Arizona Trip 2008

My hubby Joe and I.

Joe and I went on our annual trip to Mesa to visit my family. It was so great to see them and to get out of this cold weather we are always having!

I think that all of my family members have a one track mind.....everything is about food!! This blog will be my food diary of my trip!!

The first day we arrived, my mom took us to Country Kitchen to eat. It's a buffet style restaurant so I thought I would be safe with my diet and could choose healthy foods. So far, so good.

The second day we went to Costco to get food. Mom bought some huge rib eye steaks!!! I mean three people could have eaten from one steak!!! I ate half of it and saved the other half and ate it on a salad the next day.




The third day was my mom's great Mexican food. Tacos, tostada's, and bean burritos. Man were those good!!! There was so much food, we ate it again on the fourth day!!

The fifth day we went out to eat at the Golden Corral. Holy Moly!!! The Golden Corral in Poky is crap compared to this one in Mesa!! I have never seen so much food and it was all good!!

The sixth day was a family reunion picnic. My mom always makes a very large pot of beans and tortillas for everyone to eat. I really should have taken pics of it also. We ate the leftovers the next day too!

The eighth day was pork chops cooked in mushroom soup, mashed potatoes, corn and salad. Very, very good!! Stupid me ate my food without taking a picture!!!

Day nine was beef tips on egg noodles, salad and a roll. YUMMY!!! There is gravy hiding down in there!!

The last night we were there, we ate at my favorite restaurant, El Charro. Can you tell I love Mexican food!!! It was worth waiting for! Wish I would have taken pictures of that too so I can look at it and drool!!

For the most part, I "TRIED" to eat right, but...... And instead of gaining 10 or more pounds, I only gained 4!!! Not too bad

My Mom, my sister Jill, my brother Ronnie, me, my sister Jody and her hubby Paul.

Giant Cupcake!

This is my first try at the Wilton's Giant Cupcake pan. It's really easy to do and wasn't complicated like I thought it would be. I did do a few changes as how much to put in the top part of the pan (3 cups instead of 4 1/2 cups). I don't think if too bad for the first try!

This is the cake recipe that I used:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

I Betty Crocker Chocolate Fudge Cake mix
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1 small box Devil's Food instant pudding
pinch of salt


Mix dry ingredients well. In another bowl, mix:

4 jumbo eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 1/3 cup whole milk
1 cup butter, melted

Mix for 30 seconds and then for 2 minutes on medium speed. Put 3 cups batter in top section. 4 cups in bottom section or just to a little over half full

Bake for 45 - 60 minutes. Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Frost and decorate as desired!!

Bridal Shower

I made this cake for a bridal shower. It is white cake with lemmon filling (my favorite). I used the bride's invitations as inspiration and the colors came out spot on. She seemed excited when she picked it up. I am doing her wedding in a few weeks!

Skulls and Crossbones

A friend asked me to make a cake for her neice's birthday. She said the little girl just loved skulls and crossbones. I thought that a little strange until I started looking online. There are some really cute skulls out there. This is a white cake with buttercream frosting and marshmallow fondant decorations. The hearts on top are fondant and are attached to sucker sticks. It turned out to be a very cute cake - even with skulls!

Elmo

I made this Elmo cake for a client last weekend. I made the Elmo from a 3D bear pan. I used my "secret recipe" that makes the cake more moist - but the bear caved in! It took until my third try. I thought that it all turned out cute though. The cake was for a first birthday, so the baby Elmo was perfect.

My Sister-in-Laws Birthday

My sister-in-law, Lenora, just turned the big 6-0!! Her youngest daughter, Emily, wanted to give her mom a very special birthday! Emily called me up in January and asked me if I could make her a Grim Reaper cake like I did for her brother Joe (my hubby). Of course I had to do it! After all, she is Joe's favorite sister!


We had a great time surprising her! It was totally unexpected. She had a lot of family and friends show up. there was a lot of food! It was so good to see everyone there!


Lenora...we hope you had a great time and a Happy Birthday!!! We love you!!!

Cupcakes Baked in Nut Cups

I have been seeing so many cupcakes baked in the nut cups and wanted to try it. I also tried a new cake mix recipe.

First off...some opinions on using nut cups.

• "How do you get it off?"
• "Get the scissors out!"
• "Next time, just use the normal ones."

Well there ya go! For my family, I will just use the regular cupcake liners. I probably won't use the nut cups again unless someone really wants them.

Next was the cupcake itself. I used a recipe that was supposed to be durable for 3-D cakes or sculpting. In my opinion, it was great for the cupcakes, but I don't think I would dare use it for a cake or sculpting. It was very soft and airy. Loved it for the cupcakes though! the batter is very thick. Very little crumbling. This is the instructions for the cake:

(Recipe from heartsfire on Cake Central)

1 Devils Food Chocolate Cake mix (I used chocolate fudge)

4 eggs

1/2 cup water

1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 small package instant chocolate pudding mix (I used Devils Food flavor)

1 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Grease and flour pans

On low speed, begin incorporating all ingredients together.

Once combined, give a very good stir with a spatula making sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl. Turn mixer to medium speed and blend well for approximately 2 minutes.

The batter will be very thick but don't worry, this is normal.

Spoon equal amounts into pans and use spatula to even out the batter.

Bake for 25-30 minutes depending on oven. Toothpick inserted in center should come out clean and top should spring back when pressed.

Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes in pan before turning out onto cooling racks.

Decorated as desired.

Fun Flower Cakes

Last week I had two bright floral cakes. The first was for our ward's Relief Society Birthday Party. They were using primary colors for the decorations, so I went with a yellow scheme. It is a white cake with lemon filling.

That weekend I also did a cake for a 1st birthday. The mom had brought over the plates she was using and I used that as inspiration. The plates were bright colors with white polka dots, edged in lime green, and had colorful daisies in the center. It was a layer of white and a layer of chocolate.

Our Favorite Family Sandwich

This has always been one of our family favorites. I don't know anyone else that makes BLT's like this! If you do, let me know!! These are the best!! Even has our family name!


"Hines" Specials

Put your sandwich together in this order:

• one slice of bread
• mustard
• cheese
• fried egg, yolk broken
• bacon
• one slice of bread
• mayo or Miracle Whip
• tomato
• lettuce
• one slice of bread Bread can be toasted or untoasted.

Cut sandwich into fourths and secure with toothpicks or cocktail sticks.