Kim & Scott's Gourmet Pretzels

I posted this a few years ago when My Space was all the rage. Since it's long gone and deleted, I decided to post this again out of appreciation. It was a fundraiser for a local school and I have yet to see another one like this. I apologize for the blurry pic (all I had was my cell phone camera at the time), but look! Peanut Free!! Most fundraisers I have to pass up; my son can't eat any of the goodies because majority have the warning, "May contain peanuts." If they are selling non-food items, I will most definitely order because I encourage it. But this was the first fundraiser that landed in my hands that said peanut free! Just because of that, I bought that $15 pretzel!

I checked out their website and they have a "Dietary Allergy Awareness" section that reads as follows:

"•We are a nut-free bakery using only all-natural and premium ingredients, and strive to provide dietary alternatives!
• Our pretzel creations are all-natural and contain no preservatives, trans fats, or hydrogenated oil.
• We offer pretzels in our line that are dairy-free, egg-free, and gluten-free.
• Our Traditional and Stuffed Pretzels are 100% vegetarian.
• Our Café offers nutritional alternatives including our Sunflower butter & Jelly Pretzel Sandwich. We also provide dairy-free and egg-free options, including our soy milk, Traditional Bavarian Pretzel, fresh fruit cups, Knot Dogs and more."

And to make it even better, they feature a logo on the same page that reads, "Allergy Aware Because We Care - Made in a Nut-Free facility."

I love that! Thank you, Kim & Scott's, for caring and being aware. :)  

Oilers Birthday Cake using FBCT.

For my husband's last birthday (which was last September so I'm going off memory here), I wanted to surprise him with an Edmonton Oilers cake. For the most part, I thought it turned out decent enough and not a complete fail. But my husband thought it was the most awesome cake ever and it earned me the "You're the Best Wife in the World!" award. I think it was mostly because I presented him with "Oilers logo on chocolate" and the "Thought" of it, but he still insists it was the best cake ever. So for that, I call it a success!

However, there were a lot of mistakes made and I will point out some tips of what not to do. First of all, it isn't a good idea to rush a FBCT at anytime. I was burning the midnight oil on this one and was very tired so I was pushing myself. Second, it was my first time working with words within the transfer itself. There were several straight lines at the bottom of the text and I don't have the steadiest of hands (especially when I am tired). Plus I clumped too much icing into it. So all that made the design turn out to be very jagged

For my Oilers Fan :P

As you probably noticed, there are also a couple of spots in the "L" that didn't get filled. I will get to that later.

The How-to:
Might want to also check out the tutorial at Cake Central as a follow-along reference as well. They will cover more details that I may have missed.

To start off, here is the logo I used (larger image found here)


I saved the logo to my computer and then used Paint Shop Pro to create a mirror image. This is an important step! You have reverse the image or else your letters will turn out backwards on your cake. If it's just a picture, then it really doesn't matter unless it's a personal preference.

After that, I printed the logo on regular paper as a full page photo (make sure you deselect "Fit picture to frame." That way the image won't be cut off). Gray scale is fine; you don't really need the colors unless you need it for reference.

Then, I took my handy-dandy cutting board and taped the corners of my page with the logo onto the center of the board. After that, I laid my single layer of wax paper and taped that to the board as well. That way, none of my papers will be sliding about while I am tracing.

This is is what it looked like with the wax paper on top of the image I traced. I personally like to make sure the wax paper is larger than the image paper. You can see it in the picture.



I then outlined everything except the oil drop (sorry, no pics of that) in icing colored with Wilton's Navy blue. Then I outlined the oil drop with icing colored with Wilton's Orange.

Then I filled them in. This is what it looked like:


At this point I am pointing out how thick and jagged it looks because, like I said, I was rushing and not using the proper pressure with the icing. Plus, I found this design kind of difficult because there were a lot of straight lines that were fairly close to each other. That, combined with improper icing tip size, caused the lines to look very unclean and thick. I made my own icing bags using wax paper and I cut too much off the tip, creating a bigger hole than what I needed.

