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Just a short entry…

I’ve been practicing for the competition on Sunday and I have to say I am crapping my pants just a little.  I’ve made 3 different batches of cupcakes this past week, and I’m not sure if its going to work out.

I know, I know.  Its just a cupcake competition but there is something inherently terrifying about putting yourself out there to be judged publicly.  But its also completely exhilarating…

I think I have it all figured out, so I guess we will see come Sunday…  Even if I don’t win, I am really glad I did this.

MultiMatt

One of my favourite places in the world is For The Love Of Cake.  Its a cupcake/cake bakery in Liberty Village in Toronto.  (Un)Fortunately, it is extremely close to my work!  So when I am at work and get a hankerin’ for one of the best cupcakes on the planet, I can zip over and get one!  Great right!  Except I eat too many :)

Anyway, that lovely shop is hosting the Iron Cupcake!  It is much like Iron Chef only, big surprise, its for cupcakes!!  I have begun talking with the owners of FTLOC and they are amazingly kind and helpful people.  So since I have become basically a regular, and constantly ask question after question, they asked if I would be participating in the contest!  I thought about it for a while, and decided, “Why not?”

Then I thought again, “No way”

Then I went back again, and was asked when I was going to register.  I explained that I didn’t think I was ready, to which the reply was “Who cares? It’ll be fun!”  How could i argue with that?  So I signed up.

Now I am trying to come up with a cupcake to make!   I don’t know what one to make!  I have gone from one idea to the next, poo pooing each one along the way.  I am sure I will figure it out.  I just hope I do it in time!  Too bad I couldn’t just fire out some of my peanut butter cupcakes… remember them??

They were damn good, but they do not have beer (the ingredient needed to be used) or green (the theme).  Oh well!  They made me happy at the time.

I will keep you posted on my progress.  If you want to know more about the Iron Cupcake, check out www.fortheloveofcake.ca.  Its worth it, TRUST me.

MultiMatt

I have been eating way too many cupcakes… I was doing so well with the weight-loss and then bam, the cupcake.  It infected me right down to my soul.

And I loved it.

But I am getting my act back together and so I thought I would take one of my dinner dishes and have some fun.

So may I present…

The Ground Turkey Meatloaf… cupcake!  With Mashed Potato “Frosting”!

YUM!

MultiMatt

I don’t know why, but I seem to ALWAYS prefer vanilla cake to chocolate.  Don’t get me wrong, I am a stone’s throw away from homicide when I want me some chocolate, but when it comes to cake, vanilla is my favourite.

So I made some today (Sunday) just cause I like making them.  Made a DELCIOUS frosting too.  Tinted it yellow, again, just cause I wanted to.  Then I busted out the camera and snapped away.

Sometimes they look like deviled eggs… oh well :)

Here is the end result.

MultiMatt

I have completely slacked, I will admit it.  Its been way too long since my last entry and I am going to work my ass off to get back into the groove.  So here is a story from the Valentine’s Day/Family Day weekend.

I told me sister I would watch her dogs for the weekend so that she and her husband and daughter could go to Ottawa for the weekend.  So I packed up my jeep and headed up to Wasaga Beach.  It was going to be a quiet weekend.  Alone.  On Valentine’s day…

But I digress.

So i had planned to spend the weekend baking my ass off, but instead, I got together with my Aunt Sue, Uncle Paul, 2 cousins Becky and Joey and Becky’s son, Landon.  It was a GREAT time!  We laughed and LAUGHED and played a gamed called Buzzwords (which is awesome btw) and we laughed some more.  Then on Sunday, I stopped by again and we watched Julie & Julia (I know, I know, AGAIN).

Now, I love that movie, but there is a crazy side effect to enjoying the film.  It causes hunger.  Major hunger.  It also incites the need to cook.  So as the credits rolled, my Aunt Sue proclaimed: “I want to make scalloped potatoes”.  We were all in whole hearted agreement ‘cause my Aunt Sue makes a MEAN bunch of scalloped potatoes!  So heads nodded all over and then decided that meatloaf was a great idea too.  So I assembled that, while my aunt did her magic.

It took over an hour of cook time, during which we DEVOURED a plate of tortilla chips and dip.  Once the hour was up, we sat down to eat the food in the pictures below.  There was a surprise as well!  Bread with basil garlic pesto baked in the oven! SIMPLE! DELICIOUS!

Without furthur ado, The Meal.

Oh and P.S. I was rushing to finish this, so I apologize for its “not as goodness”.  I was busy making homemade breaded chicken!  I will do better next time. :)

MultiMatt

I asked an incredibly talented friend of mine to come up with a cute little mascot guy for me to use on my blog.  It would be something cool for me to use, almost as a brand and who knows, maybe one day it will show up on a t-shirt, apron, or maybe even a sign on a store.  Ohh that is a nice dream.

So I told him that I was thinking along the lines of a retro style oven, but in a cute, cartoony sort of way.  After sending him a couple of example photos of the style I was thinking, in no time he used his amazing artistic ability to pull exactly what I was thinking out of my head.  He even made a few different versions for me to play with.  So cool.

I am really excited to share these pictures with you guys.  It may be the start of something amazing for me… but one step at a time.

So without further ado, here is the world premiere of Mr. Stove.

Oh, and I am possibly thinking of a new name, so any ideas are welcome.

Enjoy!!

MultiMatt

Its Friday night.

I’m 30 years old.

