Fruit Pizza

• We had a potluck at work today.
• I was just going to bring fruit, but decided to go an extra step to make a fruit pizza.

• Preheat the oven to 350 degree's.
  
• The crust is from my sugar cookie recipe. You can use any one batch of sugar cookie dough, or even buy a mix from the grocery store.
  
• I used a fork to make a hatching pattern on the crust before I baked it. Bake it until it is a slight brown. I found that it did take a little longer cooking it then when I make cookies. It's just thicker. For cookies it takes 8 to 10 minutes in the oven, for Fruit Pizza it took double that. Watch it carefully!
  
• Let it cool.
• Set out one 8 ounce package of cream cheese ahead of time, so it has a chance to soften. Add a 1/4 cup sugar, and 1 Tablespoon of vanilla. Use a fork to mash up the cream cheese, stir it all together and spread it on the crust. I found that a rubber baby food spoon works great to spread the cream cheese mix out.
• Next is the fun part...adding the fruit!
• I like to use 3 or more fruits, but this part is entirely up to you. I think Kiwi in particular is a pretty fruit on the inside, so I like to add that.
• You can paint on frozen juice concentrate. Any juice is fine. I skipped this. I find that adding this on top is fine if you know it's all going to be eaten. But...if there is left overs, the frozen juice concentrate starts to seep into the crust making it mushy.
  

Blog Award

• I won my very first blogging award!
• I'd like to thank Foodie Mommie for the award! I'm now following her blog and have her button on my side bar. I love how her blog is geared towards whole foods and making things from scratch! Thank you Elizabeth Porter from Foodie Mommie!

I'm supposed to tell my readers 7 things about myself...

1. I have 2 boys: Mica is almost 5 years old and Isaak is 2 years old. Mica is the outgoing one and Isaak's the shy one (at least around people he doesn't know).
   
2. I really didn't know what to do with boys. I was raised with all sister's and a dad that didn't get into sports. My mom has all sister's as well. I thought my first son was going to be a girl for sure. I do love my boy's. Building Thomas train tracks are fun and my youngest loves dolls, so we have something in common.
   
3. I have a family full of nurses and artists. 8 nurses in all (I think I counted right) ;) and 3 artists.
4. I like to decorate my baked things, more then the baking part.
5. I'm a college art instructor.
6. I'm a doll lover. I have 4 of the American Girl dolls, and they are the reason I got into reading when I was a kid. I love the illustrations in their books!
7. I love decorating rooms. From the painting down to the items that go in it. It's fun!

The next cool thing about winning this award, I get to pass it on to 15 bloggers whom I recently discovered and think are fantastic! (I picked blogs that most inspire me;)

1. The Jolly Kitchen
2. Nie and You
3. Color Outside the Lines
4. A Fanciful Twist
5. Thoughtful Day
6. Today's Creative Blog
7. Poppy Talk
8. Sweetopia
9. Bakerella
10. Mel's Sweet Treats
11. Annie Eats
12. 2Modern Design Talk
13. Happy Little Studio
14. Fifi Lapin
15. Le Chateau des fleurs by Frenchy
    

Tie Cakes

• I got an email from Matt, he has a blog named tiepedia.
• Recently he put together a post that included tie cakes.
• I included a few pictures of these cakes that are very fun!
• After looking at these go to Matt's blog to read more.
  

Original Source Here

Original Source Here

Original Source Here

Original Source Here

Original Source Here

Original Source Here

Original Source Here

Original Source Here

Hungry Jack?

• Jolly Mom is giving away a whole breakfast package from Hungry Jack.
• My favorite thing in the package is the pan with the faces!
  

Bakeware Giveaway

• Two of a Kind contacted Wilton.

• Wilton emailed Two of a Kind back and said that they would send her the complete line of UltraGold Bakeware to give away!
• That's $180 worth of bakware!

Another Sassy Apron Giveaway

Go Graham Go is giving away the Kirkland's "Sassy" pink and black apron pictured in the previous post that says, "Everyone has there own price, mine is chocolate."

Sassy Apron's

• Jolly Mom is giving away a "Sexy Women Have Messy Kitchens" Sassy Apron from Kirkland's.
• It's the black apron lined with teal, and white polka dots.
  

