WonderCon, Easter, and Birthdays (My Spring Break)

Only a portion of the entire haul, we are missing a couple of Creeper pins, another Minecraft pickave pin, a Nyan Cat pin, a Wii U Bag, a Rainbow Dash thingy and all the stuff my nephews got.

For any of you that didn’t know, the nerd/geek community apparently really SUCKS at planning things. Otherwise WonderCon would not have been the weekend of Easter and TableTop Day would not have been the day before Easter. Luckily for me, WonderCon started on a Friday and I was able to participate and still do the mom/family stuff the rest of the weekend. If it wasn’t Easter weekend, I would have totally ditched my little ones and run to this place that was hosting TableTop Day games that was super close to my aunt’s bar & grill. I could have eaten a nice lunch and then gone and played board games. It would’ve been a great day. It still was, we did some fun family stuff and I was able get home early and bake for Sunday. O well, maybe next year…

 

Onto WonderCon…

 

A Harley Quinn, some Wreck-It-Ralphers, Guardians, and a Wolverine.

Last year, the first year it moved to Anaheim, I totally regretted not going even though it was pouring torrential rain that weekend. After we parked and walked as far as we did to get into the venue, I don’t regret it as much. Because of Easter, I wasn’t even sure I was going to go. Just so much going on, lack of money, blah, blah, blah. But I had already mentioned it to my nephews, my niece got to go Gallifrey One, my husband has been on this “its just money/life’s too short” kick, and two days before Easter I am NOT baking and am out of town for the entire day. I had a blast.

I helped Captain America zip up in the ladies room. Her back “shield” is a purse. That little Iron man was PERFECT.

The programming was a bit light because well, it wasn’t a Saturday, but we still made it to a Geek and Sundry panel. We tried to get into a Regular Show panel but apparently that was the same room they were going to preview the season premiere of Doctor Who and so was longest line EVER and we couldn’t get in. I was bummed for the kids because they really wanted to see that one. So even though there wasn’t much programming for our group, who doesn’t LOVE the convention floor? Super crowded at times but mostly fine, we navigated most of it really well. I was able to hold the kids off on buying stuff till we actually saw most things and then we went back and bought. They all bought posters (our group bought Modern Warfare III, Adventure Time, and Regular Show) and some pins. I had been bugging Angela about a poster since Gallifrey One. She didn’t get why till we got home from Gally and I pointed out her many years old High School Musical 3 poster behind her door. Since then she had been on the lookout for a new poster. I bought pins and a Walking Dead trade paperback for my sister/me. I spent the bulk of my money on bows, seriously. Ponies, Hunger Games, and Adventure Time hairbows for my girls. One vendor, who didn’t sell online, had some great deals so I just HAD to get them.

Felicia Day, John Saxon, Noel Gugliemi, my nephew and Lou Ferrigno,

There was NO Fringe love AT ALL. I was SO bummed. The lady who we bought our pins from said she might help me out with that but I haven’t contacted her yet. I mean, for a series with so many iconic images and phrases (the glyphs, Red Vines, a white tulip, the RedVerse Fringe division logo, a frickin Fedora for goodness sake!) there was nothing. And it JUST ended! Did I mention that she made zipper pulls and bracelets as well from her pins? Yeah, I also bought my Sarah a My Little Pony bracelet for her birthday and zipper pulls for Sarah and Robert as well. A Fringe bracelet and zipper pull for momma sounds just dandy.

The kids and some stormtroopers and Angela inside a Tardis tent.

The kids loved looking at the cosplay until Angela realized that she had a Hermione costume she could/should have worn. Then she was just bummed. We got some free Wii U bags for trying games, lanyards and pins from the Geek and Sundry panel, and a paper ship from Oblivion (oh yeah, the full size ship was there too) and I think that is about it for the free. Not bad for showing up, walking around, and having a good time.

The coolest WORKING tardis console EVER! I should have taken video.

