I don't know if I have shared this recipe before or not... but it is one of my favorites that my mom used to make when I was growing up. It is for meatballs with a yummy sauce over top. You could always shape this into a meatloaf, but she would make little meatballs instead so it would be easier to serve.
For the meatballs:
1 1/2 to 2 lbs ground beef
3 Tbs onion or onion flakes
1 cup cracker crumbs
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 1/2 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
1 egg (beaten)
3/4 cup milk
mix together and form into 8 meatballs
bake at 350 for 1 hour
For the sauce:
1/4 cup ketchup
1 1/2 tsp maple syrup
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
Divide the sauce evenly over the meatballs for the last 15 minutes of baking
(PS- I LOVE the sauce, so I always double it... the recipe above it just a single batch though)
and there you have it... pretty simple, tasty, and reminds me of home :)
Friday, August 30, 2013
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Recent products
So going off last months cupcake craziness, I made "Red, White, & Blueberry" cupcakes to give away/sell. They were vanilla cake, had a cherry enter, and a vanilla blueberry buttercream, topped with some fresh blueberries.
I must say, the frosting was AWESOME!! I love a good buttercream, but when you add fresh blueberries to the mix.... YUM!
Also, yesterday I made a baby shower cake for some friends of ours who will be expecting a little boy in October (ish). The top tier was supposed to look like a present, with a fondant "bow" on top. This was a new technique for me, but I think it looked pretty cute. It was all chocolate cake with a chocolate fudge filling, vanilla buttercream and fondant accents.
Also, yesterday I made a baby shower cake for some friends of ours who will be expecting a little boy in October (ish). The top tier was supposed to look like a present, with a fondant "bow" on top. This was a new technique for me, but I think it looked pretty cute. It was all chocolate cake with a chocolate fudge filling, vanilla buttercream and fondant accents.
Sunday, June 23, 2013
Cupcake Crazy
Yesterday I got on a kick of cupcakes for some reason... and I may have gone a little overboard, but oh well! I had finished making a wedding cake that had a lemon curd filling, and I had some of it left over. I decided to make some strawberry cupcakes and fill them with the lemon curd, just so it wouldn't go to waste. As I was making them, I thought about who I should give them to (because otherwise Brandon and I would sit there and eat the entire batch) and I decided to make a "give-away" on my facebook page. I said that if 20 people "liked" my status, I would draw a random person to get a free dozen of the cupcakes, and if 40 people "liked" it, then I would pick out another name.
It was fun to check and see the comments and look who "liked" the page, and I think it helped more people to see what I can do, which is cool. I am thinking about doing it on a monthly basis and having a little cupcake give-away and I mapped out flavors for every month...
 |
| Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes -- strawberry cake, lemon curd filling, lemon buttercream, strawberry fruit snack on top) |
It was fun to check and see the comments and look who "liked" the page, and I think it helped more people to see what I can do, which is cool. I am thinking about doing it on a monthly basis and having a little cupcake give-away and I mapped out flavors for every month...
July – Red White and
Blueberry Swirl
(blueberry and cherry
swirled cake, white buttercream)
August – Cookies-n-Cream
(chocolate cake,
white buttercream with crushed oreos)
September – Carmel
Apple
(white cake, apple
filling, white buttercream, caramel drizzle)
October – Pumpkin
Spice
(pumpkin cake, cream
cheese frosting)
November – Cranberry
Almond
(white cake with
cranberries, almond cream cheese frosting)
December – Cool
Chocolate Mint
(Chocolate cake,
chocolate ganache filling, mint frosting)
January – Aunt Lois’s
Cake
(Orange cake,
pineapple/whipped frosting)
February – Chocolate
Covered Strawberry
(chocolate cake,
strawberry filling, pink buttercream)
March – Banana Nut
(banana cake, chopped
nuts, brown sugar frosting)
April – Red Velvet
(red velvet cake with
cream cheese frosting)
May – Chocolate
Peanut Butter
(chocolate cake with
peanut butter frosting)
All this being said, since I am giving them away for free, it could get a little expensive, so I may have to take off a month here and there. My goal is to make some awesome cupcakes to share & make people happy (obviously), and secondly to help spread the word and hopefully getting a little more paid business. Have any suggestions for flavors?? Want to order something?? Check out my FB page (Amy Cakes Bake Shop) and shoot me a message!
