harry potter & the deathly hallows cookies

I love Harry Potter. Yep, I said it. I'm a total Harry Potter NERD. Binge-book reading, midnight movie openings, and collecting various wizarding paraphernalia- I've done it all, and now I can't believe the final movie in the series is here so soon. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, officially hit theaters today, which meant that it was definitely an occasion to celebrate. Since Julie and I snagged tickets to the midnight showing, we properly celebrated yesterday with themed t-shirts, and a big batch of deathly hallows cookies.

For the cookie, I used the vanilla almond sugar cookie recipe from Bake at 350, and for the icing, I prepared a basic buttercream from an old-school Betty Crocker recipe I found in my parents' house.

I collected my recipes and ingredients, and when I was ready, I cut the cookie dough into triangle shapes using a cardboard template that I made. After baking and cooling, I frosted each triangle with the buttercream frosting, and then added the detail with black icing that I purchased at Michaels. I tried putting a decorating tip directly on the tube, but of course, the coupler didn't fit, and I had a giant black icing explosion all over the counter. I also tried putting the icing directly onto the cookie, but it was way too much black, and it looked horrendous. Finally, I put the black icing into a squeeze bottle with a little water, and that was perfect! Easy to handle, the right consistency, and just the ideal thickness for the black lines I wanted.

I have A LOT to learn about dessert decorating, but more than anything, I was just excited to do something special for the big day.

They're not perfect, but they tasted great, and everyone at the office loved them! It was just the thing to get everyone in the wizarding spirit :)

After a full day at the office getting completely cracked out on sugar cookies, it was finally time to grab some dinner and get in line at the theater. Julie and I arrived at 9:30 pm, and there were already TONS of people there!

The feeling in the theater was astounding. There were great costumes everywhere, and you could feel the positive, anxious, energy floating in the air. Someone told me that at our theater alone, there were supposed to be over 4500 people in attendance! It was phenomenal. Finally, after much waiting and great anticipation, we filed into our seats and the movie began! Yayyy!

It was a fantastic night, and even though I was completely exhausted today, it was totally worth it. A great movie, and an even better book- it's truly been a magical journey. If you're a Harry Potter fan like me, I highly recommend you read this beautiful article from NPR, it elegantly sums up so much of how I'm feeling right now. The movies may be over, but it's definitely not the end. Whatever comes next, you better believe I'm making cookies for it! :)

rainbow cupcakes & carrot cake cookies

Where do I begin? Between Father's Day, PRIDE, and Westword Music Fest, I don't know where I found the time to whip up such delicious sweets, but somehow I made it work :)

Friday night, I got together with some friends to make rainbow cupcakes, and properly kick off Pride weekend with dinner, dessert, and drinks. I was nervous to make the technicolor sweets, but I'm actually really proud of the outcome!

Stuff you need: 1. A box of white cake mix 2. White frosting 3. Food Coloring 4.Rainbow sprinkles

Start by making the cake batter according to the back of the box. When all the ingredients are mixed together properly, divide the batter into 4 separate bowls, and dye each bowl with a different color. Grease a muffin pan, and pour dollops of each color batter into every hole. Once again, follow the package for baking times, and when they're properly cooked, swirl on some frosting and top with rainbow sprinkles. For how phenomenal they turned out, they were actually quite easy, and fun, to make!

This was also my first time using a decorating bag with an icing tip, and I think they turned out great! Now all I need to do is practice, practice, practice, and hopefully I'll be making beautiful treats in no time! See how happy I am with my rainbow cakes? Yayy!

After a rowdy time at X bar, a day of great local music, and the Pride parade this morning, it was finally time to tackle my Father's Day gift! But first, did I mention I saw Mondo at the Pride parade?! He's one of my all-time favorite designers from Project Runway, and I just about peed my pants when I saw him this morning. *Insert squeals here* OMG MONDO I LOVE YOU!!

Anyway, back to baking. One of my Pop's favorite treats is carrot cake- it also happens to be the cake that my parents had at their wedding. I knew I had to do something special, so I went to Tasteologie, and found this great looking recipe for Carrot Cake Cookies. I followed the instructions as written for both cookie and icing, and let me tell you, they turned out so so good. My crappy phone camera does these cookies no justice. You'll just have to trust me- these babies are outstanding!

My Dad loved them! He said that eating just one of these cookies, was like devoring a giant triple layer slice of a great carrot cake. They're soft, decadent and the flavors are perfection. If you have a carrot cake fanatic in your family, I highly recommend you try these out.

Well it was a wonderful, crazy weekend filled with great people, great food, and great music. I love that this weekend was all about celebrating local music, equality, and fantastic dads- 3 of my favorite things! Happy PRIDE & Happy Father's Day!♥

hot dogs, cocktails & dessert in a cup

I love summer weekends. The weather is beautiful, and there's so much to do! The last few days I found myself pouring beers at a bluegrass festival, grabbing meals with friends, seeing a few movies, enjoying jazz in the park, and continuing my search for an edible and delicious vegetarian hot dog.

Today my hangover brought me to Biker Jim's where I ordered up a basket of fries and one "Vegans gotta eat too" dog. I slathered it with ketchup, mustard, relish, and onions, and dug in. I would say that it's probably the best vegetarian hot dog that I've sampled, but so far, that's not saying much. The texture was pretty good- a little thick, but that's okay- and the flavor wasn't vomit-inducing like so many other meatless hot dogs. Definitely not as good as the real deal, but I'm just pumped that a place with veal and reindeer on the menu, would also have a vegan option. Kudos to you Biker Jim!

