End of '09!

09 has been all about food/eating/gorging for me. i vow in '10 to be a healthier human being! however, i find it so hard to part with food. taste, texture, satisfaction .. who can resist? Kate Moss once said "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels." Homegirl obviously never had a bite of a Phillipe's French Dip, a Disneyland Corndog or a Sprinkles Red Velvet. Shes missing out. and im also missing out on size 24 Siwy skinny jeans, Vix bikinis and a Birkin bag, but thats besides the point. The truth is, i live to eat and not eat to live. I'm going to run into plenty of roadblocks on my way to healthy living (and by roadblocks i mean, cupcakes) so working out is going to be a key factor for me! I already locked in a workout buddy (Joyce), shoes (Reebok Easy Tones) and cute workout clothes (PINK by Victoria's Secret). 2010 is going to kick ass! Here's wishing everyone a safe & sound New Years!

Merry Christmas!!

About to feast on my first honey baked ham! Dinner at jasons fams house, yummmmmy! Merry christmas and happy eating!

Christmas yummies

Already gave one of these babies away, who's next? :)

National cupcake day!

Rudolf cupcakes!

SOOO super easy! whenever i make decorated cupcakes like these, i just use cake mix and pre made frosting. i figured you're doing extra work on the decorating so cake mix is a-ok. and they taste perfect every time!

anyways. easy. duncan hines chocolate cake mix & chocolate canned frosting.

antlers-pretzels. eyes-white m&ms & chocolate chips. nose-holiday mint m&ms (or you can use anything. cherry heads/sour balls would actually work well) mouth area - mini nilla wafers & black icing

happy holidays!

Duncan Hines part 2

Who says cupcakes in a box can't be classy? :)

lovin my new cakestand! $14.99 at Target

Duncan Hines Yellow Cupcakes

Sometimes a little Duncan Hines is all you need. I wanted to do the whole "from scratch" thing but decided against it cause I'm too lazy. BUT I did make my own frosting so its 1/2 scratch :)

Amaaayzing Chocolate Frosting

1 stick butter
4 tablespoons unsweetened dutch process cocoa powder (I get mine from Surfras in culver city)
1/3 cup whole milk
3 cups confectioners sugar, sifted

Melt the butter on low heat (2-3 minutes).
Add cocoa powder and milk, stir to combine.
Cook until mixture thickens and just begins to boil.

Remove from heat.
Stir in confectioners sugar until frosting is thickened and smooth.

Immediately spoon on top of cooled cupcakes and it will set itself. It might drip but I think drips are cute. Let them dry on a cooling rack and slide some parchment paper under the rack in case it drips on the counter, cleanup is easy.

Excuse me while I gorge myself.

Frosting Sugar Cookies Pt. 2

Royal icing is still not my friend. i guess it's still mad at me cause the last time i visited it, it didn't go so well. (remember this?) i decided to face my fears once again and confront the dang thing ...

not so bad eh??? haha she still looks weird but i mean i think ive come a long way since the first time :) i have a lot of trouble with piping (obvi), flooding (same) and getting the air bubbles outta there. hopefully "Frosting Sugar Cookies Pt. 3" will be a success. Practice makes perfect right? :) stay tuned.

oh and just for laughs .. i wanted to show my frustration cookie. every baker should have one ;)

(i had a spaz)

Top Chef Results

AAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! its a Voltaggio, but not Bryan!!! ugh, SAD! i really wasn't feelin Michael all season, but i mean i guess he has a reason to be cocky now. hahaha! i really did get a bit sad .. but it is what it is. He really was the top dog in the competition and he deserves to win. Since Michael is local to me maybe we'll go out to the Langham one night and see what this Top Chef is all about. that is ... if he's still there. with $125 G's, he probably won't be for long!

Until next season ... wait! jk, until Top Chef: Just Desserts!! reaaaally cant wait for that one!! i think Carla from last season should come back and make a cameo! that woman was an amazing baker!

Top Chef Prediction

OK! here we go .. so im just about to turn on my DVR'ed Top Chef and have been avoiding twitter/facebook and any other media for the past 3 hours that would spoil the result for me. SO I CALL Bryan! i really hope he wins!

Hello Kitty Cake Pops

Sooooooooo. the other day my friend Camie (GratefulChipper) told me about Bakerella. COMPLETELY changed my life. she is SO awesome. i obviously have been living in a cave cause i havent ever heard of her and her cake pops (and her blog) have been around for years. She is just SO creative and innovative! love her!! gotta love a girl from the south and she is my new Martha. omg, i said it. i take that back. Martha can never be replaced ;)

Anyways, i just fell in love with all her stuff and of course, the Hello Kitty Cake Pops just took the cake (pun intended) for me. i just had to do them! and they were SO much fun. i changed it up from her original HK pops cause i didnt have a edible food writer pen. so i innovated and used cut up bits of licorice and random halloween sprinkles for the eyes. i think they turned out great! they all look a little different hee hee!

a little drippy ... but they look cute!

i forgot the right ones ears. oops

who should i give these to? ;)

If you want to make these, head on over to Bakerella and check out her recipe! amazing!

food musings ...

It's kinda been a not-so-great food week for me. with the exception of the chicken stew jason made on saturday and we ended up eating it all weekend. we're pretty "stewed-out" if you will ... anyways. cause of our crappy health since thanksgiving we haven't really gone out for a great meal, or cooked a fantastical feast. i blame it on the health. can't be cookin when your coughing up grossness every 3 seconds. anyways, TMI.

i got into some kind of holiday funk last night and decided to make a croquembouche. like i said i've been in sicky so Marthas show and bad TV (namely Jersey Shore, totally my new guilty pleasure) have been keeping me company. Rachel Maddow and Martha made that croquembouche and they make it look so easy :( needless to say, mine didn't turn out or else this post would have been titled "Croquembouche" Sigh. i will attempt it again in the near future ...

to cheer me up, Jason has decided to take me on a Food Truck hunt. In LA theres this craze going around with every kind of food imaginable on wheels. Korean BBQ, ice cream sandwiches, fries, pizza, indian food. everything. Since he works in Hollywood, hes sampled 75% of all the trucks and i on the other hand have sampled oh about 0%. sad days. apparently these trucks don't really come to the 'burbs (except kogi. bless your heart kogi), so im going to stalk them. after knowing of a FRENCH FRY truck, the search is ON. i think im just going to make frysmith my inaugural food truck to mark my mission. if you see me risking my life (and the lives of others) waving you down, frysmith, dont be alarmed. just pull over .. give me the goods, and no one will get hurt.

we havent even met, and i love you already ...

Umamiburger

Mmmm I just scarfed down the cutest little burger and tater tots! I was waiting for my hair appointment so I stopped by Space 15 twenty to grab a bite. Mmm soo good. The Umami burger ($9) has sun dried tomato, a mushroom (shitaake?), cheese crisp (yum), caramelized onions on a medium rare burger. Its about half the size of a normal burger so it was the perfect size for me. Also the cheesy tater tots ($3) were super yummy and crispy. A little on the salty side but some ketchup cut down the saltiness. Can't wait to try the other burgers next time!