This honestly has nothing to do with my blog, but we were all watching people being rick rolled in class, and it was hilarious!! This is the music video that comes up when you are rick rolled, except that you are not able to exit out of it. It is horrible when you get rick rolled, most ofn the time it leads to virsus! Ah..
Terry Border
May 24, 2010 at 8:27 pm (Uncategorized)
I checked out this Terry’s blog and I found this quote of his that I really liked. “You know those things about yourself that you’re self-conscious of? Those quirks that you’re trying to hide? Those are not your weaknesses, those are your strengths.”
Amazing Creativity!
May 24, 2010 at 8:17 pm (Random Videos!, Updates)
This guy makes art with food. It is pretty fantastic! Crazy Crazy. He makes art foodfull! It is one of his many series. His name is Terry and he does it for a living in his home studio.
Double-Maple Cupcakes
May 20, 2010 at 8:11 pm (Recipes)
Ingredients:
Cupcakes:
1/2 cup granulated sugar
5 tablespoons butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon imitation maple flavoring
2 large eggs
5/4 cups all-purpose flour
5/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup 1% low-fat milk
1/4 cup maple syrup
Frosting:
3 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon imitation maple flavoring
1/8 teaspoon salt
7/4 cups powdered sugar
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. To prepare cupcakes, beat first four ingredients with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 5 minutes). Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine baking powder, flour, and salt in a bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Combine milk and maple syrup. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture alternately with milk mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture; mix after each addition.
3. Spoon batter into 12 muffin cups lined with paper liners. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes on a wire rack, and remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.
4. To prepare frosting, beat maple syrup and next four ingredients with a mixer at medium speed 1 minute. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating just until blended (do not overbeat). Spread frosting over cupcakes, once they are cooled.
Mad Dash For Shortening
May 19, 2010 at 8:15 pm (Uncategorized, Updates)
Monday, two days ago, was one of my best friends birthdays, and another friend of mine and I decided to make it extra special and go all out with posters and decorations and TREATS. So, the Saturday before her birthday, we started off by making her homemade chocolate chip cookies, (we were going to make shortbread cookies with lemon frosting, but we did not have one of the ingredients, wheat germ…)
When we reached the chocolate cookie recipe, we found out that you had to have shortening. Honestly, we had no idea what that was! While I was looking over that recipe to make sure we had everything else, we were on the phone with a friend and she decided to ask him what shortening was. Meanwhile I looked it up on the Internet… He said that it was fat! That sounded very disgusting! When I looked up the definition of shortening on the Internet it said that it was fat or lard. I was like, “where are we going to find fat lard?” Neither my friend or the Internet’s definition, were of help to us.
Instead I decided to call my mom. She can always be of help to me in the time of desperate need! This time she gave me an exact answer that cleared this whole situation all up. CRISCO! Once we heard her say that it was Crisco, I had a feeling that we did not have that at home in the kitchen because I never recalled using it before. So I went looking everywhere though because we wanted to make the cookies! I mean, it sounds like a recipe with simple ingredients, but know I had to wrong. After a thorough hunt, I found it in the baking section of my kitchen the second time… wow.. Once we got to the actual baking part though, it became so much easier!
Since we figured out that there is fat lard in the cookies, we were not exactly thrilled to eat them, but we did anyways…and they were scrumptious! After that experience, I later came back home and made my signature recipe, lemon bars, for my friend’s birthday. Definitely a much more simple recipe to make then the chocolate chip cookies since I have made them much more often. Let me tell you, they were a hit! I hid them in her locker and she found them along with bunches of posters and one of the chocolate chip cookies too! She was so very thrilled!
Task accomplished!
Nanaimo Bars
May 13, 2010 at 1:57 am (Recipes)
Ingredients:
First Layer
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa powder
2 large egg whites, lightly beaten
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Second Layer
2 cups powdered sugar
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup heavy (whipping) cream
2 tablespoons custard powder
Third Layer
2/3 cup semisweet chocolate morsels
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
Directions:
First, prepare the baking dish. Line a 7-by-11-by2-inch glass baking dish with two strips of parchment paper, each about 8 inches wide and 16 inches long. Let the excess overhang the sides, forming a sling for easy lifting and removal of the layered block from the dish once it is baked. Set aside.
To make the first layer, in a large bowl, combine the melted butter, brown sugar, cocoa powder, egg whites, cracker crumbs, coconut, and walnuts and mix thoroughly. Press firmly into the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Place in the freezer for 30 minutes.
To make the second layer, in a bowl, using a sturdy spoon, combine the powdered sugar, butter, cream, and custard powder, stirring until smooth and fluffy. The mixture will be fairly stiff. Spread evenly on top of the first layer. Place in the refrigerator while making the third layer.
To make the third layer, bring 1 inch of water to a simmer in the bottom of a double boiler or in a saucepan. Place the chocolate and butter in the top of the double boiler or in a heatproof bowl placed over the pan of water. Heat, stirring frequently, until the chocolate and butter melt. Using the back of a spoon, spread the warm chocolate topping evenly over the second layer and refrigerate until cold.
To serve, grasp the ends of the parchment and lift out the layered block from the dish. Using a sharp knife, cut into about 24 bars. Cover and refrigerate leftover bars for up to 3 days.
Follow Up on Lemon Bars
May 6, 2010 at 8:25 pm (Recipes)
Thanks everyone for giving me your feedback today. I cannot wait to make more treats for you all! If anyone has any suggestions please let me know!
