Naked Cake, Whaaaat?

The latest craze???

That is what our local cake decorating store says.  

{Photo found on CakesBySugar on Facebook}

Hmmmm....Not sure what to think.

I guess you don't loose any hairs over getting the frosting smooth :0)

The fillings look Yummy too.

I hope it's cheaper :0}

Crystalized Flowers How To

It is super easy and so incredibly beautiful to crystallize flowers.  You can use any edible flower.  Roses, carnations, dandelions, daisies, marigolds and pansies are all on the list along with several others.  You do want to find out if the flowers were organically grown if you or your guests plan on eating them.  Pesticide isn't the best thing to ingest :0)

Here are my supplies:

Flowers and leaves

Super Fine sugar {or granulated sugar ran through the blender/food processor}

Egg Whites

Pliers to cut the stems

Clean, for-food-only paintbrushes

A cooling rack

Wax or Parchment paper

A pen to poke holes in the wax paper

You want to first use the pliers to cut the stems to 1-3" long, depending on where you are going to use them.

Then inspect them for any old or wilted pedals.  Pull off any that don't look fabulous.

Now dip your paintbrush into the egg whites and brush onto the outside of the flower.  

Once the outside is nicely coated, you need to brush the inside.  Find a outer edge and slide your wet paintbrush inside.

Lightly brush some of the inside pedals.  Don't worry about getting every one, or about getting all the way to the bottom.  Too much egg white is bad.  It makes the flower soggy and keeps it from drying in a timely manner.  You can keep working the brush further into the flower following the natural spiral of the pedals.

There is another technique.  It is much easier, but not nearly as pretty.  The flower on the left was done as described above.  The flower on the right was just dunked into the egg white.  See how it has clumped in the middle?

Painted on.

Dunked.

You may want to brush the outside once more to make sure it is totally wet, then sprinkle the flower with the super fine sugar.  Once all of your flowers are finished, discard any extra used sugar.  

Rose buds are fabulous crystallized as well.  Paint the outside, then lightly brush the top, smooshing the brush down into the petals lightly, then sprinkle with sugar.

I always like to do a few leaves too for accent.  Depending on what I am doing, I will also usually also do a couple loose pedals and scatter them on the cake or table.

I have those fabulous Pampered Chef cooling racks that stand higher and stack.  I like to cover those with wax or parchment paper, use the pen to poke a hole... 

then insert the stem.  I have skipped the wax paper and really regretted it in the past.  If you happen to get a little too much egg white and it seeps down to the bottom of the flower, the flower will stick to the cooling rack.  Now you know and don't have to learn the hard way yourself. 

There you have it!  Aren't they beautiful?

These are great on cakes, cupcakes, or just as accents on serving dishes.  They are pretty much dry in one day, but can take two or three if you went a little heavy on the egg whites.  You can make these ahead of time, up to two weeks, as long as they are stored in an air tight container once dried.  Do be careful though.  The sugar can crumble off the flowers if bumped too much.  

Are they really edible?  Yes they are!  If you eat them the first day they still taste like rose.  By the second or third day they just taste like sugar and are stiff.  

This particular project was a cupcake wedding cake for one darling bride.  She wanted fondant daisies on the cupcakes and the small topper cake, with other flowers as accent.  What is a better accent than crystallized roses!?!

I have crystallized daisies.  They are fun, but can really stick if you don't use that wax paper.  When taking the roses off the cooling rack I typically lift them off using scissors.  Again, the more you handle the flowers once dried, the more likely you are to have the sugar flake off.

Give it a try!  These crystallized flowers are really easy, inexpensive, and such an incredible addition to any edible display.

Never Take Life for Granted

I recently received an email from a follower sharing her heartfelt struggles she has been through the past few years.  It moved me so much, giving me such gratitude for my much easier life, I wanted to share it with you.  

Never Take Anything for Granted

On November 21st, 2005, only 3 1/2 months after my daughter was born, I was given a diagnosis that forever changed my life. I was diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma, a deadly form of cancer. I was suddenly face to face with one of my greatest fears. I knew I was facing an illness that could be fatal. Yet, at the same time, I also found a strength that I never thought I could possess.

