Sundays with Joy/Mini Chamomile Cakes with Honey Frosting

These cupcakes were, as most things Joy makes are, quite lovely. Just the cutest, prettiest cakes packed with flavor and yet so dainty. I took care of that whole dainty thing with the way I ate them. They had to be unwrapped at least halfway and bitten into such that I got a mouthful of cake and icing. That method ensured that the cupcake was gone in about three bites and virtually inhaled, VERY daintily of course.

I took so long to get these to you because I ended up making them twice. I baked this weekend for a family party on Sunday. I made these right after I baked for the party on Saturday. Then when I came back to these on Monday to frost them, they just kinda looked sad. I hadn’t covered them or anything so it was just as well. So I remade them fully knowing it was gonna take me awhile longer to get them to you, but who wants to see sad cupcakes?

I was a big fan of this frosting in particular. You can taste the honey but it was not too much. Also, when I remade these I used two tablespoons less sugar in the cake batter. It just seemed the right adjustment after seeing how the first batch came out. Another thing about this post is that it finally features more pics with my husband’s camera (that I’ve been trying to learn) as opposed to my iPhone (that I’ve had to resort to). I was really pleased with them. They’re not perfect yet but at least it’s a start. Don’t forget, if you’re interested in the recipe buy Joy’s cookbook and check out the rest of our group’s efforts over at Bakeaholic Mama. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, our little group is one year old this week!

So many GeekyLinks lately that I had to pick and choose. The first mixes Doctor Who and musicals, “Doctor Who” Star Arthur Darvil Will Make Music in Broadway’s Once. I am a super huge fan of that movie. Its such a romantic story, and with one of my TV crushes in it?! However, it’s on the wrong coast for me. I hope I can somehow get a glimpse or two of him in the show. OK, wanna know what happens when you wring out a wet cloth in space? I had a good guess, I thought, but I was totally wrong and it is totally cool.

Sundays with Joy/Carrot Cake Pancakes

I made these last week and boy were they a treat.  It was a regular Thursday but I got to have these really awesome pancakes in the middle of the week for no reason (well, you know for the blog but my belly didn’t know that).  I just cannot tell you how much I enjoyed these.  They were so sweet and the cream cheese glaze just went perfectly.  I just halved the cream cheese and doubled the milk (I do think it was too much liquid).  It tasted great, looks like a foam, but holds up well and stays pourable for awhile yet stays put without crusting up like a standard glaze can.  I just felt a little less guilt about eating the frosting if it was pourable as opposed to spreading.  I still used the same amount of sugar!  I also used white whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose in this recipe.

Overall, I would say the kids liked them.  My oldest, no question, LOVED them.  Can you believe I actually got the super picky one, the one that looks in her food to look for things she doesn’t like, to eat half of one after putting some syrup on it?  She did end up noticing the carrots but for her to eat that much of it before becoming suspicious is a really big deal around here.  My little one ate his fair share.  Let’s just say the plate in the picture wasn’t the end of my consumption of carrot cake pancakes that day either.

Also, with these and her Oatmeal Cookie Pancakes (also in the cookbook), I am becoming a BIG fan of raisins in my pancakes.  Who knew?  Check out Bakeaholic Mama for other variations.  Carrie has a cream cheese “syrup” that looks nothing like foam if you wanna check it out and someone else has made a chocolate glaze.  It’s the season for carrot cake and if you just want a taste without making a whole cake, I highly recommend giving these a try.

My GeekyLink for this week is well, Doctor Who, of course.  The Doctor comes back on Saturday so not only am I preparing for Easter, I am preparing for the day before as well.  I need to get all my Easter stuff prepped before the episode starts.  I usually watch as I DVR so that if the little ones interrupt an episode, I am covered.  Then I’ll watch again once they are asleep.  Then there is Gallifrey 2014 that sold out in less than a month.  I am so glad I was on the ball with that one!

