8 tiny reindeer November 23, 2009

While we were at the mall on Saturday, we ventured through a craft section and perusef the aisles in the hopes of engineering some Christmas ornaments for the tree my mother will put in her office. When I saw the old fashioned clothespins I automatically thought of the reindeers I made when a little girl studying at Our Lady of Fatima.

It was probably in third or second grade. Although I sort of remember the project being a whole lot easier. My mother and I spent nearly 2 hours making 30 reindeer. Some had red noses, some didn’t. All were so very adorable. We still loved them even after nearly gluing our fingers to every surface that we touched.

Aren’t they just the cutest? All you need is the following per reindeer:
– 3 old fashioned clothespins
- pom pom for nose and tail
- plastic eyes
- craft glue
- pipe cleaners
- paper clips (these you snip into 3 purse and use as a hook in between the legs to hold the pipe cleaner loop)

A rose by any other name… August 18, 2009

Making these purses has been an interesting adventure.  I’m not sure many of those who heard the idea when I was brainstorming quite got what I was hoping to do.  Thankfully, I’ve been able to create that which I had in mind into what I’ve been sewing up.  My sis in law was probably one of the few who actually understood what I’d wanted to do and was also one of the most vocal about demanding that a purse be made just for her. 

Now, I had a dilemma when making a purse for her.  You see, in my household there are two Dianas (my mother and my sister in law).  We have to refer to them differently and they are actually very different in stature and temperament, so there is never any confusion once you get to know them.  However, both love red roses.  It came as no surprise that my sister in law fell in love with the design I’d made for my mother.  She blatantly hinted that that was what she’d wanted for herself as well.  But, alas, I am one of those individualistic artists that refuses to have two women that are close have the same purse.  I had to then find the perfect design for my sister in law.  I’m happy to report that I think I did just that. 

S-02; white & red rose bouquet

 

I’m a little late in posting about this.  I mailed this to my sister in law together with some Mary Kay products she had ordered at the same time I mailed out the other purse I’d made for my favorite stalker a few weeks ago.  It was quite funny when my sis in law called and spoke to me, all I could hear was her squealing “I LOVE IT! I LOVE IT! IT’S SOOOOOO PRETTY! OMG!!”  For a moment I’d forgotten what she was even talking about! lol  But then I remembered it was the purse. 

She’s been so delighted with it that she pretty much carries it around everywhere she goes.  Someone tried to buy it off of her, too.  So I’ll take that as a compliment.

A purse without an owner July 24, 2009

When I learned of the fact that I was terminated from my job, I was very much upset.  To keep myself together, I decided that I was going to just keep my hands and mind busy.  It helped because I didn’t break down and I was able to keep working to make the purse which I believe is my best work as far as construction goes. 

I had to work with what ribbons I had on hand, as the latest shipment of ribbons had not arrived yet.  I’m very glad I completed it.  I really do love how this purse came out.  There is the possibility of my keeping it but then I know that I’ll be in love with my next purse creation too.  This one should go out in the world.  The purse, unlike the other ones I have to create for the next 3-4 purses, does not have a previous owner.  So if you wish to purchase this design, or know someone who would love it, please let me know!

G-03: Old gold handle w/ gorgeous sunflower; pink lining

A purse for my favorite stalker July 16, 2009

When it comes to friends, I have two girlfriends whom I love more than life itself.  I met them both when I was an early admittance freshman in college.  One of them is my sis-in-law and the other says that, because of that family relation, Dee counts more like a sister and less as a friend… so that makes her my one true best friend.  I let them squabble over me but I love my girlies to death.  We don’t even live close to one another but we’re constantly in contact whether its via MSN or tweets (and sometimes tweets that seem like an MSN conversation).  Recently my peeping stalking friend moved to Arkansas and launched a whole other blog to show her exploration of her new surroundings using her hillbilly alter-ego.  (We all have one! So don’t even pretend like you don’t!  I’m EmmaLee and I can tease my hair and get that hick twang like the best of them!) 

So, needless to say, she’s super supportive of all my endeavors.  She’s one of my best customers when it comes to Mary Kay products and she’s been nagging me to make her a purse since I made the first prototype.  I used that to my advantage and told her she’d take what I gave her and she’d like it too!  I didn’t let her pick her design aside from a choice between daisies or sunflower since I wanted to make a purse but have to work with the threads and ribbons I already had while my latest shipment of ribbons came in. 

