Harry Potter's Magical Menu

It is both amazing and heart breaking to see such a spectacular series come to an end... Harry Potter may not be your thing but, the book series that swept the world is without a doubt one of the most enchanting ways kids have been brought back to reading. 

And if I love two things, they're magic and reading. 

It was established a LONG time ago that my roommate, Em, and I would throw a Harry Potter party in celebration of the final movie coming out. As fate would have it, things timed out so that it also ended up being a celebration of the final party in our apartment. We moved just 5 days after throwing our Potter Party, from our first big girl apartment in the city to a house 10 minutes away with even more of our friends.

Which will be/so far has been COMPLETELY stellar! But as the movie series coming to the same end the books did was bittersweet, so was our move. Luckily, these Harry Potter treats got us through the hard times. Plus, Alcoholic Butterbeer and Spiked Pumpkin Juice. Hope you enjoy these recipes and the Potter theme as much as we did!

First item on the wizard check list! House Themed Iced Sugar Cookies. I used the same recipe as I did here and simply used canned icing. I dyed it blue and had some super amazing ladies help me with the plain iced ones while I worked on the seal. It's a combination of chocolate and icing that I drew/molded until it represented all 4 houses cheerfully. 

My Favorite Unnoticed Recipes

Two posts in one day, what madness is this?! How fun! How strange! Why?!

It's actually stemming from some foodie insecurity. We'll see what you guys think. Also, before I get all ranty: please note recipe updates are on Friday now as that just makes more sense for my new work schedule. This Friday I have for you Harry Potter's Feast! Get excited.


I had a follower comment they were leaving today, meaning no longer following, in response to my recent post- I am guessing due to the fact that it wasn't food related/I haven't posted anything in a long time due to my life getting restructured/out of hand. It was one of my comics, one that I had really rather enjoyed writing. The fact that they had let me know why they left makes me wonder if more of you guys are struggling.


"Okay, bye, bye, klutzy cooking. Can't follow this anymore."


Don't get mean, or defensive, for me, (unless you want to point out that it's Clutzy Cooking, which is a fair point). It is understandable of them to leave! Fair even. I can be a confusing person, I understand. I am just hoping I am not a confusing blog. I wanted to know if anyone else was to the point of leaving due to post whip lash. I try and keep things organized by tabs and also by tags. I also aim to write a dern good food blog and don't want you guys to back off because I have some other topics mixed in. 


So, this post is a question: should I attempt to break my blogs up again? Or can you guys tolerate them together? It is just SO much easier for me to keep them together... I am not asking if you like it, you don't have to like the comics or love the layout but, can you handle it? Is it okay? Sometimes enjoyable to have non food topics pop up?


I only post comics twice a month. And crafts maybe once a month. 


Let me know. I love you guys and don't want to lose ya. 
And now! Some food. I feel insecure that my blog is getting too far off the "foodie" track but also, these recipes have been demanding more attention for some time. Please check them out- they are some of my absolute favorites but have been passed over many a time in the past:

Blackbeery Yogurt Cupcakes

K-Bars

My Mom's Lemon Squares

"Legit" Carbonara 

Cheesey Bagel Toasties

Sweet Brie Bites

Simple Homemade Applesauce

Pudding Cookies

Homemade Tagalongs

Paella

Bruschetta

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Brownies

  

Online Dating

Hi! Remember me? This is lil cartoon me- remember?

She sometimes appears when I blog about things outside of cooking. Back when I use to blog at all. Sorry I disappeared on you guys. This is one of those times when things stink to crazy degrees for having time for a blog- so, sorry I have been neglecting them with such fervor lately. My life has exploded. Much like my system was exploded with germs before. I was sick over the holiday weekend and then I got back and had this… well,  I’m moving this week and just had a huge themed going away/Harry Potter party (pics and recipes to follow SOON!) and then I also have Mack living with me now (the dog, my dog) and as I said already I was sick/am sick/feel like I may always be sick.

Which is why it was the perfect time to go to Seattle for 4 days. It was one of my best friends weddings and totally worth it (PS, no one ever told me how kickin' Seattle is!), but it wasn't helpful to rush to unpack and pack up to go across the country. Washington to Washington is no joke, guys.

