Argh, I hate baking failures!

So I was making a batch of Kolacky cookies today for our work lunch tomorrow and they were a complete disaster! I don't know why... I followed the recipe to the T! I baked the first bunch and when I took them out, already they just looked a bit sketchy... After they cooled off I tasted one and all I can say is BLEGH! I altered the second batch in hopes that they'd turn out better but oh no... still BLEGH! I scrapped the 3rd batch and gave up... Guess I'll just bake a boring old box-cake. *Sigh* I hate being so boring... oh well, so much for experimenting!

"Everything To Me"

This is a touching adoption song (by Mark Schultz) I stumbbled upon. Just thought I'd share! (To shut off the music on my blog, scroll down and hit the Pause button on my playlist player.)

Marshmallow Fondant- How To!

Here is the LINK to a very helpful website that gives you not only the recipe, but also a pretty detailed tutorial complete with pictures. Good luck and have fun!!!
Oh and just a few tips from me that I wish had been in that tutorial... when working with this fondant, keeping it the "right" temperature is the key! If its gets too cold/hard it will crack and not roll out well. To fix that, stick it in the microwave for increments of 5 seconds, until its softer and easier to knead/roll. CAUTION: Remember, this is 1/2 marshmallow, and when marshmallows get hot they turn into GOO! Overheat this stuff and you'll have a gooey glob... IF that happens, no worries, set it down for a few minutes, it will firm up again. Also, grease your hands (Crisco) and then cornstarch them, it will help keep the MMF from sticking to you.
Alrighty people, get baking! :)

Hey Duff, got any openings?

As many of you know, I'm a Food Network junkie. One of my absolute favorite shows is "Ace of Cakes" which is about Charm City Cakes, a famous bakery in Baltimore that makes crazy cakes! I have long been harboring a deep dark secret which is: if we were rich and didn't have to worry about paying our mortgage, bills,debt etc., I'd quit my job in a heartbeat and run off to culinary school to become a pastry chef! I've always loved baking and working with sweets, so working at a bakery such as CCC (or having my own!) would be pretty dang cool, if you asked me!

Back to reality though... unfortunately I can't quit my day job to become a crazy cake maker and compete in Food Network "Extreme Cake Challanges" so in the meanwhile, I've decided to take the self-taught road and just see where that takes me. Its fun, its messy, and above all... its SO yummy! I absolutely LOVE cake!

Yesterday I decided to try my hand at decorating a cake in MMF (Marshmallow Fondant.) It was a BLAST! Really really sticky, tricky, and frustrating, but I did it!!! I survived! My cake survived! Granted, the fondant tore here and there and its not exactly Ace of Cakes worthy... BUT its edible and looks pretty dang good for a first try, if I do say so myself! (I really am very pleased with myself, if you couldn't tell!) Ben and I stayed up to almost 2 AM getting this little sucker all done (yes, you read right... 2AM!) and when I woke up this morning I was very pleased to see that it hadn't cracked, settled funny, or fallen apart during the night! (This is a very common problem for begginers in the world of fondant) Oh, and cudos to Ben, the best fondant roller and leaf cutter in the world!

So... without further ado... presenting... MY EASTER CAKE! :)

Whoops!

So I put up a poll (can you tell I'm grasping at straws and will do anything for a good night's rest?!?!) and didn't give anyone a place to explain their "other" as requested... where is my mind these days? Oh I know... addled from lack of sleep!

Happy Spring!

Hooray for warmer temps and sun shiny days... well, excpet for the tornado days, lol. Um...so lack of sleep is keeping me from posting lately, maybe I'll have something better to say soon.

Dogs... the new best medicine?

They say laughter is the best medicine, right? Well, I think dogs fit perfectly with that as well. Yes they're messy and stinky and like to chew stuff they shouldn't, but if you can love them enough to look past those *small* details, they really can make your life a whole lot more fun and bareable. When we first got Sirius everyone was like, "Oh yay, cute puppy." Then we got Mini and eyebrows were raised... "2 dogs? Yikes!" Now that we recently adopted our 3rd canine pal, I think most people think we're absolutely nuts... THREE dogs?!?! What, are we compensating for lack of offspring? Well OF COURSE we are silly! But still, they are so much fun! Here are 2 examples why:

And this is why we call her "Loony Luna!" Who eats like that? How can that be remotely comfortable? :)

Awwww... look at that. Even after spending ALL day ripping this squirrel to shreds, he can't fall asleep without his new best friend. ;) (I woke him up laughing and fidgeting with the camera)

WOOHOO!

I got my 2nd Lupron shot yesterday, so 2 down, 4 more to go!!! (See my pretty ticker?Heehee) Next month I get to say I'm 1/2 way done, yippy! So far, so good. I have to say that other than my insomnia problems, I really am not having as bad of a time as I thought I would. I know its still relatively early in my treatment and things *could* get worse, but for right now I'll take it! Now if only I could manage to squeeze in a couple of more hours of sleep every night... This whole running on 3-4 is just not cutting it. zzzzzzzzz.......zzzzzzzzzzzz..........zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....

It's that time of the year again!

It's not officially Tornado Season in the Young household until we sing this song, so here goes... feel free to sing along!

I looked out the window and what did I see?
An F5 tornado coming to destroy me!
Spring has brought me such a nice surprise!
F5 tornados right before my eyes!
I can go and hide in my "safe" bathroom,
But if it's an F5 I'll be dead soon!
I wish it weren't so,
But there seems to be,
An F5 tornado coming to destroy me!

Ahhh... how I enjoy poking fun at my greatest fear, in the hopes that it will help me get through Spring with my sanity still intact. Last night we had our first trip to our "storm shelter/safe room" in our pantry under the stairs. After a very pretty weekend, we came home from church to a windy and stormy evening. As things tend to go for us, our satelite dish quit working because of the wind, and about 2 minutes later we found ourselves under a tornado warning, sirens blaring outside... and of course, since we had no reception, we had no idea where the threat was. I jumped online to see that the warning was for our area (our neighborhood included) and as I was yelling to Ben (he was upstairs) to hurry up and come downstairs NOW... guess what? Oh yeah, the power goes out! At this point I'm seconds away from a full blown panic attack... we have no power, there is (surely!) a tornado barreling down on us, and my husband is upstairs, my dogs running around in the dark unsure of which screaming maniac (Ben or I) to listen to! I got my trusty lantern on, and ran into our pantry, coaxed the dogs in after me, strapped on my helmet, and yelled to Ben to get some more blankets. Once we're all "safe" in our pantry, *poof* the lights come back on, and we receive a phonecall from his brother to let us know that we're out of danger, PHEW!
What did I learn from this? Well, for one thing, I need to fix our pantry so that we can all fit better... and 2) I think the puppies would benefit from "tornado drills." Yes, I'm serious... don't laugh! The reason I believe this to be true is because normally they get yelled at if they go into the pantry, and I think thats why they were hesitant to follow me in there. I may have to start running them in there with treats or something so that if there is ever another emergency like last night, it doesn't take us 5 minutes to get them all in there... by which time we could all be dead if there really were a tornado coming to get us!

Vulcan Terrier?

Maybe it's because Ben has been indoctrinating me in the ways of Star Trek lately, or maybe I'm just seeing things... but doesn't Luna remind you a bit of Spock? I'm referring to the picture on the lefthand side of this blog, of course. There is nothing logical about this dog, and she's only got one eyebrow (which is not slanted in the least) BUT look at her ears! Don't they scream Spock to you? Oh dear... what is happening to me? Perhaps Ben has been slipping some Romulan Ale into my kool-aid lately...