Iron Craft #15 - The Incredible Edible... Easter Basket!

This week on Iron Craft, we were challenged to make something with the incredible yummy Peeps! OK, I know lots of people don't like the gooey goodness - but I do! In fact a few weeks ago I made a Peeps wreath. I was actually stumped on ideas for more crafty goodness when it comes to marshmallows. I've seen so much out there in blogsphere and didn't want to copy. I finally decided to go the edible route. Cause culinary arts is crafty too, right??

I imagined a completely edible Easter basket! I've seen how to make chocolate bowls with balloons several times, but never had a chance to try it. Oh my goodness, Isa could NOT contain herself while I was working on these. She was beyond tickled that Mommy was making balloons for dessert. It was actually super easy! I just melted down some high quality chocolate in a double boiler. Place a big ol' glob of it on a greased cookie sheet and swirl the sides of a blown balloon in it. Place in the fridge till it's hard - and all done!

After my "baskets" were done, I got to work on the grass. I dyed some vanilla pudding green and mixed in some coconut shavings. I think this would be adorable with some of that edible Easter grass, but I was late in the game and could not find it anywhere! Top it off with a yummy Peeps and you're done! A completely edible Easter basket that will put your kiddos in hysterics. Not sure why it's so funny... But I think it's darn cute!

On a side note, I was thinking it would also be a hoot to make these as an embyro egg for maybe the scientist in your life. You can make basket into an egg shell by using white chocolate, keep the vanilla pudding white and a touch of yellow dyed pudding for the yolk, and lastly top it off with the baby Peeps chick!

I'M PUBLISHED

I know my ethusaism may be hard to read,

but I'm SUPER EXCITED!!

((Doing goofy happy dance!!))

I didn't even rank, but Taste of Home named

my pub onion rings as a honorable mention!

I received my free TOH Cookbook yesterday which was a happy surprise,

but TODAY,TODAY,TODAY

I got my complimentary issue of the magazine..

With MY recipe in it..

There is the mag

And there is my name and recipe!

As I mentioned.. I'm only slightly excited..

It is my first ever *cooking* related publicized mention.

After doing this for less than a year with a large maternity break,

I'm pretty proud.

OK..

tooting of horn is completed.

Back to my normal schedule of poopy diapers, ungrateful toddlers,

and large stack of dishes..

P.S. Did I mention I was in a magazine??

Cooking Creme Challenge - Extended

Bueller, Bueller?

Come on ya'll, no one entered an entry into

my Philadelphia Cooking Creme challenge.

Alas, I will extend it until midnight tonight

in the hopes that someone will want to stump me.

Please leave a note on a type of ethnic food that you

think would be very hard incorporate

Philadelphia's new Cooking Creme into.

What is Cooking Creme?

It's like a spoonable cream cheese, but more cream than cheese.

You check out my first two videos on YouTube

(link on right)

I've made a traditional beef stroganoff and an Asian pizza.

If I'm sadly empty handed tonight,

my game plan is to attack East Indian food.

So come on..

hit me with your best shot

and let me prove to you how versatile this new product is!

A Cooking Contest Tutorial and A Challenge

This evening as I prepared my sample meal for the

Philadelphia Cooking Creme challenge,

my husband was watching "The Worst Cooks in America".

I wondered to myself how some people go through life not cooking.

It's one thing to not know how to debone a duck like Julia Child,

but to not know how to make simple meals seems incredible to me.

Granted I've always had interest in the culinary arts,

and only at the last minute decided to not pursue the Cordon Bleu.

However, I mainly learned by watching my mother cook

and out of need in the several years I lived on my own before getting married.

As I ramble on more and more on my blog and Facebook about

my cooking contest endeavors, lots of people have asked me how

one creates a unique recipe.

Now that I can understand as a daunting task,

as it was to me up until a couple years ago.

Cooking IS a science, and to ask someone to create their own recipe

can feel like asking them to create water.

But it's not that hard,

and it's fun!

Believe me, I wouldn't spend my precious spare time

creating recipes if I didn't get enjoyment from it.

There are mishaps...oh yes.. but that's gives my hubs and I

something to laugh about.

So here is a little tutorial on how I came up with my next

Philadelphia Cooking Creme recipe entry.

It may not be "the" way to create a recipe,

but it works for me and we loved the results.

Coming into this challenge I knew I wanted to

try a different type of ethnic food for each flavor.

This week I wanted to do an Asian style.

So that was my first step - choosing a style.

Next thing I wanted to do was show how one

can easily cook with the Creme in recreating family favorites.

I choose a Friday favorite in this house - Pizza.

That was my next step - choosing the entrée.

I once ate a Thai chicken pizza long ago

that had a to die for spicy peanut sauce.

That was my main inspiration this week

and then I went on my own...

Choose an inspiration.

I used a ready made pizza crust - I wanted this to be a quick dinner.

As a mom of 2 under the age of 3, um..yeah time is of the essence!

I had the fabulous Savory Garlic cooking creme,

no need for many other seasonings - it's all in there!

And my inspiration piece assisted - the peanut sauce.

Lots of fresh foods for vitamins and taste.

I decided to make them personal sized pizzas.

Pizza is one of those fabulous foods that is really easy to

personalize and make your own without a lot of fuss.

((Translation - my hubby & I like spicy, our toddler does not)

Top it off with good ol' cheese..

Mmm.. cause everything is just better with cheese..

And tada, a super easy scrumptious meal that

I created on my own!

I don't reinvent the wheel.

I go with what I know taste good and I experiment..a little.

If it still seems intimidating, I propose this.

Go to one of your favorite every week family meals.

