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Friday, October 29, 2010

Okay Everyone, Let's try this again!

Sorry everyone for the lack of posts and comments!! We have had a crazy week! But I am back on the regular schedule of checking all your blogs so be sure and comment so I can go to yours!
And yes, as you can assume, having a crazy week also means that my workout had a less than great routine.
I have heard so much about P90X, I am debating on whether or not to start this workout instead.
So would you rather a review about
Jillian Michaels
OR
P90X?
I have both so let me know which you would rather hear about!

Friday, October 22, 2010

Jillian Michaels Day 1-3

Sorry it has taken me so long to get this posted!  So far I have done 3 Days of the Jillian Michaels 30- Day Shred.
Things Needed -
3-5 lb weight
A mat (Recommended but not necessary .
Before you start this workout, make sure you weigh and measure!!! This is very important! You will be happy you did this step once you are done and see the amazing results! I am honestly hoping to drop about 10 lbs throughout this workout.
Now once you have your hands on this DVD, you are going to want to set aside about 30-40 minutes EVERY day to do it.
Now the way this program is designed is in 3 levels.
Level 1- 10 days
Level 2 - 10 days
Level 3 - 10 days
Once finished, you can go back through and switch it up.
Okay I debated a long time about actually posting up my weight and measurements.  But I will go ahead and post up SOME information. :)
Weight - 20 lbs to lose.
Waist - 29
Hips - 39

~~~Day 1~~
It begins!
Start with Level 1.  Right away Jillian jumps into it.  There is a lot of jumping jacks and cardio.  But as long as your PAY attention to exactly how your body is moving, then there isn't really any bad strain on your knees.
I will admit right now that I had to pause the workout 3 times to breath and drink some water.  I was honestly thinking to myself that 30 minutes cannot be that hard of a workout.  Well I was wrong.  This is intense.  It really keeps you moving!


~~~Day 2~~~
Okay today was actually a little easier, I only paused it once!  I still sweat and lost my breath just as much but HEY that's what is is suppose to do!  My advice? JUST KEEP GOING!  This is an everyday workout! It has to be done everyday or it loses its effectiveness!  You are going to be sore, I know I am.  Just keep plugging through it!

~~Day 3~~~ Today was  pretty much the same as yesterday,  I still had to pause it once but I really feel like my endurance is already toughening up.  I can do things with alot more strength than I had before.
I didn't eat great today though, But tomorrow I get back on track with the diet!

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Here we go!

         Thank you everyone for your comments!  Sorry It has taken me so long to contemplate my new blog and design, I have gone through many ideas and designs as some of you may have seen :)
         Anyways, I think I am ready to begin!  I will be reviewing workouts, giving weightloss advice, and sharing delicious healthy recipes.  Sometimes I may throw in a nice unhealthy calorie filled goodie :)
         I am thinking, for my first review I will begin Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred DVD.  I have heard mixed reviews and also I have heard it can be a little taxing on your knees.  Well I am here to show you if it works or not!  I will be looking for the following things as I am reviewing:


  •       Difficulty.  Is this workout for anyone?  Or is it too easy?
  •       Is it too taxing on the knees?  ( My knees arn't great so we should find this out soon.)
  •       Effective? This DVD claims it can help you to lose 20lbs in a month.  Thats a bit of a stretch I think, but we will soon find out!
         So tomorrow I will start my day one, and take all of your along as I go!  I will tell you my overall weightloss and inches lost to inspire or deter you from using this program.  :)


In the meantime, I hope you enjoy some random funny videos on youtube, while I catch up on all of your blogs!



Sunday, October 17, 2010

Vote NOW for my ironic blog change!

Okay ladies and gents, faithful readers and those of you who comment probably without reading. (Which I am totally okay with just to be clear.) 
I am debating on a complete change of scenery for my blog.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE making calorie filled goodies but I think I have a little more insight on workouts and weightloss related topics.  So I would be reviewing and giving tips and even perhaps trying out a workout and reporting on it day by day to show you if it works.  I realize the ironic change from fatty deliciousness to losing weight.  But I enjoy both things, It's a vicious cycle.  
Anyways, let me know what your think! :) 
Thanks for reading!

