Happy St Patty's Day

So I have mentioned before that I absolutely love holidays. And this is a VERY true statement! No matter how big the holiday, I just like to celebrate. I geared up for St Patty's Day to make today a blast! Of course one thing I love about holidays is baking, its another excuse to make and eat delicious food:). Plus eating festive food just makes it that much better. So for St. Patty's day I decided to make cake balls. I have never made them before but have wanted to try so this was the perfect reason to make some. They are very time consuming but since I have been on spring break all week I had time to try them out.  Boy was it a blast! Seriously, I had so much fun baking all by myself. That's saying something because I love being around people. Anyways.. I found a tutorial on how to make cake balls from Bakerella.com. It was fairly easy to follow and a total blast.

Since it is St. Patty's Day I wanted to make green cake balls. I used butter golden cake mix ( I wanted to home make a cake but didn't have enough time) and used lots of food coloring to turn it green.

It came out lookin' pretty nasty and I was super bummed. But much to my surprise the inside was exactly what I was looking for!!

Bright green!

The best part about making cake balls is mushing up the cake. I have always wanted to squish a loaf of bread so badly and crunching up the cake filled that desire! Seriously, how many times have you been able to take a cake and just squish it all up to crumbs? Probably not since your first birthday. And you don't even remember that anyways!

 

Then I made some green frosting..

 

And the second to best part came..You have to mix the frosting and the mushed up cake together. This was SUPER messy. I personally have a texture issue so it took a minute for me to stick my hands in their to mix it all up. It wasn't so bad but you definitely get sticky and messy. 

After you mix it you roll the cake and frosting mix into little balls.

 

Then you put them in the fridge or freezer for a few hours. I put them in the freezer to speed up the process. Plus I found out it is a lot easier to dip them if the balls are frozen. 

I had the hardest time dipping the balls into chocolate. Every time I have had a cake ball the chocolate is perfectly coated around the cake ball...Yeah I definitely didn't get that result. I melted chocolate in the microwave and didn't get a super thin easily spreadable result. I decided that if I had a chocolate fountain I could get that perfect result! I used little shrimp forks to assist me in dipping the cake balls and they actually worked pretty well. 

I know I know, definitely not bakery status yet..next time. I ended up only dipping half of each ball because I was having a hard time covering the entire ball. And that is why I suggest 

something like a chocolate fountain. I added green sprinkles, to make it more festive and wala!

I refrigerated them so the chocolate hardened and then they were ready to eat.

Then I made a delicious party mix that I found on the The yummy life. This was a lot more work than I was expecting but it was fun. First I melted white chocolate and hand dipped each pretzel and of course put more sprinkles. You can never have too many sprinkles, right?!

 Then I had to make green popcorn. Now this is where it gets a little embarrassing. So I looked up how to make green popcorn and followed the directions exactly.. little did I know it would end up ruining my mom's plastic bowl.

Yep totally melted the bottom of the bowl. oops!

Then you add green m&m's, yes I did by a big bag and pick all the green ones out! Then melted white and milk chocolate and don't forget to add salt. One of the best things about this mix is it is sweet and salty. I probably could've added more salt so don't be afraid to dump it on.

 

Then I froze it. The yummy life doesn't say to do this, but I wanted to speed up the process and get the chocolate hardened. 

Then you simply break it up into pieces, add the pretzels and eat!

 

I had St. Patty's day lunch at snider's meats. They have delicious sandwiches and cute workers too:) I brought them these treats and hopefully they loved them and got into the holiday spirit.

Anyone could use a cake ball and popcorn pick me up on a busy day at work, right?

The best part about St. Patty's day 2012 is fantasy bridal called and my dress came in!!!!!!!!!! I ordered it back in November so I have been anticipating this day for months. Of course I made my mom rush over there with me so I could try it on! It's gorgeous. Better than I imagined. I cannot even wait!!

Happy St. Patty's Day:) Make today a reason to celebrate!!

nesting?

So you know when a woman is about to have a baby, like literally about to have a baby,  she gets into this weird nesting stage. Where all she wants to do is clean her house and do all these motherly things? Well ever since I got engaged I have been doing that exact thing. It is so weird. I have always enjoyed sewing but I mean all of a sudden I had this need for a sewing machine! I can probably thank this whole "nesting" thing and pinterest for that. I researched and decided that i would by a Brother CS6000i sewing machine.
 It is such an awesome sewing machine, not to mention it threads the needle for you! Oh how technology has changed since I took sewing in high school like 3 years ago. The thing that is so great about it is it is super easy to manage for beginners, yet it is super complex for more advanced seamstresses. I love my sewing machine:)

I have made a few starter projects and currently am working on an adorable bohemian tote bag! pictures to come:)

I have also been into cooking and baking! This could get me in trouble because there are always such delicious things around! I got new pots and pans for christmas and also a weight watchers cookbook. Of course I wanted to cook everything out of it immediately and for a while i did. I cannot wait for when we move into our own house and I control whats for dinner and don't have to feel weird making a mess in my mom's or mother in laws kitchen. The very first thing i made was chicken noodle cassorole, it was pretty good if i do say so myself! 

 It kinda looks like cat barf but really it was good!

My all time favorite weight watchers recipe is this 1 point soup. Not even kidding i could eat the whole batch! It is so delicious and super healthy for you. Nothing i love more than a vegetable soup on a cold day.

 It is super simple to make and tastes even better the next day! All the juices of the vegetables mix together and it tastes so good. Like really, make the batch and save it for the next day, let it marinade and it will taste so yummy. You can get the recipe HERE.

Like i said i'll bake for absolutely any reason. I just want experience and the only way to get it is to bake, right? I have been trying to take pictures so i can see how far i have come and what all i have tried.

 

Holly cupcakes for christmas time

 

Peanut butter reese's cups. once i learned how to make this i couldnt get enough. Pretty sure i made a million batches of them. Not to mention they are SO simple and seriously probably one of my all time favorites.

 

 

This little delight was a cookies and cream cupcake with a whip cream frosting.

 and this...so far..is my very most prized baking accomplishment. One of Jake's coworkers asked jake if we would bake her and her husband a cake for their anniversary. Of course jakey said yes and then the pressure was on. I had never baked a cake before and i in no way clam to be a baker so i was super nervous about it. Honestly the first cake failed miserably and we had to head back to the store to try it again. SUPER frustrating. I guess i just want things to work out the very first time. am i the only one? The decorating, which makes it look so great, was definitely the easist part of this cake baking process. And it was SO fun! I got the fantastic tutorial that made this cake possible HERE. Not going to lie once you see how easy it was you probably wont be as impressed with me..

 Look at that smile! I was having a blast. It was so much fun and i loved the way it turned out. Most importantly jakes co worker loved it and was very thankful.


All of that to say that my step dad has noticed that i have been doing all of these "motherly" things like sewing, crocheting, cooking, cleaning, making things, decorating etc etc. Apparently he told my mom i was "nesting". I blame pinterest and being engaged on that. Seriously. weirdest thing ever! Am i the only one this happened to?! Who cares why, i have found many new hobby's and just maybe i am nesting...hopefully that means I'll be a good wife:) thank you Jesus for a break from school so i can do my hobby's!