The end result is just beautiful.  I have to say that my embroidery work is getting better with every purse I make.  I’m learning new techniques and perfecting old ones.  I still need to perfect the sewing and construction of the purse itself but I’m learning to sew in straigher lines!  seriously, check out the label:

 

(even if the placement of said label is slightly too much to the left)

 

I also put to test the validity of the “washable” part to the fabric marker.  But it is a wonderous thing… just a dab of water and it gets erased!  I had to place and replace the patterns but I’m very happy with the final product.  I had to hand bead each little X but it’s well worth the effect. 

Purse S-01

I hope she likes it, but if she feels it’s not right for her, then I guess it’ll go into reserve until the time I’m ready to sell these beauties.

Bombshell Within Designs June 19, 2009

For those of you who follow me on twitter, you’ve heard me pondering the idea to make pretty handbags for quite some months.  The idea first came about back in January when I was shopping for the details for my nephew’s Baptism.  We’d visited a craft shop, Manualidades Sonia in Mayaguez, and we walked up and down every single aisle in search of inspiration when it came to decorations and doing the favor boxes.  Since I love to embroider and cross-stitch, I peeked over in that section even though I didn’t need anything.  When there I found this cute little pattern pack to make a coin purse using ribbon embroidery.  

 

Embroidered coin purse

The technique was new to me and I found that I enjoyed it.  The look was so classic, I was enamored with the idea of using such floral designs but in a larger purse design.  

I’d spent many nights googling and visiting sites, scouring etsy listings and then googling some more to find the right places for what I was looking for.  But I sort of put it off.  In a moment of continued interest after finishing the coin purse, I found a Silk Ribbon Embroidery Bible on Amazon (ps: Amazon is my new addiction for this year.  Seems I evolved from eBay to Amazon.  I have some issues because not every seller on Amazon ships to PR or to PO like addresses, but I do manage to get what I want) but didn’t look at it too closely because in that same order I got On Writing Romance: How to craft a novel that sells.  That had my attention and then afterwards my attention got diverted to other books.  My mother had looked at the embroidery bible and mentioned the purse idea too; she thought it would look quite beautiful and classic.  

I don’t know what struck me but I went through the book a few weeks ago and started writing down which designs I wanted to try.  Then one evening I did some more searching and found that I knew just where to go, so I decided to just get the materials.  It took about 2 weeks for me to get everything that I ordered: the purse handles, the moire fabric, the silk ribbons & the labels.  However I love getting packages, so each arrival was an absolute delight!  I’d rightly assumed that I would not be able to find the majority of what I wanted locally.  There were even a few things that I didn’t even know how to ask for in Spanish (like the moire fabric).  The only thing I bought at a store in town was the satin fabric for the lining. (They did have moire, funnily enough, called the same but pronounced in Spanish, fabric and I purchased some, which I will be using for some future designs, but I don’t like it as much as the one I ordered online .  Once the black and cream fabric gets used up, I’ll go back to ordering online).

When I went on my ordering spree, I had a few designs in mind but once I got the ribbons, I wasn’t as sure that I wanted to do them as much anymore.  So I placed another order for ribbons at other sites, one with an amazing color selection of silk ribbons (it took me about an hour today to get just the right colors for the designs I know I’ll be doing next) and another with a wide variety of organza ribbons.  For now, this was my trial run to see if my concept was feasible.

I started with the pattern for the purse which I started off with creating with gift tissue and tape once I got the purse frames.  Once I had the sizing (I wanted it to be large enough to hold a Mary Kay Compact, a cell phone and a coin purse/ small wallet), I cut the pattern out into cardboard which I’d attained from re-using one of my large Mary Kay product boxes.  It was quite interesting to try out since I did it all while working one Saturday.  Thankfully calls were slow that day!  

Using a washable marker (which thankfully allowed me to remove it with a moist paper towel and a bit of dabbing when I made mistakes), I traced out the pattern and estimated the spot I wanted my pattern to be.  With the ribbons I had on hand, I opted for Closed Irises in a vase.

I had to enlist my grandmother’s help when it came to the beads.  I had ordered some but they were too big.  My grandmother loves to do different sort of crafts.  She makes lace, crochets curtains and makes blankets and shawls as she sees fit.  She was the one who taught me how to crochet (since my mother is left-handed and I’m not, if she had taught me, she’d have taught me how to do it backwards) and embroider, but all the ladies in my family know how to do something, albeit some are more proficient than others.  But when I confided my latest project with my grandmother, she was absolutely delighted because she loves craft projects and that I was following in her footsteps in doing them.  So my grandmother has boxes filled with craft supplies of all kinds.  With a little bit of digging, I found regular pearl beads and pale pink pearl beads in just the right size which she thought would look prettiest with the fabric.  

