Care Bear Birthday Cake and Rainbow Cupcakes (Little Sweets turns 3!)

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Our "baby" girl turned 3 recently, and I have to share a few photos from her special day! Her favorite books right now are the Care Bears books (the old school ones that were mine when I was little) so she wanted me to make her a Care Bear cake. Here it is!

It was interesting trying to transform the Wilton Care Bear cake pan (which was one of the new Care Bears) to Wish Bear from the old books. Little Sweets' favorite color is blue so I wanted to make a blue Care Bear... the other options were Grumpy Bear and Bedtime Bear, hence our choice to make Wish Bear!

And on to the cupcakes, which made because there were a lot of people coming to the party and we needed more cake. Here's a close-up shot of them, inspired by a Pinterest find!

The candy rainbows are Airheads Xtremes (rainbow berry sour candy). I found them in the Dollar Spot at Target--one package was enough for 24 cupcakes (cut them in half). If you're going to make these, wait until you're just about to serve them before adding the rainbows. I used homemade buttercream frosting and it worked well because the frosting hardened a bit and could hold them up better.

For the favors, I made some rainbow candy lollipops. I bought the candy mold from a local craft store and painted in the rainbows with those candy melts you get from craft stores.

Happy Birthday to our Little Sweets!

Jordan Marsh Blueberry Muffins (from scratch) - Recipe

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Who needs a family's-in-town breakfast recipe? Blueberry Muffins from scratch are the perfect treat during the holidays... filling, crowd-pleasing and (mostly) healthy. Time to use up your stash of late-summer blueberries in the freezer!

When my mom and her sisters were young, they would go to a department store in Boston, Massachusetts called Jordan Marsh where they sold Blueberry Muffins. Somehow, someone got the recipe and the rest is history.

If you've never had blueberry muffins made from scratch, just you wait. These are so yummy and you definitely won't miss that sugary crumb topping that I usually love so much on (store-bought) blueberry muffins.

Jordan Marsh Blueberry Muffins

(Click here to download printable .pdf file)

Ingredients

2 cups flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup milk

2 cups blueberries

nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease muffin pan or line with paper baking cups.

In a small bowl, stir flour and baking powder together. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well.

Beginning and ending with the dry ingredients, alternate adding dry ingredients and milk to creamed mixture, mixing well after each addition.

Fold in blueberries (if frozen, toss with 2-3 tsp. flour from the measured amount to keep them from sinking and leaking) and nuts.

Pour or scoop dough into muffin pan (dough will be thick). Bake for 30 minutes until gorgeous and golden.

Craving more yummy creations? Check out my other recipes here!

10 Tricky Treats to make this Halloween (Creepy Halloween Party Food!)

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My mom always makes the coolest food for her office holiday parties. She's very creative and an awesome cook! This week, she emailed me the link to what she made for the Halloween party, Melted Witches. People are so creative!

If you have a Halloween party this weekend or just want to make something fun for your family on Halloween, here are tutorials for 10 Tricky Treats!

Melted Witches by Confessions of a Cookbook Queen

Blood Slide Suckers by Forkable

Trick or Treats Cake Pops by Bakerella

Eyeball Caprese by Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories

Witch's Fingers by Magda's cauldron

Ghost Cake by i am baker

Jell-O Worms by The Idea Room

Halloween Cupcakes by My Cake School

Screaming Red Punch with Hand by Real Simple

Yummy Mummy Cupcakes by BH

If you're in the mood for less trick and more treat, check out Libby's Glazed Pumpkin Cookies, made by me!

Libby's Glazed Pumpkin Cookies by SweeterThanSweets

Cookie Fail

The other day, I attempted a different kind of Pumpkin Cookie. It failed miserably.

Here it is, my first attempt of using a cookie mold pan:

I want to share the destruction here because, as I said in the disclaimer on the About Me page, what you see on this blog just represents a part of my life. I don't usually share the messes or failures but every once in awhile, I believe it's good for the soul (yours and mine!).

What did I do wrong? Has anyone ever used these shaped cookie pans before? I used cooking spray and followed a sugar cookie recipe specifically for this kind of pan. But still, only one turned out right. If you've used these pans successfully for sugar cookies, I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments!

Anyway, since these were meant to be for the girls at my MOPs table for the next day's meeting, I had to reevaluate my approach and ended up making roll-out sugar cookies and using a pumpkin cookie cutter. Then I used orange-colored royal icing and piped on lines with melted chocolate.

Not what I planned (and my kitchen was a disaster) but that's life sometimes. I think next time I'll just stick with my tried-and-true Libby's Glazed Pumpkin Cookies!

Libby's Glazed Pumpkin Cookies Recipe

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You've been waiting for this (even if you didn't know it).