Easter and Birthdays…

I would make this a whole separate post but I didn’t take any pictures of my Easter goodies. A whole post about goodies without pictures is just mean so I’ll just have to tell you what I made. For our Saturday celebration, I just made some Joy the Baker Cookbook’s Simple Vanilla Cupcakes and Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies. I love those cookies. I added some festive M&Ms and that was it, Easter cookies.

I took the rest of the cookies over for Sunday. I made the same shortbread cookies I made last year and I brought over some Apple Fritter Cake for brunch.

The week after Easter was our big party for Justin and Sarah. I remade Joy’s Simple Vanilla Cupcakes with the Best Chocolate Buttercream (what Sarah wanted) and even though Justin said he didn’t want anything, I knew exactly what to make him. And yep, he finished what was left over the next few days.

See, I told you I could do the ganache right.

Oh yeah, Geekylink? There are only days left to preregister for Equestria LA. I don’t know if I’m going. I hope since its Mother’s Day weekend my husband wouldn’t mind us maybe going to our THIRD convention this year?! I am not really a My Little Pony fan myself but my girls are huge ones. I’m just not sure we can make it that weekend (Mother’s Day weekend? Again with the bad planning?). We’ll see…

Coconut Cream Pie with Chocolate for Pi Day

Grr…this pie.  I have been working on it all week.  I tried to make a pie crust with coconut oil but it didn’t quite work out for me and the first filling I tried didn’t work out either.  I don’t know why, but I was obsessed with using a pastry crust for this pie as opposed to a crumb one which lots of cream pies have.  I just wasn’t feeling it.  Well, I should have been because after my first attempt failed as did the filling I should have known it wasn’t going to work out easily for me.  I then made a double crust recipe so I’d have one to save in the freezer and ended up having to use both because I forgot to prick the bottom of the first and then I go and over bake the second.  So right off I am going to say, just use your favorite pie crust recipe or buy one.  Don’t stress, the best part is to come.

See? I told ya, burnt. Still yummy, though.

I figured out a nice way to sweeten unsweetened coconut so that was a nice bonus.  Also, this pastry cream I have used before but haven’t had the opportunity to share the recipe so that is a plus.  I do think a good chocolate cream would be nice in this pie too.  I made a variation of the coconut dip that I made for my son’s birthday party for the whipped cream topping.  Top with more chocolate and toasted coconut flakes and you have an amazing coconut cream pie with chocolate throughout (Did I forget to mention the ganache on the bottom?).  Burnt crust or not, this pie is the best thing I have made in AGES!

My GeekyLink for today is the tie in book from Fringe, September’s Notebook!  It comes out next week, I can’t wait!  Also, you may not hear from me till next Sundays With Joy because I have some TARDIS pillows to make (housewarming gifts, one for a couple already moved and one moving soon) and I have to sew new curtains for my daughter.  It turns out when I did it before (like 4 years ago) I did it upside down and there were peace signs in the fabric to prove it.  So I bought her what looks like a night sky so I can sew it upside down all I want.  I’ll show you when I’m done with both.

Sundays with Joy/Brown Butter Peanut Butter Crispy Rice Treats

I’ve just been trying to get back into the swing of things. After the long weekend last week, then my two Gally posts, then my igamemom post, then I made these crispy rice treats, and then it was Oscar Sunday and I had my party. It was a big turnout this year. Instead of just my friend and I we became five this year.  Exciting!  It was also the first time I asked my oldest to watch the babies upstairs with monetary compensation.  She did alright.  Next time I will stipulate that she must also help me get ready for the party if she wants to see any cash.  But the main goal was to keep the babies’ (please realize they are 4 and 5, but my babies) visits downstairs to a handful a piece and that goal was met.

Butter browning, then with added peanut butter and marshmallows.

