Happy year of the horse! My 8 year old daughter is in the Chinese immersion program at school, so we might be a little more enthusiastic than others about all things Chinese.  This year Chloe made a lion mask out of a copy paper box lid for the school celebration (her own design - she wanted the "biggest eyes with the tiniest mouth and no nose, because that's how you make something adorable." She compromised and added an itty bitty nose.) She's also practicing to do a stick dance.  I can't wait to see it!

But all this Chinese New Year celebration has just served as a reminder of a REALLY long over-due to-do list item for me.  Last YEAR, in February, I hosted my book club, and served Chinese food.  After, I promised to post recipes.  I never did :(  So sorry ladies! Today felt like the perfect time to rectify that...since I pulled out those recipes to make for dinner tonight.
Before I get to the recipes though, a quick note about my book club.  It happens to be THE GREATEST BOOKCLUB IN THE HISTORY OF EVER! We pick our books to try and suit the month we read them (and if they don't, we come up with really excellent off-the-wall reasons to make the book fit). And we make the food fit the book.  It is amazing the treats these women come up with to work in with what we've read. Which is why I was making Chinese food.  I tried to do some Japanese food as well, but only managed to find some candies.  The book?  The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet.  Love this book!  Love, love.

Now for some recipes:

Homemade Sweet  Sour Sauce (and you'll never go back to store bought!)
1c pineapple juice (I use a can of crushed pineapple because I like it chunky)
1/2 c ketchup
1/4 c vinegar
1/2 c brown sugar
1 Tbsp corn starch

-Combine pineapple juice (or can of pineapple, depending on preference), ketchup, vinegar, & sugar in sauce pan
-Stir until blended
-Cook over med. heat stirring constantly until sauce boils.
-Dissolve corn starch in 1/4 c water and add to sauce.
-Cook, stirring constantly, until sauce boils and thickens.

(see the lovely chunks of pineapple in the sauce? Makes it thick and yummy)

Meat Filling for Fried Wontons
1/2 lb ground pork loin
1/2 lb lean ground beef
2 eggs
1/2 c grated carrot
1 medium minced onion
3 cloves garlic, crushed (or 3/8 tsp of garlic powder)
1/2 tsp ginger
1 stalk scallions, chopped
1 dash sesame oil
1 Tbs brown sugar
1 can water chestnuts, chopped
1-2 packages wonton skins
soy sauce

-Combine all ingredients except eggs.
-Mix and marinade for at least 15 min.
-Beat eggs & pour over meat mixture.
-Mix for 5 min.

- Prep wonton wrapper by dampening two edges with water

-Fill center of wonton wrapper with meat mixture (about a heaping tablespoon or so per wrapper)

-Fold over wonton wrapper and press to close, using water on fingertips if necessary. (If wrappers are squares, your wrappers will now be triangles.  If they are circles, they will be half-circles) -Wontons can be left as triangles or half circles, or they can be folded into shapes, as shown:

-Fry wontons until golden brown

My kids' favorite part of the meal is the wonton chips.  Cut leftover wraps in half or thirds and fry them up.  They scoop up the chunky, homemade sweet & sour sauce in the most delightful way!

Chloe's very first request with her Merida party was the cakes.  Not the costume, not the bows & arrows - the cakes.  She wanted cakes EXACTLY like the one in the movie that Merida gives her mom.  Perfect - except she was SO picky and it had to be exact - and I have no clue how that fictional animated cake came to be.  I did exhaustive research into pastries, cupcakes, all sorts of variations.

There were failed experiments with cookie doughs and pastry - some looked ok, but were thick and brick-like, others were flat and ugly.  I was feeling silly and ridiculous for wasting so much time on a child's party, when I finally figured it out!  It isn't exact, but it's close enough to satisfy my Picky VonPickyPrincess.  It's basically a bundt recipe made in cupcake tins, which makes them so dense that the centers sink and the edges round out and become golden. These are SO, SO yummy! They taste a lot like buttermilk donuts somehow, with a slightly lemony flavor from the glaze.






