aboutrecipesdiysfamily coffee and cashmere navigation

Peter Piper Pickapeppa

I am exhausted. Just took my little queen trick or treating for the first time, by myself. Big mistake. She had tons of fun, but carrying a 30 pound two year old around does wonders for your back (of course, that was said with a sarcastic undertone). Anysugarhigh, I can't even attempt to think right now. Such a long, drawn-out day. I am hungry and I'll give you the lowdown on my snack I'm about to whip up. Sorry for two foodie posts in a row. Nom nom nom nom.

Pickapeppa & Cream Cheese
Ingredients:
Pickapeppa sauce
Cream cheese
Crackers

- I just slice however much cream cheese I need, and pour the Pickapeppa sauce over it. Then serve with crackers. Easy. Peasy.

Photobucket
Photobucket

Bourbon Balls and Such

Writing that post about Ben and Jerry's new bourbon flavored ice cream reminded me of an amazing recipe that my fiance and I made. It was a level ten, being the hardest dessert I have ever attempted. With the skill we mastered from this cake, we should just open up our own Carlos Bakery. We slaved away in the kitchen making a Bourbon Ball Torte with Bourbon Balls on top of it, made with Labrot & Graham Woodford Reserve Kentucky Bourbon. Hey-oh!

Photobucket

Photobucket

If any brave soldiers want to take on this challenge, here is the recipe:
Kentucky Colonel Bourbon Balls
1 cup pecan halves plus additional for garnish
1/4 cup Kentucky bourbon
1 pound confectioners' sugar
1/4 pound butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 pound bittersweet chocolate
1 tablespoon melted paraffin

-Soak the 1 cup of pecans in bourbon for several hours. Mix the sugar, butter, and vanilla until creamy. Drain the pecans, reserving the bourbon liquid that remains, mix the liquid into the sugar mixture

-Roll the sugar mixture into marble-sized balls around the pecan halves. Chill the balls in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

-Melt the chocolate and add the paraffin. Dip the cooled balls into the melted chocolate, use a fork to retrieve the balls from the melted chocolate mixture. Top each ball with a pecan half and allow to dry.


Bourbon Ball Torte

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate
1/2 cup boiling water
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
4 large eggs, separated
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 and 1/2 cups sifted cake flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
3/4 cup bourbon
2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup powdered sugar
16 large bourbon balls (recipe above)
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

-Break the chocolate into pieces and mix it with the boiling water until completely dissolved. Let cool. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cream the butter and 2 cups sugar until fluffy and pale yellow. Continue heating and add the egg yolks, one at a time, until thoroughly combined.

-Add the chocolate mixture and vanilla and mix well. Sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Combine the buttermilk and bourbon. Add 1/2 of the flour and then 1/2 of the milk to the butter-chocolate mixture, continuing to mix and scrape the sides of the bowl.

-Add the remaining milk and flour and mix on medium-high speed until smooth. Be careful not to over beat the batter. In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites at high speed until stiff peaks form. Slowly fold the egg whites into the batter and pour into 4 buttered and floured 9-inch round pans. Bake on the center rack for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven and cool. Invert pans and turn out cakes.

-To begin assembling the torte, use a very sharp, serrated knife to cut off the tops of the cakes to produce 4 even layers. Whip the 2 cups cream with powdered sugar to form very stiff peaks. Chop 8 of the bourbon balls into small pieces and add to the whipped cream. Chill for at least 1 hour so the filling can set up and support the weight of the layers. Brush away excess crumbs from the tops of the cakes and place one layer on a large, flat plate. Top with 1/3 of the filling and spread out to within 1/4 inch of the edge. Add the next layer and repeat the process. Refrigerate the cake for at least 2 hours. 

Photobucket

-For the last stage of assemble, scald the 1/2 cup cream and add to the chocolate chips, whisking until completely melted and smooth. Transfer the cake to a wire rack over a baking sheet and pour the glaze over the cake to coat completely. Cool again, and once the ganache surface has solidified somewhat, decorate the edge with the remaining bourbon balls. Geesh. And. We. Are. Done.

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket


As Buddy would say, "FUGETABOUTIT"

B-A-N-A-N-A-S

So, I hear Gwen Stefani is releasing a children's clothing line called "Harajuku Mini" for Target on November 13. The collection has baby, toddler, and kid clothes ranging $4 to $3o. Great. Another Missoni fiasco just waiting to happen.

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

A Story Begins

I want to give kudus to a fantastic woman, Libby Story McRight. She started a business in my hometown and it blossomed into two fabulous locations and a website, featured in Seventeen, Health, Lucky, and People magazines. Her unique eye for vintage and current fashions never disappoint. She even makes her own jewelry and cuts up old clothes to turn into one of a kind pieces. Ba da ba ba ba, I'm lovin' it.

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

Check out Libby Story for these great items.

Sugar High

I was thumbing through one of my magazines and found an article on a book called "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops?" I have wondered that same thing. Glad someone finally wrote about their disappearance. 

I started thinking back to all the candy from my childhood. Whatever happened to all these mouth-watering treasures?!


