Another Cake

So baseball season is in full swing and can I say I'm ready for it to be over. We have baseball every night of the week and because of it we have been eating quick, fast, boring food. I really haven't cooked a normal good sit down meal in two weeks and it is driving me NUTS!
I have however made yet another cake.

One of my dear friends, son turned 12 and she asked me to make him a cake. I was more then willing to do it for them! They are like family and we love them! Anyhow, it was an Oregon Ducks helmet.
The cake is red velvet with cream cheese frosting and marshmallow fondant. Overall I'm pleased with the cake.


The face mask I made 2 nights ago out of modeling chocolate so that it would dry and be nice and hard. I would have liked it to be made of gumpaste as I like working with that more and it hardens faster...but I didn't have any and I live in the middle of nowhere.



After I placed the O's I realized I should had made them larger, but I was rushed and didn't want to have to repair the fondant underneath by removing them. Then I place the face mask and it looked awesome. a half hour before pick up Denver fell off his bike and when I came back in the house the face mask collapsed.... I think it was just too warm and the chocolate didn't hold up. So I scrambled and made a facemask out of toothpicks and fondant. Overall it turned out good and CJ loved it!

First Communion Cake

I was hired to make a first communion cake for two girls this weekend. I have to admit I wasn't too sure how it would turn out, but overall I think it was a success. I did have to Google what the rosary beads and communion cup and wafers looked like though! Oh well
 Here are a couple pictures, I had lots of fun making the sugar flowers, I really love doing that, there is something therapeutic about it or something! Anyhow, enjoy...

Porter Turns Six!

Holy cow when did time start flying by so quick? I can't believe he is six! Here he is with his Castle cake,

He loved it. Here are a few little things about our dear sweet Porter:

• His current love is anything related to Lord of the Rings, Mid-evil times with knights and kings. Hence the castle cake.
• He LOVES legos, he still talks about our trip to Colorado and how his Uncle Buddy let him play with his legos. On his Birthday he played with legos all day long and kept just saying this is so great.
• He is extremely OCD he likes to have things his way and is very particular.
• His favorite foods are anything breakfast and bread related.
• He is our pickiest eater.
• He is very athletic and is excited to get to play minor league Denver here in about a month.
• He is very kind to others and is thriving very well in school
• He loves to play with his siblings but also loves to play independently.
• He is very artistic and creative. Most recently he built an entire castle city out of white printer paper.
• He is so excited about learning how to read and is picking up on it really fast.
• He has the sweetest smile.
• He still suffers from headaches every once in awhile as a result from his surgery but other than that is doing great.
• He is very proud of his scar.

We are so very blessed to have him in our family! We sure do love him!

Parker turns 5!!

My sweet mischeivous, sensitive boy Parker Glen Johnson turned five yesterday! It was a wonderful day celebrating my third born son. He woke up to us singing Happy Birthday to him, enjoyed a breakfast of chocolate chip cookies and played the morning away with his siblings. Once at school Mom and Dad Emery and Carter came and had Lunch with him for his Birthday. Later we did a craft together then he enjoyed the rest of the day at school. He brough volcano cupcakes to share with his class. They were a big hit. For his dinner he requested make your own pizzas. A favorite of my kids, and I love that they will actually eat it since they made it themselves. Once dinner was over we had family time and waited for friends to arrive to enjoy some cake. Then presents and cake time it was! Overall it was a wonderful day and we sure are happy to have him in our family! Here are some facts about Parker: And some pictures

 (Parker in his Ninja Turtle gear he got for his Birthday)

• He loves all things Ninja turtle
• He is starting to be a really good eater, trying everything and not complaining, His favorite foods are Chicken, pineapple, Bacon, pizza, noodles and pretty much anything with sugar in it.
• He is our mischievous one, if it is quiet you need to go find out what Parker is getting into!
• He is our sensitive one, he cries easily and gets emotional. But I think it is because his heart is so big!

