Kevin's Birthday Cake

Today is Kevin's birthday (yes, his birthday is on the 31st and my Dad's is on the 30th). This year, I decided to try something a little different. Instead of going out to buy him a birthday cake, I will make one myself! Now, this can be a little bit tricky, since I have never baked a birthday cake, let alone work with fondant before. However, with some research on the Internet about working with fondant, a trip to Michaels to pick up all the stuff and inspiration from one of my favorite shows, Cake Boss, I started working on the cake 2 days ago.

My cousin (who is a pretty good in baking and stuff) told me that I should make the decorative pieces earlier, to give it enough time to harden. So, I made the ribbon, alphabets and stars two days before. I was a little afraid of working with fondant, but I found it to be pretty fun actually. Feels like playing with Play Doh! :P

The following night, I started to bake the cakes. I just baked some yellow cakes, nothing fancy at all. It turned out pretty good, nice and moist. So phew, that part turned out alright.

After letting it cool for a bit, I then chilled the cakes in the refrigerator overnight.

The following day, I took out the cakes and tried to shape and trim them. I have never done this before but I tried my best to get them as even as possible. It was a lame attempt, in my opinion, but oh well, that's the best I could do :P

Next was frosting the cake. Kevin wanted strawberry frosting, so strawberry frosting he got! No, I didn't make it from scratch. I just bought a tub of ready made whipped strawberry frosting and slapped it on. That was easy. I then proceeded to frost the outside of the cake and then started to work on rolling out of the fondant (to cover the cake). I find this to be the most difficult part. It's not really that easy to roll out the fondant and then to cover the cake with it. At that point, I was already preparing myself to run out to the local bakery to get a backup cake if this doesn't work out :P

Now the decorating. If you noticed, there is no photo in between the initial frosting and the decorating part. That's cause I was trying to get it right with the fondant and stuff, I totally forgot to take pictures! Powdered sugar was flying everywhere...boy, it was chaotic! I love the decorating part the best though, it's fun.

Here it is, the final product!! I guess it isn't the best and might look a little 'amateurish', but I'm just glad it worked out and I didn't have to run out to buy a last minute ready made cake...hahaha! As long as the birthday boy likes it, I'm happy!

Kevin cut his cake at around midnight last night. We will go out later tonight for dinner to celebrate his birthday. Havn't really decided where to yet though. I will blog about that later on. Now, anybody wants a slice of cake? :D

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KEVIN!!!

Kevin's Easy Meatloaf Recipe

It's the weekend again and it's time for another one of Kevin's recipes. This week, he will be sharing with all our readers an easy to make meatloaf recipe. It's really easy and fun (cos you get to get your hands all icky and messy :P) recipe to make. Enjoy!

To start off, place about 2 lbs of lean ground beef into a large mixing bowl. You can use ground turkey too if you like. Remember, the leaner the meat, the better it is for this recipe.

Add in one large onion that has been finely diced.

Then, pour in 2 lightly beaten eggs.

Next, add in one small can of tomato paste.

Now it's time to get your hands dirty. Mix all the ingredients together.

Once it's all mixed up, add in one packet of McCormick's Meatloaf Seasoning Mix.

Mix that into the meatloaf. Then, add in about 1/2 cup of milk.

This next part can be a little bit tricky. Add in some breadcrumbs. I cannot tell you how much to add in, you will have to eyeball it. Add in just enough so that it's not too watery but not too dry either. Start with a little and slowly add in more and more. It should be just enough for the meat to form a ball.

Mix everything up one last time and form the meat mixture into a oval shaped ball (about the size and shape of a small football).

Place the meatloaf into a meatloaf pan.

Then, spread some tomato ketchup on top of the meatloaf.

Pop it into a 375F oven for about 40 minutes.

After 40 minutes, take the meatloaf out and spread some more tomato ketchup on top of it.

Pop the meatloaf back into the oven for another 20 minutes or so. After that, allow the meatloaf to cool for about 5 minutes before taking it out from the pan. It should be nicely charred on the outside (that's the best part!).

