...another dinosaur

                                          cake for 30

                                          lay it out and fill in the gaps with scrap

                                          crumb coat and make the feet out of cake balls

Hhhhmmm...why haven't I thought of this before?

Can you tell which tier is the cookie cake?

Building a 3D Fire Truck Cake

This cake serves 25.  I can think of a few things I would change for next time...

Chicken Noodle Soup w/Homemade Noodles

Cover boneless skinless chicken breasts with water.
Add spice to taste.  Suggestions:  basil, oregano,
rosemary...
Bring to a boil and cook for approx. 30 min.

Refrigerate overnite.  This will make it easier to
remove the fat and shred the chicken.  Save the
water to cook the soup in.

Skim off the fat.

Shred the chicken.
(You can skip the above steps and use canned chicken)

Cut up celery, carrot, and onion and cover with water.

(Start with the water from the chicken and add to it)

Add spice to taste.  Suggestions:  basil, oregano,

rosemary...

Bring to a boil and cook for approx. 15-20 min.

The vegetables should not be fully cooked at this point.

They will cook further with the noodles.

You can add dried or refrigerated garlic also.

Sam's carries McCormick Chicken Base which is a great

item to keep on hand for making soups.

Make the noodles.

In a large bowl, mix 1 cup flour, 1 egg and

1 half eggshell fill with milk for each 'batch'

(I make 3 batches)

Mix with a fork or a spatula until the mixture holds together.

At this point, knead a few times.

Roll out between 2 sheets of waxed paper.

I used a plastic cutting board.

Cut into strips with a pizza cutter.

If you want to make the noodles ahead of time, you can lay them

out on waxed paper.

Then roll them up and put in the frig til you're ready to cook

the soup.

To finish the soup, bring it to a rolling boil and add the noodles.

The water level should be at least twice as high as the level of

the chicken and vegis.

Drop the noodles in separately so they don't stick together.

Cook for approx. 15 min til the noodles are done.

Enjoy!

Marshmallow Fondant & Buttercream Frosting

Pictures to come...but in the meantime, here is a quick 'how-to' for making MMF

Before you start, lay out three pieces of saran wrap flat on the table

It's best to do this before your hands get all sticky!

In large bowl - 1 lb. mini marshmallows (don't use the big ones) + 2 Tbsp. water

  melt in 30 second intervals til they look like marshmallow fluff

  use a butter knife to stir - less surface area - easier to stir

Mix in < 1/2 c. solid crisco - (I don't measure - that would be one more dirty dish) 

Stir til melted and add 1 cap of Wilton clear butter flavoring

You can use the brown vanilla, but your fondant may take on an ivory shade

Pour in about a third of a 2 lb. bag of powdered sugar

Mix with the knife until the sugar is worked in

Put 1/3 of the goop on each of 2 pieces of the saran wrap

Pour in more sugar and work/knead in with your hands

When it's a nice smooth, non-sticky texture, wrap it in the last piece of plastic wrap

Don't keep adding sugar until it's too stiff because it will harden up over the next

  24 hours and you don't want it to be too stiff to work with

Dump one of the piles of goop into the bowl, add more sugar, & repeat

When you are done, you'll have 3 nice packages of fondant

This can and should be made well in advance of when it's needed

Quick Buttercream frosting for cupcakes

1 c. shortening (6.7oz.) (can be all solid Crisco, all butter, or a mix)

1 lb. powdered sugar

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. clear flavoring

up to 1/4 c. hot water

start mixing on low

gradually add 1 more pound powdered sugar

when all the sugar is incorporated, scrape the sides well

mix on low for 2 minutes

Buttercream can be stored in the refrigerator for several days or in the freezer 

I use 21.6oz. shortening to 6lbs. powdered sugar + 1.25c. water

Not enough hands...

I needed to bag & 'ribbon' a bunch of cookies....but I was home all alone and I really needed an extra pair of hands to hold the bags so I could tie the ribbon on...what to do?

Pizza 101

I stopped by Trader Joe's...grabbed some of their yummy pizza dough ($1.19 per ball).  It's ready to go and super easy.  It's also available in wheat.
How to make a yummy pizza at home:
Make your sauce by mixing an 8oz. can of tomato sauce with a 6 oz. can of paste.
We like ours sweet, so I add 4 Tbsp. of sugar. (I have since switched to sugar substitute)  This is enough sauce to make 2 pizzas. Leftover sauce can be refrigerated.
Notice there is no spice in the sauce?  That is added in the building of the pizza.
Build your pizza...
Crust - sauce - dried basil - vegis - pre-cooked meat (hamburger, canadian bacon, sausage, etc.)  shredded mozzarella - pepperoni - bacon - oregano
The best pan is the large round aluminum pan with holes in the bottom (of course, you'll have to roll the dough on the table)...or a pampered chef stone.
Warm the pizza crust to room temp for 20 minutes and then stretch, roll, push it out to fill your pan.
Spread sauce as thick or as thin as you like.  Sprinkle to taste with dried basil, or fresh if you have it.
Lay out your vegis, meat, then top with shredded mozzarella, or fresh if you have it.  Add any pepperoni and or bacon.  (Sam's carries a gold bag of Hormel real bacon 'bits' that lasts forever in the freezer and is great for salads, pizzas, potato skins, baked beans, green beans, etc.)  Sprinkle to taste with dried oregano.
I used less than 1 ball of dough to make this (on a Pampered Chef stone):

and the rest of the dough to make this:

my own little personal pan pizza - with fresh grape tomatoes.

Bake at 400 for 8-10 minutes - rotate the pan - bake for an additional 8-10 minutes.

Watch it the last couple minutes, so you don't burn it.

No time to run for pizza dough?

Make personal pizzas with flour tortillas for a super thin crust or use pitas for a thicker crust.

Added 12/3/23 Try this super easy thin crust

https://www.plainchicken.com/st-louis-style-pizza/

1 1/4c. Flour / ½ t salt / ½ t baking powder

2 t olive oil / 1 t corn syrup

½ c warm water

Roll very thin

Poke w fork, prebake 5min @450, flip. If you're not using the crust right away, bake the other side for a couple more minutes. Cool, wrap and save for a couple days. If you are using it, build your pizza (see above) with the cooked side down. It'll be super easy to handle.

Added 6/7/26 Chicken crust pizza

Mix 1lb. ground chicken 1egg, season w/your heart, 1/4-1/2c. grated Parmesan

Spread thin on parchment-at least 12” round or thinner

Bake at 400 25-30 minutes (I like to flip and cook a bit more to crisp up both sides)

I made 4 nice sized personal pizza crusts to fit in my air fryer-25 grams protein each just for the crust!

I did 360 for 8-10 min. flipped it over (peel off parchment) and cooked another 5 minutes.

Then topped as usual and cooked 8-10min.