Gooey Oatmeal Cake with Biscoff Broiled Icing

I have a confession to make: I don't really like frosting. I'm the weirdo at the party that scrapes the beautiful frosting off her cake and pushes it to the side. I'm not on a diet or anything, I just like my cake to taste like, well, cake. Sometimes frosting is just a little much in my opinion.

My husband thinks I'm insane by the way, but he certainly doesn't complain while eating my discarded frosting when no one's looking!

There is an exception to my dislike of cake toppings: broiled icing. I looooooove it. That burnt sugar crispiness with the melty gooeyness underneath?? Yum. Plus I like things easy, and boy are they ever.

Recently I've been seeing lots of recipes using Biscoff Spread on Pinterest and I was instantly intrigued. Biscoff Spread is a spreadable version of the Belgian cookies that, if you've ever flown on Delta airlines, you've munched away happily on. It's got the consistency of peanut butter, but it vegan, nut free, and has a mild cinnamon-y sweetness that is absolutely delicious.

So what's a girl to do when she discovers a fun new product and has a craving for broiled icing? Combine the two, of course!

I decided that since Biscoff Spread has the consistency of peanut butter, that I could probably use it instead of peanut butter in a favorite recipe. My Oatmeal Cake with Peanut Butter Broiled Icing came instantly to mind. The cake is moist, spicy, but not too sweet. Add that with a gooey, sticky-sweet icing and you've got my idea of heaven. I thought that the recipe couldn't get any better, but man, was I wrong. The Biscoff Spread made the broiled icing taste more complex, more like caramel than any broiled icing I'd had before. It was sweet, but not so much to overpower the oatmeal cake. You definitely won't see me scraping this frosting off anytime soon!

Ladies and Gentlemen, allow me to introduce you to my new favorite recipe:

Oatmeal Cake with Biscoff Broiled Icing

Makes one 8x8 cake with plenty of frosting!

Tips: Don't worry if the broiled icing seems really loose when you first take it off the stove. It should coat the back of a spoon. Once it cools, it will thicken nicely and will be easy to spread onto your cake.

Oatmeal Cake

1 1/4 c	water, boiling
1 c	oatmeal, old fashioned and uncooked
1/2 c	unsalted butter
1 c	granulated sugar
1 c	brown sugar, packed firm
2	eggs
1 tsp	vanilla
1 1/2 c	all-purpose flour
1 tsp	baking soda
1 tsp	cinnamon
1/2 tsp	salt

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Pour boiling water over oatmeal in a small bowl. Let sit 20 minutes. 

2. Cream together butter and sugars. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

3. Add vanilla and oatmeal, beat well. 

4. Add remaining ingredients, and beat well, making sure not to leave any pockets of flour in the batter.

5. Pour batter into a greased 8x8 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes. Let cool.

Biscoff Broiled Icing

                    2 c       sugar

                    1 c       milk

                    2 Tbs    Karo Syrup

                    1 Tbs    unsalted butter

                    1 tsp     vanilla

                    1 c        Biscoff Spread

                    a pinch of salt

1. Mix together sugar, milk, Karo syrup in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, and cook for 3 minutes. 

2. Remove from heat and allow to cool for 10 minutes. 

3. Add butter and Biscoff Spread and mix thoroughly. Allow to cool 
until spreading consistency.

4. Spread over the top of your Oatmeal Cake, and place under a broiler under high heat. Watch  CAREFULLY! Let your topping get bubbly and brown, but don't let it burn. 5. Remove from the broiler, and allow to cool a bit so you don't burn your mouth (if you can)!

Yum. Now pardon me, I'm about to have a quite moment with my piece of cake. 

Have a wonderful day!

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Pretty Distressed Wooden Letters

I love entertaining my friends and family, especially when it's for an extra special occasion. My littlest girl is having her first birthday this fall and I'm seriously going all out for this one.

I'm not kidding; I'm sewing throw pillows to match the party decorations. Oh yes. I might be going a little insane.

But one thing I love especially about birthday parties is that they give me a chance to really be creative and to create some really beautiful (and memorable!) decor. And as a general rule of thumb, I try to stick with classic and simple details that I can use again and again.

Case in point: this sweet distressed wooden letter. Wouldn't it just be the cutest hanging in a little girl's room? Plus Katie's party is going to be cowgirl themed, so the rustic burlap ribbon and distressed paint work really well. I wanted this baby to look like someone just pulled it out of a barn!

I scored the wooden "K" from Michaels for less than a dollar! So great. The burlap ribbon (20 ft) cost about 3 dollars but I only used about 2 ft so I'll get to use it again and again (and what CAN'T you do with burlap?!)

