Halloween Treat Challenge - Results

It has been a busy couple of days baking. This Halloween Treat Challenge was not an easy one, either. There were many firsts for me: decorating cake pops, sprinkles on truffles, making drinks fancy, and the list goes on.

Without further adieu, here are the results:

What do you think?? 

Spiderweb Cupcakes

My Halloween Treat Challenge led me to a trip to Michael's and Walmart where I got to stock up for everything I'll need to complete my challenge!

Halloween Treat Challenge Number 1: Spiderweb Cupcakes!

Now this is a challenge for two reasons: It's my first attempt to make chocolate ganache, and the spiderwebs are white chocolate piped on wax paper, frozen and placed on top of the cupcake - something I have never done!!

Since I was more concerned with those two things, I stuck to a basic boxed cake. Dark chocolate cake mix to be exact.

While my cupcakes baked, I worked on my chocolate ganache. Technically, challenge 1. Now, a basic chocolate ganache calls for equal parts heavy cream  and chocolate. The directions I had said to put them in a bowl over simmering water (like a double boiler). It's supposed to melt the chocolate and be a little firm. Mine came out a little soupy...

Soupy...but delicious! And once my cupcakes cooled I dipped them into the chocolate ganache as the frosting. Simply divine.

The final step is tracing out spiderwebs on wax paper. It's really easy. Draw some circles (I made the outer circles a little more spiderweb-like) and then lines through the middle like these:

I placed the spiderwebs on top of the cupcakes, but you can also put it in the cupcake like I did for this one!

I would call Halloween Treat Challenge #1 a success! This weekend I will complete the other challenges.

Let me know what treats you are making for Halloween in the comments! Halloween is one of the best time for fun, easy, decorated treats!

Halloween Treat Challenge

I have been inspired. I have slowly mastered the basic cake pop (yellow cake mix, icing, dipped in white chocolate) and am in need of a challenge.

After bringing in cake pops to work...my co-workers love when I bake...someone sent me a video from Family Circle. The cover of the latest Family Circle magazine has halloween themed cake pops - and a video online of how to make them!

It puts my traditional cake pops to shame. After seeing the video, I thought to myself, "What other Halloween treats are out there I could make??"

So I went on a mission - find halloween themed cookies, cupcakes, apples, brownies, drinks, whatever and attempt to recreate them at home.

My challenge is to create the following in some shape or form:

1) Halloween themed truffles

2) Halloween chocolate covered pretzels

3) Jack-o-latern cocktail/drink

4) Owl whoopie pies/cupcake

5) Spiderweb cupcakes

And of course........

6) Pumpkin/mummy cake pops or truffles

I will be working on this challenge over the weekend, just in time to share tips & tricks on the best and easiest way to make Halloween treats!

My Pinterest "French Dip" Replication

I love Pinterest. If you haven't been to it, you are missing out.

I "pin" everything from Fun Foods, Hosting ideas, and Fashion ideas to Motivational ideas and just plain cute pictures!

But as a newly married woman, in a new city, and a 40+ hour work week, I've been most inspired by easy dinner ideas. Kyle and I were tired of chicken, pork chops, and burgers, and so I finally got the nerve to attempt a recipe I found on Pinterest.

French dip sandwich with au jus sauce. And talk about a simple recipe! I'm all for crock pot recipes that you dump all the ingredients in and 6-8 hours later it's dinner time!

So before church last Sunday, I assembled my ingredients.

1 can beef stock
1/2 cup water
1/4 soy sauce
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
3 Lb rump roast
2 cloves garlic
1 yellow onion
6-8 rolls
6-8 slices provolone cheese (I used more like 12-16 slices..what can I say!)

You cut the onion in rounds, and place on the bottom of the crock pot. Add everything except the rump roast.

Season the rump roast with salt and pepper on all sides. Place in crock pot and set crock pot to 6-8 hours depending on your day. I set mine for 6 hours (medium/high heat!).

After 6 hours, take the roast out and shred on a cutting board. Separate the onions from the sauce into 2 separate bowls. Take the rolls and place in your broiler for 2-3 minutes until warm and slightly crispy.

Assemble sandwich with meat and top with cheese. Return to broiler until cheese has melted.

You are then ready to enjoy your French dip! And trust me, it's easy and DELICIOUS!!

Keep pinning!

Welcome to Ambler, PA

Welcome to our new hometown: Ambler, PA! Population: only 6,217. But hey, it's also only 16 miles from downtown Philadelphia. And Philly's population?? 12.7 million. 

Kyle and I tied the knot June 25, 2011 and spent the following 11 days in Cancun, MX on an awesome honeymooon!

