Recipes

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    Batty for Birthdays

    ByHeather Bailey

    BatCupcake2
    Here’s what I ended up with for Charlotte’s ‘spooky’ birthday cupcakes.  I used an Oreo Cakester for the body, two chocolate-covered sunflower seeds for the eyes and black scrapbook paper for the wings.

    SpookyCupcakes2 For easier assembly, I cut the wing and ear for each side as one piece. I used a paper punch from Martha Stewart to give the wings a more girly personality.  Though the sinister Cakester-frosting smile was entirely unplanned, it was a welcome surprise.

    After I prepped the wings and things, Isaac put the cupcakes together while I stitched up dragon tails.  All together (not including baking), the cupcakes and tails took us a bit longer than one run of the original True Grit on AMC. (I think Isaac made two trips to the store in there too.)  Who says bats are for Halloween alone? 

    It’s true, Charlotte, you ARE your own self.


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    Birthday Prep – Funfetti & Dragon Tag

    ByHeather Bailey

    FunfettiCakeMixT Today I'm wrapping up a Valentine's Day newsletter and a few lingering  projects, then I'm moving on to Charlotte's birthday cupcakes!  She's going for funfetti cake mix with vanilla pudding (Easy Gourmet Cupcakes recipe).  She wants the frosting to be "black and spooky," but tells me that a bat on top of each might do the trick.  I'll figure something out.  I can't go too goth.  The girl is only 6.

    Oh, and Dragon Tag.  I have some quick "tails" to put together.  I say this with quotes, as I may only have time to tear strips of fabric.  We'll see.  Busy day!

  • Easy Gourmet Cupcakes – Recipe

    ByHeather Bailey

    ChocolateCupcakeRecipe

    Easy Gourmet Cupcakes
    1 box cake mix  – any flavor
    1 small box pudding mix
    4 eggs
    1 C. sour cream
    1/2 C. water
    1/2 C. oil

    Choose a cake mix and a pudding mix with compatible flavors.  Mix this stuff all together and bake as instructed — till toothpick comes out clean.  Cool on a wire rack, then add frosting.  Easy peasy.

    Spread the frosting.  Spread the word.  Spread the love.

    ChocolateCupcakes

    Shall we move on from Christmas? 

    Perhaps.

    I swear, you’ll never hear from me much at the new year, regardless of my well-meaning resolutions.  I not only have Christmas and New Year’s to recover from, but my wedding anniversary and both of my children’s birthdays are mixed in there as well.  Elijah’s LAN party was a week ago and Charlotte’s party is this weekend.  Her requested theme: Legendary.  She wants to have a “Legendary” party. 

    Who doesn’t, right? 

    So, Legendary, it is.  Sounds like a tall order.  I guess that’s what you get from a kindergartener with a crazy vocabulary.  However, I do believe her 5–year-old imagination is conjuring dragons and elves, not preeminent perfection.  Thank goodness for that.  Have I ever mentioned that her first word was “dignity“?  No joke!  She was only nine-months-old.

    Gooey chocolate cupcakes were a big success at Elijah’s party — truly, the easiest way to serve birthday cake.  So, I’m going for cupcakes again for Charlotte.  Above is my easy solution for exquisite cupcakes.  Isaac’s sister, Evie, shared this trick when she visited a while back.  Always a big hit.  The cupcakes, and Evie.


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    August in a Cupcake Wrapper

    ByHeather Bailey

    CupcakeBouquet470 Had a birthday. Yep. 

    It was great!  Isaac brought me chocolate cake, mom brought me chocolate cake, and Nica made me a bouquet of chocolate-rose cupcakes ala Carrie — delicious and entirely photo-worthy. (Thank you s'much!)LifeisaPinata  Add to that a great birthday party put on by my sisters, Julia & Merris, and a serious spread of mexican food.  I was far too busy eating chocolate and tacos to blog about it. 

    Other than eating cake round the clock, let's see, I've been busy batting at a variety of moving objects.  Life is a pinata.  One feisty, swingy pinata.