(His cake, he requested a Volcano with dinosaurs, too bad you can't buy dry ice in this tiny town or his cake would have been SO much cooler)

• He doesn't like water very much, but is getting much better and hopefully with swimming lessons this summer he will just get better!
• He loves his brothers and sister, he is always telling them he loves them and giving them hugs and kisses.
• He LOVES School, he is excited about starting Kindergarten in the fall, he is very smart and will do awesome in kindergarten. 

• His favorite people are Mom of course! (yes I made it!) His buddy Riggs, and His teacher Tristy!
• He bears his testimony every fast Sunday by himself, we've never gone up there with him and he always bears a wonderful and strong testimony.
• He says he wants to be a Prophet when he gets older.

 

• He is a wonderful listener, and tries really hard to be obedient.
• He loves to smile,
• He loves soccer and riding bikes 

Overall he is an AWESOME Son who we love so very much! Can't believe he is five! He and Porter are the same age for the next two weeks and I wouldn't have it any other way! We love you Buddy!



 

General Tso's Chicken

I made this night for dinner and there are NO left overs it was a huge hit in fact Porter my pickiest of eaters ate 3 helpings and was talking about it still this morning! Definitely will be making it again!

General Tso's Chicken
1 pkg thinly sliced chicken breast (about 7 breast) cut into cubes
1 cup cornstarch
4 eggs beaten
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp ground ginger

combine the spices with the cornstarch and toss chicken cubes lightly in the seasoned starch. then toss in the eggs and back in the corn starch. Fry till golden brown and drain place in a 9x13 pan

Sauce
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup white vinegar (less if you don't like vinegar) I used just under 1/3 cup
4 T Ketchup
1 T Soy sauce
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp ground ginger

Whisk and combine well, taste and adjust seasoning to taste, if you like more vinegar or soy whatever add it now. Once the chicken is all fried, pour the sauce over the chicken and toss to coat well. Bake at 350' for 15-25 minutes till chicken cooked all the way through and the sauce is thickened. Serve over white or fried Rice

* For a true General Tso's Chicken you would add Red Pepper flakes to the sauce but being that my kids are little I figured they wouldn't like it. And it was awesome without it!

 

Man it has been awhile since I posted! Life sure has been busy! But I wouldn't have it any other way. Is it sad that the only time I make time to post is when it is a cake? I think maybe it is because I want to have all my cakes for my portfolio book on here. oh well.

Well back around Halloween I donated a certificate for a silent auction for the sixth graders fund raiser for their field trip(it's apparently a big deal this field trip) Anyhow, the certificate was for a cake to serve 100 people, I was bummed because my preference for a starting bid did not get put on there which would have been starting bid of $50. And the cake went for $45 I think. oh well it was for a Good cause and it all worked out because the gal that bought it only wanted cake for 30 people which made me feel alittle better. :)
Anyhow, she asked for a cowgirl cake for her daughter's 8th birthday with teal, pink and purple with Stars on it. It is a simple white cake with strawberry filling, buttercream and marshmellow fondant.

The brim of the hat is made of gum paste. Overall I'm happy with how it turned out. Hopefully the birthday girl like it to!

 

Anyhow, life has been super busy, Darwin has an MRI tomorrow for his back, which might need a possible surgery, hopeful that it won't but we will see. The kids have been sick with the croupy crude and I'm slowly getting bigger with Johnson Baby #6, another boy due July 15th!

Hot Chocolate Truffles

So I've been trying to come up with a good little gift for the boys' teachers for Christmas, I didn't want to spend too much money as that is always tight this time of year. So I decided I was going to make them something. I figured no one really will want a steak cake so I came up with Hot chocolate truffles.
I got the idea from pinterest where I saw a marshmallow stuck to a peppermint stick to use as a stir stick for your hot chocolate and I thought Why not have something that is the actual chocolate that I would stir into the warm milk...
Here is what I did, pretty much you are making a ganache....

