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I totally did it again. I’ve been so busy in life: new job, planning a garage sale, cleaning house, possibly hosting Turkey Day at our house. Very exciting things.

I also made a Twitter account. It’s @niftyfoodie. Add me if you’d like. I tweet about more than cooking! 🙂

I have been cooking and taking pictures, but blogging? Nope. Obviously…

My apologies to those who read my blog. I promise to have great posts this week! Stay tuned…please don’t leave me. 🙂

I’m sure most of you who have tried your hand at baking have at least ONCE placed all the flour or powdered sugar in a bowl to mix with wet ingredients and you end up with a HUGE poof of flour/sugar cloudiness in the kitchen. (Thank you hand mixer with settings of fast -> faster.) That poof ends up going everywhere and if it’s sugar, oh boy, a STICKY mess!

When I started taking Wilton Courses, I remember making that first batch of buttercream. Oh, how I tried to avoid the cloud, but the only way to do it was to mix by hand at first, then turn on the mixer and mix away. It was a hassle!

Here’s the hero to the story — the KA stand mixer.

The great thing about this mixer is that the bowl is very deep and the settings start off at a very slow stir (no more clouds!), all the way up to super fast it will make meringue in a minute! I also can make DOUBLE batches of buttercream in this mixer, because the motor can totally take it. It’s such a time saver, and now that I’m enrolled in Course 3 (starting this Friday), I can actually look forward to making my icings!

This mixer definitely Works for Me!

To see what works for others, check out We Are That Family!

My husband and I decided to splurge on a FoodSaver post-wedding. It was one of the things off our registry that we really wanted to have, because meat is pricey when you are buying it in smaller packs. So, to save money I usually raid Sam’s once a month and buy our meats in bulk.

Our usual meats that I buy are chicken breasts, ground turkey and ground beef. We save a good bit of money buying in bulk, and we just package our meat in portions for 2. I used to use saran wrap, then foil,  and then put that in a quart sized freezer bag. However, now, I just take the FoodSaver bag roll, cut it to size, seal one side, put meat in and seal the other side. It sounds hard, but really, it’s not!

Besides saving us time on sealing foods, it also saves us major freezer space!
Another great thing? It makes food last longer in the freezer as well! Not that we don’t use meats often enough, but hey, it’s good to know that it’s keeping our food fresher than the old method!

This is the machine model that we splurged on. I like that it has a built in roll holder for easier storage.

This machine definitely works for us! To see what works for other bloggers, check out We Are That Family!

So, every 1-2 months, there is a gift exchange between members of the “What’s Cooking” board on the Nest. I always have fun compiling the package, as well as getting the surprise package. This time was no exception!

Carrie of Carrie’s Sweet Life sent me a Silpat and spoonula. I used those this weekend to do some baking, which I’ll post about in the near future. Let’s just say these are both AWESOME additions to my kitchen!! Thanks so much, Carrie!!!! Can’t wait to use these more in the kitchen!!!

My WC sister (and dear friend!), Sarah, and I decided to do a foodie gift exchange filled with food local to our area. I’m from New Orleans area, and this is what I sent her.

I have to say I am SO excited about the gifts that she sent me…check out the spread here!!

Shoofly Pie Mix, Peanut Caramel Popcorn, Cider mix, apple butter…

Whole Wheat Pretzel mix, Maple candies, Honey filled lemon candies..

Woo!! What an awesome bunch of gifts, Sarah!! I can’t wait to make the shoofly pie. I have honestly never heard of this but the google images made me drool a little yesterday. I will definitely keep y’all updated on how everything goes!!

Sarah and I agreed we should totally do this again. This was so much fun!!!

This isn’t a blog entry about me cooking. It’s more about my mild obsession…that I miss SO much! When I was a resident assistant in the apartments on campus, one of the girls SWORE by this smoothie that she drank. She said it was so sweet, and it had these gummy surprise beads in it. I told her that I had to try it…I love smoothies! The place we went to had about 30 flavors of smoothies, and you could COMBINE flavors. They were mostly fruit…so needless to say, I was in heaven. I tried a strawberry coconut with the tapioca beads. I thought it was SO cool when they took the smoothie and vacuum sealed a lid on it. I felt like a giddy kid punching my extra large straw through (it allows for the beads to come out with the smoothie). Anyways, after many trips there, I was in bliss. Then, I graduated college…and I didn’t have bubble tea for a year or so, until NOW!

There I was, getting my hair highlighted, and my hairdresser told me that his boyfriend’s family was opening a bubble tea place. OMG OMG WHAT? It was a town away, and let me tell you, the week it opened, I went. I ordered a kiwi bubble tea. They did the same thing there…vacuum sealed top, tapioca beads, the big mega straw for the blend of beads and smoothie sippage. I thought for a moment there, well, this is bliss!

Anyways, here are some pictures of bubble tea….seriously consider trying this stuff. You can get HOOKED. If you are interested in making it at home, here is a website of supplies and kits. 🙂

The tapioca beads are the black balls at the bottom. I had a kiwi bubble tea here, and it maybe lasted me 5 minutes. I miss bubble tea!

As an engaged girl, I found the website, theknot.com. For the newlyweds who used the Knot, you then have the choice to move over to thenest.com. This site helps couples with everything they encounter in their married lives :). The resources there are absolutely wonderful!!

I stumbled across the Nest forums by chance. Around Christmas, I was looking for a sugar cookie recipe, and there is a “What’s Cooking?” board on the Nest. So, I lurked on there for ideas, and it seemed like SUCH a nice board. So, I stayed and started posting :). I’ve been there since.

Every season, one of the nesties, Joelen , hosts a gift exchange for the board. It’s a great way to just have a nice foodie surprise in the mailbox, and today, I got mine!!

Thanks to I&R.4.23.06!!! She sent me silicone spatulas, a cookie scoop, a silicone basting/pastry brush, and a pack of cake tips. These are gadgets I needed, and cake tips, you can never have enough of those. AND, what I’m also excited about, Penzey’s spices!! I got Northwoods seasonings, Cake Spice and Hot Chocolate mix :). She also gave me some lotion and body spray in peony (such a beautiful flower!)

Check out the spread!! Thanks so much, Intisar!!