Hello Kitty Cakes

My lovely friend Maegan surprised me with a Hello Kitty cake mold last week!

Isn't it wonderful? I want to bake everything in it! Cakes, breads, jello molds, and anything else that would take on a kitty face! Luckily, it was a co-worker's birthday today, so I got busy late last night with a coconut cake!

I started with a basic white cake, with a little coconut extract. Then I soaked the cake in a mixture of coconut cream and sweetened condensed milk.

While the cake soaked, I prepared a light coconut frosting.

Frosting the cake was a bit tough, because I covered kitty's features. Luckily, my mobile phone's screen is a picture of Hello Kitty herself, so I had a quick reference point.

It only got harder when I added the shredded coconut.

As soon as I added the bow and nose, I saw kitty coming together.

I did have a little trouble with the black rope licorice. It wasn't exactly moving the way I wanted them to and with the frosting covering the whisker place-markers, I may have made a little more whisker than necessary.

I think I did better with cake number two (I made an extra cake for Maegan to thank her for the pan). Though, because I couldn't get the licorice to make little oval eyes, I made little sleepy eyes.

I think I might skip the licorice idea next time, and just go for some black frosting instead! The cake tasted wonderful, though, it was really hard to cut into such a cute face!

Shrimp Scampi, Or Eat Butter!

I love keeping some frozen shrimp handy. It's easy to thaw and tastes good in so many varieties. Ever since my post about stir-fry, I've been making so much of it and experimenting with shrimp and a variety of vegetables including mushrooms, cabbage, onions, and few other things. I love Chinese food, but I let my mind wander into Italian cuisine this week and created this little recipe for Shrimp Scampi.

Something crazy that I love to do is use low-fat substitutes for absolutely everything I eat, bake, drink, and prepare. Always. Considering I run about 10-15 miles a week, I think I can allow myself to splurge on the real thing for a change. For some reason, I feel so guilty doing it! As much as I wanted to use real, creamy, tasty butter... I went for the calorie free substitute known as I Can't Believe It's Not Butter (spray). One of these days I'll go for the real thing, but I think I have to ease my brain into the concept of it slowly. Maybe start with bits of butter mixed with my no-cal stuff, until I graduate to the real thing. Breaking habits is hard! Anyway, the pasta was fabulous! Who needs real butter!?! Not me...

Shrimp Scampi A La I Can't Believe It's Not Butter
-1 serving of Whole Wheat Pasta
-As many shrimp as you like
- I few tablespoons of I Can't Believe It's Not Butter (or real butter!)
-Garlic Salt (or the real thing, if you feel like getting fancy)
-Pepper
-White wine (I used Pinot Grigio)
-Parmesan Cheese

Boil the pasta until ready. In a separate pan mix the faux-butter with the garlic. Add in the shrimp, some pepper, and the wine (I didn't really measure how much wine, but it's really to taste). Cook the shrimp until pink. Drain the pasta, then mix with the garlic/wine mixture. Drizzle on some parmesan cheese and let it melt in with the hot pasta. Serve immediately and enjoy!

Construction Paper Mural

Since my last post, I've been up to a lot. I think a list might sum it up best. Since my last post, I have:

-Ran approximately 28 miles
-Started interning at a public library
-Prepared and given my first ever children's story time at this library
-Started interning in a paper conservation lab
-Started and finished season 4 of The Office
-Finished season 1 of Square Pegs
-Eaten lots of vegetables
-Caught my car on fire on the freeway (yes!)
-Purchased a screen-printing kit
-Purchased a fancy Danish modern chair that I have no room in my apartment for.
-Ordered new Moo cards

Well, you get the idea. I've been distracted by a lot. Though, my public library internship has given me lots to be crafty about! I have been given the task of transforming 2 big blank boards into a permanent display of something fun and colorful for the children of the library to enjoy during their story time hour! That's a big task! The boards were originally covered with some dirty old dark paper. I immediately got rid of that and started with my blank slate.

I thought it might be fun to make a "children of the library" type scene, with kids playing outside in a park. I started slowly with the sky.

The library stressed they wanted color, so I gave them color alright.

After three shifts, I finally got the background done. I also made lots of progress on the children, but I'm still creating their outfits!

I have about 3 or four days left, about 12 outfits to create and a whole other board to finish. It's going to be tough, but I'll keep the blog updated with my progress.

Chicken and Vegetable Stir-Fry

Another crazy little weekend for me. Today, I felt like having an "Annette Day". Not a glamorous day, but a nice relaxing day. I slept in late, went running, did some grocery shopping, and made some stir-fry, while watching a movie.

I love vegetables. And one of my favorites is Baby Bok Choy. It reminds me of a trip I took to Hong Kong when I was a 19 years old.. it was the first time I ever had, or remember having, Bok Choy! How was I deprived of this tasty leafy green for 19 years of my life? Well, the trip to Hong Kong was amazing, and one of the many things that trip taught me was Baby Bok Choy. It also taught me about Lychee, which is another post, all together.

I marinated the chicken in some sesame oil, oyster sauce, soy sauce, and garlic and onion powder. I mixed it in the bag and let it hang out in the refrigerator until I got all my vegetables chopped up and started on my rice.

I love baby corn, they're so adorable. After getting all the veggies ready, I stir fried the chicken for a few minutes, then set aside. I stir fried all of the vegetables (except the Bok Choy) for a few minutes, then re-added the chicken and then the Bok Choy at the end.

