things out of magazines at doctor's offices.  And I still nervously look around me as I'm doing it, half expecting a police officer to jump out from behind a plant and arrest me.  This habit is very old school, because I could easily take a photo of whatever it is with my iPhone or go home and Google the same magazine and find the article in its entirety online.  Alas, ripping it out makes me feel dangerous and 82 years old at the same time.  So, I recently found this article stuffed in my purse about Marshmallow Pops, which looked so fun and easy to recreate at home.  And they were!  Perfect after-school activity with Jack...  

I used lollipop sticks I had on hand, melted white chocolate for the ghosts and candy melts for the Frankensteins and pumpkins.  (I didn't have orange candy melts so I combined yellow and red, which sort of came out coral but go with it.)  Simply dunk your skewered marshmallows and then let cool on parchment paper.  Melt some chocolate chips and dunk the tips of your green marshmallows for Frankenstein hair.  Place the rest of the melted chocolate in a piping bag (or plastic baggie with the end snipped) and use to make spooky faces!  You could make mummies or Dracula's too, and use other candies for decorating.  The possibilities are endless when you rip articles out of magazines!       

Monster Eyeball Cookies

My daughter has been waking up at 5am this week, which is fun, because then we can bond while I'm super grumpy.  She also knows what "Mama, Coffee, HOT" means, so there's that.  And I've had a chance to get my blog posts up on the early side.  Morning Celebration!  Anyways, remember these Mini Candy Corn Sugar Cookies?  I've been pretty obsessed with the recipe since discovering it.  The dough comes together in a matter of minutes (I usually double it), it's easy to work with, it freezes well, and the creative possibilities are endless (think every holiday).  This go around, I added a small amount of green food coloring to the dough before adding the flour, and then topped each baked cookie with eyeball sprinkles.  Jack and I wanted to make faces on a few of them, so we melted chocolate chips and used a plastic baggie with the end snipped off to create silly, scary monsters... 

Ok those aren't scary at all.  Can you believe Halloween is less than a week away?  Good thing my son has 3 costumes he can't decide between!  If you feel like getting festive and domestic this weekend, check out the homemade candy I've made in the past.  And don't forget these Butterfingers!

Weekend!  

Spunky Stork Giveaway

As a mother, I'm really excited about this giveaway.  The Spunky Stork, an online baby and toddler clothing boutique dedicated to eco-friendly materials (from organic fabrics to recycled packagings) is offering this adorable "Future Foodie" onesie or toddler T (your choice) to one lucky winner.  Um, can I win??  But you don't have to be a mama to enjoy this giveaway, you just have to know a kid who might like it, or perhaps you just enjoy super tiny T-shirts yourself, ahem... Adam Levine??   

Please visit Spunky Stork, look around, and comment below to win.  You must be an official follower of this blog to qualify, and a winner will be chosen at random on Friday, October 4th.

Good Luck!

p.s. I don't know who that kid is but he, is, CUTE.

Polka Dot Cake

You guys, my baby turns 1 in a week.  I have a 1 year-old and a 4 year-old, excuse me, 4 AND A HALF year old (that's very important to include these days, apparently).  Time to sob in a corner, buy more anti-aging cream and bake some birthday cake.  Which is only my favorite thing to do in the world (bake, that is, I hate skin care).  Let me refresh your memory with Jack's first birthday, his second, his third and his fourth.  See?  I obsess.  This birthday was no different.  A friend showed me this Polka Dot Cake recipe probably 6 months ago and it was decided.  Done!  I knew little Etta Bo Betta would be smashing her face in polka dots by the time she turned one.  While that is still a week away, I made this cake for a small family gathering last night and it was a success!  Fairly simple, not overly time-consuming, and it yields fantastic results.  I used a store-bought cake mix for the cake balls and bought this (oh, I think I just might use it again), I used this recipe for the actual cake, and made my buttercream seen here.  With the leftover balls, I decorated the bottom of the cake and also I ate them.  

Happy 1st Birthday to my spunky little tiger, we love you : )         

Balls!

White cake batter...

Little Avenger helping out...

It's the whole family!  Etta wants out.

Bye bye balls...

And hello again!  

(I've heard freezing the balls helps them to not rise to the surface during baking, but in the end it didn't really matter much.) 

Frosting and layering...

Polka Dot Party!

Even her baby book matches which was a total accident.  

My breakfast...