2 bags semi-sweet or Dark or milk depending on your taste high quality chocolate chips
    (I used Giradellis)
2 cups Heavy Cream
1 T of sugar more or less to taste
pinch of salt
Crushed up candy canes
Hot chocolate mix

Place chocolate chips in a large bowl. Heat the cream in a sauce pan, add the sugar and salt to dissolve. Once the cream is simmering, pour the hot cream over the chocolate. Whisk till combined and smooth, it will look grainy at first and be a milky brown once it starts to incorporate it will get dark and silky shinny. Cover with Plastic and place in fridge overnight. Place crushed candy canes on a paper plate and the Hot chocolate mix on a separate one. Pull ganache from fridge and with a large spoon, spoon out large balls of the ganache. Place the ball in either the peppermint or the mix and roll to coat and form a ball. Wrap separately in plastic wrap and keep refrigerated.

To use, Heat a mug of milk up and drop your truffle into the warm milk, stir till completely melted and get lost in the silky chocolate heaven.

I placed about six in a cute little mug for their teachers and I'm going to write up some cute poemy type thing if I can be that creative! Of course you have to save one for yourself... quality control and man oh man are they GOOD!

Steak Cake

Darwin's Grandpa Glen Johnson turned 80 this pasted weekend. We were able to go back to Burns for the celebration, and I was asked to make him a cake. Darwin's Aunt Sharon came up with the idea of doing a big ole steak, I added the mashed potatoes and corn. It turned out really well! I was really worried about the steak looking cartoony but all in all it turned out pretty good. Everything on the plate is edible. The mashed potatoes, are chocolate cake that I covered in ivory fondant, I didn't want it smooth or pretty as it is suppose to be potatoes, the butter is a yellow starburst complete with Butterscotch "gravy". The corn is cake covered in ivory fondant, then I made three different shades of yellow and hand rolled the kernels. I then colored some sugar black for pepper. The steak is just cake covered in white fondant and then I hand painted it. All it all I think it is one for the portfolio!

Another Cake

It would seem as of late that I'm not cooking any other than cake....I assure you my family is eating regular balanced meals and not just cake. I just haven't blogged about the recipes and really haven't made anything new, lately...other than cakes. So yes this post is about yet another cake.
I made a Birthday cake for my friend Amy's son Dillon and her friend saw it and wanted a cake made for her son's Birthday. Batman was the desired theme. Here is what the cake looked like...

Overall I'm pleased with how it turned out. The little boy was pretty excited about the cake as well. My kids we're bummed because they weren't invited to the birthday party of the kid they don't know.

So I've had lots of people ask me for business cards and I've decided it is time to make my cake business a little more official. So I'm going to order some business cards, but I can not for the life of me come up with a name...any ideas?

Happy Halloween!!

I was asked to make a cake for a silent auction for the sixth graders fundraiser for their annual fieldtrip... They always put on a Halloween carnival and silent auction and it is usually a huge success. I made the cake above for the auction and also gave a gift certificate for a cake order up to 100servings. Not sure what happened but the auction was definately not as successful as it was last year, it seemed there were less people and less bidding. The Halloween cake went for $17... and the certificate for $40. I'm trying to tell myself it is ok and it went to a good cuase, but hurts alittle when I realize I know get to do a large 100 serving cake and the money earned for the school was only .40 a serving.... oh well, at least I can use towards my charitable contributions on my taxes...right? Anyhow, I was pleased with how the cake turned out.

Asian Fried Chicken

I made dinner for a friend the other night and I was feeling kind of at a loss as to what to do. Chicken is always a good affordable bet but I want to make it special and of course super tasty. This is the recipe I came up with and it was GOOD!