The day after we returned from Mexico, we moved out here to Ambler, PA. We spent the first week moving in - shopping for  furniture, groceries, and making it as homely as possible. We luckily have an IKEA 15 minutes away - so needless to say, we bought pretty much everything we could find there. And also to our good fortune, the Ashley Furniture store (directly next door to IKEA...) had everything in the store 50% off! Guess they can't keep up with IKEA. So, we went and bought everything ELSE there. Unfortunately it won't arrive for another 2-4 weeks...so until then, our clothes lay in piles on the floor...we have a coffee table with no couch to put it by, and a second bedroom with only a desk.

We are also blessed to have friends who are living relatively close by, so Kyle and I spent our first Saturday in Ambler out in NYC visiting my old roommate, Julie and Kyle's fraternity brother, Mike. 

We had a blast shopping everywhere from the Apple store on 5th Avenue to Scoop and Diane van Furstenberg in The Meatpacking District. And of course we went to a cupcake place (Crumbs Bakery)

We spent most of the evening at the Biergarten at The Standard Hotel in the Meatpacking District. So many young people, and a great evening out!

It's been a great first week, and work starts Tuesday for me! Hopefully now I can get in a better chance to blog - either short and sweet, or long and unnecessarily drawn out...but blogging nonetheless!

Until next time!

Chick Lit - Summer 2011

It's been far too long since I've blogged. With wedding planning, end of college, prepping for a move to Philadelphia, and babysitting in the interim it's been tough to sit down and blog. But now I found the perfect blogging opportunity (as I wait to go to IKEA later today...be jealous!).

And what do I want to blog about? My favorite summer past time: reading. This is simple, easy to read, romance, drama, heartbreak, complications, beaches, summer nights, love stories, secrets.

My list for this summer's reading is pretty long...but with a couple weeks left until the wedding and an 11 day honeymoon in Cancun, I think I can knock out quite a few. I've already read 2 this past week :)

So here it is..and comment if you have more suggestions, reviews, etc!

1. Sarah's Key - Tatiana de Rosnay
2. Fly Away Home - Jennifer Werner
3. Heaven is for Real - Todd Burpo
4. Water for Elephants - Sara Gruen
5. The Castaways - Elin Hilderbrand
6. Firefly Lane - Kristin Hannah
7. Secrets of a Shoe Addict - Beth Harbison
8. Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyers
9. Room - Emma Donoghue
10. The Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
11. The Senator’s Wife - Sue Miller
12. The Guy Not Taken - Jennifer Werner
13. Words That Matter - Oprah (more to own as a coffee table book)
14. Thin, Rich, Pretty - Beth Harbison (almost finished with)
15. The Island - Elin Hilderbrand (just read last week!)

And for the fall...

The Best of Me - Nicholas Sparks (Oct 2011)

Wish me luck - and happy reading :)

Butler Basketball!!!

What a crazy few weeks at Butler University. Back-to-back Final Four appearances, and the past four tournament games have taken place in some great locations! So here's a recap of two, yes, two roadtrips to New Orleans and Houston! (For a grand total of 60 hours in a car in a matter of 7 days).

New Orleans highlights: 
Pep rally on Bourbon Street, Cafe Du Monde, Pat O'Brien's, street vendors for lunch and tarot card reading, Harrah's (my first...and probably last...roulette experience), and 2 great basketball games!

I decided it was worth it to get all spirited for the tournament games! Bucket list - check!

Butler closed down Bourbon Street for a pep rally before the Elite Eight!

Ben Sgro doing a Tarot card reading from a man who speaks like 8 languages.

Houston Highlights: 

This time we took a bus so we didn't have to drive!! Rice University is by far the prettiest campus I've ever been to (and I've been to Harvard, Stanford, Cornell, etc). Final Four games - because yes, we made it to the championship!! And finally, the food! The barbecue, Mexican, and CUPCAKES! I went to Sprinkles, the original cupcake bakery (because of it, there are cupcake bakeries nationwide...) and Crave (I dare say an even better cupcake place!)

Unfortunately did NOT make it to Houston, but Blue II got to come!

The line to get into the Final Four!!

Front row, floor seats at the Final Four??? Two years in a row??? How did I get so lucky!?

The Sprinkles mobile - if you want Sprinkles at your wedding or event they cater!
This is the first ever cupcake bakery (originally from Beverly Hills)

This is from Crave - peanut butter chocolate chip and red velvet!

Went to Goode Co. - for Mexican AND barbecue.
Best food I've had in a LONG time (and I was just eating some great N'awlins food!)

 So much has happened in a month and there are only 3.5 weeks of school left!! Look out for more blog updates!!

