Holiday Gift Wrapping Party

Ahh the holidays!  That magical season when we take time to stop and appreciate our family and friends.

Except at some point we decided to express our appreciation with gifts.

And with food.

And with fabulous, Pinterest-inspired displays on every horizontal surface in the house.

And suddenly we no longer had any time to appreciate the people we originally wanted to appreciate with all of our shows of appreciation.

You know you've been there:  it's Christmastime and you're invited to (another) event.  Sure you want to see people and socialize but you've got things to do.

It's this sense of rush, rush, rush that's prevented me from throwing Christmas parties in the past.

That is until I had an idea:

What if I threw a party where my friends could socialize and get things done all at the same time?  I suspected that I was on to something.

And thus my first (and soon to be annual) holiday gift wrapping party came to pass.

It started with a simple invitation:

Join me for an afternoon of gift wrapping.  

Bring any gifts that need wrapping and a roll of paper to share.  

I will provide tags, ribbons, embellishments and refreshments.   

And I have to tell you:

they came...
they wrapped...
they socialized...

It was truly a huge success.

There were two tables filled with anything one could possibly need for wrapping...

like stamps...

...and stickers & tags...

and paint chips and craft punches and fancy pens...

tape and scissors and ribbon of all kinds...

boxes and tissue...

and lots and lots of gift wrap!

Of course there was also food...

(Because all work and no food makes for a dull party.)

I wanted to make one of these in honor of the occasion but due to time constraints I purchased the ones below....

And these are my grandmother's snail cookies.  Recipe found here.  (No snails were harmed in the making of these cookies.)

When the eating was done, there was more wrapping.

Suddenly this task, which many of my guests said they typically abhor, became a fun, creative and communal venture.

And the proof is in the pudding.  Check out these beautifully wrapped gifts:

Linking:

Pizza Muffins

 One of the unexpected joys of blogging has been my daughters' reaction to the blog.  Not only do they love to read it, but they are constantly making suggestions for new posts.  "You should totally blog that, mom," has become a common refrain around here.

Last week the younger of the two announced that she had an idea for a recipe: pizza muffins, pizza baked in a muffin tin.  I told her we'd give it a try.  "But will you blog it?" she asked.

Little girl, this one's for you!

Like many of the things I make around here, there was a lot of winging it with this recipe.  (I often picture more experienced cooks reading this blog and shaking their heads in disbelief.)

I started with the prepared pizza dough from Fresh and Easy.  Trader Joe's also has wonderful pre-made dough and theirs comes in whole wheat too.  (Apologies to my mother who made us pizza from scratch, including homemade dough, every single Saturday night of my childhood.)

So after spraying my muffin tins with cooking spray, my daughter and I made twelve balls of dough.  We rolled each one flat and put them in the tins.  They kind of shrunk up and pulled away from the sides but that didn't matter in the end.

Wow these muffin tins look grungy.   I swear I wash them.  Let's just call them "well-loved."   

You can top/fill your muffins with whatever ingredients you'd like.  The first time I made them I actually used ground up meatloaf as a filling and it was wonderful.  (And yes, that's the same meatloaf recipe found here.)  This time we used pepperoni, olives, sauce and mozzarella.

We had different combos in each cup.  We put in the meat first (for those that had meat), then the olives...


...and then the sauce.

Finally we topped the whole thing with cheese and popped them in the oven.

Not only did my daughter come up with the idea, she also helped clean up while the muffins were in the oven.  Love that kid.

They emerged looking beautiful (despite the grungy muffin tins ;)

And they were as tasty as they were pretty.  If I make them again I might use a little less dough and a little more filling.  Beyond that, I'd say they were perfect.

Many thanks to my little chef for the inspiration!

Update:  For those who asked.  I simply used the baking directions (time and temp) that came with the dough.  I did not pre-bake the dough and it seemed to work out just fine.

Slumber Party Birthday Cake

I know that my last post was about a cake and while I hate to give the impression that it's all-cake-all-the-time here at `a casarella, I have to do another cake post.  (Right. Now.)

