August Food Network S'mores Cake!

 I've been waiting all year to make this specific cake from my "A cake for every month" article in January 2013's Food Network Magazine. 
You'll need the basic chocolate cake recipe right HERE.
and you'll also need the cake accessory recipe HERE. (filling and ganache)

What you'll need for your basic chocolate cake recipe. Plus eggs which went back in my fridge and didn't sit on the counter.

I tweaked my accessory recipe slightly, I didn't use a double boiler for my ganache because I don't own one and hate trying to make one. I didn't need one for my double chocolate cake ganache so I didn't need one for this. I just heated the cream on low until it was hot, added the chocolate, and stirred until it was almost melted, then I took it off the heat and continued to stir until all the chocolate was melted. I poured it into a measuring cup for easy pouring, and set it aside. Done.

I also have an issue with marshmallow cream for some reason. It's twice as expensive as a bag of marshmallows and doesn't taste the same. Considering it's supposed to be creamed marshmallows, I would expect it to taste the same. At any given moment, you'll find rice krispie treats in my home, so I just used the same recipe minus the rice krispies. Meaning, I poured a bag of marshmallows into a microwavable bowl, added about 2 Tablespoons of butter and heated it in 30 second intervals, stirring in between, until it was melted and spreadable.  In the end, after cutting this open and such, I would either double my marshmallow "recipe" so I could add more filling between layers, or keep it as is and only use 2 layers instead of cutting the cakes into 4.

Now, a warning.... Oh I feel so witchy typing that!
Do NOT melt your marshmallows until you are completely ready to assemble. It will start to thicken the second you stop heating it, so you want to work quickly, unless you'd like it to stick and pull chunks of your cake up as you try to spread it around. Also, spray your spatula with cooking spray or lightly coat it with oil or butter before each layer. Try to pick up your spatula as little as possible. Throw a blob of marshmallow in the middle and quickly spread it outwards in gradually larger circles.

I normally just make 2 layer cakes which are actually 2 cakes stacked on top. Because that's how I roll. But with these cake recipes you really do have enough batter for 2 cake pans.  

Everything was pretty straight forward and easy though. Nothing too particularly hard about this recipe.  I'm not super fussy about how straight and even my cake layers are, so that was a breeze for me. If you'd like even layers then you'll have to google some of the methods for doing that. I just cut and turn and hope for the best. Because it's a cake. I'm going to eat it. I'm certain my family doesn't scrutinize that closely, they really just care about how it tastes. It's not like my layers are Alice in Wonderland lopsided, all of the filling stays on them and that's all that matters.  It is funny though, when you look at the photo and you can see the filling, my layers are so not the same thickness.

So eventually you'll want it to look like this, (my 3 cake layers on paper plates and the one on the glass plate is ready for frosting. Use a serrated knife for cutting the cake. You can kind of see that in the background.

The graham crackers went from crispy to not in about 15 minutes, which is the amount of time I waited to cut myself a piece. I was surprised, but I suppose the cake is pretty moist and that is what is sitting right on top of the graham crackers. I thought it was worth a mention, it's not crunchy, like you think it will be with the toasted cracker crumbs. It's still good though. I would add a couple tablespoons of sugar with my cracker crumbs before I toasted them if I made this again, just to give them a little extra sweetness. I just used plain grahams, I'm not a fan of the cinnamon ones, and I thought it might compete with the chocolate flavor. However, if you use cinnamon graham crackers with your smores, then by all means use them here! The honey graham crackers would be delicious as well. Also, if you want some finer crumbs, you can throw it in a food processor or throw your crackers in a plastic bag and scrunch it while you wait for your cake to cook. I just crushed mine haphazardly because I don't care about larger chunks. The larger chunks toasted just fine.

Overall, this cake was pretty yummy. It would be better if I had added more marshmallow filling in between the layers (live and learn), I also would have added more cracker crumbs in between. I was afraid I would run out so I used them sparingly, but I ended up with almost half the pan left over in the end. I think it would be better with more in there.  So it was delicious and super easy to make, took hardly any of my time, but after making it I see where it could be improved for sure. Next time it will be magical.

I really hope you try this one! Let me know if you do and how it turns out!
Enjoy!

eventually you'll end up with something like this.

