The Relief Society Birthday Cake

 Months before Darwin got his new job I was asked to make a cake for the Relief Society Birthday Dinner, that was on March 17. I wasn't sure what to do and frankly once Darwin left I lost any and all enthusiasm I had for the cake. Lucky for me I have a wonderful friend who loves to assist in the cake making fun. She searched for ideas and she designed the cake. Our other friend Tamara who is starting her own cupcake business wanted to come and help and learn. It was fabulous I must say to be the executive chef and teach. I baked all of the cakes, made the buttercream and fondant, and fillings. Then we all got together and decorated the cake. I showed them how to do each step and then let them go for it, and was there if they needed me. It was a great team effort and was a huge hit!



 The bottom layer was a french vanilla cake with a fudge and fresh strawberry filling. The middle layer a chocolate cake with a creme de menthe filling with andes mints, and the top layer a lemon cake with a lemon blueberry filling. All covered with homemade buttercream and marshmellow fondant.

The three of us with the finished project. Tamara will do fabulous in her cupcake business and I would hire Michelle ANY day as an assistant, cook, babysitter, teacher, friend, pretty much whatever!

I'm sad to know that this is probably the last cake I will do for the public in Harney County, I've got Porter's Birthday this next weekend. I'm trying not to dwell on the friends and ward we will be leaving and focus on the great opportunity and exciting adventure that is before us.

Parker's 3rd Birthday Cake

Happy Birthday on the 12 to my dear sweet devious and mischeivious Parker! He loves big trucks so I made him a truck cake. He loved it!

Front view

Other side and back...I left it on the stove like an idiot and melted the orginal back off, of course this happened before I took any pictures. So a quick fix and it turned out ok..

He love the cake and was sad to cut into it. He is such a sweet boy and we are so blessed to have him in our family! We love you Parker!

My Birthday

So my Birthday was also Darwin's first day of work in Lakeview. I was stressed out because he was leaving and I was worried about him traveling and then there was the fact that he was still homeless. We woke up around 5 to get him ready and out the door. I cried of course, that is one of the things I do best. Then decided to open my card from my family, bad idea more crying insued as I read the comments of we love and are so proud of you... Then decided to check my email, harmeless right? Wrong, First email I read was from my Dad, water works again....I should have prepared myself better emotionally that I would be a wreck. Now you might be thinking come on now, really it is only during the weekdays and you get to see him on the weekends....But here is the simple facts, Darwin and I have been married for almost 7 years of those seven years we have only been away from each other 3 times(other than a night here or there while in the hospital) and each time was for no longer than a weekend. Plus, Hello, I have four kids under the age of five that now during the week I am a single mom to! AGHHHHHH! 

Anyhow, so the day wasn't really the best but that evening my dear friend Michelle and her wonderful husband Ryan and Emery's finance Brigham came and brought me dinner! It was so wonderful! She even brought me a present! Now Michelle is the best and so very thoughtful. I LOVE the Pioneer Woman( a blogger, cookbook writer woman extrodinare etc...) I think I love her so much because she is city girl like in the middle of NO WHERE and makes the most out of it. anyhow, Michelle bought me her cookbook, yipee! But then as I open the front cover I find this... don't mind me in the picture I look awful, no makeup and really tired... 

oh that's right it is Birthday card to me! signed by the one and only Pioneer Woman!! Oh my goodness! So exciting to know that my name was written by her hand! So amazing!

Overall it was a decent day, would have been better if I could have been with my hubby but oh well.

Creamy Potato and Bacon soup

found this recipe, tweeked it a bit and it was tasty!

Thick and Creamy Potato Bacon Soup


Ingredients:

•1/2 lb (1/2 package) thick cut pepper bacon, cooked until crisp and chopped

•2 – 3 tbsp. Bacon drippings

•1 large onion, chopped

•4 cloves garlic, minced

•5 lbs. russet or red potatoes, peeled and cut in 1-inch cubes

•32 oz. chicken stock (approximate)

•1/2 pint heavy cream

•1/8 lb (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

•Salt and pepper to taste

Cook bacon using preferred method until crisp. (I bake thick cut bacon on a cooling rack over a sheet pan so that it remains flat). Allow to cool and chop or crumble into small pieces. Reserve several tablespoons of drippings. (add more bacon drippings if onions look dry. This will depend on the size of your pot and particular onion.)