Here's the how-to:

1. First, I spray painted my letter pink. I used Krylon Satin Spray Paint in Ballet Slipper. Let that dry for about an hour....

2. Next, I painted the "K" with some leftover crackle medium from my Distressed Sofa Table project I did a few weeks ago. Let that dry until tacky. 

3. Once my crackle medium was tacky, I painted the letter with some diluted white paint I had laying around (also left over from my sofa table revamp!). See that crackle? I love it!  

4. After that dries, distress your letter to your liking. I like to use a medium grit sandpaper and (my personal favorite distressing tool) the flat end of a metal bottle opener. 

5. Here comes the fun part. Grab yourself from scrapbooking distress paint. You heard me. I know it sounds crazy, but I couldn't resist this cute little blotting bottle. And the instructions say "for porous materials." Well, that includes wood, my friends! Just dab away at your letter, paying close attention to the distressed spots and the edges. 

6. Keep dabbing...

7. ...and blotting...

8. ...and blending in any hard edges with the leftover white paint if necessary...

9. ...until you love it!!! Add a little burlap ribbon...

And voila! I love, love, love, love it! Very country, very chic, and very, VERY easy :-) . 

 The thing was so cheap to make that I'm going to head back to the craft store to get more letters as soon as I can! Maybe spell out "Giddy UP?" or "Howdy?" What do you think? I can't wait to hang this over the dessert table at my little monkey's cowgirl bash!

Have a wonderful day!!

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Perfect Oven Fried Bacon

I love bacon. Love, love, love. There was about 5 months in my first pregnancy when I couldn't even stand the smell of it.

It was a dark time in my life. I don't want to talk about it.

Thankfully, that's definitely not the case nowadays! We go through at least a pound of bacon a week, so I've gotten to know a thing or two. 

One thing is that I hate frying bacon on the stove. The grease gets everywhere, I usually burn myself, and I nearly always walk away from it at a bad time. What I'm left with most mornings is a dirty kitchen, sore fingers, and burnt bacon. No bueno. 

So I did a bit a research and found a fabulous and fool-proof way to cook perfect bacon, no fuss and no muss! 

So here's what you do: 

1. Grab yourself a rimmed cookie sheet, and line it with aluminum foil.

2. Lay your bacon on your prepared sheet. 

3. Place your bacon in a COLD oven. 

4. Turn your oven on to 425 degrees, set the timer for 15-20 min and walk away. That's it!

5. Now pour yourself a cup of coffee, read the paper, and...

Pull your perfect bacon from the oven, you queen of the kitchen! 

6. Drain on a paper towel-lined plate, and dig in!

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The "Mad Maggie" Hoodie

It was a rainy day in Asheville, so I decided to pull out my sewing machine and get to crafting something fun. And when I think of fun, I immediately think of my sister. When she and I get together, we kind of go insane. Not in the bad way, just in the "spontaneous song-and-dance number, laughing hysterically" insane. Seriously, ask our husbands. Ask our parents. Ask distant relatives. We go nuts.

 This is my wonderful sister and me on my wedding day in 2009. Her name's Meg, aka "Mad Maggie."

                                   

Don't ask her how she got that nickname... nothing to see here....

Anyway, last week I was searching for some fun sewing projects and I found this little number by The Cottage Mama. Isn't it just the cutest? Here's a link to her awesome, easy-to-follow tutorial!
http://www.rileyblakedesigns.com/blog/2012/03/07/project-design-team-wednesdayembellished-hoodie-tu/

As soon as I saw this sweet little hoodie, my wheels started turning. I love the look of clothes with feminine details (a la ruffles) with something unexpected. So when I went to my fabric stash and found some black fabric with skulls, I knew I had something going.


What do you think? The perfect hoodie for my cool, crazy, fun sister Mad Maggie.

Now, at the time I wasn't really sure how it was going to turn out, so I didn't take any pictures. And so when I finished it and LOVED it, I decided to make another one and take plenty of pictures this time! So here we go.

You'll need:
      - About 1 yard each of two different, corresponding fabrics. You'll have plenty left over, but I always like to be sure since I'm just a beginner at sewing.
      - LOTS of pins
      - Matching thread
      -Trim if you'd like. I didn't use any, but The Cottage Mama's version did and it was darling. So take your pick!
       -Finally, a hoodie to embellish! I used one I got from Walmart for $8, but you could do this to just about anything with a hood.

Start by folding your hoodie and using the hood as a template for the lining. Lay it on top of one of your fabrics, and trace the outside leaving about a half inch for a seam allowance.







Cut out your hood lining, and sew all along the curve.