*The recipes featured are from Food Network Magazine. All opinions and "tweaks" are my own*

My Nerdy Craft Time...

If you get it right away my heart is smiling for you. If not, read on!

I mean I've done some pretty nerdy things in my lifetime, most of them involve Harry Potter... The movies started coming out when I was in high school, so we had a lot of time to be exceptionally nerdy then. But there was also the coal inspired make up look I spent an hour on, just to go see the midnight showing of The Hunger Games movie, which was last year so I would have been well into my 20's at that time, I have no excuse. I could go on, but lets just stop at these examples.

It's no secret to my friends and family that I'm a huge Game of Thrones fan. I thoroughly enjoyed the books, but I completely love the show. Every sunday (when it's on) I watch the new episodes with my equally nerdy friend, and then spend an hour or so discussing it afterwards. It is kind of ridiculous, but we all have our vices right?

When I was browsing the clearance rack at my local craft store, looking for things to decorate my beautiful new zebra print vanity (also painted by me), I came across a plain, unpainted, undecorated bobble head in the shape of a little fox. I needed it immediately. I had no idea what to do with it, but it had to come home with me,. .87 cents later I was on my way. I originally painted it up to be a zombie fox at first. I want to share a general description of me straight from my mom, I'm a little morbid and by a little I mean quite a bit. which is a shocker for most people, because I'm so into glitter and hot pink. Life always tries to stick you in these little boxes eh? 

I actually wonder if I would have changed his eyes if he would have been better to me. Well this is what I ended up repainting. I still have a couple things to finish on him in this picture but I hated it. I couldn't finish it.  

So the zombie fox wasn't doing it for me, it just wasn't turning out the way I wanted it to. I scrapped it thinking I would paint it up like a skeleton. Then the nugget commented on how much my fox looked like a wolf and the idea was planted.

GAME OF THRONES! Of course! How could I have been so blind? Naturally, my fox was a wolf and if it was a wolf it had to be painted as Robb Stark. You know... after he was killed and they sewed his wolf's head onto his body and paraded him around for all to see... Fantastic.
While I scanned pictures of Robb in his battle armor, which I decide he needed to be wearing, I realized something big. That boy didn't have a single direwolf on his armor. Roose Bolton had his flayed man, the Manderly's had their mermaid pinned to their chests, but where was Robb's direwolf!? Sure he had it on some of his more decorative clothing, but none on his battle outfit. I mean, that's probably why he really died, fuck that insult to the Fray's shit, he didn't have family pride. Actually I'm pretty sure in the show his sword has a wolf head pommel, but I still find it weird that he didn't rep his house sigil in battle on his person. 

This was pretty easy to do. It took a couple of days, only because I needed to let the paint dry and because it is about 8 thousand degrees here at the moment. Now, I paint outside because I'm a very accident prone person, I'd much rather spill paint in my garage then in my house on my carpet. But I have a dog and a small person whom I mother, and neither can withstand extreme heat for extended periods of time so we had to make frequent cool down trips inside. Also, I'm not made for the heat. I'm a midwestener for crying out loud, we are made for the cold, not 100 degree temps.

I wanted to make a nice quilted pattern on his armor like Robb has in the show, but my hand proved to be much to unsteady for that. *Sigh* I'll never be a brain surgeon. I suppose I could have still done it, but I didn't like my lines being slightly off kilter at any given moment. I ended up using about 8 colors, Red, Black, White, Silver, Bronze, Yellow, a Terracotta brown, and pink for the tongue. I also used probably 3 brushes for this entire thing, one small, one medium, and a fan brush. So that was nice, there are few things I hate more then having to dirty 80 brushes on one project.  Basically I painted the bottom one color and dotted it to create "rivets", I guessed where they would have had to connect the armor to itself, since I wasn't doing a shadow where they would have melted it together, rivets had to do. I painted the wolf parts a flat gray and then did lighter and darker gray/white fur by using the fan brush. I also made some details with my smaller brush, such as the eyes, lining the mouth, and just dotted to make the teeth. I made the arrows with cut up tooth picks and painted strips of an animal cookie bag. You could do the same with tin foil, the paint doesn't adhere everywhere and you end up with a nice uneven striping effect, you could try to recreated it by hand but it would take you much longer. I put a little super glue on the end of the arrow and pushed it hard onto Robb to get a small raised up area around it. Which I painted red and then added some drippings from the wound. He has a little cloak as well, which I made out of felt. I originally wanted to put an arrow through his arm so it would stick out the back, but it ended up being way too cluttered and took away from his entire design. So I ended up with just 2 arrows. I needed the one in his leg, which is so prominently featured after they've sewn Grey Wind's head to Robb's body, and I know there was one in his shoulder. Obviously in the show, I can't remember if Martin described where exactly Robb was hit by arrows in the book or even if he was shot with arrows.... Dang I need to reread.
I also made him a little crown of galvanized wire (so it would be dull not shiny) and painted flat toothpicks. I wanted it to look rough and crude, Although Robb's crown was described as decorated with runes with black iron swords, I pictured it much more rough and quickly made. I've never worked with wire before, which I'm sure you can tell, but it ended up serving it's purpose. It's not horrible, but it could be better.

