Monday, August 29, 2011

Top 5 Meatball Photos

I am procrastinating here before getting started on one of my least favorite activities: paying bills. Of course Meatball is hanging out, which got me browsing through some pictures. We got an SLR shortly after getting Meatball. And I'll be honest, 90% of my pictures are of him. So here's a rundown of my top 5 9 favorite pictures. Keep in mind these are only SLR pictures (post-puppyhood). He was equally awesome as puppy. But those pictures are for another day...

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#9 This was back when the vent was his favorite place to hang out.

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#8 Looking serious and pensive.

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#7 He could totally be a superhero, right? The answer is yes.

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#6 Just a good portrait. It really captures his blue eye and tiny baby teeth.

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#5 Close-up.

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#4 This is how work gets done around here.

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#3 Such a good sport! ...being locked out of the house and all.

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#2 Only a year old and already a grumpy old man.

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#1 My fave. Lounging in the grass.


Sunday, August 28, 2011

A Mischievous Little Girl

Natalia
Completed 2011
11"x14"
Oil

Does she have an evil smile in real life? Yes. In a good way!

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Beer (Guinness) Mug Cake Pops


I've been meaning to post this for awhile....

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 In keeping with the miniature theme lately, this week a few weeks ago I made miniature beer mugs. We are attending attended an Augtoberfest party and thought these would be a good contribution. Plus, I've never made cake pops before and wanted to try it out. I got this book for Christmas, and this was my first time making them. I recommend the book, or visiting her blog, if you want detailed instructions.



This activity took me a few nights. The first night was solely devoted to baking the cake. The second night I rolled the cake balls. This involved crumbling the cake, mixing with icing (store-bought of course), then forming into the shape of balls.

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Adding icing to my cake crumbs

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Okay, I forgot to take a picture of the balls, but these are in the mug form.


Enter day three. After refrigerating these suckers, it came time for the candy coating. I quickly learned that you can't just put a stick in these and go immediately into the candy dunking. If you do, balls of cake get lost in the candy goo. I had much greater success dipping the lollipop stick into the melted candy, sticking it into the cake pop, then allowing to cool. THEN proceeding into the candy dunking.

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Awaiting a candy dunk
In the meantime I rolled and made a few mug handles fashioned from gum paste (once again, store-bought).

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Turns out there was no need for that rolling pin you see here.
After heating up some candy in the microwave each cake got a dunk. I immediately gave them each a handle before the candy coating cooled. Sadly the beer color ended up a bit darker than I had anticipated, and so rather than some pale ales, they ended looking more like Guinness beer mugs.

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Almost done
And lastly, I added a frothy finish...

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So they ended up being a hit at the party. Would I make them again? Eh.... I would probably stick with some simple round cake balls in the future.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Pinterest



As if I needed to spend more time browsing fun things on the internet. I just discovered Pinterest. I'm well aware that this website has probably been around for quite sometime, but I still love it. There are so many great ideas and things I want, or things I want to make! I may need to sign up soon so I can start tagging things.