Happy birthday Andy~

So it's my best friend's birthday today... the big 22. I made him a Mario themed cake... and it took quite a lot of effort! everything was from scratch... from the cake to the frosting.. to the fondant. I know there are some flaws, so please be easy on me haha... it was my first time in not only making fondant, but using it as well! I'm a little sad though... 'cause I didn't spend any time with him today =( I saw him for maybe... half an hr (when I dropped the cake off).











Happy birthday Andysa!

breakfast buns

Oh, i lag so much! I'm lacking motivation in practically every aspect of my life... but a recent discovery I've had is making me feel that it's time to get back on track with what I love... food! I'm excited for the weeks ahead because I have birthdays to bake for... and I'm doing it with fondant!

Anyways, for those of you who want to make a little change to your scrambled egg breakfasts... stuff it in some dough and bake it with some cheese and meats to make buns! This is always a huge hit with those that I serve them to...


ingredients;
about 15 eggs, scrambled and seasoned to taste (I do so by adding fish sauce, sugar, and crushed black pepper)
6 slices American cheese
2 loaves of white bread dough, thawed (easily found in American markets where frozen pie and pastry crusts are sold)
1 egg, beaten
optional: cook your eggs with some chopped onions, minced garlic, diced ham/bacon, or diced bell peppers... anything to your liking!



1. Preheat your oven to about 350. Take both thawed loaves and cut into 5-6 even pieces each, depending on how big you want your buns to be. With your own fingers, press dough out into a 1/4-inch thick circle.







2. Take the American cheese slices and fold into 4 pieces. Place one in the center of the dough. In estimation, put just over a quarter of a cup of the scrambled egg mixture on top of the cheese. Take another piece of cheese and place on top of eggs.





3. Pull the sides of the dough, fold over, and press so that nothing can come out during baking. turn over and place on parchment covered cookie sheets, about 2 to 3 inches apart. Brush bun with the beaten egg. Place in oven and bake for about 25 minutes or until golden.



I suggest you wait 10 minutes after baking so it's still hot, but cool enough to bite into and enjoy. Remember that this is all approximations... since I never measure when I make this. If you do end up with extra scrambled eggs, it'll just be more for you to eat while waiting!

chocolate dipped pretzels

though this is labor intensive, i've recently gone into a chocolate pretzel craze.

the time put in to these is totally worth the joy i get from the friends i give this to.

your ingredients are;
a bag of pretzel sticks
sprinkles (for christmas, use nonpareils in christmas colors)

dark chocolate, melted (you can have from 5 ounces or more, depending on how much you want to make)

1. lay out 2 cookie sheets covered in parchment paper. melt your chocolate. you can either do that by microwaving in a microwave-safe bowl, or over the stove. i do over the stove by filling the ;

*now i know that it looks weird... but i don't like microwaving the chocolate, and i don't have a double boiler. i used that strainer to be more careful with the glass bowl and the saucepan.

2. using the help of your spatula, coat at least 3/4 of the pretzel in chocolate. twirl it so you can get off some of the excess and so you can make it look like the picture to the left (i'm sorry that it's not very focused on that, but you get the point). place on the parchment paper. use your sprinkles after every few pretzels that you dip until you can work up your speed to do it by about 10.

you dont want to give too much time for the chocolate to set since then you wouldn't be able to get the sprinkles to stick. these guys cool within 5-10 minutes, which from there you can loosen them from the parchment.

* one of the things i love about making these is that they take very little space on the parchment, so you can put these guys right next to each other - as long as the chocolate doesn't touch.

as a gift, you can line a candy box (either homemade or purchased - i bought mine at michaels!) with tissue paper and put the pretzels neatly into the box.

add a cute bow and seal your little box with tape, or something a little more personal (i got that homemade sticker in a set of 24 for just a buck at michaels).

and voila! simple and delectable!

dont forget that there are lots of different packagings available at michaels.