I did take the pictures with his cloak on, before I added the arrows, incase you're wondering why it looks different. I tried to get some good angles to show all sides. He's got a tail in back, because my original bobble head was meant to be all animal and not a grisly animal/human.

So that's my nerdy craft project, turning my decorative bobble head into a tribute to our poor dead Robb Stark from Game of Thrones. What about you? Any nerdy craft projects that you're super proud of?  I hope this inspired you to start your very own, to enhance your life and home with something you love!

As always,
Enjoy

*I bought the fox bobble head from Michael's you can find their website HERE and used regular acrylic craft paint, some of which I've had for years so I couldn't tell you exactly where I got them. Most of them were most likely purchased at Walmart and Michael's. If you'd like to know the exact colors I used (as far as names go) shoot me a comment and I'd be happy to let you know. The galvanized wire was purchased at Michael's as well.*

New Hair!

So, after almost 6 years of growing out my hair, I got it in my head that I needed to cut it off. It's thick, and bulky, and hot, and heavy. If I let my hair get too long, I end up with headaches, I mean that's how heavy it is. It's ungodly thick and ridiculously animalistic. Once in a while, I get this ambitious streak before going out, and I take the 2 hours to straighten it, only to put it up about 20 minutes after arriving at my destination. It's so long that it gets in everything, I can't wear it down on dinner dates because it gets in my food, I can't wear it down at home because the strands I shed attack your toes with a vengeance, I can't wear it natural because it doesn't do those gorgeous effortless curls or waves everyone thinks I have but rather it looks like unintentional messy dreadlocks that gradually turn into a giant ginger afro, if I wear it in a pony tail the end hangs down on my neck in the summer and it acts like a wool scarf, if I braid it in the summer it hangs on my neck and acts like a wool scarf.... You get the idea. My hair is impossible. I never wanted to cut it though. I'm single, so in my head men always want women with long long hair. I'm not totally sure where this idea came from, but it's been implanted in my brain since forever. As a result I suffered for 6 years with my long hair in the hopes of, I'm not sure, ensnaring a man with my luscious locks Rapunzel style? It seems pretty ridiculous now that I'm typing this. Well, eventually I outgrew this notion. (like last week) Obviously my long hair isn't reeling in the men folk, considering the fact that I'm still single, I think you actually have to go somewhere other then the local Hardware store and your child's school to meet people... Possibly. Although, if the Hardware store isn't the right place to meet manly men, I don't know where you should meet them! Maybe I'm just not paying attention. Normally I'm trying to keep track of my nugget who always wants to pet the store dog and making a bee line to the painting supplies. I'm pretty oblivious to most things around me at that point, plus I'm normally sweaty and dirty, spotted with paint, my hair is up in a ballerina bun but giant and not cute probably half of it is falling down, and wearing my old Beatles tee which is covered in holes and residue of red paint and "blood" splatter from my zombie make up trials. I'm certain, even if everything else fails to scare anyone away from me, the bloody t-shirt might do the trick. I actually might be a little worried about the person who sees me like that and says to themselves, "I need to date that blood and paint covered mess right there." I mean, it's not real blood but it looks pretty real now that it's been washed a couple of times.   I've gone slightly off track here, lets bring it around town back to my hair. My point is, I've grown into my single life and need to lop off this wolf hair. Without farther explanation lets show a before and after hair photo!