    One project I'm excited to announce is my partnership with Peking Handicraft to produce several housewares collections, including aprons, dishtowels, pillows, and more.  I'll post photos once samples are in hand.  Right now we are aiming for several January releases.

    On the pattern front, I'm introducing two new mini patterns this month.  LOVE them both.  One is the awesome lunch bag pattern I mentioned before and the other is a great little hat pattern — a sort of mixture between a 1920s cloche and a hippie beret.  Patterns & instructions are complete; I just need to wrap up the covers.

    CupcakeT
    I'm also toying with a blog theme idea; tell me your take on Sketchtember.

    Doodle-loo, scribble too — whoop-di-do.

  • Lemon Drop & Other Fine Passwords

    ByHeather Bailey

    HPBannerFinalTall

    LemonDrops470_2

    Not
    all witches have time to concoct a full spread of Harry Potter recipes,
    especially if they are short a house elf or two!  So for those of you
    who would like to delve into the world of Harry Potter without the
    chocolate-dipping and butterbeer-mixing, I've searched out a few
    easily-accessible, store-bought options for you.

    ChocolateFrogs470

    Lemon
    Drops, Chocolate Frogs, and Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans are my top
    choices for store-bought, trolley-worthy treats.  They can be enjoyed
    by first years and ministry wizards alike.  Honestly, I can't believe I
    found chocolate frogs with so little searching.  (See 'Where to Buy'
    list below.)

    Another non-alcoholic beverage option includes Lemon Drop Soda.  Mix 2 parts sparkling water with 1 part Stirrings brand Lemon Drop Mixer, and give that Dumbledore a toast. 

    If
    you prefer a lighter soda, reduce the Lemon Drop Mixer to your liking. 
    Isaac swears by the addition of a tablespoon of vanilla flavoring syrup.

    LemonDropSoda300wWhere to Buy
    • Old-fashioned lemon drops – Pier One Imports.
    • Chocolate Frogs – Pier One Imports or mold your own chocolate frogs.
    • Every Flavor Beans – Jelly Belly brand
    jelly beans – your local grocer — or for an authentic Bertie Bott's
    mix, including nasty flavors, such as vomit & ear wax, here are a
    few links: one, two, three.
    • Stirrings brand Lemon Drop Mixer — spotted this week at Pier One, World Market, and SuperTarget, or purchase online.
    • Sparkling Water or Club Soda – your local grocer.

    Now
    take your sugar high and do something good with it, like treat your
    kids to a movie or some broom-crafting, then come back home and crash-out. That's the way the sugar goes. I have some experience with this
    now. 

    Next week, I'm off the broomstick, cauldron-less, and
    back in Little Winging, I swear.  Have a great weekend Harry Potter
    fans — don't forget to brush your teeth.

    • Cockroach Clusters recipe here.
    • Butterbeer recipe here.
    • Mini Broomsticks tutorial here.
    • Chocolate Wands recipe here.

    LemonDropSoda470

  • Swish, and Flick.

    ByHeather Bailey

    HPBannerFinalTall

    Chocolate
    wands are a Gryffindor favorite.  Even Dumbledore has been known to
    stash a few candy wands in his desk.  Young witches and wizards can use
    them to practice basic spells, then pause for a bite!  For a variety of
    wand ‘types’, have crushed cookies, nuts or sprinkles handy as options
    to roll freshly-dipped pretzels in. 

    ChocolateWands470

    For
    this batch of wands, I first dipped pretzel rods in melted caramel.** 
    I then dipped each one in melted chocolate, and finished with a
    dappling of nuts.

    PretzelTray470b

    For
    best results, melt caramel in a tall cylinder and dip pretzels
    carefully.  The taller the cylinder, the deeper you can dip the
    pretzels. Set freshly-dipped pretzels on parchment-covered cookie sheet
    till caramel has set.  Then dip chocolate in the same manner.  Once
    chocolate has partially set, roll dipped end in desired topping.

    Dipping320w2 Package a few wands together in cello bags and personalize by tying with ribbon in your house colors.