Remember the white areas in the "L" that didn't get completely filled? I decided to point that out to show that smoothing the back of your icing is an important step. If you don't, it will have holes just like mine did. So gently push and smooth the back of your icing with a small, clean spatula to help it settle in the empty areas (see pictures of this at Cake Central). Do this before you cover the back with your final layer of icing.

After smoothing your colored icings, cover the entire back with icing. This is what it looked like before I smoothed it out.


It is recommend covering the back of your FBCT with the same color of your iced cake. Even though I was making a chocolate cake with chocolate icing, and considering the entire FBCT would cover the entire top of my round cake, I figured it wouldn't matter much (which it didn't for this particular case). Otherwise, I would recommend using the same color as well.

After smoothing out the back (la-la-la, Cake Central has pics of this step because I forgot to take), I stuck it in the freezer for overnight. Cutting board and all. Some say you can freeze it for a couple of hours and it will still work, but I love preparing it the night before to let it get nice and stiff.

Since the logo is round, I thought putting it on a round cake would be a great idea. Wouldn't you know, the FBCT fit perfectly. :) I wanted to add the icing trim, but I completely forgot about it until it was too late. But I served it on my glass cake stand and then presented it, as is, to one very happy and greatful hubby!

Transfer is still frozen in this picture. Those spots really irritate me. LOL! 

Birthday boy gets to cut the cake! Icing is somewhat thawed at this point.

Montreal, Day 3: Geocaching Adventure in Dorval.

Today we decided to go geocaching in the neighborhoods behind our hotel, which is actually not in Montreal. We are staying in a neighboring area called Dorval and we are very pleased with our choice because it is a very beautiful city. Geocaching give us an opportunity to explore areas that we normally wouldn't be able to see, and the cache hunt here took us to some pretty places. Dorval has several little city parks that are very well maintained and absolutely a pleasant to be in. I wish we had a place like their aquatic Walters Park back home!

I hadn't blogged much about geocaching yet, but it's a new hobby and we are still noobs. With that being said, we didn't find as many caches as I hoped we would. We hunted six, but only found one.

The first cache we hunted was the one we did find. It was tucked away in a little area called Windsor Park. I kinda fell in love with that place.There weren't many people around except for what looked like a man with his wife and he was treasure hunting himself with a metal detector. We looked around, sat on a few different benches and took in the serene scenery. Then we found our first Canadian cache! This was also my first international cache.

Windsor Park - Dorval, QC

After that we tried to find a few more along the shoreline of Lake St. Louis, but no luck. They are there but we are still nooblets. We still had good fun, got some exercise, and got to explore a very pretty place. Here are more of our photos:

Dorval Library and Cultural Center

Lake St. Louis 

Le Monument aux Braves - The Cenotaph - Pine Beach Park - Dorval,QC

And last but not least, as we were walking along on the sidewalk back to our hotel, we were passed from behind by the Google Street View car and cameras! TWICE! So there is no doubt that Google users viewing the Dorval area will more than likely see our backsides. The hubby and I found that extremely amusing and he even tried to photobomb it the second time. So we are looking forward to see if we made the cut on Google Maps Street View!

Montreal, Day 2: Nothing too exciting to write home about.

Mostly took care of business in regards to the immigration visa and tried to figure out the transportation systems. All the signage is in French but we are managing everything okay. Most people here are bilingual so that helps out a lot.

We made a trip to "Rue Sherbrooke" in Downtown Montreal to take care of the medical exam the hubby was required to take before his interview at the consulate. We were both nervous and it took for what seemed like forever, but it's over and done with. We can relax for a few days now. 

We wandered the neighborhood a bit and had lunch outside at a nice little bistro. There are several beautiful buildings, a couple of which had thick, green vines growing up along the sides to the top of what looked like multi-story buildings. Very pretty. 

This one kept drawing my attention every time we walked by it. It's the Strathcona Music Building at McGill Univeristy. 

We did a bit of shopping (fun shopping and then, ick, grocery shopping). And, of course, we stopped at Tim Horton's twice today. I really wanted to go to Horton's again this evening, but I am trying to learn restraint. Plus it started raining. Things are so hot and dry at home, it's been a while since I have seen a good drench. Wish I could bring it back with me! 