This is one of my very first and last mirror selfies I've ever taken. I swore this would never happen, but how else do you get a photo of your freakishly long hair when you only have a toddler to help you out? So quite obviously this is pretty long. It goes down to about the small of my back.




This is right after we cut the initial length.

 



This is after we piled it up and attempted to fit it in the dust pan
It was heavy too! Like 3 pounds of hair.

And afterwards! It's longer then I had anticipated it being, but with how thick my hair is naturally we didn't want to end up with a mushroom effect. I'm actually on the fence, I may still want to cut it shorter. Like a more grown out Michelle Williams pixie cut. Who knows. If you'd like to see a nicer, non sweaty picture of me with my new hair you can check out my August Ipsy Glam Bag Review post!

 

I kept this a total secret from everyone and just showed up with short hair. Needless to say my family and friends were shocked. I was even more surprised at the fact that everyone was so attached to my hair. I mean some friends were really upset, like I had cut THEIR hair or something. I've never been one of those girls who is super attached to my hair. I may be attached to my platinum blonde color but not the actual length. I've had everything from past my butt length to a Mohawk and never batted an eyelash or cried a single tear. I couldn't believe, though, how upset some people were that I cut MY hair! I had no idea it meant so much to some of my friends and family. I love them, but I think it's weird. I get that after 6 years, you'll have to adjust to the new look, but lets not get dramatic. It's hair. It will always grow back. Unless it doesn't, in which case, that's what wigs are for.

I'm glad you took the time to read through my pointless ramble about my hair and my views on menfolk. In case you're wondering why I felt the need to share this, I thought it was a pretty big life event. I mean 6 years of hair, just gone in an afternoon!
How do I feel after cutting off like 3 feet of hair you might ask....
I feel free! Liberated from my hair that I'm certain was attempting to devour me alive. Most of all, I love that it cut all the edges that had turned golden over time so that the entire cut is the light blonde I love so much.  

Thanks for staying with me this long to make it to the end here!
Enjoy! 

Influenster Palmolive Soft Touch Prize Pack

From the Palmolive Soft Touch Influenster campaign I won a prize pack, which came in the mail Friday!   If you'd like to read my review on Palmolive Soft Touch dish soap you can find that right HERE.

It included

Soft Soap hand soap, rich shea butter, coconut scented $3.92 for a 4pk or $3.47 for a 28oz refill
You can find this HERE.  We actually use Soft Soap refills for our hand soap dispensers at home, and coconut is one of my favorite scents in the world, so this was wonderful. It's a lovely hand soap. It leaves my hands soft, silky smooth, and clean feeling. The scent if fantastic, very strong when you're washing your hands but quickly dissipates afterwards, it definitely doesn't linger very long which is something I love. I hate having my soap scent mingling with my lotion or perfume. I feel like soap should smell delicious but shouldn't linger on my skin longer then it takes to wash it off. This fits the bill nicely. Soft Soap comes in a variety of scents, and they are always coming out with new ones and updated character themed dispensers, so there really is a soap for everyone.

It looks much more blue then green in the photo, I tried everything to get the green to come out in the pictures like it does in person but it just would not work with me. It's much more of a green blue then it is a blue.

Sinful Colors Professionals nail polish in Aqua #10  I couldn't find a price online.
You can find this HERE.  I'm had a heck of a time finding this in an online store and even when I found it at Walgreens it only said "Priced in store". My first impression of this is that it was more of a shimmery blue in the bottle. I loved it immediately. However, when I put in on my nails it ended up drying to a metallic green. It makes me think of mermaids, if a mermaid wanted to paint her nails this would be the color she would pick. Aqua is a pretty green, it's just not what I wanted it to be from looking at the bottle. It's extremely shiny, I didn't put a top coat on this one because I didn't feel like it at the time and I didn't really need it. Quite obviously, if you wanted it to last a bit longer, you'd probably want to put a top coat on there. It took about 2-3 coats to make this opaque, with no streaks at all. It dried fairly quickly, quicker then my normal nail polishes, less then 5 minutes with 3 coats. This didn't chip for almost a week on me, and I'm very hard on my hands, I'd also like to add that this is without a top coat. It ended up chipping because I was using sandpaper and nicked my nail. The other nails didn't start to chip until this week, which is 2 full weeks after I painted this on. And even then, it was just around my tips. I'm extremely impressed with this nail polish! I don't think I've ever had a polish last this long on my nails before. As I said, I'm pretty hard on my hands, I sometimes don't use a top coat, and my nails are very soft so they bend easily and the polish normally cracks. Overall this is a fantastic nail polish!