Gallifrey One 2013, Day 2

Saturday started out great!  Despite going to sleep around 2 am, I was chipper and up not too long after 7.  Breakfast at our hotel was much better than expected and we packed up, checked out and were back at the Marriott well before 9:30 which was when I was hoping we’d make it.  Neowhovian and her #Tardispod pals were having their meet up then and I wanted to check out all the cosplay.  Once inside though, I made a strategic move to get in line for a Freema Agyeman autograph.  I figured I’d wait now, before any programming started instead of waiting during a panel I might have wanted to go see.  The girls went on to the meetup and met all these great people!

My niece is a HUGE fan of cosplay.  It meant so much to her to be included.  Photos courtesy of Angela.

While I was waiting I got to talking to some great people I was sitting with.  Everything was super pleasant and lazy because again, programming wasn’t to start for a half hour or so and then I almost had a heart attack.  My eyes settled on John Noble!  Anyone that reads this blog knows what a Fringie I am.  I knew he was going to be there but catching him out amongst everyone was unexpected and I got all fangirly.  And you know what I do when I get fangirly?  I take my stalker pictures.

Freema, John, Dalek, and Dan Starkey…you have been stalked!

Once the line started moving I had the girls meet up with me in line so they could meet Freema.  They got there right in the nick of time.  I didn’t even get the autograph for me, but we got to meet Freema for it and that’ll be worth giving away the autograph.  I got it for a friend who is a big Tenth Doctor fan and I made sure the picture had him in it.  I told Freema this then she smiled and sighed, “David, David, David.”  It was SO cute.  She told us we looked great and then we were on our way.  I wanted to take both girls to the panel I had waited all weekend for, Trial of a Time Lord.  Not only did it sound like a great panel (discussing how each of the actors that have played the doctor have informed the character, that whole evolution through each, and how fans react to that) but it was the only panel that had two Traveling the Vortex guys on it.  We get in there and it is standing room only so we find a spot against the wall.  My daughter sits at my feet and huffs (she doesn’t “get” the panels yet).  I am listening for a minute or two when I notice her rifling through her purse.  I look down and she mouths the words “I can’t find my iPod touch.”  At that moment I am SO upset.  Not so much about her device, I mean, I didn’t buy it for her and it sucks for her but you’re telling me I HAVE TO LEAVE THIS PANEL?  Of course I did, I’m the mom first, nerd second.  I tried my best to calm her too because I didn’t want it to ruin the day.

The next few hours were spent intermittantly doing stuff we wanted and 10 minutes of every hour checking and rechecking the lost and founds and checking and rechecking Find my iPod.  I knew it would have to be picked up and brought upstairs before it could get a good enough signal to be found that way so we were hoping someone would just turn it in before we had to leave that afternoon.  I was confident we’d get it back (and we did), I just didn’t want to have to drive back to LA to do it (we had to).

The next thing I remember was making it to Room D for most of the Tooth and Claw panel.  Which was about how to make your mark on the Doctor Who fandom doing whatever it is you do (blogging, podcasting, sewing, writing) and how to go about it.  After another iPod delay, I convinced Angela to join me for the Invasion of the Dinosaurs panel.  A panel, like last year’s that I loved so much, devoted to the mixing and matching of old fans versus new fans.  This time I remembered to bring a pen and paper and wrote down some episode names.  I only wish they’d addressed another reason some new Who fans don’t get into the older stuff.  It is just the  overwhelming Doctor Who content that is out there.  There is not only decades worth of Doctor Who episodes but the audio content is a big deal too.  I guess just baby steps…?

I went upstairs to give blood for one more chance at a membership for next year, and well to give blood.  The girls went to a comic book panel and a NASA panel.  Angela was upset though because she couldn’t see the screen in that room.  Then we met up for our picture with Freema.  John Noble had to cancel pictures but I already had my autograph and money back at the end of the day was a nice proposition.  The girls were getting tired and cranky so they opted for the video room and I went to A Good Man Goes to War, with Vortex Shaun.  It was basically an in depth look at Stephen Moffat’s handling of the show thus far.  I went up and introduced myself quickly to Shaun but had to run because Freema was speaking next in the big room and I wanted us all to go.  Again, standing room only with the girls sitting on the floor.  It was a lovely interview.  I was glad we stayed for the whole thing.  It was time to go after that and it was just as well, the girls and I were exhausted and hungry.  Although, I know we all thought of the night before and how much fun we had and how we’d be missing it that night.  That was definitely our favorite part.

Extras

Our haul.

I was supposed to meet my most Awesome twitter friend at Gally, but she moved to Pennsylvania the week before.  Her (wonderful, awesome, lovely!) mom gave me these cupcake Tardis earrings for Christmas that I wore all weekend.

I love the panels and all the Who talk and all the stuff and all the podcasters and bloggers and celebrities but the BEST thing about Gallifrey One is THE PEOPLE!

The last day of Gally I didn’t attend but on that day discovered that my cousin is a big Doctor Who fan and might come with us next year!  Also, I got to hold my baby cousin for the about the second time in almost six months because I had been sick every other time.  That made missing the last day totally worth it.

Favorite ribbon that I got, “I’m the clever one.  You’re the potato one.”  Said in Matt Smith’s voice in my head every time.  And it’s Angela that ends up with the most!

Next year, I will tell everyone whose cosplay I like, “I like your cosplay.”  It should be said out loud if felt and is a great way to meet people.

Check the end tables all around the con.  I got a business card for Traveling the Vortex, information about a Harry Potter skate meet up, apparently there is a large science fiction museum at UCR that I need to check out, a paper print out so you could cut and fold and make your own 3-D paper tardis, and some info on an upcoming anime con for my niece.  LOTS of cool stuff!

I was appalled at the lack of Doctor Whooves stuff.  C’mon people!  Those worlds are collided in the best way, let’s move forward with it!

Who do I see when I pull up to pick up the iPod the day after Gally ended?

Who indeed.

Gallifrey One 2013, Day 1

Geez, I don’t know where to start.  This is probably the fourth or fifth time that I have started this post and now, as all of the kids are out of the house for a few hours, I have to get it done.  There is just so much stuff !  So how about we start off with this…

Right before we left and the coolest first thing we saw when we got there. O yeah, at Gally, cool begins in the parking lot.

Traffic was a bit lighter on the way this year but jeez, for someplace so close it sure takes awhile to get there.  We wandered around for a bit when we got there and showed my niece around for a bit.  She had been to the LAX Marriott before for another con but I wanted to show her where everything was set up at Gally.  Let’s just say even I was turned around a bit by Program E.  I thought it was in the room that the costume repair was set up in, so my niece (a cosplay fanatic) missed the panels I marked off for her that day.  Luckily, she found the room the next day and was very excited about what she got to hear.  I,on the other hand, went to my first panel of the con and left VERY upset.

Our best pictures of the day!

It was called Partners in Crime (and don’t even get me started on the panel names, they were clever but very confusing) and it was going to be all about the Ponds.  One of the panelists, dressed up like Captain Jack Harkness (she made a very good one), basically didn’t buy the whole Rory/Amy relationship.  We all know Rory is too good for Amy, duh.  Does that mean Amy doesn’t love him?  I don’t think so.  Luckily, there was someone on my side, Stephen Prescott, host of A Mad Man with a Box podcast.  I spoke to him later to tell him thank you and I got a ribbon!  He appreciated the sentiment as well.  My main issue was their issue with how things wrapped up with them.  Okay, I’ll give you that the pregnancy thing was a plot device designed to show what she would give up for him, even if we didn’t buy it.  However, it’s not like she only loved him in the last season.  What no one brought up was one of the early episodes where she clearly chose Rory, “Amy’s Choice”.   Sure she treated him bad most of the time but as Mr. Prescott pointed out, and many of us know, there are plenty of relationships like that.  Also, the infertility plot device, although it could have been used better, was not totally off the mark.  It is just that most people are lucky enough not to experience it.  It took us four years to get pregnant.  There are things you don’t talk about.  Things that are settled.  Things as a couple you decide.  No one understands that except the couple going through it.  Could that plot point have been executed better?  Duh.  But was it totally unrealistic?  Not necessarily.

Cool stuff…

My displeasure with the Partners in Crime panel continued with the next panel that the three of us went to together.  It was Who Crack Video Track III, video clips compiled by the Five and Dime Fangirls.  It was great, just sitting there watching all these wonderful clips.  The girls really enjoyed it.  There was lots of laughing and clapping all around.  One clip in particular struck me, when Amy first sees Rory after emerging from the Pandorica.  She jumps on the man.  She LOVES him!  Grrr….  Anyways, they had lots of great stuff.  A few I had seen and a very nice Martha Jones compilation.  They named her their Gal of the Year and we got a ribbon that says so.