Another thing I've noticed even before I arrived (thanks to Google) is the graffiti. It's anywhere and everywhere and on anything! Here is one I found tucked in an alley behind the Tim Horton's near our hotel:

At first glance I thought it was Pikachu, but as I approached it I realized it was Gir from Invader Zim. He is so cute; my favorite one so far!

If it's not raining tomorrow, we may go geocaching. It will be my first international find! Otherwise, it may just be hanging in the hotel to read or watch more of Canada's Worst Driver or Canada's Worst Handyman. 

Montreal, Day 1: First order of Business.

Might as well call it Crack.

After a two-hour car ride with no air conditioning in 100+ degree heat and then boarding 2 stuffy small airplanes, we had traveled for over 9 hours before arriving shortly after 7pm EST at our final destination: Montreal, Quebec, Canada. First order of business after clearing customs: Tim Horton's.

We found my nearest haven of coffee goodness in the airport (of course). The funny thing is, we were directed to it by a simple printout sign taped to the front of an information booth. It was a regular 8.5 x 11 white sheet of paper that read:
 "<--Tim Horton's
<--Taxi"

Kudos for catering to my priorities, Montreal. Score one for you. Apparently everyone else thinks it's important, too, if a homemade sign is needed at the information booth. Not to mention, it was listed above "taxi." I love Canada!

My husband knows exactly how I worked and headed in that direction. It was like a beacon of happiness when I saw that big, red "Tim Horton's" name. And even more better, there was NO LINE (*shocked*). Hubby ordered me an iced capppucinno, or an "Ice Cap" as he calls it. I have been waiting a very long time to get my hands on another one of those- and it was more delicious than I remember!

I've been suppressing my Timmy Ho cravings back home in the U.S. thanks to my sweet, wonderful supplier: my hubby. Every time he went back home to Edmonton he would stock up on cans of their delicious fine ground coffee. His mom is even nice enough to hook me up every now and then.

But this week I can enjoy Tim Horton's in it's natural habitat, and I am happy. Lucky me, there is one only a block from our hotel. Guess where I will be spending most of my money during this trip!

I first heard of this study last week and it was intriguing. And then today I found this on the MSN.com homepage. Top page stories, woot!

Honestly I am quite confused. Before my son was diagnosed, I adored peanut butter. I had peanut butter birthday cakes and was in love with my Grandmother's Christmas peanut butter fudge. However, most foods that I was infatuated with were not appealing to me during my pregnancy, one being peanut butter. I ate one, maybe even two, peanut butter sandwhiches the whole time I was pregnant. Now, taking into consideration that I could have eaten candy bars and cookies with peanut and peanut products and not even been "aware" of it. I may have, in fact, eaten peanuts on multiple occasions and have forgotten about it or didn't give it a second thought. I was never aware of how much peanuts were in foods until I had to start watching out for them. Therefore, I determine that eating peanuts when I was pregnant might have increased the risk of my son having a peanut allergy. Since he also has multiple food allergies, I am very confused on the matter and wonder if the same study applies to milk and egg allergies.

Now, one of the first emotions a mother feels when she learns her child has been diagnosed with a food allergy is guilt. "Is it hereditary?" and "Is it because of what I ate when I was pregnant?" are the first things she will ask, usually followed by the ever popular, "Will my child grow out of it?" Needless to say, it's too early to start blaming yourself, Mommy. They still don't know what causes food allergies. However, this study is an important step towards finding out why there has been an astounding increase in the number of children born with them.

Sonic the Hedgehog FBCT Birthday Cake

My son is so unconventional, he always wants something that is not the latest craze. Totally cool if you ask me; I'm proud! But sometimes Mommy would like something easy, ya know? Go to Wal-Mart, order the latest Iron Man cake and swing by the party department for matching plates and VIOLA! But that is not the case so Mommy has to put on her creativity hat. Well this year for his birthday, he wanted a Sonic the Hedgehog cake. So I discovered Frozen Buttercream Transfers and taught myself how to work with icing.

