I’m not even going to pretend I know much about sports or the OSU football scandal but I do know there are plenty of fans that still need to be fed. How cool are these OSU cupcakes?

You pick the cake flavor and we color our classic vanilla buttercream icing grey. The letters are three pieces of white chocolate. They are sure to be the hit at your game day gathering.

And here’s something for you Cleveland Browns fans. Our ever popular meringues flavored orange and drizzled with milk chocolate.

And don’t forget our sugar cookies by the dozen can always be iced with your team’s colors.

For my son’s 2^nd Birthday I wanted to make him a 3D dump truck cake. I had never seen one before but I knew exactly what I wanted when I started searching online. I found an adorable one here http://sweetebakes.blogspot.com/search?q=dump+truck. To fully prepare myself for this ambitious project I sent her an e-mail asking some questions. She in turn offered to send me send me step-by-step instructions along with pictures as she was going to be making the cake again very soon. In just a few short days I had them and was excited to get started.

There were quite a few adjustments I needed to make to get the cake I wanted for the party. Most notably mine need to be covered in buttercream icing and hers was covered in fondant. Below are the directions for the cake I made.

 

1. Choose a storage container to use for your dump & decorate as desired. I used cardstock. Just be sure to cut the cardstock a little shorter than the dump as it will soak up the icing & look wet.
2. Bake  two 9×13 cakes. Let them cool fully. Wrap them in Saran & refrigerate. This makes them easier to carve/cut.
3. You will be layering them so cut them both the size you will need. I did mine 4.5×13 to accommodate the size of the food storage container I was putting on the back for the dump. Save the scraps as you will arrange those for the cab.
4. Assemble the two layers with a layer of icing in between.
5. Depending on the weight of what you are putting in the dump you may or may not want to use dowel rods to support the dump. I filled mine with Oreos that I put in the food processor & did not use dowel rods.
6. Decide what height you want the cab to be then cut two pieces that height by 4.5” (or whatever width you’re doing). Place them on their sides (so they are standing up rather than laying down like a piece of cake). Put them together with a layer of icing in between. Cut a third piece the same width but slightly shorter to make the nose & attach it with a layer of icing. **Note** I used less batter to make my 9×13 cakes resulting in thinner cakes so you may just need two scraps to make the cab.
7. Ice cake.
8. Decorate. Don’t forget the tail lights- I did!
9. Stick two Oreos together with icing for each tire. Stick to truck using a bit of icing.

Instead of ice cream I served vanilla pudding and scooped Oreo crumbs from the dump on top (Dirt Pudding). Here’s the pudding recipe.

½ bag of 14 oz package of Oreo cookies

2 (3.5 oz) packages of vanilla instant pudding

3 c. milk

1 c. powdered sugar

1 (8oz) package cream cheese

¼ c. butter or margarine

1 (12 oz.) container of Cool Whip

Mix pudding mix and milk together, set aside.

Mix sugar, cream cheese and butter.

Add sugar mixture to pudding; fold in Cool Whip.

Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Serve with Oreo cookie crumbs on top.

Makes 6 servings.

Please feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions!

As of April 4 Mezza Mediterranean Cuisine in Westlake will make No Nuts products available to its customers. Being in Columbus I have not yet had the opportunity to dine there. But it does have some impressive credentials.

They were voted Best Mediterranean 1^st place winner for the 2009 Best of the Cleveland Hot List. Aladdin’s Eatery came in 2^nd place. This ranking speaks volumes to me as far as how yummy the food must be. One of the things I miss about my home in Cleveland is the close proximity to Aladdin’s. I was never familiar with any other Mediterranean restaurants. Well, now I know there is another AND it’s better than Aladdin’s! You can bet I’ll make a point to get there during a weekend visit to town.

They also received 4 out of 4 stogies from cleveland.com. Among several positive points concerning the food and the establishment, the writer mentions how delicious his gyro was (“…the best I’ve ever eaten, no contest.”) and that it didn’t leave him feeling blah and heavy afterwards, but rather “fresh and energized.” 

And probably the review that has made the biggest impression on me is that of my step-dad. He is the least adventurous eater I know. My 4-year-old has a more sophisticated palette than him. To give you an idea how simple he likes to keep it for his taste buds- his favorite restaurant is Bob Evans and his cereal shelf in the panty is every grade schooler’s dream- Cap’N Crunch, Fruity Peebles, Lucky Charms, everything that I haven’t had in about 25 years. My mom, however, has different tastes and coaxes him to different restaurants in the hopes they can both find something they like. That’s what brought them to Mezza one day and it resulted in a dining victory. He actually got up the nerve to try fatoush and loved it! Now it’s a staple in their dining repertoire.

