Cake Decorating Anyone

The last few weeks has really revolved around cooking and baking for me. Not that I am complaining, I am just shocked that I actually found the time to fit in a few Red Velvet cakes, almost 60 cupcakes, a few cobblers and an apple pie. Along with only having to cook 3 days and having almost 3 weeks worth of food either on standby in the fridge for heat and serve or in the freezer to pop in the oven when needed.

I am actually enjoying the time that I have created for myself, I am working on my own butt crease in our sofa!

Anyway since I have had so much fun baking I decided I would like to see about broadening my horizons in the pastry field. I was thinking of acquiring some decent cookie cutters, more baking dishes and moulds, maybe a lazy susan some spatulas and other odds and ends to make my baking a bit easier and more enjoyable.

So browsing around I came across Michaels craft site and they are offering 50% off during the month of March for a 4 week course in cake decorating. For a the very small fee of $22.50 I have signed up and I cannot wait.

I have found myself day dreaming of fondant and buttercream frosting, moist German Chocolate cake with a creamy Hazelnut filling......... ahhh I cannot wait until March 7th.
I'll let you know how it works out!

Planning a Baby Party

I am currently 24 weeks pregnant with my last child yet my first girl. And hubby and I decided on throwing a Non-Baby Shower - Baby Shower. We are not looking for gifts or money, we are simply looking to celebrate our new baby to be and our first girl.

So I have decided on throwing a Hello Kitty Themed Party. I want it to be a girly party with a Baby To Be twist.I have decided to only decorate the tables in the HK Motif, using HK tablecovers and HK Mylar balloon center pieces that I will make myself. The rest of the room will be decorated in crepe paper streamers, and balloons in cordinating colors. And I am currently scouring the internet to get a HK customized banner made that would read Emily To Be Party.


Between our family and friends list tops out at about 50 adults and around 17 children. So it will be a decent sized party to plan. I am planning on serving a wide variety of finger foods and appetizers. Cheese and cracker platters, finger sandwiches, Tomato and fresh mozzarella platter, cold cut platter, fruit platters maybe get a 6-7ft Italian/American hero, with potato salad & macaroni salad sides, maybe some buffalo wings, etc. So that it will be a lite party not one of those heavy sit down buffet style parties.

I am hoping it turns out the way I have it pictured in my head, I will keep updating as things progress.

The years fly by...

Yum Yum is going to be 2 in a few weeks, and I swear I just had him yesterday.

Currently we are planning 2 birthday parties for him, one in the apartment and the other in a Party Zone kids play place.

We tried to get around the two parties but realized if we have one big one (meaning all who we know - family and close friends = 50 people not including kids), it would cost way more than having two smaller ones.

We decided to split up the parties a family orientated party at the house with aunts, uncle and older cousins. Making this party semi pot luck. So that our older famiy memembers and friend without children can come and help us celebrate his day.

And then for family and friends with children under 7 (there are 15 kids in our family alone under 7) we will have a party in the Party Zone. I am appreciating the Party Zone, simply because all I have to do is show up at the appointed time and leave by a certain time. No hassels with setting up or cleaning up. I am a guest at my own party, I get all the glory of seeing my baby play with his friends and family.I don't even have to keep my eye trained on him because3 young girls look after the kids, climbing through the jungle gym and organizing games with the children. I can sit and be pretty with my big ol' pregnant belly.

Now for the house party mmmmmmmm Not to excited, I have to clean & decorate, and stock up the fridge with juices and soda. I then have to hope people arrive and leave by a decent time, then I have to clean again.

Got Teeth !

So this past weekend Sportys dad came to pick him up for one of their boys nights out. I am pretty proud of his dad because after many years of simply being a bump on a log, he is finally becoming one with being a real daddy. He is in constant contact with Sporty on a daily basis, whether through myspace, phone calls or texting. I am happy after many years of telling him that he is missing out on an amazing kid, that he is now realizing how lucky we are that God gave him to us. Even though we were both too young and immature to have a baby. We got the best pick!

Anyway, He comes over friday and while we are sitting in the livingroom waiting for Sporty to get Spiffy, I swear this kid is a little too into his looks. He came out at least 5 times to ask if he looked out, to the point I yelled at him, "DUDE, your going out in the dark (it was about 6:30pm) you are going to sit in a dark theatre for 2+ hours then you are going to an arcade! No one will notice that your blacks are two different colored blacks!!!!!"
Sports dad and I started talking about his grade and his behavoir, to which I have no real complaints he is in the 86% in school and he is always home by curfew. I did however ask his dad to speak to him about his attitude ( which I know at 12 y/o it is only normal). I said that Sports attitude and the way he talks to his brother, me and hubby sometimes makes me want to knock his head through a wall.
To this Sports dad replies -with an attitude himself I might add - well what do you expect he has OUR ATTITUDES!!!!!
I glared at him and said, "Fuck that, it happens again and he will have NONE OF OUT TEETH!!!!

