A Few of My Favorite Things: Crepe Maker

So I got this a few months ago, and immediately started using it. See it was a birthday gift, from a pretty good giver of gifts. I love FRANCE. LIKE LOVE. This summer, we were over in Europe and he saw these being used by the crepe vendors there and saw my love of it. Thus it made the perfect birthday gift. It’s actually made in France, or at least the box says so. It has the stick like real vendors use and its flat. The best part is it comes with a great recipe book to make all sorts of things like spring rolls and other international crepe like things. Plus cleaning it is quite easy! Can’t beat that! So have you ever had a crepe maker? Will my love of it soon wear off? Can one get sick of eating crepes? (Personally, I cannot believe that but I am naïve)

Birthday Candles

I love sparkle. I like to think I am the perfect amount of classy and glittery! Take these birthday candles, they are are perfectly boring in my humble opinion. Enter sequins and modpodge. Instant upgrade! Don’t you just love inspiration?

P.S. Don’t use hot glue. I tried that first and it did not work!

How to: Rainbow Cake Layer and Ice

   
    In case you missed the first part about how to bake the cakes, look right Here. For my inspiration, check out these. Now by no means am I really good at icing a cake, but I can give you a few pointers to make your life easier. A's cake turned out beautifully and tasted amazing, we were quite the hit at the bowling alley! If I ever own a bakery, I am always going to have parties at bowling allies, everyone stopped by to ask who made the cake. I am not a professional baker by any means, but I think it turned out quite nice!




Tips for Layering:

• Level cakes using a serrated knife to make them stack better
• The top layer should be placed upside down so not as many crumbs on the top when you ice it later
• Two people makes work go faster
• Place the cake on a turntable with a piece of rubber to keep it from sliding off
• Plan how you are going to move it (I may have forgotten this until halfway through and realized my cake was taller than my cake carrier)
• Spatulas are amazing, angled ones are BRILLIANT

 
Tips for Icing:

• Simplest is often the best
  
• Buy nice sprinkles, tacky ones will look tacky, no matter how good the icing is
  
• You can buy icing from your grocery store bakery (I bought Publix Whipped buttercream for the filling and buttercream for the outside)
  
• Crumb coats are amazing
  
• Find a tutorial to help, like Wisk Kid
  
• Allow cake to cool before icing and after crumb coat
  
• For my sprinkle effect, take pinches and sprinkle the top outer edge of the cake, then use a spoon to "lift" sprinkles periodically on the side of the cake
  

 
What is your favorite tip for icing a cake? Do you have any preferred way to decorate a cake? Do you use fondant or prefer marshmallow fondant? Have you ever made a layered cake before? Or do you stick to a one layer?

Weekly Wonderings: August 17th, 2011

So yesterday was my birthday! Yay! But now back to the real world and the start of fall classes. Time to get organized or at least dream about getting more organized. First step is realization, right? So in the hopes of getting organized, I have pinned several recipes I want to try this fall and they all involve cheese. Why? Because I love cheese. Don't get me wrong, I love chocolate too but if I had to choose I would take cheese 95% of the time. The other 5% percent is because I have difficulty making up my mind and would probably sit there debating till they both melted. And then I would be sad. Anyways, here are some of the things I want to make try this fall!

Biscuits + Cheddar = Love

 

Mac 'N Cheese in muffin tins might mean better portion control for me, or not….

Parmesan and Potatoes: 2 Ps make a right, right? 

Brie in a sandwich? Amazing, might be as good as these!

Cauliflower pancakes with cheddar; maybe I can trick my bf into eating these!

 
     What are you planning on trying to make this fall? Or are you a chocolate person and are planning on baking delicious cakes? Or are you an equal opportunity eater? Have you ever tried any of these recipes? Are you on Pinterest? Do you follow me? ( You should, my name is BlairFAL, fyi) Do you think those cauliflower pancakes look good enough that my boyfriend would try them? Would you? What should I do the Parmesan Crisps? Am I asking too many questions? 


P.S. As a birthday gift to me, you should follow me! Please? Thanks!

How to: Bake a Rainbow Cake

    
  In honor of Aurora's birthday, I decided to bake a cake. I had a few ideas, seen here. But it wasn't until I stumbled upon the rainbow cake, that I fell in love. How perfect is a rainbow cake for a 10 year old girl? She's never had a proper birthday cake or party, so Mom and I decided to surprise her completely with it. Let me just say this cake was a labor of love. I baked the cakes before and wrapped them up to place in the fridge till I was ready to assemble. Apparently, you do this so the cake firms up and will stack better. By no means am I saying this cake was perfect, but it was pretty darn good in my oh so humble opinion. 


First off here are a few tips for baking:

• Preheat the oven (Too often I forget to do this)
• Cake pans should be buttered and then sprinkle with powdered sugar (it's like the flour trick but yummier)
• Use three bowls and two cake pans and just constantly clean them
• It is SO MUCH easier with two people (Mom cleaned while I mixed and poured)
• Make an assembly line out of the process
• Use an electric beater 
• Make one batter, pour out into three separate bowls, then use the leftover batter to mix with the other box and pour four bowls out of the second box
• Dip a fork into the color, then use that fork to mix the batter, it is almost always the right color 
• Keep one bowl always with batter, so you can just the intensity of the color, too make them all similar shades
• Bake the day before you want the cake
• Set aside two hours to three hours for baking

Ingredients:

-Two boxes cake mix (Duncan Hines is very good!)

-Cake mix ingredients (mine called for oil, eggs and water)

-Butter

-Powdered Sugar

-Icing colors (I bought the Wilton 8 pack and just didn't use the brown)

-Wax or Parchment Paper

-Gallon sized Ziploc baggies

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven. Butter then powdered sugar the cake pans.
   
