Outrageous Chocolate Cookies

I am in a baking mood! I found this recipe on a food blog and wanted to try them. My hubby is not a huge fan of chocolate, so I made them and took them to work. I left with an empty bag!

Makes 2 dozen
8 ounces semisweet chocolate, roughly chopped
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 package (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chunks
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat chopped chocolate and butter in a microwave-safe bowl in 20-second increments, stirring in between, until almost melted; do not overheat. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt.
In a mixing bowl, beat eggs, brown sugar, and vanilla on high speed until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low; beat in melted chocolate. Mix in flour mixture until just combined. Stir in chocolate chunks.
Drop heaping tablespoons of dough 2 to 3 inches apart onto baking sheets. Bake, rotating sheets halfway through, until cookies are shiny and crackly yet soft in centers, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on sheets 10 minutes; with a thin metal spatula, transfer to racks to cool completely.

Wood Lettering

Last year I was in need of a wedding gift for a friend who lived out of state. I did not want to get a gift card or something off her registery, I wanted to give her something unique. While at the craft store I noticed these wood letters. They were already painted white and were about $2.50 each. So I decided to spell out her last name, but they need to be spiced up. I got some cute paper that reminded me of her and some embelishments. I spray painted the letters black and then put the paper on the letters using Mod Podge. I love that stuff! The "E" has a textured paper on it so I left it plain, but added a flower on it. It's hard to see but the pink "L" has a rub-on that says love on it and the "L" on the end has a metal heart on it. The total project took about 1 hour to make and she loved it. She hung it on her wall in her family room.

When I moved into our house and was going through my decorations I realized that I didn't have anything for fall. So I went back to the craft store and got some more wood letters. I painted them fall colors and used the Mod Podge again to put the brown textured paper on the "L". I had some leaf stamps and stamped them on the yellow "L"and tied some raffia on the "F". The total time for this project was about 40 minutes.

I have received lots of compliments from the wood letters and everybody loves them! They are super easy and cheap to make. You can spell anything you want with them and they are fun to embellish!

Cream Puffs

Here are the ingredients:

1 box frozen puff pastry, thawed
2 cups cold milk
2 pkgs. (4-serving size) JELL-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding & Pie Filling
1 cup thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping
1 or 2 square BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate, melted

Here is how to make them:

Mix the pudding mix and milk until thick. Then fold in the Cool Whip topping until combined. Place the mixture in a large resealable plastic bag and place in the fridge. Un-thaw the frozen puff pastry on the counter. When it is un-thawed, sprinkle some flour on the counter and roll out the pastry dough until about 1/4 of an inch thick. Then take a regular drinking glass and cut out circles. Do not re-use the leftover dough, just throw it away. Then place the circles on a baking sheet. They can be close together because they don't expand in the oven. The circles will puff up and shrink in size a little bit. Cook at 350 degrees for 10-11 minutes and then let cool on a wire rack. Using a serrated knife, cut each puff in half and separate. Cut a corner off the plastic bag and pipe the pudding mixture onto each half of the puff until the pudding is gone. Replace the tops of the puffs. Melt the chocolate and drizzle over the puffs. Eat or store in the refrigerator for 1-2 days, if they last!

These cream puffs are great to make for baby or wedding showers! I have used them a lot. You can also make them for summer BBQs, dinner parties or for when you just want a great treat!

Enjoy.

Cakes

Anyone that knows me knows that I have had a long battle with cake. After many years of throwing layered cakes into the garbage and making just one layers cakes, I have conquered the double layered cake.

The first cake is the cake that I am most proud of. My nephew Jaedon turned 7 last year and he asked me to bake his cake. I asked him what kind he wanted, thinking her would say white or chocolate. But he said that he wanted a cake shaped like Sonic (a character from Nintendo). I said sure and then freaked out. How was I going to bake this cake? My sister and I sat in her kitchen thinking how to make it and had no clue. I decided that we should make it the day before so in case we couldn't do it, we could still order one. So we baked 2 round cakes. Then I went to Jaedon's room to find something with Sonic on it so we could get the shape right. I found a pillow exactly the same shape of the cake in the form of Sonic. So while I held the pillow above the cake, my sister cut out the shapes to form his ears and hair. We then tooth-picked them to the face and decorated with colored icing. The best birthday cake ever was formed and the look on Jaedon's face was the best ever. He was so excited. We almost cried when we had to cut and serve it.

The second cake was a cake that I made for my mother-in-laws birthday. I made a chocolate cake, decorated it with white icing and drizzled melted chocolate over the top. To decorate, I kept it simple and placed some cherries in the center. I think it is very elegant. I did break my rule and served it on a black plate because at the time I didn't have a white serving dish big enough. But it works because the chocolate is dark and the plate is.

First Entertaining Tip

Here is my first entertaining tip-White Dish Ware. Always buy white dishes and white serving dishes. White makes the color of your food pop and come off the dish, making your food more appealing to your guests. It will make them want the food more because they can see it better and it makes your food look prettier.

Why?

My friend April started a food blog and it got me thinking about how often I entertain, cook and craft and how I want to share my ideas with others. So I kind of stole her idea and created a blog-Thanks April!

I got married 3 years ago and knew very, very little about cooking. My mom always made things that were frozen, could be cooked in a microwave or she ordered take-out. So when I got married, I had to learn how to cook. After learning how to cook for my picky husband, it has become something that I love to do now. I do prefer baking over cooking, but love them both. I love watching the Food Network, I could watch it all day.

Along with cooking comes entertaining. I love to throw parties and get-togethers for my friends and family. I will find any excuse to cook for people. I like my entertaining to be casual and easy to put together. I love outdoor parties on the patio (once we get the yard in these will happen) and BBQs but I also love more "fancy" entertaining for things like Christmas and Easter.

When we bought our house I had to go shopping for items to decorate it with. I was going to places like Tai-Pan and Rod Works and loved what they had. But I had to fill a whole house and those stores can be expensive. So I have started making my own decorations. I am a frequent shopper at Michaels, Roberts and JoAnns craft stores.

So my idea for my blog is a food, entertaining and craft blog. Hopefully you can get some ideas, tips and recipes from my blog and make your own food, crafts and throw your own parties with style. I am also accepting of new ideas, so if you want to share them with me, please feel free to do so.