    **Alternatively,
    use flat sheets of caramel used in caramel-apple
    making.  Each caramel sheet comes sandwiched in parchment paper.  Cut
    sheets into strips while still lined with paper.  Then, peel off paper
    & wrap strips around end of pretzel
    rod.  I've seen caramel sheets in the produce section of several
    grocery
    stores — but these might be seasonal.

    • Cockroach Clusters recipe here.
    • Butterbeer recipe here.
    • Mini Broomsticks tutorial here.

  • Bottoms Up, Butterbeer

    ByHeather Bailey

    HPBannerFinalTall Butterbeer
    Madam
    Rosmerta would agree that no wizard party is complete without a pint of
    freshly-brewed Butterbeer. With our house elf now missing, it took us
    quite a few iterations before we discovered the perfect potion for this
    usually overly-sweet concoction. A hint of ginger and the sweetness of
    butterscotch combine to create a delightful and refreshing non-alcoholic drink,
    capable of making even Severus Snape smile.

    Butterscotch300 Butterbeer Recipe

    12 oz. (one bottle) ginger beer
    36 oz. (three bottles) cream soda
    3 T butterscotch ice cream topping

    Thoroughly
    chill unopened ginger beer and cream soda in refrigerator until
    icy-cold.  Refrigerate empty, glass pitcher as well.  Once beverages
    are chilled, in a small mixing bowl or tall glass, stir 1-2 oz. of
    cream soda into butterscotch topping till thoroughly combined.  Pour
    all remaining soda into chilled pitcher. Quickly add butterscotch
    mixture to pitcher.  Stir till just combined;  do not over-stir.  Pour
    over ice and serve immediately.  Serves 6.

    For a frothy sparkle, dip the rim of each glass in corn syrup,
    pulling drips of syrup downward with a toothpick.  Then dip
    each glass rim in a mixture of colored sugar.  Before dipping, spread
    the corn syrup & sugar mixture each onto a separate, flat-bottomed
    plate.

    SugarRim

    For
    an old-world, textured effect, mix fine, yellow sugar with coarser,
    gold sugar.  Colored sugars are available at many grocery stores and
    craft chains.  The sugars shown here are both from Michael's.

    Isaac
    & I went to a midnight showing of The Half-Blood Prince with friends last
    night.  It was amazing — definitely my favorite HP movie so far — BY
    FAR.  We were surrounded by eight packed theatres of screaming,
    costumed teenagers.  It was a sight.

    • Cockroach Clusters recipe here.

  • Candy-Coated Roach Control

    ByHeather Bailey

    HPBannerFinalTall HBaileyCockroachBrt3 Don't look like a Muggle at the big Harry Potter movie premiere
    this week, snacking on Milk Duds and Raisinets.  Line your cloak with a
    proper wizard's feast of sugar munchies.  Start with every student's
    favorite, Cockroach Clusters. 

    HBaileyPopcornWbrt2
    Our house elf, Floozy, has been working away all weekend to formulate
    the perfect Cockroach Cluster recipe, using only the finest Pecanese
    cockroaches.  With Floozy's polished recipe, the process is easy —
    almost like making popcorn balls.

    For a final touch, let a
    batch of greedy insects loose on your tray of hand-rolled popcorn balls
    and they'll crawl right into place and get stuck — like magic. The
    hardest part is de-winging the little buggers while they're still
    wiggling, but you'll get the hang of it.

    When Floozy threatened
    to rest her sticky fingers, we made her stay up an extra two hours to
    design candy tags for your homemade treats.  That'll teach her.  Click here to download a print-ready pdf of uniquely-appetizing Cockroach Cluster tags.

    Spread the news around Hogsmeade and the floo network, I'll be posting magical recipes all this week.

    Update: 
    About Floozy's sticky, sticky state.  No worries.  We had her wash up for the next recipe & gave her a clean, new apron to wear.

    Oh shoot!  Oops — no wonder I haven't seen her all morning.

    HappyTreat

    Cockroach Clusters

    Glazed Pecans

    1 lb pecan halves
    1/2 C light corn syrup
    1 T butter
    kosher or sea salt to taste

    Directions:
    Preheat oven to 200º. Coat baking sheet
    with butter-flavored cooking spray. Spread pecan halves in single layer on
    baking sheet. Toast in 200º oven for approx. 5 min. Remove pecans from oven and pour in mixing bowl. Set aside. Increase oven
    temperature to 300º. Re-coat baking sheet with cooking spray.

