Biscuits two ways: Pizza Bumps and Monkey Bread

Dear Ready Made Biscuit,

Thank you for being versatile and delicious

Love, Me

Have I told you yet that I am a terrible cook?

I am, I have the wonderful ability to be able to burn things, under-cook or overcook them, and I do not like touching raw meat. It's slimy, and gross.

I'm 100 % certain I have explained my issue with patience, namely that I have none. Saturday afternoon when I want to be napping and instead I have kids jumping all over me (in the sweltering muggy gross heat) I REALLY don't want to be cooking. 

The kids always win, so I needed something fast , but fun and easy.

Enter the Ready Made Biscuit.

With a little 3YO help I whipped up Pizza Bumps (for snack) and Monkey Bread (for after dinner) in about 20 minutes flat. Nom nom nom...

Pizza Bumps:

1 ready to bake biscuit tube, shredded cheese, some pepperoni chunks.

Place the biscuit in the bottom of a standard muffin pan (ungreased), sprinkle with cheese and dot with pepperoni, bake according to biscuit directions until golden brown.

Monkey Bread:

1 ready to bake biscuit tube, 1 mini loaf pan, a bit of brown sugar and regular sugar mixed up, a few hunks of butter.

Break the biscuits up in to chunks to cover the bottom of the mini loaf pan, sprinkle some butter chunks (small) over the top (about 3 or 4) and some of the sugar mixture. Add more biscuit chunks and some more butter. Bake according to biscuit directions until golden brown.

It kind of pulls apart like a McDonalds cinnamon melt, only without the frosting, or cinnamon, although.... that sounds like a good idea to try!

St. Patty's Day and Margarita Cupcakes

3 things you should know about me:

1. My favorite color is green

2. I'm 1/2 Irish

3. My second favorite holiday is St. Patrick's Day (Halloween is #1)

also, ANY occasion to get my cupcake on is a great day in my book.

A few years ago, when Autumn (now 11 in 6th grade) started Kindergarten I fell in love with holidays. Any and all occasions to be 'the-cool-mom-who-bakes-and-decorated-awesomeness-for-the-whole-class' was a good day. She has decided that she is 'too-old-for-that-mom' so until my youngest starts school I have to find occasions to make and decorate fun cool stuff.

Insert family gatherings here. My momma (who lives just 4 miles away) is having a get together tonight for a few good friends and family. Since I am still taking pain meds for my ridiculous back issues I can't have a drink (not to mention the fact that my kids will be there and I am driving). So, I am making the best alternative I know of MARGARITA CUPCAKES!

If you want to make your own, the recipe I am using is HERE. I am also going to attempt some candied lime peels for a garnish, the recipe I am using is HERE.

Happy St. Patty's day! What are you doing to celebrate?

Remember this mess? I finally have the party photos edited, so here goes!




The cake balls that I rolled the night before cooled in the refrigerator overnight, on party day (about 2 hours before we were ready) I took them out and prepared some of the melting chocolate in the microwave. I dipped the lollipop sticks in the chocolate and then stuck them in the cake calls about 1/2 way, then put them back in the refrigerator to let that sit. The chocolate acts like glue to keep the cake balls firmly on the lollipop stick during the dunking process (I learned this the hard way after losing about 5 to the process).





When we cook and bake the counters get really messy, I tried (to no avail) to corral things in baskets during the process but eventually it all spilled out. I think I may have just given away the secret to my light and flaky pie crust (it's the box on top of the bread), hee hee.



The chopsticks work great for stirring the chocolate without loosing to much to the spoon. I used a small open bowl and used the chopsticks to fill in any areas that didn't cover by drizzling on top. I have seen a lot of tutorials on cake balls and let me tell you, it is HARD. They make it look easy, but they are lying to you. The mixture I made was no good, and doing this for the first time the day before the party was a bad idea. I know I will make more because they were freaking great, but I have learned a few things along the way:

1. Use an entire cake and an entire container of premade frosting. Don't try to use 1/2 a cake and guestimate the amount of frosting you need.

2. Make the balls 2 days before you need them, dip them the day before and store in a cool place.

3. Do not use candy melts, they suck. Use white chocolate and dye it with food coloring (NOT LIQUID FOOD COLORING, use Wilton's)

4. PATIENCE is your best friend, along with lots of coffee and a lack of 2 year olds running amok.

Here is the early stages of the outdoor area, we decided that with the wind and snow that the outdoor area was not going to work about half way through the day. Yes, you heard right we had snow... just a flurry mind you but it was enough to be freezing outside. We ended up moving the outdoor activities to the garage, and the eating and games inside to the dining room and kitchen.

Still he tombstones were so cute and only $1.00 at the store! Can't beat a spooky bargain :)