Cake Pops & Cake Balls!

About a month ago I was reading InStyle magazine about my favorite Gossip Girl, Blake Lively.  Apparently she likes to bake and eat (not fair - she's thin and gorgeous), and she said that http://www.bakerella.com/ was her homepage on her computer.  So I checked it out and immediately became obsessed with making Cake Pops and Cake Balls.  So I went to Hobby Lobby, bought supplies, practiced dipping chocolate on Oreo Cookies, and finally took the plunge this week.  Just in time for Halloween treats. They weren't as hard as I had feared!  Definitely takes practice though, and Bakerella's are gorgeous works of art.  Mine taste pretty good though!


Here is what I did step by step:

Red Velvet Cake Batter

Supplies - Highly recommend Make n Mold Chocolate over Wilton's Chocolate

Cake Crumbs

Cake crumbs mixed with 3/4 can of cream cheese frosting.

Cake balls placed onto sticks with melted chocolate to secure.

Pop in the freezer for at least 2 hours.

Ready for dipping.

Had some trouble with the orange chocolate, the front one is the best!

Jack-o-Lanterns - I recommend the Wilton Gel Writers

Chomp!

The green gave me the most trouble, but hey it looks creepy!

Monsters and Eyeballs Oh My!

Milk Chocolate Upside Down Pops!  Milk chocolate is the easiest to work with.

A tray of Cake Balls (white cake inside) for Tom to take into work.  They were a hit!  

They were definitely fun to make!  I need to figure out how to display and bring the cake pops over to my Aunt's on Halloween.
I plan on bringing the supplies to the house we are renting over Thanksgiving to make turkeys.  I'll put my cousins to work.  I also plan on making reindeer for Christmas.  Anything with milk chocolate vs. the colored chocolate I am all for!  Also the cake balls are easier than the cake pops!  Just use a fork to help you get the excess chocolate off the cake balls.


Have fun!


Next post:  Halloween costumes

The Colors of Autumn

I heard somewhere that less than 10% of the world experiences the leaves change of color in the fall, so I thought I'd share some photos of our very outdoorsy weekend.  Saturday we went to Cuyahoga Valley National Park, which is Ohio's only national park.  For some odd reason I've never been there officially before, so it was about time we checked it out!  First we went to Brandywine Falls, which was a really pretty area, and the park's biggest falls.  Then we headed in to the town of Peninsula.  The Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad has a stop here, and there are restaurants, art galleries and shops.  It is also a stop along the towpath, which is a 20 mile paved path that runs besides the Cuyahoga River.  What a pituresque place for a path, in the woods and along the river.  There were so many bikers along this path, be careful!  They are allowed to ride the length of the path and then hop on the train for $2 to take them back.

    

On Sunday we went to a local park since the sun was shining (it wasn't out on Saturday and the fall foliage wasn't all that great) and got some beautiful pictures.  I love this time of year and just driving along in our town is a gorgeous experience.  I will be sad when the leaves are all gone in a few weeks and our trees are bare until April. :(

Do the leaves change where you live?  What types of activities do you do to get outdoors and enjoy them?

 

 

  

Some leaves I took home.

Next post:  Halloween Costumes

Sephora Friends and Family Sale 2010

Sephora’s Friends and Family sale started today! Enter the code FF2010 to get a 20% discount off your total purchase.  I believe it goes until November 3rd.


Wish list:


Buxom Buxom Lash Liner in Sequins for $12 (reg. $15)
Philosophy The Gingerbread Girl Foaming Shower Gel for $12.80 (reg. $16)
Benefit Cosmetics Some Beauty to Love Set for $23.20 (reg. $29)
Dolce & Gabanna The One Perfume for $57.60 (reg. $72)
Smashbox Blush Rush in Flush for $19.20 (reg. $24)


What's on your wish list?

Fall Fun

Practiced dipping things into chocolate for when I make cakepops from www.bakerella.com.  I started with Halloween Oreos.  They have orange frosting in the middle and this is oh so easy, and oh so yummy!

New glitter decoration from JoAnn Fabrics. All their Halloween decorations are currently 60% off! I love anything sparkly:



Got some cute tarts for my tart warmer from this etsy shop: 
www.etsy.com/shop/Countryhomescent

Went to the fruit farm this weekend:

Halloween Birthday Cakes

My Mom's Birthday is on Halloween, and the task of making her a cake usually goes to me:


Spider Cake:



Graveyard Cake:



Boston Scream Cake:



Chocolate Cake:



Pumpkin Cupcakes:

Autumn/Halloween Decorating

I don't have that many Halloween decorations, no where near the amount my Mom has.  She is a Halloween baby so everyone feels the need to buy her a new decoration each year for her birthday.  Maybe I will take some pictures of her decorations next time I am over.  


Halloween is a big deal in our family, it always has been.  Within the last 15 years or so (since my parents moved two doors down from my Aunt's house), we have had this tradition of going to her house before trick-or-treating time, and eating soup over there.  Then the kids would go trick-or-treat and come back afterwards for a Halloween Birthday Cake.  I could also do a post on the cakes I have made her through the years.  We also all like to dress up and go out on the weekend.  


Anyway, you would think I'd be more into decorating for it, I just haven't for some reason!  I don't even think I bothered last year.  Probably something to do with my neat-freak ways, but this year I got out my decorations.  I also bought two orange big plastic containers from Target to store my items all in one place.  One container for decorations, and one for costumes.  It was bothering me how, yes they were in one place, but in a few boxes and kind of shoved into a tight cupboard in the laundry room.  Now with the containers Tom can put them in the attic when he goes up there to get our Christmas decorations down.


Centerpiece:
(it helps to already have a red dining room)



Living Room:
Normally I have a beachy/ocean feeling in here, I take those items down for Christmas decoration, but I just left them out for now.

(The ghost is new and he lights up).

(Haunted house that you light a candle inside of).

(Bought the orange lights today).



Do you decorate for Halloween/Fall?