I must admit, I'm kinda proud of this one.  Anyone with an ounce of cake-decorating know-how is going to see it for the amateur effort that it is, but I'm going to ask that those people humor me.

You see, what my seven (soon-to-be-eight) year old wanted more than anything else for her birthday party this year was a sleepover.  After watching her older sister host countless sleepovers and attend countless more, she decided she was ready.

After I agreed to her request, she went into "planning mode."  My girls looove to plan themselves a party.  In years past this meant poring over the Party City and Oriental Trading catalogs.  Now however, they've turned to Pinterest.  (They are their mother's daughters, after all.)  The result was this board which my daughter populated with pins.  Now obviously she wasn't going to get everything on her virtual wish list, but one thing that she really fought for was a cake based on this.  (The source can be found here.)

To be honest with you, I was pretty certain that this little project would end in disaster.  I even had a backup cake picked out at the store just in case.  For these reasons I decided not to document the process for a tutorial.  That's a decision I now regret.

At the very least I need to share some pictures with you, along with a brief description of how I did it.

I hate to toot my own horn but isn't it cute?!

First I need to say that there's something freeing about thinking you're going to fail.  Somehow it gives you permission to go for it (and not worry about perfection, which can be an issue for me).

So here's what I did:

First I made a yellow cake in a 9x13 inch pan.  I used this recipe from Bakerella.  I skipped the step with the sugar water but I'm filing that idea away for the next time I make a layer cake.  

After letting it cool overnight, I frosted it with vanilla frosting.  (I used the boxed frosting mix from Trader Joe's which was pretty tasty considering it came from a box.  Obviously you can use whatever cake recipe and frosting you'd like.)

Then I put five Twinkies in the center of the cake to make the bodies.  (Upon unwrapping them my daughters announced, "We've never had a Twinkie before!"  That's when I started writing my Mother-of-the-Year Speech.  I stopped after browsing this blog and counting the number of sweets I've featured in the last six months.)

Now, the maker of my inspiration cake dyed her own fondant.  And I'd like to congratulate her on her ambition.  In the interest of my sanity, however, I chose to buy colored fondant at Michael's.  I'm sure it doesn't taste as good as the homemade, hand-dyed stuff, but there's something to be said for having a sane mom running the house...  Plus they have a whole "skin & hair color" fondant kit at Michael's and I thought that was kind of nifty.  You can buy something similar on Amazon HERE.  

So I made the heads out of some of the pinkish skin tone by rolling it into a ball.  (Technical, I know.)  My daughters, who decided the girls should be awake in bed--which, now that I think about it, was a lot like the actual sleepover--were on "smile and eye" duty.  They took black fondant and made tiny spheres for the eyes and little "sticks" for the mouths.  

Hair was my biggest concern.  I warned my daughter that they might all end up bald.  She was cool with that, and that made me relax a little.  Basically I took a little piece of fondant (three yellow and two brown to reflect the actual attendees), mushed it on top of each head, and kind of played with it until it resembled hair.  Am I blowing your mind with my precision and technical know-how?

The comforter is a big piece of pink fondant rolled out flat.  My girls made the flowers using flower-shaped fondant cutters in different sizes. (Similar to THESE.)  I basically just draped it over the pan.  

The pillows are jumbo marshmallows cut in half so they would lay flat on the bottom.  The heads wouldn't quite stay on top of the marshmallows so they're resting right in front of them.  

And that's pretty much it.  The end result is deceiving because it really wasn't that hard to do.  (That seems to be a theme around here.)  And, like the raspberry cake I wrote about last week, this one also got rave reviews.  I think my daughter thanked me about a hundred times which, in the end, was all that mattered.

Linking:

http://www.crazyforcrust.com/2012/10/crazy-sweet-tuesday-6/

Raspberry Brownie Cake

Today I'm taking a little break from my "Top Ten Things That Make Me Happy" series to bring you a favorite recipe: Raspberry Brownie Cake.