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Some of my cakes....
I decided to post some pics of the cakes I have made thus far for Amy Cakes Bake Shop. More to come!
 |
| chocolate strawberry cake |
 |
| facebook themed cake |
 |
| Mickey Mouse cake |
 |
| UNO graduation cake |
 | |
| Daisy bridal shower cake |
 | |
| Rubber Duckie Baby Shower cake |
Monday, April 22, 2013
New Starts
The other day I decided to make a Facebook page to promote my baking. I absolutely LOVE baking and creating home-made goodies, so if I can get a few people to order things for me to make, how cool would that be? I am not expecting it to be big or anything, but just something fun on the side would be great. The page is called "Amy Cakes Bake Shop", go check it out :) https://www.facebook.com/pages/Amy-Cakes-Bake-Shop/531865490186021
One of my co-workers asked me to make her son's birthday cake after seeing several things I randomly brought to work. The cake is going to be Mickey Mouse themed and 2 tiers. I will be making it this week and I am SUPER excited.
Then Brandon's uncle said he recommended me for a graduation cake in May and a birthday cake in August. If those end up getting ordered for sure I will definitely post pics :)
Now I am just in the mood to bake and create! I just can't wait to make something :)
One of my co-workers asked me to make her son's birthday cake after seeing several things I randomly brought to work. The cake is going to be Mickey Mouse themed and 2 tiers. I will be making it this week and I am SUPER excited.
Then Brandon's uncle said he recommended me for a graduation cake in May and a birthday cake in August. If those end up getting ordered for sure I will definitely post pics :)
Now I am just in the mood to bake and create! I just can't wait to make something :)
Saturday, April 6, 2013
My Irrational Fear Of The Creature That Shall Not Be Named...
I hate them... they are terrible, gross, freaky-looking things... they are creepy... I freak out when I see them... heck I have even almost cried while hearing someone talk about them in detail... I hate to even say/type the name because of fear they will somehow know I am thinking of them and they will come running... I am talking about... spiders.
"but Amy, you grew up on a farm, how can you be afraid of spiders?"... well let me tell you, I don't give a rats butt that I grew up on a farm and was around them when I was little... they freak me out!! Maybe my fear started when I was scarred after watching the movie "Arachnophobia" when I was little... I really have no idea. I guess the purpose of this entry is to tell you a few little funny (for you) stories and to convey how much I hate... no... DETEST those ugly 8-legged creatures...
For starters... growing up on the farm I saw them quite often... daddy-long-legs, little ones, big ones, and the worst of all.... then ones that live in the barn. I remember helping bale hay in the summer and then hauling the bales home and having to load them into the hay loft of the barn. I distinctly remember going up in the loft and being surrounded by huge, hairy, disgusting barn spiders. They would be everywhere! Sometimes, you wouldn't even see them, but you would accidentally walk through their web and they would fall on you. Dad said to not worry about them, but I did... I stayed outside on the hayrack after that and helped throw bales to whoever was inside...
Our house on the farm was older so naturally there seemed to be more critters that got in. Mice... no problem... a shrew... I could care less... a bird... that was actually kind of fun... crickets... I don't like them, but I can deal.... spiders... I am standing on a chair yelling to whoever else happened to be in the house to come "kill it". I remember one time I went to take a bath and turned on the water and lifted up the cup that was always on the side of the tub and what fell out of it? you guessed it...I went to pick up the bottle of shampoo to throw at it, but what was sitting on top of the bottle... another one of those "things"... yuck. This naturally made me a little afraid of the bathroom for a week or so.... Ok, lets be realistic, more like a month. I got to the point where I would look all over the bathroom to make sure there were not any spiders, and then sit on the toilet and hold my feet up in the air so the only way they could "get me" was if there was one on the back of the toilet...