You think I would be out on the town, whoopin’ it up!  Shakin’ my money maker!  Gettin’ my drink on!

But no, I am at home cooking chili and watch Julie & Julia for the umpteenth time.  Lame?  Most definitely.  Delicious?  Indubitably.

I don’t have a recipe when I make chili, I just kind of throw things together and it usually turns out pretty good!   All previous versions of my chili had been pretty boring; meat, beans, chili powder and a jar of sauce.  BOOOORING.

This time, I started by throwing some onion, celery, carrots and olive oil into my new pot to saute.  Then I threw in the ground turkey with some pepper and some dried chili peppers.  Cooking ensued.

In a separate bowl, I dumped out a can of diced tomatoes and mixed in about a 1/3 of a cup of left over Healthy Choice Garlic & Herb sauce, about a 1/4 cup of Diana Maple BBQ Sauce, some onion powder, some thyme (a little too much actually), some chili powder, and some cinnamon.

Once that turkey was cooked I mixed in the sauce and a can of Red Beans and let it go.  It was kinda watery, so I just let it simmer and simmer and simmer…  I got kinda bored actually.  No matter!

Once it was done, I consumed it with Tortilla Scoop chips and a smattering of sour cream and cheddar cheese.  So tasty!  The cinnamon really gives it a kick!

I hope whoever reads this is actually enjoying all this!  Let me know! :)

And of course, some pics!!

Eat happy everyone!!  I sure am!

MultiMatt

I have already said I love cupcakes.  We are not surprised by this.  I was surprised, however, by the utter bliss I experienced after sampling one of the Peanut Butter Cupcakes the incomparable Ms. Stewart told me how to make.

In her guide to all things cupcake, Martha Stewart’s “Cupcakes” book is continuing to leave me in a state of shock and awe.  The intricacies of some of the cupcakes are insane and something that I need excessive schooling in order to complete, but there is the odd one that is simpler.  Like Peanut Butter Cupcakes with a Creamy Peanut Butter Frosting.

As I combined the ingredients, I was already thinking, “these are gonna be crap.”  Not positive thinking, I am aware.  Though my track record has been less than perfect, and let’s face it, when it comes to cooking I am a perfectionist.

Then I took the baked cupcakes out of the oven… and they looked perfect.  You couldn’t punch the smile off my face.  Then I made the frosting.

Once again, bulletproof smile.

These things are godly… unreal.

Look.

Pictures.

Cupcake.

Good.

Peanut butter.

Bye.

I made cupcakes tonight… I need practice.  But I will get it!  As I was making the Swiss Buttercream Frosting, I was CERTAIN I had screwed up royally and the amount of butter in it alone made me think that I had just wasted 10 dollars in ingredients!!!  But as my trusty Kitchen Aid Mixer (I think it needs a name) did its thing, it all smoothed out, but it still needed more beating.  THEN it would be perfect.

This is my first attempt so I will let the pictures do the talking.  Enjoy!

Cupcakes are EVERYWHERE!

Those delightful individual portions of awesome have taken the world by storm and they are being welcomed with open arms.

Where there was once a cake, tier upon tier, is a gorgeous array of delicately decorated domes.  Every flavour, colour and theme you can think of have invaded the party scene.  Hell, if you’re me, they’ve even invaded our everyday lives.  Lately, I can’t seem to get through the day without thinking about how I wish I was eating, or even MAKING, a batch of those moist, amazing cakes.

As if my mind was bad enough, a delightful little shop has opened less than five minutes from my office.  I still remember when my co-workers and I discovered it was there.  There was much excitement.   We glued our faces to the amazing display cakes that adorned the windows.  A cake with cartoon penguins sliding down four lop-sided tiers.  A light blue cake with a garland of snow-flakes coiled in a gentle spiral.  There was even a cake with shoes, that’s right shoes, pain-stakingly recreated in fondant.

Already blown away, we then noticed the cupcakes.  They were nestled on white trays staggered vertically and horizontally.  And I SWEAR to you, they actually winked at me.

So naturally we went in and bought up a bunch thinking, “Wow, nothing like devouring a good sweet treat.”  What we didn’t realize what that we were about to have a live changing experience.  The name “For The Love of Cake” is so appropriate, cause hell yes I do.  The owner/head baker of the store has made a great spin on the cupcake.

4D cupcakes.

Not only are they moist delicious cake and sweet but not too sweet frosting, there is an added touch of something placed on top, and a surprise center.

The first one I ate was called, Grasshopper.  Chocolate cupcake.  Green Mint Frosting.  A chuck of a chocolate-peppermint patty on top and chocolate ganache center.  I was losing it.  Whatever “it” is… I lost that.

Then it was Peanut Butter and Chocolate, and if you need a reason to love that, then we have nothing else to discuss.

So since that fist fateful day, the owner now knows me by name and I have a container that I take back to refill…  Oh and did I mention I am trying to lose weight?  DID I??

So all of this babbling brings us to tonight… and I am going to make some cupcakes.  Oh and I am going to make some Swiss Buttercream Frosting.

The recipe for the cupcakes is coming from my Better Homes and Gardens: New Baking Book

And the Swiss Buttercream Frosting from the Martha Stewart Cupcakes book

One of my best friends in the world, Sarah, got me the Martha book for Christmas.  I will make sure she gets to partake in some cupcake love.  As I have never made frosting before, tonight should be interesting.  So I am going to take some pics and post them!

Wish me luck!

My cupcake obsession is only just beginning…