4th of July Nails

I've been extremely busy between work, kids, summer, etc so I haven't had much time to post lately but thought I'd share our 4th of July nails.  We love going all out for the holidays in my family right down to our nails. 

 What I did was paint a red stripe, white stripe and blue stripe and while the polish was still wet I took a toothpick to create a zig zag through my nail. Now you could leave that as is but I decided to put a coat of silver and blue glitter polish over it. I actually preferred it without the glitter but didn't feel like redoing the nail. 

I did my daughters nails using this technique with red and blue polish and used the white shatter.

I didn't feel the white shatter turned out quite as nice as the black but she was happy and that's all the matters right?

If we have the time my daughter wants me to do a post about her 4th of July hairdo we did.  So maybe look for that in the next few days!  Hope everyone has a happy and safe 4th of July!

Happy Fat Tuesday!

Happy Fat Tuesday!  Because I am waaaay to impatient to wait until Halloween to make this fabulous Halloween cake  I came across, I made it Mardi Gras style instead! Enjoy...

Cake
What you will need for the cake:
1 box of White Cake Mix plus ingredients called for on box (eggs, oil, water)
1 box of Yellow Cake Mix plus ingredients called for on box (eggs, oil, water)
Yellow Food Coloring
Purple Food Coloring
Green Food Coloring
*I used food coloring you find at the grocery store, but if you use food coloring in paste form (usually found at craft stores) the colors will look better and you won't need to use as much.

What you will do:
Heat oven to 325°F. Generously grease a 12 cup bundt /tube cake pan.  Make batters as directed on box.  Divide the white batter into two separate bowls.

Add green food coloring to one of the bowls of white cake mix.  I used the regular green food coloring for this.  Add purple food coloring to the other bowl of white cake mix. For the purple I used the pink and blue to make a darker purple from the neon food coloring.

Pour 3/4 of the yellow batter into a bowl and mix in yellow food coloring.  You may be able to omit the yellow food coloring, but I wanted to make sure I got a bright yellow color.  I used the regular yellow for mine.  Discard the remaining yellow cake batter or make a few cupcakes-you won't use it for the cake.

Pour 1/2 of the yellow cake batter into the bottom of the greased pan.  Carefully pour the purple batter over the top, being careful not to mix it together.  Then carefully pour the green on top of the purple. Pour the remaining yellow cake batter over the green. It should look something like this.

Bake as directed on box or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes. Turn pan upside down onto cooling rack that is placed over a cookie sheet.  Cool cake completely.

Frosting
What you will need:
1 (12oz) can White Frosting
Yellow Food Coloring
Purple Food Coloring
Green Food Coloring

What you will do:
Divide the frosting evenly between 3 microwavable bowls. Tint each bowl the same as you did for the cake, one yellow, one green, one purple.  Microwave each bowl of frosting about 10 seconds so it is smooth enough to be drizzled over the cake. Stir the frosting after microwaving and using your spoon drizzle each color back and forth over the cake to get the desired look. If I had enough purple, green, and yellow sugar sprinkles I would have sprinkled those on top...

 Pretty cool hey? I wonder how many other occasions/holidays I could make this cake for....

Adapted From:Cooking With Sugar

Red Velvet Trifle

Happy Valentine's Day!

One of my favorite kind of cake is a red velvet and one of my favorite kind of dessert is a trifle. So, when I came across the red velvet trifle I thought JACKPOT! Trifles are great because they are so incredibly simple to make, and they look nice.  I made this red velvet trifle for Valentine's Day and it was really yummy! 

I used the Paula Deen red velvet cake recipe but you could use any red velvet cake recipe (or there's even a red velvet box mix now!)

Red Velvet Trifle
For the cake:
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cup cake flour
1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter
1 ounce red food coloring (original recipe calls for 2oz. I used 1 and it worked out fine)
2 tablespoons cocoa
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon vinegar

For the filling:
1 (3 oz.) envelope cheesecake flavored instant pudding
2 cups milk (I used skim milk)
2 cups whipped topping (I used lite cool whip)

Garnish:
Shaved Chocolate (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350º F.

Prepare three 8” round cake pans with non stick cooking spray and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl using a hand mixer, beat eggs, butter and sugar until creamy. Add cocoa and food coloring. Mix until well combined.

In a medium mixing bowl, sift together flour and salt. Add to creamed mixture alternating with buttermilk. Blend in vanilla.

In a small bowl, combine soda and vinegar and add to batter. Pour into prepared pans. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until tests done. Allow cakes to cool completely.

Meanwhile, prepare instant pudding according to the package directions using 2 cups milk. Allow pudding to set up in the refrigerator for 10 minutes. Using a spatula, gently fold in whipped topping.

To assemble the trifle, cut the red velvet cake into 1 inch cubes. Place an even layer of cubed cake in the bottom of a trifle bowl. Top with 1/3 of the pudding mixture. Repeat the layer process so that the final layer is pudding. Top with shaved chocolate. Chill until ready to serve.

Adapted From:Paula Deen

Pink and White Zebra Stripes

In honor of Valentine's Day I made a pink and white zebra striped cake.  You don't have to make it pink and white you could make it any color (or flavor) combination you want.  It's really simple, it just takes a little bit more time to do.  I cheated and used a box mix but you could certainly use your favorite from scratch cake recipe.

Here's what you do:

Prepare cake mix.

Add desired food coloring to half of the batter.
I used neon pink.

Give paddle attachment to husband to eat leftover batter.
(yes we know it's not good to consume raw eggs)

Alternate dropping batter in center of greased cake pan (My pans are 8").
I used 1/4 cupfuls.  The batter will spread as more batter is dropped on top.
You won't use all of the cake batter. You'll have maybe 1/2 cup left.
Throw away, make a cupcake or two, or give remaining batter to husband.

This is what it should look like when you're done.

Both pans filled.

Bake as directed.

Frost as desired.



 How cute is that?!