Surprise Baby Shower

This is the quilt I made the Mom to be and the Mom!

Since before Christmas a couple friends and I had been planning a baby shower for a friend who was having a little girl. This was her second child but her first was a boy and we didn't know her then so we wanted to do something nice.

 Today was the day! It started kind of rocky because the Mom to be had the stomach bug the day before and she had txt me and said she couldn't come. I almost cried. So I had to tell her about the shower and asked if she felt ok if she could please come and no one would hug her so she wouldn't get anyone sick. So she was able to make it phewww....

All the food I made

I made the cake and the baby on top

Hand made decorations

The food again

A close up of our pom pom flowers

All and all it turned out to be a great day!

Just Because Cake Party - Apple Crisp Caramel Cake

Yesterday we had a "Just Because Cake Party" with some of our friends.  The star of the party was a cake I invented and it was a 4-Layer Apple Crisp Caramel Cake.  Everyone said it was wonderful.  Though I didn't come up with the recipe for each individual piece of the cake I did come up with the combination so this is my recipe.

4-Layer Apple Crisp Caramel Cake

Serves approximately 18-20 people

Skill level - Moderate Baking Skills Needed

Kitchen Mess Meter - HIGH

Yellow Cake – Makes 2 layers

To make a 4 layer cake make this 2 times.

Ingredients

1 cup butter

1 ½ cups white sugar

8 egg yolks

¾ cup milk

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

2 cups cake flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour 2 – 8 inch round pans. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg yolks one at a time, then stir in the vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the milk, mixing just until incorporated. Pour batter into prepared pans.

3. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, or until tops spring back when lightly tapped. Cool 15 minutes before turning out onto cooling racks.

4.  Allow the layers to cool complete before using.

Caramel Filling – Buy original caramel topping in the jar (usually found near the ice cream toppings).

Apple Filling

Ingredients

6 medium apples – peeled, cored and sliced

½ cup white sugar

3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

½ cup whole milk

1 Tablespoon butter

1 Tablespoon sugar

Directions

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 2 quart casserole dish, or coat with non-stick cooking spray.

2.Place apples in a large bowl. In a small bowl, mix together sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Stir spice mixture into apples until evenly distributed. Spoon into prepared dish. Pour milk evenly over apple mixture, place small slices of the butter on top of apples and sprinkle the apple mixture with the sugar.

3. Bake in preheated oven for 45 to 60 minutes, or until soft and bubbly. Allow the mixture to cool completely before using.

Caramel Frosting – This will just cover the tops and sides of a 4-layer cake.  You might want to make 2x as much if you want to decorate with it.

This is the last thing you make as you want to use it the same day you assemble the cake.

Ingredients

½ cup butter

1 cup packed brown sugar

¼ teaspoon salt

6 Tablespoons milk

3 cups sifted confectioners sugar

Directions

1. Melt butter in a saucepan, stir in the brown sugar and the salt. Bring to a boil and boil for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and add the milk, stirring all the while.

2. Return to heat and bring to a boil again. Remove from heat and allow to cool until lukewarm (approximately 20 to 25 minutes). Stir in the confectioners' sugar and beat until smooth and cool enough to spread. You might need to add a few drops of milk if frosting gets too stiff.

Crumb Topping

Ingredients

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup rolled oats

1 cup all-purpose flour

½ cup butter, melted

Directions

Preheat oven to 35o degrees F

In a large bowl, combine brown sugar, oats, flour and butter. Mix until crumbly.

Place in a greased 8 inch pan

Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown (you will have left over)

Cake Assembly

1.Cut all layers to have a flat top

2.Place the first layer right side up on a cake board

3.Pipe the frosting around the upper edge to keep the apples from mixing with the frosting on the outside

4.Place a thin layer of apples on the layer

5.Place the second layer of the first face down

6.Use a fork to poke hole in the layer to allow the caramel frosting to go into the cake

7.Pipe the frosting around the upper edge

8.Pour the warm caramel over the cake making a thin layer

9.Place the third layer upside down over the second layer

10.Repeat steps 3 and 4

11.Place the last layer on the cake

12.Frost the cake

13.Crush up the crumb topping into small chunks

14.Place Crushed topping on the cake

15.Drizzle the topping with Caramel 

Serve with a scoop of ice cream.

Jerry's Birthday Party

On Saturday we had friends over for a Birthday Party BBQ and it was so much fun.  A few people had not met Annabelle yet so they got to meet her as well.  I did a lot of work getting ready for the party.

The birthday boy and his little pumpkin

Decorations

• Tissue Paper Pom Poms handing from the ceiling over the table
• Candy in mason jars
• Made my own flower center pieces the night before

Food

• Fruit salad skewers
• Veggies in plastic cups with the dip at the bottom for easy eating
• Cheese and Crackers
• Quinoa Summer Veggie Salad
• Greek Pasta Salad
• BBQ Chicken
• Citrus Chicken
• Made my own Hamberg Patties
• Hot dogs

Drinks

• Red Sangria (see on following posts) ***It was awesome**
• I used mason jars that I spiced up with some colored scrapbooking paper and colorful straws and chalkboard labels to serve them in
• Soda, Water, Beer

Dessert

• An AWESOME 3 layer Fudge Chocolate Brownie Cake (see my recipe on following post)  **Everyone said it was the best cake they have ever had**
• With of course Vanilla Ice Cream

Flower Arrangement Center Pieces: Also a great gift to give your guests when they go home (in our case the last two couples that left who helped pick up I gave them each one)

1. Oasis $2.99 each on Amazon (I made 3)
2. Sheets of moss $16.01 on Amazon and you will have some left over
3. Green floral wire $2.10
4. What ever flowers you like, I got 5 packs of flowers at Walmart for $25
5. You will need something to put under it to keep the water from running I used aluminum container lids that I cut to size and folded up the edges to keep the water in

Total Cost = $46.10 for 3 center peaces that everyone complimented

1. Soak the Oasis per the instructions and place on what ever you are using to keep the water from running
2. Cut the Moss and and secure to the Oasis by making pins with the wire to hold it in place
3. Cut the flowers and stick them in the Oasis

Each will take you about 20 mins to complete (1 hr. for the 3 I made)

Mason Jar Sangria Glasses:  I called them the adult sippy cups

1. Colorful scrapbook paper, I used only two sheets because each sheet had two colors one on each side (free if you have some around the house)
2. Colorful straws - $5.32 (you will have enough for a several more parties)
3. Hole punch (free if you have one)
4. Chalk Board Labels (Optional) $9.00 - I found once the condensation kicked in chalk just came off
5. Ball Mason jars (if you don't have them around they are about $15 for 12)

Total Cost = $29.32 for 12 glasses that your guests will think are pretty neat

1. Cut the scrapbooking paper to fit inside the lid and then punch a hole in them making sure the hole will be to the side but not covered by the metal lid ring
2. Stick on labels
3. Put straws through the punched out holes on the lid
4. Put lid on the jar

Total time will be about 20-30 mins depending on how fast you can cut and how many you need to make

We both had a great time and I loved organizing this party (it was a lot of work)