Belated Summer Sweets

Remember this mystery post back in August?

Here are the finished products!

Lime cookies to fit perfectly over the edge of your margarita glass. (Didn't work so perfect but were sure fun to try out and eat the casualties!) And yummy less-mess chocolate dipped strawberries.

Put them together and what do you get? Summer Yum!

The second image was my brainstorm for my Dad's birthday cake: chocolate and peanutbutter!

Enya in my head! Sail away, sail away...

I love sailing. It's a taste I acquired in childhood.

As an adult, I haven't sailed in many many years... and I'm not sure I remember how.

My parents are willing to let me borrow their precious boat, Dragonfly. I call it FIREfly because it caught on fire the first time they sailed it (No worries, just electrical. It's not a bad omen or anything. Nah, not with the way we sailors are... no one ever calls us superstitious. *Insert eye roll here*)

So despite possible parental disapproval & endangering the life of myself and my husband (and anyone in our general water vicinity)... I am contemplating an attempt to glide serenely over the soothing waters once again.

But how?

• Launch with outboard motor (Hubby can handle that.)
• Point the nose into the wind (Reference nifty little arrow at the top of the mast.)
• Unfurl the sails!
• How do I get into the wind now?
• Attempt to sail (Better choose a rather calm day for this.)
- specifics: something about roped and a boom and tacking... shoot. See, kinda fuzzy here.
• Once husband is suitably seasick or skereed of potential drowning, point into the wind.
• Take down the sails.
• Motor on in.

Hummmm... Did I forget anything important? I'm pretty sure I did.

Guess I'll just hitch a ride with the 'rents and enjoy ignorance.

My Sister, Mom and Dad

Hollywood Glamor in my bathroom!

It all started with a makeovers for my mom, sister and I (face and feet).

I came home with a brand new set of makeup and a determination to look sexy every day!

Turns out, the lighting in my bathroom is so dim that when I went to work with my "new face" I looked like a clown *cringe*

So, over the weekend, I got Handsome to install a beautiful mirror and lights strategically centered over my jewelry box/makeup table so that now I may look beauteous too :D

I feel like a old time Hollywood movie star everytime I switch on those lights. 
Thank you, Handsome! xoxox

9 Years doesn't seem so long

Perhaps time flies, or I'm perpetually forgetful.

Either way, today marks the 9th year of marriage to my Handsome.

May 25th, 2002

we were wed
in a field overlooking Lake Ontario

with a warm breeze
and a crying flowergirl,

a tardy bride
and a zombie groom,

we linked hands and hearts.
Long Live Puppy Love!

XOXOXO

Inspiration from the Jaffa Cake

During dinner with my parents, my father proceeded to rave about a cute little cookie he found at our local German grocery. He even made us eat one (Handsome did NOT like the orange jelly part).

Jaffa Cakes

They appear to have a base of thin sponge cake,
layered with orange marmalade,
and covered in dark chocolate.

So, being the good daughter that I am, 
I attempted a similar creation in my kitchen.

Membrillo Cakes
(Just doesn't have the same ring to it, does it?)

• Start with the Hot Milk Sponge Cake recipe from Better Homes and Gardens

• Partially fill cupcakes with batter

• Bake & cool

• Thinly slice Quince Paste (A favorite of mine ever since I went to Argentina!) and layer on top of sponge

• Totally wing it with a made up ganache recipe
- simmer approximately half a cup of milk with half a tablespoon of butter 
- Add a little over half a bag of semi sweet chocolate chips & stir once 
- Remove from heat, cover and ignore while reading a chapter in your favorite book 
- Whisk smooth & pour over top of cakes

• Refrigerate (Sticky goodness, you have been warned.)

They aren't the prettiest for photos but I'm anticipating a major yum factor tonight when I bring them to my parents'!

In the end this was a FAIL • I am a BAD daughter and totally forgot about Dad's diverticulitis and the crushed seeds in the quince paste. *la sigh* The overall flavor was pretty good, but the light and fluffy sponge cake was overwhelmed by the rich toppings.

Sugar Rush, Homemade Cake Style

My mother's favorite candy is chocolate covered cherries. I almost always get her a box of the sickly sweet cordials every year at Christmas. This year I forgot, SO I made her a Chocolate Covered Cherry Cake for her birthday! (Thanks to I Am Baker for this wonderful idea.)

Using the Cooks Illustrated recipe for yellow cupcakes, baked in a 9x13 sheet cake and dissected into 2 six inch circles for my mini cake. Any bigger than that is asking for a diabetic coma on this recipe!

While putting my cake together, I discovered that despite my ability to defend the box of chocolate covered cherries from the ravenous mouth of my husband, I still did not have enough candies to fill the cake. *sigh* Hence, the maraschino cherries. A pretty good save, if I do say so myself.

At this stage the cake must be frozen to give it a fighting chance against the molten lava of hot fudge you will be pouring over it's sweet icing skin. It is strongly recommended that the hot fudge be as cool as possible and still be viscous. Use your judgment. (My method involved stirring and testing the temperature with my finger every 5 minutes or so. Hey, it's family. We already have all the same germs.)

It gets super messy when you attempt to press the oreo cookie crumbs to the sides of the cake. I learned quickly that too much fudge means the crumbs ooze off like slothing skin on a zombie... but I was able to avoid a mass expulsion of coating by a combination of smoothing with a flat knife, ignoring the parts I couldn't fix, and immediately banishing the cake to the freezer.

Add a few frills and it looks beauteous - and tastes pretty darn good too WITH A CUP OF BLACK COFFEE. This cake is like a sugar bomb set to blow up your nearest and dearest at half a slice a piece. But lucky for mom, it will keep extremely well in the freezer to be carved up in teeny tiny pieces at her leisure.

Happy Birthday Mom! 59 is prime!

Merry Christmas

Tucker looks to be slightly appalled at his appearence on this Christmas card.

Gizmo & Gidget can't seem to override their cat like reflexes, and blink for every shot.

Sam will only allow pictures taken of him in spy mode, no head on shots.

And I am enjoying a festive Christmas mimosa amidst my family!

Warm wishes from the Whitman's!

Japan is cool.

My brother and sister are both in Japan, RIGHT NOW.

*pout* I wanna go...