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Posts Tagged ‘Shanna Hatfield’

I’ve been dying to make cake balls for a couple months. Don’t ask me why. It’s just one of those weird things that  infiltrate my brain at 3 a.m. and won’t let me rest.

I decided to make a batch for a holiday party and I will state the following about the process:

1. It was easy

2. It was tasty

3. It was messy

4. It took a little bit of time

Overall, a very fun project and one that would be great if you had an afternoon to spend with your kiddos, dipping the balls.

For the sake of easy handling, I decided to put the balls on sticks and now, I guess, I should really call them cake pops.

Ingredients

Once the cake is baked and cooled, you are ready to start the process. I forgot to include a can of frosting in the ingredient list!

Dump the entire cake into a large bowl and break apart.

Add in half a can of frosting and mix together until ball starts to form. It will feel moist and sticky.

Form cake balls. I made mine fairly big because I wanted to have fewer to dip. I'm a lazy slug that way. I'm also incapable of making perfectly round balls, so pardon my somewhat oddball shaped creation.

 

Cover a styrofoam block with foil.

 

Melt the candy coating then dip in ends of lollipop sticks.

 

Harpoon cake balls with sticks and let rest until candy has hardened.

 

Cover cake balls with candy coating. I used a spoon to drizzle over the balls. Gently tap stick on edge of bowl to get off excess coating.

 

While candy coating is still warm, decorate balls with your choice of sprinkles, crushed peppermint, chocolate shavings or whatever tickles your fancy. Poke sticks into foam and let set until coating has hardened.

 

Serve and enjoy!

 

Holiday Cake Balls

1 cake mix (baked according to package directions)

1 can frosting

1 package candy coating (I used Almond Bark)

Sprinkles or other decoration

Lollipop sticks

Bake the cake according to package directions. Cool completely.

In a large bowl, break up entire cake then mix in 1/2 of the can of frosting. I used chocolate just because I need chocolate like most people need air, but you could choose any flavor cake and frosting.

You may have to get your hands into the project to get it thoroughly mixed and you most definitely will get hands-on- involvement when you form the balls. The size is totally dependent on how big you want to make them. I’d stick in the ballpark of between one to two inches diameter.

Once the ball are formed, melt the candy coating. I did just a few bricks at a time so the whole bowl of coating wouldn’t get hard before I was done. You can just pop it into the microwave in 30-second intervals until it is melted. Do not reheat it as it gets gunky and icky quickly. Use it up then melt the next round.

When  the candy coating is ready, dip in the ends of the sticks then stab them into the balls. Let them sit until the coating is nice and firm. This is very important. If you don’t do this, your sticks may fall out and that would be tragic.

Once the balls are ready for dipping, use a spoon to swirl coating over the balls. Tap the edge of the stick lightly on the bowl to get off excess coating. Cover the ball in sprinkles, crushed candy canes, whatever sounds good and looks tasty. Then poke a hole with the stick into the foam black and let rest until the coating is good and firm.

Repeat until all balls are coated. You can put these in the freezer, wrap in individual cellophane bags or share them for devouring as soon as you are finished.

Enjoy!

She Who Liked These Way Too Much

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We just got back from a visit with my Mom and Dad, my brothers and their  families. Being with them this time of year sure brought back a wealth of memories.

The photo above was taken at my aunt and uncle’s home as we gathered with our large extended family for Christmas circa sometime in the early 80s. You can barely see the face of my niece Karla to the left. Mom is sitting next to me on the couch, then my sister with my adorable nephew Matt in the purple shirt. My niece Amanda is the tiny little head in the photo. Be sure to laugh at my ridiculously large plastic barrette. I think I had no less than four pairs in various shapes. Good grief.

Anyway, the holidays were always a time when my parents would gather with their siblings and their children. It always meant a day filled with lots of warm hugs, oodles of good things to eat and presents (not that I got excited about that part, at all).

We knew when a holiday rolled around we would either be hosting or attending a large gathering that could exceed more than 50 people for lunch, quite often with several lingering long past the dark of evening would settle in.

Going to bed happy and exhausted was just all a part of the celebration of the day.

What family traditions to you have? How do you celebrate the day?

She Who Misses those Big Gatherings

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If you are looking for a stunning centerpiece and are short on time or money, sometimes simple really is best.

Try one single beautiful poinsettia plant surrounded by white tea lights. Go for a plant that looks healthy with lots of flowers. If you are feeling adventurous, choose one of the funky new colors rather than traditional red.

Use a wicker basket and fill of pincones. Tie a tartan plaid bow on the handle of the basket and this says “country christmas” loud and clear.

Fill a pretty footed glass bowl with Christmas balls. Choose silver and gold for an elegant statement or go with colors that tie into your decorating theme like red and white or silver and blue.

If you have two or three cake pedestals of varying heights, stack them together and put either a selection of edible treats on them or place a nice candle on top and wrap holly garland around the other sections.

Wrap three to five boxes of various sizes and pile them casually in the center of the table. Again, stick to silver or gold for elegant, plaid for traditional or go with something that ties in to your decorating scheme.

Whatever you do, have fun with it and remember to focus on your guests a enjoy your time together!

She Who Loves Holiday Parties

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Here are some quick and easy tips for streamlining your tree decorating process!

If you have an artificial tree, pull on a pair of gloves before you ever pick up an artificial branch. If you are like me, those branches can be really rough on your hands. Mine usually end up looking like I’ve wrestled with a wild cat by the time I get done. I used my rose-pruning gloves and they worked like a charm.

For live trees, put down a plastic tablecloth before you bring in the tree. This will keep any spills, drips or leaks from soaking into your floor. It also provides a convenient way to trap the loose needles and get them outside the house.

Make sure you have plenty of lights for the tree. Instead of winding strands of lights around the tree, weave them back and froth in branches going from the base to the tips. This creates a whole new level of depth to your tree as the lights shine from within and without. Instead of taking light strands around the tree, I take them around back, then loop back toward the front. When you are ready to remove it goes a lot faster and easier.

Hang small, fragile, light-weight ornaments at the top with mid-size ornaments in the middle and the heavy ornaments toward the bottom. If you have little ones or pets that can’t stay out of the tree, make sure your ornaments around the bottom are the non-breakable variety.

Use a big enough tree stand for live trees. If you don’t, you could be subject to the nightmare of your tree tipping over. Believe me when I say the sound of glass balls shattering in the middle of the night is not one to give you visions of sugarplums.

Keep live trees watered so they stay fresh as long as possible. Check the water level every few days.

My last piece of wisdom is to have fun with your decorating. Don’t worry if it doesn’t look perfect – let the kids enjoy their time decorating.

She Who Loves the Scent of Fresh Cut Trees

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