My Herb Garden

So on Wednesday I was sitting in front of my TV (like bored teenagers do on summer vacation) and all of a sudden, out of nowhere, I sat up and was like "I'm gonna do something" (sorry for the bad grammar but I will say again 'teenager'). So I got off my lazy butt and I looked through plant seeds and found 9 herb seed packets.

What I did with them:





All I did was take some extra food storage cans, decorate them, make them fit for living and put soil in it. It was so easy.

I put stickers on it so I could remember what was what (ummm always a good thing in the kitchen). Decorated it with ribbon.


Nailed holes into the bottom so the water could get out.


And there you have it, one of the easiest gardens ever!

Fondant for Beginners

After my last cake was a success


I invited my friend Melissa over to bake a cake. Of course there was a whole bunch of flour fights (shhhh don't tell my mum) but it the end we got a good batch.

The recipe I found at http://candy.about.com/od/fondantcandyrecipes/r/mm_fondant.htm and it's a really good recipe.

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces miniature marshmallows (4 cups not packed, or half of a 16-ounce bag)
• 1 pound powdered sugar (4 cups), plus extra for dusting
• 2 tbsp water
• Food coloring or flavored extracts, optional (I used it to make the dots)
  

Preparation:

1. Dust your counter or a large cutting board with corn starch (they suggest powered sugar). Place the marshmallows and the water in a large microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for 1 minute, until the marshmallows are puffy and expanded.

2. Stir the marshmallows with a rubber spatula until they are melted and smooth. If some unmelted marshmallow pieces remain, return to the microwave for 30-45 seconds, until the marshmallow mixture is entirely smooth and free of lumps. If you want colored or flavored fondant, you can add several drops of food coloring or extracts at this point and stir until incorporated. If you want to create multiple colors or flavors from one batch of fondant, do not add the colors or flavors now. Instead, refer to step 6 below for instructions.

3. Add the powdered sugar and begin to stir with the spatula. Stir until the sugar begins to incorporate and it becomes impossible to stir anymore.

4. Scrape the marshmallow-sugar mixture out onto the prepared work surface. It will be sticky and lumpy, with lots of sugar that has not been incorporated yet--this is normal. Dust your hands with powered sugar (or corn starch), and begin to knead the fondant mixture like bread dough, working the sugar into the marshmallow with your hands. Chill overnight in a fridge (I find this easiest). In the morning take it out and knead again.

5. Continue to knead the fondant until it smoothes out and loses its stickiness. Once the fondant is a smooth ball, it is ready to be used. You can now roll it out, shape it, or wrap it in cling wrap to use later. Well-wrapped fondant can be stored in a cool room or in the refrigerator, and needs to be kneaded until supple before later use.

6. If you want to add coloring or flavoring to your fondant, flatten it into a round disc. You might want to wear gloves to avoid getting food coloring on your hands during this step. Add your desired amount of coloring or flavoring to the center of the disc, and fold the disc over on itself so that the color or flavor is enclosed in the center of the fondant ball.

7. Begin to knead the ball of fondant just like you did before. As you work it, you will begin to see streaks of color coming through from the center. Continue to knead until the streaks are gone and the fondant is a uniform color. Your fondant is now ready to be used or stored as outlined above.

And that's pretty much it. Now, when you are first mixing in the powered sugar it will be really sticky but that's ok just keep adding in the powered sugar.

You can also use a recipe for regular fondant but I've heard that it doesn't taste as good and people usually take it off and just eat the cake. Now wouldn't that be a waste of perfectly good fondant.

Reasons

So one day I was just looking around on the computer like teenagers do and I came upon cute crafts and then I went to another website with cute crafts and another and another and it just went downhill from there. The problem was that on a website I could only find 2 things max that I like that wasn't to little kid-ish or old lady like. :/ So I went on a search for a website with [cute] crafts for teens. Nothing. And so when all else fails, do it yourself. So here I am.
But then last night I was making a cake for my sisters (my best friends) and my half birthday (which is today, by the way). And now I've decided that food is good too so that will be my first project. Fondant For Beginners.