In more recent times, we moved into our house and one of the first nights I remember walking out on the deck to look at the stars. I noticed a spider hanging in its web across the steps, so I went to turn around and get Brandon to kill it. When I turned though, I saw another spider, even bigger, in a web from the edge of the deck to our grill. I paniced a little, but kept calm. Then when I fully turned and looked at the screen door, there was ANOTHER one, even bigger hanging there looking at me, waiting to eat me in my sleep I am sure. Naturally I start crying and yelled for Brandon. He came to the rescue, got me inside and sprayed something to kill them, and they really haven't been a problem since. I would be lying though if I said in that moment I didn't think about selling the house right then and moving out. But anyway...
My next adventure was about a month ago. I was working out to a video in our basement and I felt this strong feeling that I was being watched. Ellie (the dog) was upstairs sleeping, Brandon was at work, and the blinds were closed. I looked around and everything seemed ok, so I continued working out. About 10 minutes later, I was doing push-ups and I see something dark out of the corner of my eye. What do you think was running at me, full speed, with my face about 10 inches off the ground... you bet it was one of "them". Luckily it heard me scream and stopped running at me. I knelt there paralyzed with fear unable to do much for about 30 seconds. Brandon was gone, so only I could kill it. It took me about 10 minutes to muster up the courage to hit it with Brandon's (not mine) shoe. But then it was on the carpet, I could not bring myself to pick it up no matter how many Kleenexes I had. So I put a cup over it and waited for Brandon to get home.
Fast forward to today, I discovered I am not only afraid of spiders, but anything that remotely resembles them. A piece of lint on the floor, a bit of food on the oven, a string on the bedspread, a shadow on the ceiling... I know, I am just paranoid. What topped it off was when I was napping on the couch and unknowingly to me, Ellie wanted to sniff my arms. All I feel is her whiskers tickling my skin and since my eyes are closed the first thing I think of is HOLY SHIT A SPIDER IS CRAWLING ON ME AND IT IS GOING TO BITE ME. A high pitched scream made Ellie run into the coffee table (hard) and stay away from me for a little bit.
I have had one experience where I have touched a big spider though. I would be lying if I said I was sober and I willingly did it. A friend in college had a pet tarantula and one night after way too many beers, crying for about a half hour, wearing a paintball mask (yep, I thought at the time if I wore it, the spider wouldn't hurt me, lol) and lots of coaxing, I held it... for about 10 seconds before I completely freaked out.
welp, there you have it... I know this has been a little different topic than most of my posts, but I hoped you enjoyed my little rant... no teasing! :)
"but Amy, you grew up on a farm, how can you be afraid of spiders?"... well let me tell you, I don't give a rats butt that I grew up on a farm and was around them when I was little... they freak me out!! Maybe my fear started when I was scarred after watching the movie "Arachnophobia" when I was little... I really have no idea. I guess the purpose of this entry is to tell you a few little funny (for you) stories and to convey how much I hate... no... DETEST those ugly 8-legged creatures...
For starters... growing up on the farm I saw them quite often... daddy-long-legs, little ones, big ones, and the worst of all.... then ones that live in the barn. I remember helping bale hay in the summer and then hauling the bales home and having to load them into the hay loft of the barn. I distinctly remember going up in the loft and being surrounded by huge, hairy, disgusting barn spiders. They would be everywhere! Sometimes, you wouldn't even see them, but you would accidentally walk through their web and they would fall on you. Dad said to not worry about them, but I did... I stayed outside on the hayrack after that and helped throw bales to whoever was inside...
Our house on the farm was older so naturally there seemed to be more critters that got in. Mice... no problem... a shrew... I could care less... a bird... that was actually kind of fun... crickets... I don't like them, but I can deal.... spiders... I am standing on a chair yelling to whoever else happened to be in the house to come "kill it". I remember one time I went to take a bath and turned on the water and lifted up the cup that was always on the side of the tub and what fell out of it? you guessed it...I went to pick up the bottle of shampoo to throw at it, but what was sitting on top of the bottle... another one of those "things"... yuck. This naturally made me a little afraid of the bathroom for a week or so.... Ok, lets be realistic, more like a month. I got to the point where I would look all over the bathroom to make sure there were not any spiders, and then sit on the toilet and hold my feet up in the air so the only way they could "get me" was if there was one on the back of the toilet...