"Magic" Merida Cakelettes
1 box yellow cake mix
1 3 1/2 oz box instant pudding mix (I used vanilla - could use lemon)
4 eggs
1/2 c oil

Blend all ingredients until smooth.  Fill greased cupcake pan with batter (a little more than 1/2 full for each cup).  Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes (fork needs to come out clean - make sure they're done, my first batch had extremely doughy centers)

Glaze
2 C powdered sugar
1/4 c lemon juice (scant fourth, don't over-do it)
1 Tbsp oil
1 Tbsp water

Mix glaze together while cakes are baking.

After cakes are done, remove to rack to cool slightly.  While they are still warm, dip/coat/drizzle with glaze.  Back to the wire rack for cooling thoroughly. (tip - put wax paper or something under the wire rack, as the glaze drips)

Filling
1 c chopped strawberries
1/4 c sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch

Combine ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over low to medium heat.  Boil on low for about 2 minutes until filling thickens, stirring constantly.  Remove from heat and cool.

Assembly
Some of the cooled and glazed cakes will have centers sunken enough to add filling to as-is, but most will require a little extra shaping.  Using a spoon, scoop out a small divot in the center of the cake.  Add  about a Tbsp of filling to each cake's center, keeping it neat and round as possible if trying for the Merida cake look-alike. (if not, no worries!)

To finish off food - Bear-shaped sugar cookies (I know, they should have been chocolate! I realized after the fact), and a basket of BRAVE fruit snacks for the littles rounded up the buffet.


For Decorations, draped dark brown burlap and plaid fabric look both rustic & Scottish.  Coordinated color napkins, etc, of course. I bought supplies to make clan banners, but settled for throwing up a few Brave posters we had on hand when we ran out of time. Oh, and I came up with a digital decor that was a huge hit.  Using my AppleTV, I downloaded a ton of pics from Brave and streamed them one of the slideshow options, together with celtic music from our iTunes.  It ran on the TV in the background and provided a constantly changing decor and atmosphere.

For Fun! Not much was necessary for entertainment after giving kids bows and arrows, but for the sake of fun and whimsy, we had to make the "magic" cakes actually turn the kids into bears, like it does in the movie.
Super simple craft: headbands from the dollar store, black cardstock, metallic markers that color on black, and a hot glue gun.
Kids cut out "ears" and decorated them with their markers to have fuzzy centers.  Some were silver, some were pink, some purple - really cute.  Then I just glued the ears to the headbands - right side of the ear to the wrong side of the headband, then folding the ear up to stand.  The kids loved them and were adorable too.

FINALLY - the Dress. 

I don't usually make a costume for a birthday party, but since Chloe's birthday lands a couple months before Halloween, it was the two birds - one stone scenario.  Luckily there is a pattern that works almost perfectly.  McCalls 5499 is excellent in every way except the sleeve. That was just some trial and error.  Some versions I've seen do a false elbow inset, but I found it just as easy to have the puffy sleeve underneath be a full sleeve with the over-sleeve attaching with strips at the shoulder, like Merida's does. Around the neck it is just a ruffle though, not a full shirt.

For more pics of the dress and cloak: Halloween Costume post

That's it! I did say that I had a ton more ideas though, and here are some of them that I ran out of time, energy, cash.....for. Still, I'll pass them along in case anyone is interested.  Super cute stuff!

This and other Merida Party Ideas

Disney printable and craft ideas - BRAVE themed

Bear mask, in case you prefer it to ears.

This is a bit of a departure for me - I've never posted a recipe before!  But when I put the picture of this silly cake on instagram, people started asking.  So here I go - venturing into the unknown.

My husband is Mtn Dew obsessed.  He doesn't drink it regularly enough for me to call him an addict - it's more like his special treat.  For Valentine's, instead of chocolate, he got Dew.  Said it was the best Valentine's EVER.

So when his birthday came up, I decided to surprise him with a Dew cake.  I looked at several recipes, and, as I usually do, ended up combining ideas from a bunch and then added my own twist.  Which is why I'm posting rather than just providing a link. (Not that the world needs one more Dew Cake recipe. I was surprised to find so many!)