No cash actually exchanged hands, mind you.  I promised a $10 transfer to her bank account and $10 cash but she had been bugging me about going to the comic book store for a few weeks so yesterday I ended up buying her $12 of books and we finally got put on a “pull list” for her comics.  We actually had a really great time just looking around and seeing all the stuff that was available and what she was into.  All this was after having a breakfast date with the husband while my son was in preschool.  We ate and I thought we were going to go home and I was going to write this post but then we went to the mall and did some shopping. And I’m sorry but I must admit it, I am really glad this post is even later than I was anticipating because we had a really nice time.  The girls got out of school early and then my oldest and I went on our comic book excursion.  The girls had dance after that and while we were gone my husband got the names for our daughter’s spring soccer team.  To me, it is so adorable when my husband has to talk to parents and stuff since he is normally really shy with new people.  It was also just nice to see him so excited for a change.  The only thing that could have made yesterday better was capping off dinner with one of these.  Sadly, we finished them off almost a week ago now.  Time to buy some more cereal…!

Sadly, I don’t think I will be having an Oscar post this year.  I asked one of my guests to bring the appetizers and I just made a simple roast.  I made a lovely cake but it was only 85% of what I wanted.  I know what I want to do to fix it but I need a break from chocolate cake.  That one was like the third in about a month.  I’ll leave a sneak peak at the bottom of the post.  However, if you’d like the recipe for these treats all you need to do is buy Joy’s Cookbook.  Also, don’t forget to check out Bakeaholic Mama for variations.  I’ll just say someone dipped them in chocolate…

For my GeekyLink this week, well, its me!  Here is my first post for igamemom!  I am so excited that I started this and yes, the particular app I reviewed Game For Two, is totally addictive (Tiles, I can’t quit you, and medium is even BETTER than easy!).  It looks like I’ll only be posting every other week, at least till after soccer season and the girls’ dance recital (dang you real life!) but please check it out!  Also the best video I have seen recapping Gallifrey One 2013.  Thank the kid for finding this one.  And yep, I realize I still owe her $8.

Look! Proof I can make a pretty ganache. Unlike my last attempt.

Valentine’s Cake (Chocolate Cake with Whipped Cream, Strawberries, and Chocolate Ganache)

O yeah, I am just putting it out there.  Make this cake for your Valentine.  Today or any day of the year.  They will thank you.  My husband’s second piece yesterday was all the thanks I needed.

Chocolate cake.  You saw a wonderful chocolate cake up on this blog yesterday.  Here is a completely different one but with some of the same components and it makes for a completely different cake.  There are a couple of things that, no matter what the recipe, must be in my chocolate cake.

1. Buttermilk (I discovered this little gem in my Cake Doctor days)

2. Coffee or espresso powder (just DO it)

This particular recipe had both and it also had cake flour!  It just kept getting better and better…

First layer of strawberry filling…

So, I broke down and made it for my aunt’s birthday a few weeks ago and paired it with Joy’s Best Chocolate Buttercream Frosting.  My aunt was in heaven!  And I was impressed that with how light and perfect this cake was, it held up to travel, a sturdy frosting, and a baker who forgot to use wax paper in her cake pans when she was greasing. (OK, it did kinda fall apart upon cutting because of that last part but it made it there and tasted wonderful.)

I knew I would be making this cake again.  But in what capacity?  Hmm…

The only other cake that I ever dreamt about and just had to get up the next day and make it was this one.  So I took my inspiration from there.  I switched the chocolate whipped cream for vanilla.  Since I was going to use less strawberries on the cake I made sure to cram a few extra into the filling.  The chocolate ganache is just a bonus.

My GeekyLink today is iGameMom.  She writes reviews and recommendations for educational children’s apps.  I love this site and have been following it for a long time and have found many an app through her.  My 9 year old even won a science experiment kit from the site.  Well, guess what?  I am going to begin reviewing apps for her as a guest blogger!  I think this is gonna be pretty cool.

Now go make some cake!

Sundays with Joy/Red Velvet Chocolate Marble cake with Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

When it rains, it pours.  I skipped an entire week, I know.  I hadn’t done it in awhile and I am sorry.  However, coming up, you are going to wish I would just shut it.

