birthday cakes

since I just celebrated my 26th birthday I thought I'd share how to make one of the most fabulous cakes ever....

Ingredients

1 baked dome cake (baked in a 1-liter bowl, such as Pyrex)
1 baked 9" round cake
4 baked cupcakes
2 to 3 cups pink icing
2 green Hi-C Fruit Slices (hooves)
1 pink Hi-C Fruit Slice (mouth)
2 m&m's (nose
2 m&m's (eyes)
Red shoestring licorice (ears and eyelashes)
1 red Sour Belt (tail)

Instructions
For the basic shape, set a dome cake upside down in the center of a round cake and secure with icing, as shown.Cut one cupcake in half and place it as shown for the ears, then arrange two more cupcakes as legs. Add a cupcake snout.Frost the cakes and cupcakes pink and decorate as shown.

everyone will gwak at your talent and if you make this for your kiddies, I think you might win the title of best mom ever.  you would if I was your child any way.  for more cool cakes you can click here.

Twice Baked Potatoes

Who doesn't love a twice baked potato? Well this recipe is the best I've ever tasted and it is completely fat free!  (ok not really but I bet you got a little excited for a second :) )

8 Baking Potatoes
8 oz Cream Cheese
2 C Cottage Cheese
1/2 C Sour Cream
1/2 C - 1 C Swiss Cheese
1/2-1 C Milk
1 tsp Garlic
1/2-1 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Wash potatoes, rub olive oil and salt on the skin then bake for 1 hour or until cooked well.  Remove from oven and let cool until slightly warm.  Slice off top half of potato.  Scoop out cooked potato and place in a large bowl; keep shells on the baking sheet.  Add remaining ingredients to potato and mix well.  Add more milk if necessary.  Fill empty potato shells with creamed mixture to overflowing.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until starting to brown.

If you like cheesy potatoes as much as I do, you can add cheddar cheese to the top of the potatoes in the last five minutes of cooking.

 

Jenn's Chicken

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
8 oz sliced mushrooms
hot cooked rice or angel hair pasta
1/4 c butter
0.7 oz package dry Italian salad dressing mix
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 c white grape juice
4 oz chive and onion cream cheese

Place chicken and mushrooms in crock pot. Melt butter in sauce pan; stir in Italian dressing mix. Stir in soup, grape juice (you can substitute milk or water if you don't have grape juice) and cream cheese until combined. Pour over chicken and cook on low for 4-5 hours. Serve chicken over rice or pasta.

Smoked Gouda and Spinach-Stuffed Chicken

4 bone-in, skin-on chicken breast halves
2 tsp butter, melted
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
stuffing (below)

Smoked Gouda and Spinach Stuffing

5 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed
3 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 c shredded smoked Gouda (smoked Swiss would work also)
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

Drain spinach. Mix all ingredients for stuffing. Loosen skin from chicken but leave attached. Insert stuffing under skin. Place chicken, skin side up in greased baking dish. Brush with melted butter. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Bake at 375 for 45-55 minutes.

A fool's dinner!

chicken pot, chicken pot, chicken pot pie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! yum.  if the recent weather has you down in the dumps warm up your soul with this tasty meal....

you'll need....

• 1 (4 1/2-inch) aluminum foil potpie tin
• 1 refrigerated piecrust (most 15-ounce packages contain 2 crusts, enough for 6 of our pies)
• Aluminum foil
• 1 egg (makes enough for 6 pies)
• 2 tablespoons water

• 1 (3.4-ounce) box instant vanilla or white-chocolate pudding (1 box makes enough for 3 pies)
• 1 yellow and 2 orange Starburst candies
• 1 green Chewy Jolly Rancher candy or green Tootsie Roll candy (we found the green Starburst candies to be too pale)
• 1 banana (makes enough for 6 pies)
• 1 to 2 dried apple rings or a 4-ounce bar of white chocolate (1 bar is enough for 6 pies)

hahahah!! Happy April fools! now go out and trick someone!!!!!! (oh and here is the remainder of the instructions!, you can find some more tom foolery here!)

1. Bake the crust:
   Heat the oven to 450°. Unroll or unfold a piecrust on your work surface. Using the upside-down potpie tin as a guide, cut a circle of dough about 1/2 inch larger than the tin. (If you're making more than one potpie, simply cut another circle from the dough. Reroll the scraps to cut out a third.) Crumple a piece of aluminum foil into a 1 1/2-inch ball and set it in the potpie tin. Cover it with a layer of foil to create a smooth mound, then lay the circle of dough on top. (A)
2. Now press the tines of a fork around the edge of the dough to crimp it, then use the fork to gently poke a few holes in the crust. (B)
3. Beat the egg with the water, then brush the mixture over the dough.
4. Set the pie tin on a baking sheet and bake the crust for about 10 minutes. Let it cool completely.
5. Make the filling:
   Prepare the pudding according to the package directions and refrigerate until serving time.
6. Create the faux chicken and vegetables:
   To make the Starburst or Tootsie Roll candies easier to work with, place them unwrapped on a paper plate and warm them in the microwave just until they're slightly softened, about 12 to 15 seconds. (The Jolly Rancher candies will soften from the warmth of your hands.) Once you've shaped them, lay the candies on waxed paper or a paper plate, set apart from each other so they won't stick together.
7. Corn kernels: Roll the yellow candy between your hands or on a clean work surface to create a 4-inch-long rope, then use kitchen shears or a sharp knife to cut the rope into 1/4-inch pieces. With your fingers, form each piece into a kernel by flattening one end and pinching the other.
8. Chicken: Use kitchen shears or a knife to cut the apple rings into 1/2-inch-wide pieces. If you're using white chocolate, chop or break it into roughly 1/2-inch-wide pieces.
9. Peas: Roll the green candy into a 5-inch-long rope. Cut the rope into 1/4-inch pieces, then roll each piece into a ball.
10. Potatoes: Peel the banana, slice off three 1/4-inch-thick pieces, then cut each piece into small cubes.
11. Cubed carrots: Cut each orange candy into 4 squares.
12. Assemble the pie:
    Just before serving time, spoon about 2/3 cup of the pudding into the pie tin.
13. Add the candies and the fruit to the pudding, then set the piecrust on top.