The big difference between mine and every other recipe I saw is orange juice.  I didn't see any that included orange.  Lemon, vanilla, almond, even coconut - but no orange.  Yet Mtn Dew isn't a lemon-lime soda - it's orange based.  In fact, a friend of ours (also a Dew lover), told me that he remembers when Dew used to have orange pulp in it.  I don't add a lot of orange to this cake/glaze- and I think I'd like to even experiment more with upping that quantity (though the cake is already so moist I'll have to be careful about my liquid ratios), but the results are quite good.

Out of my 8 tasters, 5 say the cake tastes just like Dew.  The others say it doesn't, taste like Dew, but is one of the yummiest cakes ever.  I'll take that!  So without further ado:

Mountain Dew Cake:
1 box lemon cake mix
1  3.4 oz box lemon pudding mix
4  eggs
1 1/4 c Mountain Dew
2 tsp lime juice
1/2 c orange juice
1/2 c oil

Preheat oven to 325 if cooking in a bundt pan like I did. (Don't bother asking about different pans - I haven't tried yet so I don't have a clue!).  Spray and flour pan.

Combine dry cake mix with dry pudding mix. Add eggs, oil, lime juice and orange juice.  Very slowly add Mtn Dew. (V-E-R-Y slowly, unless you like cake mix foam all over your counter top).  Mix at medium until blended and there are no more lumps.

Pour into bundt pan and bake 45-50 min. (again, I'm clueless as to times for other sizes of pans - maybe follow directions on cake mix box?)

Let cake cool a bit (5 min or so) then turn onto plate or platter.  Cool a little more while making glaze, then poke holes in cake using a fork.

Glaze:

2 Tbsp butter

1/2 c sugar

1/4 c Mountain Dew

2 Tbs orange juice
1 tsp lime juice

Neon green food coloring (optional)

In a saucepan over low heat, melt butter.  Add sugar.  Stir to incorporate. SLOWLY add Mtn Dew, then add lime and orange juice.  Bring to a boil, turning up heat if needed, stirring often.  Boil for a few minutes until glaze is clear and begins to thicken to a syrup.  (At this point, I added a few drops of neon green food coloring to make it Dew colored.  It doesn't show up much on the exterior of the cake, but on the slices, it gives the edges a fun Dew-green halo)

Spoon glaze over cake previously perforated with a fork.  Cool cake completely before serving.  In fact, it's better the next day after sitting in the fridge overnight.

Final note, it may be overkill, but a dollop of whipped cream (or some spray cream in my case) on each slice of cake is just heavenly!









**UPDATE** Vanilla Cream Cheese Icing:
In the year since making this cake, our family has discovered the dangerously delightful combination of vanilla flavored additions to Mt. Dew.  Adding vanilla creamer to Dew, or making a Dew float with some vanilla ice cream.  Thus it followed that if I added a vanilla cream cheese icing to my Dew Cake, it couldn't help but be fabulous...and I was right.  Here's the recipe I used:
1/4 c butter (softened)
4 oz cream cheese (softened)
3 tsp vanilla
1-2 c powdered sugar
milk (if needed for consistency)

Beat together butter and cream cheese. Add vanilla and beat until light and fluffy.  Gradually beat in powdered sugar.  If necessary to achieve a spreadable consistency, add milk a very little at a time - not exceeding 2 Tbsp. The icing should be thick enough to not run, but thin enough not to form stiff peaks.

Enjoy!

(Funny little inside story, just because it makes me laugh.  Several years ago I begged my husband for a bundt pan for Mother's Day because there was a specific recipe I needed it for.  He has a policy of not giving me kitchen supplies as gifts, so it wasn't until Christmas that he actually gave in and got me the pan I refused to buy myself- by which time I had completely forgotten why I wanted it!  To this day I cannot remember the recipe that made me NEED a bundt pan.  Consequently, THIS CAKE is the FIRST time I've ever used the pan I harassed my poor husband into breaking his gift policies for.  It's fitting that it was for his birthday.)