Words to Live By . . .

via Pinterest

Cake Pops Only A Mother Could Love

After such a hectic start to the week it's time to post something upbeat and fun . . . CAKE POPS! When I saw this beautiful image on Pinterest last week, I knew I had to give cake pops a try. 

Not only are they my favorite color, but they seem so versatile and easy to make for any kind of party  - - or so I thought.  

I'll be the first to admit that my domestic skills are a work in progress :) but I am always willing to try new things because I feel like that's the only way to learn and improve. I should also preface this by saying that I am a big fan of the Semi-Homemade method of using things you have around the house to create a dish. Especially when trying something for the first time, I tend to avoid buying all of the fancy ingredients and specialty products until I have the general idea of the recipe down pat. 

That said, around my apartment I had a box of yellow cake mix, chocolate icing, vanilla icing, semi-sweet chocolate chips, and some food coloring. Here is the simplified version of what I did:

1. Bake the yellow cake according to the package directions. Let it cool to around room temperature.

2. Crumble the cake into a large bowl. I made mine about the consistency of corn meal.

3. Incorporate one whole container of icing into the bowl. I chose to use the chocolate icing.

4. Next, roll the 'dough' mixture into balls. Mine were about 3/4 - 1" in diameter.

5. Lay the completed balls on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

6. Once you have filled the cookie sheet, place it in the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes to allow the pops to harden.  

**Note: The next time I make these I am going to insert the sticks into the 'dough' balls before freezing them. I did this step after and had some trouble with the sticks rotating in place. Only press the stick to the center of the ball. Otherwise you will be left with a skewered kabob that resembles a descending New Year's Eve ball.

7. While the pops are in the freezer, begin melting down your dipping sauce - in my case I placed a bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips into a double boiler on the stove. 

8. After removing the pops from the freezer, dip them into your sauce, careful to cover all sides evenly.  Now this is where it got interesting. 

The thick consistency of the chocolate required that I essentially ice each pop, rather than dip them. This did not give me the satiny finish like the ones in my inspiration picture, so I am going to try some other options. They did, however, turn out to look more like truffles that had a pretty swirl effect.

You'll also notice that because of the heavy dipping sauce I chose to make mine with the sticks pointing up. I think I need a little more practice before I master the right-side up version.

When I ran out of chocolate, I switched over to white icing. Remembering the inspiration picture, I threw a few drops of green food coloring into the bowl. I ended up with more of a South Beach mint green than lime green, but next time I'll maybe give the gel food coloring a try.


In the end, I was proud of the finished product and learned a lot of 'what-not-to-dos' along the way. So here they are . . . bless their hearts . . . if for nothing else, just so my Mom can see them and compliment them despite their flaws.

Chocolate-covered - my favorite of the two!

 

 

Icing-covered - both had a great consistency

One more Pinterest-inspired project down, many many more to come! Not to mention I'm taking a few photography classes, so hopefully the pictures will only improve over time.

Thanks for reading!! I'd love to hear if you've attempted cake pops or if you have any suggestions for new flavor combinations. I'm thinking pumpkin/gingerbread/cream cheese . . . yummmmmmm

Humbling . . . to say the least

When all of the tornadoes hit Alabama in April of this year, it made me think a lot about the importance of home and the things and people we surround ourselves with. While I love finding beautiful accessories to decorate with and fun projects to do, it takes something like a tornado to bring things in to perspective and really make me remember that it's not everything to obsess over personal property.

Unfortunately, I recently had another startling, but very humbling experience to bring me back to reality. Like most people, I spend enough time at the office to consider it a second home. And that has never bothered me because I love the physical environment of my office - exposed brick, poured concrete, reclaimed wood, hand-sketched artwork, beautiful courtyard, natural lighting . . .the list really could go on forever (not to mention great co-workers!)

Anyway, this weekend someone decided they needed to come in to our office . . . through the front door . . . window . . . I can't even begin to pick the brain of someone who robs others, but all I can say is, while unnerving, it could have been worse. It really makes me think about the things I can live without and the little things in life that I am continually grateful for.

In front of the office, March 2011

View, or lack of view, from the office, September 2011

All that said, I can't help but be stubborn and willing to move on and live life to the fullest in spite of situations like this. 

So like always, I couldn't agree more with the sentiments in a great country song:

"Anyway"

You can spend your whole life buildin'
Somethin' from nothin'
One storm can come and blow it all away
Build it anyway

You can chase a dream
That seems so out of reach
And you know it might not ever come your way
Dream it anyway

God is great, but sometimes life ain't good
When I pray it doesn't always turn out like I think it should
But I do it anyway
I do it anyway

This world's gone crazy and it's hard to believe
That tomorrow will be better than today
Believe it anyway

You can love someone with all your heart
For all the right reasons
And in a moment they can choose to walk away
love 'em anyway


You can pour your soul out singing
A song you believe in
That tomorrow they’ll forget you ever sang
Sing it anyway
Yeah, sing it anyway
I sing, I dream, I love
Anyway

Words to Live By