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Thursday, September 6, 2012

Organize: Spice Rack


Because I have been cooking more lately than ever, I am continually being reminded how ugly my spice rack looks - it is horrendous! 

Average, disorganized spice rack.  All of the spices look different!

I wanted to make this rack look "put together" and well, simply nice.  I thought it would be nice to have all of the same types of jars + similar labeling.  As you can see, there were several times I bought products that looked the same - but, never was able to make them ALL the same.

So, I bought several jars - they were very cheap which was a nice surprise (under $2)!  Then a thin tipped Sharpie marker and got started:

I wrote the name of the spice on each jar with a sharpie.  Now all of the writing is consistent.


 This was a very quick process - and made my spice rack look wonderful!

New, organized spice rack!







Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Bake: Polka Dotted Cake

When I saw this, I just couldn't wait to try to make it - a polka dotted cake.  How cute.  And, how simple - a pleasant surprise!  I can just think of the possibilities with this - baby showers, birthday parties, any sort of celebration. 


Finished polka dotted cake :)


Now for the how-to.  Here is what you need:

9" Cake Pans
Cake Ball Cooking Pan
Two boxes of any White Cake Mix (+ all necessary ingredients to bake the cake)
Food Coloring (I used the neon)

Baking Steps:

1.  Make first batch of white cake batter, and divide into four bowls.  Color the batter the color your prefer with food coloring.


The finished food colored batter - pink, blue, green and purple!


2. Put the batter into a greased the cake ball cooking pan.  Be sure to fill the batter to the brim so the circles are full circles once baked.  Cook the batter at 350 degrees for 11 minutes, or until you see the batter complete cooking by it coming out of the cooking pan.  
 
The circle pan with batter in it.  Make sure to fill them enough so they make full circles!
The excess batter will come out of the top of the circle pans.  This is ok - and, a good indicator that the cake is done :)

The completed cake balls.
  

 3.  Once you have the cake balls completed, you will need to trim them so they are perfect circles.  To do this, I used cooking scissors. 
 
On the left, the completed cake balls.  On the right, the trimmed cake balls.
 
 
  4.  Once this is complete, make the next batch of batter per the instructions.  Put the batter into a greased cake pan, and then place the cake balls into the pans - dispersed evenly. 

Colored vanilla cake balls in vanilla cake batter.


5.  Once this is complete, bake the cake according to the box (the cake balls will not burn, don't worry!) 

The baked cake with cake balls in it.  The layer is complete!

6.  Once the cake is baked, allow it to cool, and then place the first cake on a plate.  My mom taught me a trick on how to do this - if you place a plate on top of the pan and then flip it, the cake will come out perfectly on the plate - and in one piece!

How to flip a layer of cake.  See the plate underneath the pan?
First layer of flipped cake.

7.  Ice the first layer of the cake, then place the second layer on the first layer of iced cake.  Then, ice the entire cake - and cut!

The outside of polka dot cake!
The inside of polka dotted cake!
  


I could not believe how cute this cake was, and also how many compliments I got on it!  I cannot wait to make it again :)  Please let me know if you give it a try - I would love to hear about it!



















Saturday, September 1, 2012

Cook: Beet and Goat Cheese Arugula Salad

Cooked with my mom today - I love cooking with her because she teaches me little things that I would not learn otherwise... even very simple things, like you have to peel your beets before you cook them.  We made dinner for our family, beet and goat cheese salad with strip steak.

Beets are beautiful (and, surprisingly delicious), I couldn't believe the strings of colors in them as peeled them prior to throwing them in the oven.  I found this  beet and goat cheese arugula salad recipe through pinterest and it was very simple.  I loved that she had a salad dressing shaker - it made making the dressing a cinch!


You should give it a try and let me know what you think!  

Fresh, peeled beets.
Beet & Goat Cheese Salad
Beet and goat cheese salad.