It was so much fun to make! It was very time consuming and I am glad I practiced on a smaller cake first. I went for something easy since I am still a cake noob. I just traced Sonic's face, not the whole body. I wrote Happy Birthday on the side and presented it for the one and only person it mattered to: my son. He loved it and was as giddy as... well as a 5 year-old on his birthday!

I wanted to use a lighter colored icing for the background, but the kiddo wanted chocolate everything. The FBCT, however, was made with store-bought vanilla Betty Crocker icing so the food coloring would be at it's best. The cake was a simple Cherrybrook Kitchen Chocolate Cake Mix - allergy free, of course! Peanut Free, Dairy Free, Egg Free, & Nut Free to be exact. Quick review of it: Everyone thought it tasted great! Found it at the local health food store, but I heard Albertson's carried it as well. I used two boxes to make a double layered cake, which it wasn't easy to do with this cake mix considering there isn't much to hold it together. But icing is a nice glue and cover up, so I practiced with it and it turned out nice!

At the party I got a lot of compliments from the parents, even an, "She didn't make that. She bought it." LOL,  yes, I did take that as a compliment! Everyone enjoyed it and I was very proud of learning something new (and thankful it turned out well). But mostly, I was happy the kids were really tickled with  it.

Geek Drain!

I was informed this morning by Mercy's Maid that the new L4D & L4D2 DLC called The Sacrifice is being released soon. First of all, {/excitement}! Second of all, it made me realized how much the real world has drained me of my precious Geekery. I am way behind! I'm still a big VG nerd and it's clear everyday (just ask my co-worker's, they think I'm weird), but between kindergarten, doctor's offices, work, wedding planning, FAAN fundraising, and everyday real life, I feel normal and it's depressing me! I mean, seriously. I've had Final Fantasy XIII in my home since the relase and I have YET to play it. And I miss Final Fantasy XI all-nighters... And playing Resident Evil till 3am.... I feel like a shell of my once full-blown dorky self. Now I'm signing up to for PTA and volunteering for classroom parties and going to bridal shops! D: oh noes!

{/panic}

So in an effort to get back to being me, I checked out Geekologie and I came across this vid. Guy named Mat Graham made a remix of the Song of Storms from Zelda. Freakin' Awesome! So I checked him out on YouTube and I'm a total fan now. Gerudo Valley has always been on of my Fave Zelda songs and I like what he has done. His Bolero of Fire is awesome too. Oh yeah that reminds me! I haven't hit OC Remix lately ... EEEKK! I'm giddy now! And guess what. I'll hit Bob's House of Video Games, watch some Angry Nintendo Nerd, and start to FINALLY read the L4D comic "The Sacrifice." I think that will do it ...for today :)

Also, the L4D DLC will be released the day the finace and I board the plane to Las Vegas. Can you say, "Pack the Xbox, baby, we're ringin' in this marriage right!" 

The Day I Sent My Peanut Allergic Kid to Kindergarten.

As if being emotional about your baby growing up and starting school wasn't enough, the added worry about him being safe around food in a school that encourages in-class snacks made it twice as hard to handle. Everyone kept telling me, "Hang in there, Momma! All parents go through it! He'll have fun!" I do believe that and those all those comforting words helped soothe some fears. After all, I put him in public school because my child thrives on social interaction and I will not keep him in a bubble because of his food allergies (Secretly I want to but that's the Mommy in me!).

His previous daycare/preschool was owned and operated by family so I haven't faced sending him to a new place with new people until now. Of course, I was worried and suffered typical separation anxiety (still, "Normal Mommy Syndrome"). But it's added worry when sending my peanut/tree nut allergic child to a place where peanut butter is a staple for most snacks and lunches and no family is present to watch out for him. To best describe how I felt, I had the normal "Mommy" fears pressing down on me: Will he make new friends? Will he be able to eat plenty of lunch in time? What will he do if he gets confused and doesn't know where to go?  But on top of all that, it felt like there was another massive weight. It was almost like a HUGE boulder and it was called "Food Allergies." Will he sit next to someone eating a peanut butter sandwich? Will that kid get it on his/her fingers and wipe it on the table where my son can come into contact with it? If so, how quick can his medicine be given to him and how fast will they call me? Will he be left out of school parties if another parent brings unsafe snacks and cookies?

