Sunday, September 23, 2012

Nutella Fudge

For Maiyo's 1st birthday, I wanted to focus on a desert table rather than a cake (which I'm not super fond of) so I made several yummy treats. One of which was nutella fudge!


So simple to make, this fudge came out really creamy, a bit more like truffle filling, but still held its shape like fudge. I'd say it was the best of both worlds.

A little sea salt on top really clinched this as a must keep recipe (I'm thinking christmas presents!) but it would be just as amazing without the salt, so you decide!

I found this recipe through Two Peas and their Pod, who found it on Tasty Kitchen. These are two great sites to check out!

Photos by my amazing friend Juanita Turner

Nutella Fudge
Makes ~130 3/4 inch squares

1 Tbsp Butter
1 can (14 Oz) Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 tsp Vanilla
8 oz Bittersweet Chocolate (I used 4 oz 100% and 4oz Milk) CHOPPED
1 C Nutella (Room Temp)
3 Tbsp Unsalted Butter (Room Temp)
Sea Salt

-Grease then line a 8x8 pan with parchment paper.
-In a double boiler (or glass/steel bowl) add remaining ingredients except for sea salt.
-Place on a sauce pan with 2 inches of simmering water, do not boil and do not let the bowl touch the water.
-Stir with a silicone spatula until thoroughly melted and well combined. 
-Pour fudge into prep'd pan and let sit ~1 hour.
-Sprinkle up to 1/2 tsp Sea Salt and refrigerate for at least 2 hours to set.
-Remove fudge by lifting parchment flaps and then cut with a hot knife into desired square sizes or cut shapes with a cookie cutter.
-2 ways to heat the cutting instrument: 1-running it under hot water or 2-fill a glass with hot water and dip it in. BUT make sure to quickly pat it dry as you do not want water on the fudge! 

*sorry for all the typos, blog post is a bit more readable now:-)

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Owls & Monkeys, My Baby Turns One!

Of course I wanted a very special celebration for my baby turning one, so I came up with a Monkey & Owl theme that went like this:


Monkey See, Monkey Do
We want to Hoot to You
That Baby Maiyo is Turing One
and We're going Bananas
cuz we Want You to Join the Fun!

Hoot Yes or Hoot No, cuz Baby Maiyo Wants to Know!


We had so many wonderful friends, new and old, come and enjoy a very warm sunny day in Corralitos, it was absolutely wonderful. Great food, yummy desserts, lots of games, plenty of fun areas for the kids, it was probably the best kids b-day party ever!
 

Thanks so much to my wonderful friends Dr. Goldi & Ben, for hosting us at your beautiful home and arranging the Boardwalk Game Lady (Thanks Trish!) to entertain all 25 kids (and some parents) in fun times. As they say the 1st birthday party is more for the parents, well with Ben taking over the BBQ and Trish entertaining with games, Ana & I really did get to enjoy ourselves and we had a blast!








Recipes of the individual treats to come soon, for now here's some pictures taken by the talented Juanita Turner!





Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Crazy Time & How to Cut a Mango

Hey, things have been crazy here. Lack of sleep for the last year has finally taken its toll on me this past month and my mommy brain has just gotten worse. I have lots of foodie stuff to blog about but I'm not sure that I'll be able to or when. And with Maiyo turning the big 1 next week, I'll be super busy making all kinds of cute stuff for the party, I just hope I can find time to blog about it afterwards.

So here's just a quick tutorial that someone asked me for and I hope you can follow along with the pictures. If not, send me a note and I'll fix it!