It sort of feels like Christmas in July, because I just bought winter boots.

Uggs.

That's right, I just bought my first pair of Uggs, because last winter I didn't have decent boots to wear and HELLO I live in New England, and I know they're heinous but they seem to be very functional.

I feel like a sheep, but am also a little happy to know that I've done something in advance of the climate change for the first time.

Do you have Uggs? Love em or hate em??

or flies to 'you know what'....

The "warnings" only encourage us...and our deep genetic gathering longings....








We can't help ourselves when we see 120 miles of "Don't Miss the Ultimate Shopping Zone" billboards!!!

That, together with travelling without kids a few weeks ago -- deadly combination.....

What did I buy? Pillowcases. Yup, pillowcases. Two. Whole. Sets. (oh yeah, and some cigarettes,,,,CHEAP in North Carolina : )

I had the opportunity to sample the best Brownies EVAH...and couldn't keep 'em a secret!



They are sooo chocolatey and yummy that I hid the container and ate every single one myself!! A few days later I had to go bathing suit shopping, and didn't even care about rockin' a serious muffin top - they're THAT good!

Check out Sweets for the Soul by clicking here to get some for yourself...or to send to someone else - what a perfect gift!!

YUM!!!

Why did this hot chick bake a Flag Cake?



How is this year's Flag Cake Smackdown winner connected to last year's winner??

Find out NOW! Catch this week's show.....

Click Here to get to our "Listen" Page -where you can choose just to click on the "This Weeks Show" and listen on your computer... or

Click Here to get to our podcast page.....and do the podcast or itunes if that is your thang.

We also chat with our esteemed Flag Cake Smackdown Judges!

RORI TROVATO:


LILLY LABONGE

OMG have you seen this? Wanted to give you a little inspiration to have a little self control in between food posts (good times):



"The Queen" indeed!!

Spousal Unit: "Where'd you get these?"

Me: "oh, the Bloom grocery store..."

Spousal Unit: "These are GOOD."

Me: "I know"

Spousal Unit: "How'd you find them?"

Me: "They were on sale, on an endcap in front of the grocery store..."

But REALLY?

I picked the Good Earth "impossibly good" chips because I'd been DYING to try them ever since I saw them here as a BlogHer ad!!! Rigtht? Haven't you seen the ad? With that cute little flying pig?

Didn't you try them? Don't they ROCK????

They aren't potato chips....they are "crisps" or "baked veggie chips" --- and that means I can actually let myself buy them : D

I think we got the Garlic Herb one...anyone else tried the others??????????

Our little Lara was on Fox News - again!



The Tony Snow tragedy didn't even bump her segment off. They were asking "Are We a Nation of Whiners?"

Well, duhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

I just love watching Lara on Fox News....see, Lara grew up in Boston......and of course, is a Liberal. Really, don't blame her, she had no choice!!! : )

I think Lara's coming around and actually starting to LIKE our fine friends at Fox News Channel!

After all, they have GREAT TASTE IN GUESTS, NO?????

Next thing ya know, she'll be going to cocktail parties with Mr. Bill O'Reilly.



he he he....

We hosted M's 11th Birthday party in our common room the other day. I'd never thrown a kid's party before, and was SOOOO excited! And SOOOO nervous! All she wanted to do is have a couple of friends over to go to the pool in our apartment complex. So we reserved the party room and I went to the party store for supplies, and when I was done decorating, it felt like Happy Birthday had thrown up everywhere:







The party went really well, everyone seemed to have fun, and I was super-relieved when it was over!

And the Winner of the 2008 ChickChat Radio Flag Cake Smackdown is....

ALa! from BlondeSagacity

Keepin' the trophy in the family! (her husband, tesco won last year)




ALa's NOTE: It's actually four cakes: a blue ring and base, then a white and topped off with a red (which came out more pink than red). The cake is then iced with butter cream and covered in fondant (You get the shiny look on the fondant by brushing it lightly with water) and the stars on the blue field consist of 50, homemade, white chocolate lollipops. It is topped with a fondant yellow ribbon in honor of the men that secured our initial independence and in honor of those still volunteering to preserve that independence today...


The contest was won by a hair. Our other two brave souls were:


MISS CARLY: (from And So She Blogs)



CARLY'S NOTE: man oh man... if this had been a contest where it mattered what the cake tasted like... I so would be winning.

Three layer white cake. Each layer was soaked with coconut syrup and spread with lemon curd. It was frosted with a homemade cream cheese frosting. It was decorated with blueberries and strawberries and white chocolate shavings.

It's more of a patriotic red white and blue cake.



And, STEEN! (from steenface )


STEENS NOTE: .... it was my first attempt using fondant. To be fair, the cake was a joint venture with Lindsey Lobsterclaw. It's two layer vanilla cake; we used a 6x2 pan and stacked two cakes on top of each other with a layer of vanilla frosting in between. A heavy dose of vanilla frosting on the outside helped the fondant stick. The red stars are made out of dyed fondant; the blue stars are painted with a pearlescent dye. The ribbon and bow aren't edible of course! The fondant was a pain in the butt to work with but everything is tasty and I'm pleased with our first attempt!


Many thanks to all three for putting themselves out there, in the name of FLAG CAKE!!! you all ROOOOOL.

And big thanks to Rori Trovato and Lily LaBonge our Smackdown Judges.

Judges (and hopefully winner) interviews can be heard in about a week on XM Radio Take Five, channel 155.

We'll let you know when we have the podcast up of our show where we interview the judges, and hopefully ALa also!!

My husband begged me to skip the jell-o for this year's Flag Cake Smackdown. So I went hardcore cake instead - I turned to my Martha Stewart cookbook and decided to make Lemon Poundcake. I figured I'd decorate it with fruit and it would actually get eaten at my in-laws' house and I wouldn't have leftovers. But then I made it, and does this look like it ever could have been a flag cake to you????



