On the First Day of Christams

Quite late, I mean it's nearly New Years! But better late than never, cause ya know I'm yet again the only one reading!

Anyways, I threw together a couple of wreaths over the holidays and this is one of them. I didn't get pictures of putting this one together, but I still think it turned out fairly awesome! It's bright, colourful and it's totally all my Christmas colours (minus purple).

It's really simple, just take an old garland wreath or new one if you prefer, and decorate! I bought little bobbles and bangles at Michaels craft store. Just throw everything together the way you like it and there ya go! With the bobbles I bought I was able to twist them on to the garland wreath wires instead of having to hot glue them or use floral tape.

Anyways here she is...

I'm a little behind...Ginger Molasses

But seriously with me really being the only one looking at this who cares!? Right! Cause no one is commenting letting me know they're reading!

I have to start off by saying, THANK YOU to my wonderful godmother whom so graciously bought me a Magic Bullet for Christmas! Best gift this year by far!!! I was just finally able to use it tonight (4 days later), to make my smoothie breakfast for tomorrow. I will blog about all the smoothies I make, don't you worry (as I talk to myself)!

This year (2013) I have managed to loose 15lbs, and keep it off. I did the fluctuating that everyone does and that manages to get everyone into the slumps when all that weight comes back. Am I right?! Mine was pretty bad when it came back, and I hadn't faltered from my diet plan at all. 2013 brought a lot of changes and challenges for me, loosing my best friend in late 2012 has proven to be the biggest battle I've ever come to. I also made myself and him a promise, I would change to make me the best me that I can be. I know you are probably sitting there reading this going "why on earth is she promising her dead best friend something like that?". Well he was my partner in crime, my number 2, no we were not a couple as he was gay, but we were two peas in a pod...so naturally no matter what, if I promise him something it gets done. Although it took me a long time to start in on it, I did. Another one of my friends is a beach body coach and she was hosting a No Junk Food Challenge for 15 days. I did fantastic! I even kept going until a week later when co-worker asked me to do one with her to help her loose some weight, that was 45days :) We both did great.  She then approached me again about a week ago asking me to begin another one with her as she is heading on a cruise at the end of February...to be quite honest she has nothing to worry about, she's quite fit and thin as she is now...I feel out of place doing these things with her being 5' 6" and 195lbs and incredibly hip-ie. So it's quite frustrating some days.

If you're in one of your phases of gaining everything back...DON'T WORRY, STICK WITH IT!!! Our bodies like to play games with us. Look at it this way, after loosing 5lbs people started noticing that I had begun to loose weight...and when it came back they noticed too. But if you step on the scale and you're down a pound, You know, who cares what the others think. It's YOUR body, not theirs. Just remember you can do it if I can!

So anyways here is 2 Days of Christmas...

Ginger Molasses Cakes with Cream Cheese Icing

Alright so this is just an ordinary Ginger Molasses recipe, but it is done a little differently in the end.

Cream together Shortening and Brown Sugar, then stir in Eggs and Molasses and mix well. Then fold in all the dry ingredients; All-Purpose Flour, Salt, Baking Soda, Ground Cloves, Ground Cinnamon and Ground Ginger. Cover the bowl and let it stand in the fridge for 1 hour until firm.

Pull the bowl out of the fridge and form balls (2 tbsp worth of batter).

Get a mini cupcake pan and grease well with shortening. Place one ball in each spot.

Grab a small Rolling Pin, or something to the same effect (I used the 9" Wilton Rolling Pin), and make crevices in the batter.

Take your cream cheese icing made up of icing sugar, cream cheese and vanilla extract (see recipe below) and fill an icing bag. Squeeze just enough icing to come up to the top of the molasses batter.

Place in the oven at 350' for 7-9 minutes.

Once cooled add in a little more icing to top off because it could have sunk like mine did.