I think from start to finish, this purse would take me a day.  I had finished the embroidery in a single evening.  

I would have finished the rest but I was waiting on the arrival of the label.

pale pink satin lining with label attached

  

 

 

In a few hours more I had sewn it all up.  The entire thing was done by hand since I learned with making the apron that I can not sew a straight line with a machine.  I didn’t want to ruin the fabric and all my hard work, so I relied more on my hand-sewing skills for the task.  I’m sure with a machine this would be done in a fraction of the time but I enjoyed taking my time with it.  

I think it came out beautifully done and my mother is most excited to use it for her special work luncheon to show it off.  I’m really glad that my mother has been really supportive with this.  I don’t know how much further I’ll take this project but it seems a few friends have already put their informal order for one.  While I love them, the frame is rather expensive, so I will just have to see if we can work something out for their own unique BombshellWithin purse.  I still have one more trial run to do with a more square design rather than the rounded bottom.  Then I know I have to design one with a cupcake since I promised a certain cupcake loving person one for a giveaway.

A Daring Bakers Initiate- A Bombshell Saga February 29, 2008

Prologue 

I’d just begun my foray into blogging and hitting up other blogs when I spotted my first sign of Daring Bakers.  It was on Quirky Cupcake and I began to notice the tell-tale stamp on people’s blogs. 

Who were these people that got these cute little marks?  Why were they so special?   “We knead to bake”  Why!  So do I!  So, the most important question then became… where could I get one?   How do I sign up? 

But, oh!  The infinitely wise puptart, who had spent many weeks before me stalking foodies already knew.  She was able to point me in the right direction and I saw that the few blogs I’d visited were just a handful of the veritable army of DBers in existence!   I wanted in!  With a few simple emails, all I had to do was wait until the beginning of February.  Then… the first mystical recipe would be revealed to me.  I would then have a month to complete the challenge, hoping and praying I could keep my mouth shut for this period of time to my adoring blog fans.  It wasn’t easy, let me tell you.  I was ready to spill the beans many times over.  But, I had no idea what I was getting myself into.  No one ever really does when it comes to experiments like these.  And so, my challenge began!

Saga 1

This month the challenge was cohosted by Breadchick Mary and Sara  and they decided, of all things, that they would pick Pain Francais (French Bread) from Mastering the Art of French Cooking: Volume Two by Julia Child.  Just my fucking *ahem* luck, the ONE item I have been dreadfully afraid of, bread made with yeast, as the first challenge.  But, I wasn’t the only one.  The boards were adither with people both excited and frightened.  Afterall, this was a recipe placed by the cooking goddess, Julia Child.  Surely it was manageable.  But, still!  BREAD!  With YEAST!  Oy… I think I felt a migraine coming on.  I had been so excited to be joining up, I just hadn’t been aware that they were going to actually be making me WORK for the title of DB.  Couldn’t I just smile and look pretty and make a fluffy little cake that would taste so delicious it would bring tears to my mother’s eyes?  No?  Well, damn.  Seemed I had no choice.  I was either going to make that darn french bread or die trying.  And I was seriously hoping that the second option wasn’t really on the table.

At first, I will admit, I shuffled my feet.  The recipe was so LONG!  I put it in a word document to read at my leisure.  It was 14 pages long!!!  How was I going to get through this?!  It was going to take me a month just to read the recipe.  I know I skimmed it and already began to express my doubts.  The reason the recipe seemed so long was because Mary and Sara were being overly helpful, which isn’t a bad thing.  But it just made things seem all the more intimidating!  And I had already found a potential hurdle.  The recipe stated that the dough should rest and rise in temperatures no more than 70F.  Double OY!  I live in a tropical island in the Caribbean.  Even in the dead of winter we barely creep under 70F.  How the heck was I going to accomplish that?  Mary suggested that water baths at the proper temperature would work just as well.  I wasn’t convinced.  Seemed more work than I was willing to put up with.  So, of course, I was going to cheat.  No one would know, right? (So said the girl on the blog read by several dozen people daily, and which over 500 DBers were going to possibly show up to read about her adventure!  HA!)