Place a large soup pot or heavy casserole over medium heat. Add 2 tbsp. bacon drippings and cook onions, stirring frequently, until translucent. Add garlic and cook another 2 minutes, stirring often.

Add potatoes and cook, stirring occasionally for a few minutes. When everything is sizzling nicely, add enough stock to just cover potatoes. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for approximately 15 to 20 minutes or until potatoes are fork-tender.

Mash potatoes roughly with a potato masher. Scoop out about half of the remaining mixture and puree in a blender (in batches!) or food processor. (Or if you’ve got an immersion blender, go for it with that.) Make sure to leave a good bit of the potatoes chunky, for texture.

Add butter and heavy cream. Stir to combine well. Taste for seasoning and add more stock if soup is too thick for your liking. When the consistency is right for you, stir in bacon and bring to just a bare simmer, stirring often.

Serve hot. Garnish with additional crumbled bacon and some chives or green onions.

*things I did differently, I put half the bacon in as I pureed half the soup, and I used milk instead of cream. I also served with grated cheese. It was yummy!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

My friends and I got together tonight to decorate some Valentine cookies. We had lots of fun with lots of laughter. We did some cute little Valentine cookies for our kids then some ...more creative cookies for our husbands. It was great fun and I think they turned out pretty funny!

 The ones for the kids.....and now the ones for Darwin....

Too funny! We used royal icing to decorate the cookies and here is the recipe.....

For those of you who don't know Royal icing is great, it taste pretty much like sugar but you can add flavoring to it. It is very thin and easily piped, smooths easily and can be used for many things. Thicker royal icing can be used to make flowers and things for cakes as well. It dries hard and smooth.

You can make it with egg white but i found Meringue Powder is much easier

Royal Icing
1/4 cup Meringue Powder
1/2 cup cold water
2 1/2-4 cups sifted powdered sugar

In a mixer combine Meringue powder and water and mix till peaks form, add powdered sugar till you have your desired consitancy. Color, fill piping bags adn have fun!

The wedding cake..

Today was the day of the wedding...It did not start off well. But I will get into that in a minute... First I want to show some pictures of the wedding. This is the reception area.. The camo theme was definately there and clear.                                                                      

 The center pieves were antlers with balloons tied to them and battery operated candles covered in duct tape..oh and the table cloths, plates and napkins were all camo..

 Here is part of the cake the branch in the middle.

 The food line... yes the walls are covered in brown paper, then a deer head and a few bow and arrows make it complete.

 Now for the cake drama.. Orginally I was going to marble the fondant, I made all my fondant the day ahead and this morning when I woke up my fondant was not my friend. I don't know what happened, a combo of dry air and the coloring or something but it was just falling apart. After a few tears I devised a new plan.. I would cover the cakes in white fondant then airbrush it. It turned out pretty good. My dear friend Michelle was a life saver on this cake as she made ALL of my chocolate leaves! I'm gonna owe her a fabulous dinner and dessert for all her hard work. But I think she had fun on our 'adventure into the outdoors'

I'm glad it is done and over with and hopefully they are happy with it....if not oh well it is too late to change now!

Luau

We have had this Elder, Elder Tancayo in our ward for quite some time and he gets to go home to Hawaii tomorrow. As a send off/thank you and ward activity we had a Hawaiian Luau. His mom sent many items and he had the ward provide some as well and he did most the cooking himself. It was great, complete with whole pig roasted in a pit, poi, macaroni salad, and Salmon Lomi. I was asked to make the Salmon Lomi and the recipe has been requested quite a bit, so here goes. Also this recipe is for a mass amount adjust as needed :) His mother sent the salted Salmon so I'm not quite sure this is the same for the salmon but here goes...

Salmon Lomi
20 lbs tomatoes seeded and diced
2 1/2 bunches green onions diced
4 large white onions diced
5 cups salted salmon diced

Rinse salmon well and combine with the other ingredients. Mix well and allow to sit for 30 minutes prior to service.

Salted Salmon:
In a large baking dish spread a layer of Hawaiian Salt or Kosher salt. (Table salt will not work for this application, it needs to be a coarse salt) Rinse the salmon and pat dry. Apply another layer of Salt and be sure to have all sides covered with salt. Cover with plastic wrap and weigh down with another dish. Refrigerate for at least 24 hours and as long as 3 days. The longer the fish cures the more water is drawn out of the salmon resulting in a saltier and more heavier cured fish. Rinse well prior to use.