How to Make a Homemade 3-Tiered Cupcake Stand

Remember back when I made the 2-tiered cupcake stand for cousin A's bridal shower, I said that cousin D perked up at the mention of cake stands too?

Gosh, before I knew it, nearly a year has flown by and it was time to make another set of cake and cupcake stands for yet another cousin's bridal shower. This time, because I've had several homemade cake and cupcake stands under my belt, I've gotten kinda good at this. That and the longer lead time gave me plenty of chances for more trips to the thrift store, and plates and candlesticks to stockpile.

Do you know how hard it is to find a salad dish-sized glass plate at the thrift store?

Virtually impossible for some reason.

So this is the first time I've been able to make a 3-tiered cupcake stand. And I have to say, this may be my best one yet.

Princess Party Cookbook by Annabel Karmel and Giveaway

Did you stay up late or wake up early to watch Prince William marry Kate Middleton?

Did you pretend to be a princess when you were a little girl?

That would be yes and yes for me. :)

Several months ago, I received a review copy of the "Princess Party Cookbook" by Annabel Karmel and knew right away that it was perfect for a giveaway.

The Tao of Tea - Portland - Oregon

After dinner at Toro Bravo - Portland - Oregon, I suggested one last stop before we finally ended the night. In the late 1990s, a college friend introduced me to The Tao of Tea when we were looking for a place to just sit while catching up.


I really enjoyed the quaint tea house with fresh brewed teas, including a foamy matcha green tea shake before it became so popular and ubiquitous. I've gone back a few times over the years, and even visited their tea house at the Portland Classical Chinese Garden. So, a nice calming cuppa seemed just the thing to end what was a long day of too much out and about.

Stinging Nettle Tea

After going through all that trouble of plucking stinging nettles, I wanted more than just one recipe out of it. So I set aside some of the leaves and brewed them to make tea.

Stinging nettle tea tasted like any other herbal tea, maybe with a slight vegetal taste. Not something I would crave unless I was in the mood for feeling healthy.

Tres by Jose Andres (Afternoon Tea) (SLS Hotel at Beverly Hills) - Los Angeles (Mid-City West)

After my brother stopped by with my adorable little niece, I was off to meet my childhood friend for afternoon tea at Tres by Jose Andres at the SLS Hotel at Beverly Hills.


Tres is to the right of the main entrance of the hotel and is separate from Andres' more well-known restaurant, The Bazaar. Upon seeing the bookcases in the outside entrance, I knew I would already be charmed.

How to Make a Homemade Tiered Cupcake Stand

I noticed that cousin A, sometimes referred to as the oldest '87's middle sister, registered for a bunch of cake stands for her bridal shower.

Would she mind terribly if I made her some homemade ones instead?

Remembering my post about "How to Make a Homemade Cake Stand," cousin A immediately said, "Yes!"

Patisserie Philippe Macarons - San Francisco From Gourmet Pigs

Last April, after a trip back from San Francisco, Gourmet Pigs brought me a present! A box of half a dozen macarons from Patisserie Philippe in San Francisco.

So pretty!

How to Make a Homemade Cake Stand

It's been several months since I promised a tutorial on how to make a homemade cake stand. I finally got around to doing it when I made a cake stand as a bridal shower gift for my friend E(L).

(Look away E(L) if you don't want to see how little I spent! Actually, we've been friends for so long I know she doesn't care about things like that. Besides, the cooking lesson is worth waaay more. :P)

Anyway, the plates were finally washed and the photos are somewhat styled so you should get a better idea of the possibilities. Think of how pretty afternoon tea can be!

This was the cake stand I made for E(L). I figured simplicity was best so I chose a plate with silver trim and silver leaves on the inside rim. Glued onto a glass candlestick.

Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve

Recently, Gourmet Pigs and I went to the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve because I've lived in California too long not to have done this.


I know it's California's state flower, but the California poppy is just a "meh" flower for me. But field after field and hill after hill of them and the California poppy is really something else!

Thanksgiving Leftovers Afternoon Tea

A few days after Thanksgiving, since I had plenty of Turkey Liver Pate and baguettes leftover, I invited the girls over for a tea party. But really, it was just an excuse to use my new tea cups, two-tiered tray, and deviled egg plate.

Royal/T Cafe (Three Apples: An Exhibition Celebrating 35 Years of Hello Kitty/In Bed Together: Art & Bites from Ludo Lefebvre) - Culver City (Closed)

The first weekend after "Three Apples: An Exhibition Celebrating 35 Years of Hello Kitty" opened at Royal/T Cafe in Culver City, my friend DP and I decided to stop by. She even "dressed up" for the occasion, wearing her Hello Kitty watch. :P Alas, it was not to be as the lines went out the door and down the block, on both sides. Insane!

Later that week, I came back with Weezer Monkey and her friend Glam. The "Three Apples" refers to Hello Kitty's weight.

UCC Cafe Plaza - Walnut (Closed)

After dinner at Ong Ga Nae Korean BBQ - Rowland Heights, we literally went across the street to UCC Cafe Plaza in Walnut for dessert. The UCC, which stands for Ueshima Coffee Company, is a pretty nice Japanese cafe located in a strip mall that also sells Rolex and Cartier. Pretty nice indeed!




The first time I visited was back in November 2007. My dining companion and I had seen the many, many photos that CrazyPooh had uploaded onto Biggest Menu and wanted to check it out. Leather sofas. Quite a step up from the normal coffee shop.

Faux Beignets

I asked my friend (he of the only a Red Jambalaya is a "proper" jambalaya) what he'd say about my faux beignets made with canned biscuits.

