Feb 24, 2012 |
Dear Wilton’s,
I can’t thank you enough for the memories you’ve brought back to me and for the ones yet to come. When it comes to making me happy in the kitchen, you rule. Your highly recognized products are easy to use, inexpensive and yet durable, and I don’t have a hard time finding them in my local cake/craft stores.
You have decorated our food, our hearts, and our lives. Thank you.
I love you!
Sincerely,
Me
Just about a year ago I bought something I’d wanted for a very long time: a Wilton’s cake decorating kit. My mom reigned when we were kids. Everyone on the block was jealous ~ jealous, I say! ~ of the cakes we’d get on our birthdays. The flavors, the textures, the decorating and how it was the Main Attraction. We’d be booted out of the kitchen the day before the celebration and not let back in until the Grand Unveiling.
My two favorite cake memories are from my 7th and 8th birthdays. For one she’d made a sheet cake and covered it with shredded coconut that she’d colored green. Coconut is still a favorite of mine. On this were a small plastic house that was also a penny bank (complete with birthday penny inside!), and small plastic figurines of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. I still have those figurines!
The other cake memory was another sheet cake that she’d piped yellow “bricks” on for my Wizard of Oz themed party. I had started collecting Wizard of Oz dolls. She borrowed the ones I had and incorporated my birthday gifts into the cake and table setting. I don’t remember which ones were new that year, but I do remember the set was finally complete; and yes, I still have those, too.
I had grand visions of creating amazing treats that would magically turn my home into a lovely talked-about-all-over-town bakery. Or at least, give my family something to talk about on a regular basis.
To inaugurate my own Kit, I invited my mom over and she, I, and Dot had a cupcake decorating party. What great fun! I made the cupcakes, mixed the icings, and we had fun! The decorating tips made for a variety of patterns and techniques that turned each cupcake into a work of art.
A short time ago, I stocked up on Wilton’s melting chocolates and more molds. I also added extras to my Kit. There’s such a variety, it was really hard to choose what shapes and colors I wanted. I was, well, like a kid in a candy store!
I’d had it in my mind to make treats like I’d seen on the television cooking shows. And today, I decided, was the day!
I started by making solid chocolate molds. It’s so easy! Wilton’s melting chocolates can be melted right in the store packaging. I chose to use one of the icing bags that came in my cake kit. Just put in some chocolate pieces, microwave for two minutes on 50% power, and mix. It’s that easy! Then I just cut the tip off the bag and gently filled the molds. How great are these?! After 15 minutes in the fridge, they’re ready to pop out and eat! (And can I just say, that if between the time of my writing and your reading there are no chocolates left in my house, it’s not my fault. I’m just a taste-tester, making sure of the accuracy of my writing!)
Then I tried my hand at making chocolate shells. I filled the molds only halfway and used a baking brush to pull it up on the edges. This will take more practice. More, delicious, practice. Darn.
While the molded chocolates were chilling in the fridge, I started the ganache. This, too, was far easier than anticipated. A simple 1-to-1 ratio of chocolate and heavy whipping cream. Once the chocolate was melted in the double boiler over simmering water, I added the cream and blended until smooth.
Then I put one cup of the mix into a smaller container and added finely chopped peanuts. I let the large pan chill in the fridge for several hours. I chilled the smaller cup for half an hour and poured some into a molding tray and some into the chocolate shells.
I’ve never made chocolate candies before, and I can honestly say the variety of Wilton’s products, and the easy directions, make me wonder why it took me this long. The creaminess of the chocolates are utterly melt-in-your-mouth delicious. The molds are so fun. There are cups, stars, hearts, shallow buttons, animals. Anything you can think of! And the accessories for cake decorating are just as vast: food coloring, decorating tips, fondant product, idea books.
With Wilton’s in the kitchen, there’s no wrong way to make a treat.
Dot has already asked if we can make more this weekend. I’m so happy I could cry! Hey, you know what’s good for that?… CHOCOLATE!
And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!
*This post is in no way sponsored or endorsed by Wilton’s. The opinions expressed are my own.*
Feb 23, 2012 |
I know my posts of late have been a lot of little nothing’s.
I’m determined to shake this cold, and not get lazy.
So this will be my last letter of nothingness, hopefully, and tomorrow I’ll be back on track.
Yesterday I practiced my chocolate molding skills. Can I just say, I rock?!
And now that I have this awesome camera, I’ll document every part.
So you’ll have lots of yummies to make you salivate.
And I’ll have better pictures of Old Blue and Mrs. Cooper.
And I need to finish reading two books in the next six days. So there’s that.
This is my Accountability To Do List.
And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!
Feb 23, 2012 |
Lizzie and I are both feeling a little better today.