Pop Rocks. The experiments were endless.
Photobucket


Painterz gum. You know it is legit when there is a z instead of an s. These balls changed your mouth different shades. Always a plus. Maybe.
Photobucket


FruitStripe gum. Flavor lasted for half a minute. But, what a joyous half-minute. And let's not forget to mention those cool tattoos! Lick and stick!
Photobucket


Chiclets. Tiny party in a bag.
Photobucket


Candy Cigarettes. This is imaginative play at it's finest. I always love to see a five year old pretending to smoke a cig.
Photobucket


Candy Buttons. Loved these, but hated the paper that would get stuck on their backs. That defeated the whole purpose of teaching kids to NOT eat paper. 
Photobucket


Black Jack gum. My fav. Licorice flavored, so not for everyone.
Photobucket


Big League Chew. Fun times seeing who could get the most gum in their mouth.
Photobucket


Bubble Jug. Gosh, I used to down one of these at a time. The candy powder was deadly addictive. 
Photobucket


Nik-L-Nip. Waste of wax and whatever the liquid actually was inside. 
Photobucket


What were your favorite candies from way back when?!











Purse Clutter

Or lack there of!!! I downsized and de-cluttered this past weekend! Yay me!

Photobucket
-Vintage Jay Herbert quilted leather bag. 
-My license, debit card, and money.
-Trusty Chapstick.
-Orbit peppermint gum.
-Chanel Double Perfection natural matte powder. Love this stuff. 
-Hippie perfume oil in "Rasta." It covers up stink so well. Allegedly. Reportedly. Alleportedly.

Wired

If you are on the music festival scene, you probably know about Wraps. If you aren't affiliated with that circuit, then let me explain what they are.

"Wire wrapping is one of the oldest techniques for making jewelry by hand. In wire wrapping, jewelry is made using jewelry wire and findings similar to wire (like head-pins) to make components. Wire components are then connected to one another using mechanical techniques with no soldering or heating of the wire. Frequently, in this approach, a wire is bent into a loop or other decorative shape and then the wire is wrapped around itself to finish the wire component making that loop or decorative shape permanent. Because of this technique for wrapping wire around itself this craft is called wire wrapping."

Okay, that paragraph is from Wikipedia, because I really didn't know a thing about it. Except that they are intricate pieces of art. And, that I dig em. These photos below are wraps made by a good friend of mine.

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

If you are interested in purchasing one of these little gems, contact RanaTron Wraps. All the photos are proof of her mad skills. Dynamite!!

All Dolled Up

My child loves baby dolls. She totes them all over the house, makes them go "wee" down her slide, and brings a chosen "lucky one" to be her sidekick during shopping trips. Which really means I have to keep up with two babies. Here are her top six. She alternates her favorites, like I alternate my purses. Same, same.
 
Photobucket

The first three are Corolle baby dolls. The big one makes crying and babbling noises and my little queen gets a kick out of that. The two smaller ones are Tidoo baby dolls, which can go in the bathtub. The one in the blue dress in front HAS both legs, she just wouldn't cooperate during the shoot. All Corolle dolls smell like vanilla, so it is hard not to have one for dessert. I jest, I jest.

The cloth doll is Baby Stella from Manhattan Toy. This doll comes with a magnetic paci that stays on very well and has clothes and accessories (sold separately, boo) that are very easy for little hands to work with. She is super plump and even has a tiny belly button. Awe!

The last two are the classic Baby Huggums from Madame Alexander. I never had this baby growing up, but one of my friends did. I used to eyeball it every time I went to her house to play. Peanut. butter. and. jealousy. They are wonderful dolls with cloth bodies, and if you give them a squeeze, they squeak! I think I actually love these two more than my daughter. Come to think of it, I really get her toys for me..

Little Boos

Can I just say that I love this Halloween costume idea? My little fashion queen will most likely go as Aubrey Hepburn when she is five, too.
Source: etsy.com via Lindi on Pinterest

Seeing that photo made me take a gander at other kid costumes. Some are pretty creative. Like this "Where the Wild Things Are" subway shot.

RoboCop. Haha.

Even better, Dwight Schrute.
Photobucket
One of my favorites, the Yo Gabba Gabba family.

Paper Doll. Cute and easy!!

And the three-armed baby. Creeptastic.

Lola

WOW. These models are so beautiful, but their gender can be deceiving..

Photobucket
Above, Andrej Pejic. Male.

Photobucket
Above, Kristina Salinovic. Female.

Photobucket
Above, Martin Cohn. Male.

Photobucket
Above, Jenny Shimizu. Female.

Photobucket
Above, Darell Ferhostan. Male.

Photobucket
Above, Eleonora Bose. Female.

Photobucket
Above, Cooper Thompson. Male.

"Lo-lo-lo-lo Lola.. Girls will be boys and boys will be girls. It's a mixed up muddled up shook up world except for Lola.. Lo-lo-lo-lo Lola..."

Haberdashery & Mockery

Are you kidding me? H&M's website now shows their clothes online, but still won't let you order them. Just go ahead and taunt us.

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

Photobucket

Other Good Reads

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...