Next,  fold back and press about a half inch of the straight edge of the lining.

 

Press open the curved seam of your hood lining. Pin, right side facing down, to the inside of of your hoodie. Sew in place.

Fold the lining back and press, so that the lining fits inside the hood and the fabric is right side out. Top stich all along the curve of the hood, sewing your lining in place.

Next you need to cut the fabric for the ruffle. You'll want about 2 times the length from the bottom of one side of the zipper, all the way up and around the hood, and down the other side of the zipper. Mine (a men's small) was about 80 inches in length, so my strips of fabric needed to be about 160 inches long. I know that sounds like a lot, but you can just cut smaller strips and sew them together to make one really loooong strip for each color. One strip (the outer ruffle) should be 5 inches wide, and the other (the inner ruffle) should be about 3.5 inches wide. 

So just to reiterate, that's:

One outer ruffle 160" long, 5" wide

One inner ruffle 160' long, 3.5" wide

Next, and this is the not-so-fun part (in my humble opinion), sew these long strips into tubes by folding them in half, right sides together, and sewing along the length.

After you do this, turn the tubes right-side-out, press, and topstich the ends together, so that there are no raw edges on your ruffle. 

To make the ruffles, set your machine stitch to the longest length and sew a straight seam all the way down each ruffle, being careful not to backstitch the ends. 

When you've done this, GENTLY pull one of the thread on the ends to ruffle the fabric (for some reason, the bobbin thread always worked the best for me).

 I hated this part; you have to be super careful not to break your thread or you have to start over. My advice is to just take it slow. It's a lot of fabric and it takes a while, so just be sure sit down and make yourself comfortable. And remember: be gentle!! The second you feel any resistance while pulling your thread, just use your hands to work the ruffle down the length of the fabric. If you're stubborn and just keep pulling, your thread is sure to break.

Once that's done, the hard part is over (hurray)!!! 

Pin your outer ruffle all along the hood and zipper of your hoodie and sew in place. The Cottage Mama made a great point to switch to a denim needle at this point and I totally agree. It's a lot of fabric to work with, and I bent one of my normal needles in the process. Once I switched to a denim needle, that baby soared through the fabric no problem!









Pin your inner ruffle on top of the other and sew in place. Just take your time. Like I said, it's a lot of fabric to keep track of, but it's just a straight seam. Go slowly and it's as simple as pie. :-)

And here's the finished product! I just love it. Halfway through making it I got a little worried that it would look like one of Prince's blouses with all that ruffle (you know what I'm talking about!), but I think it's sweet. This one's not as "Mad Maggie" as the skulls- maybe I should call it the "Sane Maggie" or the "PTA-friendly Maggie" version?? What do you think?


Thank you Cottage Mama for the inspiration!!!  I can't wait to make the sweet little girl's version from your site soon. :-)

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Blender Whipped Cream (oh yes...)

For those of you who have read previous posts, you'll remember that my family and I are staying in a furnished apartment in NC for the summer while my husband works a construction site here. So, it can be tough... but it's paid for... but I don't have anything I need.. .but it's free... but I miss my KitchenAid (dog, yard, clothes, etc.). Hmm. You can see the conflict. While I certainly shouldn't complain, it can be hard not having everything you need, especially when you're used to a fully stocked kitchen.

Case in point: the apartment complex provided us with two mixing bowls. Two. TWO! Now, a sane person would just wash out one of said mixing bowls whenever necessary but not I, dear reader. And as they say, "Laziness is the mother of invention!"

Yesterday, I wanted to make an icebox cake using some leftover cookies from this weekend and whipped cream. But as luck would have it, both mixing bowls were being used for leftover storage. That's when I got crafty. I knew I could make whipped cream in a food processor, but all I have currently is a blender. Could it work just the same? The answer is, yes!

Here's how: Start with your favorite whipping cream, preferably of the heavy variety. I know it can cost a teeny bit more, but it pays off in the end with a much creamier product. Also grab a little sugar and vanilla. In place of vanilla, you could also easily use another flavoring;  I've used bourbon, coffee, even strawberry jam to flavor my whipped cream in the past!







Dump the desired amount of cold cream into your blender. I wanted about 4 cups of whipped cream in the end so I started out with 2 cups (cream will double when whipped).

Remember: Cream whips MUCH better when everything is ice cold. That not only means your cream, but the blender as well. Try popping that baby into the freezer for a few minutes before you're ready to start whipping. It'll keep your cream happy and fluffy, promise.

 Cream also needs plenty of air to whip properly, so go ahead and remove that little plastic knob on the lid of your blender, leaving a hole. Just remember when you start blending to put your hand over the hole, covering it partially. Once you're confident the cream isn't going to splash out of the blender and all over you, you can go ahead and take your hand away. (Trust me on this one, my whipped cream pretty much blew up on me on my first go at this!)

