I hear the bells...

Well... Halloween was good while it lasted. And yes, I know Halloween does not actually arrive until tomorrow, but I'd be silly if I didn't say I've already been listening to Christmas music the past few days. We were fortunate to take our nephew, Everett, to trunk or treat this year. It's always more fun when you have a handsome little person with you. I probably laughed for a good 30-60 seconds when I saw his cute little monkey costume. Love those chubby cheeks!

 I was also finding a way to use up all that Halloween candy corn (since Halloween is over and all)... My husband and I aren't real candy corn fans. I'll have to remember NOT to buy a bag next year... Candy Corn Bark!

1. Pretzels
2. Oreos
3. Candy corn
4. Candy melts
5. Sprinkles

  Easy peasy lemon squeezy. Great for gifting... perhaps our neighbors?

Other than aching for a more appropriate season to listen to Christmas music, I've been planning my little sister's wedding. I hardly did anything for my wedding because I had wonderful women helping me out while I was in Utah... So going through it with Alexis is a bit... crazy. Did I mention they are getting married on December 23rd? That sound's familiar... Looks like Max and I started a little Christmas wedding trend :)

Utah sure does have some beautiful landscapes. 

White Bean and Chicken Soup

1 white onion, minced

(small or medium depending on how much you love onion)

2-3 cloves of garlic

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon cumin

 (this stuff makes it smell divine)

1 tablespoon oregano

1/2 teaspoon white pepper

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper 

(a little bit of spice is nice)

1 teaspoon salt

3-4 cans chicken broth

2 cans white beans (14 oz each)

2 or 3 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded 

(i like using fresh chicken breasts, but i've read of people just using the canned version as well)

pinch of red pepper flakes

cilantro

shredded monterey jack cheese 

(I'll usually just grab any bag of white cheese at the store--this time I got a bag that had 6 different white cheeses in it.)

In a big pot, saute onion and garlic in olive oil until tender. Add cumin, oregano, white pepper, cayenne pepper, and salt. Saute for about a minute. Stir in chicken broth, beans, chicken, and the pinch of red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 25 minutes for all the flavors to mix. Add a little cilantro too.

For individual bowls, add cheese and cilantro for garnish. Serve with toasted, garlic bread. mmmm.

SO good. And just from coming home, the aroma of the soup still lingers and it is fantastic. This recipe was a combination of others I had found online. The suggested portions of each ingredient always changes when I make it, sometimes I add more garlic, or less onion... Just feel it out! Soups are great because they last forever in the fridge. Soup leftovers are also great because they always taste like they were made that very day. Enjoy!

"Hydrangea"

For Mother's Day, I planned on presenting this beautiful, hand-crafted lemon cake, decorated with buttercream hydrangeas in all their perfection. Well... the cake part was great. Not so much the hydrangea part. What I should have done was to look up tutorials on how to pipe the hydrangeas out instead of relying on myself to figure it out from a picture. Not such a bright idea. Way to go, Ashley.

Again, I pulled this recipe from I am Baker. I think I'll forgo the buttercream, flower decor and just go for simple next time I decide to make a cake. I think because the Rose Cake was so easy to make, my ego got a little inflated. Oopsy. 

Love the cake leveler. I've only used a knife before to level cakes, but this device made it SO MUCH easier.

First Name "Sloppy", Middle Name "Hydrangeas"

Mother's Day. At least my mom loved it!

4 layers with lemon curd and lemon frosting. YUM.

My momma said I needed a pic with the slice of cake in it. haha .

Cake pops=never again

I still have 25 of these babies to dip in chocolate and decorate... I made 50 in all. Uhhh. Ok so there's a couple things about cake pops that I have had a bad experience with:

1. My attempt at making egg shaped pops turned into triangular shaped pops. Not a great start.
2. I messed up melting the chocolate every other time. I seriously did nothing different. One time, it melted perfectly, and the next, it didn't. Needless to say, I need to go buy yet another bag of candy melts for the last half of the cake pops. Cruddy.
3. After dipping the pops, I placed them in my homemade "coke carton"pop holder (another frustrating step because I had to poke all the holes to hold the pops and force the sticks through). So they are all hanging out in different angles. 
4. I also put them in the freezer to help them set faster. I left them in there TOO long. I pulled them out and they started to sweat. And then the entire surface of the pop was sticky so decorating with sugar made it so hard to get stripes. I had a couple pops that I didn't place in the freezer and they were SIGNIFICANTLY easier to decorate (pictured above). 

I am hoping the last half of the pops will be less frustrating. That the chocolate will melt properly. That I won't want to throw them in the trash. 

I probably won't be doing these again! My time has been well spent slaving over these. Gah. Check out the Bakerella blog. She is an amazing Cake Popper.

Rose Cake Delight

Cake #1 a.k.a. "Practice Cake"

The Roses here are a little bit more loosey goosey than my second cake, which is why I call this my practice cake.

Inside... layers could have been cut more evenly... probably could have squeezed in another stripe, but I'm a first-timer so ya can't really hold it against me ;)

 Cake #2 a.k.a. the "Do It Better Cake"

From the start, I warned my family that I was going for looks with this cake. Not taste. I mean, this was a project for me to learn how to skillfully create roses and create vertical layers... Luckily for everyone else, the cake really did and does taste awesome. Very moist and perfect with a scoop of ice cream. 

Rose Cake

Well, this was a bit frustrating, but I love the challenge of this project anyway. I baked 2 cakes. One chocolate and one vanilla. The first vanilla cake I made fell apart when I tried to take it out of the pan so.... I ran to the store before my 10:15 PM soccer game (!) and bought another box.

After soccer, I came home, made the vanilla cake...leveled it off and put it in the freezer next to the chocolate cake. 

Today, the above picture was the next step. Cutting out circles and mixing them together to create what you see. I was nervous. But it appears to be all OK. Crossing my fingers hoping it will be!

Next step is frosting those babies! Just another thing to be nervous about... Silly me, I didn't think it out that I would end up with TWO cakes (since I did two different flavors). What to do, what to do...

Playing a Role

I have done my best at playing little miss homemaker the past month and a half. You've got my bed frame project, quilt ladder project, quiet book and now finishing up a quilt I started a few months ago. Aside from "projects," I've become quite the little cook here in the Garrett/Getz home.

Foodnetwork.com is fantastic. I love watching the channel, and browsing their site. I've made a White Bean and Chicken soup (DELICIOUS).  I've made Baked Macaroni and Cheese. None of the boxed stuff. Fancy, schmancy.  For the record, I still love the boxed stuff... I also made a French Toast Casserole which my mom claims she will eat the entire bit of it.

Yeah, making homemade meals like these can be a bit pricey, especially if you don't already have a base of a variety of spices and fresh ingredients. On the offhand, I'm learning more about cooking. I learned what it means to temper an egg, I've learned that wearing goggles while chopping onions WORKS, and I'm making my OWN collection of spices and random other dry ingredients. I mean, we will move out one day, and it'd be nice to have some things to put in our kitchen cupboards ;)

There is one eatable project I'd like to try... The only reason I call it a project is because I need a special little tool to do it and it will take a steady hand:

Isn't it pretty?!

If you have any recipes you love, I'd LOVE for you to pass it on! Who knows how long this little streak of mine will last.

I just gotta say it

I make the best Rosemary bread ever.

We just ate it tonight with some spaghetti and sweet italian sausage.

I'm so making this when we have company again (Alexis! Mom! Dad!).

Goodnight, readers!