Today I have Joy’s lovely Red Velvet Marble Cake, then I have something for tomorrow, and this weekend is Gallifrey One!  I am spending the night this year!  This year I have a handful of twitter friends I am aching to meet.  This year I have an iPad and a hotel room with free wifi.  Now, I am not promising anything but I just may post during the weekend.  At least it is possible.  Whether or not I post this weekend, I am going to post next week with a big recap and lots of pictures!  Then, the next Sundays with Joy is really simple so I will actually post on time.  I have been working on some breads lately and by the time all that stuff is over and up I should be back on track with a recipe for one of those.

Another issue with my not posting is still figuring out that darn camera.  It is a good camera.  I should be using it.  I HATE IT.  I hate editing the photos I take with it.  Most of them end up in the trash anyway.  I need to start using it for stuff other than blog posts, maybe that will help.  I don’t know…  I think that having a few baking fails also put a damper on my blog content and its just made worse when you are in a photography rut.  I need to be posting.  I want to be posting!

Anyways, onto the cake.  Well, the marbling didn’t really work out for me.  I did swirl but I guess not enough.  To make matters worse, leveling my cake pretty cut in half the amount of chocolate cake I got.  O well.  As for the frosting, looking at the pictures I am sure you can tell that I didn’t sift my cocoa powder.  Rookie mistake, Celina.  I wasn’t the biggest fan of this cake only because I wasn’t in the mood for a lovely moist one.  I had been dreaming of this airy one that I made a few weeks before and was preoccupied thinking about what I could do with it. (Find out tomorrow!) So my head wasn’t clear.  I had just fallen in love with another chocolate cake so Joy’s didn’t stand a chance at being anything else but a rebound.  Also, I am not the biggest fan of cream cheese frosting either (especially with Joy’s Best Ever Chocolate Buttercream on the other page!) but it was on the schedule and I hadn’t made a chocolate one before so I wanted to do it.  I think the red velvet part turned out very well especially considering I hadn’t made one of those either.  Joy matched the texture of the different kinds of cakes perfectly.  As always you can find the recipes in Joy the Baker Cookbook: 100 Simple and Comforting Recipes and please check out Bakeaholic Mama for the other variations.  I heard there were a couple of mini cakes!

My GeekyLink for this week is more like a warning…If you are not a Whovian you might want to avoid the site, my Facebook page, or my twitter feed for awhile.  Wait till after tomorrow of course but the week after that it is going to be all Who all the time.  So now can I whine that Sir Derek Jacobi and Arthur Darvill aren’t going anymore?  However, for some reason (because he has never been on the show) John Noble, yes, Dr. Walter Bishop from Fringe is going to be there?!  I don’t care why but I am THRILLED!

Sundays with Joy/Dark Chocolate Ganache Tart with Fresh Berries and Sweetened Cream

Oh my goodness…THIS TART!

As soon as I finished my first slice, I began my second but then had to wise up.  I gave my son his slice and I boxed up the rest to give away that day.  I was going out so I could make a few stops.  I COULD NOT keep this tart in my house or I would eat it all.

The journey to this wonderful tart was not easy.  As you folks can tell, I am usually one of the later posters in our group so if someone has an issue with a recipe, I can benefit from discussion on our group page.  I learned the tart shell needed more moisture.  How was I going to do that?  I didn’t want to use a whole egg because I learned that might change the structure of the shell.  I opted for less flour (1/4 cup less) and a tablespoon of cream (milk would have worked better but cream is ALL OVER this recipe so…).  I probably could have used a smidge more but I am very happy with the results.  Especially since this was my first ever tart!  I wasn’t even sure how to use the tart pan with the removable bottom but I guess I did it right.  That was partly why I didn’t go back and add more moisture after I started pressing the dough in because you have to grease and flour your pan and I didn’t want to have to do that all over again so I just made the best of it.  I could pick up a slice and eat it out of my hand so I would say the shell turned out nicely.  Some slices did crack but I could tell you exactly where in the tart pan those slices were.  I just couldn’t get them the moisture they needed.  Next time!

