Carousel Cake

Because one is never too old for a fun cake on the b-day!

This is a cake I did for a friend's sister on her 52nd b-day. The birthday girl loves carousels and carousel horses and her sister wanted to do the birthday up right! Enter modern forager... We worked on what the cakes structure would be like and the cake came to life!

Cakes

I've made a few more cakes over the course of the past 7 months and here are some of them:

Fish cake:

Made for an avid fisherman's birthday. This cake featured a trout "hooked" on a fly line jumping out of a cake/ water. It was so fun to make and even more fun to give to the birthday boy!

I also made a fun baby shower cake w/ a strange looking baby on top. I tried w/ the whole "little baby" thing, but it looked more like a baby w/ a grown-up face. YIKES! Maybe next time not the ROCK_A_BYE_BABY_IN THE TREETOP theme.

Cookies on a stick.

This recipe originally came from the Martha Stewart web site. Albin and I made cookies on a stick in halloween splendor. Albie suggested Ghosts, Pumpkins and Mummies. We plan to share them with his play group at our annual Halloween bash! I can't wait!

These not only look cute, but the cookie tastes amazing!

Cookies on a stick:

2 3/4 c flour

1 tsp soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 c butter

1 c sugar

1 egg

2 tsp vanilla

bowl of sugar for rolling

popcicle sticks or lollypop sticks

Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy. Add egg and vanilla. In separate bowl mix all dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients to wet and mix until just blended (not too much). Roll balls from about 1 1/2 Tblsp of dough. Roll in sugar and place a stick securely into the dough ball. Lay out on ungrease cookie sheet and flatten slightly with a bottom of a glass. Bake 350 fo 20-22 minutes, until golden. Frost when cooled if desired.

Green tomato pear crisp.

My grandmother went to play cards at a friend's home and was served a wonderful fruit crisp. When she inquired for the recipe she found it was a green tomato crisp! I had never heard of such a thing and neither had she. I altered the recipe slightly, as I'm allergic to some of the original ingredients, but it still came out amazing! I highly recommend this for using those frost-bitten green tomatoes we all have from the onset of fall!

Green Tomato Pear Crisp:

(recipe to follow)

Happy Birthday Uncle Matt~~

Albie and I wanted to make a FUN cake for our very fun uncle, Matt! Matt just moved into town and decided to have a birthday. He's a funny, childlike, silly guy who needed a cake that reflected that. We decided to make a monster cake. Albin helped a lot by putting in teeth and eyes and gummy worm hair.

We also managed to make a few cupcakes for pre-birthday consumption.

Fried Green Tomatoes aren't just a movie!

The fall has set in with a vengance around here. I awoke to below-freezing temps yesterday and some very dead tomato plants laden with green tomatoes. Out we went as a family to pick our weight worth of unripe tomatoes. I found this recipe for fried green tomatoes and tried it out. It's not terrible, but I would suggest you add your own favorite spices to the flour, because it's a bit bland.

Fried Green Tomatoes

3 medium firm green tomatoes

1/2 c flour

1/4 c milk

2 beaten eggs

2/3 cup fine bread crumbs

1/4 c olive oil for frying

salt and pepper

Cut tomatoes into 1/2 inch slices. Sprinkle very libereally with salt and pepper. Let toatoes stand for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, place flour, milk, eggs and bread crumbs in seperate shallow dishes.

Heat oil in skillet on medium. Dip tomatoes in mikl, then flour, then eggs, then breadcrumbs. In skillet, fry 4- minutes per side until brown. Season to taste. (I suggest seasoning flour to taste beforehand!)

Making Muffins

Today Albin and I made muffins for our neighbors who had a baby boy. Albie, as most toddlers would, requested sweetness and I wanted to ring in the fall weather so we decided to make PUMPKIN MUFFINS!

They turned out extra wonderful and I really suggest you try them if you aren't adverse to lots of sweetness and not much else!

Pumpkin Muffins:

2/3 c butter

3/4 c brown sugar

1/3 c molasses

1 c cooked or canned pureed pumpkin

1 egg

2 3/4 c flour

1 t baking soda

1/4 t salt

1 t cinnamon

1/2 t nutmeg

1/2 t ginger

Cream butter, sugar and molasses together until fluffy. Mix in egg and pumpkin until well blended. Sift together all dry ingredients and then add to wet, mixing until incorperated, but not too much! Put in muffin pan w/ liners. Bake at 400 for 12-15 minutes.