I was searching through the blog as I had a topic I wanted to write about, but was sure I must have covered it before so I was going through old posts where stats are listed right next to the title of the posts on the backend of blogger. So I found the top 10 most visited posts on Domestic Servitude and thought I would share them with you.
Top 10 Posts
1. How to Wash Pillows
2. Spring Cleaning - Printable Lists
3. Fall Cleaning - Printable Lists and helpful links in cleaning
4. Freezer Breakfast Muffins
5. Dandilion Massage Oil
6. Rheya's Slow Cooker Roast
7. All About Eggs
8. Slow Cooker Ham and Beans Soup
9. Creme Brulee French Toast
10. Baked Brie with Fruits and Nuts
Showing posts with label just for fun. Show all posts
Showing posts with label just for fun. Show all posts
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Friday, April 15, 2011
Faux Cadbury Creme Eggs
Just in time for Easter, make your own Cadbury eggs!
Ingredients:
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
yellow food coloring
1 bag milk chocolate chips
First, cream together the butter, syrup, salt and vanilla. Slowly add the 3 cups of powdered sugar. It'll get super thick and you'll think you'll need to add some liquid, but it smooths itself out.
TIP: As you add the sugar, be careful not to let it poof up into a thick cloud of sugary-dust that is then sucked into the motor of your mixer, causing it to stink like fried electrical parts and resulting in a Master who says you can't use it anymore because it is ruined. Because then you will be mixer-less (sad face).
That's it. That's the Hogwarty-creation that is the magical deliciousness of the creme filling in a Cadbury egg. Who knew!
If you want it to look genuine, you can divide your creme filling, putting a small amount into a separate bowl, and add the food coloring to make the 'yolks'. We skipped this step because it just seemed like an unnecessary mess.
Now, take your filling, which is thick and very, very sticky, and try to roll it into balls. It's definitely easier to roll if you pop the bowl into the freezer for a few minutes and let it get nice and cold. The coat your hands in powdered sugar and make balls.
We had fun making balls.
More fun than is appropriate, actually.
We're strange.
Anyway.
If the mixture gets too sticky to work with, put it back in the freezer. Cold balls are best.
We lined up our balls on a cookie sheet and then stabbed them all with lollipop sticks. Again with the fun. [insert Psycho-stabbing music here]
We put the cookie sheet in the freezer while we melted the chocolate in the microwave.
If you're going with the yellow 'yolk' part, you need to first make smaller yellow balls, then somehow get that ball into the middle of the white ball. Meh. I'm lazy. Good luck!
We chose to go with the dipping chocolate method rather than trying to get the chocolate into egg molds, because, again, I'm lazy (and cheap. I wasn't going to go buy egg molds.) so I can't give you any hints on how to use molds. Needless to say, my yolk-less, nonegg-shaped, faux Cadbury eggs weren't very pretty.
We lined them up on a foil-covered cookie sheet (foil because I thought I was out of parchment paper, which would have been less sticky, and then found the parchment paper after we were done).
The dipping was difficult-ish. The warm chocolate made the balls get all gloopy and melty. They kept falling off the sticks. It became more of a 'roll it in chocolate' than actual dipping.
And we need to learn how to temper chocolate because it really didn't want to harden into a manageable shell very well. They did harden up some in the fridge, but... yeah. That part needs work.
Another part that needs work is the type of chocolate. The flavor was definitely not Cadbury-egg flavor. So next time, I would not use chocolate chips. I'm not sure exactly what I will use, though.
The finished product:
In doing bite-by-bite, side-by-side comparison with a real Cadbury egg, we determined that the filling was pretty damn close in flavor. Maybe not exact, and certainly a little bit off in texture, which I think was more a temperature thing than an ingredient thing, but close enough as to be acceptable. Because we were eating the homemade ones refrigerator-cold, and the real ones at room temp, the homemade filling felt thicker. I think at room temp, it would be the same. Unfortunately, at room temp, the homemade one's chocolate 'shell' starts to melt. Feh.
All in all, it was a great success. It was fun, and different, and Master ate about 10 of them so he obviously approved. The kids approved. Most importantly, I approve. ;-)
We ganked the recipe from here.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon salt
yellow food coloring
1 bag milk chocolate chips
First, cream together the butter, syrup, salt and vanilla. Slowly add the 3 cups of powdered sugar. It'll get super thick and you'll think you'll need to add some liquid, but it smooths itself out.
TIP: As you add the sugar, be careful not to let it poof up into a thick cloud of sugary-dust that is then sucked into the motor of your mixer, causing it to stink like fried electrical parts and resulting in a Master who says you can't use it anymore because it is ruined. Because then you will be mixer-less (sad face).
