And the winner is.....

Random Integer Generator
Here are your random numbers: 6
Timestamp: 2009-07-11 15:04:54 UTC

And the winner is MAddy.....My friend just told me she's pregnant with twins!! I think she'd love the Paisley Park Bowling Diaper Bag!

Congrats Maddy..email me with your mailing address and final product choice!!!!

Cute Giveaway!

While my kids are no longer babies, I still oogle over baby stuff in the stores. Seems like every year they come out with stuff that is soooo much more hip and trendy than the year before.
So check out the Diaper Bag Diva. She has some SUPER cute stuff on her site.
But it gets better..She wants to give one of my lucky readers something of your choice off her site. You choose! (a value of $40 or less) So hop on over to her site and pick what you would want(under $40) and leave me a comment on what it is. The giveaway ends on Saturday July 11th at 11am EST. Please leave your email if you dont have a blog.

*even if you don't have babies anymore..you can still enter..think of baby shower gifts!!!

http://www.thediaperbagdiva.com/

Frozen Watermelon Pops

I don't know what part of the world you are in, but HOLY HELL..it is hot and nasty humid here in Florida. My little tadpoles(children) are living in the pool. Thank goodness for the pool!

I love to bring them out fun summer-y treats when they are outside. And we all know how annoyingly messy Popsicles can be! So frozen watermelon is your answer folks. no fuss no mess.

I get these really cute mini watermelons at the store and use one side to make the pops and the other half as the "pop holder". Too cute huh? I had previously used a circle cookie cutter to make my pops but I saw that Family Fun had used a star cookie cutter. Duh.! Cute for the 4th of July.

FROZEN WATERMELON POPS

1 watermelon

Craft sticks(or popcicle sticks)

Foil

Cookie Sheet

Cut you watermelon in half. Reserve one side for the "pop holder"

Cut thick ring slices (about 1/2 inch thick) of watermelon

Use your cookie cutter and cut out your shape

Insert your craft stick into your watermelon shape, taking care not to poke it through.

Place on you foil lined cookie sheet and freeze for a few hours.

Bakewell Tart

The June Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart... er... pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800's in England.

I loved this challenge and so did everyone else who tasted it! The tarts were easy to put together, but again something I would have NEVER made unless I got my monthly nudging from the Daring Bakers!
I made mini tarts, cause everything is cuter small, right?
I made some homemade strawberry and cherry jam that was crazy good and another batch with chocolate(you didn't think I would leave out my first love did you?)

For the jam I cut up 5 ounces of strawberries and 5 ounces of cherries, added about an ounce of sugar to a pan and let them cook down. I mashed them up a bit and added some vanilla and orange zest. YUM

BAKEWELL TART

Makes one 23cm (9” tart)
Prep time: less than 10 minutes (plus time for the individual elements)
Resting time: 15 minutes
Baking time: 30 minutes
Equipment needed: 23cm (9”) tart pan or pie tin (preferably with ridged edges), rolling pin

One quantity sweet shortcrust pastry (recipe follows)
Bench flour
250ml (1cup (8 US fl. oz)) jam or curd, warmed for spreadability
One quantity frangipane (recipe follows)
One handful blanched, flaked almonds

Assembling the tart
Place the chilled dough disc on a lightly floured surface. If it's overly cold, you will need to let it become acclimatised for about 15 minutes before you roll it out. Flour the rolling pin and roll the pastry to 5mm (1/4”) thickness, by rolling in one direction only (start from the centre and roll away from you), and turning the disc a quarter turn after each roll. When the pastry is to the desired size and thickness, transfer it to the tart pan, press in and trim the excess dough. Patch any holes, fissures or tears with trimmed bits. Chill in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 200C/400F.

Remove shell from freezer, spread as even a layer as you can of jam onto the pastry base. Top with frangipane, spreading to cover the entire surface of the tart. Smooth the top and pop into the oven for 30 minutes. Five minutes before the tart is done, the top will be poofy and brownish. Remove from oven and strew flaked almonds on top and return to the heat for the last five minutes of baking.

