Red Footed Tortoise Cake

This is one of the photos I used as a reference for this cake.  Some have yellow on the head and others have red like this one.

This is the finished cake.  (This is not a sea turtle, but the birthday boy's favorite color is blue, so that's why the tortoise is on a a blue base.)








For a step-by-step look at what it takes to put this type of cake together, scroll down.

2-6" round stacked on top of 2-8" rounds.  Cut to more oval shape.

Covered in ganache.

Top view.

Rice crispy treats shaped for legs and head.  Base color gray fondant for the body.

Legs and head covered in fondant and attached.  Toothpicks for the legs and a skewer through the body and head.  (Better pictures of head later)

Tortoise place on fondant covered board and shell added.  Lines drawn on shell with sculpting tool.  Rolled paper towel is supporting the head while it dries so that it doesn't fall off.

Petal dust added for shading on shell and on the yellow parts of the head to make it look more real.  I really liked it like this.

Grooves panted with black food coloring.

Black and brown food coloring used for painting.

Red fondant pieces added to legs.

Maui Onion Pretzels

Target has a great bag of Maui Onion Pretzels.  I could eat the whole bag by myself in a day.  But I don't get to target very often, so I decided to make them at home.  The recipe is easy and I always have the ingredients in the pantry.  The sugar gives a subtle, but a nice contrast to the salty flavor.  I'm a little obsessed with flavored pretzels right now.  Fun and crunchy!  Buy the cheap store brand pretzels.

Maui Onion Pretzels

1 Tbsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp garlic salt
2 Tbsp onion powder
2 Tbsp sugar
1/2 cup oil
1 lb pretzel twists

Preheat oven to 200 degrees.  Mix the dry ingredients in a 1 gallon Ziploc bag.  Add oil and mix well.  Add the pretzels and shake well to coat evenly.  Pour into large dish or onto cookie sheet.  Bake for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes.  Let cool and enjoy!

Buffalo Ranch Pretzels

I love flavored pretzels, but most of the time they come in small packages, cost the same as a bag of chips, and even though they say there's 9+ servings in the bag, I can polish them off in a day or two.  I'm not proud of it, but my inner fat kid has very little self control when it comes to tasty, crunchy snacks. I buy the cheapest pretzels I can find, normally the store brand.


Buffalo Ranch Pretzels

1 lb bag of mini pretzel twists
6 oz of Frank's Red Hot
2 Tbsp melted butter (optional)
1 pkg of Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing mix

Preheat oven to 275.  Mix the Red Hot, butter and ranch powder in a 1 gallon ziplock bag (or a big bowl) until well combined.  Pour in the pretzels and shake well to coat.  Pour into a large roasting pan or large cookie sheet and spread them out evenly.  Bake 1 hr 15 min, stirring every 15 minutes.  Let cool in pan or spread on paper towels.  If they aren't crunchy enough when they are cool, put them back in the oven for another 15 minutes (every oven cooks a little different).

Frank's Red Hot and butter are used to make a traditional wing sauce, but you can leave the butter out of this recipe if you want to cut fat.

My favorite kitchen accessory

I, like many people, hate cutting onions.  My eyes will burn for hours after cutting an onion.  I searched online for ways to prevent the dreaded burn that always occurs.  I read that you can freeze the onions, refrigerate them, rinse them under water, rinse the knife under water, put a slice of bread in your mouth to catch the offensive fumes or even place a burning candle between the onion and yourself to burn off the fumes.  And if none of these work and your eyes start to burn anyway, stick your head in the freezer for a few minutes.  I've tried it all and nothing helps.  I go to bed hours later and my eyes are still watering like crazy.  I finally gave in and bought swim goggles.  Few have seen me in this lovely accessory, since I look like a dork, but several have asked for a picture.  So here goes nothing.  If not for these, I could never make my favorite onion soup without help.

  Please don't laugh too hard. I think it's totally worth it!

Garlic Onion Soup

French Onion soup used to be one of my favorites, but more and more often when I get it at a restaurant, it has little to no flavor.  I even had it once at a popular restaurant with a hair baked into my cheese.  Blech!  There used to be an Italian restaurant in Bloomington that had AMAZING garlic bread and a great onion soup.  Unfortunately, it closed :(  So I have been working on my own onion soup recipe ever since.  I have no idea what that soup tasted like anymore, but I think this recipe will keep me happy.  Can be eaten right away, but soup, like salsa, is always better the second day. Hope you enjoy!

