gold and roses

Go to my friend Heather's (my ally in cake) Blog to read

a quick overview of this beautiful cake with more pictures,

She explains it perfectly

It has become tradition to do this pose by all of our cakes....

no one was there to take it for us this time....so this is the best we could get, not to shabby.

Mommy and baby meet at last

Remember the post I did only months ago?!?

The wait is over!

Want a wonderful announcment??

 Check out the blog of the greatest friend anyone could have....

go go go!!

It will totally make your day/week/month!

Eva is so blessed to have two loving parents who are going to be the best parents ever!

Congrats Jason and Tara!

New cake

Meet the newest member to the cake family.  Mr Potato Head!  He was a lot of fun/hard work/ stress to make.  There was a lot of laughter and moans and groans while making this cake with Heather.  I am glad it is done, but after it all, it is one of my new favorites.

Look at the detail on the shoes, one of my favorite parts

My new love of Nutella

Dear Nutella,
where have you been my whole life?  I knew there was a sweet chocolatey hazelnutty ingredient missing from my life, and here you are.  I will bake with you and spread you all over english muffins.  I will fill  you in crepes and put you on banana sandwiches.  And if that wasn't enough, I will mix you in pies and in cookies.  Thank you for coming into my life.
Love Kate

1 3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup Nutella
1/2 cup softened butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
sugar for rolling cookies in

In a small bowl mix flour, soda and salt in bowl.  In a large bowl mix Nutella, butter, sugar, and egg till smooth.  Mix in flour mixture.  Roll into balls and roll in sugar and place on cookie sheet 4 inches apart.
Bake for 8 minutes in 375 degree oven. This is based off of a recipe on Everyday Italian that I found on a blog.

Healthy for me Dark Chocolate muffins

My mother in law is awesome at changing recipes to be more healthy.  She took a recipe from an old cooking light at made it her own.  These muffins do have a hint of banana, but the chocolate taste in them is so rich.  They taste like a healthy version of the Costco chocolate muffins.

Judys dark chocolate muffins:

Ingredients-

12 oz prunes (Judy uses Lighter bake that you can find by the oils, all it is, is all ready stewed prunes)

3/4 ripe banana (I use 2 bananas)

2 eggs (or use egg substitute)

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup cocoa

2tsp baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup 60% cocoa chips

If you don't use the Lighter bake, stew prunes in boiling water for 20 minutes and strain and cool.

In a blender, blend prunes, banana, and eggs until smooth.

In a large bowl mix dry ingredients with a wisk and fold in prune banana mixture just till mixed. Don't mix too much.

Fill cupcake liners almost full and bake for 20 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

I like them cold out of the fridge or warmed up.  Really gets me through those sweet cravings!

Turkish Delight

When I was little, I lived in Ankara Turkey for a few years with my family.  My dad with in the Airforce and was stationed there.  Although I don't remember much, I have always had a love for Turkish delight.  After we moved here, we would take trips to Seattle and there is a little store that actually sells turkish delight.  It is a sweet jelly like candy. 

My favorite was always pistachio, so I went on a hunt for a pistachio turkish delight recipe. 

And this is what I found on About.com

It was a great recipe and I found it very easy to do...quite a bit of stirring and watching, but the taste was very much the same as I remember it.  The rose water gives it such a floral sweet flavor, I was very surprised at how good this tasted!

So if you are up for a challange, I suggest you try this! 

Kalbi or Galbi BBQ my way

Although summer is over, there may be a few more days left to grill!  This recipe is a family recipe and my parents always made it during the summer on skewers with a thicker meat.  Although it is very good that way, I have always used Carne asada that has been cut very thin.  This is so good, I get requests for this recipe whenever I make it and it is actually one simple dish to make!

3 lbs lean meat or Carne Asada that has been cut very thin
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup sesame oil
1/3 cup sugar
2 cloves garlic
1/4 tsp salt and pepper

Mix ingredients together in a tupper ware container big enough to hold the meat.  Put meat in marinade and let soak for a few hours to overnight, stirring the meat occasionally.  Grill or skewer and grill.  Also good just under the broiler also.