'Tis the Season- for Bargains!

Its the weekend before Thanksgiving, and while I'm trying to figure out when summer even ended, my family is gearing up for the holidays.  The lit candy canes are already lining the driveway and my mother has begun ferreting away mysterious packages that have arrived.  And we have begun to prepare for Black Friday.

My sister is a serious bargain hunter, which means Black Friday to her is better than Christmas or her birthday.  At the beginning of November she begins scouting out sketchy copies of ads posted online.  Once the ads show up with the paper, it's serious planning time.  She makes lists of what she needs from each store, clips coupons and devises a schedule.  For my sister I think it's more about the experience and the savings rather than having to get that perfect gift.  For me, there isn't really anything that inspires me to wait in line all night, hoping the crowds won't get too crazy, or to hope that there is enough in the store.

Until we started going to JoAnn's.  How can you ignore flannel at $1.50 per yard?  Black Friday at JoAnn's is unlike any other store the morning after Thanksgiving.

My sister and I started going to JoAnn's five years ago.  Fearing long lines, we arrived two hours early.  We ended up waiting in the car for an hour before anyone else arrived, and even then it was the employees.  The line begins to form about an hour before the store starts, and we've made friends with other regulars who we've stood next to in line for the past few years, discussing what we're shopping for, swapping craft ideas and sharing knowledge.  We go every year for flannel for my grandmother who makes baby blankets to donate.  Another woman gets fabric to make Christmas gifts for her family.  Someone is always there for the Cri-cut deal.  The line remains orderly, and we help people scope out where trees, the Cri-cuts and other various deals are, and people calculate how many people ahead of them want the same item to determine their odds of getting the deals.

Once the doors open, everyone gathers buggies and begins shopping.  I've never seen anyone snatch anything from another or snag something from someone's cart, rather they ask others if they could have the bolt once another got their piece of fabric cut.

Yes, the line to cut fabric is long.  And it is even longer as several people (like ourselves) have carts (yes, more than one) overflowing with bolts of fabric to get cut.  The best solution is to shop with more than one person: one waits while others shop, bringing fabric to the cart and making decisions as you wait.

In the end, buying about a hundred yards of flannel at JoAnn's does take us about four hours, but the savings of more than $5 per yard is more than worth it.  And of course we always walk out with some other wonderful deals on fleece and scrapbooking supplies.

We've already started making our Black Friday list.  Where do you shop and what are you planning on buying this year on Black Friday?

A Sweet Thank You to our Veterans: Chocolate Camo Cake

It's easy to get caught up in our lives- in work, in social events, in the daily grind.  It's so simple to forget about our history and the people who have served our country.  Whether you agree with politicians or not, and whether you support the issues going on overseas in the present (or in the past), one thing that I think all people can agree with is that our country's soldiers face a great deal of danger.  They bravely face these dangers doing what they feel they can to serve our country.  Today is a day to honor these soldiers, those who have left their families and risked their lives serving our country.

My grandfather served in World War II, and my father and uncle both served in Korea.  Once a month my grandma makes dinner for a handful of veterans as a way to say thank you.  These men have certainly faced a lot- from head injuries to emotional turmoil.

This month I made them a cake.

I love this chocolate camo and wanted to share the technique with you.  It can be prepared ahead of time to make a simple, easy decoration on a cake.  It also beats flowers and ruffle boarders for guys who hate frilly stuff (soldiers and hunters are prime examples).

You will need:
Black Chocolate Wafers (Merkens black chocolate tastes like Oreos.  Not even kidding)
Dark Chocolate Wafers
Milk Chocolate Wafers
Dark Green Chocolate Wafers
White Chocolate Wafers
Parchment Paper (needs to be slightly longer than the sides of the cake you want to cover or size pieces you want to have)

The amount you need will vary depending on the size cake you're making, but using so many colors I needed maybe one third to one half cup of each color (my estimates are extremely generous) for a quarter sheet cake.

Melt the chocolate.  I used a nifty warming tray my mom had that becomes a buffet server.  This particular warming tray had temperature control, allowing me to set it on low and put the chocolate in glass dishes in a water bath.  (I have used a warming tray in the past without temperature control, but for whatever reason lately it has been burning the more delicate chocolates- white and colors.)

Chocolate burns easily so you want to melt your chocolate slow and low.  Other options include microwaving in 15 second intervals.  Dark and milk chocolate can be melted at half power.  White and colored chocolate should be melted at 40% power.  I've been told that putting chocolate in glass dishes in a water bath in an electric skillet set low also works.

