o try a cake that was a little bit better for you than the standard cake. I started scouring the internet and stumbled across this cake recipe that had hundreds of glowing reviews and thousands of people saved the recipe..and did I mention it's gluten free! I have to say I was most intrigued. I LOVE my chocolate so when I read a flourle
The Absent Minded Baker.....
...and wife, mother, artist.
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Garbanzo Bean Chocolate Cake
o try a cake that was a little bit better for you than the standard cake. I started scouring the internet and stumbled across this cake recipe that had hundreds of glowing reviews and thousands of people saved the recipe..and did I mention it's gluten free! I have to say I was most intrigued. I LOVE my chocolate so when I read a flourle
Popsicle!
So I've been feeling under the weather lately, but now it's time to catch up on my recipes! On September 14th my beautiful daughter turned two! Each day with her brings new surprises and challenges to what my definition of being her mommy means. She is like her daddy; a burst of beaming energy from the moment she wakes up in the morning. She eats like my husband too (lots of little meals). She loves breakfast food, fruit, and variety so I'm constantly trying to think of new ways to reinvent her favorite foods. Here are 2 sneaky non-baking recipes for her favorite "ice cream". Anything put in Popsicle molds is "ice cream" to my daughter and I'm going to milk every minute of this phase until she gets wise!
Friday, September 9, 2011
Happy Birthday Brian
On Wednesday my family celebrated my little brother's 26th birthday at Citizen's Bank Park watching the Phils sweep the Atlanta Braves. Whooohoo!! When it comes to family events my mom and I often split the baking duties; she makes her yummy cakes and I decorate them. Years ago, we took a cake decorating class at A.C. Moore. It was a brief class on learning how to use fondant. If you aren't familiar with the product it's basically like edible play doh...though if you asked me when I was a kid, I thought all play doh was edible. It is not. It is salty and disgusting, children don't try it. Fondant however is like eating a sugary taffy. There is designer fondant that apparently tastes like tootsie rolls and there is a recipe for marshmallow fondant somewhere in my files- Note to self: try these in the future. Anyway, in the pictures above and below you can see the phils hat, baseball, and jersey are all made from the fondant. I also used Wilton spray food coloring for the sides of the cake. Easy to use, great coverage, but WARNING it gets everywhere! I didn't realize it until
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Meet the critics
Number 1- My husband! Jonathan, age 31, gym rat and a healthy eater, but will on occasion indulge his sweet tooth or good old Italian roots. When we first started dating I read the book Your Diet is Driving Me CRAZY. That was in 2004 and I’m pleased to say we’ve found our happy medium in the kitchen. Lots of veggies and lean protein is the way to this man’s heart.
Number 2- Layla, my soon to be 2 year old. She eats like her Dad; many little meals throughout the day. The key to keeping her pleased is variety. She loves her fruits like her mama and cheese…though lots of that definitely doesn’t agree with her.
Number 3- Cara, our four year old Newfoundland. Cara is as sweet as
can be and always in the center of the kitchen or under the table. Newfs are a smart breed and she knows that where Layla is there is sure to be food nearby. Keeping in mind the list of no no foods for dogs, the only thing she won’t eat is bananas. She will eat her own vomit if I let her, but not bananas? I find this hysterical.
As for myself, I think the list of things I’m allergic to is longer than the list of my don’t likes. I can’t eat walnuts, pecans, or hazelnuts so you will often see substitutions or omissions if those are called for in a recipe. I had an allergic reaction to MSG and soy in college so I watch for both of those ingredients. I’m not a fan of veal or lamb. Since we’ve gone Organic/ Grass Fed our meat consumption has decreased quite a bit. We are also a no HFCS household. The more we read ( I should say Jon-but he gives me the Cliff notes version) the more we are moving toward local farm fresh.
Welcome
My name is Jackie Chain. I am 28 years old, have my own mural business (Jackie Chain Murals LLC), have a learning disability (forgive my grammar), a wife, mother, part of a very large Irish/Italian family, volunteer with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, a Zumba and Yoga girl, and clean freak-as much as you can be with a 2 yr old and a shaggy dog. I love being outside- especially the beach, painting/drawing, glittery/sparkly things, chocolate, martinis, learning new crafty stuff and experimenting with recipes.
I wasn't born with a great memory…which I swear got much worse after having my daughter. Often the phone is ringing, my husband and I are attempting a conversation, our 125 lb Newfoundland is laying in the middle of the kitchen floor, and my beautiful 2 year old is climbing my leg...all while I'm attempting to bake. This scenario often led to "wait what was I doing" “did I add that ingredient” and "where did I put that recipe?" and thus the idea of this blog was born!
I think that is all you need to know about me…Our life in the Chain household is often described as crazy busy so I will do my best to keep the posts brief. There will be a mix of baking, art, and undoubtedly my adventures in motherhood. If you happen to stumble across my blog and want to join the fun- please do! And off we go!