Garlic Onion Soup
makes 5-6 cups

3 medium white onions, sliced into 1/4 inch slices
1/4 cup unsalted butter or olive oil
3-4 garlic cloves finely minced or grated
32 oz Swanson beef broth
2 cups water
2 beef bouillon cubes
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2-1 tsp Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning


Garlic cheese bread (optional, but great for dipping)

Slice onions.  Melt butter or heat oil in a large stock pot over medium heat.  Stir in onions, coating in butter or oil and put the lid on.  Cook until the onions are soft and clear, stirring occasionally to make sure they do not burn.  Add the garlic and stir, making sure that the garlic doesn't get to brown or it will taste burnt.  Pour in the beef broth and water.  Add in 2 bouillon cubes, Italian seasoning and Worcestershire sauce.  Bring to boil, then reduce heat to a simmer.  Simmer for 1 hour.  Add in 1/2 tsp of Tony Chachere's seasoning and taste.  Add additional if necessary.  I like it a little spicy, so I add a lot.  You can additional salt and pepper to taste.

I like to make a basic garlic cheese bread out of french bread, olive oil, garlic salt and mozzarella, baked in the oven until toasty and melty :)

To reduce the sodium, use 6 cups of low sodium broth instead of the 4 cups broth, water and bouillon. 

Also, Tony Chachere's makes a salt free version of their famous Creole seasoning.  I love their original Creole seasoning and use it frequently.  It's like a spicy seasoning salt and it is fairly cheep.

The Kid In Me

In the last year I've noticed quite a few novelty appliances popping up at places like Kohls and Bed Bath and Beyond.  Things like Cake Ball makers, Ice Cream Sandwich makers and Cupcake makers.  Most of these don't make any sense to me.  Why would anyone spend $25-50 on a machine that makes 8 cupcakes when they could buy a muffin tin at the store for less than $10?  And it's just one more thing taking up space in the kitchen.  But I have to say I was pretty excited when I opened a Cotton Candy Machine on Christmas.  The Hard and Sugar-free Cotton Candy Maker from Nostalgia Electrics uses pieces of hard candy to make cotton candy.  (The traditional cotton candy sugar or plain sugar can also be used.)  We unpacked it and heated it up.  We tried cherry Life Savers first.  It was amazing!  I've never had cotton candy with a flavor so intense.  Tonight I tried a peppermint candy cane mixed with a little sugar to make a it a little less intense.  Also very tasty.  Now I can't wait to get to the store and buy an assortment of candy.  I really want to try Warheads (which a friend suggested) because I think sour cotton candy sound delicious :)

Chocolate Candy Cane Triffle

I found Candy Cane flavored Jello Instant Pudding at the store and decided to make a dessert for Christmas using it.  I combined a few of my favorite sweets for this simple dessert.  This is a light dessert that's perfect after a heavy meal.

Chocolate Candy Cane Triffle

20 oreos, crushed
3/4 cup chocolate sauce
2-3.4oz pkgs Candy Cane flavored Jello Pudding
4 cups milk
1 angel food cake (I like Betty Crocker mix because it's so simple and cheaper than buying one at the store)
2 candy canes, crushed
8 oz cool whip
1/2 tsp peppermint extract (optional)

Tear the cooked angel food cake into 1 inch pieces and set aside.  Make the pudding according to the directions on the box.  If the flavor isn't strong enough, stir in the 1/4 tsp peppermint extract.  Set in refrigerator for a few minutes to soft set.  Put half of the angel food cake in a large bowl.  Sprinkle half of the crushed oreos on top.  Drizzle half of the chocolate sauce on top of the oreos.  Layer half of the pudding on top and spread it out.  Then spread half of the cool whip on top of the pudding.  Repeat the layers.  Put in the refrigerator for a few hours to set up.  Sprinkle crushed cane canes on top right before serving.  Serve chilled.  I have no idea how many servings this is. If you can't find candy cane pudding,  try vanilla pudding and add additional peppermint extract.