Try it out for yourself…and save room for dessert! 

Mezza Mediterranean Cuisine

Kensington Square

28743 Center Ridge Rd.

Westlake, OH 44145

Monday-Saturday 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.; Closed Sunday

440/892-2220

Remember when birthdays were just one day? Now it seems that birthdays, like many holidays these days, are stretched out over longer periods of time. Gianna’s 4^th birthday was no exception. In all, preparations & celebrations spanned 6 days. Pretty cool when you’re 4.

Her birthday was last Saturday but I got things going the Tuesday evening before. Wednesday was to be the first celebration to mark her 4^th birthday. She was celebrating with her preschool friends & teachers. I, of course, being the proud mama of the birthday girl, had snack duty. Gianna is one of two children in the class with a food allergy. Her classmate is allergic to eggs and milk so I made some delicious chocolate cupcakes with vanilla icing- all nut free, egg free and dairy free.

It’s one thing not being able to have something your 11 friends get to have but could you imagine not being able to get your hands on a chocolate cupcake when all your classmates are enjoying them right in front of you? I’m sure it’s not that dramatic or devastating to them. I actually think we as parents worry more about it than they do. Gianna seems to have some understanding of her allergy and how important it is to avoid certain foods and therefore rarely seems bothered by having to pass something up but I wanted everyone to join in.

The next day, Thursday, was more low-key birthday-wise. The family went to our usual Thursday night activity- “cherub choir” for the kids at our church. Celebrating a birthday there means standing up in front of the choir with birthday cake sunglasses on while everyone sings “Happy Birthday To You.” You then get the coveted responsibility of passing out the snack to all your fellow choir members. 

Friday was uneventful for her but the birthday was gaining momentum in my world, with the actual birthday being Saturday and her party on Sunday. I started getting the house ready, picked up her birthday gifts and once she fell asleep we decorated her room with balloons, streamers, and a sign.

Saturday! This was the day! You’re actually 4 now! She’s a lot like me when it comes to showing certain emotions. Despite being sincerely excited at times, I’m not good at showing excitement no matter how much I like something. So needless to say we received less of a reaction than we were hoping for when she first laid eyes on her decorated room and her shiny new princess bike. We knew, of course, that she loved them both. And that was how she spent her actual birthday- riding her new bike and playing with the balloons in her room. With those things keeping her occupied I was able to spend time getting the meal and princess cake prepared for the party.

 

Sunday! This was the day (again)! The perfect end to long birthday extravaganza. All her favorite people attended her party- some of her cousins and one of her best girlfriends, grandparents, and her aunt all came over to celebrate. Her friends and family showered her in all things princess.

That evening I eagerly awaited bedtime for the kids. I was really looking forward to some R&R after almost a week’s worth of hoopla. Her final words before going to bed that night put things into perspective. “Mom, I love my family. Can they come over again sometime?” Alas, the final moments of her birthDAYS and there was a glimpse of the excitement we had worked so hard to evoke in her. Older and wiser? Maybe. Probably just young enough to easily cherish the simple, yet most important things. Thanks for the reminder big girl.

Happy March everyone! We thought this would be the perfect month to introduce our newest meringue cookie flavor- Mint Chocolate! It is a mint flavored meringue cookie partially dipped in milk chocolate with a light sprinkle of large sugar crystals.

I obviously think everything on our menu is great tasting but these are currently my personal favorite. It’s few and far between that I indulge in ice cream nowadays but these take me back to being a kid when I could eat a giant bowl of mint chocolate chip ice cream (my all time favorite) whenever I wanted. Now that I’m more mindful of my dessert intake these are a great option because the light and crispy texture satisfies my sweet tooth without that heavy, blah, boy-I’ve-overdone-it feeling afterwards.  Lately, these meringues, along with a mug of hot chocolate have been my perfect nightcap during these cold Ohio winter nights.

Initially we introduced strawberry meringues as a February offering only. Some of you let us know that you wanted them available beyond February so we are listening. Both the strawberry meringues and mint chocolate meringues will be available year round on our menu. We’re sure you’re going to be just as impressed with our mint chocolate flavor. $6/4 oz. (about 16-19 cookies)

I am a little late getting to this as it was signed into law January 4, 2011 but it is a major milestone in the food allergy community so it is definitely worth sharing. FAAMA will:

1) Require the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services to develop and make available to schools a voluntary policy to manage the risk of food allergy and anaphylaxis in schools.

2) Provide for school-based food allergy management incentive grants to support implementation of food allergy management guidelines in public schools.

