I don't usually bake....

I don't usually bake,...but when I do, I usually find myself doing it for a special occasion.  I've only baked a REAL cake once, and it was for McKenzie's 3rd birthday, which was a Toy Story themed party.  Like always I was up all night the day before cooking and baking. This cake (although it turned out to be fine, was a disaster) the fondant was a sticky mess and the design I had anticipated turned out to be nothing like I planned...nonetheless the cake was delicious (I used the Dr.Pepper Cake recipe from Dinosaur BBQ Cookbook). That was the LAST time I baked, besides a tray of brownies or slice and bake cookies.

On Thursday McKenzie turns four, and even though we already celebrated in June, we've decided to have a little birthday cake for her on her actual birthday. One of her favorite things right now is Spiderman (just like her Mom). So, I will be making a Spiderman cake, and possibly cupcakes, depending on my patience.

Here are some of my Spiderman inspirations from Pinterest....

Looks easy enough right? 

I've created cuteness before,...here's some of my past creations...

 McKenzie's 1st birthday (Ladybuy themed)

And Riley's 1st birthday (Owl themed)

I'd like to say I've got this one in the bag, especially with the simpleness of the cake design...but like most of my baking experiences, or at least my first attempts, it looks something more like this...

UPDATE 8/15/12

Spiderman cake was a great success, McKenzie LOVED it!

Summer days....

Zoo-time

Fun outside

Picnics in the Park

Cucumbers from the garden

Long days of outside fun....early unexpected naps on the couch...

Handstands with friends...

Backyard sh-mores

Bavarian-fest

Pre-haircut breakfast at Panera

Mac loves baby Snow white

Syracuse Chiefs Game

Ice cream with sprinkles!

Beach time at Yaman Beach Park

Playdates with Pre-school friends

German Chocolate Cake Bars

Recipe from Paula Deen

Crust:
1 box devil's good cake mix (not the kind with pudding added)
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
1 large egg

Filling:
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk (I used fat free and it was fine)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup shredded coconut (I used sweetened coconut)
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips


Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan (I used non-stick cooking spray).
In a medium bowl, mix together the cake mix, butter and egg, and press into the bottom of the prepared pan. The crust should not come up the sides. Bake for 7 minutes and remove from the oven. The crust will not look done.
While the crust is baking, mix together the sweetened condensed milk, vanilla, egg, pecans and coconut. Pour evenly over the warm crust and sprinkle evenly with the chocolate chips. Bake for 24-30 minutes, until the top is a light golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool completely before cutting into squares.

Homemade Tomato Salsa

We put in a huge garden this year. By huge, I mean, HUGE. Fifteen plus tomato plants...twelve or so pepper plants of all varieties green, yellow, red, jalapeno, some red popper thingy (it's hot), banana peppers, onions, herbs, lettuce, celery, beans, squash, zucchini, pumpkins, asparagus etc. Although our garden is big, it can also be very, very simple. My friend Kristeen couldn't have used a better way to describe her garden. She has what they call a "salsa garden", as in they only plant stuff they can use in salsa...so innovative. Well, we have a much larger "salsa" garden, and now that our garden is starting to produce fresh veggies, we are planning many of our daily meals around the excessive amounts of produce from our garden.

This summer has been a hot and humid one. We've been eating lighter meals and dips just to carry us over from meal to meal, since our typical meat and potato dinners are too heavy. Since I've never made salsa before, and we had the ingredients on hand, I decided to make some. There is nothing like FRESH, chunky salsa to remind you of summer! More importantly I know what is going into this salsa (all fresh ingredients), and can regulate the amount of salt and oil used in the dish. Gotta love home cooking any day over store bought, processed foods. Yuck! Plus, it's good for you! How can you be mad at yourself for shoveling eating large amounts of this FRESH, veggie salsa. It's just what the doctor ordered for a healthy heart and mind!

Summer Tomato Salsa

 Doesn't that look so good!?

Ingredients
1 medium red onion
2-3 cloves of garlic
4 large ripe tomatoes
1-2 hot peppers (whatever you have on hand)
2-3 tablespoons of cilantro
2 tablespoons of lime juice
salt and pepper
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 bell pepper
1-2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar

Chop up ingredients, it's okay if it's not perfect, it's gonna be chunky anyway!

*Side note: I've noticed you can do one of two things to your veggies, one you can leave them fresh OR I've also read that you can saute them to bring out more flavor. Either way, it'll be delicious.

Combine veggies with lime juice, salt, pepper, and cilantro. Refrigerate for 2-4 hours so flavors blend.
Enjoy with chips!


I think hope by the end of summer we will be doing a whole lot of jarring for the winter months!! That'll be a process in itself with a two and four year old running around who want to help. Can't wait!