Cake Decorating

     My mom decorated wedding cakes and birthday cakes throughout my life. My memories are of chowing down on the warm rounded top that she'd cut off before freezing the layers. It was the best part of the cake. I'd watch as she cooked up a delicious raspberry filling and even helped slide one layer on top of the next. For some reason though, she never really taught me the "how" of cake decorating. Last year in October she found love again, three and a half years after my dad's passing. In January Victor proposed and at that point my mom asked if I would do her wedding cake. Up to this point my experience had been minimal, if that. Of course I'd always wanted to learn, but never really had the reason or the opportunity. Here was my chance, so, I took it. Mom came to my house almost every Friday for five months. In the end, I made an Engagement cake and my mom hired out the actual wedding cake because the actual wedding took place in California, not Utah. Here are a few of my test cakes and finally the Engagement cake.

      This is a look at my first attempt at decorating a cake after learning how to simply lay frosting on a cake. I donated this to the Boy Scouts to help them raise money. The decorating was supposed to be a wagon wheel, but I think it goes more to show how far I came in just a few months of training. The frosting was a whipped ganache with cream cheese buttercream for the white decorations.

     These next three are single layer cakes. Of course they are just for practice. I learned how to use a piping bag, stencils and how to make borders. Not too bad for a few first attempts. The first two are using the cream cheese buttercream. The third cake is a whipped cream frosting.

 

      This is my first attempt at a two layer cake. I made this for my Critiki Retreati in March. I have learned how to variate the color to go from very dark blue to light blue, as well as how to ruffle the frosting around the edges. This cake was a proud moment for me.

        What is a learning experience if you don't screw up every once in a while? This attempt I messed up on a couple of levels. A few things I learned is that Betty Crocker is great for a 13x9 pan cake, but it's not great for construction. The cake just dissolved when I tried layering it. Also, I didn't allow my filling to set up completely. The combination was a disaster. It's a good thing my mom was here. She taught me, when life hands you a cake-slide, turn it into a trifle. I couldn't eat it because I was so frustrated, but luckily my family had no emotional ties.

  This is my first attempt at a two tiered cake. I was trying out a new chocolate cake recipe. It held together really well and tasted just as good as it looks. Yum! I'm glad my disaster cake didn't hold me back from trying again. I suppose this where a "Thank You" comes in to play--to my teachers, trainers, parents, and Sales Director for teaching me to stick with it and never give up. The frosting is mostly ganache mixed with a regular buttercream with real ganache dripped around the outside.

     Here is my first and only attempt at using fondant before my mom's wedding. I hand formed the flowers and small balls around the base of the cake. It was a fun Mother's Day cake. The frosting is a kitchen-aid made marshmallow fondant. I tried using my hands and almost had a panic attack.

     My nephew was having a birthday and I figured a chocolate cake with the whipped ganache buttercream would be a great option. I really felt like I needed to work on my piping. The birthday party was at a park, so I used the playground theme in the piping. Pretty great improvement in my opinion.

     Finally, here is the cake I made for the Engagment party. I used my normal buttercream and filled the cake with a raspberry filling. No sliding, no crumbling, no mess ups. It turned out beautifully! It was delicious to boot! Most of all Mom and Victor are happy. Thanks for the useful skills Mom. I hope to use it often in the future. 

    

I Learned How to Cut Pineapple

  My whole life I've had a love hate relationship with fresh pineapple. I love the flavor and texture of the tropical fruit, however ninety-eight percent of the time I get a thorn in my tongue. Not fun! When my sister moved in with me a few years ago she opened my eyes to a new technique--at least to me. I am a little slow on posting this, but I feel it is a service to anyone that wants to enjoy all of the benefits of this delectable fruit, without thorny consequences.

  First of all, choosing a pineapple that will taste great is key. The best way to choose a good pineapple is to smell the bottom. Usually you'll get at least a small hint of pineapple smell. If the smell isn't quite there, let it sit on the counter for a day or two. I like to wait until the bottom is growing just a little bit of mold (to be honest, I'm not sure if that's "officially" the best time to cut it, but in my experience it's the most flavorful and juicy at this point.). I've heard that if you put it in the fridge upside down for 30 min before cutting, all of the sugars will evenly distribute throughout the pineapple again. This technique is an intriguing concept though.

  I have pictures of each step, I know, it's a miracle! Photography is a future "to learn" item for me, but from my experience as a High School Yearbook Editor in Chief, I know a thing or two, so here we go:

First thing: Get rid of all of the stuff you know you can't eat.

You should end up with something like this. Make sure you stay fairly close to the outside of the pineapple
as you peel the sides so you waste less fruit in the end. 