Remember this picture of her? I took this with my old standard Sony digital camera. The kind that works well, fits in my pocket, and is great for outings such as Disneyland.
Lizzie Cat
Then I got my new camera. And I took this picture of her. It took me only five minutes to install the software and transfer from camera to computer to blog. How awesome is that?
It’s better, right?! The color, the detail, the shading.
It’s just much better.
And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!
Feb 22, 2012 |
Where did that phrase come from, anyway? “Sick as a dog.” What’s that supposed to mean? There’s nothing quite as sick as a sick dog? I beg to differ….
There’s another reason Lizzie Cat has been extra cuddly and loving the Vicks VapoRub with me.
My pretty kitty doesn’t feel well. [You’re all “awwww”-ing with me, aren’t you?!]
She’s been a little more lethargic than usual, and a little more cuddly. A little warmer than usual. And a little more cranky. She’s got Kitty Fever. So I’m loving that she’s letting me take care of her. My human child is too old for this kind of love and affection.
So Lizzie and I are going to just chill out today. I’ve been reduced to buying actual cough syrup at the store. I don’t do well with medications, so I’ve avoided this for a week. But I’m not getting any better so I finally got the store-brand knock-off of Robitussin DM. I’m already in the “I so don’t care about anything, even if I cough” state of mind. In another hour I’ll prob’ly be in bed. If we’re not asleep, we’ll be watching The West Wing on DVD. I’m halfway through Season Three. I love this show. I watch my DVD’s every winter.
Well, if you don’t hear from me for a few days, it’s because I’m either to sick to write; or too busy with my new camera and chocolate-making gadgets.
Oh, who am I kidding… I’ll be back tomorrow. I always am…
And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!
Feb 21, 2012 |
You’re reading this on Tuesday. I’m writing this on Monday. And I’d love to wait until Tuesday to enjoy it with you, but I have to write in advance so it will post on time. Rest assured, my excitement in writing will only be amplified once these words become reality.
*Insert blissful sigh here…*
Today (your Today, Tuesday; not my today, Monday)… Today I’m getting an early (seriously early) birthday gift. Last year I bought my daughter a mighty fine camera as she aspires to study art and photography. And, as you’ve occasionally witnessed, she has a mighty fine eye for such things. And on the few opportunities I’ve had to use her camera, so do I.
I love this camera. I want this camera. I’m getting this camera. Okay, not hers. She’s keeping hers. I’m getting another one just like it. There’s a method to this madness: she is a natural photographer. I am not. Not. So, after 15 minutes of me trying to figure something out; I won’t have that urge to create an opening in the window or wall. I’ll just ask her for help. Dot’s Tutorials, at your service.
She’s looking forward to it, too. I told her that we can start going on photography expeditions together. You would think there isn’t much opportunity for that here in the desert…
But even a tumbleweed can look good if the camera is right. Dot’s also teaching me the beauty of microphotography: taking really upclose, detailed photos.
All this excites me. A new toy. A new activity on the Mommy-Daughter Date Options List. And new photos for my blog. For my company.
How. Awesome. Will. This. Be.
I can’t wait to take photos of the Coopers. Not to be a broken record, but Old Blue was around again! This time he surprised me. I took the garbage out and when I turned to go back into the house, he was sitting on the fence just watching me. It was great. I didn’t get Dot’s camera in time, but in the next few days I’ll have my own and you’ll have those photos you’ve been asking for. *Insert mutual smiley face here, right?!*
Tomorrow (my tomorrow, your today) should also bring a book I’ve long been waiting for. When I was in grade school, I always defaulted to borrowing this book from both the school and local libraries. I must have read it a hundred times over the course of four years. Since I grew up, I’ve been trying to find it again, but it’s no longer in print.
Enter Amazon. Amazing, Available, Amazon.
And tomorrow/today, I should finally once again be able to read this:
Since I had a small credit at Amazon, the book was free! And since I’ve kept up with my 2012 Reading List, I get a “freebie” read for February. I choose this one. It will take just one day. 24 wonderfully short, attention-grabbing mysteries steeped in the history of our country. And of course, it also means another Mojo Book Review. Can’t wait, can ya?
Today (my today, your yesterday) I’m trying my hand at making chocolate molds. That is, melting chocolates and pouring them into molds. I also want to make ganache and use it for truffles. I’m doing this for a variety of reasons. I have a cake decorating kit I bought last summer but have only used twice. I have melting chocolates that need melting. And I think nothing goes better on blogs than photographs of chocolate. Especially when the treats are homemade.
So starting tomorrow, er… today, I can start taking awesome photos of any and all kitchen creations.
I’m so stinkin’ excited.
Last night, or long ago and far away, I had no idea what I’d be blogging about this week. Now I have too many topics to keep track of. What a difference a day makes.
And Frankly, My Dear… that’s all she wrote!
