(John) Candy, Cake and The Cinema 8

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brynn turned one this week - i used to babysit her mother

brynn turned one this week - i used to babysit her mother

What do you do when you have left over cake tops, brownies from your sister's wedding and a couple pounds of frosting that needs to be used? You make a Rachel Green Trifle Cake! Lemons to lemonade beeyotches! She may not have made the trifle like Monica would have but she did it with love.

This past Sunday iMatt and PetDoc invited myself and SAGL over for a Turkey Taco Sunday and a viewing of the John Candy dramatic masterpiece The Great Outdoors. Not one to come empty handed (and in desperate need of a cake fix but not wanting to put any effort into baking one), I did some digging in the freezer.Thankfully there were 10 cherry brownies, dark chocolate cake crumbs and the tops of two french vanilla cakes. So with a little patience (I had about 5 mins of ADD in me before I just tossed it in the garbage) I built a Frankenstein of a cake. I had left over buttercream and chocolate frosting from making a one year old's birthday cake a few days earlier and plastered that on the inside for some glue and then all around to make it "pretty". 

brownie bottom, chocolate fudge, french vanilla cake, pink buttercream, brownie/dark chocolate cake top, wrapped in love (aka chocolate frosting)

brownie bottom, chocolate fudge, french vanilla cake, pink buttercream, brownie/dark chocolate cake top, wrapped in love (aka chocolate frosting)

I'm not saying it was my best cake. But for being constructed with leftovers...it was pretty damn okay. It covered all grounds. Sweet, sugary, and 'betis inducing.

And because I love you here is the trailer to The Great Outdoors. Which I'm sure you're excited to know I saw on an unexpected double feature trip to the Cinema 8 movie theatre in Duluth with my father. The second film we saw that day was Coming To America. I'm sure it was the best 1988 $16.00 ever spent on father/son time.

Farmer's Markets, Jeggings and Supper Sluts

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Hello Fan(s)!  I hope you are all well and that you are being blessed with wonderful Summer weather like we here in the mighty Twin Cities have had as of late. In fact just this Sunday morning the roommate and myself had a wonderfully refreshing walk to our neighborhood farmers market in a constant barrage of mist. Moist is something I do not get to experience enough in my daily ventures outside. All joking aside it has been Summer here.  The grass is green (save for the boulevard in front of our house...damn dandelions) and the dogwood has given us our Summer snow.  

In regards to the farmer's market in the new hood, it pretty much had everything a hipster farmer's market needs and nothing I wanted (kind of a lie, but a little true). Plenty of beautifully put up preserves, tasty looking baked goods, expensive salmon, and organic eggs that I'm pretty sure come covered in gold. I was really hoping for large baskets of really cheap vegetables being sold by persons whose first language is not English. But in the end I walked away with a full tummy (thanks to Chef Shack and the tasty brat they provided - see below), the roommate binged on a beautiful falafel from Foxy Falafel (see above) and the front porch now is graced with a great little Amethyst Basil.  Did you know basil can come in other colors?  

What's been going on food styling wise?  I've been extremely busy food styling the last few weeks. There have been some bi-lingual videos (of which I only understood tostadas - if there are any Spanish speaking readers with abuelita's willing to teach I'm willing to learn), some healthy options, some not so healthy options and butt cakes. 

You heard me right. Butt cakes. 

Have you seen these? After you have finished reading this post go immediately to your Google Box and type in "BUTT CAKES" and trust me when I say turn your SafeSearch Filter on moderate to strict (unless of course you're looking for something a little more adult in your cake search).

This coming week is all about homemade popsicles (they are everywhere - and I just realized how wrong it is that both Butt Cakes and homemade popsicles are top on my list of things to talk about this time...sorry). If I learn anything great about popsicles this week I'll report back.  As of right now all I can tell you is that my sister turned me on to homemade frozen Greek yogurt pops a while back. They are wonderful. And according to that little #5 container they have more protein than the usual yogurt popsicle.  

Now onto more important things...Supper Sluts. 

For those of you not in the know Supper Sluts was the brainchild of the roommate and his lady friends this past January. They wanted a way to make sure EVERYONE in the group got together more than the twice annual attempts made in the past. So the first Sunday of every month is dedicated to a little kibitz and nosh. One person hosts and provides a meal. Everyone else just shows up. It can be a classy taco dish (credit to the roommate) or an even classier buffet style Little Caesar's Pizza Party. Great idea right?!?! Well this fine month of May I was able to attend a meeting of the secret society of Supper Sluts. All thanks to the roommate and his jet set lifestyle. Because he was off eating bbq is some state south of us I was called in to be his proxy. And being that I am unable to show up empty handed I brought a cheesecake.  Which is against Supper Sluts rules I think but as I cannot show up without a hostess gift...they got a cheesecake. 

I had some leftover rhubarb, strawberries and raspberries so whipped up a berry cheesecake to go with the wonderful taco bar provided by this month's hostess. I'm crossing my fingers that I make pledge during rush week and that Supper Sluts lets me back. If not, I will make sure that the roommate fills me in and then I will just gossip about them on the blog. 

And now I am sure you are wondering where the jeggings come into play.  One of the participants in Suppers Sluts (we'll simply call her Jeggings based on her penchant for...wait for it...Jeggings) was adventurous enough to meet up with myself and the roommate this past Saturday evening for some local fare at Tugg's Tavern. And by fare I mean beer and cocktails.  You know my love of "bar food". Jeggings and her main squeeze were a good time. And that's totally me sucking up to find a sponsor for my pledge into Supper Sluts.   