Notice that the spines of the pineapple line up at an angle (they also line up vertically on this particular pineapple, but that isn't always the case.). 

You'll want to cut the spines out using a wedge cut (shown below).

Rotate pineapple continuing to cut wedges, taking out all spines and seeds, until you end up with a piece of art:

Now you trim the core out of the pineapple. You can see the circular pattern in the middle--that part of the fruit is tough and fibrous. You don't want to eat it. Using your knife cut straight down. Your knife should slide easily through the fruit. If it is difficult to cut trough, you're too close to the core. 

Your end result should look something like this. The core can be disposed of, and the other four sections now have cutting guidelines. I cut each large section vertically to create about 1" strips. Then I followed the angled lines with my knife.

 End result: fresh, thorn free, juicy pineapple. Yum! Thanks Sis!!

The Mommy Lady

I have been known as the “Mary Kay Lady” for over thirteen years. At first I was a little embarrassed by the term, but it didn’t take long for me to know what I was doing and become proud of the title. When I finally decided to stop promoting my business in 2012, I had a bit of an identity crisis--hence the title of this blog. I’ve been experimenting with life ever since, trying to figure out who I am. I’ve played softball, re-decorated and painted many walls and rooms in my house, written over sixteen books, taught sewing lessons, tried out countless new recipes, played volleyball, helped on major PTA projects, had a baby, took trips with my husband, taught summer homeschool, started reading again, and so much more. I’ve been trying to find my passion, my identity, my purpose. After two years I think I’ve finally figured it out. Mostly everything I do, every thought in my head, every action I take relates back to my being a good wife and mother.

I never knew how happy I would be to be known only as my children’s mom--even by other adults. Although I still love my Mary Kay customers and work with them happily, from now on I would be just as proud to be called the “Mommy Lady.” I’ve had a hard time posting on this site because I haven’t really understood what to post about, but from here on out my blogs will relate to projects, ideas, recipes, etc. that have helped me as a mother and wife. I may throw in a few experiments and even some failures along the way, because as much as I claim to be “nobody, because nobody is perfect,” I too burn dinner, wait too long to do laundry, and struggle with my kids. I’ve found that the negative experiences really do help me to more fully enjoy the positive ones. Every day I wake up, ready to enjoy that day’s journey. I hope that with finding my own purpose I can now move on to help each one of my children discover theirs.

Revolutionary Reward System For My Family

I was perusing the pictures of Pinterest a few nights ago and came across a phrase that just got my mind reeling. It was a phrase I’ve wanted to hear in my home for years… I just never realized it. Instead my mind had been focused on the phrases I didn’t want to hear. You know what I’m talking about, the ones you can’t seem to get away from: “No!” “Do I have to?” “Oh man!” “Ugh! I hate doing that!” “Again?” “I don’t want to!” “No thanks!” You get the idea. The phrase that I could tell would fix all of the negative phrases, the phrase I saw on Pinterest, was, “I’d love to!” It was simple, but beautiful and dare I say, revolutionary.

Don’t get me wrong, my kids are good helpers--they always have been. Eventually they do what I ask them to do, even if it takes a little (or a lot) of prodding on my part. They are still young (10, 8, 2, & 6 months), so they are still teachable. And this lesson just needed to be taught. I usually talk to my hubby about systems for changing behavior before I implement them to make sure we’re on the same page (believe me, we’ve had a lot over the years). But this idea was so straightforward and wonderful that I implemented it right there and then.

I pulled out a dollar store plastic Halloween jar with a lid that I’d been storing on the topmost shelf of my pantry for years, some black construction paper, tape, scissors and chalk. I wet the chalk to make the color show up better and wrote the phrase twice: “I’d Love To!” Then I taped the sign on either side of the jar (covering the cartoon ghosts on the side of the jar), leaving a space so the kids can see how full the jar is. I only had a few puff balls on hand, but decided that if the jar worked I’d buy more from the Dollar Store. After all of that work I got this:

Now, the Pinterest link didn’t work, so I had to think up my own system, but it didn’t take long. Basically after being asked to do something if my kids respond immediately with, “I’d love to!” they get a puff ball in the jar. When we fill the entire jar with puff balls I will make them their favorite treat (their choice this time--No Bake Cheesecake with Golden Oreo Cookie Crust). I figure it will take at least a week to fill the entire jar.

Now, my boy can find the loophole to every system I come up with, so we had to set some

Ground Rules

1. They have to smile when they say, “I’d love to!” No frowny faces or grouchy voices.

2. “I’d love to!” has to be the first thing out of their mouth--no complaints at all.