I used mine for gifts in mug sets, here is what I did for them,

So here's what ya need:

Molasses Cookies

3/4 Cups shortening
1 Cup packed Brown Sugar
1 Egg
1/2 Cup Light Molasses
2 1/2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
1 tsp Salt
2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Ground Cloves
1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1 tsp Ground Ginger


Cream Cheese Icing

4oz. Cream Cheese (room temp)
2 Cups Powdered Sugar
1 tsp Vanilla extract

Beat cream cheese until smooth, then add in Powdered Sugar and Vanilla Extract.

3 Days to Go - Cream Cheese Mints

Wow, hard to believe 3 days until Christmas! And to think I haven't done one craft yet...Maybe that will be tomorrow then. We'll see though!

I, yet again, found this recipe on Pinterest...Damn this site!!! It's taking over my life! Anyways, I figured it looked REALLY easy and it would be a nice little treat to add into the Secret Santa gift at work. I really wasn't expecting this many!

I started off by letting the cream cheese sit out on the counter for an hour, to help loose it's chill from the fridge.

I then tried using the big mixer, only to find out it was broken...man that really sucks when that happens!! Although I think this one had it coming with it being older than me! So I grabbed the hand mixer and beat the cream cheese until it was smooth.

I added in a dab of "Leaf Green" Wilton Icing Colour, just to give it the green mint look.

Add in 1/2 tsp of Peppermint/Mint flavouring.

Mix until the mixture is fully green, then start adding in your icing sugar (4 1/2 cups).

My mistake was not having enough icing sugar. Normally I always check everything fist, but I was in a rush because I was also making another batch of the Salted Caramel Popcorn for my sister to take to school for their Christmas Potluck. I was left with 3 1/2 cups of icing sugar, so I figured "no big deal this'll still turn out awesome!"... I should've waited.

So after adding in all the icing sugar/powdered sugar, however you want to call it, make sure it's all mixed and add it into a piping bag (icing bag), with a large tip to shape them.

Line cookie sheets with parchment/wax paper and blob away! It took me 4 cookie sheets and another 1/2 sheet to make all of mine. Place them in the fridge and let them harden. My haven't hardened and it's been 24 hours in the fridge, so I have finally moved them to the freezer. I mean they taste fantastic, but they just won't harden all the way.

The recipe calls to dip them in granulated sugar after 20 minutes in the fridge, but I didn't and won't. To me that will take away from the Mint itself, and I would rather have a smooth mint than a grainy one. I was considering dipping 1/4 of them in Chocolate, so I have chocolate covered mints. But we'll see!

So here's what you need:

1 pkg of Cream Cheese
4 1/2 cups Icing Sugar
1/2 tsp Peppermint/Mint extract/flavoring
1 toothpick dab of "Leafy Green" Wilton Icing Colouring

1 cup of Granulated Sugar (if you choose to do this step)

Hopefully yours will actually harden if you use the right amount of icing sugar! Good Luck!

On the 4th Day of Christmas A Special Gift For You!

We all know that this season brings so much stress...Darn Christmas! Although we all love Christmas to bits with all the decorating and the treats and gift giving, it can a lot of times be overwhelming. I've been working overtime, and I still have another 6 days to go before I'm off. Working 8 days in a row in a bakery this time of year is a living hell ladies and gents. So tonight I decided to take a break from all the baking and hustle and bustle of the things that I still need to do and I decided to do a little something for me.

I treated myself to a spa evening. Now your probably sitting there going "Well good for you, I'm sure you can afford it with all that extra overtime your putting in...". The answer is no, I can't...but that doesn't mean I can't put together a little something at home. 

The other day my friend, in his searching came across a...lets call it a Make Your Own Natural Spa. To answer your next question, yes he is gay. We got talking about this, and I said alright, next week I am going to take 1 night and I'm going to do this for myself to de-stress and help me get through the rest of the week. 

I went to Shoppers after work and got a face mask (this is the only thing I actually bought, but there are plenty of ways to make your own! Maybe I'll do that as one blog in the near future). I already had Baking Soda, Lavender Oils and Sea Salts at home, so this made my life a little bit easier. Honestly in total I maybe spent $25, and this stuff gives you MORE than enough...you could do about 10+ spa evenings with all of it.