That's it. That's the Hogwarty-creation that is the magical deliciousness of the creme filling in a Cadbury egg. Who knew!
If you want it to look genuine, you can divide your creme filling, putting a small amount into a separate bowl, and add the food coloring to make the 'yolks'. We skipped this step because it just seemed like an unnecessary mess.
Now, take your filling, which is thick and very, very sticky, and try to roll it into balls. It's definitely easier to roll if you pop the bowl into the freezer for a few minutes and let it get nice and cold. The coat your hands in powdered sugar and make balls.
We had fun making balls.
More fun than is appropriate, actually.
We're strange.
Anyway.
If the mixture gets too sticky to work with, put it back in the freezer. Cold balls are best.
We lined up our balls on a cookie sheet and then stabbed them all with lollipop sticks. Again with the fun. [insert Psycho-stabbing music here]
We put the cookie sheet in the freezer while we melted the chocolate in the microwave.
If you're going with the yellow 'yolk' part, you need to first make smaller yellow balls, then somehow get that ball into the middle of the white ball. Meh. I'm lazy. Good luck!
We chose to go with the dipping chocolate method rather than trying to get the chocolate into egg molds, because, again, I'm lazy (and cheap. I wasn't going to go buy egg molds.) so I can't give you any hints on how to use molds. Needless to say, my yolk-less, nonegg-shaped, faux Cadbury eggs weren't very pretty.
We lined them up on a foil-covered cookie sheet (foil because I thought I was out of parchment paper, which would have been less sticky, and then found the parchment paper after we were done).
The dipping was difficult-ish. The warm chocolate made the balls get all gloopy and melty. They kept falling off the sticks. It became more of a 'roll it in chocolate' than actual dipping.
And we need to learn how to temper chocolate because it really didn't want to harden into a manageable shell very well. They did harden up some in the fridge, but... yeah. That part needs work.
Another part that needs work is the type of chocolate. The flavor was definitely not Cadbury-egg flavor. So next time, I would not use chocolate chips. I'm not sure exactly what I will use, though.
The finished product:
In doing bite-by-bite, side-by-side comparison with a real Cadbury egg, we determined that the filling was pretty damn close in flavor. Maybe not exact, and certainly a little bit off in texture, which I think was more a temperature thing than an ingredient thing, but close enough as to be acceptable. Because we were eating the homemade ones refrigerator-cold, and the real ones at room temp, the homemade filling felt thicker. I think at room temp, it would be the same. Unfortunately, at room temp, the homemade one's chocolate 'shell' starts to melt. Feh.
All in all, it was a great success. It was fun, and different, and Master ate about 10 of them so he obviously approved. The kids approved. Most importantly, I approve. ;-)
We ganked the recipe from here.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Friday Favorites
I totally spaced out that today was Friday. I've been on Thursday time all day!
With Memorial weekend upon us, I'd compiled a few links that I plan on using over the weekend. Because my dad is an ex-Marine and a veteran, this holiday has always been a time when the family would gather, we'd have a cookout, sit around and visit, and at some point in time, give thanks to those who served.
Here are my Memorial Day Friday Favorites!
1. Here are a couple of links with tell you where you can find the best Memorial Weekend sales around. Shopping Guru and Dealio.
2. These links, though geared toward women being behind the grill, are great for men, too. They just offer terrific "beginners" hints, along with recipes. There's Girls at the Grill, Girl on Grill Action, and Girls on a Grill.
3. Fabulous Living gives you a short but neat article on how to have a successful picnic. And for the vegetarians among us, some vegetarian barbecue recipes.
4. Some links to Memorial Day activities: Activities for the whole family and Memorial Day Weekend Party
5. Two desserts to make that are Memorial Day themed: Brownie Flag and cute Flag Fudge
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Organization & Freebies
We had a two week vacation in Florida and I seem to be having trouble catching up around here since we got home. I've been really busy lately preparing to paint our living room and keeping up with other household chores, and lets not forget entertaining on the 4th - it always seems as if everything falls apart while we're on vacation. The routine that was established prior to leaving rumbles and sputters in protest once we return.
Daddy is always understanding of the "recovery" process, but the last few days I can see his patience wearing thin...to help me (and hopefully you!) get back into the organized swing of things here are a few websites I've stumbled across lately - While I haven't tried all of them, they seem really practical in theory. Feel free to add to the list, or keep me posted if any of these are useful!
Hopefully you'll find at least one or two new websites to bookmark - the best part? They're all free - Enjoy!
PS. I have a delicious post brewing - it's bacon related, and it will change your life. Check back for that in the next few days :)
Cozi.com
The OCD in me really enjoys the color coding aspect of this site...I also enjoy some of the other links they provide, like the summer reading list, among others.