3. They only get the puff ball after completing the task they’ve agreed to do.

4. They can’t volunteer the “I’d love to.” They have to be asked to do something and respond with “I’d love to.” None of this, “I’d love to play with the Guinea Pigs” stuff.

5. The puff ball is earned if I only have to ask once.

Things I’ve learned

1. It’s a whole lot easier to get an “I’d love to” when I ask politely.

2. It’s a lot easier to ask politely if I know I’m going to get a happy and polite response like, “I’d love to!”

3. If my children ask me politely to help them, I can answer, “I’d love to!” and get a puff ball in the jar. Thus earning a piece of the treat for myself, while helping everyone get to the goal faster. If I ever learned anything from Mary Kay it was how to work win-win. So it helps motivate my kids to speak to me politely in the first place.

4. “I love that dinner” has been added as a way to earn puff balls. Seriously, not having to worry about, “That’s the worst dinner ever!” makes the jar even better! Not only that, my kids are the ones who implemented this change.

5. The kids are looking for ways for me to ask them to do things so they can say, “I’d love to!” How cool is that?

6. Just like any type of disciplinary system I need to be consistent and notice whenever the kids say, “I’d love to!” Really though, it’s hard not to notice since those words were not a part of my kid’s vocabulary. It’s surprising every time and, may I add, lovely.

7. It is helpful for me to point out when the kids could have used the “I’d love to!” jar and encourage them to use it next time.

We’re on Day 2 of this system, but up to this point my home is a better place all around! I love talking to my kids again and I no longer cringe every time I ask for help. It is teaching us all a better way of communicating with each other. I love it!

Packing Tape Solution

Okay, this is a bit of a random post, but I thought of this great idea the other day while I was helping at my children's elementary school. I was using some packing tape to repair some damaged folders and I kept losing my place on the tape. I didn't want to fold over the end of the tape, because I was continually using it and I didn't want to have to waste the tape. If I kept my place with the scissors, they'd just get sticky and hard to use. It was becoming quite bothersome, so I decided to keep my place with a paperclip. End result? No more frustration!

Chocolate Chip Meltaway Cookies (Egg-Free)

I'm not sure the exact title of these cookies, but it seems only fitting. I got this recipe from a cornstarch website and it has been awesome. These are succulent to all who try them, allergies or no. This is the recipe I've used for two years in replacement of regular Chocolate Chip cookies. The end result is not even close to a real Chocolate Chip cookie, but is uniquely delicious. I remove them right at the 10 minute mark to keep the cookie soft and extra luscious, although they are a little more brittle at this stage so make sure to cool completely. If you cook for longer, they have a slight crunch to them, but immediately melt away as you eat.

Chocolate Chip Meltaway Cookies

Ingredients:

1 c. flour

1/2 c. corn starch

1/2 c. powdered sugar

3/4 c. (1 1/2 sticks) butter

1 tsp pure vanilla extract (or vanilla bean paste)

1/2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Combine flour, corn starch and powdered sugar in a medium bowl and set aside.

Beat butter in a large bowl with mixer at medium speed until smooth. Add flour mixture and vanilla; beat well until blended. Fold in chocolate chips with a spoon. (If necessary, refrigerate dough 30 min. to 1 hr. or until easy to handle.)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Shape dough into 1-in dough balls. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased baking sheet; flatten slightly with a floured fork.

Bake 10-12 min. or when edges are lightly browned. Remove; cool completely on wire racks. Store in a tightly covered container. Can be frozen. 

Oreo Truffles

  These are commonly referred to as "Oreo Balls," but the writer in me will not allow the title stand. I need something that sounds as delicious as these sweet balls of goodness are. Therefore, I give you:  Oreo Truffles. These are perfect gift for anyone you know that has nut or egg allergies. With three ingredients, they are so easy to make. Warning: these can be addictive.

Oreo Truffles

Ingredients:

1-21 oz. pkg. Regular Oreos (with filling), crushed or processed in food processor

1- 8oz. block of cream cheese*, softened

Melted Chocolate for dipping (any variety)

*or Neufchatel Cheese (for a lower fat option)

Directions:

Combine Oreo crumbs and cream cheese in food mixer until mixed completely.

Roll with your hands into small balls and placed on waxed paper. If dough is too sticky, place in refrigerator for 30 minutes to an hour and then roll into balls. 

Dip balls in chocolate and allow excess chocolate to drip off. 

Allow truffles to dry on waxed paper. Transfer to an airtight container and store in refrigerator or freezer.

Delicious cold, frozen or room temperature.