So, with all 14 pages of instructions in tow, I headed to my hometown for a long weekend.  I figured my mother’s oven and kitchen was better equipped for this challenge.  I was very right.  I would never have been able to pull this off in my tiny oven.  My mother griped when I hit her up to get me some of the ingredients and products I would need, but luckily she was rather supportive.  We went shopping and that evening I decided I was going to get to work.  You see, I reasoned that night time was the coolest hours of the day and I would be able to get my work done.  How hard could a recipe with only 4 ingredients be?  Famous last words…

Alright, so!  Three and a half cups of flour went into the bowl, with 2 1/4 teaspoons of salt.  The 1 1/4 cup of water was set aside as I set aside time to proof some yeast.  I never realized the little packet was so intimidating.  I read and reread the instructions.  I thought I’d have it down.  I did it just as Mary and Sara and Fleischmanns told me!  Does watched yeast just not rise?  Well, it sort of frothed and boy did it stink.  I gagged a little as I poured in the yeasty water and mixed it all in.  As it came together and rested, I’d already decided I wasn’t liking this adventure at all.  Why did I feel like I was setting up to fail? 

I slapped it and I kneaded it, I pushed and I worked it for so many minutes I lost count.  My mother was doubting the dough.  I didn’t blame her.  I couldn’t yet defend the results.  Luckily it came time for the first rise and my first tylenol break.  By now I sort of understood puptart’s helpful bread suggestion about it feeling like a baby’s bottom.  So, I put it in a greased bowl and willed myself not to peek for at least an hour. 

 Alright, so I peeked at it after 5 minutes.  And I also figured out how to deal with the whole pesky temperature thing.  I set the fan on full blast.  Hey!  That’s how I keep cool in this terrible heat!

Is it rising yet?

How about now?  … And now?

Believe it or not, all 3 were taken an hour apart.  Oy…

I thought I had seen some expansion, but I guess it was the dough gooing over.  But after six hours it certainly wasn’t the triple volume it was supposed to be.  I had failed… Was it the yeast?  The flour?  The sugar?  The kneading?  What else was there?  I really didn’t know.  But I spent many hours awake pondering my failure.  It felt like a greek tragedy. 

I’d been leaving myself notes while working so I could later blog about it.  It had been 5am when I gave up on my first attempt.  My mother thought my last note sounded angry.  I felt bewildered.  I followed the instructions!  Why hadn’t it worked?  But there had been so many factors for failure that I had to now go back and figure out what it was.  For whatever reason, we don’t make French bread in Puerto Rico.  Maybe it just couldn’t be done.  My mother may be right about that last part, but I just had to try it all again.

Saga 2

I had begun my first attempt with an impending sense of doom.  This failure thing sucked.  This would be the first recipe in which I’d completely failed a recipe.  I didn’t even get to complete it by baking it.  Instead I just tossed it all out when I woke up after about 4 hours of sleep (It was still flat). 

I was wishing that I had gotten another 3 pack of yeast.  For the first attempt I had tried out two.  One hadn’t doubled and I had left it to watch it as it foamed and bubbled.  I’d used the second packet in the dough and, as we already know, that didn’t work out either.  So, that meant I was down to my final attempt.  So, I tried again.  The smell of hot yeast was making me gag again.  Or was it just me being so upset with myself over not being able to get this right?

No dice.  The yeast was just NOT activating,  Could all 3 packages have been defective?  I followed all the proofing instructions.  There was no confusing the “when mixture doubles, yeast is active.”  I need more yeast research and knowledge.  We will go troubleshooting by probability and error,  Sugar and yeast are fine.  That only leaves the water.  Was I putting it in too hot and killing the yeast?!

This was the moment I felt INCREDIBLY stupid because of my reading and conversion skills.  100 degrees in a chemist’s world is the point in which water boils.  HOWEVER, what the pretty bombshell forgot was that this was in Celcius and silly American yeast packages were in Farenheit. 

Oy… 

100C is approximately 212F.

DAMMIT IT TO FUCKING HELL!

My mother is refusing to let me live it down.  I am now known as the “yeast killer”.  I needed a nap at this point. 

Saga 3

This one starts out with my mother giggling at me.  Actually, make that openly laughing at me while pointing to all 8 packages of yeast she bought for me while I slept and how none of them said to use boiling water. 

I wasn’t going to be taking ANYMORE chances.

 By the time the yeast FINALLY activated correctly, I no longer had any baker’s pride.  I was a “seasoned” pro at the kneading.  I used my inner frustration on the dough.  The day was humid so it was feeling rather sticky.  But I persevered even though it was raining (Of COURSE *I* would pick a rainy weekend to make bread! ha!).  I just worked a little more flour in until it felt right. 

