While I was at Micheal's I came across a few books about cake pops, which reminded me that I wanted to see what they were all about.  So when I got home I looked around online, and found that they seemed pretty easy to make, so I decided to try my hand at it.  They turned out quite wonderful!

 Step One: Bake a cake of your choice.  I chose a chocolate cake that I have been making since I was young.  Let the cake cool.

 Step Two: Cut the cake into pieces.

 Step Three:  Crumble the cake up in a bowl.











Step Four: Get some frosting ready.  I made my own (chocolate butter cream) but store bought is fine too.  I used about a cup and a half.

Step Five: Mix the frosting and cake together until it sticks together and you are able to roll it into balls.

Step Six:  Roll all that cake and frosting mix into balls and stick them in the fridge for a few hours, or in the freezer for a bit.

Step Seven: Melt some chocolate coating.

Step Eight (sorry I have no pictures of this): dip the stick into the melted chocolate and then into the cake ball.  Stick them back in the fridge or freezer for a bit.

Step Nine: Dip them in the chocolate and coating of choice.

Step Ten:  Enjoy!










I'd like to experiment with an "adult" cake pop, so we shall see.

Beer Can Chicken

Beer can chicken is so yummy, and really easy to make!  You do have to get a beer can chicken pan (it looks kind of like a tube pan, except you can pour liquid in the well in the center).   Other than that, it only requires three ingredients:
1. A whole chicken
2.  A can of beer (or some wine,or your favorite type of pop)
3.  Your favorite rub

Step One: Remove any innards of the chicken, rinse it and pat it dry.






  

 Step Two: Get your favorite rub, and rub it all over the chicken.  I suggestion dumping a bunch in a bowl (I use about 1/4ish of a cup).  That way, you can just use your hands to rub the rub on.

Step Three:  Pour what ever liquid you are using in the well, and stick the chicken on the well with the legs down and put a foil plug in the neck.

Step Four: Put it in a cold oven and set it for 350, cook the bird for about 2 hours, or until it come to termperature.

Step Five: Take the bird out, cut up and serve and enjoy!

Stuffing is also a great side!

Well it's been a long while since I posted anything, but I am going to try to post on a more regular basis.  I may also add some dinner ideas. :)  With that said, here are some pictures of cupcakes I baked for my cousins baby shower.




Here are my baby boy cupcakes.  The base is just a simple  chocolate cupcake.  The face is made up of a vanilla wafer which has been decorated with white frosting.  As much as I wish this was my idea, it was not.  I found it in the book Hello, Cupcake!

This was a banana chocolate chip cupcake which I decorated with butter cream frosting then drizzled melted chocolate and melted caramel over.

This was a vanilla cupcake topped with chocolate butter cream frosting.

Here are some cupcakes I made for my co-workers for Valentines Day. They included a strawberry cupcake topped with chocolate butter cream and a chocolate covered strawberry, a chocolate cupcake topped with strawberry butter cream and mini red velvet cupcakes topped with cream cheese frosting laced with buttered pecans.

This was my first attempt at baking a pumpkin pie from scratch. Although the crust didn't turn out exactly right, the pie still turned out delicious!

For a Fantasy Football party I made some cupcakes, using graham crackers to create footballs.

The idea for these butterfly cupcakes came from a cupcake book that I have. The cupcakes are chocolate, filled with butter cream icing.









Once again, while I wish I could take credit for the idea of these cupcakes, I can not. I got the idea from one of the cupcake books that I have. The cupcakes themselves are mini- red velvet cupcakes.







Here are some of the cupcakes that I have baked. They are chocolate cupcakes with butter cream frosting. It was really fun using cake decorating tips to make all the different types of designs!