The reason I did the Bok Choy last was because it cooks so quickly. Next time, I think I will keep the snow peas until the end too.

All in all, it was pretty good. Actually, the best stir fry I have ever made! It almost tasted as good as the yummy take-out place down my street, except I think I used less oil and fat then they do. A slight compromise in taste, but really just as good!

Now to end this "Annette Day," I think I'll go hang out with some friends!

Laborious Labor Day Weekend

It's been one long week. Did everyone have a nice Labor Day Weekend? I mostly remember all the wonderful sleeping I did, but somehow within my slumber, I got an incredible amount done. On the crafty side of things, I finished the embroidery on the quilt tag for my quilting group.I apologize for the smudged image, I thought it might be best to blur the names of the other quilt group members, just in case they don't want their names lurking on the Internet.

Another craft related announcement that just arrived in my email box is that I am going to be part of Felt Club this year! I couldn't be more excited! I have lots of plans for new crafts relating to the things that are inspiring me the most these days: libraries, bicycles, and music.
Other great things to note of this weekend include running the Nike human race, and actually running the entire time! This is a big one for me. I'm a super slow runner, so I thought it would take me about an hour and 45 minutes to finish, but I somehow did 6.2 miles in an hour and 23 minutes! Considering that I'm only 5'2" and run slow as molasses, this is a pretty big accomplishment. The past few months of training has also damaged my right knee somewhat severely, so I'm just glad I made it through in one piece! Other exciting Labor Day weekend accomplishments include finishing my last paper of the summer, and for the first time since I started graduate school, I did a little recreational reading!

Honey Lavender Ice Cream

I think I'm getting the hang of making ice cream. I thought this was amazing, but my Honey Lavender Ice Cream was a whole new realm of good. It started with half & half, whipping cream, orange blossom honey, and some culinary lavender.

I heat up the mixture for a while, then let the lavender seep for about 30 minutes. I removed the lavender by pouring the mix through a fine sieve.

I whisked a few eggs and a pinch of salt and slowly combined the mixture together.

Then I reheated the base just a bit more, and admired the beautiful shade of cream it has become.

I let the mix chill overnight. I started to get worried at this point, because the mixture was so extremely fragrant. I'm not one to like eating foods that are too perfume like. At this point, the mix was made and there was nothing left to do, but throw it in the machine and hope for the best.

Nice and smooth after the machine. I let it chill in the freezer for an extra day.

Wow. Really, wow. Not too fragrant at all, just right actually.

The texture came out perfect. The best I've gotten so far.

Recipe can be found here.

Sick Day Crafts

Almost all of last week, I was home sick. It was pretty awful. I had a fever of about 102 and was stuck in bed all week. Each time I put a cool towel on my head, it seemed to get warm fast, so I remembered about this little plastic plate.

I actually got this plate after buying sushi-to-go one day, and didn't have the heart to throw out this cute little plate. It was the perfect size for a a block of ice for my forehead. So I filled it with some water and let it freeze.

It made a nice little piece of ice.

Place the ice in a small cloth.

And wrap it up.

When the ice started to melt, I just placed the whole cloth back into the freezer and re-used it. Luckily, I'm all better now and on to more exciting ice related projects, such as making ice cream! Tomorrow, I will post all about my latest ice cream creation.

Faux Fried Chicken

I've been wanting to make this recipe for a long time now, but it wasn't until I saw it on this lovely lady's blog when I decided to give it a go. It's a quick recipe, with simple ingredients.

Parsley, garlic, lemon and yogurt.

I used panko breadcrumbs, although I have heard other recipes using corn flakes. That might be interesting to try once I run out of the panko crumbs.

I think I prefer this chicken to real fried chicken, merely for the lack of post-fried chicken guilt.

All I need now is some corn on the cob and a slice of watermelon!

Angel Food Cake Disaster

I don't know what happened. I've made this same Angel Food Cake a dozen times before, but it wasn't going to happen for me this time. The eggs were fresh.

The batter was shaping up.

But the outcome was suspicious.

After the flip, I was immediately worried.

Even then, I didn't realize what I was about to see. Who knew cake could do this?

I was confused, but wasn't about to waste any more time scratching my head. I quickly went to the store and bought a new dozen of eggs.

I thought maybe I didn't let it bake long enough? So, for my second cake, I left it in until it was a darker brown.

I was hopeful. It looked better than the first, but I was still worried. By this time, it was late, so I went to bed and left it until morning.

Not so good.

The outside was cakey, but the inside was the same gummy substance that I got with cake #1. Either way, it was not good. I had to have my parfait ready to go in a hurry, so I was forced to go to two different grocery stores looking for a ready baked Angel Food Cake. I wasn't very happy about that. I really do like baking from scratch, but I have to admit, the store bought cake was really good. Not better than my usual Angel Food Cake, but a billion times better than the ones baked this time. I made up for it with the best cream, ever.

Cream cheese, sugar, and heavy whipping cream must be soul mates on some level. The mixture is perfect harmony. It makes one tasty parfait when layered with angel food cake, strawberries, and blueberries.

I'm not sure if this Angel Food Cake dilemma has made me want to give up Angel Food Cake baking or determined to get it perfected. I think I will try to take a baking break for now, but one of these days I might be writing a week of posts on perfecting the art of Angel Food Cake.