Thomas the Tank Engine Cake

Its my son's 3 rd birthday and he wanted Thomas. So I found a Wilton's 3d train mold pan and put it on top of a sheet cake. I can see my imperfections. But it turned out good. He loves it. He goes and checks the cake in the fridge everytime he is near the kitchen. Doing this cake showed me how much I need to work on my piping skills and my tinting of frosting. It was a good challege and I look forward to the next one that comes my way.

Weekend Projects

These are some of the items I did over the weekend. The first is the Pina Colada Cake for my aunts birthday. I got the first recipe from a magazine. They used chocolate cake, I used a cake mixture to make the cake  taste like Pina Colada.  The second is a very simple candy mold that I used with pretzels. Every one loved the items and they were gone in under 15 min.

Beer Pretzels Caramels

I got this recipe from Food Network Mag. I have tried it twice with the same end result. I would love to know what they did. Each time my caramels formed but did not hold  their shape. Both times the beer tasted good with them, but in the end after the listed refridgerated time, they were cut and then lost  their shape. Any suggestions I am open. If food network reads this on Twitter. Please what am I doing wrong?

Second attempt on the pretzels

Zucchini Cobbler

This was another recipe given to me to help me use up all the zucchini that I have just recived.So easy to do. I wound up having so much that it made two nine inch pies. I par boiled the zucchini in water first then drained it. Then I added the lemon juice cooked it til its soft. Then I added 1 cup sugar, a little extra this time because of the amount of zucchini, cinnamon, mace and some cardamon. The the crumb on top and bottom and bake for 45 min. No longer or the yummie liquid bubbles over. I have been told it tastes just like apple cobbler.

Crumbler is
4 c of flour
2c of sugar
3 sticks of butter. not margine, if you use margarin it doesnt taste the same.

The Great Pumpkin Cookie Recipe

 Ok here is the recipe everyone has been asking for. If you have trouble or have questions shoot me an email and I will see what I can do to respond in a timely fashion. Hope it all comes out great for you like it did for me.

 

 

4cups flour - All purpose

2 cups oat meal - quick cooking

2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 1`/2 cup (3 sticks) soften butter

2 cups firmly packed brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 can (16 oz) libby's pumpkin

1 12 oz pkg of chocolate chips

 

Cream butter and sugars. Then add the egg and vanilla.Add pumpkin, oatmeal, salt, spices and flour. After your done with the mixer, add the choclate chips in then mix by hand or spatchula. At this point I like to refridgerate it about an hour to keep it from spreading too much. Bake on parchment line baking sheets.. Preheat oven to 350 and bake cookies for10-12 min.. Cool completely Frost if  you like with cream cheese frosting see below.

 

 

Cream cheese frosting

1 stick of butter

1lb of powdered sugar

1- 8oz pkg of cream cheese, soften

blend together. add flavoring if you choose.

The Great Pumpkin Cookies

These are the pumpkin cookies that my Aunt Carol gave me the recipe for. Each batch usually makes about 9 doz or so. Depends on how big you want them. Its fall and time to break out the pumpkin, and apples and start making all the yummy goodness that goes with the chilly weather. These are good by them selves or with cream cheese frosting. I can never seem to keep them in my house longer than 3 days. They are like an oatmeal raisin cookie crossed with a pumpkin pie. I make mine small so they are bite size. I'm sure there is a way to reduce fat and sugar, but I don't think that the cookies would have the same taste. In the spirit of Paula Dean, its all butter and no substitutes. As soon as I dig out the recipe I will post it.

Happy Eating.

Apple Holler

This was an interesting place I saw on the drive home one day. We stopped there today to check it out. I would tell everyone to be prepared for it to be very crowded. There were cars lining the sides of the frontage road  for this place. It is a very neat place. They have restaurant, gift shop, then an out side grill and live entertainment. Also it is an orchard you can go and pick apples, peaches, pumpkins, pears. They also have a huge play area for the kids. Some of it is free with admission and other items you need tickets for. The restaurant is buffet only on weekends. It was a bit pricy for 2 kids and 2 adults. I would like to see their normal menu when it is not so busy. The decor was country. Most of the items on the wall were for sale, but the restaurant was attached to a gift store and bakery. Outside they had many areas where you could stop and take photos. Those wooden cut outs that you put your head through. I am sorry some of the inside photos are dark and blurry because of so many people and the dim ligh conditions. I would say this is a place I would go back to. Our family had a lot of fun. There is so much to do there it is an entire day trip there. So plan ahead and be prepared. Its a farm and orchard so I would not reccomend your Sunday best clothes.

If you got a place you want me to check out, Email me about it.