I was referred to Dr. David Sugarbaker, one of the worlds leading mesothelioma doctors. When I went to see him at Boston's Brigham and Women's hospital, he actually gave me a sense of hope. He told me that the statistics  for surviving mesothelioma for more than five years after being diagnosed were a slight 2%. However, there was no reason why I couldn't be a part of that percentage. I decided right then and there that I would be one of the survivors. I would be a mother to my baby girl. Yet first, I would have to face the fight of my life.

Over the next year, I fought this disease with everything I had. I had my left lung removed, as well as the surrounding lining that was home to the tumor. The surgery took place in Boston, 1900 miles away from my daughter, who was now six months old. It was hard to leave her with my parents while I went into surgery alone. I spent the following months undergoing chemo and radiation, while still being a mother to my baby girl. Thanks to wonderful family and friends, my little girl never even knew I was sick for almost her entire first year of life. We truly celebrated Lily's first birthday, not just for her, but because we knew that my cancer battle was almost at its end. Just less than a year after I was diagnosed, I completed my last treatment.

I learned a lot during my year long battle with cancer. You should never take a single thing for granted. I look at life differently now because of my illness. I appreciate even the smallest details. They are all there to remind me what it feels like to just be alive. I have met many wonderful people along the way. Some of them may not have survived their battles, but they will forever live in my heart. It is for them, as well as myself and other mesothelioma warriors, that I want people to be aware of this deadly disease. It is a real disease that requires more than just a single television commercial. It affects real people and deserves our awareness.

 I will continue to live my life with appreciation for all of the little things. I never want to take anything for granted. I live each and every day like it just may be my last.

Heather gave me the link to her blog,  www.mesothelioma.com/blog/authors/heather 

so you can go there to find out more.  Heather, Super big congratulations for beating the disease and living to tell about it!!!  Thank you for sharing your deeply personal story with us and giving us a little perspective on life :0) 

Grilling Class Wrap-Up

Thank you again TheMotherhood.com for inviting me to be a part of ConAgra's online cooking class with celebrity chef George Duran.  Here is a link to the video footage if you get a chance to watch.  There is a very lame moment when MY ever gorgeous face flashes across the screen while they answer my question :0)

Besides making me famous {tee-hee} there were some fabulous tips on how to improve your grilling and deliver some tantalizing food to your table.

You can find the recipe for the first meal demonstrated HERE at Ready Set Eat.

You can find the MotherHood.com post about the even HERE.

You can also check out my Grilling board on Pinterest to find all the fabulous recipes shared during the show.

Thanks again MotherHood.com and ConAgra foods for inviting me to be a part of it all :0)

Technique Tuesday:Multiple Cuts

I have been playing around with switching the toolbox Tuesday with Technique Tuesday every once in a while.  As I have been focusing on wood crafting lately, I wanted to show you how to make multiple cuts one either the scroll saw or the band saw.

I buy sheets of MDF plywood at Home Depot.  They come in 2 foot by 4 foot sheets.  Home Depot has a section back in the plywood area with shelves of smaller pieces, usually called Handi Panels, that are all about 2'x4'.  These are nice because you don't have to track down anyone to cut them down so you can fit them in your car.  Also, if you aren't doing tons of work, you can buy just one.  Currently, the 1/8" is $3 and some change.  They have 1/4", 1/2", 3/4", and whatnot.  They also have other plywoods, but I have come to like the mdf the most since it is totally smooth {no wood grain or missing knots} and it paints super well.  

That said, I tape four or more sheets together with masking tape or painters tape.  I do a LOT of wood cutting, so I buy four or more sheets and cut them into smaller sizes after they have been taped.  You, of course, can buy one sheet, cut it into four pieces, then tape it together.  The benefit of buying 4 pieces of mdf is that all the edges are square and it is much easier to get the four pieces taped together.  If they all have different edges it is much more difficult, but not impossible.    

As you can see, this is a scrap-sized piece.  I would not be able to cut one heart out of a whole stack of 2'x4' sheets, they would be too big to turn on the saw.  1 foot pieces are fabulous.  Cut off a one foot chuck of wood and trace your shapes on that.  This is just a piece I had left over from another project.

Notice how I taped at the corners, in two directions.  I normally would have added more tape on the straight edges above too....not sure why I didn't.  You usually want tape on 3, if not all 4 sides.

Trace your shape.  I just drew this one....and not very well :0)  Obviously I am better on the computer with shapes than drawing them free hand.

