Movie Theater Theme Wedding Shower

One of my best friends is getting married in June, so we threw her and her fiance a wedding shower. We had a little planning committee of girls and we each had a responsibility.  Mine was party favors.  We decided on a movie theater theme because that is where they first met when they worked there in high school.

I knew I wanted the favors to be something edible. Since there was going to be candy galore and a popcorn machine, I really wasn't sure what could be edible, within the theme and special enough for a favor.  I finally decided on making gourmet popcorn and putting it individual bags.  

It's amazing how many different flavors of gourmet popcorn there are!  I settled on two: Cinnamon Bun and S'mores.  I found the perfect recipe on Our Best Bites and went from there. I adjusted it to my liking and here's what I came up with (mind you, this is what *I* did): 

Cinnamon Bun Popcorn:

12 cups popped popcorn (something flavorless or low in flavors)

1 cup brown sugar

1 tbsp cinnamon

1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick)

1/4 cup Karo syrup

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup of white, vanilla flavored candy melts

Preheat over to 250 degrees

Pop popcorn.  I had a popcorn machine so I was able to have flavorless popcorn.

Place popcorn in an extra large bowl.  Divide in two big bowls if necessary. Set aside.

Thoroughly combine brown sugar and cinnamon in a large Pyrex type bowl (I discovered a bowl with a handle would've been A LOT in the pouring part).

Slice butter on top of sugar mixture then pour syrup on top of that. 

Microwave on high for 30 seconds.  Carefully take it out and give it a good stir. 

Put it back in the microwave for 2 more minutes.  Use oven mitts to take it out and give it another good stir.  

Put it back in the microwave for another (1) minute, and again, use oven mitts to remove this VERY hot bubbly bowl.  By now, the sugar mixture should be hot and bubbly.  (Adjust the time if you need to for your microwave.  The original recipe called for an entire 2 minutes on the last round but I only did one minute so it wouldn't overcook and get hard faster)

Add the baking soda and vanilla. This is the cool part...the vanilla makes it bubble and the baking soda makes it foam.

Don't stare too long because you don't want it to cool down and get hard.  Start mixing it right away until well combined. 

Pour over the popcorn in the bowl(s) and mix very well.  Make sure you get the popcorn way at the bottom of the bowl.  Carefully spread popcorn on a foil lined cookie sheet(s).  Sprinkle extra cinnamon on the top just for a little added flavor. 

Put in the oven for 20 minutes but stir once after 10 minutes.  Try a piece and if it's still really soggy, put it in the oven for 5 minutes; if it's just slightly soggy, take it out and it'll harden as it cools.  Don't keep it in the oven for too long or it will burn. Once it's ready, spread it out on a parchment lined table, melt the candy melts, and drizzle over the popcorn.  I used a pipping bag, but a ziplock bag with the corner cut works just as well. 

S'mores Popcorn:

12 cups popped popcorn (something flavorless or low in flavors)

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick)

1/4 cup Karo syrup

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup white, vanilla flavored candy melts

3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

1 cup mini semi sweet chocolate chips

Mini marshmallows (I used Kraft Jet-Puffed Mallow Bits...they're like the little marshmallows you find in the hot chocolate mixes)

Golden Graham cereal

Follow the same instructions up there except you're going to omit the cinnamon.  

Once you've spread the popcorn on the parchment, spread the cereal.  I didn't specify a quantity in the ingredient list because it's up to the maker how much or little they want to use.  I used about half a box. 

Melt and drizzle the white candy melts all over the mix.  While still wet, sprinkle the mini chocolate chips over the mix. 

Melt regular sized chocolate chips and drizzle over mix.  While still wet, sprinkle mini marshmallows over mix.  

Put the trays in the fridge for about 30 minutes to help the chocolate set. 

Enjoy!!

For the favors, I printed tags and stuck them on baggies.

Monster High Inspired Cupcakes

One of my very good friends was telling me one day that she needed to order a cake for her daughter's birthday get together but didn't know where to get it from.  So I told her what about cupcakes since that's what's in now, and I told her I'd make them...of course! So she asked her daughter and she said yes and wanted something with vampire teeth for a Monster High theme.

I knew right away I wanted to look for a vampire teeth chocolate mold and I got lucky that such thing did existed!   

I melted some red candy melts and used it as blood dripping from the fangs.

I also searched for a new chocolate cupcake recipe.  I swear I've found the perfect one!  Thanks to google, I found Glorious Treats's recipe.  These were amazing!  Not only did they produce a perfect looking cupcake, but the taste was amazing!  I had one the next day and they were still very moist!! This is definitely my go-to chocolate cupcake.

She also had a recipe for cream cheese frosting.  I've made cream cheese frosting before but decided to try hers since her cupcakes were so good.  Well this frosting was a bust.  It called for 4 cups of powdered sugar which is A LOT more than I've used before.  I tried it anyway...I was 3 cups in when I decided to try the frosting. It was sooooooooo grainy and super SWEET! I figured I'd use it anyway so I started piping it on the cupcakes.  But then I regretted it. So I took the frosting off and made a new batch with only 2 cups of sugar and it was so much better!!  