We didn’t have anything set for awhile so we went to the car and had lunch that I had brought.  We did some shopping.  We also did a bit of Wibbly Wobbly Words, the Gallifrey 2013 Challenge for this year.  It was a bit harder than last year’s challenge but we ended up only needed help with two.  That is where my Twitter friends came in.  I met SO many.  I did miss a couple but there is always next year.  I really liked them too.  Sometimes it could get awkward but mostly it was awesome and fun.  The girls even had a favorite of mine.  They even made friends of their own too.  They met someone so cool she invited them the next day to sit down and watch that morning’s season ending My Little Pony:Friendship is Magic episode (which ultimately was a BIG disappointment to my girls).

Next up for me was Between the Cracks 2013, a Star Trek panel.  Yup, cause I’m a Trekkie too.  Larry Nemecek, had just the best pictures and stories.  It was fun and fascinating all at the same time.  What more could you want?

Only two stalker pics that day. Mark Sheppard (sigh) and Chloe Dykstra, as Clara, (who I can only assume was working for the Nerdist Channel that day with camera crews all around).

After that we went to our hotel which was about two blocks away.  I am NOT doing that again next year.  Although, I really liked my hotel, it was too far to walk (at least at night) and I don’t even want to think about how much money I wasted on parking (OK, around $30 in two days!).  Next time, I am either staying at the Marriott or at one of the hotels directly adjacent to it.  There are three, I wrote their names down and I will be prepared for next year.  We chilled out a bit, charged our devices, my niece got changed, we picked up Taco Bell, and went back for the evenings festivities.  This was kind of what I was waiting for since last year we were on our way home at that time.

First we went to Charlie Ross’ show Geek Like Me.  It was your standard comedy show with some Doctor Who thrown in.  At one point, towards the end, Charlie Ross sings Rocky Horror’s Science Fiction/Double Feature as a Doctor Who song and the best thing in the world happens…the Sonic Screwdrivers come out!  Red, green, blue…my daughter was horrified that she had left hers from last year at home.

Sonics out in full force!

After that was an improv show that my niece stayed to watch and LOVED and Angela and I went to Carnival of Monsters and karaoke.  Carnival of Monsters was super fun.  You’d play for tickets and if you had so many tickets you could enter them into a raffle for prizes.  One big prize being a membership for next year.  It took awhile to compile that much but even though Angela had a tough time at the rest of the games, she rocked at the Feed the Beast Below game.  I tried to get a seat at a poker table but only found one at a blackjack table.  It was nice just sitting and talking and hanging out with people.  The girls mostly stayed in the karaoke room.  They really loved it.  Once the raffle was over and we didn’t win anything, we left and went back to the hotel.  Angela didn’t even change out of her clothes before she passed out.

The next day would be a rollercoaster of emotions…

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!

Sundays with Joy/Sweet Potato Chocolate Chip Cookie

I know, I know…late again but this time, besides life, I was swept away by sci-fi and you’re all going to her about it…

Friday was the season premiere of the last season of my beloved Fringe.  The show itself is changing, because of a shortened season, from a procedural with a background mythology (a la The X-Files) to a serialized show that will hopefully wrap up the mythology portion of the story.  I thought the premiere was awesome and I am so excited for the rest of this final season.  It is worth checking out the show purely for this underrated cast’s stellar acting (I’m looking at you John Noble and Anna Torv)!  Many of them have played a few different “versions” of their original characters, with the BEST results!

Saturday, my daughter and I had to deal with an ending on another of our favorite shows.  After soccer and a family party, we came home and caught up on the last episode of the “Ponds” aka Amy and Rory Williams on Doctor Who.  While I love the Ponds, I would agree that it was time for them to move on.  I did have one criteria for their exit, though, and it was met by the show so I was not disappointed.  For me, the most devastating exit was Donna’s.  I just couldn’t have anything like that again.  However, I wouldn’t really have cared if Rory or Amy had to forget the Doctor.  SPOILER ALERT:  In truth, I didn’t really care how they left the Doctor, I just wanted them to be able to leave him together, even if they had died.  So they kind of gave us a few endings (time paradoxes and all) but the final one, the fixed point, was one I could deal with.

