Sweet Treat: iRewardChart

Here's another cool thing for those of you with children:  A new app my mom showed me.  I have an iPhone, she was using her Kindle so I guess that means Droid has it.  Anyway it's the iRewardChart app.  It's like a virtual chore chart and lets you or the kids keep track of what they've done by earning stars or taking them away.  You can set goals and prizes.  Use it for allowances and it's a good way to keep them motivated for doing what they are told and for good behavior.  I think things like this are very helpful.  One day I'll do a post on the chore chart I made on a huge poster board for my son last year.  Was very helpful.

31 Day Reset

Today I am starting a life reset program sent to me by a friend of mine.  The information for the 31 Day Reset can be found on www.happyblackwoman.com.  I will be doing it with my best friend, and we will be each other's accountability partners.  I absolutely love exercises that bring heightened self-awareness so I am very excited and glad that I will be doing it with someone who doesn't mind giving feedback to me!  The first day asks you to choose your personal mantra.  I really can't decide because there are several quotes that I repeat to myself often.  So, I'm going to stick with a good old-fashioned affirmation of things that I want to continue in my life: "I am learning.  I am living.  I am happy, healthy, blessed, and free."  Kind of long, but I think all those things are so important.  Also on the first day, you must choose a theme song for the month.  I found a link to some cool songs for motivation here: http://under30ceo.com/47-inspirational-songs-for-young-entrepreneurs/ Again, I can't decide.  I think I'm going with "Lovely Day" by Bill Withers.  When he sings "when I look at you," I think of looking at my son. :)  Well that's all for now.  Hopefully this will inspire me to keep my blog updated better than I have :( 

Making Fondant with a 5-Year-Old

Making fondant with a 5-year-old...and the mess wasn't his fault!

So I’ve been wanting to learn to make fondant for quite a while now.  Everything I’ve read about it says it’s super hard to make, but that the pre-made stuff tastes like crap.  So what the hell are you supposed to do?  Anyway, I typically don’t like pre-made stuff.   I like to know how to make things from scratch and tweak them so they fit my tastes.  I found a recipe on Pinterest (which by the way, IMO, is THEE BEST!) for marshmallow fondant.  It said that marshmallow fondant was way easy and that there was no way you could mess it up.  Sounded great for a first attempt so I gave it a shot, with my trusty assistant J  Here’s what we used:  a bag of powdered sugar, a bag of marshmallows, some Crisco, and a few teaspoons of water.  And you need a Pyrex bowl, or something else that will be able to be microwaved.

By the way, check my new apron:

Okay, I let my son pour the marshmallows into the bowl.  And I let him eat a couple, too.

Then we added a couple teaspoons of water.  We melted it in the microwave.  It takes about two-and-a-half minutes total to melt (if I remember correctly) but we stopped it about every twenty or thirty seconds to check it and stir a little. 

When it was all melted we added ¾ of the bag of powdered sugar.  The recipe I had said to pour it on top, but I think the next time I try this, I’m going to stir it in a little bit before dumping it on the counter which is the next step. 

The next several minutes will have you in a panic.  I could have sworn that we forgot something or left something out.  Like a dummy, I didn’t print it out or have my laptop up and was instead looking at my phone.  But you get so incredibly sticky with the next step that you can barely pull your fingers apart, let alone grab your phone.  Hence, no pics from this stage.  Sorry!  Anyway, slowly but surely it all came together.  The Crisco is for greasing your hands and your working surface and trust me you want them extra greasy!  Add in a little more powdered sugar, too.  It will eventually come into the texture it is supposed to be.  Then you can dye it.  I have gel food coloring and it takes a while to work it in there for an even color and not a marble-y looking thing.  Keep your hands greased and when you put it up, grease the lump of fondant and the plastic wrap you’ll store it in until you are ready to use it.  Grease your rolling pin and your surface when you roll it out.  Once it’s flat you can lay it on top of your cake.

Trim the excess.

Make something out of the leftover fondant.  We did this Valentine's Day weekend so we made a pink cake and put hearts on it.

Success!  Tastes sweet, like marshmallows.  I think my next attempt will be much better and less messy. And now I’m dying to try to make real fondant.  So I survived a completely sticky mess with my 5-year-old helper.  And when I say sticky, I mean sticky.  I couldn’t even exaggerate how sticky it really gets.  I used a caulk scraper to remove the aftermath from my counter and the chair my son was standing in.  But we had a great time making it and I would totally suggest it for an afternoon project.  We made a strawberry cake from scratch that morning to put it on.  Speaking of strawberry cake, do you have a recipe for a from-scratch strawberry cake?  Because I didn’t enjoy this one as much as I should have and I have found that it’s hard to find a from scratch strawberry cake recipe.  Let me know!