strike one!

the chasemieseter has a birthday coming up

yay! i love birthdays!!!

and

he's been gone 

all summer

which means

i've missed him

a lot!

so when the captain 

started talking about his birthday

i was overly eager to help

i volunteered to make the cake

what!? am i crazy!? 

absence makes the heart grow founder

and 

the brain go stupider!

and needless to say

i volunteered to make this cake

a good friend referred me to this picture

and

to all the supplies i needed

i know

i'm crazy

but i figured 

why not!

so yesterday

i did a "practice cake"

and boy am i glad i did

first

i elected to go with

duncan hines yellow cake mix

its easy 

and 

its something i can't screw up

so here are my players

and yes there is a glass of wine

don't judge

i'm baking in italy!

to make this cake possible 

i've had to order 

alot from

amazon.com

like

this 3d mold

and

this fondant

in green and blue

let me digress a bit

i've never worked with fondant

never

and 

frankly after last night 

i don't know if i ever will

but that my friends 

is another story

back to our story

i build my cake

just as the box says

and make another box

for the baseball mold

now the direction say grease the ball molds

until there is no metal shining through

i think i did this job well!

split the batter in between the two ball halves

and place in the oven

these take a long time to bake

about 20-30 minutes longer than the square pans

and 

the top will get brown

before the middle get done

don't worry!

you will be cutting the top off anyway

i found my butter cream frosting 

recipe

from 

{all recipes}

and doesn't it look delicious!!!

the recipe called for 8 cups of powdered sugar

i did not have 8 cups

so i cut the recipe in half

big mistake!!

i did not have nearly enough icing

but like i said 

it was a practice cake

back to building the cake!!

once your square cakes are done 

and 

cooled 

this is key!!!

level them

with

 

your cake leveler

this is a simple tool

but a must!!!

take your leveled cake

like so

and frost it

remember i said 

i didn't make enough icing

well notice in these pics....

once you've got one iced

put the other one on top of it

and ice away!

don't forget that baseball in the oven!

pull the halves out and let them cool

i repeat let them cool

this is what happens when you don't

 

see i told you!

thank goodness i only needed one half!

once it's cooled 

your are going to level the bottom of the ball

which was the top that was browned in the oven

place on top of the cake 

and ice away!

my cake looks rough!

i would NOT serve this at a kiddo's birthday

but 

what i learned from my practice cake is

1) i'm not going to use this much fondant. 

i will probably use graham crackers and butter cream on top

and make it look like a field

or just butter cream like picture

2) i will buy red icing.  i could not get the icing to turn red 

regardless of how much red food coloring i put in

3) did i mention i will make more icing

yep definitely need more

4) i will not start the cake at eight o'clock at night

and finally

less fondant!

it looks rough

it tasted good

but 

i have hope 

that in three weeks

i will not strike out

and 

the chasemiester will have a wonderful birthday!

time flies when your are having fun

{july 19, 2010}

i was leaving work

when kenneth called

and said,

"how do you feel about living in italy?"

it's hard to believe

that it's been a year

i was looking back at some of my old posts

and

so much has changed in this year

the obvious

i'm in italy

many friends have welcomed {new additions }

to their famileis

we've said goodbye to a {beloved pup }

we've met { new friends }

and

i've learned a lot about {myself} 

would i do italy all over again

yes

and i wouldn't change the headaches

the tears

the moments where i felt like i was going crazy

for anything

i've had many 'favorite posts'

over the year

which i've included

for your reading pleasure

{ford vs ledge}

{my affair} 

{how to get a dog to pee in a cup}

{oh no he didn't}

happy year of blogging anniversary to me

thank you for reading

and

tolerating my moments of insanity

moments when i think i can cook

and

moments when i just feel

like babbling



cowboy leftovers to pasta cuisine

last night i made 

{the pioneer woman's cowboy calzone} 

it's a great reciepe

and i highly recommend it

and i had some of the 

meat mixture

left over

today

i didn't want calazone

and didn't want to throw out the meat

so 

i thought

and thought

opened my cabinets

to see what 

if any groceries i had

today is the must go grocery shopping

or starve to death day

and

i saw this

  and thought

"hmmm... backed penne with cowboy calazone meat mixture..

sure...

why not"

so 

i cooked the pasta

you know

boil water, add pasta, cook 8-10 minutes, drain water

if i can make pasta without looking at directions

so can you

used my 8x8 pan

you can use a 9x13 but

i didn't have that much meat to cover a 9x13 

layer it

meat, noodles, meat, noodles, etc

top with parmasean

and shredded mozzarella

place it in the oven

i did 350*F for 20 minutes

and

voila!

you have a new dish

made with leftovers

and 

it wasn't half bad either!

i would definitely make it again if i had left overs from cowboy calazones