Avocado Take Down

Hey gang- This past Sunday@ at the Bootleg Theater, I entered in a contest. I have never competed with food before but couldn't pass this up. This groovy dude Matt Timms who started the chili take down is going around the country with fun food challenges. The only reason I even did this was; 1) it wasn't super competitive 2) we were supplied with 48 avocados from Mexico, and 3) his vibe was a cool dude so i knew his event would be totally chill....

I made Avocado Fries and 2 types of dipping sauces; an avocado Remoulade, and a lime chili mayo sauce... There were 20 other chefs with really cool inventive new ways to eat an avocado. Here is a few dishes; Avocado Caliente Cupcake,Avocado Cream cheese Cake, Avocado pie, Avocado ice cream, lots of sweet dishes...Even though I didn't win I had a ball doing it and met some groovy peeps...
xoxo

Take a look at who entered the competition and if you’d like to read on about the event, head over to Chili Takedown.

How to build a layered cake

Hi Lovely Lady Cakes TV fans:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpHfBQTbZ7Q&feature=channel_video_title

Building a flat cake is so easy. Don't let the task scare you.
1) Be prepared to make a mess. It's just life and you can clean it up later.
2) Laugh and have fun.
3) You must be playing my motto in your head with everything you do in the kitchen and in life.
" This cake is not the boss of me, I'm the boss of this cake"

----ONE thing I left out in this video---
After your cake bakes, you let it cool, you are ready to cut it in half to start building, and you notices a huge HUMP on the top. Just take your serrated knife and cut that hump off. This will help achieve a flat cake when building. If you want you can even save the extra scrapes for cake pops another day! Recycled cake..LOL..

Enjoy, Learn, interact, and eat!
LOVE YA..xoxo

Star Wars Cake

I have babysat the sweetest boy named Myles for 4 years now. For his 4th birthday he requested a cake that was vanilla with chocolate chips and chocolate buttercream. He has been super into Star wars comics, the clone wars, and really into Rex. So I noticed that my kitchen aid bowl looked like a helmet. So watch my video on how to make Rex's helmet!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHoNkhJ3SVw

Here are some great photos from his party!
I got some great ideas for when i have a little one...

Cade's 1st Birthday

DEAR, DEAR, Friends Gary & Jessica had their son Cade's 1st b-day party! Cade calls me Aunt Anna. I love him to pieces. Well, of course I made his b-day cake, it was a 3-Teir, the flavor was super simple, vanilla confetti cake with vanilla buttercream.
The party was so fun, even though most of the children were 1 and who just crawled or just started walking so lots of face plants and bonking heads. Who knew balloons could be so fun. They had a bunch blown-up balloons and we dumped them on top of the little ones, they were so happy.
Next, Jessica's mom came out with a bubble machine and bubbles filled their home. It was great catching up with friends, eating cake, and finding as many children to lay my kisses on their sweet faces...

Happy Birthday Cade! xoxoxo

Mary & Reuben's Babyshower

Once again I, Anna, have volunteered to host another baby shower to celebrate dear friends Mary and Reuben bringing their little bundle of joy into the world. I love them and wouldn't of had it any other way. Of course I had lots of help with my other hosts Jessica, Jill, Reuben's sister-in-law Michelle, and Reuben's parents. It was a great time. They decided to have a Co-Ed shower which I have never done before. We kept it simple, no weird games, no embarrassing things for the guys to do. It was more of a get together with friends, sip on beer or white wine spritzers, and just enjoy everyone's presences.
Of course, I made the shower cake a 2-Tiered chocolate cake, with chocolate buttercream, and mint cookies crushed inside it. I made Reuben's favorite chocolate chip cookies, and for the favors made the IN item of 2011-cake pops.

To see my video on how to make Cake POPS click this link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8S8oGGmPVlQ
Decoration is my thing. I love to decorate! We had cute paper balls that looked like flowers hanging outside (Pom Poms from Martha Stewart collection). A line with clothes pins that held cute baby girl onesies, and my favorite activity to get the guest involved is a decorate a onesie table. There were fabric markers, stencils, and onesie for guests to walk up to the table and just get creative. It was a wonderful time! To end the party we had one last game called the "Guess who that baby is". I had guests bring with them a baby pic, and I taped them on paper and just had the guests try to guess which baby face looked like the people around them. Great game for everyone to get to know and chat with others...

Congratulations Mary and Reuben!