 Yes, I did knead with the instructions close at hand.

Meanwhile my mother was wondering how I was going to be able to blog about my failure.  Well, that’s easy.  I knew that with over 500 DBers out there, someone else HAD to have gone through something like this too.  Maybe not now but at SOME point in their baking.  And I doubted all these kind folks would come to make fun of me.  At least I was admitting to my failures and willing to learn from my mistakes.

 First rise: nap time  

Second rise: tylenol and rereading the instructions for the work ahead.  I  wasn’t really sure which of the many shapes I was going to try out.  So I had to read them all very carefully in order to get it all figured out.  My mother was still wondering how I was STILL planning on writing about all my turmoil.  I reminded her that I was a scientist.  It was my duty to report things as they turned out and not how they were supposed to work out.  As I was working, it became very clear that my mother, who I was now calling my DB accomplice, was going to be a huge hurdle in keeping quiet about my task.  Lordie was she telling everyone she encountered.  Now, I didn’t mind really as long as she never told anyone who followed my blog.  When she did and I confronted her about it, that led to a very nasty argument and it ended on the apparent notion that I was trying to shut her up and censor her.  Oy…

 Alright, so I TOTALLY suck at making even cuts.  But, I worked these little puppies out and them made the cutest little balls. 

I said they reminded me of heads of garlic. 

Final rise: I set my little balls into the living room because I knew the kitchen and dining area get too hot once I turned on the oven.  And I knew I’d be turning the oven on pretty soon.  I decided this was the best time to shower.  I’d been covered in flour all day.  I rushed back to my instructions in my towel because I couldn’t remember when I was supposed to slash them.  But, I was cool, that came later.  So… I showered. 

 This is my cow reclaiming “her” perch once I moved away the baking tray to finish my work. 

While I showered, I’d decided that I wanted to make the round loaf.  If these little rolls worked out, I was going to immediately start again.  With that in mind, I was going to use my petit pains to appease my curiosity.  So they got slashed, moistened with water, then sprinkled with herbs and/or sesame seeds.  They were looking down right gorgeous and I was beginning to feel so very proud of myself. 

 I did the whole moistening the bread for every 3 minutes for 3 times.  In order to make the oven (set at 450F) all steamy, I put a pan of ice cubes in just as I put the tray with the bread.  Just as I was about to close the door, I tossed in warm water.  They baked for 25 minutes, but I probably should have baked them 5 minutes less and turned the pans a lot sooner than I did.  Still!  They came out just fine.  In fact, in my mother’s and my opinion, it was perfect.  We prefer stuff to be more on the burnt side of things. 

  You bet that we didn’t wait the 2-3 hours for them to cool

We reasoned that because they were smaller they really didn’t NEED so long.  An hour was long enough!  The first bite was …. amazing!  When the crunch hit a spot with the sesame seeds… no words exist to describe their deliciousness!  My mom reasoned that each roll she ate cost her about $10 dollars.  I told her it was a delicacy! 

“48 hour French Bread”  

Saga 4

It seems I am far more masochistic than I am willing to admit.  I’m a glutton for punishment, I swear.  It was about 11:45pm.  In 24 hours I had failed and suceeded.  However, because I had REALLY wanted sesame seeds on those silly french rolls, I now HAD to start all over again.  Mary and Sara had been most insistent in saying that one loaf had to be made plain.  I probably could have gotten away with it if one little roll had been left plain.  But, my brain wasn’t working.  I mean, seriously?!, what insane person would go through all this trouble and then be willing to start all over again?!  Well, it seems I’m just that sort of person.  Please, I beg of you not to think unkindly of the DB challenges and institution.  No, the fault for all this hard work and craziness was my own.  However, I was running on a high.  I’d FINALLY completed it.  The end and vindication of my baking pride was sweet…. and damn tasty!  If I worked through the night the loaf would be ready for the following day’s breakfast.  What could be better? 

I worked in fine form.  I knew what I was doing and didn’t even have to look at the instructions.  I had regained my confidence.  That yeast and dough did not stand a chance.  It was going to be perfection, I could feel it in my bones!  Allow me to fast forward to the highlights of the night.

• 2AM: first rise went by without a hitch.  The dough seemed less sticky but it was no longer raining.  I felt like I was perpetually covered in flour and dough.  Would I be getting any sleep that night?  I wasn’t sure.
• 4AM: Who needs to set an alarm when you have the thought in the back of your head that you need to turn our the second rise.  My brain was fuzzy at this hour, so I actually had to take the instructions out and remind myself of what came here since it was the big loaf I was working with. 

