Give me that stuff, that funk, that sweet, that funky stuff

The winner is Tiny Bird Arts!!!! She will be receiving these double chocolate cookies as I've tried out the almond turtles twice now and am close, but not to perfection yet. They actually tasted delicious on this last try, but I still can't seem to temper the chocolate correctly. AND I put them on wax paper which apparently was a bad idea because they stuck. So, I've ingested some wax paper. It was worth it. Of course, now that I'm close to getting them right, I'll need to make them again. It's a lot of work! I have great respect for all you candy makers!!! Speaking of, this package will also include a sampling from Lollipop Labs ...another candy I really want to attempt one of these days... Anyway, congratulations to Tiny Bird Arts. She's hosting a great giveaway of her own right now, so check it out!
Also, Nicole Tattersall (check out her art - it's fabulous) is hosting her own giveaway for free money to use in my Etsy shop! Enter now!
Oh and that picture above has nothing to do with anything except that I'm having sea urchin later.

King George

Well I think it's appropriate that I haven't blogged until it was time for Oscar voodoo again.  I really only choose who I think should win.  Usually it's a VERY obvious choice (for me at least).  This year I thought Che might be nominated and I'd have a dilemma, but alas, it wasn't (see rant) so I stuck to my original choice for Heath Ledger Joker cake.  What a cake to make!  I felt I had plenty of room for mess on this one and I took it. 

More importantly I was just half paying attention to the Oscars as I type this and noticed that King George from Coffy died!  I just discovered this movie probably about a year ago and love it!  I got the soundtrack on vinyl for Christmas.   

I was also featured in a treasury this weekend!  Check it out!    Thank you TickledPinkKnits! 

What the CHE??? - voodoo cakes explained

I REALLY don't care about the Oscars, but a few years ago I was attending an Oscar party and decided to make a cake with my Oscar winner choice drawn on in icing. It has become a tradition and turned into a hobby I like to call voodoo cake baking. Other than the Oscars, I've used this power with sporting events and the presidential election (see previous post). I am currently 0 for 6. I did have one loss I am not counting because it was a screw up with the recipe and not my voodoo. Actually, it was quite crazy. I had made it for a couple of March Madness games last year. My rule is that you don't cut open and eat the cake until the winner is clear. So, as I'm watching the games and watching the two teams lose, I'm wondering what went wrong?? Once the games ended I cut open the cake and find that it's completely INEDIBLE!! I had noticed while it was baking that it didn't rise as high as it usually does, but didn't think it was going to be so bad I couldn't eat it! Amazing. Anyway, my original plan for this year was to make a Joker cake - not only was Heath fabulous in this role, but what a fabulous cake it would make! THEN I saw 'Che' at a premier this past December. Not only is Benicio Del Toro my favorite actor, but he's playing Che Guevara! The story was great. The film was beautiful. Benicio was impeccable!! Yet, no Oscar nomination!!!!! THIS is why I don't care about Oscars. How do you ignore a movie this brilliant? Because it isn't the standard 1.5 hours long? Because it's actual ART and not b.s. Hollywood movie dumbed down for a mass audience? Oh, I'm sorry, you had to read some subtitles. And concentrate on something for more than 15 minutes. And actually LEARN something. I apologize for the rant, but it made me quite angry that I won't be able to portray Che in icing this year. If you haven't seen this movie I recommend you do so immediately!

"I go-go dance for a living but I’m in a cage. It’s totally different."

Here's a shot of another trial run of these chocolate snowcaps I did last night (before going into the oven). Tonight I will be making a new batch for YARNCOTURE who is the winner of this giveaway!!!!
Usually when I bake something new I do it as the recipe calls for first, so I don't necessarily start off with all organic ingredients. Because of this I've found that organic ingredients can definitely change the taste and/or consistency of some recipes. You know how you sometimes get that "organicy" flavor? Anyway, it is NOT the case with these snowcaps. They still come out delicious and I honestly can't tell the difference between the semi-organic version I did at Christmas and the all organic versions I've done in the last week. Now, on to trying them with whole wheat flour (after yarncoture's batch of course)! I find that with really chocolatey cookie recipes you can totally get away with whole wheat flour and not notice a difference, but with regular chocolate chip cookies, it's harder to pull off. Just a little tip if anyone is interested! Thanks everyone for entering!! I'll do another one soon!
Also, this blog title comes from Rock of Love Bus - did anyone watch? It's horrendous! And I'll be taping every episode.

Vacuum Seal THIS

So close to 20, but there wound up being 19 entries in the vacuum sealed organic blondie contest. The winner is EMILY!  I baked these tonight and am shipping out tomorrow. 

It's been 6 days since I vacuumed the previous batch and when I opened them tonight they were stale.  Oh well.  I'm not sure if it has to do with the amount of pressure - maybe they would be better off in a non-commercial vacuum sealer? - or if they never had a chance in the first place and six days is just too long.  I know that just covered in saran wrap they last at least 3 days, so maybe the whole vacuum seal isn't worth it at all.  I will try the bed/bath/beyond grade sealer next, but after that I think without preservatives or priority shipping these don't have a chance. 
Thanks to everyone who entered! I promise to have more giveaways very soon.  I will be interested to hear Emily's review of how they were upon arrival.  Her batch is wrapped up and pictured above.  

All 20s

I now have 20 followers of this blog and am very excited about it! Because I'm so excited I want to try a giveaway of those blondies I posted about. I remade them a few nights later doing the recipe exactly as Clear Pink had wanted and they came out amazing! I vacuum sealed four of them using different settings and am still waiting to open them. I want to ship preservative free baked goods across the country without them getting stale and without me having to overnight them. Anyway, let's try it out now! Everyone who leaves a comment on this thread will receive an entry to win 8 blondies in a vacuum sealed bag for freshness. If you sign up to follow my blog you'll receive 2 entries. I use only organic products and will send you a list of ingredients along with the blondies. I hope you're as thrilled about this as I am! Contest ends Wednesday 12/17 at 6am EST.

Day Bow Bow

I read a great recipe for blondies (more like saw a really nice photo of them) and decided to try it one night on the fly. I had no chocolate chips, so I added cocoa powder (I generally need chocolate in every dessert). They were really good, but I was wishing for the chocolate chips like the ones I had seen. The next day I had chocolate chips so I stuck some in and they were great!! I will definitely keep this recipe and try it again. Thanks to Clear Pink for posting this!
I've had dreams of being able to bake all organic cookies, chocolates, brownies, candy etc. and to try selling on Etsy. It's the packaging and shipping that has given me doubts. However, I'm now living with a professional vacuum sealer! I think that solves the problem. Now I just need some more time to do it. Cookies would make a nice giveaway wouldn't they? While the project is still in 'beta'?
Since my post title has nothing to do with anything I've written about, here's the brilliant video: