Tampa Bay Lightning Cake

So a friend asked if I could make a cake for her daughter's birthday and we came up with a theme of Tampa Bay Lightning.  Oh I am such a traitor, my Masshole card should be revoked. 

Anyway I started the cake yesterday and baked them and covered all three pieces with fondant and left the detail pieces for today.  Thanks to Google and Hostesss being back in business I found that Hostess Ding Dongs are the perfect shape and size for hockey pucks.  I also printed out the world BOLTS in the team font and traced it onto the fondant.  For the jersey I found a hockey jersey template on a site that makes custom jerseys.  So I enlarged the picture and traced it in the dark blue fondant and added the white and black stripes.  The lightning bolt actually is a jewelry charm that my fantastic little assistant Miss V found at Hobby Lobby yesterday.  I made a little version of the Stanley Cup and painted with silver luster dust and lemon extract.

I think it came out pretty good even though it isn't Black and Gold with a big ole B on it ;o)

Here are all the process pictures.

Hope everyone enjoys it tonight.

Getting organized

Sometimes I just blow a gasket because stuff is put away in the wrong places in the kitchen.  This happened recently and I decided to take matters into my own hands.

I started with my cookie cutters and tools.  This in a long shelf in the laundry room that I decluttered too.

 

Then my former sprinkle cabinet got cleaned out and organized.

 For an upcoming cake I bought the large bottles of Super Black and Royal Blue.  The colors that I seem to be going through a lot of, I think it will be better just to buy the larger sizes.

 Lots of different extracts.

Then the armoire in the dining room. It used to hold miscellaneous stuff.  Well I decluttered it and put my cake pans, cake boards, boxes and the contents of the sprinkle cabinet.

 Cookie guns and sprinkles sorted by season.

 Candles, and candy supplies

 This makes me very happy!  No more lost tart pan bottoms and cupcake pans every where.

Cupcake Order (Black & White)

So this week, I had another cupcake "order" or barter is more appropriate.   Friends of ours own a auto repair shop and that is the only place that we will take our vehicles to.  So they were having a meeting and needed a few dozen cupcakes.  So I ran to Hobby Lobby and picked up the black and white checked cupcake liners and my assistant found Wilton Cake Sparkles.  Never used them before and they didn't run and melt like regular sanding sugar.

I ended up making two double batches of buttercream.  Below is a double batch which is good for two dozen cupcakes.

6 Cups Powdered Sugar
4 sticks unsalted butter, room temp
2 tsp vanilla extract
A little milk

Whisk butter in your stand mixer until smooth.  Add 1 cup of powdered sugar and mix to combine, repeat until all the sugar is incorporated.  Add the vanilla and a dash of milk.  Whisk on high for approximately three minutes until light and fluffy.

I did use some Americolor Bright White for the white part of the frosting.  For the black, I did use some cocoa powder to help tint it.  Then used two small bottles of Americolor Super Black.  When it was done, it looked more dark gray, but after a couple hours of chilling in the fridge, it did get darker.

Mini Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches with Fries

Guess where I found this recipe?  If you guessed Pinterest you would be correct.  You can find the original recipe at High Heels & Grills.

1 Tbsp. butter

1/2 white onion, cut into thin slices

1 clove garlic, minced

1 green bell pepper, sliced

1 lb thinly sliced roast beef 

salt and pepper, to taste

1/2 Tbsp. oil

6 french hard-rolls, cut in half

6 provolone cheese slices

Melt the butter in a skillet on medium heat and add the onion, garlic, and bell pepper, stirring occasionally. Season with Salt and Pepper.

Take the roast beef and slice it into strips.

In another skillet, heat it to medium high heat and add oil.  Toss in the roast beef and stir it so that it gets hot.

Assemble your cheese-steaks by adding the hot meat to your french rolls, putting the provolone slices right on top of the meat, and the hot veggies on top of the cheese.

Serve with your favorite french fry.

These came out really well and the fries were great.  I have not tried them before.