• 6:30AM: Bread was finally shoved into the oven after geting the cross slices.  The steam tecnique I used for this one was leaving a pan in the bottom rack while the over preheated.  I then proceeded to dump ice cubes into the pan right before closing the door.  Also, I had a little mishap when shifting the loaf and my pretty round load was suddenly looking quite oval.

                                            

Since I was the only one awake and too tired to bother, I knew the loaf would be able to wait safely.  But, just in case, I wasn’t taking any chances…

 

Final Review:  The bread just tasted delicious.  The little rolls had semi survived the night.  They hardly needed any butter.  Since I sealed them away, they lost some of their outer crunch but they were so soft and tender.  I am am so damn proud of my large loaf.  The top looked like a fleur de lis.  I gave it a final brushing with water once out of the oven and I was so amused by the way it steamed.  Way cool effect.  I slept until breakfast, about 4 hours later.  It was a beautiful thing to wake up to that bread that morning.  It was chewy, soft…. just wonderful.  I think I had tears in my eyes in joy.  My mother and little brother agreed.  My grandparents were so impressed and my aunt thought I should take up making bread for a living.  My mother also thought that I’d made the bread slightly oval on purpose.  So, like, y’all pretend like I TOTALLY did it on purpose, okay?!  Overall, the recipe was not that complicated.  The length really required so much explanation because to do an action properly requires a sentence or two.  I’m really glad that I did the challenge and I didn’t give up.  I don’t know if I did it truly right… and if the french bread is all proper as it should be, but I’m still gosh darn happy with the results (notice how I don’t curse when I’m happy only when I’m frustrated?).  The same with Cupcake Hero, I truly seem to persevere through adversity.  So, I may make a Daring Baker yet…

PS: You know you are a foodie when you need to take a picture of it before you actually get around to eating it.

If you like pina coladas… February 24, 2008

Yes!  I have had that silly song running through my head this entire weekend.  It’s a good thing I like the song or else it’d be burning my brain already. 

I couldn’t leave it well enough alone.  For someone who considered not submitting anything this month for Cupcake Hero, I sure as heck went about doing a lot of baking for it.  I couldn’t help myself!  As the resident tropical diva, I had to pull out another mixed drink confectionary.  For a while I thought that perhaps someone else would have come up with this kind of entry before for this month.  But some quick googling later, I didn’t seem to find anything from the usual cupcake suspects.  So, in a last stitch scramble before deadline, I whipped these up and prayed they were a success.

 Pina Colada Cupcakes makes 18 cupcakes

• 1 1/2 sticks butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 extra large eggs
• 4 tsp. dark rum
• 1 1/2 cup self-rising cake flour
• 1/2 cup coconut cream
• 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
• 1 can crushed pineapple, all liquid removed and drained

1. Beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
2. Mix in one egg at a time; blend well.
3. Add cream of tartar and rum.  Alternate the addition of flour with the coconut cream.
4. Drain can of crushed pineapple, saving half a cup of the juice for the frosting.  Fold in pineapple to the batter.
5. Fill cups halfway and bake at 325F for 25-35 minutes, or until toothpick in the center of cupcake comes out clean.
6. Cool in pan for 15 minutes before removing to racks to cool completely.

 

Banana Colada Frosting

• 1/2 stick butter, softened
• 1 banana, ripe and mashed
• 1lb. powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons rum
• 2 tablespoons pineapple juice
• 3/4 cup shredded coconut

1. Cream butter.
2. Mash banana thoroughly with one tablespoon of rum.
3. Beat together banana and butter.
4. Slowly work in sifted sugar, halfway through adding the remaining liquid.
5. Beat until thickened and fold in coconut. 
6. Slather onto cupcakes appropriately.  Chill.