OR


Friday, October 15, 2010

Cheesecake Pops!

Okay I found the MOST amazing delicious thing I have ever seen in my life!
I love cheesecake, and I love convenience.  lol


Check out this video and let me know what you think!



I have also seem people cover the entire thing with the crust THEN dip it in chocolate, which is what I might do.  

Thursday, October 14, 2010

EWW SPIDER!!

Okay, I realize this is a HUGE unappetizing jump from calorie filled goodies, but I just had to share this picture! It's super nasty but...somewhat neat. 
This spider was outside my house. It was huge! Does anyone know what kind this is?
 See all the babies?!
GROSS!
Thanks for reading today! If you can manage to get this out of your head, tomorrow I will post more yummy things, I promise :)

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Sunflower Cupcakes!

So instead of continuing the wedding cake thing, I am going to hold off on that, and show you a recipe and idea that I LOVE!  Its from the book, Hello Cupcake.  If you like to decorate, then you have to buy this book! Its amazing!



24 vanilla cupcakes baked in green paper liners
2 (16-ounce) cans vanilla frosting, divided
Green, yellow, orange and black food coloring
14-16 regular chocolate cream-filled sandwich cookies (Oreos)
25-30 mini chocolate cream-filled sandwich cookies (Mini Oreos)
1/2 cup table sugar
15-20 candy spearmint leaves or 2 rolls green fruit leather
2 tablespoons dark-chocolate frosting
6-10 red candy-coated chocolates (M&M's)
1. Tint 1 1/2 cups of the vanilla frosting green with the food coloring. Spread an even layer of the green frosting on top of the cupcakes and smooth. Arrange the chocolate sandwich cookies, regular and mini, randomly over the cupcakes, pressing them into the frosting to secure.
2. Tint the remaining vanilla frosting bright yellow with the food coloring. Remove { cup of the yellow frosting and tint it orange with the food coloring. Spoon 1/4 cup of the orange frosting into one side of a zippered bag and spoon half of the yellow frosting into the other side of the bag. Press out the excess air and seal the bag. Repeat the process with another bag and the remaining orange and yellow frosting.
3. Reinforce the corner of each bag with 6 overlapping layers of transparent tape. Pinch the taped corners flat and cut a small V-shape in the corner to make a leaf tip. Pipe yellow-orange frosting around the edge of each cookie to make petals. Pipe another circle of petals just inside the first, slightly overlapping.
4. Sprinkle the work surface with the sugar. Roll out the spearmint leaves or fruit leathers, one at a time, to 1/8-inch thick. Using clean scissors, cut the candies or fruit leathers into 1 1/2-inch-long leaf shapes. Press the leaves into the cupcakes just under the petals.
5. Tint the chocolate frosting black with the food coloring and spoon it into a sandwich-size zippered bag. Press out the excess air and seal the bag. Snip a 1/16-inch corner from the bag.
For each cupcake, pipe a dot of black frosting on one of the cookies and attach the red chocolate candy to make a ladybug. Pipe a line of black frosting down the center of each ladybug and add a dot for the head and a few dots on the back.
6. Arrange the cupcakes close together in a basket lined with green tissue paper, if you like, in small cups or on a platter.

Thanks for reading today!

Monday, October 11, 2010

How To Make A Wedding Cake! Part 1

        Well thank you everyone for helping me blow past that 100 followers mark! :)
       Today I would like to show, drumroll please, how to make and assemble a wedding cake, part one!