Asian fried Chicken
10 thin cut boneless skinless chicken breast
2 cups flour
2 T ground Ginger
1 1/2 T ground Nutmeg
1 T garlic powder
1 T corn starch
2 tsp salt
2 tsp Ground black pepper
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 T paprika
5 eggs
3 T water
1/2 inch veggie oil for frying

Heat the oil in frying pan. Combine flour and all the spices in a dish. Combine eggs and water to create an egg wash. designate one had your wet hand and one your dry (this makes you hands less likely to become globs of the flour and egg mixture) begin in the flour covering the chicken with the spiced flour mixture, then dip in the egg wash, then again in the flour, again in the egg wash and finally in the flour.  Place in the hot oil and fry for about 4-5 minutes per side till cooked completely through.

Honey soy glaze:
In a small sauce pot combine

1/2 c honey
4 garlic cloves minced
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 scallion sliced
1 tsp pepper

Heat to simmer and allow to simmer for several minutes. Drizzle over the cooked chicken or on the side as a dipping sauce.

My one and only girl so far Emery Jade turned three yesterday! It seems like yesterday we were welcoming her into our home full of boys! Here are some fun facts about Emery:

• She was born prematurally at 35 weeks, but went home with us right away, just had to be in a car bed cause she was so tiny!
• She is GIRLY!! Which I completely encourage and love! We will see how long it lasts with all these boys!
• She LOVES to eat, her favorites are noodles and chicken, corn and cheese. She is not picky and eats very well!
• She loves babies and playing mommy.
• She LOVES her "boys" she always is asking when her boys will be home, she loves her brothers and is so kind and loving to them.
• She likes to think she is also the mom when it comes to her boys.
• Most pictures of her have the freezed mid word of Cheese grin. As pictured below
• If you ask her what she wants to be when she grows up she always replies a Mommy
• She wants to go to Preschool SO bad, and she is ready!
• She loves the Lion King and Mickey Mouse and all things princess.
• Her favorite dress is the one my mom made her for Miranda's wedding because, one it is big like a princess dress and two because Grandma made it.
• She is SO silly, she says the funniest things and does the cutest most silly things!
• She sounds like a cartoon character. 

one year old

And now three...freeze cheese grin!

 

And finally a pretty one. We are so very blessed to have this beautiful daughter in our home. She lights up our home. We are so proud of her and happy for her third Birthday! We love you Emery girl!

My Baby Carter is one!
When did the year fly by?!! It seems like it was just yesterday we were welcoming this little guy into our family.

Facts about Carter Steven Johnson

• He was born 4 weeks early weighing in at 6lbs 7 oz and was 19inches long
• He struggled breathing on his own.
• He took his first airplane ride before he was even 12 hours old
• He was in the NIcu for 10 days, on a ventilator for 24 hours and oxygen the rest of the time, till he could brethe on his own. One of his lungs was under developed.
• I stayed by his side the entire time he was in the NICU. At one point we thought we were going to loose him and it scared me completely, that when we were released and home I had MAJOR anxiety that something was still wrong and literaly didn't sleep for the first three months.
• He is a very calm and mellow boy but he lets you know when he is unhappy and tired.
• He is our chunky monkey, he has so many rolls on his arms that I call them his sleeves cause I can pull them up!
• He loves to eat any and all food, not a huge fan of bananas, but likes most other things.
• He weaned himself.
• He army crawled from 6 months to 9 when he finally decided to get a move on!
• He is our latest walker thus far as he hasn't started walking yet.
• He is a cuddler, he loves to be held, and when you put him down and he doens't want to be he flings his head inbetween his legs and cries or he will flail on to his stomach just like a temper tantrum!
• He is a momma's boy through and through!
• He has the sweetest little smile that brightens my day, he has dimples that are so adorable.
• He has an angry cry which is hillarious and really we need to record it but it is like he is cussing us out in baby talk of course, but it is like someone is crying at the same time as yelling, it really is quiet funny!
• He is our silent observer. He watches everyone intently.

I made him a train cake for his Birthday, he seemed very confused all day on his Birthday, and seemed to be wondering what the big deal was. He did enjoy the cake and prestents. I can't believe he is one! We are so happy for him to be in our family and so blessed by his beautiful sweet Spirit! We love you Carter!