Final Review:  I actually really enjoyed these cupcakes.  It is still a little debatable to me if they actually taste like pina coladas. They sure do look like them though!  As you can see from the pictures, I topped them off with cherries.  I used left over passionate cherries (who I surmise are triply potent for having been lounging in their passoa liquor baths for this long) but any cherries will do to top it off.  I only wish I had had some paper umbrellas to add as a final touch to them for the pictures.  I also wish I’d had my cupcake holder thingy too.  But that’s in my hometown and I stayed this weekend.  Again, I had to work with what I had.  But, did you see?  I acquired some cupcake cups and they are the nice sturdy aluminum ones that really help me out since I’m still baking without cupcake pans.  I know, sad lot in life.  But, I am digressing.  I think the actual cupcakes are wonderfully delicious.  They have a nice pineapple bite with a distinct coconut after taste.  I have no had one frosted yet, but my housemate says its the frosting that makes this cupcake.  Albeit, he said I over frosted them.  But I just said that it’s because the cupcakes were just frosted and not chilled, that’s why the frosting was so soft.  Then again, I like gooey frosting.  In the end, I may have over frosted them because I was 2 cupcakes short from having eaten them before I got to making the frosting.  Either way, they seem like lovely little treats to have!  This time I didn’t go all out with the booze, so it’s just a fine taste and not a whallop like my Island Passion Cupcakes.  I’ll just call them a success and call it a month for the liquor portion of Cupcake Hero.

Crouching Muffin, Drunken Cupcake February 8, 2008

Behold the power of persistence!!!

I will finally surrender submit for your viewing pleasure, the Island Passion Cupcake in all it’s glory!  It took a week of much pondering, hunting and musing… and much failed attempts at making frosting and obtaining cooking supplies.  As my mother just stated just now when she called me to give her review (I’m staying the weekend near campus, but I managed to make and frost 9 cupcakes to send to my hometown via my aunt.  This way my family could taste them and give me their opinions) “I hope you wrote down that recipe, because you’ve got yourself a winner there.”  Allow me to break it down for you…

    Borracho Cupcakes II Makes 16 cupcakes (what an odd number, I know!  But it was supposed to be a dozen since I halved the recipe… but I didn’t want to overfill the cups.  So, 16 was how many I ended up with)

• 1/2 cup butter-flavored shortening
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 tsp orange zest
• 1 teaspoon orange extract
• 1/6 cup + 3 teaspoons Passoa
• 1 cup self-rising flour
• 3/4 cup Passionate cranberries*

1. Cream together shortening, sugar and 3 teaspoons of the liquor until light and fluffy.
2. Mix in one egg at a time; blend in orange extraxt and fresh orange zest.
3. Fold in remaining liquor and sift in flour.  Blend in half the cranberries and sprinkle the remaining cranberries onto each cup when they have been set into molds. 
4. Bake at 350F for 20-25 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center of cupcake comes out clean.

* Passionate cranberries are made by placing 3/4 cup of dried cranberries in 1/2 cup Passoa and allowed to reconstitute for at least overnight.  The more days, the better.  I left mine in their alcohol baths for 4 days. 

     Alright, so now they look like muffins.     

But, they didn’t crack on top.  They are also wicked good straight from the oven.

And while an unfrosted cupcake is STILL a cupcake, these puppies needed a little something on top.  I hadn’t spent the week researching frosting for nothing!

Chunky Pineapple Passion Buttercream

• 1/2 stick butter, softened
• 3 cups powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons pineapple juice
• 2 tablespoons Passoa
• 1/2 20oz. can crushed pineapple, drained

1. Beat butter until creamy, slowly working in sifted sugar. 
2. Slowly add liquid, one teaspoon or tablespoon at a time.
3. Drain pineapple well and fold into mixture.
4. Chill for half an hour. 
5. Generously frost your cupcake.

 Alright, so I was going to halve the passionate cherries to use as decoration.  However, I gave away most of my cupcakes before I remembered to put the cherries on them.  So the 7 cupcakes I had left got a whole cherry.  My housemate and I ended up with whole cherries as well.  (Can one get drunk off a cherry? wow-ee)

 

Final Review: I’m actually REALLY tired of Passoa right about now but I think I attained the drink blend that I aspired to.  This newer cake blend seems so much lighter than the last and the frosting seemed like it really needed the pineapple.  The orange flavor highlighted the passion fruit and didn’t overpower it.  For this I am glad, it was my biggest pout inducer with my first batch.  That being said, these lovely little cupcakes give a refreshing zing to many a tropical fantasy.  While my mother disagrees with me, I think the alcohol could very easily be substituted for some passion fruit juice, something I am VERY fond of.  Overall, it was my quest for perfection that made this cupcake so much work.  I think I’m going to take a break on cupcakes for a few days and cook other things.  Luckily, I managed to give away most of the cupcakes I made today.  All the zombies got sent off to other parts of the island and my family received most of the patch of these.  I’ve heard no complaints.  However, I do advise caution when taking a bite of your passionate cherries.  Try not to just consume whole, they pack a whallop. 

Island Passion Cupcakes

over and out!