                  Okay so first, depending on if you want a classic circle cake or a square cake, you will have to have pans accordingly.  They also have specialty pans, like heart shaped and star shaped.
So in the picture above, minus the extras, this is a pretty simple cake.  I always bake two of each layer to make the cake nice and tall.  
                    So you mix up your cake mix and pull out your pans.  First!  Heres a huge helping tip to not get the cake to stick to the pan, there is nothing more annoying than that, you are going to want to use Crisco and rub it all around the pan and grease it.  I always just use my fingers, it feels nasty but its the easiest. You are going to get wax paper and put your pan on it and trace around the bottom of the pan onto the wax paper.  Now cut out circle on the wax paper, make sure and cut it just a tiny bit smaller and it should work.
                Now take the circle and put it in the bottom of the pan, and put a more Crisco on top to make sure it is firmly stuck to the bottom.
                 Now, Pour your batter in!
                You are going to want to use towel strips, which is just what it sounds, cut up an old towel and get it wet, and safety pen it around the cake pan.  Have you ever had a cake that was more crunchy on the outside and not done in the middle? Well thats a problem when making a large wedding cake too!  So the towels help insulate the outsides so the whole cake cooks at a more even rate.
               So now, you have cooked them and they smell and look beautiful no doubt.  You take them out of the oven, and let them cool inside the pan for 15 minutes or so.  Take a knife and run it along the edges of the pan, but they should be pretty loose.  Now those strips should keep the cake pretty flat but if not, use a long serrated knife and lay it on top of the edges of the pan and slowly cut off any excess that has exceeded the top of the pan.  This should make it pretty even!
                    For the bottom layers of a cake you will want to have a board or something very very  study, remember this cake will weigh a ton so it needs to be on a steady surface.  I use a large piece of wood cut into a circle.  For the upper layers you are going to need separator plates that cake be made of plastic or cardboard. You can buy them at walmart or hobbylobby.  I usually go for the cardboard ones.  you want to get ones that are the same size EXACTLY as the layer size, so that the cake covers it.
                   So, take the board and put it on top of your pan with the cake in it.  Hold onto the pan and board and flip it over.  The cake should come out no problem at all!  Once out, You will see your wax paper on top on the cake, simply pull it off slowly and voila! You cake should be pretty and flat!  Now If your cake is still  uneven, you may need to flip it over and cut it with the knife again.  Repeat this will all your layers!  
Tomorrow will come part 2!  

Sunday, October 10, 2010

100 Followers!!!!

I know this is a cheesy post, but YAY!! 100 followers!  Thank you everyone who has helped me reach 100!  I love all your comments and reading all your blogs, which I try and get to every day or every other day, so keep the comments and clicks coming!  And I will ALWAYS return the favor! Thanks!  Oh, and also check our my Choose Your Own Adventure blog at chooseyourownadventurenow.blogspot.com!  I think you will enjoy it!  
Thank you!

Saturday, October 9, 2010

A Tribute to John Lennon

      Today I would like to take a short moment to dedicate this post to John Lennon.  He would have been 70 years old today.  He is truly my favorite singer and always will be!



           John Lennon was born, October 1940 in Liverpool. During his childhood, he saw little of his father, Freddie, who went AWOL, whilst serving in the navy. For several years, John was brought up by his mother’s sister Mimi.
                      In his early years John was a mischievous students, who would be quick to take the micky out of teachers and other student. Whilst in his early teens he got his first guitar and would spend many hours playing. His aunt Mimi, used to regularly say:
“The guitar's all very well, John, but you'll never make a living out of it."
            After, the Beatles were famous John presented Mimi with a silver platter out of this.
            In the late 1950s John formed a rock group called the Quarry Men Skiffle Band. This was the precursor to the Beatles. In 1957 he met and formed a successful musical partnership with Paul McCartney. They complemented each other very well. Lennon focused on the more satirical aspects and McCartney veered towards the more optimistic cheerful qualities. Lennon was considered the leader of the Beatles, due to his superior age and also his musical abilities. It was, however, McCartney who persuaded Lennon to allow George Harrison to enter the band as lead guitarist.

              John Lennon was no stranger to controversy. In the early 1960s, he made an off the cuff remark about Jesus that landed the group in a mire of controversy. John Lennon said that “the Beatles were more popular than Jesus Christ.” He claimed this was a mere observation, which was probably true in England. Nevertheless, it led to a boycott amongst the deep south Christians. There was also a wave of record burnings, although Lennon wrly remarked that to burn them they had to buy them first.

          In 1969 the Beatles had started to split up, it was John Lennon who was the main factor behind this. After 1970 John Lennon created a very successful solo career, often with the help of his second wife Yoko Ono.  In the early 1970s John Lennon also became a figurehead for the anti war Movement. His song “Give Peace a Chance” became an anthem for the anti-war movement. Due to his anti war stance the Nixon administration tried to have him deported, but after a long struggle he was able to gain a green card in 1976. His song “Imagine” has also become a tremendously influential song; it was voted most popular song by the British public.