and a package of imPRESS press on manicure nails in Stiletto #060 $4.97-$6.97
You can find this HERE. The imPRESS press on manicure nails boast no drying time, lasting shine, easy removal, and lasts up to a week. I've never had luck with press on nails. I can't get mine to last more then a day or 2, depending on when I wash my hair. I swear my hair annihilates fake nails like crazy.  That being said, these are really easy to put on, there isn't any drying time, they are a perfect length not too short not too long, and the shine can't be beat. If you wanted a quick solution for a night out if your real nails were in rough shape, this would be perfect!  Stiletto is an... interesting color. It's basically a light cocoa brown with a slight reddish hue to it. I think it's ugly. I can't even tip toe around that one. I'm not a fan of brown nail polish in general. These do come in tons of colors and patterns though, the zebra ones are fantastic, so there's something for everyone. If you go to the website above you can get a $1.00 off coupon on a pack of your very own! I would use these, probably for an event or just a night out, but in a different color or pattern for sure.

*I received these prizes complements of Influenster for being active in the Palmolive Soft Touch campaign. These are my true and honest opinions, I do not get paid to give good reviews. *

If you would like to sign up with Influenster or learn more about them you can find them right HERE.

I hope you, at the very least, consider check out the Sinful Colors Nail Polish! I can't even get over how impressed I am with the lasting power of it.

Enjoy

August Glamour Acadamy Ipsy Glam Bag!

 

This month's ipsy glam bag is super cute deep plum colored with a gold crest (reminiscent of Hogwarts' school crest!) saying Ipsy Glamour Academy.  I actually got this a little later then I normally do, I read something on their site that they were having a slow shipping month. But here we are!

Michael Todd true organics Pumpkin facial mask $34 for 3.4 fl oz
You can find this HERE.  My sample size is 1 fl oz, which means at 3.4 fl oz this full size is huge for a facial mask. Well worth the $34 for the amount of product you'll get in my opinion. This is a super thick paste, much thicker then other facial masks I've come across. It literally looks like they pureed pumpkin, removed the water, and bottled it. It is orange like roasted pumpkin and it also smells exactly like the pumpkins I roast for pie, minus the pie spice. The tube says, "for all skin type except sensitive." It has a creamy texture with just a small amount of grittiness. Within about 15 seconds of applying this it started to tingle, not in a horrible way but in an almost uncomfortable way. It smells much less pleasant on the skin, almost like roasted pumpkin that's gone slightly sour. I left it on for 5 of the recommended 5-10 minutes. It washed off easily, left absolutely no residue, my skin felt firmer, and definitely looked brighter. The best part? I smelled none of that sour pumpkin scent after rinsing it off! I would use this again. It says on the bottle you can use this every 1-2 weeks, which is doable for me. Overall this is a solid OK product. I can't argue with the results but the scent on my face is almost unbearable. This product is also "Certified Vegan".

Smash Box Photo Finish facial primer $36 for 1oz
You can find this HERE. If you've subscribed to any beauty box of any type, you've gotten a sample of this primer. This claims an Oil Free finish but on me I might as well be slathering my face in butter. I do not have oily skin normally, my skin is generally on the dry side, but this primer brings oil from somewhere deep within my pores right to the surface and jacks up my make up. I always end up giving this to my friend who has oily skin and loves it. So I guess, if you have oily skin, try this out. But if you have dry skin, steer clear. Aside from making my dry skin oily, this has absolutely no scent and has a gel like consistency. It's very easy to get every inch of your face with minimal product, and it absorbs rather quickly leaving almost no residue. My face feels slightly velvety right after applying this but the oiliness sets in after about 30 minutes.