Whole Wheat Soft Pretzel Bites

You would think after the debacle I experienced last time I volunteered to bake snacks for Jack's preschool, I'd be over doing it again.  But you can fool me once, or twice, and never again, as George W said, I think.  What I'm trying to say is... I don't learn from my mistakes!  No, I kid, this time it was actually a leisurely, enjoyable experience.  And I found a new recipe that I will absolutely try again!  Very healthy (I subbed whole wheat flour for all-purpose) and allergy friendly (dairy-free).  Great dipped in peanut butter (or soy butter if you have a nut allergy).  I doubled the recipe and it made A TON.  Plenty to feed a schoolyard of crazy kids.  I'm never there when the kids enjoy snack time, but I'd like to imagine the table chatter goes something like this:

Kid:  What a delicious and healthy snack for my tummy.  Who MADE these?
Jack:  MY MOM.  The BEST mom in the whole wide world.
Kid:  Wow.  You should totally bring her home a medal or at least a candy bar or some new shoes.      

Corn on the Cob Cupcakes

Can you even handle how much these look like corn??  I couldn't handle it as I started spotting them online (here and here for example), and you know I will attempt any sort of baked good that blows my mind.  They seemed perfect for Memorial Day weekend, but would also be appropriate at any summer BBQ sooooo... off you go, to your local candy store for jelly beans.  Buy some coke bottle gummies while you're there.  Run don't walk, trip don't fall, what?     

I made Mascarpone Cupcakes with a Vanilla Bean Buttercream Frosting (1 cup unsalted room temp butter, 1 lb. powdered sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, 1/2 tsp vanilla paste, 2 T milk) and then lightly colored the frosting pale yellow.  For the jelly beans, I used yellow (pina colada), white (french vanilla) and a darker, speckled gold (banana).  The pats of butter are lemon Starbursts that I flattened with my fingers.  Finally, on the top I sprinkled some white and green sanding sugar to reflect salt and Italian herbs.  As they began to take shape, I could feel the stupid grin creep up my face and my body started twitching into a happy dance.  I don't like the term "foodie" but I do like to call myself a FOOD GEEK.      

GAH!!  FOOD NERD CAN'T HANDLE!!

English Muffin Pizzas

I know I always talk about the english muffins at M Street Kitchen but GAH!, I wish I could send one to each of you so you knew why I said things like GAH! when referring to them.  Last night, in an effort to do more with our farmer's market vegetables, I made mini pizzas with the muffins.  They were ridiculously perfect.  Of course, you can use any english muffin for this, but if you're able to purchase some from a bakery DO IT.  They're usually larger than the supermarket kind and made with more butter, which results in a crispier pizza crust.  Jack had a regular old cheese pizza (with a can of crushed tomatoes as the sauce) but our adult version included sautéed red chard (olive oil, salt, pepper)...

...and roasted garlic (Power Ranger hands not included).  

For the adult versions, instead of the shredded mozzarella I used for Jack's pizzas, I used these mozzarella pearls.  I love having these on hand for salads or school lunches...

450 degree oven for 15-20 minutes.  They were PERFECT.  And a fun way to shake up dinner, because I say things like that because I write a food blog.    

Homemade Baseball-Shaped Graham Crackers

Jack had his first T-ball game over the weekend and it, was, comedy.  A bunch of little 4 year-olds wearing jerseys down to their knees, more excited than I'd ever seen them, running around after one ball and tackling each other to be the first to get it as we chanted, "you're on the same team!"  It brought back memories of my own childhood days in the outfield, where I chased butterflies and spoke to imaginary boyfriends and let pop-ups hit me on the head.  So I didn't grow up to be an athlete, but I did learn how to bake a thing or two which is why I volunteered to bring snacks for the first game.  The perfect excuse to try out this Weelicious recipe (found here) for Homemade Graham Crackers.  

I used a circle cookie-cutter and a fork to turn them into little baseballs!  Jack had so much fun helping. They were very easy to make and while mine were slightly thicker than the original cracker, the taste was very familiar and delicious.  By the way, I also brought 20 bags of baby carrots and I came home with 19 bags of baby carrots.  I think a dad ate one bag.  He's going to have great eyesight, I told all the graham cracker-eating kids who absolutely ignored me.    

Mini Vegan Banana Muffins

Do you believe in the universe trying to tell you something?  Listen to my story...