After hot dogs, frozen yogurt, and some Target binge-shopping, it was time for some jazz in the park. Everyone brought a little something to share- cheese, wine, bread, and fruits, so Michael and I contributed some boozy Arnold Palmers and strawberry shortcakes in a cup. Fun fact: Everything tastes better in a cup.
For the Boozy Palmers, we poured equal parts iced tea and lemonade into a carafe, added vodka, and shook well. As Michael would say, they were delightfully refreshing! For our sweets in a solo cup, we put a layer of angel food cake in the bottom, and topped it with strawberries and whipped cream. It was the perfect, light, summery dessert- and a huge hit!

It was a beautiful night with good music, tasty treats, and great friends. Here's to a wonderful summer weekend, and many more to come. Cheers! :)

street food eats & mother's day treats

Happy Mother's Day out there to everyone! Normally I can find the cutest, most perfect thing to get my mom, but this year the holiday snuck up on me, and a jam-packed weekend kept me extra busy.

Yesterday I checked out the Horseshoe flea and craft market with some friends, hoping to find the perfect thing for mom. While there were tons of fantastic vintage and handmade goods, I didn't quite find the right thing. I did, however, find the Seabirds food truck from Food Network's The Great Food Truck Race. They're filming season 2, and I'm really excited I got to dine at the vegan truck!

The avocado tacos were good, the fries were really good, and the jerk jackfruit sliders were phenomenal. I don't know what jackfruit is, but if it tastes that good all the time, I want more of it, and I want it now! Unfortunately, we waited in line for around an hour and a half, which was seriously lame, but I'm still glad I could support them in their food truck race! Yay vegan street food!

And now, on a very NON-vegan note, I just wanted to share the Mother's Day gift I made for my mom. The inspiration came from the Real Mom Kitchen, and I must say, the outcome was far better than I anticipated.

I made my mom half a dozen mini cheesecakes (it's one of her favorite treats) with strawberry, chocolate, or caramel and pecan toppings. I pretty much followed the recipe, except for the Nilla Wafer crust. For my version, I finely crushed up about 10 Nilla Wafers and mixed them up with 2 tablespoons of melted butter. I then pressed the mixture into the bottom of the muffin tins, and baked them at 375 degrees for 5 minutes.

From there, I poured in the batter, and baked them for 20 minutes. When they looked ready, I popped them in the fridge overnight, and decked them out with various toppings this morning before giving them to my mom. I opted for drizzled chocolate, caramel sauce with pecans, and fresh strawberries soaked in a simple sugar solution (thanks to Chef Troy).

The recipe was surprisingly easy, and the outcome was perfect! The flavor was right on- just like a store bought cheesecake- and they're so cute and elegant looking, no one would believe I made them myself. Add a bottle of merlot and a little card, and that's an indulgent gift, indeed :) Happy Mother's Day, Mama! I ♥ you!

funfetti cupcakes

It's been far too long since I've made a fun, healthy, creative meal. When work gets busy, and the groceries get sparse, it's always the dinners that fall by the wayside. A person can eat only so much pasta.

Last night I had the pleasure to host a birthday dinner for one of my favorite ladies, Kelly. We ordered in Chinese food, drank far too much wine, and devoured some vegan funfetti cupcakes. That's right. Vegan funfetti. Now, when you buy the funfetti cake mix, the instructions tell you to add oil and eggs, but my friend Christy and I vegatized it!

So here it is, super simple. For every egg that the recipe calls for, replace it with a little over 1/4 cup of applesauce. That's it! The cupcakes turned out super moist, cakey, and delicious. Our frosting skills are seriously lacking, but more importantly, the sweets were tasty.

Making a recipe vegetarian or vegan is actually surprisingly easy. Here is one of my favorite articles on vegan baking substitutes from the Post Punk Kitchen. Vegan baking is great, because your meals will be delicious, and you'll feel good about eating them too! Highly recommend you try it out :)

chocolate mustaches

Last Friday was my friend Sam's birthday. I work with Sam and he is an awesome guy with awesome facial hair. Of course, this meant that his birthday treat had to be equally as awesome- which was no simple task.

This was my first attempt at chocolate art, and it's not much of a recipe, but I'm sharing them, because I'm super proud of the outcome, and Sam liked them too! :)

Stuff you need: 1. Cupcakes (homemade or lazy-style & store bought like me) 2. Plastic bag or melting bottle 3. Candy melts (but I think melted chocolate would work too) 4. Wax paper lined cookie sheet

Take your candy melts and put them into your melting bottle. I lost the cap to my bottle, so I had to use a ziplock bag instead- a little sloppy, but it did the job. Run the bottle under hot water until the candy melts have turned to liquid- make sure all the candies are properly melted, otherwise you have to deal with big clumps and it sucks.

Snip the end off your plastic bag (or just take your bottle) and squeeze out some chocolate mustaches onto your wax paper lined cookie sheet. Work fast so you can use all the chocolate before it begins to solidify again!

When all your handlebar mustaches are created, pop the cookie sheet into the freezer for a hot second while you clean up. They only need about 5 minutes before they'll easily pop off the paper.

And here is a picture from Sam's superior camera phone:

Since this was the first time I'd ever tried this, and I used a messy plastic bag, it took me quite a few batches to get the mustaches right. Luckily, after a few attempts, I managed to find 6 good looking 'staches in chocolate and peanut butter. Finally, I sunk the mustaches into the tops of the cupcakes and presented them to the birthday boy.

For my first adventure in chocolatiering, I'm very pleased, and am totally excited to try it again! Most importantly, Sam loved them and had an awesome birthday. Yayy!