I ran a nice hot bath and added in actual Lavender blooms. I have my own plant which I pick and dry in the summertime, so I have plenty lying around my room. I just added however much I wanted! I love Lavender, and it does have a lot of natural remedies to them. 

Next I added in the Lavender Oils. My oils are mixed, so it was combined with a couple other oils as well. Right after that I added in 4 spoonfuls of Baking Soda, then about a cup full of Sea Salts. 

Finally lighting a couple of candles (lavender again...see I told ya I love Lavender!) and turning on some classical music to help me relax, I hopped in and applied my face mask.

Most people would just lie there off in la-la-land, but I took it as an opportunity to get in some meditating (does this surprise you?). I love to meditate, and I often don't have enough time between work and running around. So focusing on my breathing I finally got into a meditative state. I was like that for a good 1/2 hour, which is exactly what I needed.

Once I snapped out of it I cleaned off my face mask, then got a foot file and worked on my feet a bit. Boy, does that ever feel amazing after being on your feet all day! 

Now after all this, I have to say I feel totally de-stressed. From what I've read this "spa" is supposed to balance your pH levels, draws out everyday toxins from your skin and "lowers stress related hormones". 

So take time for you, it's 4 days until Christmas...You NEED it! It will definitely help you get through the next few days and you'll definitely feel amazing afterwards. 

Here's what ya need:

Lavender Essential Oils or Epsom Salts

Sea Salt

Baking Soda

and if you really want to spoil yourself add in some Lavender Blooms.

5 Golden Rings...I only wish!

It's hard to believe it's 5 days' until Christmas. Seriously, where has this year gone?!? This year is really all a blur to me after I lost my best friend over a year ago. I recently had a friend do my tarot cards, and it's kinda lit a spark under my butt to turn things around. I'm sincerely grateful that he did that for me because I was in a serious rut.

I know there isn't anyone reading these blogs, and if there is well thank you. This is just my way to keep pushing through and making what I can out of what I have.

This next one I've been hiding away for a while now. Since I make around 100 pizzas a day, 40+ hours a week at work, I tend to not eat any pizzas at all anymore. Also since making pizzas and working with fresh veggies, I've come to realize I am very allergic to onions. I've never liked onions before, so really it's not a big deal...but it really is, because now I have to read through all the ingredients before I buy something or I break out in hives and become incredibly itchy! That is definitely a big deal. So anyways, this is a pizza recipe. A friend of mine posted it on Facebook around a year ago and I figure what the hey, why not!?! Yet I've never tried it until now. Pizza Balls.

Now I'm sure all of you, well the majority of you have seen it on Pinterest or some other social media site. And to be quite honest, they make it look easy!

Pizza dough can be a little complicated to work with. Thankfully at work we get pre-made pizza crusts, but we also sell pizza dough, so that's where I got mine. I set it out over night to allow it to rise. Every once-in-a-while waking up to mix it up to rise more.

I had to play around with the size of the balls I was making of dough to make sure I had the proper amount to form them properly. For me that was about an inch sized ball of dough. Form all of those and set them to the side. Get a block of mozzarella cheese and cut thick slices of chese, then cutting them in half the short way. Make 1 piece of cheese (you're getting 2 out of each slice) for each ball of dough you have and set them aside. Grab a hand-full of pepperoni, you will need 2 pieces per ball. Open a small can of pizza sauce (you won't need very much at all) and have it ready with a spoon to spread.

Get one dough ball and need it out into an even circle about the size of your palm or a bit bigger. Spread some sauce. Place one piece of pepperoni on, then a piece of cheese and another piece of pepperoni on top.

Grab an edge of the dough and pull to the center of the top pepperoni piece. Do this all along, until it is completely shut. Move it over into a greased pan, placing the folded side down. Continue with all until you are finished.

Beat one egg (this should be plenty) and brush over the tops of the dough. The sprinkle Parmesan Cheese over top (be careful as to how much you put on, as sometimes it can shake out a lot in spots). Next take Italian Spices and do the same (be careful with this one too, I ended up putting way too much spice on). Then take Garlic Powder and do the same.