Once Upon A Time, I agreed to bake 100 mini muffins for Jack's preschool snack.  There are roughly 80 kids, and some like seconds.  In true Siri fashion, I left this project to the very last minute (like every term paper in college), and had planned to bake after my kids fell asleep last night.  Promptly, at bedtime, the power went out.  Carson was at work, Jack was freaking out, and I looked like this...

  

What, you don't keep a headband flashlight on your nightstand like Carson does?  p.s. What are those four freaky dots coming out of my neck???  I look like I'm waiting for my spaceship.  Anyway, I wake up at 2am to a screaming baby I'm attempting to sleep train, and it's still black outside.  I start to panic.  I begin to imagine 80 kids coming at me like walking zombies, begging for their snack.  I cannot let this happen.  And then, at 3am, the power comes back on!  I dance in bed!  I set my alarm for 5am.  Oh, and the baby wakes up two more times.  

So it's early, and I'm drinking a pot of coffee.  I start to make Mini Vegan Banana Muffins using this bread recipe (which I doubled, cooking the muffins for 13 minutes) because a few of the kids are allergic to dairy and nuts.  I decide to look at the allergy list one more time and I see one little girl who is allergic to cinnamon.  I have already put cinnamon in the batter.  I THROW THE BATTER AWAY and thoroughly scrub everything to remove any cinnamon residue.  I curse cinnamon allergies.  I drink more coffee.  I begin again.  I'm about to pour the soy milk in only I look, and I see that I didn't buy soy milk - I bought almond milk.  Almond milk, for kids with severe nut allergies.  CURSE EVERYTHING!!!!!!  I google "alternatives to almond milk" and google tells me "soy milk" thanks for NOTHING GOOGLE.  So I use water in place of milk.  I think these muffins are going to taste like rat poison and all the kids will make up mean songs about Jack D's Mommy.  I plug along anyway...

Guess what?  They were freaking delicious.  Like, really, really good.  Oh and I added dairy free chocolate chips because I want all the kids to make up nice songs about Jack D's Mommy.  

I think the lesson here, that the Universe is trying to teach me, is to quit trying to be Super Mom.  It's okay that I shower rarely and brush my hair even less and drop off my son at school wearing the same outfit everyday and eat chocolate chips every night by the handful.  It's okay!  It's okay.  It's okay? 

Power Ranger Cakes

Success!  Jack turned 4!  There was a party!  The Bounce House only collapsed on the children twice!  Relax, everyone is fine, no need to call the authorities.  There were 5 cakes!

I know it sounds crazy to make that many cakes BUT, there were many, many children and as you can see - each cake is only 8 or 9 inches round (I have no idea how big my cake pans are).  The theme was Power Rangers so I thought, wouldn't it be fun for the kids to pick which color Ranger they wanted to eat in cake form?!  Does that sound weird?!  Also, when you get a little help from the store, anything is surmountable!  I made my own buttercream but used boxed white cake mix (3 of them), separated the batter into 5 bowls, used food paste to color them, and then baked them...

I love making cakes with candy melts on top (as you can see here, here and here).  It's such a fun way to make an average, store-bought or semi-homemade cake look professional and fabulous THAT'S RIGHT FABULOUS.  And it's really easy to do!  My favorite product to use are these Wilton Candy Melts, because they melt beautifully and the colors are vibrant and last.  But you could also use white chocolate and dye it (I've just found white chocolate doesn't melt as well).  All I do is conduct a 'google image' search for what I'm looking for, in this case, Power Ranger masks.  I find one that's a decent size for my cake (or I adjust the printing settings to make it so).  I place the image under parchment paper and I trace with the melted candy!  You can use a piping bag, but I always put mine in regular old sandwich bags with the ends clipped and find that works really well.      

Here, the images are taped onto the counter with parchment paper taped over that.  

They're halfway done with melted chocolate (but next time I'll use Wilton's black candy melts because the color will last longer)...

I find I have a much steadier hand if there is wine involved...

Let the melts cool and harden before placing them atop cakes.

Buttercream recipe: 4 sticks unsalted butter at room temp (I like to use European style if I know I'm really going to taste it), 4 cups powdered sugar, 1 T vanilla and 1 tsp cream (or milk).

And for no reason other than I feel like sharing, I picked up flowers for each Power Ranger too.  The ninjas look much lovelier in flower form, don't you think?  Ok, time to start planning my 6 month-old's first birthday!  Just kidding, that was a joke, no it wasn't.

(Also, a Brobee Cake and a Wubbzy Cake)