I melted black chocolate, milk chocolate, dark chocolate, and green chocolate.  I didn't like the original color of the green chocolate so I added a little bit of the dark chocolate to it to make it fit in the color scheme better.  I also made light brown by adding some milk or dark chocolate to white chocolate and light green by adding some of my darker green to white.  I don't have exact amounts, but add a couple pieces or a small spoonful of the colored chocolate at a time until you get a color that you like.

Once your chocolate is melted, you will start doling it out onto the parchment paper.  I made mine slightly longer than the sides of my cake just to make sure it fit nicely.  I work from dark to light in my chocolate, to keep dark chocolate from showing through lighter chocolate as the new layers inevitably overlap the old.

I used another piece of parchment paper as a guide to make sure my line was straight.

Make spaced out drops of black chocolate with a spoon.  You don't need a lot of chocolate on the spoon.  Spread it around a little in different shapes to resemble the random shapes in traditional camouflage.  Once you finish with one color it should be somewhat set (unless you're some kind of crazy speed demon you don't need to wait any), it just needs to be set enough to not smear into the next color.

Black chocolate.  Remember that you have several other colors too add!

Add dark chocolate in the same manner, overlapping on some of the black pieces and adding some pieces not touching the black.  Try to make it look random.  Follow suit with dark green, milk, light green, and light brown chocolates.

Adding dark chocolate

Adding dark green chocolate.

A few spaces left to fill in.

Completed Chocolate Sides

Fill in any empty spaces.  You'll know what color to use by what is already surrounding the empty spaces.





Frost the cake, making the frosting a little heavier on the sides.  This will make sure that all of the chocolate is attached to the cake, allow something for the somewhat bumpy chocolate pieces to sink into and help keep it from cracking.

Next, determine exactly how long you need your pieces of chocolate to be. (I laid a piece of parchment paper next to the cake and marked it to determine an exact length, then was able to lay that same piece next to the chocolate.)  I peeled the strips of chocolate off the paper first, then cut the pieces of chocolate to that length.  To prevent cracking make sure the flat side of the chocolate is down and use a hot knife (if you still have your warming tray on just stick the blade against the surface for a few seconds to warm it).






Place the cut pieces flat side out on the sides of the cake, sinking the rough side into the frosting.

I know it's a hunting cake, but this camo looks awesome on chocolate frosting!

Voila!  Simple, masculine, camouflage cake.

Thank you to all who have served.

Spooky Sweet Treats: Halloween Cupcakes

I am not sure where summer went, but sure enough fall is here.  I feel I have neglected you, dear readers, and thus in the waning hours of National Chocolate Cupcake Day, I bring you a handful of wonderful Halloween cupcake ideas, with plenty of time left to make them for Halloween.

"Mummycakes"

I made these by spreading a thin layer of frosting over the entire cupcake.  Then I spread some black frosting over the spot where the eyes would go (brown or chocolate frosting would also look good and may not bleed as black tends to do after a while).  I used a #44 tip (you can also use a basketweave tip with the textured part facing down and flat side up) to pipe lines across the cupcake, leaving room for candy eyes.  If you don't have candy eyes, just pipe some white with a larger round tip and then black with a smaller round tip.

Spiders

These were the most popular of my cupcake tray.  I piped the base white with a 2D tip and added Oreo crumbs on top for texture.  I then cut long black licorice strips into pieces about 2 inches long, slid them into the frosting between the layers of the Oreo and attached candy eyes with a dab of frosting.  If you don't have candy eyes, pipe some white and add mini m&m's or a dot of frosting for the center of the eyes.

Melted Witch Cupcakes

Rejoice!  The Wicked Witch of the West is dead!  I made the witches hats with a Keebler's Fudge Stripe cookie turned chocolate side up with a chocolate kiss on top.  I piped a bow with a small writing tip and placed on top of a swirl piped with the same 2D tip as above.

Pumpkin Cupcakes

I made these cupcakes by frosting a pumpkin cupcake flat in orange.  I angled my spatula to add some lines up the sides of the pumpkin.  Then I placed the "stem" (an inch-long piece of pretzel rod dipped in chocolate) in the center and piped vines and leaves.

Batty Cupcakes

The bat is a Wilton candy mold that is a pick that sticks in the cupcake.  I molded the bats with Merkins black chocolate (which amazingly tastes like Oreos) and placed the picks into the cupcakes after topping the cupcake with the 2D tip and adding some festive sprinkles.

Some other inspiration I found after-the-fact:

One-eyed Monster Cupcakes

Eyeball Cupcakes

Brain Cupcakes

Scarecrow Cupcakes

Which are your favorites?