​Sometime in early September of last year my husband got the great idea we should get a bread maker and start making our own bread, we would eat less and eat healthier.  He was absolutely correct.  I found a Breadman Bread Machine at Goodwill for $9.99 and took a chance on it.  I brought it home and started looking for instructions online and recipes that were within the "beginner: anyone can do this" range.  Still there were tweaks I had to make but now I can throw all my ingredients in and push a few buttons and before we know it we have fresh baked bread.  The yummiest ever!

​I purchased a huge bag of pears last week and no one is eating them, so I decided we needed to have pie with dinner tonight!
I'm seriously, eating this pie as I type.  It's hot and it's delicious.  If I can make a pie, you can make a pie!  Trust me.  I have never made a pie before today.  I'm not talking about jello pies, I'm talking about roll out your own crust and bake kind of pie.

Marina is visiting us from her home country, the Ukraine.  While she was here for Christmas she asked if she could make a chocolate cake that she makes for her children in her Center back home.  She whipped up the most delicious chocolate cake I think I have ever eaten.  I asked her for the recipe and she said. "I make and show you, you write."
Here is the recipe as best as I could do considering.
Now that I've made this cake with her, I want to learn how to make many others from scratch.

​I made these for a shower and I thought they were too cute not to share.  I am in love with decorating with rock candy.  I wish I could have found it in orange but instead I used orange sugar.  Her colors were navy, orange, light blue and grey. 

I am quickly becoming a fan of color flow icing and you'll love it too.  It's so easy to decorate with and it hardens to perfection.  You end up with a nice smooth, shiny texture.
Pre-mix your icing and work quickly.  Color flow tends to crust over fairly fast.  Keep portions you are not working with covered with a damp cloth.  Here's the recipe.
Color Flow Icing
4 Cups of sifted powdered sugar
1 tbl of Color Flow powder by Wilton
1/4 cup of water plus 1/tsp
colors desired.
Bake your shaped cookies accordingly.
Let the color before adding icing.
Outline the shape desired and then fill in by simply piping the icing.
Use a tooth pick to give dimension.
Color flow is a fantastic medium to work with. 
Be creative and take your time.
Allow the icing to set over night.
We even tried a few acorns.
I can't wait to give another batch a try.  
P.S.  My little friend Ansley said my cookies were "good".  If she likes them, they must be delicious.

We are finishing up our study about Rocks and Minerals and we spent the whole day today reviewing what we have learned.  In honor of sedimentary rocks, we built a sedimentary cake with different layers, different colors, textures and even gravel.  Here's the how and why...
Purpose:  To demonstrate a sedimentary rock formation
Materials:

• White or Yellow Cake Mix and additional ingredients
• Peanut Butter or any light brown icing
• Chocolate Icing
• Marzipan or Almond Paste (found on your baking isle)
• Food Coloring (preferably the gel form)
• Brown Sugar (optional)

Procedure.

• Mix cake batter and divide into as many bowls as you want rock colors.
• Mix food coloring into cake batter to create different colored cake batter for really cool layers.
• Pour batter into a well greased and flowered cake pan, try to spread the layers evenly (don't worry if you can't)
• I used two small, 6" cake pans and one 4" cake pan
• Bake cakes.
• While cakes are baking, add food coloring to the marzipan or almond paste.  Work the substance like play dough until you get the rock colors you want.
• Shape the marzipan or almond paste into rocks.
• Assemble cake in layers after they have baked and cooled thoroughly.
• Use Peanut butter or a a different colored icing for the middle. 
• Top your cake off with the chocolate icing and eatable rocks.

 Results:  A cake with a series of layers has been constructed
Why?  Sedimentary rocks are formed from loose particles that have been carried from one place to another and redeposited.  These rocks usually are deposited in a series of layers similar to the layers of the cake.  Each layer can be distinguished by differences in color, texture and composition.  The oldest layer and lowest bed is deposited first and the youngest layer is at the top. The layers over a period of time become compacted and cemented together to form solid rock structures.

