I am your cake!

Darth Vader eventually went off to conquer another birthday party and overall I think he turned out quite well - not sure if I would ever want to make another one but it was lots of fun and a huge learning experience for me. My client and the birthday boy were both happy with the end result. I was a bit disappointed that due to the size, and having to start baking him so far in advance the cake dried out a bit and was not as moist as usual. I think next time I end up doing a really BIG cake I might freeze the cakes before hand to keep them moist for longer.




The same day Darth Vader left my house I got another call from a lady who was looking for some black and white cupcakes for an adult birthday party as well as a few kiddies ones. She was very specific about the kiddies' cupcakes and only wanted a thin outline of a car on them so that there would be the minimal amount of icing used. It took a bit of practice but I think they turned out really well and my client loved them, it was just what she wanted. For the 'adult' cupcakes I used a black and white swirl pattern with just a touch of edible glitter, they looked very 'grown-up' and she was very happy with them.




I had some black and white icing left after making the cupcakes so instead of wasting I decided to have some fun and play around with some cupcake stencils I got from a company called Paperkutz. I still need to play around with them a bit more but they are a really easy and fun way to decorate cupcakes.




Fun with food

Having fun is what cooking, baking and eating is all about.

I'm the type of person if you invite me to a party I'll spend more time in the kitchen picking up tips from the chef than mingling with the crowds. However, even I sometimes get stuck in a rut and then cooking seems like a chore or even a punishment, I get frustrated, tired and start thinking take-outs. Lately I have been trying to help my kids get through their exams, find ways to promote my business and finishing off arrangements for our Christmas holiday so its no wonder that after a very long day the idea of making dinner has just not filled me with joy and excitement. That was until my Hubby misunderstood a message from my mom.

My Mom lives in England and we communicate mostly through SMS or email, yesterday my hubby was reading one of my mom's emails in which she talks of the Squidlies that she saw. Now I know that, that is our 'pet' name for Squirrels but my hubby was a little confused so he did what we always do when faced with something unknown - he googled it and what he found turned supper into a big laugh.

It seems that Squidlies are one of the names used for a very interesting fun food dish where you start by sticking dry, uncooked spaghetti into hot dog cubes. You then boil theses little 'creatures' in a big pot of salted water till the spaghetti strands are soft and serve with a sauce of your choice.

My hubby decided we simply had to have these for dinner so promptly went on a grocery run after work to get all the ingredients. They were very easy to make and we all loved the end result, they look like little squid creatures and they taste great. My hubby served them with a plain tomato based pasta sauce (or as my daughter said, Squidlie blood) and we will definitely be making these again in the future.






Finding something new and unusual to make with everyday ingredients have once again sparked my imagination and this morning I found myself planning dinner at 8am.

Wonder what it will be.