          John was shot on the evening of December 8th 1980 by a lunatic of a man who sat and waited for the police to arrive.  Truly a sad sad day in history.  

If you haven't listened to this or just not lately, I encourage all to watch this.

Fondant tips and tricks!

                Okay so I am going to cover some fondant tips today!  Fondant isn't my favorite I can admit, but it is an amazing tool to making BEAUTIFUL cakes.
               So first of all.  I have tried making my own fondant.  I heard that "oh you should make your own fondant and it will taste much better!" well...that part is true, it does taste better than store bought fondant, BUT I have not found a recipe thats very good to make the fondant actually looks and rolls out like fondant lol
So having said that, I normally just buy, you guessed it Wilton brand fondant.  It's just so convenient.

                      So first step is to try and figure out how much you are going to need.  It's much easier to pull out the whole package if you are not sure.   Once you pull out what you need then you start kneading it with your hands until it gets more workable. 
                   Okay so if you are covering a cake, then you are going to want to use a huge fondant roller to get it all nice and smooth. Since this is kind of hard to explain, I want to post some videos on youtube that I really love, great help for fondant!






I will post more in depth details for decorating with fondant, like flowers and things later.
 Thanks for reading!

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Recipe for Cupcakes and Butter Cream Icing!

              Okay, so I was asked about a recipe for cupcakes, so todays post will cover just that! :)

           So first things first, you need to draw out what your going to do.  Decorating or designing a cake with multiple colors of icing in different patterns is a whole lot different than slapping icing on a cake.  You need to draw out what the cake or cupcakes will look like and what colors you will need.  We will refer to this later in the post.
So to be honest, mostly all I use is...*shifts eyes around sneakily*  
               A box mix for the cupcakes!  Terrible I know, but hey I am mostly a decorator not a chef lol
But here is a helpful tip for baking on a budget, I buy these cupcake boxes that make 12 cupcakes, and guess how much they are? 1$!  You can buy them anywhere, wal-mart, target, dollar tree.  They are smaller boxes than regular mix but they work great!  I usually buy two, one chocolate and one vanilla and that makes 24 cupcakes, perfect for a cupcake cake!
           Now for the icing, I do actually mix up my own.  If you have ever tried to make a nice looking cake but used store bought little tubs of icing, you know it for some reason doesn't work out so well.  Well heres the thing, decorating icing has to be alot thicker than that super creamy silky stuff that you buy.  Which is why you should just whip up your own batch!  It's alot easier than it sounds!  And it tastes great too!  Not to mention it just sounds cool to say you made your own icing ;)
Okay so here is the recipe I normally use. 

  • 1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening
  • 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine softened
  •  1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar (approximately 1 lb.)
  • 2 tablespoons milk
          Okay so pretty much this is the Wilton recipe for butter cream icing.  I love anything Wilton, they are amazing! But I have to say, I like to also add:
A drop of Almond extract
1/2 teaspoon of CLEAR butter flavoring.

        I think these add a nice flavor more than just straight sugar flavor :)
By the way, the icing recipe above almost NEVER makes enough icing for what I need so I usually double or more likely triple it.  Its always nicer to have way to much icing than have to stop what your doing to make more.
        Okay so after you have mixed up your icing, (which I suggest you do with a mixer because your arm will be dead by the end)  then you need to look at your paper that you drew of the design and figure out best you can how much icing you will need for each color.  Say you,for some reason,are drawing a sky and grass and a sun on a cake.  So you know the majority of your icing needs to be blue, so you leave it in the big bowl.  A tiny little bit will need to be yellow, so you take out a spoonful or two and put it in a separate bowl.  The grass might take up a forth of the cake so you scoop out a forth or so of the icing and put it in a different bowl.  And if you want to get really fancy with different shades of the colors, its the same process.  
                  Now it's time to actually color!   I use the Wilton icing coloring,
                           I bought a whole kit that had all the basics (tips, piping bags, spatula, and colors) for $40 at walmart, it's really a great deal.  Remember when using coloring, you want to start out very light and work your way darker, literally, you can stick the end of a toothpick in the yellow and then into the icing, and it will turn your whole batch of icing bright yellow!  So just start slow.  Anyways, after you have colored and thoroughly mixed your icing, it's time to put it into the piping bags with the tip you have chosen and time to start your masterpiece!  Thanks for reading!