    Melt butter in
    microwave. Add corn syrup &
    butter to pecan halves. Stir until pecans are evenly coated. With
    slotted spoon, remove pecan halves from bowl and place in single layer
    on baking sheet. Bake for approx. 15 minutes or until pecan glaze is
    brown and bubbly. Remove pecans and lightly
    sprinkle with salt. Allow to cool. Pecans should be prepared in advance
    of
    popcorn balls.

    CockroachClusterTags Popcorn Balls

    18-20 C of popped popcorn
    2 T butter
    2 C sugar
    1/2 tsp kosher or sea salt
    1/2 C light corn syrup
    1 1/3 cups water
    1 tsp white vinegar
    1 tsp vanilla extract
    1/2 tsp almond extract

    Directions:
    Pop
    popcorn in air popper — or use plain microwave popcorn. Set aside. In
    medium sauce pan, combine butter, sugar, salt, corn syrup, water and
    vinegar. (The vinegar helps the sugar to reach a smooth consistency.)
    Cook on high until sugar mixture reaches hard-ball stage (approximately
    255-265º). Remove saucepan from heat, then stir in vanilla and almond
    extract.

    Quickly
    coat large mixing bowl and mixing spoon with butter-flavored cooking
    spray. Pour 18-20 cups of popped popcorn into the greased bowl.

    Slowly pour
    sugar mixture onto popcorn, tossing as you go. Wait till mixture is
    cool enough to handle, but still very warm, then lightly form coated
    popcorn into 3" balls and place on wax paper.  Before popcorn balls
    cool, decorate with glazed pecans. It helps to have a second person to
    help add pecans while the popcorn mixture is still warm.

    Holy cricket, these are tasty!

    • Butterbeer recipe here.

  • Frozen Bozo

    ByHeather Bailey

    This photo cracks me up.  Can anyone guess what my concept was here? 
    That’s right, it’s a dessert interpretation of a 70s clown.  You’re not
    afraid of clowns are you?

    BananaSplit470
    My new ice cream recipe
    from Father’s Day this year is Double-Chocolate Banana Split ice cream,
    newly coined “Frozen Bozo,” presented with a waffle cone hat, a cherry
    nose and a doily ruff.  It’s interpretative.

    The ice cream isn’t just chocolate either.  It has bananas, cherries and brownies in it.  A fool-proof mix <3:o)

    Also, I’ve drawn up a list of tutorials I’m eager to post. Without
    revealing the specifics, where would you like me to start:  jewelry,
    paper craft, sewing project, home decor?  Lots of plans.  What are you
    in the mood for first?

    Ingredients470a

    Frozen Bozo – Chocolate Banana Split ice cream

    Chocolate Ice Cream Base
    6 C. heavy cream
    2.25 C. sugar
    3 T. pure vanilla extract
    3 C. milk or half ‘n’ half
    16 OZ. bittersweet chocolate

    Mix Ins
    1 C. sliced bananas
    1 C. maraschino cherries
    2 C. chocolate chip brownies (prepare in advance, then
           cut into bite-size pieces and chill)

    Prepare Ice Cream Base

    Icecream308
    Heat cream, sugar, vanilla, and half ‘n’ half mixture to near boiling.
    Meanwhile, heat bittersweet chocolate in microwave-safe bowl at 50%
    power for approx. 3-4 minutes, or until the chocolate is mostly melted.
    Remove chocolate from microwave and stir till all chocolate is melted.
    Next, remove cream mixture from heat and fold in melted chocolate. Stir
    until combined. Refrigerate mixture until thoroughly chilled.  Transfer
    chilled mixture to an ice cream maker and process following
    manufacturer’s instructions.

    After ice cream has reached soft-serve consistency, place ice cream
    cylinder in freezer, or leave in ice cream maker (if there is still
    sufficient ice) to harden for about an hour. Meanwhile, prepare mix-in ingredients as directed below.

