Test Run with Fondant

I have been addicted as of late to all the cake shows that are on tv these days. Ace of Cakes, Cake Boss, Food Network Challenge, I could go on - there are so many and I watch um most of them :) and with Ace's first birthday coming up, I've been inspired to do something grand. However, I thought it best to do a test run before the big event because I was going to attempt working with fondant for the first time. For a test run I thought it worked out wonderfully! The cake is nothing special, and neither is the frosting really - both box and containers. The fondant though was the 'homemade' piece of the cake.

It is a marshmallow based fondant and I originally acquired the recipe from this website, although like always I altered it to my liking.


16 ounces white mini-marshmallows2 to 5 tablespoons water
2 pounds icing sugar
1/2 cup Crisco shortening (although I used FAR less than this, because I find Crisco so gross!)


I melted the marshmallows in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds for 2 minutes, then added the powdered sugar. I kneaded the fondant adding water as it was necessary, folding in more of the powdered sugar as I went. After I got the right texture, then kneaded in the food coloring to obtain the color that I wanted. Gently coated it in Crisco (yeck!) wrapped it in plastic wrap and the put it in the fridge for several hours. When I was ready to start wrapping the cake, I microwaved the fondant for 10 seconds and then got to rolling. Then applied it to the frosted cake (always frost the cake it helps the fondant stick to the cake.) Repeat the step for the next layer.



















After applying the fondant use a knife or a pizza cutter to remove the excess! Then decorate as you see fit. Nemo on the top was made out of fondant molded to be "nemo" shaped and then dyed frosting to paint him. He looked a tad sad, but that's ok it was a test run and I have a plastic Nemo to put on top of the actual birthday cake. The sand is brown sugar. Ace enjoyed sampling the cake, I think he'll do just fine come his big day!

Winner!

Thank you for all those that participated in this giveaway. The winner of the Joyful Organizer Book is #9:

S Club Mama said...
I love being organized, but the longer I live (haha), the less organized I seem to get (maybe it's these kids...).
August 2, 2009 6:53 AM

Be sure to check out the latest giveaway: No Throw (8/23)

Dreams

Do you ever have a dream you wish you could just not wake up from? One so nice and pleasant you wished you could have stayed there indefinitely enjoying the faux world that your brain has created while you slumber? I did last night - and I was almost sad to see it go - but at the same time, I enjoyed it while I had it.

I dreamed of being back home but in present day conditions. We were visiting my family, ALL of my family. My mom and dad and my grandma and grandpa. They were all there doting on Ace. It actually seemed as if we lived near them because my dad was playing with Ace and then he got all fussy - and my dad came over to razz me and to tell me that Ace wasn't allowed to not like him - and I explained he was just tired. It wasn't a very long dream, but it was poignant nonetheless - I got to see my dad smiling, laughing, joking, happy and playing with my son. There was more to the dream, but that's the part that I'll carry with me today and for many days to come. Seeing my dad excited to see my son. Even if only a figment of my imagination it seemed so real and satisfying.

My SITS Day!

WELCOME SITSas!

Thank you for coming to visit! Allow me to introduce you to my family. Loving husband and I just celebrated our 5th anniversary. Our son Ace is nearing his first birthday at the end of the month and we have two cats: Tort (on the left) and Nickolas (on the right) and together we all get into all sorts of shenanigans.

You've happened onto a blog that is a "mommy" blog that chronicles the life of our son and occasionally the daily mishaps and laundry piles. I also enjoy reviewing family friendly and baby related products that I find interesting and host giveaways every now and again. To read a little bit more about me or what on earth it means to be "The A-Priori Mommy" click About Me!
So welcome! I'm so glad you're here! Feel free to hop around or click on the links I've set up for you or visit the three blogs featured by SITS. I greatly enjoy comments and I am SO excited for this day. I hope that you find something you like here and come back again on a regular ol' day. To read about my cooking shenanigans (or the lack there of,) you can hop on over to my food blog: Amature Foodie. It's a new adventure that is slow to get moving.
Thank you Heather and Tiffany for hosting this great community and featuring lil' ol' me.
Are you scratching your head? SITSas?! My goodness, you must know what SITS is. You don't? Well allow me to introduce you to a wonderful community of women (and maybe a few men): The Secrets in the Sauce (SITS) created and hosted by above mentioned ladies: Tiffany and Heather! Go check out SITS and join the great community of supporting bloggers and commenting!

Cooking in Heat!

In the Northwest in recent days it has been nothing but a sweltering sauna! Terrible! Since we live in the northwwest and it gets super hot less than 10 days a year, the concept of air conditioning seems rather silly - except during those 10 days. It was down right miserable around these parts - reaching 82' on the midlevel of our house before 9am! The midlevel being where the kitchen was the idea of turning on the oven or stove let alone standing over it to cook seemed down right sadistic! So I didn't. Note my last blog is about two weeks ago? Yep only today did the air finally reach a more tolerable temperature.