Silky soupy then silky spreadable…

Another issue some Sundays with Joy-ers had was with the ganache.  They said it was too loose.  Joy says to make the ganache as soon as you put your tart shell into the freezer (for an hour before baking).  The thing is (and I do this all the time), lots of recipes say to do one thing right as you’ve finished another but most of us don’t, at least I know I don’t.  We get to the next step when we can.  But I noticed, in the recipe, that after you made the ganache you had to leave it at room temperature till the tart shell was done in the freezer, baked in the oven, and cooled.  I realized the time it took to accomplish that was about 2 hours.  I thought that was a long time and that there might be a reason. There was a GOOD reason!  The ganache went from a silky soupy consistency to a silky spreadable consistency that was just lovely.  At that point though, it was too late in the day to eat it or take pictures and Joy says the tart is best the day its made so I covered the ganache and waited till the next day to put everything together.  The ganache hardened up a bit more overnight but I warmed it in my oven that I preheated for a minute or two and let it get nice and lovely again.

See that slipper in the corner? Someone could hardly wait for Momma to be done with her pictures…

I wasn’t sure how I’d like this tart.  I do like dark chocolate and I like it more as I’ve gotten older but I’m still a sucker for milk chocolate and am always worried that the dark chocolate will be too dark (I used 72%).  That was not the case with this tart.  It was like eating just the best thing ever!  I didn’t have to pause because it was too rich, thanks to the berries and cream.  It balanced it out perfectly.  Also, the shell has spices in it that make it smell like the best pie baking ever but the ONLY thing in your oven is this tart shell.  I am going to have to add these spices into some pie crusts soon.  It all worked so perfectly together I can’t take it!  It is most definitely my new favorite recipe from Joy’s cookbook.  I keep thinking My Top 5 recipes can’t change but they keep on rearranging.  It is kind of exciting!

I used blueberries and strawberries as opposed to blackberries and raspberries just because the other two were on sale.  Raspberries wold have been nice though.  I really like this dessert too because my entire family is a sucker for chocolate and a couple of them really like dark chocolate (some don’t like whipped cream but we won’t talk about that).  This would go over very well at one of our family gatherings! Don’t forget to check out Bakeaholic Mama’s site to check out other adaptations.

For GeekyLinks this week, I have a few things to share.  First off, the guys at Bald Move have a new TV Podcast which would be no biggie except they stopped recording their exclusive Justified podcast (which was like a dagger to my heart!).  But they still cover it in their new TV Podcast along with Downton Abbey (I LOVE listening to two guys talking about this stuff, even if they don’t get Bates and Anna) and Girls (another one where it is nice to get a male perspective).  It is important to me because Justified is one of those rare shows that Justin and I enjoy together.  Also, this is what I am doing now because of him.  And I am watching this because it was my favorite show when it was on and I had been eyeing it at Costco since before Christmas, it disappeared for awhile, then it came back (but who has money after Christmas?), but it was still there and I got it last Friday!  Only finished the pilot so far because who has time?!

Sundays with Joy/Mommom’s Chocolate Bourbon Spiked Banana Bread

See, only a couple of days late. Okay, a week and a couple of days.

This bread was quite lovely. I had a few members of my family obsessed with it. Once I knew I wouldn’t get around to photographing it till things around here calmed down, I had to put it away for fear I wouldn’t have any left to take pictures of. The bourbon is spectacular in this, bringing out the flavor of not only the chocolate chips but the banana as well. As always please buy Joy’s mouth watering cookbook for the recipe!

The recipe called for walnuts but I used pecans because that was all I had.