In more recent times, we moved into our house and one of the first nights I remember walking out on the deck to look at the stars. I noticed a spider hanging in its web across the steps, so I went to turn around and get Brandon to kill it. When I turned though, I saw another spider, even bigger, in a web from the edge of the deck to our grill. I paniced a little, but kept calm. Then when I fully turned and looked at the screen door, there was ANOTHER one, even bigger hanging there looking at me, waiting to eat me in my sleep I am sure. Naturally I start crying and yelled for Brandon. He came to the rescue, got me inside and sprayed something to kill them, and they really haven't been a problem since. I would be lying though if I said in that moment I didn't think about selling the house right then and moving out. But anyway...
My next adventure was about a month ago. I was working out to a video in our basement and I felt this strong feeling that I was being watched. Ellie (the dog) was upstairs sleeping, Brandon was at work, and the blinds were closed. I looked around and everything seemed ok, so I continued working out. About 10 minutes later, I was doing push-ups and I see something dark out of the corner of my eye. What do you think was running at me, full speed, with my face about 10 inches off the ground... you bet it was one of "them". Luckily it heard me scream and stopped running at me. I knelt there paralyzed with fear unable to do much for about 30 seconds. Brandon was gone, so only I could kill it. It took me about 10 minutes to muster up the courage to hit it with Brandon's (not mine) shoe. But then it was on the carpet, I could not bring myself to pick it up no matter how many Kleenexes I had. So I put a cup over it and waited for Brandon to get home.
Fast forward to today, I discovered I am not only afraid of spiders, but anything that remotely resembles them. A piece of lint on the floor, a bit of food on the oven, a string on the bedspread, a shadow on the ceiling... I know, I am just paranoid. What topped it off was when I was napping on the couch and unknowingly to me, Ellie wanted to sniff my arms. All I feel is her whiskers tickling my skin and since my eyes are closed the first thing I think of is HOLY SHIT A SPIDER IS CRAWLING ON ME AND IT IS GOING TO BITE ME. A high pitched scream made Ellie run into the coffee table (hard) and stay away from me for a little bit.
I have had one experience where I have touched a big spider though. I would be lying if I said I was sober and I willingly did it. A friend in college had a pet tarantula and one night after way too many beers, crying for about a half hour, wearing a paintball mask (yep, I thought at the time if I wore it, the spider wouldn't hurt me, lol) and lots of coaxing, I held it... for about 10 seconds before I completely freaked out.
welp, there you have it... I know this has been a little different topic than most of my posts, but I hoped you enjoyed my little rant... no teasing! :)
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Frip Pie
To some people, this may look a little weird, but it is DELISH!! When Brandon lived in Gowrie, IA, he and some friends of ours introduced me to a local restaurant's wonderful creation called a Frip Pie. I was leery at first, but it is super good, easy to make, and I have leftovers for another meal :)
1- Start with a base of kettle cooked potato chips in a layer on your plate (or fry your own potatoes in a skillet... I like the chips better though)
2- Put some pulled pork with BBQ sauce on top of the chips
3- Add baked beans on top of the pork
4- Top with a helping of coleslaw (for my recipe, click HERE)
There you have it!! If heaven were a tailgate-worthy/messy/BBQ/delicious comfort food... it would be this. Enjoy!
1- Start with a base of kettle cooked potato chips in a layer on your plate (or fry your own potatoes in a skillet... I like the chips better though)
2- Put some pulled pork with BBQ sauce on top of the chips
3- Add baked beans on top of the pork
4- Top with a helping of coleslaw (for my recipe, click HERE)
There you have it!! If heaven were a tailgate-worthy/messy/BBQ/delicious comfort food... it would be this. Enjoy!
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