Tastespotting...

I went to look at tastespotting this morning... as I do most morning... and this is what I saw...



I am so sad.... what is going on??? I feel so incomplete not knowing the full story... will anyone else start something in it's place??

If someone knows something please let me know!!!

:O(

Flower Cakes

Howdy Doody--

Well Happy Father's Day!! I was at home by myself today and decided to try out making flowers out of candies like I had seen Bakerella do on her page... I had different stencils of things I wanted to try... and realized that I left them at work! So I just busted out the flower like she did to give it a whirl!

I just used a white cake mix that I had in the cupboard (trying to save money!) so here is how it went...

I started out by taping the paper down to a cookie sheet and then taping the wax paper over that!
Then started to do the first layer...

Then u fill it in with the next color... Once that set in the freezer for about 10 minutes you just peel them off...

I tried to make a pair of flip flops but they did not turn out so hot!


Then I decided to spice up the cupcake batter and try to give it a swirl of two different colors... I started with the blue...

then I put some white in the middle and a little more blue on top...

Look at how perfect the tops of these cupcakes look...

I had to bite into one hot out of oven... minus the frosting because that is my favorite way to have them...



You can see where there were some air bubble in the candy... and it was my first time so next time will be better.. but I am still rather proud of my silly little cakes... it looks a bit like a 7 year old drew them... but I'm ok with that :O)


Sinfully Yours,

Heather

I got Tagged!!

I was tagged by Cassie @ HowToEatACupcake

The rules:Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

What was I doing ten years ago?

Hmmm... I was 15... and it was summer time... I was working at Hampshire Village Properties... and prob trying to talk my mom or dad into letting me stay out later with friends... and my dad had just bought me my car 1998 red mustang that I still drive to this day... I was begging him to treach me as it is a stick so I could drive it in October when I turned 16!!

What are five (non-work) things on my to-do list for today?
1. Get my blog for "Chicken Spaghetti" posted
2. Vaccum when I get home and straighten the kitchen
3. Figure out what I want to bake so I can have a blog or two this weekend!
4. Take the movies back to BlockBuster
5. Take Jason dinner at work since he is there till 11pm!!

Five snacks I enjoy:
1. Atomic Fire Balls
2. Chocolate-covered pretzels- Flips-- You know where it's at Cassie!!
3. Alloutee cheese with fresh french bread
4. Reduced fat Cheese ITS- They have more crunch then the normal ones
5. Famous Amos cookies - I never buy these as I can eat the whole box I am sure-

Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
1. Open a bakery or resturant
2. Buy a new bigger house on a lot of land so I would have NO annoying neighbors! and have a guest house built for Brenda to come move in!
3. Buy a vacation home
4. Travel all over the world
5. Give a lump sum to my family and friends so they could come and visit me whenever I wanted them too... and they would have do it cause I gave them all that money!

Places I've lived:
1. Moorpark, CA
2. Newbury Park, CA
3. Chico, CA ---C -H - I - C - O-----> gotta love those college days!
4. Marietta, OK
5. Ardmore, OK

Jobs I've had:
1. Receptionist-- my first job at 13
2. Retail... Pottery Barn and GAP
3. Executive Asst
4. AP and Office work

Tag, you're it....
Flour Arrangements
M's Projects
Glass Slipper Cakery

Chicken Spaghetti Bake

Hello Hello--

Sorry it has been so long since my last post... I got busy last weekend and with the heat it is unbearable in the kitchen!! Well today's post is not sweet but it is yummy! A co-worker of mine has talked about "Chicken Spaghetti" that is a family recipe... I finally got it from her and decided to try it out, here it goes...
Chicken Spaghetti Bake
Ingredients:

3-4 Chicken Breasts -I used 4
16oz pkg Vermicelli- I had bought a 24oz pack on accident.. I just left about 1/4 in the bag if you cannot find Vermicelli it is very similar to angel hair
2 cans Rotel -I used 1 can of hot and 1 can original-see the picture below
2 cans Cream of Chicken Soup- I use the 98% fat free-- it really cuts calories and tastes the same as the original, unlike "healthy request" which has a completely different (wacky gross) taste!
1lb Velveeta -cut into cubes
1 Bell Pepper chopped
1 stick Butter- I opted for smart balance stick 50/50 see pic below
1 onion chopped

Directions:
1. In a large pot,boil chicken breasts until done. Shred and set aside.
2. In the same water you cooked the chicken in, cook Vermicelli until
done. Remove, rinse and set aside.


3. In a large pan melt butter and add chopped onion and bell pepper.
Saute until tender.

I tried to give this picture a heart! Because I love it... But then I cut it off somehow :o(

4. Add Rotel and Cream of Chicken Soup to onion/bell pepper mixture. Stir
until blended.

Those Habaneros do the trick if you want to spice something up!!


5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
6. Add Velveeta to your Rotel mixture stir and cook until melted.

