dessert

The Cake Was Not a Lie

Everyday Adventures

And it was good…

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Obviously I went with store-bought (I mean, sure, I could make something like that, but I wouldn’t normally). And not even because I was late getting home from the knitting event (because I had the date wrong and it was Tuesday night, not Wednesday–oops!), simply because the indulgence was all the sweeter for not having a kitchen to clean up afterwards.

One of the things that afforded the possibility of going to an after-work event was that Duncan has been given elevated privileges while we’re gone. After a couple of crate mishaps (the calm only lasted a couple weeks, apparently), Todd opted to sequester him with his bed, bowl, and toys in the back hallway and his dog door open for side-yard access. While we suspect he spends most of his days moping that we’re not there, he seems to be enjoying the change.

It meant we could go out to dinner on Friday night and not worry so much about him being cooped up for another hour or so. It also means we need to actually puppy-proof the back hall and side yard because, while he hasn’t destroyed anything yet, we really shouldn’t give him the opportunity if we can help it. I also worry about him being a nuisance outside, barking at the neighbors when they’re in their own backyards–just another reason to get that privacy fence up sooner rather than later, right?

And speaking of the pup, I made my first layout with the Project Life App of some of the pictures we took of him on Monday night.

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The app does have some drawbacks compared to digiscrapping in Photoshop. Pictures are only pictures unless you buy the overlay packs, text only fits in the designated journalling spaces in the journaling cards, and of course there are no additional embellishments. But the pro column is stocked with all my photos at my fingers since I can pull from Google Photos (where both my cell photos and my “real” camera downloads are archived). Plus, it’s on my phone, which is with me pretty much always, so I could scrapbook on my lunch break or in the car (when Todd’s driving, obviously!). Plus, the necessarily simple layouts make getting the basics down quick and easy.

I think my plan would be to start on the app, then export it so I can add embellishments or other bits in Photoshop before uploading them for printing.

Sure, most of the pictures I take these days are of food or design team projects, but the app might also help me remember to take more candid, everyday photos, not just special trips or assignments. Certainly couldn’t hurt!

Highway to Happiness: Trading Sweets

Wedding Recaps

As the third course was cleared and the conversation began to ebb, our guests’ glances began to stray to the dessert table in the far corner of the room.

I had deliberated for quite some time how to display our cupcakes. The standard tiered stack is always a good go-to, but since we were dealing with a smaller quantity than those large displays hold, I wanted something that would have a bit more presence without looking bare. Going over what I had on hand, I came back to these telescoping plant stands that a friend gave me ages ago. In the 7 or 8 years I’ve owned them I think they’ve held a potted plant maybe once? Usually they get used to hold party supplies or lights at our parties, and I realized they’d be perfect cupcake stands, too!

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I filled each platform with excelsior and then secured corks and paper flowers around the edges–both to fill the space and to help support the small plates resting on the edges of the lower platforms. Since the clear plastic plates I found were just barely big enough to span the diameter of each stand (and the next size up of anything was way too big) I secured those at points with hot glue as well. They mostly survived the trip to the Plantation–enough to serve their purpose.

When the DoC came over to ask which cupcakes we wanted to use for our “cake cutting” I realized I’d almost forgotten about those sweet treats waiting to end the meal! Since we were still a bit pinned in, we opted to do the cake bits at our seats.

That would be a very definite 'no' to little brother's suggestion of a cake smash.

That would be a very definite ‘no’ to little brother’s suggestion of a cake smash.

We were, instead, very careful and very polite.

We were, instead, very careful and very polite.

The traditional kiss afterwards, however, was not so sweet for Roadie, I’m afraid. He’s not a big fan of peanut butter–the smell or taste of it–and the peanut butter frosting on my cupcake had been quite strong. His reaction gave our guests a laugh, though! (He went with the strawberry cupcake, just in case anyone was curious.)

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I believe it was at this point we thanked our guests for spending the day with us before inviting them to help themselves to the dessert table.

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It was a good thing the leftover cupcakes were being delivered back to our cottage since, once people were up and moving, I didn’t get a chance to finish more than half of mine before I, too, was mingling with our guests. It felt good to get up and stretch our legs, so for our guests who’s been sitting longer than we had I’m sure they appreciated it, too!

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The Road Trip Wedding Recaps:

A Little Taste of the Crescent City

Sips

New Orleans Praline cocktail
It’s been a busy week here at Money Creek: 2 cocktails and 3 bottles of wine busy! But it was while creating one of my Character Cocktails for an upcoming product launch (they’re not just for people, you know) that I was struck with inspiration for this week’s Alphatini cocktial, the letter N.

And a good thing I did because I was drawing a pretty big blank, facing the second half of our alphabetical series. But inspiration was found and now I can’t see how I would have missed it.

For this one we’re going to take a little field trip to my favorite city in the USA: New Orleans. Not the city of my birth (though only an hour away) I always get this thrill of excitement when I see those wrought-iron balconies, narrow streets and iconic signs. The go-cups and Marie Laveau’s don’t hurt either. And it’s been far too many years since I’ve made it back to play tourist visit.

New Orleans isn’t short on flavors to savor, either: there’s the seafood delicacies, the spicy sauces, Cajun this, Creole that, and then there’s the desserts. It’s one of these desserts that became our mission to recreate: the Praline.

Pecans surrounded by a creamy, melt-in-your mouth candy. And candy? Is time consuming to make (not to mention dangerous: molten sugar and a better chance that the humidity will prevent it from setting properly). This cocktail? Gets the job done with a lot less trouble.

New Orleans Praline

1 oz Vanilla Vodka
1/2 oz Frangelico
1/4 oz Butterschnapps
1 1/2 oz Cream Soda

Combine vodka and the liqueurs over ice and shake with a touch of the zydeco in your soul. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass while adding the cream soda.

There’s not a readily available pecan liqueur that I’m aware of, so we went with the smooth hazelnut liqueur instead. If you prefer, you could use amaretto but you might also need to add more vodka and soda to balance the stronger flavor of the almond liqueur. Either way you’ll end up with a rich, creamy, decadent cocktail that contains the essence of a praline without all the work.