Heat your oven to 425 and pop in the dish for 20 minutes. Vwala, your dish is done and ready to be eatten.

I can't stress enough to watch how much of the toppings (Parmesan, Spices and Powder) you put on. I ended up with WAY too much Italian Spice and too little of the others. They were still really tasty, but I will definitely be more careful the next time I make these.

On 6th Day of Christmas My True Love Gave to Me....

So, I've just finished up my Wilton Class, I've got my third course all done! I'm now also registered for course 4 in January :) Yay me! Although, I do have to say OMG some people are idiots! One lady in the class decided she just didn't want to make a cake because she was "soooo exhausted from working all day"...she's a real estate agent and works from home and always, I mean ALWAYS talks about how much free time she has and blah blah blah. She was in a fighty mood today too, all she wanted to do was to argue with me, of all people. Anyways, I get home tonight and realize that the cashier gave me the wrong book for the next course! Seriously?!? So now I have to make an extra trip into town tomorrow to get them to fix it! Ugh, rant over! Just some frustrating things today!

In the midst of all that happening I was able to get a lot of things done today...not really the things that I was supposed to be getting done, but fun, yummy things!

On the 6th Day of Christmas my true love gave to me...

Salted Caramel Popcorn! Alright, there was no doubt in my mind that I would love this once I made it and sure enough I do. I think it's going to become a regular thing in this house hold! It's going to make a great part of a Secret Santa gift too (goodie bag part!), which means I killed 2 birds with one stone today (see pic at bottom in little baggies!)!

First things first I got out my Popcorn popper, added a 1/2 cup of kernels and got them popped. I separated it into 2 bowls to make it easier to do step 3.

Next, I got out my Salted Butter, Light Brown Sugar, Kosher Salt/Sea Salt and Light Corn Syrup and brought it all to a boil. I left it boiling for 4 minutes or so, just to make sure it was well done.

As soon as the caramel mix is ready poor it over the popcorn and make sure it all gets covered well. I did a little bit at a time, using 2 wooden spoons to mix the popcorn around.

Once all the popcorn is covered with all the caramel line 2 cookie sheets with either silicone sheets or parchment paper. Spread the caramel popcorn evenly on the 2 sheets. Lightly dust with Sea Salt and place cookie sheets in the oven for 30minutes on 300. Make sure you stir the popcorn every 10minutes. If you don't the caramel will start to burn!!

So here's what you need:

1/2 cup popcorn kernels
1 cup salted butter
1 cup light brown sugar (golden)
1/3 cup light corn syrup
2 tsp Kosher or Sea Salt

The recipe also added at the end that you could add in 2 cups of nuts, of your choice, and get them coated with caramel as well.

I didn't mix my mixture in the oven every 10 minutes, so my popcorn turned out slightly darker, but it still tastes great!

7th Day of Christmas - Snowflake Cupcakes

Well this isn't so much of a recipe, but more of a me showing off what I can do ;) It was one of the girls birthdays at work and she was going to be coming out to the potluck, but unfortunately was one of the ones who wasn't able to make it out. I decided to make cupcakes and decorate them and we would sing Happy Birthday to her. Then I remembered, well this is supposed to be a Christmas Party and I just bought some new silicon bake-ware, so why not have some fun with it!

So out comes the bake-ware and the chocolate cake mix and of course the icing. Now I wasn't too sure about the silicone bakeware, as I've never used it before. So I did ask a few people if they had any suggestions for me before I started using it. "Just make sure it's really greased well." "Don't use it twice in a row without washing in between, because even if you re-grease it...IT WILL STICK!!!" ...well I didn't take that second advice, like the idiot I am and sure enough the second batch got stuck. FFFFFFF!!! But it worked to my advantage, because I was cutting the tops off the cupcakes so they were flat bottomed (and I am freezing the tops to make cake pops another day) and they broke off just perfectly!

I let them cool over night and decorated the next day...Here's how they turned out :)