I want to talk about the year to come. In so far as posts go, with the holidays being over as well as my son’s birthday party I should be getting back to a regular schedule starting with this coming Sundays with Joy. I may even sneak a post in before then. Speaking of Sundays with Joy, we decided to stay on our current schedule of posting every other week that we began during the holidays. I have vowed to stop being afraid of some of my own ideas and instead of just letting them pile up to just try and go for it. So I don’t see any problem with me being able to keep a two post a week schedule (unless I become the queen of baking fails). I know others post LOTS more but I just gotta do what I can do. Also, coming up soon this year will be another post on Gallifrey One! My daughter, niece, and I are going for two days this year as opposed to only the six hours I got to spend there last year. I am so excited! I am going to take lots of pictures and meet tons more people that also love the Doctor.

Speaking of the Doctor, let’s move on to some GeekyLinks. Here are Top 10 Theories About the New Doctor Who Companion and although I don’t agree wholly with any of them I thought two or three were on the right track. What I found more interesting, though, were some ideas thrown around in Episode 105 of the Traveling the Vortex podcast where one of the guys had a theory that through no fault of her own that Oswin may have dubious origins and I couldn’t agree more. We shall see…but unfortunately not until April. Oh, and yes, I do recommend that podcast. I was listening to another Doctor Who podcast but it just wasn’t for me. This one is WAY more up my ally. There is more structure, I am a sucker for fan feedback, and I always appreciate when the hosts let a bit of their lives spill over. I really enjoy it. I need to catch up on episodes I missed!

Late to the New Year’s Party (Top 5 Recipes of 2012)

In between the Christmas aftermath and my son’s birthday four days later and New Year’s Eve two days after that, you can imagine the last week being VERY busy.  We were going to do a smallish Chuck E Cheese thing for my son with cake at the house after and then that turned into not doing anything and then that evolved to a big party at our home.  Whatever.  I have three kids worth of Christmas presents to put away and a house to finish organizing today.  Luckily I have stayed away from my computer and I do have most of the stuff done but today is the last day and I am organizing the garage and making the comprehensive grocery store list for food prep and cupcake making tomorrow.

While I may not have been writing anything I have certainly been reading a few blogs here and there.  I am late with my Sundays with Joy for last week.  I have baked Mommom’s Chocolate Bourbon Spiked Banana Bread and it is FANTASTIC!  I can’t get my son to stop eating it.  I just haven’t had the time to take pictures or the time I have is after the son has gone down.  This Sunday is our last week off for our holiday schedule and I shouldn’t have much of a problem getting it to you by then.  I also missed posting on New Year’s when everyone posts their tops for the year.  That was something I really wanted to do.

I do have a disclaimer though.  These are the top posts FROM 2012.  My top post for the year was actually from 2011, back when my pictures were yucky.  Let’s keep it interesting and go backwards shall we…?

5. Cream Cheese Wontons

Now I am not a fan of remaking things that I have made for my previous Oscar “parties” but this one was SUCH a hit with my friends, I may not have a choice.  Also, if you are a fan of Pick Up Stix Cream Cheese Wontons I have cracked the code people!  I have cracked the code!!!

4. Nutella Banana Cream Pie

Do I really have to go into it?

3. Apple Cinnamon Cream Cheese Wontons

This was my attempt at making a sweet version of the Cream Cheese Wontons, and it worked so well it beat out the savory one in views.  Don’t forget the caramel dipping sauce!  Is it bad that next time I make them, I want to fry them?

2. Chocolate Cake with Strawberries and Chocolate Whipped Cream Frosting

This came with just wanting to make a cake one day.  The family called for a short notice get together so I changed the whipped cream to chocolate whipped cream and I couldn’t have been happier.  I would LOVE to make this again just to get prettier pictures of it…and then EAT ALL THE CAKE!

1. Tea, Earl Grey, Cupcakes with Lemon Scented Whipped Cream

Proving that the Wheatons win at everything, my #1 post for this year is something I made for Anne Wheaton and other humans that like to order their tea with the line “Tea, Earl Grey, hot” made famous by my FAVORITE (deal with it, Justin!) Captain Picard during the show run of Star Trek: TNG.  Along with the batter from Joy’s Avocado Pound Cake this batter (although I know I shouldn’t encourage it) wins the award for most likely to disappear before baking.