Puppy Cake

• Here's one of the puppy cakes I decorated last night.
• It's for Isaak's birthday.
  

Pudding Cups - A Mother's Day Treat

• I wanted to do something special in the kitchen for Mother's Day.
  
• I found a recipe I wanted to try off of Bakerella. She got the recipe off of the book Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey Treats for Kids. Now I want this cookbook! :P
  

• My 4 year old Mica and I made Pudding Cups. It was a little challenging with an additional 2 year old around. He wanted in on all the action too, but is too little to be in on it.
• First I blew up the balloon's. Try and buy small ones, because mine were a little big.
  
• This is when it got crazy, Isaak and Mica were trying to grab the balloons and throw them around. Any that hit the floor I wasn't going to use because they were part of what we were going to eat.
  

• Then I put the chocolate almond bark on the stove to melt. I always put my smaller pan inside a bigger pan that has water in it. It acts as a double boiler. Be careful not to have too much water! If water boils and splashes into the chocolate, your chocolate will end up in the trash.

• Lay out waxed paper. Put a spoon full of melted chocolate on the wax paper in different spots, enough for your balloons to have the spacing they will need. Let the spots be until they are almost cool.
• Dip the balloons in the chocolate. This was fun. I wouldn't let Mica do this part because it's messy and the chocolate is hot. You should dip them in good, so that they will be bowl shaped in when they are popped.
  

• Let them cool! Don't get in a hurry to pop them, because you'll have a mess of chocolate on your hands. If you do have any that are messed up. Crumble the chocolate back up to put in the pan to make another one.
• Once they are cool, pop the balloons. Mica LOVED doing this!
• Remove the popped balloon gently.
• On a few of them I had to put a dab of chocolate in the bottom of the chocolate bowls.
  

• Next...make the pudding. I cheated and used instant to quicken the process. Mica likes using the hand mixer.
• I added a heaping spoonful of melted peanut butter, which tasted good.

• I poured the pudding right into the chocolate bowls.

• Last...but not least I sprayed on whipped cream with added sprinkles. I didn't give Mica too much whipped cream! :)
• He LOVED it! Isaak loved his after dinner. He shared one with me. :)
  

• Isaak and my Grandma that has Alzheimer's disease had a look of surprise in their eyes when I ripped off the chocolate from their bowls, for them to eat. :)

Flowers, Candy, or Something Else

• Jolly Mom is giving away a $50 gift card to 1-800-FLOWERS.COM
• I really like Mother's Day Belgian Chocolate Oreo® Cookie Tin.
• How yummy! :P
  

Flirty Apron Giveaway

• Another Flirty Apron Giveaway is going on at My Wee View!
• How I love their cute apron's!
  

Bake it Pretty

• Bakerella is having a $50 gift certificate to Bake it Pretty. I seriously could spend so much at this store! Everything is so cute!
• Look at these cute edible buttons! I want some!
  

• They also have all kinds of packaging supplies for bakers. How fun is that?

Green Giant "Seeds of Change" Giveaway

A Giveaway Addicted Mommy is giving away a Seeds of Change Prize Pack (pictured above) from Green Giant and MyBlogSpark (one VIP coupon valid for a free package of Green Giant frozen vegetables, in addition to a mini herb garden, an eco-friendly bamboo utensil set, and a 100% recyclable grocery tote)

Sweet Giveaway

• A Give Away Addicted Mommy is giving away a Spring Sweet Treats" prize pack from Betty Crocker and Safeway (one VIP coupon valid for a free Betty Crocker product, in addition to a silicon baking pan, stainless steel mixing bowl, oven mitt, Betty Crocker mixing spoon, and a $25 Safeway gift card).

Lemon Cake Eggs

• Happy Easter! Instead of making Red Velvet Cake Balls, I made Lemon Cake Eggs.
  
• I just made a lemon cake, let it cool, mashed it up, added a whole container of lemon frosting, used a small scoop to scoop it into balls and put it in the freezer. Later I took the mixture out of the freezer, rolled them into eggs (this is easier to do when the mix is cold, otherwise it's too sticky), then dipped them into chocolate and white almond bark. I attempted to squirt cooking chocolate mixed with water using a new toothbrush on the eggs to make them speckled, but that made the eggs sticky. I whipped the speckles off.