The finished tart will have a golden crust and the frangipane will be tanned, poofy and a bit spongy-looking. Remove from the oven and cool on the counter. Serve warm, with crème fraîche, whipped cream or custard sauce if you wish.

When you slice into the tart, the almond paste will be firm, but slightly squidgy and the crust should be crisp but not tough.

Sweet shortcrust pastry
Prep time: 15-20 minutes
Resting time: 30 minutes (minimum)
Equipment needed: bowls, box grater, cling film

225g (8oz) all purpose flour
30g (1oz) sugar
2.5ml (½ tsp) salt
110g (4oz) unsalted butter, cold (frozen is better)
2 (2) egg yolks
2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract (optional)
15-30ml (1-2 Tbsp) cold water

Sift together flour, sugar and salt. Grate butter into the flour mixture, using the large hole-side of a box grater. Using your finger tips only, and working very quickly, rub the fat into the flour until the mixture resembles bread crumbs. Set aside.

Lightly beat the egg yolks with the almond extract (if using) and quickly mix into the flour mixture. Keep mixing while dribbling in the water, only adding enough to form a cohesive and slightly sticky dough.

Form the dough into a disc, wrap in cling and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes

Jasmine’s notes:
• I make this using vanilla salt and vanilla sugar.
• If you wish, you can substitute the seeds of one vanilla bean, one teaspoon of vanilla paste or one teaspoon of vanilla extract for the almond extract

Frangipane
Prep time: 10-15 minutes
Equipment needed: bowls, hand mixer, rubber spatula

125g (4.5oz) unsalted butter, softened
125g (4.5oz) icing sugar
3 (3) eggs
2.5ml (½ tsp) almond extract
125g (4.5oz) ground almonds
30g (1oz) all purpose flour

Cream butter and sugar together for about a minute or until the mixture is primrose in colour and very fluffy. Scrape down the side of the bowl and add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. The batter may appear to curdle. In the words of Douglas Adams: Don’t panic. Really. It’ll be fine. After all three are in, pour in the almond extract and mix for about another 30 seconds and scrape down the sides again. With the beaters on, spoon in the ground nuts and the flour. Mix well. The mixture will be soft, keep its slightly curdled look (mostly from the almonds) and retain its pallid yellow colour.

Little Mermaid Birthday Cake

Well well well..I did it to myself again, went overboard on my little ones cake. Last year I made her the Sleeping Beauty Birthday Cake(my first decorated cake). So this year I told her I was going to make her cupcakes. Oh good lord, she hat a fit. She said she wanted "a pretty cake like when I was 3". Oh great, did I create a cake snob??

When we went to the party store to pick out her party decorations, I really pushed hard for Hello Kitty. That would have been such a cute and easy cake to make. But nooooooo,
my little cake snob had to go with the Little Mermaid decorations. Grrrrrrr. I knew I had my work cut out for me.

I have never covered a cake in fondant before, and while I loved the cake, I obviously need a hell of a lot of practice. I marbled the fondant so it would look like "water" . All the sea life was also made from fondant. I actually thought that Flounder looked like a yellow sperm in a fish form!!LOL. Maybe someday I will get the time to take a cake decorating class.

Cute Cute Cute

duh..I forgot to tell you the day....

Dork with a capital "D". yes indeed that's me.

Sorry I forgot to tell you that my segment will be airing on Tuesday June 23. Check your local listing for the times here.

TV time again for me!!!

Hey guys I am excited to let you know I am going to be on the show "Daytime" again. This will be my 5th time being featured on the show.

Check here to see if it is on in your area and what time it airs. They are up to over 90 TV markets across the United States(opposed to 19 when I first was on).
I am going to record it on my DVD recorder and see if I can get it onto my computer, but I can't make any promises, cause I am know NOTHING about computers.

Also, sorry I have been M.I.A lately from all of your blogs. Being that the kids are out of school, I have been crazy busy keeping them occupied.