Theeeeen it didn't even dawn on me that the frosting was the same color of the chocolate decals.  You can't really see what it says in the pictures, but it says: 

Happy 

Birthday

Kayla

Happy .e.a.s.t.e.r. Cupcakes

This year I spent Easter with my second family.  I started pinning some cupcake ideas on Pinterest and finally settled on a peanut butter one and something with a whipped cream cheese frosting.  I must admit, most of the times I make cupcakes, I bake from a box.  This time I wanted to make everything from scratch.  So I researched some recipes and put these together.  

 Peanut Butter and Jelly (Peanut butter cream cheese frosting, vanilla cupcake, stuffed with strawberry jam)

 Chocolate Cream Cheese (Whipped cream cheese frosting, vanilla cupcake, stuffed with hot fudge)

 Peanut Butter Cup (Peanut butter cream cheese frosting, chocolate cupcake with a peanut butter cup hidden inside and then as a topper)

 Chocolate and Cream Cheese (Whipped cream cheese frosting with a chocolate cupcake and Robin Eggs as a topper)

Birthday Cupcakes

My boyfriend asked me if I could make him some cupcakes for his guards who had a birthday.  The first thing that popped in my mind was this sundae looking cupcake.  I needed something that was going to be for male and female. 

And then I needed a container to individually carry them.  When I first bought the cups and covers, my intentions were to put the cupcake in the cup and then put the top on.  Well I was waaaaay off on the size of the cupcakes...for some reason I pictured them bigger! I wanted to make sure the person would be able to take the cupcake out without getting frosting all over their fingers.  So I flipped it over and it worked perfectly!

Dr. Seuss Inspired

These pops were for a friend's daughter's 3rd birthday.  Everything was Dr. Seuss inspired at the party! She asked me to make some cake pops and she decided on the Cat in the Hat and the Truffula Trees.  I had no idea what a Truffula Tree was, so I went to trusty google. Coincidently, the cake pop queen Bakerella had just put a tutorial up on how to make them.  I read what she did and went for it.  Mine didn't come out as fluffy but I thought they were pretty close. 

The next struggle I had was the Hat.  I didn't want the stick going up.  I wanted the stick at the bottom and have the hat upright...does that make sense?  Well no matter what I tried, I couldn't get it how I wanted it.  So I settled with below...

Lesson learned: Not everything will go how I need it to go and I need to accept that.  Everyone still loved and enjoyed the pops!

Blueberry Muffins

A couple of weeks ago I bought some blueberries because they were on sale.  Here's something weird about me...I don't like blueberries on their own but I LOVE blueberry muffins! Same goes for Strawberries...I don't like them on their own but I LOVE strawberry flavored anything and anything WITH strawberries.

Anyway, ever since, I've been searching for a perfect recipe.  It needed to be healthy but moist and obviously good!  Last night I finally found one...not THE perfect one, but when I adjusted it, it made some REALLY good muffins!  

HAPPY.belated.VALENTINE'S DAY!

I .L.O.V.E. cookies.  Like LOOOOVE cookies!  I just don't always bake them.  But I love the idea of the basic sugar cookie covered with candy melts instead of that nasty royal icing.  Of course royal icing you can make it thin enough to flood a cookie or thick enough to add details. You can't really do a lot with the candy melts but it sure does taste a lot better!  

So for Valentine's Day, I wanted to make some cookies.  Mainly just to practice with baking and decorating the cookies.  Below are the ones that came out. 

Something else I wanted to try was the brush embroidery technique.  Again something that's so much easier with royal icing than candy melts.  My first attempt was the cookie below on the right side.  It was oooookay but not good.

 This one, I thought, came out pretty good.  I still need to practice it but I really like how it came out...especially when you look at it from far away lol 

Turkey Burger.Protein Style

Have you ever tried a burger "protein style"? Oh man it's so good!  There's something about the taste of the lettuce that makes it so much better than the bun.  So that's what I made myself here.  It was a bit of a mess to actually eat but it's so worth it!  And I save the calories of the bun and the spread.

.Chocolate.Chip.Banana.Oatmeal.Muffin.

I love chocolate, and I love bananas.  So when I saw this recipe from Emily Bites, I knew I had to try it!

Funny little story is that I mixed everything up and even used a scale to evenly divide the batch and right when I was about to put the first batch in the oven, I realized I forgot the chocolate chips!!  DOH!  So I had to scoop it all out, add the chocolate chips, and evenly divided it again. 

These little suckers were soooooo good and even better with a tiny bit of peanut butter spread on the top!  It kept me full for a long time. 

.din.ner. - chicken enchiladas

I made some chicken enchiladas the other night and I swear I felt like I was cheating on my diet! They were filled with shredded chicken and covered with enchilada sauce and a bunch of cheese...

On top of that, I still added a dollop of sour cream and a scoop of avocado.  It was all pretty good!

.lunch. - Black Bean Burger & Simple Salad

This is called a Black Bean Burger.  I got the recipe from Emily Bites.  Her recipe was a spicier version but I cut back on a lot of the spice. I also halved the recipe but I think the egg that the recipe called for was too much for the halved recipe, so next time I'm going to try just an egg white.

I put the patty on a thin bagel that I had spread sour cream on. Then I topped it with avocado, queso fresco and Cholula. 

This is a simple salad I made.  I tore apart some turkey ham, added some corn and a little bit of croutons then topped it of with some Wishbone Light Raspberry Walnut Vinaigrette.