mini upside down pineapple cakes

It's been a month...SORRY!! I've been a bit busy since Brent bought his new business!! I received a gift card in the mail a couple days ago from the wonderful Klugh family and decided to head to the Stock Pot to spend it. I found this AWESOME mini pineapple upside down cake pan that was to die for.

So I bought it. It was hard enough not to go out and buy the stuff yesterday right about I got it, but I held off till today. You don't want to do all your fun things in one day right?? I'd already been up to the school to paint....I'm not going to give you the recipe but it's on the bottom of the sleeve when you buy the pan, so go buy it! There's one on amazon.com that's cheaper!! They are gooey and yummy! I did want to share a trick about shortening that my cake instructor showed me...since we all hate cleaning out Crisco...put some saran wrap in your measuring cup and THEN put the Crisco in...It pops right out and you can throw the cup back in the drawer!

So YUMMY...please go buy this pan!!!!!!

And thanks, Melanie :)

Rice Cookies

Rice cookies. Betcha thought I was talking about cookies made out of rice. Gross. My dog's name is Rice, and I LOVE to bake but don't need all the extra calories and fun things like that. My dear sister Elaine bought me this lovely cookie cutter at Michael's yesterday and told me to bake some dog treats. So I did.

First you mix 1 c. milk with 1 c. PButter. Throw in 2 c. flour and 1 T. baking powder. Knead it like a dough and roll it about 1/4 in. flat. (You can see how I was baking for my doggie, but yet still getting the satisfying feeling I get when I roll out normal sugar cookie dough.)

Punch a million (or so it seemed, but it was actually 33) cookies out and stick them on a greased baking sheet. I recommend AirBake. Why? Because if you're a Meadows, and I was one for 23 years, you burn cookies. AirBake won't let you. Unless you leave them in there for 3 days or so.

Bake em at 375 for 20 minutes. They come out looking yummy, but smelling doggish/PBish...not goodish at all. Now I know you're wondering if I ate one (I didn't), but if someone does, please tell me. I'm super curious.

I gave Rice one while it was still warm (because humans like cookies right out of the oven, right?) and this was what she did:

I decided to share the wealth with my dear friend Lily and her dog, Amos. Or keep them all for your dog. I won't judge you.

In parting, I think Borat says it best, GREAT SUCCESS!!!!

Sun Tea

Because of the large amount of clouds and rain today I've decided to post how to make sun tea. It all started that one Wednesday a couple of weeks ago. Ya know, the one where an egg would have fried on my black car? Or the one on which I layed outside for 15 minutes per side and thought I was going to have a heat stroke? Or the one where my car temperature read 107?

When we were little we used to go out to our farmhouse in Stonewall, OK with our Aunt Leslie and cousins, Kate, Kellee, and Michael. We intelligently and appropriately named it, "THE FARM", which is also where my grandmother, Jo, grew up. Aunt Leslie used to set out a big glass jar on the crusty old sidewalk and call it 'sun tea'. What's the big deal? I don't know. It's very clear and it tastes...sunny? When I was little I thought it was some type of magical tea, but now I just know it's the sun that heats the water that steeps the tea. Duh. But I had a big imagination, so what?

Start by making this magical tea with a magical glass jar and two Lipton tea bags. I hate Cain's. That's why I recommend LIPTON! Actually just get a big glass thing. A vase. A fishbowl. Whatever, just make sure #1 it's clean, and #2 you took the fish out before you stick the bowl outside.

Stick it on your porch . Let it steep.

Viola! After two hours my tea was as black as my skin that same day I layed out. I wish.

Sorry for the fuzzy pics. Sometimes my camera gets lazy.

If you like lemons in your tea, cut one. But be warned...

Knives are sharp.

Okay, Okay, I milked it so I could take a dramatic pic. Whatver, don't judge me.

What better to drink on a hot day? ICED SUN TEA.

Thanks Aunt Leslie.

Festive Cake

For the 4th I wanted to make something other than the normal flag cake with strawberry stripes and blueberry stars, so I decided to think about what would get eaten. Chocolate cake instantly popped in my head since this thing was going to have to feed a lot, and appeal to a lot of people. I still wanted the festive r/w/b theme so I busted out the old cake decorating skills. Okay it wasn't that long ago. April...2009...anyway, here's what ya need! Basically enough stuff to make two chocolate cakes (remember the trick about taking half the oil out and 2 T. of water!!!) (per cake of course)

Don't forget to level those cakes!