I felt so helpless and yes, I stayed home from work that day! Did I cry when I left? Yes, as did many other moms that day. It was so hard to make myself walk out of the classroom and leave him there with strangers, but he made it through his first day just fine! Needless to say, getting him prepared and making sure he had medications at the school, that was a whole other dance in itself. But I have a wonderful support group of friends and family and thanks to everyone that helped me thru it, checked on me, cheered me up, and gave me words of advice. :)

And I found this today on a new blog that I am following: "First Day of School with Food Allergies" from The Nut-Free Mom Blog. Gave me a bit of inspiration to help me keep a positive outlook on school :)

Sending Food Allergic Children to School

"Sending Food Allergic Children to School" is a great guide offered by Kids With Food Allergies to help prepare your food allergic child for school. Over the past two months I have been preparing my son to start Kindergarten and let me tell you, it's been an exciting and, at the same time, a nerve-racking experience. I am happy and scared at the same time. That's suppose to be normal right? HAHA! Well, along with backpacks, lunch boxes, school supplies, and teaching my kiddo all about "Stranger Danger," I also had to meet with his allergist to form a Food Allergy Action Plan, make sure Epipens/Twinjects are renewed, learn how to not share or trade snacks/lunch/drinks even when it looks like a safe food, and set up meetings with the school nurse and his teacher. The list goes on, like school parties. Ever since he was diagnosed at the age of one, I have been afraid that my child would have to sit out for the Christmas party or be the only child without a treat when someone brings cupcakes for their child's birthday. I refuse to put my child in a bubble and dealing with food allergies is all about education and having a backup plan. So I best be ready and stock up on some Cherrybrook Kitchen peanut-free/nut-free/egg-free/dairy-free cake mix! Which, by the way, are very delicious despite the "lack of" ingredients!

"Macha" Cosplay - DIY Hat with Kitty Ears

I went ahead and posted a pic and brief summary of my kitty cat ears on cutoutandkeep.net (awesome site by the way) since that's where I found the easy tutorial on how to make them. The original version and tutorial is by "Cat Morley" on the same website. Hers are definately better, but I still got compliments on it.

This was for a Macha costume that I wore to A-kon 21 in Dallas this past June. I still haven't posted pics of the kon yet and I'm sorry! Wedding planning and my getting my kiddo prepared to start school has made me into a busy Queen Bee. But A-kon was fun, as always, and I got to cosplay as "Macha" from .hack//SIGN and "Zoey" from Left for Dead (she was way fun!). I'll post pics later!

My First FBCT!

I was at a loss on how make a Sonic the Hedgehog birthday cake for my kiddo's birthday and was looking into printed edible images when I stumbled upon the FBCT (Frozen Buttercream Transfer). I originally found this neat project and gave it to a friend (she's pretty good with cakes) to try out. We both had never heard of FBCT but apparently it is a widely used technique. All you do is print out an image (or grab one from a coloring book), place wax paper on top of it, trace the outlines onto the wax paper, fill in with colored icing, coat the entire back with icing that matches the cake icing, freeze it, then voila: you have an edible buttercream image to place on top of your iced cake. Neato!

I decided to do a test FBCT first. I chose some Super Mario mushrooms because they are simple, have color, and have easy areas to work with. So this is what I made:

Tada!

I also practiced icing the cake too because I suck at it. Even tho that part still looks choppy, it's still the best looking cake I have ever made! And I had a lot of fun and it tasted great. I'll post another blog later that shows how I did it.

Needless to say, my friend's FBCT didn't turn out so well. Her outline and some of the colored icing peeled off with the wax paper. She used the Wilton black icing in the tube. I read in many FBCT tutorials and threads that the Wilton icing in the tube doesn't work well for this project. Some said it worked ok when they used it, but I used Betty Crocker milk chocolate icing (because coloring it black is super easy) and it worked like a dream. It froze and peeled nicely. Also, she only let her FBCT freeze for about an hour. I let mine freeze overnight to make sure it was sturdy and solid before I applied it to the cake.

