sugar & spice & everything nice

And here are the cuppycakes that we have been working on.  The red & white ones were for a church BBQ and were an incredible hit… as well as the cake pops that are displayed in the middle of the pic.  The hamburger cupcakes were displayed in french fry trays with sugar cookie french fries as a side for Father’s Day.  We got a lot of PR that day, and lots of jobs!  xoxo- jen

Here is a smattering of the recent cakes we have been busy completing.  The zebra one is the first one that was officially for full price outside of our church member contacts.  We have been crazy busy inventing and trying to stay original… and having a blast!  Pics of cupcakes to follow soon!  xoxo-jen

Cole and I made pizza together and it was so easy! I thought the dough would be more work than it was worth but I was wrong.

Pizza Dough

(Recipe from Tomato Blessings and Radish Teachings by Edward Espe Brown)

For 1 (12-inch) pizza

1/2 cup warm water

1 tablespoon active dry baking yeast (1.5 packages)

1/4 teaspoon honey

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup whole-wheat flour

1/2 to 5/8 unbleached white flour

Make sure water is warm, I think like 110-130 degrees. Add the yeast, honey, olive oil, salt, and the whole-wheat flour to the water in a big bowl. Beat well with a spoon then stir in 3/8 cup of the white flour, and us the other quarter cup of white flour, as needed, to knead the dough for several minutes until it is smooth and elastic. Oil the bowl and put the dough back in. Set it aside and let it rise for 25 to 30 minutes while you prepare the other ingredients for the pizza. If you are not yet ready for the dough, punch it down and let it rise again, up to another 20 to 25 minutes.

Roll out the pizza dough into a circle (I did a rectangle cause that’s the shape of the pan I had) about 12 inches in diameter and about 1/8 inch thick. Then top with whatever you want. Bake on top shelf of 525-degree oven for 12-15 minutes, until bottom of crust is browned. (Honestly, I thought that seemed too high so I did 400-degrees and it worked fine.)

Cole decorated his pizza with marinara sauce, pepperoni, mozzarella, and gouda. I experimented with lots of different toppings. I put marinara sauce, gorgonzola, fresh tomato, beets, avocado, and mozzarella. You may think of all those flavors together and think, “Ehck!” But the thing is I spread it all out so I never got a bite with tomato, avocado, and beet all together. Well you might also just think, “Ehck!” because I put beets on my pizza but whatever, I like beets.

Here’s what I love about making my own pizza:

1. I know everything that went on the pizza was fresh and good eats. No preservatives, no pesticides, no artificial colors, etc.
2. Very cost effective. I estimate $4 for our two 12-inch pizzas, which ended up feeding us for two meals.
3. I could put whatever I wanted on my pizza. Haven’t done this yet but had an idea to make a desert pizza with cinnamon sugar and a little butter. Yum! Also, I want to try to recreate the delicious spinach pizza from Cici’s Pizza. I’m thinking the white sauce is alfredo maybe? Mom, what do you think?

Love, Corey Marie

We made a blog and update each day

As we come up with things to say

About our cooking and baking too

Just as normal sisters do.

The blog got going and was fun

To add to when our cooking was done

We can post comments and songs too

We can post pictures of icing that’s blue

From coast to coast, we say our share

And try to keep the comments fair

We cook things like cupcakes and stew

We cook things that have us say “boo hoo”

Sis2sis is our favorite part

Of cooking together heart to heart

Even though we are far away

It gives us a chance in our kitchens to play

But we noticed something was not right

We thought about it day and night

We looked here and we looked there

In our pantries and in the air

But no answer did we find

Until your name came to mind

Incomplete it is without you

Since you are our sister too!

With this spoon we ask you now

Join our blog and have a cow

At all the funny things you’ll read

And yummy meals to Chris you’ll feed

We hope that you will say yes

And join us in our baking quest

We think you are the perfect fit

So go put on your oven mitt

Let’s bake and chat across the miles

As our treats & sweets bring us smiles

We love you more than green eggs and ham

And are so happy that you’re in our fam!!!