Superbowl Weekend

So this past Sunday was an All American Blast, with the Superbowl happening.I had about 12 people over for snacks and finger food and it was an absolute blast, the only real problem I had is that I left both of my cameras at my aunts house in New Jersey the night before, and had to rely on a friend to take photos.

We had a great spread, I made my family famous fried chicken, baked macaroni and cheese and a tuna macaroni salad that was literally made up on the spot (and was oooh soo awe some) for the snacking part I had a mini taco bar set up with some borrowed fondue pot to keep the melts cheese for the tacos and nachos nice and melty, and a spread of all kinds of toppings for the taco meat. It was a nice looking table and cost me very little since most of the ingredients could be bought when on sale and are either freezable or shelf stable.

I still have no idea who won or how or why for that matter because I am much more of a food fan than I am a football or any other sports fan for that matter. And I spent most of my time in the kitchen with my girlfriends gossiping and talking baby and kids talk than I did sitting in the living room with the men fold.

I am currently waiting for my friend to send me the photos she took so that I can post them here.

Macaroni Salad

So tomorrow is Super Bowl Sunday and I am expecting about 10-15 people. Since I have been battling a cold this entire week I decided to have a pot luck snack fest. Not normally I would be cooking a feast where everyone would come only bringing themselves and they would usually leave with a bottle of soda and a large Tupperware full of leftovers.
In our house we don't drink soda, parties and celebrations are the exception. Anyway I decided that I simply couldn't do what I wanted to do so my motto usually is if you can't do it right don't do it at all.

So for my portion of the potluck tomorrow I am making some salads and my great tasting fried chicken. Here is the Macaroni Salad recipe that makes my family simply swoon.


Whatcha Need
1 pound of elbow macaroni
1/2 small red onion, chopped really small
1 stalk of celery, chopped really small
1/4 cup of fresh chopped parsley
2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
Pinch o Cayenne pepper
1 1/2 cups mayo
pepper

Whatcha Do
1. Bring 4 quarts to a boil in a large pot for the macaroni. Add 1 tablespoon of salt and the macaroni to the boiling water and cook, stirring, until nearly tender, about 5 minutes. Drain in a colander and rinse with cold water until cook, then drain briefly so that the macaroni remains moist. Transfer to a large bowl.

2. Stir in onion, celery, parsley, lemon juice, mustard, garlic powder and cayenne, and let sit until flavors are absorbed. About 2 minutes. Add the mayo and let sit until the salad texture is no longer watery, about 5 to 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve

Compliments of The Best of America's Test Kitchen

Octuplet Mom......What the Hell ...... When is enough.... When is it considered a sickness

Mommy of 8 + 6 ranging from Brand new born to 7 years old!
I want to meet the doctor who okay'd allowing this women to have more children with obviously no plan for the aftermath.

So the last few days I have been following the news drama regarding the young mother who gave birth his past Monday to Octuplets. At first I was happy and filled with love for the couple who in my mind may not have been able to have children previously, and were blessed 8 times.
I had my own little story going, until slowly yet surely things kept coming out that tore away at my story. Now many people were quick to bash the poor women when they heard that she lived with her parents in a two bedroom house. NOT ME, I was like well everyone should have the right to have their own children should they choose. Some people have not found the "right" person and if they feel as though they are capable of taking care of a child or twins or maybe even triplets then so be it.

But then it came out that the woman had SIX other kids at home, WHAT THE FUCK! Sorry, that just came out. At what point do the doctors send this damn women for a head evaluation.

I know of couples who would do anything to have a child of their own, but cannot afford it. Yet this women had 6 separate pregnancies all via fertility treatments, how the hell did she afford them.

At what point does quality of life come in, who is supporting these children. When were her parents going to say hey enough is enough if you bring one more child into our house you will have to go.

I know of plenty of teenagers who had children who were told just that. I feel really badly for those children, the newborns and the older children, for I see only a very special man/woman will be able to handle a woman with 14 kids AT ANY AGE.

And I am not saying that she needs a man/woman in her life in order for her to help her raise her children. What I am saying is that she will eventually want companionship some where down the line and who will be crazy enough to get involved with someone like that.