For my GeekyLinks today, we will keep with the Wheaton theme.  This was tweeted by Ryan Wheaton the other day and I thought it was pretty cool, a Back to the Future/Doctor Who mash-up.  The next is about how Wil Wheaton’s Web show brings people together, TableTop, his You Tube show on the Geek and Sundry channel.  I rewatched the Ticket to Ride episode with my 9 year old the other day (yay for You Tube on the Wii!) and when THAT PART happens (if you’ve seen it, you know what I mean) the kid was in stitches!  Plus it was a game she loves on my iPod touch and that we play together when we can.  I still have yet to buy it in non digital form.

Sundays with Joy/The Perfect Cup of Hot Chocolate

It was a sad, angry, and confusing last week.

The natural urge to spend time with my kids had just multiplied tenfold.  So on Saturday, after taking my daughter to her Christmas recital and party (while I got to sneak in some quality time with her brother and sister) it was time for me to put my money where my mouth was and spend some quality time with all my kids, doing something I promised them that we would do this season.  I promised we would take the wagon and walk to the big Christmas light displays in our neighborhood.  We had the BEST time.  Ok, fine walking there and walking through everything was magical, truly.  The walk back was all tired and cranky kids.  My nine year old wanted to skate there so her ankles were killing her and my youngest was bugging his sister in the wagon and kept standing up in it too.  What was nice was not worrying about driving somewhere and having to park your car or drive through a congested neighborhood trying to take everything in.

I decided that we would take cookies and this hot chocolate.  Of course, me being me, I still procrastinated and didn’t get to making the hot chocolate till after 6pm.  I decided to sacrifice my pictures and just pack up and go.  My girls are notorious for not liking hot chocolate.  I know it is just because they have never waited for it to be at the right temperature but it is hard to convince a kid to do that after they have just burned their tongue.  What was nice was that on our walk, once I thought the hot chocolate was just right, I gave it to my oldest.  I had never seen her smile after drinking hot chocolate before then ever.  I think I have a convert!

Christmas light watching supplies…

The cookies I was just lucky enough to have on hand.  I had made Joy’s Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies on Friday for my husband and mostly to keep me occupied on that particular day.  The sugar cookies I had made on Saturday morning as part of a gift for my daughter’s “Big Sister” at dance.  Whenever we got to a section of the neighborhood with a buttload of lights, I’d stop and hand out a cookie to each kid (and me).   Luckily only two sections have lots so I went prepared with 9 (I threw in an extra chocolate chip for good measure).  The hot chocolate I kept mostly for myself with a few sips for the eldest.  Yup the hot chocolate sure was Perfect.  It gave me the opportunity to have a wonderful holiday night with my kids, the likes of which I absolutely needed and hopefully that they appreciated.  If you’d like the recipe, you’ll have to pick up the Joy the Baker Cookbook (the recipe for the Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies is in there too!).

My GeekyLink for today is NASA Johnson Style a Gangnam Style Parody.  Teaches you a bit about the Johnson Space Center and a little bit about space all in one catchy tune!  Right up my nine year olds alley.

This mug isn’t pretty but it has my name on it and it was given to me by my mom when I was younger than my oldest is now. I love it!

Thanksgiving and the Least Baking Fails Ever

The only picture of the apple pie.  Also, I can’t crimp so I don’t crimp.

This year I went a little overboard.  All in all I made eight things for Thanksgiving.  Yup, you read that right.  EIGHT.  And I would give myself a good 6 out of 8.  Not bad if I do say so myself.

Every year I make pre meal appetizers.  They are mostly sweet with a savory one slipped in for good measure.  Usually I don’t get to make the main desserts.  It is mostly because my family always has millions of people over and it is easier for the ones that don’t know what to bring to pick up a pie.  Last year I was responsible for rolls and they turned out quite wonderful.  I have made them again since but still never gotten around to blogging about them.

