Fall???

I would just like to tell you that I saw the forecast for today, and it says 104. Is that possible? Two days until October, and already a week into fall and we get this? It really kills my fall time buzz.

For the last two weeks I have been planning out some fall time baking. You know, pumpkin bread, pumpkin sandwich cookies, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin cake pops. You get the idea. I have been trying to wait until the first of October. And, I couldn't wait at Jamba Juice any more. On Saturday I had a pumpkin smoothie. I thought it was delicious. It tasted creamy, sweet, and delicious. Like a pumpkin pie milkshake. If you go for that kind of thing I definitely recommend it.

Also, I have a beautiful new fall dish (maybe you'll get to see a picture another time) that I am loving. I brought it out last Friday. I was planning on filling it with candy corns and pumpkins this week. But now, it seems a little out of place as the air conditioner is working full time and the sun is blazing. (And I'd rather not mention that I went fall shopping about two weeks ago to get a certain someone ready for cooler weather. All those clothes are still sitting in the bags with the tags on).

You know what I did today? I busted out the zucchinis. Welcome back summer. I made some chocolate chip zucchini bread (recipe can be found by clicking on Kathi's blog). It feels a little summerish and a little fallish, and hopefully when I drop it off tonight people will feel like eating it if they haven't sweated to death first.

I was planning on getting out the fall/Halloween items in two days. That doesn't sound right at all. Maybe by then it will have cooled off 20 degrees.

I don't mean to complain. I enjoyed swimming yesterday and if the heat overtakes me this afternoon I might just end up at the pool again. It's just that my body and mind feel confused. They were excited for fall.

Basic Cake Balls

I did make the cake balls on Wednesday. I have just been lazy about posting it (I was also lazy in my picture taking, but I did get the final product).

I think it went pretty well for my first time (aside from the fact that my little helper managed to pop four of them down before they were covered in chocolate). I kept wondering if I was doing it wrong but I think they turned out well. I didn't actually eat any. They smelled so wonderful that I think my mouth watered non-stop for at least an hour. We had company that evening and I served them and everyone said they enjoyed them (maybe they were just being nice, but then they probably would have stopped at one, no?).

My biggest problem was actually that we just had way too many left over. Yesterday I ended up trashing three plates of them (about 18) because they had just been sitting in my fridge for three days. So next time I will just have to commit myself to getting rid of them in a less wasteful way than dumping them in the trash. And yes, there will be a next time. Betty Crocker cake mixes (my favorite brand for cake mix) were on sale when I went to the store on Friday so I picked up a couple more boxes. I might do apples this month or just wait until next month and do some Halloween cake pops. I guess it will just depend on how much time I have, how interested in baking I am feeling, and whether or not I have anyone I can give them to. I am nervous to try the cake pops, but I actually think it will be easier to dip them than it was to dip the balls.

Cake Pops is here

So I got my cake pops recipe book yesterday. I am very excited! It's kind of hard to get started since I know I won't be eating any and I will have to find people to pawn them off on. I think that I am going to start with the basics first and just do some chocolate cake balls with chocolate coating. Then next month (yea October!) I'll try and step it up with the "pops" idea. The book has pumpkins, witches, monsters, ghosts, mummies, and black cats. I'm very excited. I was planning on starting with pumpkins, but I saw today that they are on the front of the newest Betty Crocker Halloween treats mini recipe book (like the kinds you see in line at the grocery store). So, maybe there will be a lot of pumpkin cake pops floating around this season and I need to try one of the harder ones.

Since I still haven't taken the time to try and load an image on here, I will continue to be lazy and tell you to click on the bakerella link to the side there. She has put up pictures of the cake pops (including the pumpkin ones) if you want to see what I am talking about.

Maybe today I will get around to the chocolate balls. It sounds like a nice Wednesday project. Actually, it's a bit stormy out and we had a few rain sprinkles so it does seem like a baking day, even if it feels like I should be making pumpkin bread instead of chocolate cake.