FAAMA was largely written by the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN) and originally introduced to Congress in 2005. For those not familiar, FAAN is a nonprofit organization dedicated to issues concerning food allergies. They are a trusted source of information and resources. This year marks 20 years of raising public awareness, providing education, advocating for food allergy safety, and supporting research. If you have a food allergy or are managing one you should definitely add the FAAN website to your favorites. It is one of my “go to” places for information and resources and I feel like I am better prepared with the information I acquire from their site.

Below I have copied over a statement from Chris Weiss, VP of Advocacy and Government Relations for FAAN regarding the passage of FAAMA:

FAAMA will lead to the much-needed creation of national food allergy management guidelines for schools. While these guidelines are voluntary, they will provide schools without existing food allergy management policies with a valuable resource.

These policies are critical to help educate school officials about food allergy, a potentially life-threatening medical condition, and help them implement emergency plans in case a severe reaction occurs on school grounds. Studies have shown that up to 25% percent of reactions in school occur in children with previously undiagnosed food allergy.

Earlier this month, a fatal reaction occurred at a school in Chicago, allegedly due to food that was consumed at school.

The guidelines will also benefit parents of children with food allergies, who are looking for a vetted resource to help them safely manage their childs’ food allergies in the school setting.

Written in collaboration with FAAN, the national guidelines will not supersede existing or pending state laws or guidelines concerning schools and food allergies. The FAAMA guidelines should be seen as a complement to existing guidelines created as a result of other legislation.

This tremendous accomplishment was made possible by the thousands of individuals who advocated for this legislation and many elected representatives who co-sponsored FAAMA over the years, most notably Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.), whose daughter has a food allergy, and Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), who has a grandchild with a food allergy.

We celebrate the passage of FAAMA today, but our work is not done. FAAN will continue to work diligently to raise awareness, educate others, and advocate on behalf of the millions of Americans with food allergy and anaphylaxis.

I’d personally like to thank all of you who took the time to contact your Senator(s) and Representative in support of FAAMA, along with the hundreds of families who attended the FAAN Kids’ Congress on Capitol Hill in 2005, 2007, and 2009. We couldn’t have done it without you.

 

How pretty are these? Don’t they just scream “Happy Valentines Day!”? Now until the big day these are available in 3 or 6 packs and with or without colored hearts. $3/3  & $6/6 without colored chocolate or $4.50/3 & $9/6 with colored chocolate.

What a monumental dessert experience for Gianna over the weekend. I’m sure just about any dessert is a highlight in the day of a soon-to-be 4-year-old but Saturday’s dessert was just as exciting for me. Her first peanut butter cookie! A faux peanut butter cookie, that is. She doesn’t even know the taste of peanut butter (can you imagine?) but we do and we were amazed at how much this tasted like the real deal. Here’s the real kicker- this faux peanut butter cookie is also free of all the major food allergens. That means it’s a milk free, egg free, wheat free, soy free, peanut free, tree nut free cookie!

So how did we magically make it taste like peanut butter without using any peanut or tree nut products? It has more to do with Sunbutter Sunflower Seed Spread than magic. Sunbutter is our family’s peanut butter. There are a variety of sunflower seed spreads out there but I find it to be the best value and it satisfies our peanut butter cravings with a look, feel, and taste very similar to peanut butter.

We began our baking journey as a way to include Gianna into special occasions that she was sometimes left out of from a dessert standpoint. We want to continue on the path of inclusiveness so that people affected with any of the other major food allergies can also enjoy our desserts. We’ve started out with what we know best, avoidance of peanuts and tree nuts in baking, and now were on to researching and experimenting with complete allergen-free baking. Soon the faux peanut butter cookie will be added to our menu and it is our goal to continue to add more “everything free” products in 2011.

Since we’ve learned so much on our baking adventures recently I thought I’d share with you some of the information we found useful. Listed below are some good and easy substitutes if you should need to do any egg free cooking or baking.

• 1 tbsp cornstarch + 3 tbsp water = 1 egg
• 1 tbsp arrowroot flour + 3 tbsp water = 1 egg
• 2 tbsp potato starch = 1 egg
• 1 heaping tbsp soy powder + 2 tbsp water = 1 egg
• 1 tbsp soy milk powder + 1 tbsp cornstarch + 2 tbsp water = 1 egg.
• 1 banana = 1 egg in cakes.
• 1 tbsp milled flax seed and 3 tbsp water = 1 egg.
• 1 tsp gelatin dissolved in 3 tbsp boiling water = 1 egg

Our delicate melt-in-your-mouth cookies are heart-shaped and strawberry flavored for a limited time! They’re dressed up for your Valentine with milk chocolate and sprinkles. $6/4 oz. (about 16-19 cookies)

 

Now through the month of February our Red Velvet

Cupcakes with Cream Cheese icing are only $12/dozen.