Pi Pie

Happy Pi Day! A Cinnamon Caramel Apple Pie for 3.14.  I wish I could have gotten a picture of the bottom, because I have cinnamon swirled into the crust from a recipe I found via http://www.ohnuts.com/blog/2012/11/cinnamon_bun_pecan_pie_recipe_1.html , but I didn't want to cut into the pie since I'm taking it into work (I realize now that's what glass pie pans are for...).  

The crust is refrigerated Pillsbury pie crust, and for the top, I cut the slits and baked it for 15 minutes as per box instructions.  After baking for 15 minutes, I took the pie out of the oven, covered the top with an egg wash, covered the edges with tin foil so they didn't burn, and stenciled the pi symbol with cinnamon. The recipe from ohnuts.com is for a pecan pie, but I added my own filling, so I only baked it for another 30 minutes. 

But it turned out so cute! Everyone does St. Patrick's Day treats, so I thought I'd change things up a bit and do something for Pi Day. 

Cucumber Flowers

My take on cucumber flowers. I thought I'd found the instructions on how to do the flower on the right through a post on Facebook, I managed to save a picture, but can't remember where the original came from.   But here it is:

To me, it looks like they used only an English Cucumber, but for mine, I used 1 English cucumber and 1 regular cucumber. You just very carefully cut slits into the side of a halved cucumber, and then arrange the pieces to make the flower.  It's simple, but a little time consuming.
For the cucumber on the left, I found a video on Youtube.  Here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-68EjDOPTU.
All in all, it took me about 1.5 hours to do the whole plate, but I was happy with the results.  My coworkers loved it.

Chicken Bacon Phyllo Cups

This is a really simple appetizer or party food for an event.  I made these for a movie night with friends and they were really popular, especially with the guys.  This recipe used a lot of pre-made grocery items, but it was something I didn't want to spend too much time preparing.

For the phyllo cups, I just bought a box of the ready-made ones in the freezer section. (Just be careful that the  box doesn't get crushed among the other groceries.) Bake the phyllo according to the instructions on the box and then set aside to cool.  For the filling, I used regular Wholly Guacamole, shredded cheese, and shredded chicken, about equal parts of everything..  I also added a little bit of sour cream, about a 1/2 cup to make the mixture creamier, but really it's up to you on what kind of consistency you're looking for.  Place the mixture into a piping bag and pipe into phyllo cups. Top with crumbled bacon.

Halloween Pudding Cups

Cute Halloween pudding cups! Basically, I took clear plastic cups and drew the faces on the inside of the cup with chocolate and the end of a lollipop stick.  Once the chocolate has set, you can add whatever flavor of pudding you choose, in this case, I used cheesecake for the cute set and pistachio for the monster set.  Afterwards, I crumbled Oreo cookies on the top to finish it off.  Really simple, but super cute for a Halloween party.

Monster Pudding Cups

Kawaii Puddding Cups

Fruit Tray

Watermelon, grapes, honeydew, cantaloupe, strawberries, and blueberries.  I love the way watermelon looks stacked together!  This was a fruit tray done for a friend's party.

Birthday Cake Pops

My friend's 40th birthday was last weekend, and I helped set up a candy bar for her party. Cake pops aren't exactly my favorite thing to make, but she specifically asked for them, so I made them. But in the end, I thought they turned out really well.

                        

                             Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Cake Pops     

Her colors were pink, brown, and white, so the strawberries were dipped in different colored chocolate, and then rolled in coconut, walnuts, or drizzled with chocolate.  The cake pops were also done with pink, brown, or white chocolate.