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Thank you so much for all your comments! :) I'm glad you guys liked it!  And yes, the cake was delicious! :)


Okay the next cake I would like to show you guys is a cake I made a while back for a western themed hayride party.
This is a two layer stacked cupcake cake!  The basket weaving icing is one of my more favorites to do, just because it looks so neat but people don't realize how easy it is :)
If you would like, maybe I will post some drawings or something on how to do certain icing techniques.  Anyways, thanks for reading! :)

Sunday, October 3, 2010

The Great Cake Fiasco of 2010

Alright everyone!  Here is is, the cake you have all been waiting for!
Let me start by saying, this cake was sooo much of a hassle!  And it wasn't the cakes fault, it was all the people involved.  Long story short, I was told I had to make the cake at a certain family members house (who had no cake decorating experience) because they were keeping me from making it with someone else who they didn't like in the family.  Last minute my grandma, who the cake is for, called and wanted me to make the cake with her.  My grandma is great and used to be a wedding cake maker way back in the day.  The problem is she is almost 80 and doesn't really know what she is doing anymore.   So anyways, I made the cake with her....but lets just say it came out less than pretty.  So on the way home with the cake in the back of my car, I stopped at the family members house that I originally wanted to make the cake it and finished and fixed it.  So thats my little secret, as far as everyone else is concerned, I made the cake with my grandma.  Classy huh?
Normally I am against trickery and deceit...but on this occasion...I really wanted the cake to turn out well.  lol

So anyways, with no further delay, heres the cake!

I wish I would have gotten a better picture, but its great for now! 
Okay so the bottom layer is chocolate, and the others are French vanilla.  Which by the way is a GREAT flavor for people who are burnt out on the classic "yellow" flavor.  Honestly that flavor is so good, you could eat it without icing or anything.  Maybe some milk :)
The top of each layer are covered in Wilton Cake Sprinkles to add a pretty diamond effect.
And now for the fun part, around each layer is a band of old pictures of my grandparents.  Clever huh?
Okay so the topper is of course adorned with a ginormous diamond as this is the "diamond" anniversary.
The cake topper I bought online at exquisite wedding favors.com  Kind of pricey, but very beautiful.
I really enjoy these cakes, but the stress of people, the actual making of the cake, not to mention the transporting of a cake \this size...I think I will stick to my cupcake cakes for awhile.  They make more sense to me :)
Thanks for reading!

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Howdy!

Okay! So just want to say thank you everyone for following and commenting on my cupcakes and cakes! I had mentioned I would be posting pictures of the cake I have been making for the last few days, but it looks like I won't be able to post them until tomorrow, so bear with me! The cake turned out great though! You don't want to miss it! Thanks!

Friday, October 1, 2010

Psych Season Premiere!

Hello everyone!  
Sorry to take a few days off, I am actually in the process of making a huge 60th anniversary cake, so I have been super busy, but I will post pics of that tomorrow! Exciting!

But tonight, I will show you the cupcake cake I made for the Psych Season 4 premiere.  We had a little party to watch it.

This was one of my first cupcake cakes, so its not super great, but I think its very cute!  And a great idea, Psych -wise. lol
Okay so whenever making cupcake cakes, the very first thing I do is get out my sketchbook and draw out the shape of what I want by just drawing little circles to represent the cupcakes.  That way you kind of have in mind what you are doing.  
For the Pineapple part I actually used the Wilton icing decorator.  Its a clear plastic tube you put your icing in, with interchangable tips, and you just use the handle and squeeze out the icing. Super nice for less mess, but the downfall is theres not really enough tips to choose from, and they arn't small enough.  
Anyways, so it's a pretty simple cupcake cake!  Thanks for reading!