2. Mix one box of cake mix, pour into three separate bowls and tint each bowl.
   
3. Pour each batter into a cake pan, bake for about 10- 15 minutes
   
4. While baking, mix up the next box of a cake batter.
   
5. Pour into four separate bowls and tint each.
   
6. Allow cakes to cool on a rack before placing on paper and wrapping up.
   
7. Wrap each cake then place in Ziploc baggie. Allow cakes to rest overnight in the fridge before use
   

 
Check back tomorrow for how to ice the cake! What's your favorite cake mix? Do you have a go to birthday cake? Or do you always order your birthday cake?

Weekly Wonderings: August 10, 2011

      So as I come down from my sugar high from Aurora's Birthday cake(talked about here), I am pondering what to do about the space behind my bed. I am not really fit to do anything else at the moment in my comatose state other than browse the web and drool over bedrooms. I am currently too stuffed from the cake to do a proper post on it, look for that later next week. Instead, I am debating about putting this above my bed or do some other design. These are my dream house (a la Barbie) bedrooms:

 
P.S. You can find them all on my pinterest board "Beautiful Beds" and that will take you to the source. http://pinterest.com/blairfal/
 
What's the one thing you've always wanted in a bedroom?

Because everyone should get to brag now and then

      So it's my birthday in less than two weeks, and I am super excited. I love getting gifts, and eating cake. Then again, who doesn't? Anyways, point is my birthday makes my boyfriend a nervous wreck. He is constantly bemoaning that he can't find something that is good enough, or worried that I will not like it that much. He doesn't seem to get that as long as it's from him and not hideous, I will love it. Last year, he asked me what I wanted and I said a dragon. He said he would try but if not, then what could be a good second. So my flippant answer was a dragon teapot. I love tea, so it made sense, kind of. Anyways, lo and behold on my birthday I am given one dragon teapot. It's mouth is the spout, the lid is a little wizard sitting on the Dragon, and the dragon's tail makes up the handle. It is AMAZING. And exactly what I asked for, this year I wasn't that clear on what I wanted. But yesterday the delivery man came to our door and my mom was like "Did you order something" and me, panicking was like no, I didn't , well I ordered some textbooks but that was yesterday they can't be here today……. Turns out it was my birthday gift really really early and since I did not know it was, I opened it. OOPS.

Excuse my unmade bed!

 
     Apparently, Kodak allows you to print an image on blanket, and my boyfriend took my favorite poster (seen here) to have printed. He found some really high quality images of it, even managed to send me the colors but not the poster, and had Kodak print the image on a really soft blanket for me! Which is perfect because I am ALWAYS freezing and he is like Mr. Freeze from Batman. He can survive in the artic in jeans, I barely survive the grocery store without a cardigan! Needless to say this blanket will get used TONS by me, and it folds up very small, so it will be great for traveling. AND sometimes, like when they lose your luggage for three days while going to Canada from Florida in the WINTER, "Keep Calm and Carry On" is exactly what you need to be reminded constantly.



    So what's been the best birthday gift you have ever gotten?

Weekly Wonders: August 3rd, 2011

      Next week is my foster sister's birthday; she is turning the big 1-0. Since no one has ever made a big deal about her birthday, so we are going to try to. Can you imagine getting only a cash for your birthday when you were younger, because your parents couldn't or wouldn't go get you an actual gift. Santa didn't even visit her last year!

      Her name is Aurora; my mother says emphasis on ROAR. I have been searching high and low for ideas (i.e. Pinterest) and have come up a few ideas to try. Plus for an early birthday treat, my mom signed me up for some cake decorating classes at Micheal's, so hopefully I will be able to better interrupt these cake ideas (though I will only have had two classes under my belt before the big cake day).

1) How we plan on doing the inside of the cake

2) If only my fondant skillz were that good

3) This may be a bit more probable

4) I wish I was this good

5) Totally within my skillz level for breakfast

     So how do you normally celebrate your birthday? Got any good ideas for a 10 year old? Please? Pretty Please?

Weekly Wonderings: July 21, 2011

This week has been hectic, between planning out a birthday party for my younger sister and doing school work , I have barely had time to rest. Plus, my mom and I are trying to coupon, not extreme mind you, but so far we have managed to save about 100 dollars every week at the grocery store. This summer, she went from having a household of 2 to 6, so there has been a lot of adjustments as we all adopt to having two youngsters in the house. And 10 year olds never seem to run out of energy.

1. These shoes. I need them. (I wear a size 8.5 if anyone wants to get them for me)
   
   
   
   
    
   2. Inspiration for Aurora's birthday cake. She's turning 10

 3. This is filled under my "When I have time to home make everything pinterest category)

  4. I always wear mine!

  5. My Halloween costume, apparently I can plan this far in advance.

1. 
   
    

What have you been wondering about this week?

Martha Stewart Sunday: Birthday Banner

Ignore the ugly 3, silly apartment management!

     It was Charlotte's birthday last week, and I wanted some way to decorate her door for the occasion. Cue Martha Stewart Clip Art. Seriously, she has the coolest clip art, and for every occasion to jam lids to garlands. Here is a link to her best clip arts. http://www.marthastewart.com/photogallery/clip-art-and-templates?lpgStart=1&currentslide=40&currentChapter=1 (The garland is the first one!) It makes me want to make sugared citrus peels just to put the pretty labels on it. Anyways, back to her birthday, I found the birthday garland and new it would work. I used cardstock paper in two different colors. 


Tips:

*If you are doing two colors (and I highly suggest that you do), you will have to print two copies of the first color, but just the first page to get two H's.

*They are smaller than they appear, so you might have to enlarge them if you want a big garland.

*Cutting them can be a bit tricky it you aren't the best at cutting. You want to leave the black circle showing.