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Tips For Icing Cakes Like A Pro

www.lifeportsolar.com — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Baking and icing cakes can be a fun activity for an entire family. It’s a great way to build and/or maintain close relationships while satisfying your sweet tooth cravings. Learning exactly how to be a pro at icing cakes can be a bit challenging, however, there are a few tools and tips that might, with practice, help you gain some experience.
Frosting Cake Tips
First, it’s advised to bake a cake and slice the layers (assuming you are baking a layered cake). Next, you want to use the right amount of icing. Overdoing or under doing the frosting will make the cake look unsatisfying and not as yummy as expected. The frosting that you choose should be at room temperature, unless it’s cool whip of course. Next, begin with the filling and spread it over the first layer of the cake. Then, top it with the next layer. Continue doing this until all the layers are stacked. After doing this, it’s important to surround the cake with a thin layer of frosting. This is known as a crumb coat. You want to do this to make it easier to apply the last coating on the cake. After refrigerating the cake, you can apply the second coating on top of the hard crumb coat. Lastly, you can make designs and swirls on the cake for fancy decorations and when you are finished you can enjoy your wonderful creation!

How Baking Can Improve Your Mood

admin — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0000

What is the one thing you remember most about your grandma’s house? For most of us the answer would be the smell. It always smelled so yummy at grandma’s house. She was always baking something. Cookies, brownies, cake, it doesn’t matter what it was, there was always a yummy concoction baking at Grandma’s house. Why did she always bake? She knew that whenever she baked something it made her family happy.

One of the top tips when selling a house is to have cookies baking. The smell of baking makes people feel comfortable. It makes you feel safe, like you are at home. Baking the cookies helps them to feel like this could be their home.

Baking can improve your mood. It can be very therapeutic to make something that you know you and the rest of your family and friends are going to enjoy. Getting all the ingredients out, measuring them and combining them to make a perfect morsel for your mouth. Not to mention the smell. Talk about aroma therapy for a good mood. Smelling those baked goods takes you right back to a time when there were no worries. You can’t be in a bad mood when there are cookies around.

Are Cookie Appropriate At A Wake?

admin — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0000

When attending the wake of friends or family the main concern is that the closest family members keep up their strength. Typically, there are many different casseroles and main dishes that are brought to wake for the family members. While these dishes are great, sometimes the family can end up with too many main dishes and not enough bevergaes or deserts.

A welcomr change for the mourners could be cold cuts or deli trays. These would include a variety of meats, cheeses, and condiments. Everyone always enjoys cookies as well. A tastefully arranged cookie tray will offer a welcome change from the many casseroles and main dishes that are typically served at wakes. There are a number of companies that also offer cookie bouquets for any occassion.

Kids also love cookies. These younger members of families are usually overlooked when wakes occur. A death in the family can be especially hard for the children and some cookies or pizza or foods that the children will enjoy would be greatly appreciated. Cookies are an ideal means to not only convey condolences for the family’s loss, but also to cater to the sweet tooth of mourners and offer a comforting treat for any children that are in attendence.

Our Favorite Green-Living Shows on TV

www.lifeportsolar.com — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0000

We think it’s great you’re interested in solar energy and odds are you’re probably all about being eco-friendly in other parts of your life, are we right? Here are a few of our favorite Direct.tv shows that feature sustainable lifestyles as well as entertainment value
Roseanne’s Nuts: Roseanne Barr is back and she inexplicably now owns a macadamia nut farm in rural Hawaii. She’s all about alternative energy and her farm’s pretty organic in its own rights so tune in for some tips. But Roseanne, please take a shower.Planet Green: Discovery’s newest gem is a hallmark program that informs and explains ” it’s got everything you ever wanted to know about how to live green. Sustainable solar energy to wind power, it’s all here on Discovery.
Income Property: HGTV’s landlord show is surprisingly eco-conscious, but it is set in Canada afterall. Tune in for tips on green insulating, the best water heaters for your house and even green flooring ideas. It’s a treasure trove of information on how you can both live and build using friendly materials.

10 Ways to Reduce Sugar and Calories

admin — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0000

1. When baking cakes, cookies and muffins replace part of the oil and sugar with unsweetened applesauce to retain moisture while reducing calories and sugar.
2. Grilling or baking corn on the cob in the husk will make it so flavorful that no salt or butter is needed.
3. Use agave honey or stevia (a super-sweet plant-based sweetner) extract in place of about half the sugar for less calories when cooking and sweetening beverages. NOTE: Stevia is twice as sweet as table sugar with zero calories.Check out this link here.
4. Substituting plain Greek yogurt for sour cream when cooking and on baked potatoes equals less calories.
5. Use pureed vegetables in spaghetti sauces and reduce the amount of meat to reduce calories.
6. When making vinaigrette type salad dressings, switch the amount of oil and water. Your dressing will taste the same and have fewer calories.
7. Use a spray bottle for salad dressing to help with portion control and reduce calories.
8. Instead of frozen sugary treats, put fruit on a bamboo skewer and freeze for less calories and sugars.
9. Make your own breakfast syrup and substitute stevia or agave honey for part of the sugar.
10. Use a spray oil for cooking because you will use much less than when you pour it on.

Kitchen Gadgets Every Baker Must Have

admin — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0000

If you enjoy baking, you may feel limited depending on the type of kitchen gadgets you own. There are several kitchen gadgets you should have to making baking easier and more enjoyable.

A stand mixer is a great addition to any baker’s kitchen. You can add your ingredients with two hands since you don’t have to touch the mixer at all. Also if you have to walk away from your kitchen, your ingredients will continue to mix. A stand mixer also seems to mix the ingredients better than mixing with a hand mixer.

A food processor is another gadget that can help you with your baking. If you need something crushed into fine pieces, a food processor is the best gadget for that job. You can also use it in place of a blender as well.

Non-stick pans and baking sheets are essential so you can make sure that your food don’t stick to the pan. You can use non-stick spray but it can make your baked goods not taste as good.

Having good appliances in your kitchen will help making baking easier and more enjoyable. It will also insure that your baked goods turn out as good as possible.

How to Make a Cinnamon Rum Cake

www.lifeportsolar.com — Wed, 25 May 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Ingredients
1 box of golden butter cake mix
3 eggs, beaten slightly
3 tsp. rum extract
1 (8oz.) container sour cream