Now to cut out.  I am going to use the band saw, but this piece is just as easily cut on the scroll saw.  On the scroll saw I would cut the heart out in one piece.  On the Band Saw I cut out the wedge at the top of the heart...

then cut a relief cut to the bottom tip, then back the blade back out.  

Finally I cut one side of the heart out.

Now for the other side.

And done!

There you have it.  Four hearts and all done in one!  I will tell you, with the 1/8" wood, you can actually quite easily cut {on the band saw} 12 boards at once!!!  Just make sure and tape them together really well.  With that many pieces of wood, I normally tape four boards together into one bunch, then the next four boards together into another bunch, and then the last four together in another bunch.  Finally,  I tape all of the bundles together into one.  It helps the boards not shift when cutting.

This technique is totally Fabulous when you are cutting 350 of the same project for Super Saturday ;0)

Pinterest Painting Techniques

One lucky customer was the guinea pig for two very awesome Pinterest painting techniques this last week.

The first, Using Vaseline To Distress Wood 

The second, Using Elmers Glue to Crackle!!!

The Vaseline thing I tried a couple weeks ago while making the door backdrop for the wedding.  It is fabulous, but be prepared to have Vaseline that does not want to come off.  At least for the doors, they were in the sun {I think that affected things} and when I used my paper towels to wipe the Vaseline/paint off, it felt like I got all the gunk off, but once the doors were cooled down, I noticed that there was a ton of Vaseline still there.  *note to self* don't work with the Vaseline in the sun :0)  I didn't have any problem with these projects though. 

As for the Elmer's {Crackle}, I am a total fan!  So I just dripped a little Elmer's on this heart, then spread it around with my finger.  I Vaselined the edges and a little in the middle of the heart, then painted with acrylic paint and a sponge brush over the top.  The trick to this is to have a ton of paint on your brush, brush very lightly, and then let them dry a LONG TIME.  I put the wood projects outside to dry in our already-hot Arizona sun.  I was a little disappointed at the little crackage happening on the heart, so I applied a thick amount of the Elmer's to the necklace holder.

With this one, I just plopped the glue on the project in a puddle and did not smooth it out with my finger.  Again, Vaselined the places I wanted, then lightly brushed on a huge amount of paint.  You want to brush the Vaseline and Elmer's areas as little as possible because you don't want to spread the stuff or mix it with the paint.  The Elmer's does take much longer to dry than official crackle, but it does a fabulous job!

Here are my finished products.

My customer is hanging an old picture frame above her bed and hanging these inside the frame.

How cute!

This is another one of the necklace holders I made a while back.  I still don't own one myself, but they are super easy to make!

I like to use the railroad tie-type nails.  Besides being cute, they are bigger at the tips and help to keep the necklaces on the hanger.

One more look at the Elmer's crackle and the Vaseline distressing.  LOve it!  What else can I crackle/distress!?!  I am not sure I can stop :0)

Egg-cellent Easter Tradition!

I saw this idea on Pinterest {link not available} and HAD to try it!  We happened to have two packs of glow sticks from the dollar section at Micheals just sitting around.  I dragged my husband into the back room to stuff eggs with glow sticks, then wrangled the kids into the car for a late-night drive around the country block to "see the stars."

They had NO idea what was waiting for them at home.  We unlocked the front door and watched as is slowly opened.  The kids just stood there in amazement.  Seeing the front room, completely black, except for the soft glow of the "hidden" Easter eggs was simply magical.  

The kids giggled and laughed as they ran from egg to egg, gathering them up in their baskets.  They sat down to see their spoils and that was when the real fun began.

They played, and played and had a moment of total enjoyment.  We sat there as a family, purely enjoying that one moment and forgetting all the craziness and traumas of life.

After a while of goofing off, the egg fight began.  We were chucking those eggs at each other till they popped open.  Then we were throwing the glow sticks :0)

I am telling you, BEST TIME EVER! 

I am not going to say that things didn't get a little out of hand, but we seriously had a great time.  Whoever first thought of this idea...Bless YOu!  We will be having a surprise glow-in-the-dark egg hunt every year....and maybe not just at Easter.  I am an egg-keeper so we could actually do this any day we want :0)

Hint: tie the glow sticks into a knot {pretzel shape} and they will fit into the eggs-much easier than trying to roll them up or something.