Come to think of it, it probably could make my top ten things list.  We all know how much I love berries and chocolate.  (Seen here and here.)

And when you see how ridiculously easy this cake is to make AND how unbelievably beautiful it turns out, it will probably make your top ten list as well.  

You're welcome.

It's been awhile since I've done a full-on tutorial.  That's probably because I've been doing a lot of Pinterest-inspired projects and many of them come with their own tutorials.  No point in reinventing the wheel.

This recipe, however, came from my mother-in-law.  I think she clipped it from a newspaper.  (That's becoming kind of a quaint concept, isn't it?) Anyway, the recipe is so easy that I don't even have it written down anywhere.  You probably won't need one either.

Again, you're welcome.

So let's get down to business, shall we?

All you're going to need to make the beautiful cake pictured above is what you see below.  That is: 

• A box of brownie mix.  I have always used Duncan Hines Chewy Fudge.  I'm sure any type would do.  You'll need to prepare the brownies as directed on the package which means you'll need:
• Oil
• Water
• Eggs (if the recipe has a "cake-like vs. chewy" option, opt for cake-like.  That usually means an extra egg.)  For the topping you will need:
• Seedless raspberry jam
• Fresh raspberries
• A small bar each of white and dark chocolate

Note the water spots on my fridge.  I like to keep it real here at `a casarella.

Begin by preparing the brownies as directed on the package.  (Reminder: use the cake-like option if there is one.)

For this recipe you're going to need a springform pan.  I know, I know, a lot of you don't have one.  I borrowed one the first time I made it.  (Then I went out and got my own.  It's eight-and-a-half inches in diameter.)

For some reason I always sift my boxed mixes.  I just think it helps avoid powdery lumps.  If you don't have OCD you can probably skip this part.

Add your wet ingredients (you will find the amounts on the box).

Even though my spring form pan is non stick, I give it a shot of cooking spray.  You want the cake to emerge from the pan unscathed.

Pour mix in spring-form.

Check your box for cooking times.  It is important that you don't overcook the cake or the edges will be rock hard.  I followed the 9"x9" directions using the recommended temperature for dark or non-stick pans (325 degrees).  

I actually set my timer for a few minutes before the minimum recommended time of 34 minutes and I ended up removing it at that 30 minute mark.

My mama always taught me to clean up as I go along so I try to that while the cake is baking and/or cooling.  Are you a "clean-up-along-the-way" type or a "do-it-all-at-the-end" type?

When the cake emerges, let it cool.

Then you're going to want to run a knife along the perimeter to help it release from the pan smoothly.  (If you used cooking spray this is barely necessary but, well, you know, the OCD and all...)

Ahhh... a perfect release!

The next step is to flip the cake over...

...and remove the bottom of the springform.

This leaves you with a nice flat (albeit somewhat patterned) surface to work with.

Then gather up your toppings.

Place a dollop of jam on the cake and start "frosting."

Once you have a nice layer of jam, you can arrange your berries.

Next put some squares of chocolate into microwaveable dishes and melt.

You'll want to start with the brown chocolate.

You're going to be drizzling this over the cake and sometimes, if the chocolate is too thick, I add a drop or two of oil to thin it out.  This makes for easier drizzling.

My drizzling technique is kind of primitive.  I get some chocolate on the tines of a fork and fling them back and forth over the cake in different directions.

Repeat the process with the white chocolate.  If you do the white first the brown covers it up and makes it less visible.

As you can see, I'm not the best drizzler/flinger.  The white chocolate always ends up with some blobby-looking parts.  

The beauty of this cake is that no one but you will notice the blobs.

Everyone else will be so busy complimenting your baking prowess and wondering how you made such a beautiful confection that they won't even see the blobs.

Again, you're welcome.  

:)

2016 UPDATE:  Want an even EASIER version of this dessert?  

Check out my Raspberry Brownie Bites.  Click HERE for more details!

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