At a high rate of speed pulse your blender, about 10 seconds
a time, until it starts to firm up. Every few pulses, make sure you stop to stir the cream with a spoon. Sometimes, cream can get stuck under the blades and you end up with butter- NOT delicious!

Now here's the magical part of this whole thing. After a few pulses, I ended up with fairly soft-set whipped cream. Not exactly what I was hoping for, but I figured it was a good as it was going to get in my blender. So I removed the lid, added sugar and vanilla to taste, and stirred it with a large spoon. Suddenly, voila! The cream firmed up nicely, with medium stiff peaks- perfect for icebox cake. I'm not sure why, but it probably has something to do with the air that the cream was exposed to when I removed the lid and stirred.

And that's it! Super easy, super fast, and great if you're short on the "proper"mixing supplies. Enjoy!

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Homemade Welding Hat

Everyone, please make yourself comfortable and grab a snack, because I'm about to tell you a little about my husband. Make that gush...

My husband is amazing. He's brilliant. He's the best husband ever. He's a fabulous father. He makes the best fried eggs. He makes me feel pretty. He eats dinner even when I burn it black. Ok... that's from a Shania Twain song... but you get the picture. I think he's pretty great.

 He is also CRAZY handy. Seriously, I've yet to find something that he can't fix. So what does a wife with a few spare hours and some scrap fabric make him as a "Thanks For Being So Amazing" gift? How about a pretty cool camo welding hat?

For those of you that don't know, a welding hat is something that welders wear underneath their helmets to keep the sparks off their necks and the sweat from their eyes. It's basically a backwards baseball cap. They oftentimes come in crazy patterns and colors and run anywhere from $5-$20 if you buy it premade. I used about a half yard of fabric and a little scrap of fusible web to make mine, so it probably cost me about $3 and about an hour to make. I'm only a beginner at sewing, so if you've got a nice stash of fabric stored up and some know-how, this would take nearly no time and no money to make something really cool.

I didn't have the truck that day, so I did a quick web search for a welding hat tutorial. One of the first links that popped up was this photo file from Flickr that had a free, easy-to-size printable pattern that I decided to give a try. Welding Hat Pattern and Instructions

The really cool thing about this pattern is that it has a sizing scale right on the page, so you can increase or decrease the size right there on your printer without any trouble. And I like trouble-free!

Probably because I'm a beginner, I found the instructions for constructing the crown really confusing, so I just made two "bowls" and then attached them, wrong sides together, with a topstich to form the outside of the cap and the lining. Other than that, the instructions were fairly easy to follow. This was a quick project that I could easily get done before naptime was over ;).

And here is the finished product!

It's definitely not perfect, but I'm pretty proud of it! 

Aaand... if you just want a sassy little baseball hat, just flip that baby around and rock it (my dad says I should make them for Britney Spears, haha).  

I think my husband will love it! 

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Toddler-Friendly Veggie and Fruit Smoothie

Ladies and Gentlemen, allow me to introduce you to Ashlin, my darling first born; the first little person to call me "mama." She's silly, charming, smart and sweet. And... she loves French fries. Upon turning two, my once good eater decided that she hates anything green, healthy, and not cut up into a stick and deep fried. Lately, I've been at a bit of a loss. 

But then, I found the solution! Enter kefir yogurt. This magical stuff is basically a drinkable yogurt that's been around since the cavemen and is full of 12 different live and active cultures that all add up to a healthy digestive and immune system. Seriously,  kefir actually means "good feeling" in Turkish, and they mean it! It's actually really delicious too. I discovered it when I realized that having two kids under two didn't exactly lend itself to my eating breakfast. And ( drumroll please!) Ashlin likes it too! 

 

So, in addition to some yummy strawberry kefir, I grabbed a bag of precut, ready-to-steam butternut 

squash (because I'm lazy), and gave it a quick nuke in the microwave. I thought about adding in another type of vegetable- maybe kale?- but I thought since this was my first go that I'd try something mildly sweet, so squash it was.

To the cooked butternut squash I added a few strawberries and blueberries I had in the fridge since I wanted to pack this puppy full of as much fiber and antioxidants as I could. And though kefir is super tasty, it's a bit on the tart side, so the berries are going to help mask that. All in all, it came out to be about 1/4 cup of each fruit and the squash, and about 1/2 cup of kefir. 

Dump it all into your handy-dandy blender...

 

Pour into sippy cup...

And sit back and try not to act too excited when she drinks it!!

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