What did we do for dinners? Well on one of the days of the high heat, I recreated this salad. That fed myself and my husband for a meal or two. We also dined out on our deck because after 6pm it was cooler outside than it was in.

Other meals included a lot of microwave, cold cuts, or take out - often take out was enjoyed since we were staying inside air conditioned resturants as long as we could.
Next up on the cooking menu: cake! Yes, I'm doing a trial run of Ace's birthday cake this week. It will be my first attempt with fondant. We'll see how that goes!!

I'm Crafty Too!

It's true, while I can't crank out masterpiece after masterpiece - I enjoy the arts and dabbling in all things crafty. I'd say I'm a pretty decent quilter - although don't have me venture too far beyond straight seams because I just don't have the patience. I enjoy scrap booking but many of my ideas are borrowed rather than invented... and most recently I've added dabbling in crocheting. I have tried before and that resulted in self-taught pot holders and coasters for Christmas to my mom and grandma. They amused me by being excited. I gave up after that. However, while out several months ago with my crafty friend Stacy, I got a new surge of excitement for the art of crochet. I found a book of baby blankets that looked fun and well, I decided that I needed something crafty that didn't have me chained to a table with several elements required before the crafting ever begins. And so crocheting is the perfect thing for me. I just need a ball of yarn and a hook and I am ready to craft!

I picked up Crocheted Baby Blankets On the Go at our local yarn shop and headed over to JoAnn's to get some yarn. This was back in May. I picked out some Lion Brand Cupcake Yarn in blueberry for Ace and with Stacy's help got started. Reading a pattern was a complete foreign language to me, even with the key. Where was I suppose to put the yarn? Who what? HuH?! Stacy patiently helped me get started and I was off! The pattern called for 5 skeins of yarn, I made it six and it called for a border - and I thought it didn't need one. So like the rebel I usually am I didn't stick with the pattern entirely. :)

Ace patiently and sometimes impatiently waited for me to finish the blanket (the yellow aka lemon drop was for the border I chose to leave off) and he was SO excited last week (before our city turned into a blazing sauna) to now have his blanket. He carried it around all over the place and played peek-a-boo with us. He truly was excited that he could play with it after all this time. Now to be fair to myself, I didn't work on it every day, I went a few days or even weeks without even touching it, but I wasn't lightening quick either. However, the important part is that it was enjoyable and it kept my hands busy while my boy napped in the car with me sitting in the front seat awaiting his return from slumberland. Or when he busy running around the room and I didn't want the tv on.


The blanket turned out pretty nice (in my humble opinion) there are obvious mishaps and it isn't entirely rectangular (I added some extra inch(s) at the end... not sure why at the end, but ah well) it was made with love and it will cover Ace for a long while. Heck it works as a lap blanket for me, it's long enough. Hehe Since completing this blanket I have started on another crochet project for my niece who will be arriving in September. I started this project last night an am well on my way! I'm using Lion Brand Pound of Yarn for this project in the lavender color (my brother said "no pink!", hmmph!) so the lavender is just as pretty! It's almost comical though at how LARGE this ball of yarn is, as it is just that ONE ball of yarn that makes a 28"x28" blanket with a hood! The pattern is super easy AND I read it all by myself! I'm so proud. We'll see how I do when I get to the hood, I'm a tad weary when I have to start shaping something. We'll see. For now, enjoy Ace in his cute excitement over his new blanket.

Summer Favorites - Swimming

Growing up I recall having swim lessons on a regular basis in the summer time. I remember having a crush on one of my instructors. I remember trying to swim and swim and getting no where because my arms didn't have any strength to pull myself along. I remember often freezing after only mere moments in the water. But more than anything I remember loving swimming!

Which is why I wanted to put my son in swim lessons right away, and that has proven to be a great bonding time for him and I. He is a little water bug in all manners of speaking. Pools, sprinklers, showers, and bathtubs you will find him having a good time in just about any water medium. I'm so happy about that. I am so thankful I don't have a boy that shrieks like the Wicked Witch of the West when he touches the water. He just has a great time and in turn. So do we!

His latest excitement in his swim lessons is that he free swims underwater! Ok don't envision full lengths of pools, he's not THAT much of a Flipper yet. No, he dips underwater and I let go of him and he swims about a foot to the instructor. He already knows how to kick his little legs and does SO well. It's so cute to watch his expression under the water.

Part of our anniversary we went as a family to the pool and allowed dad to see all of our latest and greatest skills. Both mom and dad practiced the dipping to and from and were able to enjoy his expressions and his kicks. We all had a good time for about an hour and I think for the first time in a week - after we got out of the shower Ace was chilly!