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.

Jellies and Nectarines

I finally tried making some jelly. I made plum jelly. I had never had plum jelly before and didn't think it would be too delicious, but I got some great plums at the Farmer's Market and then the grocery store had them on a great sale so I went for it. I can't tell how it turned out. It looks nice. It tastes sweet. The problem is I have never had plum jelly before so I don't have anything to compare it too. Like I said, it tastes sweet but that's about it. It doesn't really have a distinct flavor like all the jam has had. I can't tell if that's because I made it wrong or if that's just plum jelly for you. The only thing I can come up with is that maybe I boiled the fruit a few minutes too long before I set it up for the juice draining bit. The reason I care so much is apple jelly. Next month is apple picking month and I will definitely be making some apple jelly. And I want it to be perfect and delicious like I remember it. I even went ahead and dropped $4 for a box of pectin. That's right. $4. I had been to about 5 stores looking for it and it was out of stock everywhere. Maybe now that berry season is over or summer is almost over or who knows why, but I don't think stores will be restocking. And, I could easily end up back at the store paying another $4. It depends on how many apples I end up with. (And, if you are shopping around and find some regular-priced pectin please let me know).

Aside from the jelly I also decided to can some nectarines. I had bought a bunch of cheap nectarines and they were just sitting in the fridge so I decided to do something about it. It didn't go very well, and I haven't even tasted them so I don't how awful they might be. The recipe said to half them and fill the jars cavity side down. There were two options, pack them raw or pack them hot. I chose to pack them raw. I had quite the time getting them in the jars. I didn't have wide mouth jars. Also, they were raw and you know how firm nectarines tend to be. I wanted to just slice them up but I was paranoid that multiple recipes I read were so specific about halving them and placing them cavity side down. I thought, is there a reason for that? I better follow my recipes. It was difficult.

And then one of my jars broke while it was in the pot. It smelled really good which makes me hopeful that the fruit in the other jars will taste good. But I don't know why it broke.

The whole experience makes me feel like sticking to jams and jellies.

3 Months and Counting

Remember when I decided to cut out cakes, candies, and cookies again? Well, it has officially been three months. Last year I went six months and I liked that it was a nice even half of the year. That felt like a good compromise.

Not sure if I'll make it six months this time. On the one hand, it should be simple, I did it last year and I still get half of the year, including the major candy holiday. On the other hand, I had some moments this month where I wanted to stop and felt like I really needed some chocolate (hello to you emotional eating).

And then there's the part of me that is like, "six months, are you kidding me? You should be off this stuff forever." To refresh your memory, in case you have forgotten, I am a sugar addict. The more I eat the more I want and I eventually spiral out of control eating sweets for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, only throwing in some real food when I feel like I am on the verge of death. So that is why other people's advice and "plans" for me, like eating dessert only once a week just don't work. Once I get a taste, it's all downhill. I am still trying to accept a reality where I would not eat cakes, candies, or cookies ever. Maybe I can just say I'll wait until I'm 90 and by then I am sure I'll have so many issues going on that I won't care about more wrinkles and fat and diabetes.

I do know that I definitely will not be eating any cakes, candies, or cookies tonight but I don't know when I will give in again.

Pops

If you look over to the right you will see a link to bakerella. I just clicked on it and read all about the little pops. I want to make that recipe with those tiny little pops. After those smoothie yogurt pops I made a couple of weeks ago I haven't tried anything else. I did buy a box of popsicles last week. Breyers Pure Fruit Berry Swirls. They were (are) delicious, but I have got to stop with the buying of these foods that I can just make myself.

And one more thing from bakerella. I can't wait until that cake pops recipe book comes out. I have never actually made any of my own cake pops but I still want the recipe book and I think one day (even if I never eat sweets again) I would really like to try making them.

5 A Day

Does anyone out there actually hit their daily produce number? The thing is, I know fruits and vegetables are good for me, I believe all the hype about the amazing things they do for my body. On top of that, I really enjoy most fruits and vegetables. And I still have a hard time getting them in. I feel like all it takes is missing them with one meal and bam, you've missed your numbers.

Last week was an especially bad week for me. I started my week with cherries, plums, peaches, and blueberries from the farmer's market. I added carrots and broccoli from the grocery store. I even went straight to the source and picked berries at a farm. And I managed to eat practically none of it. I would like to say I just wasn't in the mood. But I don't think you can take a week off of eating your fruits and veggies and say that.

I will admit some weeks are better. But to hit my numbers I usually have to be making an effort. Planning my meals and snacks or at least keeping track of them. I believe that 5 is my minimum. You know that would ideally be at least three servings of vegetables and two servings of fruit a day. That sounds so simple and yet like I said, if I am not focusing on it I usually fall short. Again, I like fruit and I like vegetables. Some days I am sure I eat past my daily serving amounts. I am just saying that it can be hard. For example, eat only a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch and now you are behind and have to play catch-up at dinner.

All that aside, do you realize how much money it costs? I know it's still cheaper than eating out but when you are talking about each person in my family trying to hit their numbers, that's a lot of produce. And forget trying to keep it fresh. There's no way I could go shopping and get that much produce to last a week. I know that's not technically true because I could buy frozen or canned food, but gross. Why do that in the middle of summer when so much is fresh and in season.

I am going to start my day by sifting through my fridge to see if any of last weeks produce is still edible. If it is, it'll be time to get started on today's 5.

...Cooking Recap

I don't know what my deal is. Is it the heat? Is it the business of summer? Who's to say but I can't seem to motivate myself for much cooking these days.

I made it to a farm this past week for some cheap berries and I was able to do some strawberry jam (which turned out soooo foamy) and some triple berry jam, which included strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries, but didn't taste as delicious as it smelled.

I think I am done with canning until September when I go apple picking. Then I will attempt at least one batch of apple jelly. I am excited for that. I currently have 1o jars of jam (without adding the apple jelly) to eat through in the next year, so we'll see how that goes. I might have to declare a jam week once a month to get through it all: jam for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Over-production aside, I have really enjoyed making so much jam.

If anyone wants to try that granola bar recipe I thought that I would let you know that I reduced the brown sugar to half a cup when I made some more this week. I'll be honest, not as delicious after having the super sweet round first. Still very edible and I probably should keep it there because we could all use less sugar in our lives.

Also, the yogurt smoothie pops were pretty good. It just feels good making more of my own food from basic ingredients rather than buying so much processed junk.

But, not everything can be so easy. I tried baking angel food cake for the first time this week. Let me be clear here, NOT FROM SCRATCH. Way too ambitious while I'm off sweets. I used a Betty Crocker box mix. I heard it was delicious. It looked and smelled beautiful. I also think it would be a great thing to add to food storage because all it requires is water.

And that's all I have. I have no recipes set aside and am not planning anything new so this may be it on cooking for a while. Or, I could randomly bust out some new stuff tomorrow. It's always hard to say when the motivations and urges will strike. Now that I have jam out of my system maybe I'll have more cooking energy for something else.