Behaving like a good ‘wife’ February 7, 2008

I’ve known my best friend Carlitos since we started college.  We were both early admissions and were crazy enough to be taking Psychology together for pre-admission summer session.  That’s a solid four and a half years of love and friendship.  Every girl needs her gay husband, and he’s mine. 

So, he was kind enough today to be my last stitch effort to find cupcake liners at the supermarket.  What began as a listing of about 4 items, turned into a listing of about 20.  He kindly pushed the cart as we went up and down every single aisle.  As we neared the end of our journey, I was feeling quite victorious at FINALLY getting the darn cupcake cups.  As we’re passing the freezer section, he pulls out the only impulse purchase he wanted, some carrot cake.  Aghast, I managed very tranquil tones as I informed him that I could very easily make him a carrot cake.  Then the plan expanded, I would serve up some delicious dinner for some friends with the carrot cake being the gorgeous dessert.  It was perfect, I had most of what I needed.  We doubled back and grabbed the last few items.  Thankfully the check out lines weren’t long, but the cashier was a ditz.  When I filled out a little complaint form saying they didn’t have cupcake baking molds, she looked at me like I had three heads.  It seemed not a lot of people complain about not finding what they need!  But, I was not about to go quietly into the night.  I’d had enough of searching for simple things and being unable to attain them! 

Everyone who enters my kitchen gets put to work!

                    

• left: Carlitos shredding carrots for the cake.
• middle: Carlos (another one) creaming the butter and sugar.
• right: Kidany (my housemate) doing the dishes.

 Alright, so I don’t have a lot of counter space.  But I get the job done!

This is the chicken as it gets sauteed.  Essentially I stir fried a chopped medium yellow onion in some olive oil until transluscent, course chopped 3 cloves of garlic and chunk chopped some chicken breast and tenders.  When the chicken was browned, I covered it and let cook on medium for 5 minutes.  Then I proceeded to dump half a jar of alfredo sauce into the pan and about half a cup of pasta water.  I lowered the heat and covered it until the pasta was cooked.  Since I’m a one pot finishing wonder, when the spaghetti was drained, I mixed in the remaining sauce.  Carefully I placed the chicken and sauce and layered on top with parmesan cheese.  I let the pot sit for 5 minutes and sprinkled with scallions for some color. 

I might have made too much salad but it looks so pretty!

 

  Yum!                             He put bbq sauce on it! Oy!

 

  And now we finish dessert!

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon or vanilla extract
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1tsp baking soda
• 4 eggs
• 4 cups shredded carrot
• 1 8oz. package cream cheese
• 1 stick butter
• 3 cups (approximately) powdered sugar

1. Preheat over to 325F and grate carrots.
2. Cream butter and sugar.  Slowly add in eggs.
3. Mix in carrots and then slowly add flour with the other dry ingredients.
4. Bake for 40 -50 minutes or until toothpick tested in center comes clean.
5. Prepare frosting by creaming together cream cheese, vanilla and butter.  Slowly blend in sugar until desired consistency.  This tends to be a little runny, but place in fridge or freezer to it to set and firm.

   It’s REALLY tough to control the temperature in the oven at my apartment.  I did the best I could with the three layers and I watched them very closely.  By rotating them, I found the best spot and they were done at different times.  But, it was all good! 

I decorated it with some random dried cranberries I had on hand.

The first bite is always the best.

Final Review: Dinner was super simple but super delicious.  The onions just melted away in the cooking and the breast was really nice and tender.  The pasta itself wasn’t too full of sauce and the salad was crisp and delicious.  As for the cake, it was a super huge hit.  I actually didn’t have any cinnamon, so I used vanilla extract instead.  I love this cake, it’s so light.  And Carlitos left Zombie in my fridge.  I told him that since it was forgotten, not it’s fair game.  I wonder what a cupcake made with it will taste like………

We, who are about to dye, salute you! February 1, 2008

So, for the longest time I have felt inclined to bleach out the front chunk of my hair and add in a vibrantly wild color.  Since they didn’t have the bubblegum pink that I wanted, I had to settle for the blood red that will be shone. 

 The things I do to myself.  This is waiting on the bleach.

 It’s like a rainbow of colors…

 Does it look like I slaughtered something on my head?  It felt that way.

Oh my gosh!!  I LOVE it!!  Don’t I look hot?

Alright… so it’s not quite the bloodred that they promised.  It’s not pink either.  I don’t know what it is.  Any suggestions as to what we should name this follicular brightness?