The weather outside is frightful!

They're calling it the storm of the decade!

Yesterday morning it started snowing, and it just hasn't stopped!

Sophie loves it to run around in the snow, but only for a while...

By the house the drifts are knee deep, and  out by the barn they're almost waist deep!

So after a little time out in the snow, Sophie's ready to hunker down and spend the day napping...

Can't blame her! This is what it's looked like outside all day

In good news, I have a wonderful recipe to share with you! Splotchy bars! I've been making these since high school and they're one of my favorites :) Enjoy!

Splotchy Bars

Ingredients:

White cake mix

1/3 c. vegetable oil

2 eggs

1  c. chocolate chips

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1/4 c. butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Combine cake mix, oil, and eggs. Pat 2/3 of the mixture into bottom of a greased 9X13" pan.

Melt chocolate chips, sweetened condensed milk, and butter together in microwave or over stove.

Pour into pan.

Pat bits of leftover cake mixture between hands and lay out across pan in splotches.

Bake for approx. 25 minutes. Should be a little jiggly, will set while cooling.

Enjoy!

Happy Veterans Day!

First of all, happy Veterans Day! Thank you to everyone who has given so much for our freedom.

 

Made a fun assortment of 1 dozen cupcakes, 1 dozen minis, and 2 dozen cake balls.

I have a habit of sneaking in one or two little bears upside down! Hehe!

 

An order of bright fall color cupcakes...

And just for fun, made these cute little marshmallow snowmen!

I love foreign foods! 

 I've been trying new recipes fairly often recently...

This week's adventure was Pad Thai. You start off by frying peanuts...

 Then cooking the onion and garlic (yum... This is when the house starts to smell really good)

 

 Fresh bean sprouts are a must!

 

Pad Thai

1 egg

4 ts. fish sauce (just don't smell it...)

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 ts. ground dried chili pepper

1/2 ts. ground pepper

1 shallot, minced

2 Tb. sugar

2 Tb.. tamarind (or white vinegar)

1/2 package Thai rice noodles

2 Tb. vegetable oil

1/3 c. extra-firm tofu (or chicken/shrimp/beef, etc.)

1-1/2 c. Chinese chives-green (optional)

2 Tb. crushed peanuts

Lime wedges (add a ton of flavor!)

 1. Soak the dry noodles in lukewarm water while preparing other ingredients (5-10 minutes)

2. Rinse bean sprouts and reserve half for serving fresh. Mince shallot and garlic together.

3. Use a wok or big pot. Heat it up on high heat and pour oil in the wok. Fry the peanuts until toasted and remove them from the wok. Add shallot, garlic, and tofu and stir until they start to brown. The noodles should be flexible but not expanded at this point. Drain the noodles and add to the wok. Stir quickly to keep things from sticking.

4. Add tamarind, sugar, fish sauce, and chili pepper. Stir. The heat should remain high. If your wok is not hot enough, you will see a lot of juice in the wok at this point. Turn up the heat, if that is the case.

5. Make room for the egg by pushing all the noodles to the side of the wok. Crack the egg into the wok and scramble it until it is almost all cooked. Fold the egg into the noodles.

6. Add bean sprouts and chives. Stir a few more times. The noodles should be soft and very tangled.

7. Pour onto the serving plate and sprinkle with peanuts. Serve hot and a wedge of lime on the side and raw chives and bean sprouts on top. Condiments such as sugar, chili pepper, vinegar, fish sauce, and soy sauce can be available at the table.

Note: this takes very little time to make, so be sure to have your ingredients prepped before you begin! Enjoy!

Happy Halloween!

November's flavor of the month:

 S'mores!

With a graham cracker crust, chocolate-chip filled batter and marshmallow buttercream, these taste just like the campfire treat.

But they're just here for November, so order quick!

A fun surprise from Marmie--Aprons and a hat with As You Wish Bakery on it!

I was so excited!! So much fun...

Reata'z has now begun selling my cookies as well! This week I made peanut butter, but they were a little too soft, so I think they'll stick with the chocolate chip for now :)

But if you like a soft, peanut butter cookie, these are delicious!

I hope you all have a wonderful Halloween!

October showers bring gum flowers...

It's another rainy fall day! The tree right outside my window has bright yellow leaves--

they're breathtaking!

 

There's something tragically beautiful about fall...

Today I made gumpaste flowers.

People often ask what's in Gumpaste flowers... Honestly, despite making batches of it, I didn't really know.  Glucose, Gum-tex, and powdered sugar... but what does that mean?

Checked the ingredients (correction: ingredient) on glucose and it's just corn syrup! Say what?!

Gum-Tex's ingredient is Karaya Gum. According to an ever-so-reliable source (Wikipedia), Karaya Gum is made from trees of the genus Sterculia. Hm... interesting.

But dyed, rolled...

...cut...

...stamped...

...and dried, they make beautiful decoration for cakes and cupcakes! And kids just LOVE eating them!

 

Also made some rolls in the bread-maker today... So simple and yet so delicious!

 

Rolls

Ingredients:

1 c. scalded milk

4 Tb. butter

1 egg

3 1/2 c. flour

4 Tb. sugar

1 ts. salt

2 scant ts. yeast

Directions:

Put first 5 ingredients in bread machine in order given. Pour salt around the outside edges of the ingredients. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour in yeast. Set for the mix and first rise cycle, then knead on a floured board and form into approx. 15 rolls. Bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes.

Flavor of the Month--Pumpkin!

I've decided to begin flavors of the month! This month is pumpkin.

Well it's nearly fall! And the llamas are LOVING this cool weather.

And I'm trying to stay healthy! Most recent discovery: grapefruit is phenomenal!! I once thought it was the worst thing in the world. And now that my taste buds have died matured, I think they're great! Plus, a TON of Vitamin C.

Made some cute purse cupcakes for a girl's fourth birthday. Happy birthday!

Also made a platter... Two dozen cookies and two dozen cake balls go perfect together!

Happy trails!

Twilight, Fairy Princesses, and Darth Vader...

Wow! Has it really been almost a week since I last posted? It's been another busy one...
The As You Wish website is now officially www.asyouwishbakery.com!

And exciting news! BOXES!! Big white 24-cupcake holders, brown 12-cupcake boxes, and 6-cupcake boxes with windows! And each kind has an insert that keeps the cupcakes separated! No more falling cupcakes! I never thought I would get so excited about boxes... haha!

I had an order this week for a family celebrating birthdays for 4 family members... So I made fairy princess cupcakes, Darth Vader cupcakes, and Spidey cupcakes. I think the Spidey ones turned out the best, but I had a fun time trying to figure out how to make Darth.

I started with a clover and molded it into his helmet.

I used Twizzlers to make the light sabers...

Piped some details...

"Kooo berrr..... Luke, I am your father..."

The other specialty order I had this week were for a Twilight birthday party. I've never read the books, but I hear they're a real page-turner!

A couple nights ago two of my friends from Japan came over and made their first cupcakes! It was so much fun...

And their cupcakes turned out beautifully!

 

I also made 66 cupcakes for a local school's carnival.

This is my table right now, full of orders ready to be picked up or delivered.

Wishing you a sweet weekend!

"Our hearts ache, but we always have joy." 2 Corinthians 6:10

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P.S. I just got back from the school delivery and there was a box in the mail with this ADORABLE mug from a wonderful friend! Thus, yet another cup of coffee today, but hey -- who's counting? :)