7. Once cheesy mixture is melted add chicken and stir then add
Vermicelli. You will need a LARGE pan… this ends up being a huge
mixture.
9. Transfer to a 9x13 baking dish and cook in oven for 30 min or until
bubbling- I had to use a 11x15 pan and look how full it is!! I also only cooked it for about 20 minutes and it was hot and bubbling..


OK and now for the review... IT IS GOOD!!! Spicy from the HOT Rotel... and cheesey... I know this is not the healthiest but I made healthy choices with the butter and soup! I think you could use less butter too cook the veggies in... and it would be fine! I also think I will half the recipe if I make it again as you can see how big that pan is... Both Jason and I ate it for dinner and I packed it for lunch and we have only eaten....


I think if you have a big family and you like left overs this is a great dish... It really did not take that long to make and it has a good flavor.. I also think for all you non-meat eaters... that you could sub tofu or a chicken subsitute very easily and get good results! I think it would be good with cream of mushroom soup also.... just as a couple variation ideas... It is very good though with that spicy kick!! I recomend you try it if you are up for some spicy cheesy good times!!

Sinfully Yours,

Heather

Crazy Weather...

Well I know I told you I had not had a post lately in pat due to the weather... it has been so humid and hot and stormy that baking and using the oven just sounds miserable... Here are some photos from Thursday at work. This is from 6:15am to about 7:40am... You will see how quick these storms can come in...

I drive 45 miles to work in the morning and then again at night... My work day starts at 7 so I leave the house at about 6am...

This Thursday morning there was an insanely beautiful sunrise... Thank god I am an excellent photographer while driving *wink wink* and I got some photos...



As I got about half way there I started to see that the weather was changing from that beautiful sunset to a storm... I could see toward the North West the rain coming down so hard it almost looked like it could have been a tornado if I did not know better... Just look at that...



Here is the Martin Marietta sign... this is where I work... You can tell from the two shots here that to the right of me the sky was normal and to the left the storm had taken over...


As I parked my car in the lot this is what I saw...


And on my other side it just looked like a normal day...


I stood out in the rain for a while trying to get some good pics for you guys of the extreme lightning that was going on... It will go all the way across the sky and down to the ground... my camera delay made it near impossible to get a shot of it... but I managed to get two... and look how close it was to hitting in the same spot twice... CREEPY!!





Nothing bad happened just some major thunder, lightning and rain!! But I just think these storms are beautiful and cool... I just hate the hot humidity they bring with them...

I guess in Northern Oklahoma yesterday they had a couple F3's touch down... but I believe everyone is alright... which is good!!

Hope you guys are having a good holiday weekend!! I just thought you might find this interesting.

Sinfully Yours,

Heather

Now would you look at this!!

These measuring bowls were on sale at TJ Max and I just knew I had to have them! They have other prints and I am hoping to be able to get back over there before they are all gone and get another set or two since they had different patterns and I thought they would make super cute to add to a gift basket!! What do you think??


Here you can see how they work...


Even ingredients look better in them!!

Sinfully Yours,

Heather

Red Velvet... Yes I know IT'S ABOUT TIME!!

I am sorry it has taken me over a week since I got back from my trip to blog FINALLY!! I hope you can all forgive me... Life just got so busy and the weather has not been very good for baking... It has bee stormy and hot an HUMID beyond belief!!
So enough of the excuses (although I plant to blog the photos of the weather that I have right after this to show you what I mean!)
So I have promised a blog of Red Velvet goodness and what is what you are going to get!!
Here is a little history on Red Velvet cake... It is a rich sweet cake with a hint of chocolate and has a distinctive reddish brown color...It is said to have originated in the Southern states...
But enough talk... let's get down to business.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (not dutch pressed)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter
2 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
1 ounce red food coloring
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Sift together the flour, cocoa, salt and baking soda then set aside. Usually I do not take pictures of the ingredients but I got new measuring bowls that I will have a seperate blog about and I just had to show them off... I just LOVE them!




Cream together the butter and the sugar until fluffy.. about 5 minutes...


Add the eggs one at a time...


Once you have added in all the eggs it should look about like this...


Mix in the sour cream, milk, food color and vanilla...
I did not use and ounce I used this new Wilton food coloring I had bought... I did not know how much to use which is why my cake is not as read this time as it has been in the past...


Gradually add in the flour mixture until it is incorporated but do not over mix!!


Pour the batter into two greased round pans. Bake cake for 35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for about 10 minutes before removing from pan and setting on wire rack to cool!

I used vanilla frosting as in my research that is the original intended frosting for this cake. Many like cream cheese frosting and I will try it next time.... but.... this cake is sooooo YUMMY with vanilla frosting!!





Look at that... In the lighting in my kitchen it looks brown but it is actually a reddish auburn color... I wish I had added more coloring but I did not want to over do it!! I love this cake! It is rich and light at the same time... Jason agrees that is a keeper! This is the cake I intend to be the traditonal birthday cake at our house! I just wanted to share it with you...this is the second time I have used this recipe and I just love it... I hope you guys do too!!