Anyway. My life exploding is not the point.

Although, that explosion looks cool. The point is, I love this blog even if I don’t always do it justice. So!  Back to the purpose of this comic: Online Dating. I have this friend who told me to try online dating. And I said ‘sounds fun!’ and then she said, but ‘I mean seriously, Meaghan’.

And then I had to inform her that I don’t take many things (anythings) very seriously. That I am the kind of grown up who still is afraid of dry cleaning and doesn’t always know what her bank balance is up to. And then she reminded me we were talking about online dating and then I reminded her I had changed the subject on purpose and then she told me it was time for me to Date seriously. Again with the seriously. And also, Date. With a capital D-Date, not the lowercase d-date like I have been doing to this point. And then a debate erupted from this.

And then she passed out...

Today I woke up with a tiny headache. I took some advil (AKA sugar coated joy), ate a granola bar, hopped on the metro and got to work. While at work the tiny headache evolved to blinding pain, the blinding pain evolved to dizziness, and then the nausea hit.

I found myself cuddling with a recycling bin in my cube. I made it through the day by pure luck. I have no idea what happened, it was like an avalanche of germs.


My body seriously never saw it coming. This was me.

Also, if you Google "sick" that may be the first image to come up. I thought about drawing a sick, dying, green cartoon me but... that requires a lot more energy than I could possibly muster.


I came home and promptly pitched myself back into bed. And slept. And slept. I woke up and realized that I never finished:
1) my recipe post for the week
2) my illustrations for my comic 
3) taking off my shoes and coat


So, I'm updating this here to let you know that, should I not survive this random illness, you all are super great. And I've always appreciated the fact that you didn't spaz at me for not always sticking to my word about when I'd post. And the way all of you supported me through the many MANY times blogger failed me. In conclusion, you guys are awesome.


I am now going to go medicate and sleep again. A new comic and shiny new recipe will be posted upon my survival. 


Goodnight.

Cake Batter Pancakes

Seriously. You think I'd learn.

Blogger = Evil. Do not plan to schedule posts. Check and make sure all posts are up and running. Don't count on things to just work as they should. And yet. This was supposed to be up last night at 12:01. And it clearly was/is not. I miss the days when my blog was all organized, all the posts lining up on Mondays at midnight. Or at least on Mondays. Maybe I'll try posting Sunday's at 12:01 again, that way it's actually updated on Mondays and all.... Anyway, I'll figure that out. I bet you just want to know what that delicious picture is portraying. Let's talk pancakes.

So. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle pancakes got me in a griddle place.
And then I was grocery shopping. And I found these.

I mean, seriously! We make cupcake CEREAL now!? So proud, America. So very very proud. It was clearly a sign. Cupcakes for brinner (which is, for those who don't know, breakfast + dinner). Which brings us back to this recipe.

Just so fun. On every level. Even the batter is fun. Look at all these sprinkles! How awesome is that??

Prettiest batter ever. Probably. I made two kinds of topping for these cake-flavored pancake gems. One was chocolate ganache with almond extract. The other was vanilla ganache with raspberry extract. 

Both were AMAZING. Gosh, these pancakes were like a dessert. But a dessert that's allowed all the time! They were really rich though, probably shouldn't eat more than 3 or you may get sick. (Like I definitely did. Carrots and water for the rest of the day to kick the sugar out of my system.)

Cake Batter Pancakes

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2/3 cup yellow cake mix

1 tablespoon sugar

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

pinch of salt

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1-2 cups milk 

assorted sprinkles- LOTS!!!

Combine flour, cake mix, baking powder, sugar and salt in a bowl and mix. Add 1 cup of milk, egg and vanilla extract and stir until smooth and proper pancake density. This will vary greatly on the brand of cake mix you use. Start with 1 cup of milk and add more if needed. You don't want runny pancakes that spill everywhere and are too thin, nor do you want thick, paste like ones. Find a balance for pancake nirvana. 