I gave you a sneak peek of these soft pumpkin cookies last Saturday. They are so delicious and this is coming from someone who doesn't even like pumpkin pie! In fact, this is the only pumpkin-y treat that I'll eat.

Have I convinced you? Now here's the recipe for Libby's Glazed Pumpkin Cookies (courtesy of VeryBestBaking.com) so you can taste for yourself how yummy these are!

Printable recipe available here.

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened
• 1 cup Libby's® 100% Pure Pumpkin
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Glaze (recipe follows)

Make sure you use 100% Pure Pumpkin (not Pumpkin Pie Filling!)

 

Directions

PREHEAT oven to 350° F. Grease baking sheets.

COMBINE flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in medium bowl. Beat sugar and butter in large mixer bowl until well blended. Beat in pumpkin, egg and vanilla extract until smooth. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto prepared baking sheets.

BAKE for 15 to 18 minutes or until edges are firm. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely.

 

For Glaze: (Optional, but yummy)

• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 3 Tablespoons milk
• 1 Tablespoon melted butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

COMBINE powdered sugar, milk, melted butter and vanilla extract in small bowl until smooth.

DRIZZLE, POUR, OR SPOON over cooled cookies.

Bonus points: Pure pumpkin puree is an amazing source of Vitamin A and a good source of Vitamin C, Vitamin K, alpha-carotene and beta-carotene (see the full nutritional data here.)

When you make these cookies, you'll have a little bit of pureed pumpkin left over. I always let Little Sweets eat what's left over and she loves it. Pure pumpkin puree was one of the healthy "homemade" baby foods I gave her when she was first starting solids.

In case you're wondering, No. This is not a sponsored post.
I just love Libby's Glazed Pumpkin Cookies.

A Perfect Saturday.

Today has been a perfect Saturday.

I slept in until 8 a.m., then made myself a delicious double-tall White Chocolate Mocha. It tasted like the cappuccinos that my Sweets and I enjoyed at the cafe near our hotel in Rome (after we added 4 sugars to it).

Then our little family enjoyed a brunch of waffles with fresh-cut strawberries, scrambled eggs and a Fall favorite of mine, Libby's Glazed Pumpkin Cookies!

I'm going to share the not-so-secret recipe for these Pumpkin Cookies later this week so stay tuned! Here's the recipe for Libby's Glazed Pumpkin Cookies.

After we stuffed ourselves, we settled into a couch full of blankets and pillows for Family Movie Morning. Little Sweets can't really sit through a whole movie, but it was so cozy and I got lots of cuddles from her and my Sweets.

Then nap time for Little Sweets and time to get ready for a date night tonight, courtesy of our MOPs chapter. Tonight I'm going to enjoy some quality time with my hubby!

In other words... it's a Perfect Saturday.

How to Cut a Pineapple - Tutorial

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I used to not like pineapple. It's wasn't the taste, it was those gross hard chunks that you have to chomp through. Then, while living in Hawaii a few years ago, I realized that if you cut a pineapple right, you can easily cut out all the hard parts. Hence, this tutorial.

This tutorial may seem silly to some of you who have been cutting pineapples for years, and it's only one of many ways to cut a pineapple. But this method works great and if you've never bought or cut your own pineapple, I hope you'll feel ready to tackle one now!

What you need to cut a pineapple:

a pineapple =)

a big, sharp knife

a cutting board

First, you want to get rid of the two ends of the pineapple. Lay the pineapple on its side and chop off the top and the bottom.

Turn the pineapple onto one of the ends and cut into quarters, right through the center.

Now you want to get rid of the hard middle part. Set aside three of the four quarters for now. While still standing on one end, cut the corner (the middle) off at an angle. Try not to cut too much off but make sure that you've gotten rid off all of the hard part by stabbing into it at several points. The knife should slip right in and out. Trim extra if necessary.

Now cut the quarter into half again while it's still standing on one end. Put aside one of the two sections for now. You'll be working with this eighth of a pineapple from now on.

Trim off the skin of the pineapple by getting as close as you can to the edge while still removing most of those weird brown pock-marks.

I like my pineapple slices really small, so after laying it back down on its side, I cut the pineapple lengthwise again (now it's 1/16th of a pineapple), then slice into chunks.

Now go back to your other quarters and cut them all up in the same way. You'll end up with about 6 cups of chopped pineapple.

There will be a lot of waste but it's inevitable when cutting a pineapple, unfortunately.

If you want to feel a little bit better about how much you're wasting, plant the pineapple top in the ground. That's how they grow!

Mmm, now you can enjoy fresh chopped pineapple instead of the canned stuff.

What is your favorite way to eat pineapple?

Watermelon Slushy Tutorial

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I (like most people, I'm sure) hate throwing away food. So when I chopped up a giant watermelon for a BBQ and had a ton leftover, I decided to make it into a Watermelon Slushy and freeze it for later. This is a great summertime treat to enjoy with the kids while they play with their Rainbow Ice!