So here was my attempt last week to try these paper souffle cups instead of regular cupcake liners.  They are the newest thing and really did look fantastic under our cupcakes.  But as you can see, it was a little tough to figure out exactly how much batter to put in and how it would rise.  And the bonus was that when we made our chocolate batter, it rose totally differently and my little experiment was null and void.  So, mental note… when attempting Jenny’s vanilla vanilla cupcakes, the paper souffle cups only need to be filled halfway.  C’est la vie!

xoxo—jen

Finally going to upload something other than baking!  Pause for reaction…  OK, this is a fabulous steak dinner I have discovered from my lovely inspiration, Giada deLaurentiss on Food Network.  She is the skinniest Italian food chef I have ever seen!

All I can say is served with some steamed green beans and possibly an Orzo salad or something, this is the glory!  Basically this is the amazing meal I pull out for people I really love!  Enjoy!

Rib-eye Steak & Olive Vinaigrette

Ingredients

Rib-eye Steak:

• 1 2-inch rib-eye steak, boneless (filet works here too… if you want less fat)
• 1 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon herbes de Provence (I use my Italian herb blend here)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Black Olive Vinaigrette

• 1/2 cup black olives, pitted
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1 garlic clove
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive  oil
• 6 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Directions

For the Rib-eye: Preheat your grill pan on medium high heat. Coat the beef with olive oil and sprinkle with the Herbs de Provence, salt, and pepper. Cook for 6 to 8 minutes a side until the meat is medium-rare, remove from heat, and allow to rest.

For the Black Olive Vinaigrette: Combine the olives, red wine vinegar, mustard, garlic, salt, and pepper in a blender and blend until mixed. In a small pitcher combine the olive oil and vegetable oil. Drizzle the oil into the blender with the machine running. Transfer the vinaigrette to a serving dish. Stir in the parsley and serve with the rib-eye.

Focaccia Bread with Rosemary & Grapes

Ingredients

• 1 pound pizza dough (I use fresh out of our grocery bakery, but Pillsbury works too)
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• Coarse sea salt, for sprinkling
• 1 garlic clove minced
• 1 shallot, cut into thinly sliced rounds
• 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary leaves
• 1/2 cup green grapes
• 1/2 cup red grapes

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Roll the pizza dough into a rectangle on a sheet of parchment paper. Place the dough and the parchment on a baking sheet.

Using a pastry brush, cover the top of the dough with olive oil. Sprinkle the dough with coarse sea salt. Sprinkle the dough with the garlic, shallot, and rosemary. Spread the grapes over the top of the dough and push down into the dough.

Bake the focaccia until golden brown, about 25 minutes. Cut into slices and serve.

Tadaaaaa!  Here it is in all its glory!  The Mario cake… we had just a couple issues getting the details on.  It got warm outside and our frosting was getting just a tiny bit mushy.  Other than that, it was a huge hit and we now have enough biz to keep us until July!  Also got an offer today from the 60s cupcake event to do more in July!  Thanks God for building on my dream!

I made these Boston Creme Pie Cupcakes for Cole’s birthday in March. They were the hardest things I’ve ever baked in my life. I’ve cooked harder things but for baking these were tough. I’m not gonna post the recipe on here because I can’t imagine anyone ever wanting to make these. They were delicious but it took me 5 hours to make 9 cupcakes. I’m not sure if it was worth it. So you had to make the cupcakes, from scratch of course. While they were baking I made the vanilla creme filling. It’s nice knowing how to make vanilla creme from scratch now but you know what it tastes like? Boxed vanilla Jello pudding. But at least now I know how to make Jello from scratch right? So then after the cupcakes are cooked and cooled, you cut them in half and put some vanilla creme in the middle. Then you make chocolate ganache glaze and pour it on top. 5 hours sure did make one beautiful cupcake.

Love, Corey Marie