Wish you had some help organizing your family life? Cozi is a FREE web service that helps you manage your family calendar, track your shopping and to do lists, organize your chores, and share favorite memories with your friends and relatives. Access Cozi from anywhere—home, work, or on the go—with any computer or mobile phone. All you need to get started is a Cozi account—it's quick and easy, with no downloads required!
The Ultimate Grocery List
A free one-page shopping checklist organized by aisle - put an end to the shopping cart shuffle!
There are a lot of downloadable grocery lists out there, but none are as good as The Ultimatest. Why is this one better? Comprehensiveness. Categorization. Cleverness. Helpful clues and cues. Creativity. And... it's portable, unlike a lot of shopping list software that requires you to be in front of a computer.
Planner
I'm always struck by how expensive Daily Planner books are - this website proves organization doesn't have to cost a penny...Customize your own planner, choose from over 100 templates.
DIYPlanner.com is a community site whose focus is on paper-based productivity, planning, journalling and creative techniques. Here you will find the official D*I*Y Planner kits, as well as daily articles, scores of useful templates, handbooks and how-to's, forums for discussing productivity in its many forms, images to clad your planners or inspire you, and so much more.
The rules are simple: be nice, try to help each other, and don't be afraid of sharing your advice, no matter how wacky or unorthodox it may be. After all, inspiration may lurk in the least obvious places, even for something as seemingly mundane as time management.
Book! Project Gutenberg
Great resource for free books - when you just don't have time to go to the library.
Project Gutenberg is the first and largest single collection of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.
E-cards!
I recently checked Hallmark.com and saw they've created a $9.99 a year plan for Ecards, or .99 cents per card. I didn't stick around long enough to see if I could dig around for a free option...instead I searched and found an awesome Ecard site - Hipstercards.com. Convenient. Funny. Free. Happy Everything!
From highball hilarity to lowbrow mundanity, Hipstercards.com is your one stop shop for online missives. An intriguing invite? A clever birthday wish? Hey, it's your experience. We're just writing the cards.
Daddy is always understanding of the "recovery" process, but the last few days I can see his patience wearing thin...to help me (and hopefully you!) get back into the organized swing of things here are a few websites I've stumbled across lately - While I haven't tried all of them, they seem really practical in theory. Feel free to add to the list, or keep me posted if any of these are useful!
Hopefully you'll find at least one or two new websites to bookmark - the best part? They're all free - Enjoy!
PS. I have a delicious post brewing - it's bacon related, and it will change your life. Check back for that in the next few days :)
Cozi.com
The OCD in me really enjoys the color coding aspect of this site...I also enjoy some of the other links they provide, like the summer reading list, among others.
Wish you had some help organizing your family life? Cozi is a FREE web service that helps you manage your family calendar, track your shopping and to do lists, organize your chores, and share favorite memories with your friends and relatives. Access Cozi from anywhere—home, work, or on the go—with any computer or mobile phone. All you need to get started is a Cozi account—it's quick and easy, with no downloads required!
The Ultimate Grocery List
A free one-page shopping checklist organized by aisle - put an end to the shopping cart shuffle!
There are a lot of downloadable grocery lists out there, but none are as good as The Ultimatest. Why is this one better? Comprehensiveness. Categorization. Cleverness. Helpful clues and cues. Creativity. And... it's portable, unlike a lot of shopping list software that requires you to be in front of a computer.
Planner
I'm always struck by how expensive Daily Planner books are - this website proves organization doesn't have to cost a penny...Customize your own planner, choose from over 100 templates.
DIYPlanner.com is a community site whose focus is on paper-based productivity, planning, journalling and creative techniques. Here you will find the official D*I*Y Planner kits, as well as daily articles, scores of useful templates, handbooks and how-to's, forums for discussing productivity in its many forms, images to clad your planners or inspire you, and so much more.
The rules are simple: be nice, try to help each other, and don't be afraid of sharing your advice, no matter how wacky or unorthodox it may be. After all, inspiration may lurk in the least obvious places, even for something as seemingly mundane as time management.
Book! Project Gutenberg
Great resource for free books - when you just don't have time to go to the library.
Project Gutenberg is the first and largest single collection of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.
E-cards!
I recently checked Hallmark.com and saw they've created a $9.99 a year plan for Ecards, or .99 cents per card. I didn't stick around long enough to see if I could dig around for a free option...instead I searched and found an awesome Ecard site - Hipstercards.com. Convenient. Funny. Free. Happy Everything!
From highball hilarity to lowbrow mundanity, Hipstercards.com is your one stop shop for online missives. An intriguing invite? A clever birthday wish? Hey, it's your experience. We're just writing the cards.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Toilet Paper - Over or Under?