With that I should sign off - This week is chock full of stuff to do and eat. Until next time. 

Oh wait...I forgot one thing.  Today there was a casualty due to food and blogging. As I nestled onto the bed to bring everyone up to date on really important food stuff I started to get a subtle hint of sweet milk chocolate wafting up around me.  At first I Googled signs on strokes. Then gave up and decided I needed a ginger ale (over 140 days Diet Coke sober beeyotches!). As I went to remove the laptop from my lap I found the source of my chocolate room freshener. Somehow (and I'm sure I can pin the blame on any of the millions of guests I have in my bedroom) a milk chocolate chip managed to adhere itself to the bottom of my fireplace of a laptop and then proceeded to make my jeans into some sort of Levi/Hershey hybrid. What can we learn from this? Make sure to midnight binge eat over the sink. And to scotchguard your jeans.  

And I'm off...

Brownie + Cookie = LEAVE ME ALONE WHILE I'M EATING THIS

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Today is my birthday. And though there has been a wonderful outpouring of support on The Book and via text I am choosing to hunker down and pretend it's 1998. Tonight's viewing pleasure will be Meet Joe Black (someday Brad and Gwyneth will reunite) partnered with some leftover chili (one friend said I couldn't have the whole box of Mac and Cheese as planned) and then a 4AM trip to the airport to drop that same friend off to start his Spring Break Excursion 2012. The only missing element is the original Pepsi One. The kind with aspartame. Not with that evil step sister, Splenda.  

This morning with my birthday in mind I was craving brownies and cookies. In a moment of pure Frankenstein genius I remembered a conversation I had earlier in the week with my friend Brooke. We both were waxing poetic our love of brownies and cookies. Knowing I had the makings of both of these delicacies I got to work. Above you will see the bounty of my kitchen labor. Layers of chewy, fudge-like brownie enrobing my favorite chocolate chip cookie. One row of the pan is somehow missing.  

The Brookie (brownie meets cookie) was my gift to myself. 

I'm going to sign off now. In a few hours Just Joni will be calling to regale in the storytelling of my birth this fine evening many years ago. And I need to squeeze in a few Brookies before then. Brookie will catch on. Trust me.  

Brownies, Empty Promises and Heart Shaped Baking Pans

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Happy Valentine's Day.

Though (now ex) Boyfriend is enjoying the sun halfway around the world (thinking only of me I am sure) I am at home baking for this most hallowed of Hallmark days. My birthday is coming and with that a new license. As I make my way on this winter day to the DMV I will be dropping off some Chocolate Fudge Cherry Brownies to friends downton. They are chained to their cubes and therefore should be fed healthy treats.

If I was in elementary school I would have to make brownies for all my "friends". Thank God I am not in elementary school (the baby fat and sweatsuits alone were reason enough to get out of there). At this age I can be picky. I wish I could make heart shaped brownies for everyone. But time and money are limited.

Originally I had plans tonight with some friends. Plans were made while on an unscheduled pub crawl around the state last week. So you can imagine it was no surprise we all bailed on each other last night. I knew it was going to be a solo night when this text was received, "I'll text you guys when I'm half way through a pint of PB Haagen Dazs, watching The Notebook for the 4th time in 3 days."

Whatever your plans may be - binge eating is approved today.

Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, Dolly Parton, and Pomegranate Cupcakes

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Pomegranate Cupcake with Buttercream

Pomegranate Cupcake with Buttercream

This is my first post of 2012.

According to some (my friend Colleen for one) this could be a short year. I promise to get more out here on the blog just in case that damned Mayan calendar is right.

Last nights festivities were mild. I chose to stay in with Lawyer, try some new chili (I'll put the recipe below), eat some pomegranate cupcakes, and watch Masterpiece Theater (Downton Abbey - it's everything you want in British period dramas. Namely mild gay drama, the Titanic sinking and Maggie Smith. Oh and that woman who was in that Kevin Bacon movie about having baby. See. Everything you could ever want.) I am sure you are asking why was my night not filled with wild and crazy food/booze filled fun?!?! Well Boyfriend is traveling to San Francisco to visit our friend Paty. Sister and Future Husband were busy in their neighborhood and there was a Winter Storm Warning. For those of you in the Minneapolis reading area you know this was a big deal because as of two days ago winter had not yet hit our cold weather state. So I invited Lawyer over after her hard day of volunteering and we caught up over some well deserved chili and cupcakes.

I have now spent the majority of the New Year grazing over day old cupcakes, watching way too many movies on Netflix (9 to 5 has never been so entertaining - Thank you Dolly Parton) and cleaning my kitchen. Below is the recipe for Chicken Chile given to me by Just Joni who got it from Aunt Sharon who got it from Family Friend Donna who I am sure got it from that woman on Downton Abbey that starred in that baby making film with Kevin Bacon.

New Year's Chicken Chili

RECIPE FROM A FRIEND OF A FRIEND OF A FRIEND

Makes 11 (1 Cup) Servings.

Pomegranate Cupcakes

RECIPE MADE UP ON THE FLY

I must sign off now and get back to Dolly, Jane and Lily. And maybe another rogue cupcake for dinner. Have a wonderful New Year and just think about Friday's Happy Hour when you get to work tomorrow! And I promise to update in the next few days as I plan to have lunch with Baby Mama. We hope to venture out of our food box and try someplace new.