Ughhh, the new school year has started and that means soccer is in full force. Just two and a half weeks in and I'm ready to be done.... Getting home at 6:30 monday- friday pretty much leaves our meals non-existent during the week at least. So I really haven't been cooking much... sad day I know! However, Darwin is gone this whole week, one more excuse not to cook but I wanted to post something and of course it has to do with cooking....

It is a kitchen aid Redo:

here is a link to the tutorial I used http://youcraftmeup.blogspot.ca/2010/06/kitchenaid-makeover.html, it was super easy and looks great. I LOVE my kitchen aid but after almost nine years of heavy use, it was sad looking, drap and man oh man was it gross! It worked out nicely because it had to get a good deep cleanng before it could be painted. Anyhow, no pictures sadly, but the tutorial has some and Mine went from white to black only I didn't stencil it.
 Have fun Spraying!

My younger sister got married!!!

Just got back from a wonderful vacation to Colorado. It had been over 2 years since I had been home to visit my family and if it weren't for my sister getting married we probably wouldn't have made it out.
I still can't believe she is married! It was a BEAUTIFUL wedding and I'm so honored to have been able to make her wedding cake for her. She had a vintage themed wedding and it was gorgeous! My dear sweet mother spent day after day at her sewing machine making all the dresses and ties and vest and bow ties, she made all the flowers and accesories as well. it was gorgeous! I was so happy to be able to be there and make the cake, I am so proud of my sister as well as making the choice to get married in the Temple, for time and all eternity.

The cake was a four teired marbled cake with a creamed raspberry filling, butter cream and ivory marshmellow fondant. It turned out beautiful!

 The cake was decorated with Lace and fondant pearls, an antique crystal dish, flowers and pearls from our mother and grandmother.

She sure was a beautiful bride! Congrats Miranda and Marshall we are so blessed to have been part of your special day!

Happy Birthday to My first Born
Denver!

Holy cow when did you get to be so big! I can't believe he turned seven!!

He wanted a baseball cake, unfortunately he little brother Carter was really sick and I was up ALL night the night before, so the cake was definately NOT my best work... But he was happy and that is what mattered.

Facts about Denver:

• He is the most kind and loving brother, he always shares so nicely with others without us even having to ask him to. He will always remember his siblings and bring them home things and share.
• He has lost six teeth, the most recently on his birthday! so fun!
• He loves ALL sports, currently his favorites are baseball and hockey. He is very athletic and is doing very well in swimming lessons.
• He LOVES being a brother. He is always willing and wanting to help me and loves babies, he is always asking me when will I have another baby because Emery needs a sister or he could use another brother!
• He is learning to read and is doing so well! He is very interested in learning and is excited about reading and being in the first grade next year.
• He taught himself to ride a bike with out training wheels. One day he just all of the sudden could do it, we never once held the back of the seat and ran along side...sad I know.
• He is very sensitive, he has a tender heart and really feels the pain of others.
• He loves to watch movies and just hang out as a family.
• His favorite foods are crab, sweet and sour chicken, chicken enchiladas, german pancakes and all things breakfast. He is getting to be quiet the eater and not picky, which I love! I'm scared for the up coming days where I'm sure he will eat us out of a home!
• He is looking forward to being baptised in a year and is using this year to prepare(his words not mine!)
• He loves to vacuum! Which works for me!
• He likes to change his clothes...seriously he changes clothes a couple times each day which DRIVES ME NUTS! but man do we love him anyways!

We are so truely blessed to have him in our family, he is a wonderful example to his siblings and a helper to me! I love how he teaches me and how he loves completely! Happy Birthday Denver! We love you!!

He also got a pretty cool birthday gift of having a cousin born on the same day! He thinks it is pretty darn cool!

Creamy Italian Chicken Pasta

So I decide to do something I don't do often... are you ready?....I know you are scared as to what I could be talking about... it is quite shocking really..... I pulled out my Crock pot! gasp I know! Don't get me wrong they are fabulous inventions, and very nice when used... however, it's the whole remembering to pull it out and use it BEFORE it is an hour till dinner that gets me EVERY time! Well I did it the other day adn the result was quite nice! So here you go...