I like the toilet paper coming from over the roll. My main reason I do it that way is because I was a maid in a hotel. We were taught that it is over. We were taught it was more "sanitary" over as well as easier to pull and just presentation neater with the little fold corners to give it a tip. Personally it seems to me to rip off easier that way and it just seem less germy then reaching under the roll where you end up touching a lot more roll.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Quick Fix....Special Occasion....& so on
What meal is a quick fix meal for you? The menu for a special occasion? What your favorite comfort food to cook? What favorite dessert to make?
Quick fix meal: Grilled chicken that I let sit in some balsamic vinegar for about 10 minutes. Sprinkle with some grillmate before I throw on the grill*. Baked potato (I microwave them for 4 to 6 minutes depending on size of them and sometimes stick in the oven with a little rock salt and olive oil on the skin for about 10 to 15 minutes while finishing up other things), steamed green beans. It is a quick fix because we get those bags of frozen individual skinless chicken breasts so I take 2 of those out thawing in the microwave for a few minutes if I haven't taken them out in the morning. And then I marinate them for 10 minutes before throwing on the grill for 5 to 7 minutes. It makes a meal done in 30 minutes or less! No I am not Rachael Ray.
Special occasion: Well Master's birthday would be Beef Stroganoff, with a steamed veggie, and garlic toast. That is one of his favorites. Usually special occasion food just is whatever sounds really good at the time. Like we have had a herb crusted roast, roasted veggies with balsamic vinegar, salad, homemade rolls for one anniversary. We had ham with a brown sugar orange juice glaze, creamed potatoes, green beans with roasted red peppers and garlic Parmesan homemade rolls for Christmas. So it really just is decided based on what we are craving or what is the tradition for the occasion.
Favorite comfort food: Take out Chinese! But I guess that is not something I make...well I do make Chinese dishes but usually that is not something I make for comfort food. Comfort food for me....right now has been a casserole I made called Meatball Sandwich Casserole. Nachos are another thing that is comfort food for me. Those are also quick fix meal because just browning ground turkey with taco seasoning and then the fixing is something we always have in fridge and pantry.
Dessert: I love to bake so I am not sure there is a favorite. I really like to make my Mom's homemade chocolate chocolate chip cake. It is very yummy! Some other: sour cream cookies, cinnamon chocolate brownies, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate buttermilk pie, and cream puffs.
*I use an indoor grill - like the George Forman but the one I have is a Hamilton beach with removable grill plates and also other plates for a griddle that I use to make grilled cheese sandwiches or panini's. It is another kitchen appliance that I really like and use a lot!
Quick fix meal: Grilled chicken that I let sit in some balsamic vinegar for about 10 minutes. Sprinkle with some grillmate before I throw on the grill*. Baked potato (I microwave them for 4 to 6 minutes depending on size of them and sometimes stick in the oven with a little rock salt and olive oil on the skin for about 10 to 15 minutes while finishing up other things), steamed green beans. It is a quick fix because we get those bags of frozen individual skinless chicken breasts so I take 2 of those out thawing in the microwave for a few minutes if I haven't taken them out in the morning. And then I marinate them for 10 minutes before throwing on the grill for 5 to 7 minutes. It makes a meal done in 30 minutes or less! No I am not Rachael Ray.
Special occasion: Well Master's birthday would be Beef Stroganoff, with a steamed veggie, and garlic toast. That is one of his favorites. Usually special occasion food just is whatever sounds really good at the time. Like we have had a herb crusted roast, roasted veggies with balsamic vinegar, salad, homemade rolls for one anniversary. We had ham with a brown sugar orange juice glaze, creamed potatoes, green beans with roasted red peppers and garlic Parmesan homemade rolls for Christmas. So it really just is decided based on what we are craving or what is the tradition for the occasion.
Favorite comfort food: Take out Chinese! But I guess that is not something I make...well I do make Chinese dishes but usually that is not something I make for comfort food. Comfort food for me....right now has been a casserole I made called Meatball Sandwich Casserole. Nachos are another thing that is comfort food for me. Those are also quick fix meal because just browning ground turkey with taco seasoning and then the fixing is something we always have in fridge and pantry.
Dessert: I love to bake so I am not sure there is a favorite. I really like to make my Mom's homemade chocolate chocolate chip cake. It is very yummy! Some other: sour cream cookies, cinnamon chocolate brownies, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate buttermilk pie, and cream puffs.
*I use an indoor grill - like the George Forman but the one I have is a Hamilton beach with removable grill plates and also other plates for a griddle that I use to make grilled cheese sandwiches or panini's. It is another kitchen appliance that I really like and use a lot!
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