Shimmy Shimmy Cake!

My lady co-workers and I do a cookie exchange every year during the Holidays.  We each bake 3 dozen and then exchange them out for a variety of sugary goodness.  We tend to do this just before Christmas so that we can take them home to have on hand for visitors or last minute parties.  It's a great way to get some new recipes and show off your mad baking skills!! 

Here, enjoy some cookie porn while you think it over....

I am admittedly a 21 year old trapped in a mid-thirties something body.  I love jello shots!  I love making them, I love eating them, and I even don't mind the hangover from them.  Ok, the hangover sucks, but that doesn't keep me from consuming a few extra.  Ok, 10 extra.    

I hosted a small get together at my house for New Years Eve and really wanted to make a fancy jello shot.  I came up with a Pop Rocks champagne jello shot that...

I have been seriously slacking on my Bentos lately!!  This was the only themed one I made in December.

Contents:

• PB and Nutella sandwich cut into a gingerbread man.  Icing used to create the designs on top.
• Craisins
• Carrots and Ranch dressing
• Goldfish crackers...

Attempted my first "inside-out" cake.  Check it out:

I made my usual vanilla cake batter recipe and divided it in 2.  Then I added some black cocoa to half the batter.  Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, I alternated my batter, pouring in batches of 1/2 cup at a time.  One bat...

October is almost over, only two more days to do some Halloween themed bentos.  It always goes by too fast!  Here's a quick one I put together:

Contents:

• PB and Nutella sandwich.  Eyes are pre-made from Wilton and left over from our office Halloween party.  The rest of the details are piped on...

I absolutely love anything pumpkin flavored.  If you don't then you should go ahead and admit you're a terrorist and leave the USA.  I've spent years perfecting my pumpkin bread recipe and today I'm feeling generous and wanted to share it with you.  

1 can pumpkin (or 2 cups of fresh roasted pumpkin)

4 eggs

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup applesauce, unsweetened

2/3 cut water

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup brown sugar

2 cups white...

Keepin it real, y'all!

Contents:

• Gravestone Sandwich - PB and Nutella (aka kid crack!).  Piped the RIP with Nutella (more kid crack).  Added the plastic sushi grass and a plastic ghost ring.
• Middle container has overly processed dyed tortilla chips, string cheese, and the panda container has bea...

Here's another Halloween Bento, this one is pumpkin themed.

Contents:

• PB and Nutella sandwich cut with a pumpkin shaped cookie cutter.  Eyes and mouth were piped on with Nutella.
• Cutie Orange, pre-peeled.  I used a Sharpie to draw the face on it since my food wr...

"Ewwwww, gross!" was the response Bento Princess gave me this morning when she saw her lunch.  It's not that bad is it?

Okay, maybe just a little gross.  But kids like gross, don't they?

Contents:

•  "Fingers" are hot dogs (cut slits and saute for 5 minutes) with an onion fingernail (I cooked a sl...

This past weekend I had the pleasure of creating a wedding cake with a "Vintage pearls and lace" theme.  I love how glamourous this cake turned out.  The bottom layer is Pumpkin Spice cake with stabilized cream cheese filling and the top 2 layers are Vanilla cake with stabilized cream cheese filling.  The entire cake is covered in buttercream.  The black and white pearls are made of sugar and the monogram is fondant.  The orchids, lace, ribbon, and brooch were provide...

The groom opted for a non-traditional "cake" since he doesn't actually like cake. 

The problem:   The groom wanted Oreo cookies instead of a groom's cake.   The bride wanted something stylish. 

The solution:  Oreo cookies stacked to look like a cake.  

Working on a wedding cake for this Saturday.  My motto for the day:

XOXO,

Rachel

I finally used my Wilton comfort grip Frankenstein cutter I got last year for $0.50.  Word!

Contents:

• Frankenstein Sandwich sprayed with Wilton green food mist.  Yellow and white cheese accents and pepperoni eyeballs.  Ring picks for the bolts.
• Triscui...

Halloween, Halloween, Trick or Treat.  

Our bentos can't be beat!

Contents:

• Mummy Sandwich - Bread, ham, and cheese cut with circle cutter to...

I was in Houston last weekend and I got to swing by my favorite Bento store...Fit Japan.  Check out all the cool stuff I bought to add to my ever growing collection:

Whenever I go to Houston it is usually to visit friends down in Clear Lake which is an hour car ride and an $8.00 tollway away from Fit, but I still never miss an opportun...

It's finally October, my favorite month!  Here is our first Halloween Bento of the season:

Contents:

• Stuffed sandwich topped with cheese cut with pumpkin cutters and bologna faces
• Cheese crumbles on the sides of the sandwich
• Pepperoni
• Grapes
• Carrots

Between my husband and I, we have 3 girls.  All I know is girly stuff.  Like princesses, fashion, jewelry, make-up, glitter, rainbows and unicorns.  I know nothing about boy stuff like pirates, reptiles, and whatever else boys like (see, I can't even list anything).  When my Bento Princess wanted a Pirate themed bento, I kinda freaked out.  Um, we don't have any pirate themed stuff because our house is full of pink fluff and rainbow glitter.  We ended up compromi...

I can no longer look at or talk about Panda Bears without calling them Kung Fu Pandas.  I really like that restaurant Kung Fu Panda... I mean Panda Express.  Which leads to the singing of Everyone was Kung Fu Fighting.  Those cats were fast as lightning.  In fact it was a little bit frightning.  But they fought with expert timing.    It's a vicious cycle.  So here is our Kung Fu Panda Bento

...

The problem with getting new Bento supplies from Japan is that the instructions are in Japanese.  It takes a lot of trial and error before I figure out how to use that stuff.  Case in point... these cute little sandwich cutters:

Looks simple, right?  WRONG!  I guess I thought I was suppose to put the filling in between the bread and...

My girl is learning all about the oceans at school and we've been watching lots of Discovery shows on the Great Barrier Reef.  Today's bento is all about the ocean.

Contents:

• Colby Jack cheese sprayed with Blue Food Mist (beneath the sandwiches)
  
• Peanut Butter Dolphin S...