That brings me to Sunday when I just HAD to watch them both again (and cry at both again) and I didn’t start making my cookies until the late afternoon.  We just had leftovers that day so these pretty much ended up being my dinner.  My girls had gone to bed before they were done but my son had three (he snuck one, or at least he thought he did) before he went to bed.

I really loved how they turned out.  There was not too much spice to overwhelm them, just enough to make you think you were eating an ordinary soft cake like chocolate chip cookie instead of a bit healthier sweet potato one.  It is kind of amazing.  I did use all white whole wheat flour instead of half and half like Joy suggests and they came out fine.  I also used mini chips because that was all that I had.  As always you can find the recipe in the Joy the Baker Cookbook.  Also, please check out some of our group’s adaptations on Bakeaholic Mama.

Sundays with Joy/Cheddar, Chive, and Jalapeño Biscuits

This was one of those recipes that I bookmarked inside Vroman’s bookstore waiting for Joy to speak.  It was one of two that jumped out at me because they were perfect for my husband.  The other was Baked Chili Cheese Fries, which we get to do in two weeks!

These biscuits…I mean, I don’t eat “hot stuff”.  I will cook with peppers of almost any kind but I don’t really eat them.  I am a picker.  Yup, I pick all that stuff out.  But I do like the flavors so I figured I would go with the recipe as is and try not to be a big baby.  They were SO buttery and flaky.  I still picked out a few jalapeños but only when I ate the biscuit by itself.  The cheese was amazing.  Why cheese isn’t a requirement for all biscuits is beyond me.

Pretty!

I wanted it as a breakfast for my husband and made him some biscuits and gravy today.  Tomorrow, I think I am going make him a breakfast sandwich. You should have seen the look on his face when I walked upstairs and gave him his breakfast.  I only make breakfast on the weekends and sometimes not even then, and when I do it is usually pancakes, waffles, or french toast because that’s what the kids like.  A completely savory breakfast for daddy is the rare occasion (not counting breakfast for dinner nights).  So I make up for it by making sure that on his birthday and Father’s day he gets his favorite, eggs benedict.  He didn’t care that the reason he was getting served breakfast was for purely my selfish blogging reasons.  He was getting a purely savory breakfast just for him.  I even picked him up some orange juice.  As it is every Sunday, please buy Joy’s wonderful cookbook for the recipe and check out Bakeaholic Mama for a few other takes on the recipe.

Yeah, we are back to Doctor Who for my GeekyLinks today people.  And you’d better get used to it because the new season is starting in a week and I am trying to plan my trip for Gallifrey One next year.  And I am not going to stop talking about it until every last person is a Whovian and I have evidence that I might be succeeding (one friend said that she might check it out)…so we shall proceed.  First off, Pond Life will premiere tomorrow on BBC One and run for five days with mini episodes showing the struggle of being a newlywed and a friend (well, inlaws) of The Doctor.  Also, Rory Pond (AKA Rory Williams, Rory the Roman, the Last Centurion, the Boy Who Waited) and MY FAVORITE is going to be at Gallifrey One this year.  So yeah, I am buying my tickets this week.  Second, I will not stop talking about Doctor Who because I am not alone in my quest to turn everyone into a Whovian.  Chris Hardwick tweeted the other day, “We have a RESPONSIBILITY to sire new Whovians!” along with a pretty funny video and a challenge.

 

Cherry Cornmeal Cake with Chocolate Glaze

This recipe is from the lovely ladies of Fleur-De-Licious.  A med student/law student high school friends combo that takes turns with the blog posts.  They are awesome and make me wonder what the heck I was doing with my time in college.  (Studying daddy, I swear!)

Pitting cherries without a cherry pitter is a pain in the butt, FYI.  However, totally worth it.

These ladies made their cake with a bourbon glaze but I have three kids that are gonna want a bite.  I could’ve gone for a powdered sugar glaze but I wanted some chocolate with my cherries!  I gave my neighbor some of this cake last week along with his loaf of zucchini herb bread.  He stopped me the next day and gave this cake rave reviews from him and his wife.

Fleur-De-Licious‘ cake was a bit thicker and their cherries didn’t all fall to the bottom.  I must’ve messed up on my flour a bit but that is OK because the chocolate glaze covers my flaws.

I didn’t change the recipe enough to post it here.  I only upped the salt and vanilla to 1 teaspoon each.  However, the changes they made to the original recipe that this is based off of are phenomenal.  Brown butter and brown sugar?  Genius!  I did whip up my own glaze, however, but feel free to use your favorite.

One bite…

My GeekyLinks are all Doctor Who related.  Some old and one new as we are gearing up for the new season that is supposed to come our way soon (August? September? not sure yet).  Also, just to make me feel a bit better about not going to Comic-Con.  You know what, I was busy that last resale day but I wasn’t sure which day to get tickets for anyway.  I was thinking maybe Sunday but didn’t get any and so of course the Doctor Who panel and the Fringe panel are on Sunday and I am not going.  *hrmph*  Anyways, a few months ago Scientists invent real “Doctor Who sonic screwdriver”, someone actually put a monetary value on the TARDIS, and (spoilers) new pictures of an upcoming episode.

Two bites…

Sundays with Joy / Oatmeal Raspberry Ginger Scones

Kinda the coolest week ever.

Last Sunday I joined Sundays with Joy,  a group that is baking their way through the Joy the Baker Cookbook.  Pretty awesome right?  However, it seems I joined a bit late, as last week they already posted these beauties (obviously mine are a bit different but we will get to that later).  This week they are posting Brown Butter Blueberry Muffins and since I already posted them in September, I had a chance to catch up.

I cut the big ones in half.

I made White Whole Wheat Powerberry Scones.  Now, normally I put these babies in my Applesauce Oatmeal Cookies but they worked so great in the scones!  It was almost like biting into a candy scone.  Cool right?  Antioxidant filled candy scones.  Have I told you that I really never liked scones?  I had them once, they were kind of hard and dry and not pleasant so I don’t know how many I would have gone on to make or have.  EVERYTHING has changed!  Joy mentions at the end of the recipe that they are best the day they are made and that is for sure.  However my husband who has been bugging me to “just make some chocolate chip cookies” and has been turning up his nose at most other things that I have been baking, really liked these and even ate the last one two days later.  These were not dry or hard.  They were soft and moist and yummy.  I am sad they are gone.

Of course I dusted the tops with some sugar, duh!

I am not leaving you the recipe because we want you to buy the book, but along with swapping the raspberries for the powerberries, I made them with white whole wheat flour, omitted all the spice and added a tablespoon of sugar to the dry ingredients and a teaspoon of vanilla to the wet.  Since I am sad they are gone though, I think I will make another batch with the spices and some frozen cranberries that I have tucked away.

I think I will only post GeekLinks on Sundays with Joy posts sparingly but do you want to know the other reasons why this is the best week ever?  My teenage niece called me up (she never calls!) to ask me what I was doing this weekend (I know she totally knew I was going to see The Avengers and I totally knew that she wanted to go) so I invited her to come see the Avengers with us.  So after my daughter’s soccer game, I took them all to the comic book store for Free Comic Book Day (I could totally tell she was impressed that I knew about that).  Went to lunch and then the movie (which was completely awesome, by the way)  Then when we got home the girls got caught up on My Little Pony youtube videos (insert eyeroll here, they are ALL completely obsessed including my niece).  Then we watched Doctor Who on Netflix.  Matt Smith is “her” doctor which is great but I want her to watch from the reboot and she kept asking when we would get to David Tennant because she just wanted to get to Matt Smith.  So I skipped all the gems that are the Slitheen episodes.  I was bummed, they make me laugh.  But all in all, a totally surprising, amazing, fun filled totally nerdy weekend!