Italian Sausage Tortellini Soup

Yep...another great dinner courtesy of Pinterest.  You can find the original recipe at Two Peas & Their Pod.

I did tweak it a bit and added more stock and didn't have fresh basil.  So my "tweaks" are below

1 lb. Italian Sausage, rolled into tablespoon size balls
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 red bell peppers, diced
1 bay leaf
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes
12 cups chicken stock
2 (15 ounce) cans diced tomatoes
1 1/2 cups baby Kale
2 cups cheese tortellini (fresh or frozen)
1 tbs dried basil
Salt and black pepper, to taste

Preheat your oven to 400.  Put the sausage balls in a glass baking dish and bake until no longer pink.  Drain on a paper towel.

In a very large pot, heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Add the onion and cook until tender.  Stir in the garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the red peppers, bay leaf, basil and red pepper flakes. Cook until peppers are soft.

Stir in the broth, tomatoes, and baby kale. Add the cheese tortellini and cook until tortellini is tender. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Stir in the mini sausage balls and heat until warm. Remove the bay leaf and serve.

I did sprinkle some shredded Parmesan cheese on top.  This was a really good soup and would definitely make it again.

Spinach Ricotta Calzone

I pinned this recipe recently and made it the other day.  You can find the original recipe at King Arthur Flour.

I used my bread machine to make the dough.  

2 cups (8 1/2 ounces) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
3/4 teaspoon salt1 tablespoon olive oil1/2 cup to 3/4 cup lukewarm water


Put the ingredients in your bread machine and set on dough cycle.  When dough is finished, make the filling.

10 ounces spinach (fresh or frozen), cooked, drained, and squeezed completely dry
1 cup ricotta cheese, whole-milk or part-skim
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt

Working with one half at a time, place the dough on a piece of parchment, or onto a lightly greased baking sheet. Pat it into a 10″ to 11″ circle.

Spread half of each disk of dough with half the filling. Fold the unfilled half over the filling, crimping and pressing the edges together to seal.

Cut 3 or 4 slits in the top of each calzone, to allow steam to escape. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with a bit of shredded Parmesan Cheese.

Let the calzone rest, uncovered, for 30 minutes, while you preheat your oven to 450°F.

Bake the calzone for 18 to 22 minutes, until they’re golden brown.

I served these with a side of spicy marina.  Oh these came out really really really good!  You can always count on fantastic and easy recipes from King Arthur Flour.  I think one of these days, I would really love to visit their shop in VT.  But not in the winter....

Shredded Buffalo Chicken

I have been such a slacker...so I am going to post what I have made in the last couple of weeks. 

I saw this idea on Pinterest and kind of tweaked it to what I like.

6 frozen chicken breasts
1 envelope of ranch dressing/dip
1 tbs garlic powder
1 tbs onion powder
2 cups of Franks Red Hot

Place the chicken breasts on the bottom of your crock pot.

Sprinkle with the garlic powder, onion powder and ranch dressing.

Pour the Franks Red Hot over the chicken.

Cook on low for 8 hours.

Shred the chicken when done and add a bit more Franks.

Serve on a sandwich roll with chips.

This came out great and I even added some Mexican Blend Shredded cheese to the chicken.  This lasted a few days.

Pumpkin Spice Cream Cheese

I know I am not the only one who is Pinning all sorts of pumpkin/fall recipes.  After church yesterday, I HAD to stop and pick up some cream cheese for this yummy looking spread for bagels.

You can find the original recipe at Laa Loosh.

I did change it a bit.

1 (8oz) package of cream cheese softened
1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree, not pie filling
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbs brown sugar
1 tsp granulated sugar
1/2 tsp kosher salt

Mix all the ingredients in a mixer until well combined.  It was a bit bland, but I figured it would taste better after siting in the fridge over night.  Place into gladware containers and store in the fridge.

 

It tastes much better after a night in the fridge!  I think next time I would add some fresh nutmeg.