Me either. I got up early the next day and turned to Martha for guidance again, and went for the Strawberry Cake. But I didn't like how it turned out, either:



So I whipped some cream (and just in case you can't tell, I OVER WHIPPED THE CREAM!! THIS IS A HORROR SHOW!!!):



And I finally put berries on....you can see how NOT into it I was by this point, my stripes are all uneven! At least the strawberries are hulled!!



I overbaked the cake, too - it was so dry. Martha Martha Martha....I just don't have the skills (YET!) to follow your recipes. Maybe next year I'll go for the Betty Crocker instead...

If you were scared off by last year's entries -- you could be missing out on winning!!

Because the defending champ - tesco - has FOLDED. He says "I ran out of time."

We're sorry to see him out of the game (especially some of the women in management over at XM's Take Five, channel 155, who consider him ONE HOT flag cake winner : )



You gotta be IN IT TO WIN IT in this Smackdown- and you have until Midnight tonight to enter!!!

Here is my mean, lean, Flag Cake - and it is NOT in the running (Lara and I don't enter our own competition....anymore....)



Good luck friends!!

Introducing Your 4th of July Flag Cake Smackdown Judges:

(1) RORI TROVATO: We met 3rd year veteran Rori Trovato when she was working as the iVillage Food Expert.
Food stylist and cooking teacher Rori Trovato and her husband, acclaimed photographer Luca Trovato, make delicious food look beautiful. Their work can be seen in Rori's cookbook, Dishing with Style, as well as in O Magazine, Food & Wine and Bon Appetit. Currently, the couple resides in Santa Barbara, California.




(2) LILY LA BONGE: Founder, Sweet for the Soul. Sweet for the Soul has been a dream realized by Lilly La Bonge, a former successful television commercial producer, who decided to forego the demanding and stressful long hours in her industry to spend that energy to pursue her real lifelong passion for baking the perfect brownie. For years she was told by friends and family that her brownies were delicious enough to be the basis of a successful business. A bout with breast cancer gave her the wake up call that life is too short not to spend it doing what you love, so she finally made the leap to commercialize her chocolate creation. With the same attention to detail she demonstrated as a producer, Lilly has dedicated her days and nights to bring you the most amazing brownie you will ever taste.








Our HUGE thanks to these fine women for signing on to help us out.

They are fun, and they can't wait to see what you have in store for them!!

Might there be another suprise judge? You betcha there is a chance of that. The more the merrier : )

ENTER YOUR PHOTO TO WIN!! (by Midnight Monday July 7th).

I'll let the judges decide for the purposes of the competition...but let's see. The first rule of Flag Cake Smackdown is that there are no rules. However, since there's a strong lack of "FLAG" and "CAKE," I don't see how parfait cups could be a contender.

However, they are red-white-and-blue, and someone with mad crafty skills could prolly make parfait cups into a contender.

What do you think? And, what have you been doing to train for the competition this year??

Don't forget, you have until July 7 to get your entry in!

NOTE: Lara and I do not judge, so this is just my observations from listening to judges and watching how it goes....

1. In the end, remember it's a photography contest.

2. Beware what can be seen from a photo. For example, you might be taken by surprise when you learn that a foodie can SEE overwhipped whipped cream in a photo (who knew??? It happened to me the first year when Lara and I were in the contest....) And a contestent has been 'called' on unhulled strawberries (apparently not as good to eat? although it was picturesque....)

3. Descriptions help --- You can't see flavor, but when we can pass on to the judges that 'the icing has white chocolate chips embedded in it,' the entry sounds all the more tantalizing and delicious.

4. Some folks cut into their cake (after all outside photos taken) and damn if there aren't some good things happening on the inside!!! Yes, we pass on more than just the outside picture, if you have it and you think it will help.



This was Marisue's entry last year -- DUDE the girl had a flag ON THE INSIDE! It was AMAZING!!!!

5. There are no rules. The only "rule" is that it has to be food...or edible.... This has been a tough one since it gives no guidance....but we have thought about it, and we can't come up with any that make any sense for the fun here : ) But if you have a suggestion....we are always looking to improve the Smackdown!!!

What have I left out?

Questions? Comments? Always welcome!

I had never heard the term "fondant" until last year's ChickChat Radio 4th July Flag Cake Smackdown...

I thought we were a talkin' jell-o, and all of a sudden I was staring at "fondant."



Is it fon - dent? (like a dent in your car when you use your hip to close the door?)

Is it fon - daaaaant? (roll the 'a' like a snobby french pastry chef, like saying "aaaahhhh" for the dr with the wood stick)

Or is it fon - dant? (like the picnic ants, dude there are so many ants this year!!)

Is it like how the North calls your mother's sister an Auuuuuunt. But in the South its old ANT (Aunt) Edna?

Well, last year we had two food experts to ask.... iVillage's Rori Trovato and Oprah Magazine's Food Editor Celia Barbour.

Um, I think it was a mix between Aunt and Ant. .....and I STILL can't say it.

But that's not all I learned with last year's contest. I learned if this elusive "fondant" is your thang...you can CHEAT! : )




Intstead of whipping yourself into a literal frenzy trying to dissolve sugar crystals just right (what was your grade in chemistry lab?) you can BUY it premade. I love being an American.

Remember kids:

YOU GOTTA BE IN IT --- TO WIN IT.

Enter your creation in this year's ChickChat Radio Flag Cake SMACKDOWN!

(if you really think fondant is what will win it for you, there's still time to take a 'fondant class' -- yes folks, people give cake icing classes....who knew????)