Tuesday, 19 July 2016
Tuesday, 5 July 2016
Easy Owl Cupcakes (Hedwig Inspired)
Step 1: Things you'll need.
Cupcake mix (and all requested items on the box)
Frosting - Any flavor or color. Be creative!
Bag of M&Ms
Oreos
Optional
Cupcake liners
#8 frosting tip (that's what I used. Not necessary of course)
Step 2: Frosting!!!!
After your cupcakes are done, cool them off and add the frosting.
I used a random frosting tip I had laying around. It said #8 on it. I just liked the bumpy texture I could make. It reminded me of feathers, so that was perfect.
Step 3: Decorating :-)
Twist the Oreos and put the side that has the cream on top of your cupcake add pictured above.
M&M's in the middle of the cream to replicate the eyeballs. Any color you wish works.
A whole orange or yellow M&M for the beak (inserted into the frosting halfway.)
For the eyebrows, I cut 1/4 of the non cream side of the Oreo. (I ate a lot of Oreos during this part *lol*)
Have a blast making these. Be creative! I can't wait to see you share!!
Dutch Oven, Fruit Medley Cobbler
I make a Dutch oven dessert almost every time we go camping because they're so easy to make. I'll ask
the kids what flavor of cobbler they want and I'll get a different answer from each one. So I had a great idea to make one cobbler to fit all their requests.
This experimental recipe was based on my normal cobbler recipes. It looks and sounds fancier but was just as simple to make and it turned out great. The kids loved being able to choose one or all flavors, and I loved being their culinary hero once again.
Step 1: Ingredients
1 can red raspberry pie filling
1 can blueberry pie filling
1 can peach pie filling
1 yellow cake mix and required ingredients (mine called for 3 eggs, 1/3 cup vegetable oil, and 1 cup water)
* As a side note, you could choose to use any fruit pie filling flavor you wanted (strawberry, apple, etc).
* Another option is to use two or four flavors.
Step 2: Tools and Utensils
12" Dutch oven
Can opener (if your pie filling doesn't have pull top lids)
Spoon and mixing bowl
Briquettes and a lighter (I like to use a chimney starter)
Tongs to handle hot briquettes
Tool or glove to handle a hot Dutch oven
Step 3: Preparation
Start by lighting the briquettes so they can be ready when you start cooking in about 15 minutes.
Lightly oil the bottom of the Dutch oven.
Spoon the cans of pie filling into the bottom of the Dutch oven, keeping each flavor separate from the other.
Prepare the cake mix and required ingredients as directed.
Spoon the cake mix over the pie filling, making sure not to mix the pie fillings or the cake mix.
Step 4: Cooking
Cook in a conventional oven for 34-38 minutes at 350°F.
Or
Cook using briquettes for 34-38 minutes at 350°F by placing 10 briquettes under the Dutch oven and 16 briquettes on top of the Dutch oven.
Rotate the entire Dutch oven 1/4 turn and the oven lid 1/4 turn the opposite direction every 7-10 minutes for even baking heat.
Step 5: Serve and enjoy
Serve and enjoy your new found hero status.
Optionally garnish with whipped cream or ice cream.
Step 6: A few more tips for cooking with a Dutch oven
To know how many briquettes to use on top and bottom use the following formula for 325°F heat:
- Place the same number of coals under the oven as the pot diameter minus three.
- Place the same number of coals on top of the oven as the pot diameter plus three.
- To increase or decrease the heat in increments of 25°F:
- Add (or remove) one briquette each to the top and bottom for every 25°F
- Therefore our 350°F cooking temperature is:
- Bottom = 12(for the diameter) - 3(for the rule) + 1(for the extra 25°F) -> 10 briquettes on bottom
- Top = 12(for the diameter) + 3(for the rule) +1(for the extra 25°F) -> 16 briquettes on top
- One trick I use is to mix the cake mix at home, put it in a zip lock bag, and just pour it over the pie filling when I'm ready to cook.
- Last tip, I like to use heavy duty tin foil to line the bottom of my Dutch ovens when cooking sweet desserts. The sticky sweet food doesn't come off as easy as I would like.
Monday, 4 July 2016
How to Open a Champagne Bottle
Step 1: Remove the Foil Top
(If the remaining lower portion of the foil is loose and moving around, I like to remove that too.)
Step 2: Remove the Wire Cork Cage
Add caption |
Step 3: Pro Cork Removal
1. Place the bottle on a smooth and stable surface.
2. Firmly grab the cork and push down while keeping it stationary.
3. As you're holding the cork and pushing down, SLOWLY twist* the bottle either direction while keeping the bottle firmly on the work surface.
4. Allow the cork to slowly rise up and out of the bottle as you're slowly twisting the bottle until there is a very small pop and the cork comes all the way out. There may be a little foaming over, but if you've done the process slowly enough, there will be only a small amount or none at all.
*Depending on the internal pressure, it will take anywhere from 5-8 rotations of the bottle before the cork is ready to come out.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)