The bane of my existence on “baking day”.

Anyways, this year for some wonderful reason, I got to do the desserts!  I made apple pie, pumpkin pie, and cheesecake (for my Aunt’s birthday) for the big “end of the meal” desserts.  This was the first time using Joy the Baker’s recipe for apple pie and I liked it immensely.  If you make the crust the day before, it is really not that much work.  Also, macerating the apples allows you to put it aside and do other things.  It is a very friendly recipe for Thanksgiving day baking.  I usually make a Dutch apple with a pressed in crust.  I also used Joy’s crust for the pumpkin pie.  The recipe I use for the pumpkin pie I have used for a good 3 or 4 years now.  I fall in love with it more and more every year.  The same goes for the cheesecake.  This year was probably my best cheesecake in awhile.  I need to branch out more, though, with cheesecake flavors but my Aunt likes a big plain cheesecake.  She will go for the berry topping that goes with it, though.

The recipe I use makes about one and 2/3 of a pumpkin pie so I always have one for me! Also, the only semblance of a picture of the cheesecake is the pan on the upper left that at that point only has the crust in it.

With all that fruit and cheese, something was missing.  I could see my sister in the corner whining about not liking anything.  Chocolate was in order.  Now, while I would love to find the best chocolate cream pie recipe out there, time was of the essence as was ability.  I have tried it before and failed (multiple times) so I thought I would go simpler.  Nutella brownies and cheesecake brownie bites to the rescue!  The Nutella brownies were OK but I think I over baked them.  I made them mini sized and there was advice in the comments on the time to bake if making minis but I still think it was a bit too long.  They looked beautiful though, especially with the chopped hazelnuts on top.  The cheesecake brownie bites, however, came out better than anticipated and I made minis and about half a dozen cupcake sized brownies (which I put on the main dessert table) and all came out beautifully.

Just before going in the oven. Sadly no pictures of the finished ones and no pictures of the chocolate cheesecake brownies.

Onto the bread!  First off, two days before Thanksgiving I made my crusts and another batch of Vegan Pumpkin Pecan Bread.  That turned out to be a great decision because I now have a whole extra loaf in my freezer!  My aunt couldn’t believe it was vegan.  I also made a variation of my Ham and Cheese Pull Apart Party Bread.  I basically cut them like you would a cinnamon roll and baked it in two 8 inch cake pans.  Simple, easy, and yummy.  My biggest baking fail came from my sourdough.  First off, I just gotta say, this year’s starter is a VERY happy starter.  Happy starters make me happy, SERIOUSLY.  When I start mixing ingredients into the sponge and it is still bubbling at me saying hi with every turn of the spatula, I am one happy baker.  Anyways, it was late.  The sourdough was the last thing I made and it wasn’t going to be served on Thanksgiving but rather given to family that wanted some.  I may have shut off the alarm on my phone instead of snoozing it.  Also, the last thing my husband said to me was to make sure the oven was off (and it WAS, when he left and then I turned it back on).  So the sourdough was baked a good 30 minutes or so longer than it should have been.  There were no alarms or smoke, nothing happened (luckily) except I over baked it.  I still gave them away but I don’t know if anybody ate them.  I wouldn’t blame them if they didn’t.  It still would’ve made great toast.

Pull Apart Party Bread

Today I don’t really have a GeekyLink just a little story.  Today I went to our local comic book store to look for something specific for a Christmas gift*.  I wrote down all the information I needed so I could get what I wanted or get it ordered if they didn’t have it.  My husband wanted to come with me.  He took our son so I could talk to the sales guy.  I asked the guy questions.  I answered some questions.  I didn’t get what I wanted because it turns out it is exclusive to Midtown Comics and I’d have to order it from them.  When we left, my husband asked me ” So you know all the lingo?”  but what I heard was, “How much of a nerd ARE you?”

*I can’t say what it is before Christmas, duh!