Helpful videos I used:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CV2DZDuv9XA - "How to do a Buttercream Transfer"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILouJOZ9I4o - "How to Decorate a Cake" from BettyCrockerTV

Boys Flannel PJs from New Look Pattern 6131

I made these flannel Hockey PJs for my son last November and just realized that I never posted a picture of them! Now, I'm not a master seamstress, but this project was pretty easy. A bit time consuming for me because I was learning a few new techniques that I have never worked with before, like button holes (I used blue buttons, see them? lol).

First off, I made a "mock-up" with the shirt pattern out of an old ninja turtle bed sheet. I do that on some projects as a test and it helps me see my mistakes so I don't ruin the actual project. I had a few old sheets in my towel closet that I've been using, but I hear Muslin works good for that too because it's inexpensive. The Ninja Turtle shirt looks incomplete on the inside because I didn't follow the instructions like I was supposed to (hence why I do the mock-up in the first place!), but it turned out to be a cute little shirt too.

And look! The pj shirt also has a cute pocket on the right side of the picture, with the word "hockey" right in the middle! Considering the print on the fabric, you can't see it very well. I am very proud of that cute, little pocket tho!

Here is the pattern information: New Look pattern 6131
I had to use a different size for the top than the bottoms because, like every child, he wasn't going to fit in just one size. Also, since the pants were elastic AND drawstring, I made them a couple of sizes bigger and an with adjustable leg hems so he can grow into them. I also made the shirt bigger too.

As for the kiddo's approval? He loves them! They are very soft, comfy, and he loves wearing them around the house. This was probably the very first sewing project I finished that was nearly flawless. I am very proud of them and they were easy to make!

I love Me, You Do Not Have To.

"It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for something you are not" -- André Gide

Some days I think of quotes such as this and it helps keep a smile on my face. It also helps me deal with general people everyday, especially at work (LOL). Not everyone will be liked, and you will not like not everyone. Good intentions may be in place, but that is life.


I may be misunderstood, and I may be disliked for all that I am. But I'm also loved for the same reasons, just for being me:
I am a Mother and a Fiancé.
I am a huge Dork.
I am a Gamer Girl and you're a n00b.
I am a Sister, a Daughter, and a Friend.
I am someone's "Cupcake" and someone's "Muffin."
I am quick to speak my mind before thinking but...
I am also considerate, respectful, and compassionate IF I am treated the same in return.
I am also someone's enemy and someone's bane of existence. 
But everyone has flaws and I am proud for all that I am because I love me whether you do or not.

I am me and I cannot change.

Some qualities can be adjusted, some need to be tamed.

But I am me and I will not change.


That's a big change in opinion compared to my Emo self from a few years before :P 

Resident Evil: Afterlife Trailer

Since I am broke and unable to go to the movies or afford cable (but still know priority and have the internet!), I just now got a peek at the Resident Evil: Afterlife Trailers.

I dislike Paul W.S. Anderson. And Ali Larter. Not a fan of either one. With that said, the nerd part of me is big enough to be uber excited about this movie. I'm a zombiemaniac and a HUGE Resident Evil fan, so no matter how much I fuss and complain about their selection of cast members or how much P.W.S.A. generally screws up everything, I will still end up going to see it and more than likely buying the DVD to play over and over and over... just because it's Resident Evil. I do love that more R.E. characters are making appearances in the movies, especially Wesker. IMDB says Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine are also in Afterlife, but the previews aren't showing much about that. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Trailers look awesome!

I can see a lot of things taken from Resident Evil 5, and I think 4 as well. I can't tell, it's been a while since I played 4. There is a lot of Youtube and forum comments blasting it, but I really think they just never played the games at all. Upsets me. Just like when Harry Potter Movie buffs kept going on the about the Harry + Hermione b.s. Seriously, they just never read the books. Shame. Hollywood versions are sometimes great, but the original works are always the best! That applies to Video Games as well.