On the left is where I blended it out you'll see it gets lighter towards the top.

MICA Beauty Cosmetics Shimmer powder in Bronze #17 $14.95 for 2.5 grams
You can find this HERE. As far as a loose shadow is concerned this is a huge package. You are getting a ton of product for your money. Bronze is in the Day eyeshadow collection on the MICA website. The color pay off from this is fantastic! Even without a primer, I easily achieved an opaque bronze on my lids without having to pack it on. It also blended out to a nice, extra shimmery, light bronze, which was again, easily achieved. I had minimal fall out from this as well. This could actually be used as a highlighter on your cheeks as too, if used sparingly. This would look gorgeous on fair and dark skin tones, and could go from a day at the office to a night on the town seamlessly. Overall I'm super impressed with this. The only problem I had was that my powder didn't want to come out of the little sifter holes, I had to tap it on my desk pretty hard a couple of times to get enough for my lids. It did come out eventually though so that isn't really a huge problem.

Pixi Beauty Last Booster Mascara in Blackest Black #2 $17 for .25 oz
You can find this HERE.  This comes in 2 shades, Blackest Blue and Blackest Black. The brush is an old school chubby bristle brush, as opposed to rubber nubs or plastic spikey tips you find on a lot of mascara wands, it's fuller at the tip and comes in slightly as it nears the base. Because I smell all of my make up, I'll just point out that this smells like wax, straight up candle wax. This is supposed to be waterproof as well as nourishing. This went on just fine, one dip of the brush coated all of my lashes, top and bottom. It took about 3 passes to get a nice even black  though. It dried a little on the slow side though, maybe 5 minutes at the most. It didn't leave my lashes stiff or clump them together either. As I've said about a million times prior, I have shorter lashes on my left eye then I do on my right, I noticed a slight addition in length and a small curl, nothing to write home about though. Overall it is a decent mascara, I wouldn't recommend it if you are in a desperate need of lengthening or a dramatic curl, but it works just fine.

I just wanted to include all Revolution Lipstick colors

A close up of 69

A side by side with their previous signature red Revolution on the left and 69 on the right.

Urban Decay Revolution Lipstick in 69 $22
You can find these HERE. As with every other Urban Decay lipstick this was incredibly creamy. It was opaque in 2 swipes, and it lasted on my lips (no liner/no blotting/no layering) for about 6 hours with normal wear and tear. I had several glasses of tea and ate a bbq sandwich while wearing this, I had minimal rub off on my glass and none on my food. It did wear down to a nice wash of red in the end, instead of rubbing off and completely disappearing. Prior to this launch UD had a signature red  lipstick (lipstick, not stain, crayon, pencil, or gloss) called Revolution which we will call "R" from now on so it doesn't get confusing. "R" is a color, Revolution Lipstick is a new type of lipsticks UD launched. I swatched them side by side to show the slight difference. 69 is slightly blue based while R seems a little more on the yellow side. R was perfect for me when I had my natural ginger hair but looked horrible once I went platinum. However, 69 is perfect with my blonde hair, which makes me so very happy. The Revolution Lipsticks also have a sleek new packaging, instead of the sword bottom on the regular lipsticks, these are packaged in a shiny silver tube with Urban Decay stamped on the side. While UD is on the pricier side I feel this lipstick is worth it. I fully believe in investing in a nice red lipstick no matter who you are. I mean, unless you're a man who doesn't wear lipstick... or an animal...  I am, however, deeply saddened by them taking away the little sword on the bottom. I love that about my UD lipsticks!



I don't generally add photos of myself to these, but I am not only wearing the Revolution Lipstick in 69 but I'm also wearing the MICA shimmer powder in Bronze on my lids.

 

Just wanted to add in the sword bottomed lipstick tubes so everyone knows what I'm talking about. They are normally plain silver as well, just with the sword on top, I have a cover on mine which is why it looks funky.

As always, if you would like to receive your very own Ipsy Glam bag you can do so right HERE.
The subscription is $10 a month, sometimes there is a small waiting list.

Enjoy! 

 

*Ipsy Glam Bag is a monthly beauty sample bag that I paid for with my very own money. I do not get paid to give good reviews*