Slice the meatloaf into thick slices and it's ready to be served! Kevin served it up with some herb mashed potatoes and corn on cob. The meat was juicy in the inside and nicely charred on the outside. Mmmm mmm mmmm....what a nice weekend dinner :D

Kevin's Mushroom & Onion Burgers

Kevin came home from work earlier than usual last Friday and said that he will make dinner for a change. Since it was the day before the 4th of July, he decided to make some hamburgers from scratch. This is Kevin's own recipe for mushroom and onion burgers.

First, he took out about 2lbs of ground beef and sprinkled some Montreal Steak seasoning on it.

Then he added a mix of Parmesan and Romano cheese.

Next goes in some breadcrumbs.

He then splashed on a few drops of Tabasco sauce, just a little for taste, not too much.

Lastly, he cracked in one egg to hold everything together.

Kevin then mixed everything evenly up in a large mixing bowl.

Next, he diced some fresh mushrooms into little pieces and added that to the mixture.

Then, add in one large onion that has been chopped to tiny pieces.

Mix everything together. At this point, do not be afraid to use your hands.

Kevin then split the meat mixture into 6 equal portions and shaped them into patties.

Set them aside once it's done. If the meat is too soggy from the egg, you can add in some more breadcrumbs. 2 lbs of ground beef should make about 6 large patties.

Now it's time to grill the burgers. Since we live in an apartment, Kevin had to use our George Foreman grill. It would have been so much more yummier if it was grilled on a charcoal outdoor grill :P Oh well...

While the burgers are on the grill, Kevin chopped up more onions and stir fried them in some butter.

He then added in some sliced mushrooms.

He cooked them up until they were nice and brown, then he set them aside.

Once the burgers are done, remove them from the grill and place them on a plate.

Scoop the mushrooms and onion mixture onto the burgers.

Place a slice of cheese on top and allow it to melt. You can pretty much use any type of cheese that you like but Kevin used Provolone.

You can toast/brown some Kaiser rolls in the oven and put on whatever condiments that you like. We just slapped on some mayo and a few slices of tomatoes.

Place the burgers on the Kaiser roll and top it up with a few squirts of ketchup.

There you go. Kevin's big and juicy mushroom and onions burger! We ate it with a side of red potato salad and some macaroni salad. Mmmm mmmm mmm....it was so yummy!

After dinner, we each had a slice of red velvet cake that we bought in the bakery earlier on. What a yummy dinner to kick off our 4th of July weekend! :D

Country Chicken, Mash & Biscuits Bake

We were walking around Walmart the other day when we came across this. Banquet's Homestyle Bakes. It's a one stop dinner kit that requires only 5 minutes of prep time!

What's even better? It cost only $3.00 for the whole kit! Kevin said that he will make dinner for us that night and chose the Country Chicken, Mashed Potatoes and Biscuits flavor.

This is what's in the box. One packet of biscuit mix, one packet of mashed potatoes mix and a can of creamy gravy with white meat chicken. Here is Kevin showing you how easy it is to make this homestyle bake!

Firstly, pour in the mashed potato flakes into a 8x8 baking dish.

Add in 1 and a half cups of hot water.

Mix it all up until it is well blended and spread it evenly with a spoon.

Pour in the can of creamy gravy with white meat chicken over the potatoes.

In a separate mixing bowl, add in the biscuit mix and 1/2 cup of water.

Mix it together until it forms into biscuit dough.

Drop 9 spoonfuls of biscuit dough onto the gravy. Please excuse the uneven size and shape of the dough balls. Kevin says that it doesn't have to look nice, it only needs to taste good (what a typical guy :P)

Pop it in a 400F oven for 30-35 minutes.

Once it's done, allow it to stand for about 5 minutes before serving.

Here we go. Instant (well, almost instant) Country Chicken, Mashed Potatoes and Biscuits Bake. Didn't Kevin do a good job in making dinner? It tasted really good too! We each had a large portion for dinner and there was even enough leftovers for lunch the next day! All that for $3! Definitely a great deal :D