This is a new medium for me when it comes to cake decorating.  I knew about this method and I had an idea.
I was planning on decorating cupcakes for a Pirate Party we were hosting.  My pirates needed hats and this is pretty darn close to what I had envisioned. 
When I started I didn't realize I was supposed to do this at least 48 hours in advance so please keep that in mind when planning a cake or in this case cupcakes.  You will need the below ingredients and I use Wilton brand for coloring and for the color flow mix.
Materials:
4 cups of sifted powdered sugar
2 tbs of color flow powder
1/4 cup of water plus 1 tbs
Colors needed
cardbord or cookie sheet
any image you wish to duplicate
wax paper
Here's How:
Place your design under your wax paper and secure with tape, then tape your wax paper to your cookie sheet or cardboard.  
Mix your ingredients for the color flow mix ingredient for 7 minutes on high with an electric mixer.  Divide the color flow mix evenly for the colors you need.  Add colors and mix.  Red was the hardest color to achieve, so I added burgandy, black and copper for a dark red.  
Use a piping bag, I like the disposables, they are cheap and I can throw away the miss.  Use a small circular tip.  The smaller the better for finer details.
TIP: Work fast to fill the bags as the color flow crusts over fast.  Seal your piping bags well until ready to use.
Now, here was my mistake. I was in a hurry and didn't have time to wait on anything to set properly so take your time and you will get superb results.  Outline your design on your wax paper following the image you are duplicating.  I outlined in white.  Let the outline sit for 2 hours and harden. Add the fill colors as need and using a damp paint brush push the color flow to the edges of the outline.  When filled, let set for 46 more hours until very hard.  
These are edible but more importantly, they are super easy to decorate with.  A friend of mine said she did them a few times and likes to use coloring pages form kids coloring books for designs.
Once your design hard you can remove the design or designs from the wax paper.  If using more than one design, cut the wax paper to separate them.
Using the edge of your counter top, roll the wax paper away from the design or you can use a small spatula and lift it away.  This method worked best for me.
Attach your designs using a dollop of icing when decorating.  I actually can't wait to try this method again for a little more perfecting.  The possibilities are endless and I was able to match the cupcakes to our invitations. 

Well, of course I as a grown woman with children, you would think I would learn to do exactly as my mother says, right?  Well, wrong!  I can not do exactly like my mother says, not for spite but simply for the opportunity to take something old and classic and flip it around in my mind and make it my own.




I think it looks much yummier now that it would have in a pyrex dish with the icing poured on it.  I hope I don't get in trouble.  So, here's the recipe of my mom's with a touch of my own flair (well, if you'd call it "flair").


Water Gate Cake
Ingredients

• 2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups white sugar
• 1/2 cup shortening
•  3 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
•  1 Box of Pistachio Pudding Mix
• 1/2 cup of chopped pecans

Now Mix It
Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Cut in shortening until fine crumbs are formed. Add eggs, milk, and vanilla. Beat at low speed for 1 minute, then high for 2 minute.  Slowly add pudding mix and pecans, scraping the bowl frequently. 
Pour batter into greased and floured 2, 8" or 10" round pans. Bake in preheated 350 degree F oven (175 degrees C) for 25 to 30 minutes. 
 Make the Icing

•  1/2 cup of sweetened condensed milk
• 1 box of Pistachio Pudding Mix
• 3 cups of Powdered Sugar
• 9 oz of Cool Whip or any whipped topping
• 1/2 cup of chopped pecans1 cup of sour cream

Beat everything together, except pudding for a few minutes.  Put pudding in and stir until frosting stands in peaks    Sprinkle a few pecans over the top.  Ice Cake and Refrigerate over night.

​

Bake your cupcakes and mix blue into your white icing.
Slather the icing on.
Dip half of the cupcake in brown sugar or brownulated sugar (used here)
Add a mint cady for a beach ball and a paper umbrella.
The kids loved making these.

​Brownies:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
6 oz. unsweetened chocolate
2 cups of sugar
4 large eggs
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 Cup Flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup of chocolate chips

Brownies: Heat oven to 325. Grease sides of a 9 x 13 inch pan and line it with buttered parchment cut to fit the bottom of the pan. Melt the stick of butter and chocolate in a double boiler. Remove from heat. While the mixture cools, beat together the sugar, eggs, and salt until smooth. Fold in the chocolate mixture, then flour, then vanilla. Pour batter into the prepared pan, top with any toppings you want baked in and bake until the mixture pulls away from the sides of the pan, about 30 minutes. Cool thoroughly, about an hour and a half. If you need to add a glaze topping or chocolate do so now. Chill and serve with cold milk. YMMM! Sugar Glaze: 1 cup Powdered Sugar, teaspoon vanilla, add 1 tablespoon of water until the glaze is the thickness you desire and add after cooling but still slightly warm. I like my glaze runny!