My Lenten Promise

In honor of Ash Wednesday and the start of the Lenten season, I thought I'd let everyone know what I decided to do for Lent. Trust me, this took a lot of thinking and careful consideration to decide because I wanted to make it a big commitment; I didn't want to give up something I rarely use but I didn't want to make it so difficult it would be too excruciating. So - here are my two Lenten promises:

1. No more diet coke. Shocker right?? I am slightly addicted, and think this is a good chance to show myself, Kyle, and everyone that it's more of a fake addiction than a real problem. So 40 days without diet coke. It does mean however I can have sweet tea, coffee, juices, and maybe the occasional REAL coke (I'm not giving up soda..just specifically diet coke) so it should be doable.

2. I decided to do something as well, and fitting with the theme of the blog (or original theme...) I want to sweat everyday. One of my best friends told me that she had heard someone do this, because it's more doable than saying I will run every day or go to the HRC every day, instead it's a commitment to sweat - whether that's a full out 30 minute-hour work out or a ten minute jumping jack sprint. Hopefully this will get me in a good habit of being physically active, not just exercising especially since the weather is becoming warmer!

And so...today I sit here...exhausted and un-caffeinated thinking how rough Jesus must have had it since I'm about to cry without my diet coke. Seems foolish, but hey...it's all about giving something up and preparing your heart for Easter through prayer and worship. If that's something trivial like diet coke, or larger like becoming a vegetarian, or devoting an hour every day to reading the Bible - it's ultimately the same. To each their own.

My church left this Bible verse as a devotional for today. Joel 2:15-16 (from the NIV):

Blow the trumpet in Zion, 

   declare a holy fast, 

   call a sacred assembly. 

¹⁶ Gather the people, 

   consecrate the assembly; 

bring together the elders, 

   gather the children, 

   those nursing at the breast. 

Let the bridegroom leave his room 

   and the bride her chamber.

Today is the sttart of a holy fast and a gathering of people to remember Jesus' struggles and prepare for Easter. What are you planning to do this Lenten season???

My New Love....

Well, this may be an exaggeration - but I just found the amazingness that is Photoshop. Now, that being said, I am by no means good at Photoshop. I think it is a) counterintuitive a.k.a...super confusing and b) super complex. But I'm dying to make some of my wedding stuff "DIY" if nothing more than because I want to host dinners/parties/etc and if I can cheaply make invitations/cards, whatever then YAY!

So - I want to show you my first creation...something I'm hoping many of you will see at the wedding displayed prominently somewhere at the reception haha. Now, I must give credit where credit is due so I want to tell you where my "inspiration" came from - Orange Beautiful from Chicago...they have GREAT stuff, very chic and modern - totally my thing! So after downloading several fonts from the web and spending hours trying my best to match/make it my own (see those sour belts :) ) I'm so excited for the outcome!

This would not have been possible without Kyle's patience...he taught himself Photoshop (don't ask me how) and showed me everything from making a text box (again, it's counterintuitive I tell you) to making the letters closer/farther a part, etc...I can't wait to make more things like this...probably using this as the outline but yay look forward to me becoming more crafty...at like zero cost!!!

Greater Appreciation for Life

It was the worst thing ever - my J Crew color swatches came in for Dark Pacific Blue (which is what the bridesmaid dress we really like comes in) and Dark Navy. I wanted to see if Dark Pacific Blue is close enough to navy. Dark Pacific looks purple compared to real navy. Dark Navy looks black. Only 2 styles of dresses even come in Classic Navy. After consulting dozens (yes dozens) of people on if Dark Pacific looked "navy enough", boys and girls, I skyped my friend who actually WENT to J Crew to consult her opinion. I even took the online color swatches and cropped them and lined them up:


About 20 minutes in to discussing if it looked navy enough, would clash with the guys, and match everything else...we just started laughing.

How ridiculous does this all sound? Who knew there were hundreds of shades of navy...and more importantly...who cares??

I feel like all the little details involved in wedding planning has been a good test of what's really important. And my friend even pointed out, you know your life is good when the biggest worry you have is whether Dark Pacific matches Classic Navy or not.

It also helps me remember that the point of getting married isn't about the shades of navy, what's for dinner, or who the DJ is...it's about Kyle and I starting our life together.

So I will leave you all with a piece of advice from my good ol' XC days at North:

"Don't sweat the petty things, and don't pet the sweaty things."

Wedding Inspiration

This blog is little narration - lots of pictures. I scoured Google images for some navy/green inspiration and was amazed at how many beautiful navy/green wedding pictures are out there. So enjoy my new inspiration and let me know your favorites! I'd love some input :)

Can't wait to put all this inspiration to fruition. Tomorrow is a full day of florist appointments, catering, and showing my wedding planner the venue and church!