Creamy Itailian Chicken

4 lg. frozen chicken breast
1 T minced garlic
1 pkg cream cheese (8oz)
1 can cream of Chicken soup
1 cup water
2 pkgs Italian dressing seasoning mix
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste

1 box penne(or shape of choice) pasta cooked Al dente

Throw frozen chicken, garlic, cream cheese, soup, seasonings, water and cheese into crock pot. Cook on low for four hours. Season with salt and pepper and toss with pasta. Devour...

Forest Waterfall Cake

So about a week ago I was asked to do some sketches for some cakes for an event here in town. The Forest Service was celebrating their 40th year of volunteers, so I drew up several sketches along with prices and they picked from them. They were on a budget so I was only gonna do one layer of cake on each teir rather than the normal two, which would be more on point for the servings they wanted and the price... however once I got making it...it just wouldn't have looked right with only one layer of cake, so needless to say they got a steal. It was lots of work but lots of fun, however it was hard because I got sick along with the kids...no fun, My hands are raw from washing them so much! But it was worth it!




the front, everything is edible except the stump :) If I were to do anything differently I would listen to Darwin and do the fondant under the water fall blue rather than white as the "water" did kind of run off the edges and you could see the white underneath. over all it was a success!

The back side of the cake, I used a chocolate marshmellow fondnat recipe that I'd never worked with before and it cracked like crazy but I left it for this cake as it was rustic and dirt/bark like.

Now I'm going to bed!

Here is the most Recent of my cakes. This was for Darwin's cousin reception that was in Burns last weekend. It is a walnut carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. The carrot cake was a HUGE hit...it is a really tasty recipe so I thought what better place to share than on my blog :) So here it is....


Carrot Cake:

2 cups Sugar

1 ½ cups Oil

4 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

2 cups flour

2 tsp cinnamon

3 cups grated carrots (sometimes up to 5 cups)

1 cup chopped walnuts

Cream sugar and oil until well blended. Add eggs and vanilla, and beat well. Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture. Mix on low speed just until moist. Fold in carrots and nuts. Bake at 350' for 50-60 minutes in greased and floured pan.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 stick of butter . softened

16 oz box of powdered sugar

8 oz package softened cream cheese

½ tsp vanilla

½ tsp lemon juice

Mix butter and cream cheese. Add powder sugar and beat well. Add vanilla and lemon juice and mix it in. Frost cake when cool

And here is one more recipe for kicks... so like the recipe says you should grease and flour your pans...this is kindof a pain and you are always wondering anxiously...did I grease and flour it enough...will the cake come out. Until alas, you flip that pan over and nothing happens.... well us cake people that do lots of cakes use something called cake release...

it is an 8 oz bottle and usually goes for about $5.00...now that can get pretty spending if you use it alot like I do....so I did alittle googling and found a homemade version and man oh man I'll never buy that kind again!

 So here it is for you all...

Cake Release

1 part veg oil

1 part shortnening

1 part flour

 whipped till combined and smooth Store in air tight container stir if necessary before use. I store it in a mason jar.

Happy Easter! Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter holiday, we had great fun filled with Esater egg hunts, good food, friends and great lessons about the resurection. I did the resurection egg lesson that I do every year and started crying as my kids knew exactly what item represented before I had a chance to tell them or read the scriptures. I was so proud of them and it reassured me that we were doing a good job teaching them the things they need to know. I'm doing yet another wedding cake this weekend and it is going to be carrot cake. The bride really wanted to use her mom's recipe and I thought I better do a test run to check the recipe. So I made an Easter cake. Great Fun! Now I'm trying to unclog my kitchen sink so I can get all the prep done for the wedding cake! And I really Don't want to call a plumber!! AHHHHH! Pictures of the wedding cake will come soon!