This recipe comes from Woman's Day's August 2011 issue. I made this twice, the first time exactly as directed, adding sugar water. The second time, I tried it without sugar water and it was delicious (and I have a sweet tooth). So forgo the sugar and make another all-fruit healthy snack for the kids!

Ingredients for Watermelon Slushy:

Watermelon, chopped 

Water (maybe)

Are you a visual learner? If so, here's how to make this summertime treat:

Oops--not pictured: strain the juice as you pour it into your dish so you won't get the seeds!

Now for those of you who prefer the directions written out step-by-step...

First, chop the watermelon. It doesn't have to be neatly cubed like this, these are the leftovers from the BBQ I was telling you about.

Puree in your blender or food processor. You may need to add a bit of water to help it blend. Then, strain it as your pour into a glass dish. Cover the dish with plastic wrap and freeze.

When it's solid, take it out of the freezer and let it defrost for awhile, then take a fork to it and scrape away! You can scrape it like you see in this photo, or (especially if you're doing a larger batch), chip away at it with your fork held vertically.

Try not to make too big of a mess getting it into your glasses, and munch away while you enjoy these last few weeks of summer!

Does it make your mouth water just looking at it?

You may be wondering: how much does this make? These two glasses were the yield from 1/2 of a medium-sized watermelon. If you do a giant watermelon, the scraping/chipping away process will take much longer. Let it defrost or put the dish in some hot water and patiently wait for up to 20 minutes before trying to scrape.

Hmmm... what other fruits would make a good slushy?

How to Bake Better (Lazier?) - Save Time and Calories with this Baking Tip

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I've said it before: I'm a lazy baker. But sometimes lazy is good because it saves time and maybe even some calories.

Whenever I make cookies or scones (which is probably more often than it should be), I only bake a few since it's just the 3 of us. Then I scoop all the rest of the dough onto a small cookie sheet and freeze the whole tray of pre-scooped dough.

You can have fresh-baked cookies whenever you want! I think it saves me calories since I am less likely to eat a bunch of cookies "before they go bad." Ha!

(I've also done this for my Sweets when he was going to be home alone for awhile and he wanted to have fresh-baked cookies without having to do most of the work. He asked me so nicely that I couldn't refuse.)

Here's what you need to know:

You can squeeze in a ton of scoops on one baking sheet, just place the scoops right next to each other. Cover the sheet with some plastic wrap and pop it in your freezer overnight. Then the next morning, take them off the cookie sheet and put them into a big freezer-quality zip-top bag.

The frozen dough balls usually come off easiest when you twist them. I've never greased the cookie sheet (remember, I'm a lazy baker) but that might work, too.

Write the cooking temperature and time on the outside of the bag so you don't have to take the recipe out each time you want to bake a few cookies. Make sure you write down if the cookie sheet needs to be greased before baking. You may also want to write the date you made the dough in case they get buried in the freezer somewhere.

When you're ready to bake the cookies, put the frozen dough onto a cookie sheet and let it come to room temperature (usually 20-30 minutes). If you can't wait that long, just add a few minutes to the baking time and they should turn out great that way, too. You might want to press the centers down a bit to help them bake more evenly.

What do you think? What's your best lazy-baker tip?

Favorite Oatmeal (with Kale) - Recipe

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Have you made kale for your kids yet? Here's what I do with our stash of kale cubes: Little Sweets eats this and no other oatmeal.

This oatmeal is so amazing for little ones because if they eat nothing else that is good for them the rest of the day, at least you know they had whole grains, green vegetables and fruit in their breakfast!

While we were traveling once, I tried to make her the microwaveable, sugared-up, flavored kind and she wouldn't touch it. She's 2 1/2 and she's been eating this several times a week for more than a year now.

(In case you're wondering, I don't like any kind of oatmeal. Except for my friend Susan's Amish Baked Oatmeal, which may get its own post one day.)

Ingredients for Favorite Oatmeal (with Kale):
adapted from the Super Baby Food book

3 cups water
2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 frozen kale cube

1/2 cup natural applesauce

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

A note on the applesauce: Check the ingredient list on the applesauce that you buy. Unless it's the "natural" applesauce, it probably has some extra ingredients that are definitely not necessary. Natural applesauce will be made of just apples and is obviously preferable if you're the kind of person that puts kale into your oatmeal. =)

Bring water to a boil. Add the oats and lower the heat to medium. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally and watching to make sure it doesn't boil over. In the last 2 minutes of cooking, add a frozen kale cube.

Remove from heat; add applesauce and cinnamon. Stir to combine.

This is a double-batch of oatmeal that lasts for several meals so I only make it once a week or so. Store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.

If you make it, I'd love to hear what you and your kids think!