Heat your skillet or griddle. I used an electric griddle at 350 degrees but, I'm a pancake professional (that's such a lie, I burnt myself 5 times. Be careful if you decide to use a hot skillet like idiot me). Fold desired amount of sprinkles into batter. Pour batter in 1/4 cup measurements onto skillet and let cook until bubbles form on top, about 2-3 minutes. Flip and cook for 1 minute more.

Serve with frosting or glaze or what have you. Syrup'd or plain or iced- these babies are divine.

Make and enjoy :)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Pancakes

Ha, so. Blogger Officially hates me. This was *supposed* to upload automatically last night. When I went to check this morning how the blog looked, turns out this lil post here was still chilling in "scheduled". Despite it being extremely overdue. Ah, well. Fixing glitch #112 now! Back to our regularly scheduled program:

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! In pancake form!

It'll be all you can do to keep Shredder away from these adorable geek creations. The shelled gang is all here! We have:

Raphael

Leonardo

Donatello

Michelangelo

 I didn't make their sensei, Splinter, but, if any of you guys are up to the challenge, please send me the link! I'd love to check out a well executed trend of anthromorphic pancakes :)

These came from an idea that came from an idea that came from spending too much time amazed by the site Jim's Pancakes. If you haven't seen his website before, you should check it out. The man is a griddle master, making pancake masterpieces for his daughter and family.

There are several tricks to this, none too complicated. Use food dye to differentiate the colors of the batter and put them into squeeze bottle to create precise lines. A griddle turned to low will be your best friend in this situation as you'll want to add things in both an artistic and consistent manner before the cooking really starts up.

I had some fun and made tie-dye chocolate chip pancake leftovers when I was done with the turtles...

 Yummmmmmmmmmm!


Overall, this experience was an EXTREMELY fun one! AND it was easy to the most clutzy degree! Thanks to Jim's Pancakes for the inspiration and tricks of the griddle trade! I see even more eccentric pancakes in my future...

Funfetti Cake Balls

Ha, you know what food is fun to eat and NOT Clutzy Cooking Friendly?

Why yes! Yes indeed, it is cake balls! Good guess!

Okay, I'll stop being me/ridiculous now. These are delicious- make them NOW. They are chocolate covered cake. Yep. Chocolate. Covered. Cake.

I found this recipe through stumbleupon on Bakerella's food blog. I am not much a fan of Red Velvet cake though so I decided to make Funfetti cake balls.

This recipe SOUNDS so easy and, while it is... for normal humans...if you are a true clutz like I am, you may run into some difficulties when it comes to melting chocolate without burning it and then dipping the cake without scorching your finger tips off.

Or covering your counters with melted chocolate bark. Which is difficult to clean, P.S.

Also, keep the size small and bite size. I made mine too big at first and they began to crumble apart and make things more messy for me. So, smaller is better in this case! Also, since I was struggling with just making BALLS, I decided it was a good idea to try and get fancy.

Because, that's clearly a good train of thought. 


Ha, despite the burns and muttered curses, these were fun too!

For those of you who don't understand what you're seeing (i.e. you non geek folk) those are Nintendo remotes and a NASA Space Shuttle. Woot for chocolate molds from amazon.com! Oh, AND!!! The Shuttle flames are sprinkles! I can't tell you how happy that made me when throwing this all together. 

Hehehe...


Anyway, this simple recipe is delicious but, can be messy. My methods clearly got me into more trouble then they were worth but, I am willing to try making this recipe again with chocolate cake and white chocolate shells at next opportunity. Or maybe yellow cake with a chocolate shell. Or carrot with a white chocolate shell!!!

Don't those just sound yummy? Absolutely all of them. Sign me up for the variety pack.

Ha, so! Mix it up, make them up, and let me know how they go!

Cake Balls

-1 cake mix

-1 can frosting

-1 package chocolate/almond bark for coating

Bake cake according to directions on box, in a 13 by 9 pan. Once cooled, crumble cake into large bowl, add can of frosting, and mix up til dough like. Round into balls. Place on cookie sheet and put into freezer til solid, (try an hour, I never did this and mine therefore fell apart!). Melt chocolate bark and dip balls into chocolate. Set aside on wax paper til cool. Add sprinkles if desired. Peel and serve :)