Be it pizza, spaghetti, burritos, etc..

and change 2 things.

Make a different kind of meat, try a new seasoning..

Make it yours and I promise you,

you will be on your way to creating your own recipes.

Yes, there will be flops.

But, keep a sense of humor and a martini near by.. and you'll be fine!

I will be filming this recipe later this week with my hubby

(as long as the girls nap!!)

And will be posting it on YouTube (link on right side)

and of course on the Philadelphia contest page.

I hope you try my Asian inspired pizza once the Philadelphia Cooking Creme

comes to your local grocery store.

It is fabulous!

It is so fabulous, I pose this challenge to YOU!

Choose what you think would be the most difficult type of ethnic food

for me to create a recipe for with Original Cooking Creme.

I want to prove to you how versatile this new product is!

You have till January 15th to submit your answer.

Then I will choose what I have the hardest time with.

Culinary Contest Update

I love checking my inbox and finding good cooking news!

Tonight I received an email that I placed 4th in the "Women of The Grill" contest

Even placing in a contest (especially when it's judged and not votes) is so awesome.

This is my 2nd win this year, I also placed 3rd with "Love With Food" Chocolate Master.

And I'm stalking the Philadelphia website to hear who won the first round

of cooking with creme..

Off to work on my Philadelphia Savory Garlic Cooking Creme recipe..

What's Cookin'

I was so excited tonight, when I received an email that Caryn,

a RWOP (Real Woman of Philadelphia) celebrity chef had posted on my blog!

((Hi Caryn!))

And it reminded me that although I returned to the culinary contest world

back in November, I haven't blogged about any of it.

I actually dove into the culinary cooking contest world with RWOP.

For 8 weeks, my husband helped me submit videos

with recipes focused on cream cheese.

Now Philadelphia is coming out with a new product, cooking creme.

It comes in 4 flavors and they are soo yummy!

Since I was active in the cream cheese contest,

I was asked to participate in the latest contest with cooking creme.

This challenge will go on for 4 weeks; 1 week for each flavor.

Here is my first video entry for Italian Cheese & Herb

Catching Up

Oh my.. Time does fly!

I can hardly believe it's been months since I've posted.

Well.. I had 3 blogs and think that overwhelmed me.

I am now starting my 7 month of pregnancy and that definitely overwhelmed me.

I've decided to condense all my blogs into this one.

I'll tag each post so if you want to skip to Etsy, cooking, or family

you will be able to quickly.

In brief here's the news from the last couple of months..

Isabelle

She is doing awesome! She is a chatterbox. Loves to sing and will be starting dance classes in August. Isabelle is very excited about the upcoming birth of her sister, Julie.

We had 2 summer vacations in Park City, 2 Thomas the Train rides,

a visit to WA for cousin Maggie's Confirmation, a visit from Nana and Myron,

and visits from Gaga & Gigi Bird.

She was sick for about 3 weeks this past month, but

all the blood tests revealed is that she had some sort of virus.

Right now I can hear her giggling in Gaga's lap, so all is well :D

Julie (Juliette)

I'm starting my 7 month of pregnancy.

It has not been an easy pregnancy.

I won't go into the details of every crazy detail, but let's just say I'm eager to meet my angel and have my body get back into some sort of normalcy.

We are bouncing back and forth on the name Julie or Juliette.

Our angel is named after one of the most life loving women I have

ever met that was taken from our lives much too young.

We are starting work on her nursery. Lots of Riley Blake cowgirl fabric and vintage western.

It is sure to be envied by all the other rodeo queens!

And no Thomas is not disappointed to be blessed with another beautiful, loving little girl.

Cooking Contests

I've won somewhere around 11 contests in the 2 1/2 months I've been entering.

The biggest prizes have been a check for $250, a $400 Le Creuset pot, 2 Magic Bullets,

and lots more fun things.

Thomas has even gotten into the action and started entering grilled recipes.

We have our fingers crossed he'll win a grill this summer.

I've taken the last couple week off from entering. During Isabelle's 3 week sick stint, we didn't know what was wrong and it was impossible for me to focus on anything but my angel.

Etsy and Other Crafts

Etsy is slow during the summer so I have been building up my inventory.

There are currently lots of baby cocoons and hats that are ready to ship.

I'm also really enjoying getting back into sewing, and have been adding a lot of new type of items.

I will stop taking custom orders mid-September and take a maternity leave for the first 2 weeks of October. From mid-October to January I will be taking a very limited amount of custom work, but I will add a lot of ready-2-ship items.

I'm doing a lot of craft challenges right now and have started entering quilt contests.

I'm still creating designs for A Charming Place. I was also finalist for Vanna's Choice yarn contest. I'm currently working on another Lion Brand yarn entry.

Personal News

I was nominated and accepted a director position for the Junior League of Salt Lake City. I'm still doing sub work at the local libraries.

Thomas has really gotten back into mountain biking since our last trip to Park City. He is busy moving his home office, since that room is to be Julie's nursery.

Wooh.. Lots of info.

I'm hoping to be blogging more now that I have 1 blog to care for..

but we'll see...

I'm on Twitter/Facebook daily and post weekly to my Flickr account

if you would like more pics!

Life is what happens when you think you'll have time to blog.....

Insane Goodness

While surfing the Internet today for new ideas,

I came across this recipe/tutorial that could only be defined as a gift from the Gods!

Pie in a jar

Go to their site.. right now.. Did you go?

Do you have buckets of drool on your keyboard now?!

This is my primo family project for December. I'm thinking some kind of apple cobbler for the weekend we drag out the Christmas decorations and set up the first fire.

Hope you enjoy - now go wipe your mouth!