    Mix-in the Good Stuff

    Chill
    a large bowl by placing it in an ice bath, or in freezer. When ice
    cream has chilled for about an hour, scoop it into chilled bowl.
    Immediately add all mix-in ingredients and stir till just combined.
    Return ice cream to cylinder or a prepared container of your choice*.
    Place ice cream back in freezer to harden overnight.

    *Try a new, food-safe paint can from your home improvement store, cleaned with bleach-water.

    Enjoy!

  • You Scream, Ice Cream

    ByHeather Bailey

    "Ice cream is exquisite.  What a pity it isn’t illegal"
    —Voltaire (1694-1788)

    Strawberryicecream
    Summer.  Where we live, summer is indoor-season, just as winter is for so many others.  It is hot!

    We have a Father’s Day tradition of making homemade ice cream. 
    Breakfast for Mother’s Day.  Ice cream for Father’s Day.  A couple of
    years back I decided to create an ice cream recipe from my favorite
    childhood dessert — Strawberry Pretzel Dessert — or that’s what my
    mom called it.  Huge success!  The mere fact that I love this ice cream
    as much as any chocolatey ice cream speaks worlds of it.  I think it’s
    those salty pretzels in there (they’re candied too).

    One year we invented Pumpkin Cockroach Cluster ice cream in honor of
    the latest Harry Potter release.  Candied pecan clusters for
    cockroaches.  Yummy.  But, no where near as remarkable as my Strawberry
    Pretzel Dessert ice cream. 

    Strawberryvert_w_3
    If you’re new to homemade ice cream, don’t be intimidated.  You won’t
    believe how straight- forward & easy it is to use an electric ice
    cream maker.  Your ice cream ingredients go in a metal cylinder that
    fits down into a bucket you fill with layers of ice & salt.  A
    paddle is inserted into the cylinder, then a motor fits onto the top.  The motor spins the cylinder around and around in the bucket, mixing
    the ice cream with the paddle and chilling the mixture until it’s at a
    soft-serve consistency.  When the ice cream hits this stage, our
    machine turns off (it’s designed to).  We then mix in the remaining
    ingredients & freeze the container over night. 

    Ice cream machines come in different sizes.  Ours is 4 quarts, I
    believe, and I picked it up at Walmart for $25-$30 a few years back.
    They may be seasonal items though, so don’t assume you can find one at
    Christmastime.  The salt can be found in the baking aisle usually, or
    on display with the ice cream makers.  It’s a coarse, gray salt usually
    labeled as "Ice Cream Salt" or "Rock Salt."

    That about summarizes the technical stuff.  Read your ice cream machine’s own instruction manual for more specific info.

    Onto the fun part.  Check out these recipe cards.  I must have
    needed a work break, cuz I had perhaps too much fun with these.  I
    designed the Vanilla Ice Cream recipe card in the style of an
    old-fashioned ice cream container.  And the Strawberry Pretzel Dessert
    ingredients are on the the floral card. 

    Hb_recipecards

    Click here to download the print-ready pdf.  It’s a two-page
    document.  Print one side onto cardstock, then flip the sheet over
    & print the stripes on the back.  Then cut out the recipe cards,
    using the crop marks on the front as cutting guides.  The printed area
    that extends beyond the crop marks is called ‘bleed.’  It’s meant to be
    cut off.  Laminate, if you like.

    Once you’re familiar with the general ice-cream-making process here,
    you can get creative & come up with your own crazy ice cream
    concoctions.  My Vanilla Ice Cream recipe makes a great base for all
    sorts of experimentation.  I’m wanting to see what I can do with
    brownie mix next time.  And wouldn’t it be neat to make a batch of ice
    cream as a birthday present — in a flavor that’s specific to the
    person you’re celebrating.

    Speaking of, I need to do some research on lactose-free ice cream
    for my younger brother.  He’s been missing out on ice cream for a few
    years now.  I’m going to fix that for him.  "For you, this year, I give
    the gift of… ice cream."

    What are some original ice cream combos you’re dreaming of?  Like I said, it’s mighty hot here.