What have I been doing lately? Baking, I mean it! (Part II)

Vacation

Ok, so I did go on vacation first.  But just like what happened with my son’s birthday, we went on vacation and three days later had a party.  His was a big one.  If you remember, I only got two hours of sleep the night before my son’s party and I wasn’t feeling up to doing that again only four months later.  However, I couldn’t let my little girl NOT have a party and I may have promised her a My Little Pony one, in fact.  Awhile back, my aunt and uncle offered their house for a party, especially one for one of my girls because they have two little boys.  So about three weeks before the date we took them up on it and began the process of planning a fun, cheap, quick, and relatively small party.  Did I also mention that my husband’s birthday was the day before my daughter’s?  She was what he got for his 30th birthday.  Anyway, my uncle also has a pretty spiffy man-cave with a big screen, pool table, and a kegerator so I figured this would be a good place for them both to have their party.

Can you see some of the colors underneath? Only red to go...

So since I didn’t have to clean or worry about getting my house decorated or food (we were picking it up) I got to concentrate on baking some treats for them.  For those not familiar with My Little Pony, there is a character named Rainbow Dash.  I went with that, for me it was better than the overall pink and purple aspect of the logo and such.  Although, if I had more time I might have picked one thing for a few of the characters.  I mean I am sure I could have come up with something for Applejack.  Maybe my Apple Fritter Cake?

Hubby's Cake

So first thing I saw that I wanted to do was Unicorn Poop but I was still having questions about the method.  This site for Unicorn Poop Cookies helped me with the how to.  I did six colors instead of five and my cookies spread out more than I would have liked and the first few I made were WAY too big but overall, everybody liked the taste of the cookie which surprised me considering all of the food coloring in it.  I didn’t add any sparkles or anything because I wasn’t 100% happy with them.  Besides, from the beginning Sarah was not thrilled with this idea.  First off, Rainbow Dash is not a unicorn she is a pegasus and apparently, according to Sarah, she doesn’t poop.  Every time I mentioned this idea she just turned up her nose but I just thought it was so funny I couldn’t resist.

Rainbow Dash Poop

The first thing I actually did was make my husband’s cake.  He wanted a yellow cake with chocolate frosting.  That is pretty much what he always wants.  I tried to make it from scratch this year but it didn’t work.  I should have gone with the Moist Yellow Cake from Bakerella but I didn’t and I didn’t have the time buy the ingredients I would need to try it.  So I Cake Mix Doctored it instead.  It is pretty much a no brainer and tasted great.  Of course I always use The Best Chocolate Buttercream Frosting by Joy the Baker.  It is featured in her cookbook and it was so nice having it in front of me than trying to read it off my iPod touch.  This time it came out a bit lighter but that was my fault because I opened a new can of cocoa powder and I was just being tentative because I didn’t want to spill it everywhere.  Still good though.  My ABSOLUTE favorite!

Rainbow Cupcakes

Sarah got the absolute best birthday cake, though.  Well, cupcakes.  I had seen this years ago in my FamilyFun Magazine.  I thought, wow that is too much work.  So a few years later, I decided to give it a try.  Rainbow Cupcakes, although time consuming, actually turned out to be pretty simple.  It was way easier to color the cake batter than cookie dough and it is really just a spoonful of each color spread out to the edge of each cup as best as you can.  I only made 15 even though the recipe says it should make 18 and I did come up short on all of the colors for three of them.  So I ended up with twelve and that was good for me because we would have my husband’s cake too.  I had made a marshmallow buttercream on top and I would have posted that recipe because I totally winged it but some little boy about 10 minutes before we were supposed to leave for my uncle’s house decided to toss around my cupcake taker.  O yes, while simultaneously crying, trying not to lose it on my son, and while my husband cleaned up for me, I had to whip up a basic buttercream.  I had bought White Icing Color the day before and didn’t need much for the marshmallow buttercream but had to use more of it this time.  I think it is kind of weird stuff, but whatever, I got cloud looking icing again!  I also made some rainbow fruit kabobs that went over very well at the party.

Daddy and Daughter

I hope to get up at least one new recipe before Easter and then everything should get back on track and I should be able to have one or two new ones a week, till at least May/early June when things get crazy for a bit again.  My GeekyLink this week is this My Little Pony Doctor Whooves T-Shirt .  It was brought to my attention by my niece who is a big My Little Pony fan and she knows that I am a Doctor Who fan.  A nice little merging of worlds.