Slap some of that chocolate fudge frosting in between the layers then always start icing the top of the cake first. That way you can slop it down the sides and smooth them later! That, and b/c my cake lady said to. And I was paying her for the classes. So I listened.

Viola! Amazing. Use one of these spatulas and your icing will be super smooth. No knives. That's cheap. Okay...that was the boring part.

Now for the decorating!! I took a star tip (21, if you buy Wilton tips) to make the shell border first.

I took some good ol' Wilton gel food coloring, dyed a tub of white icing R W and B, and plopped it into three different bags with a thin round tip. I squiggled each color on the top border one at a time. I also added R W and B dots to the shell border.

For the star centerpiece I cut six strawberries in half and used five of the halves for the star points. I filled the center with blueberries and called it a day!

Bruschetta

Today I've decided to make an Italian appetizer: bruschetta. The word comes from the verb from the Roman language: 'bruscare' which is to roast over coals. My good friend Lily and I atteneded Lavender Fest a month ago and she brought me my prize mule: a basil plant. I love her for that. This little basil plant has grown to heigths unimaginabale and is now creeping up into my window curtain. Buying your own herbs/veggies is very earth friendly as well as much more convenient. For other ways to go green, check out Lily's blog at:

www.thegreenlimb.com.

To make the bruschetta topping I picked all the mature leaves and bought a baguette. You'll need EVOO, basil, baguette, s and p, a clove of garlic, and tomatoes. Chop the tomatoes, garlic, and basil and season with s and p.

Now you want to slice your baguette in about 1/4 in. slices. Rub with EVOO and place on a baking sheet. Top with the tomato/basil concoction. Sprinkle with parm cheese (please do not use that fake stuff that's in the green cylinder...also do not use your leftover Mazzio's packets. SAME THING.) Go buy a nice slice of parm cheese from the grocery store and grate it when you need it. It tastes so much better. It's about $4.99/slice, but it lasts me a while! Broil on top rack for a couple of minutes or until the cheese melts.

Sit back, sip some Pinot Grigio, and pretend like you're in Tuscany. Until it's time to feed the dog. Or work out. Or wash the dishes you just dirtied up. Then remember, even though you're still in Oklahoma, you can make dishes from around the world. The possibilities are endless, people...

Doggie Ice Cream

I LOVE ice cream. If you can't tell, I pretty much love anything sweet, but I always wish I could give some to my dog, Rice. For those of you who don't know (or those of you who've killed your dog doing so, human ice cream isn't good for dogs). I was strolling around Reasor's in BA today and found...duh duh duh...DOGGIE ICE CREAM! It's by the dog food aisle in a little freezer where they store the Bil-Jac stuff...

It looks like your normal elementary cafeteria ice cream (which I still get to eat at my school, so hahaha) except for the smell. It's a healthy, protein-y, smell, totally gross...As you can see, the smell interested Rice. A LOT. It's like giving your cat beef jerky, which only my sisters understand, but she went CUH-RAZY!

She loved it so much that she took the empty carton over to the carpet and fell asleep with it in her mouth. It was a good day for Rice. So go out and buy your dog ice cream and you can both share a late night snack. If their name is Rice, or Amos, or...whatever...they'll love it!

Funfetti Cookies

I love cakes. Period. What's almost better than that? Besides the smell of tanning oil in the morning? Cake mix COOKIES. So go buy one and follow along. First you need these things:




Instead of following the cake mix directions, mix the cake mix with 2 eggs and 1/3 c. of veggie oil. Roll into 1 inch balls and flatten with a cup dipped in flour.



Bake at 350 degrees for 5-8 minutes, depending on your oven. (Mine is hot so it takes about 6 min.)



Let them cool (or stick the in the freezer for 2 minutes if you want to eat one reallllly bad). Decorate with your favorite icing (I chose Funfetti...see the theme?) and sprinkle with whatever you want!



You can use whatever cake mix you want! The sky is the limit. If your dad likes red velvet, buy that cake mix, slap some cream cheese icing on it and another cookie on top and call it a red velvet sammy. Got a baby shower coming up? Throw some blue food coloring in a white cake mix and call em baby cookies. Love carrot cake but don't like all the calories? Well too bad, they're still there, but it seems like you eat less b/c cookies are small, right? Buy a carrot cake mix, slather it with cream cheese, and you've reinvented the wheel...or the cookie...