"That's despicable."

:P

Well, I'm not claiming this is a proper beignet recipe. One of these days, I might go through the trouble of making them from scratch and waiting for the yeast to rise and all that. But when I tweeted about this 5-minute recipe with only two ingredients, there was quite a response from people looking for short cuts too. What can I say? People need shortcuts and you might turn your nose up at it, but my Faux Tiramisu recipe is pretty popular too!

I've been making these fake beignets for years. Sometimes, I poke a hole through the middle and call them fake doughnuts. Sometimes, I cut them into fourths, roll them up, and call them doughnut holes.

But on this particular day, I was feeling like beignets, puffy squares of fried dough, with a cup of coffee.

Imperial Tea Court (Ferry Building) - San Francisco (Embarcadero)

While lil' sis and the middle '87 were enjoying cocktails and oyster shooters at Butterfly Restaurant, back at the Ferry Building, I met up with Chuck of Sunday Nite Dinner and FoodGawker. He had to finish up some work and then rushed over in a taxi so I wouldn't have to wait long. How nice! And really, it was great to finally meet up and find out that he was just as nice in person as I thought.

I opted for Imperial Tea Court since a tea house seemed like a relaxing place to sit and chat.

Tra Xa (Vietnamese Lemongrass Tea)

I've been cooking with lemongrass a lot lately and rather than toss the leaves into the compost bin as I usually do, I've been turning them into tra xa (Vietnamese lemongrass tea). Again, this would be one of those non-recipe recipes except that I just liked my pictures so much, I thought I'd share.

The glass is from a set that I nabbed from my mom when I was Portland last month. Actually, I raided her cupboards and she let me take what I liked. I took a lot. :)

The teapot below was only $6.95 at The Wok Shop in San Francisco's Chinatown.

I have really horrible lighting in my kitchen -- a small window over the sink and a half-covered window on the other side of my dining table. Sometimes though, as the sun sets, I get marginally better lighting. I think I just liked these photos for the way the light and shadows shifted from one moment to the next. All in all, from the first picture to the last, only eight minutes had passed. I shot off about 50 photos as I played with placement of the teapot and the glass, which object to focus on, and tying off lemongrass leaves.

Afternoon Tea in the Garden with Portland from Glendora and Angel Face Roses

Recently, while I was tending to my roses, the middle '87 walked by with her dog, Kujo, the "killer" golden retriever. :P

I had finally gotten around to setting up my garden space -- potting my roses and putting together my patio table. It's not quite there yet, I still have a few plants that need proper pots and it's not quite blooming season for the roses. I let Kujo go off-leash in the yard, where he promptly rolled around and then proceeded to eat tufts of grass.

My cousin asked about the roses and I pointed them out by name.

"You gave them names?" she asked, slightly amused, especially since all she could see were thorns and leaves.

No. I don't give them names, they already have them.

"Oh. How can you tell them apart?"

Growth habits. Types of stems. Types of leaves. It's easier after they've bloomed.

"Oh."

Then she put the leash back on her dog and took him home for a bath. And that was that.

Until lil' sis said my cousin strongly hinted that she ask me if I would do a barbecue in the yard. Specifically, if I'd make Carne Asada. I said there wasn't time for a barbecue, but I could defrost my last container of Chicken Liver Pate and we could do an afternoon tea in the garden. My cousin brought over half a loaf of thick, dense Albertson's French bread. I deigned it unworthy of my pate and she tucked it back into her purse.

With one thing or another, spring break flew by and lil' sis went back to school. So on my cousin's last day in town, after work, I ran to Kiki Bakery - Alhambra to buy a chocolate swirl bun and a mini chocolate cake, and Banh Me & Che Cali Restaurant - Alhambra for a proper baguette. I caught her while she was out walking Kujo again and invited her over for afternoon tea. She rounded up her youngest brother and the older '88 and we had an impromptu afternoon tea, in the garden, amongst Portland from Glendora and Angel Face roses.

Boeuf Bourguignon (French Beef Burgundy Stew)

When Darlene of Blazing Hot Wok , host of the almond round-up of Weekend Wokking, said she had an *ssload of BEEF, she needed to find recipes for, I took her at her word.

Oxtails are one of my favorite parts of the cow. But gosh! They're so expensive these days. When did this throwaway part become so popular?

Maybe around the same time that boeuf bourguignon (French beef burgundy) became haute cuisine?

Chai Black Tea

I had a bag of cardamom pods sitting in my spice drawer for nearly a year that just begged for me to do something with them. When I had decided to make pumpkin pie from scratch for my Traditional Thanksgiving Dinner with an Asian Fusion Twist, I figured I'd add some Indian spices. The only dessert-like Indian spice I could think of was cardamom. Which then led me to consider throwing the pods into some soy milk to make chai black tea.

Do you like my attempt to make the cardamom pods look arty? I snapped various pictures of my tea cup and it just looked so boring. Then I remembered Diana of Appetite for China's pretty photo of her kashmiri chai. So that's my attempt at food styling.

My method is pretty simple. I just added black tea, ginger, cinnamon, and cardamom to soy milk and let it steep for a few minutes. The cardamom and ginger were very strong, so I suggest going easy on those ingredients.

Mandarin Orange Peel Tea

My mom makes my dad drink orange peel tea to help lower his cholesterol. Did you know orange peels also help fight diabetes and heart disease?

Apple Butter from Open Mouth, Insert Fork

I few months ago, I won a pint of apple butter from Susan of Open Mouth, Insert Fork. I was so excited because the apple butter has been made by the Allen family in Sardis, West Virginia for more than 150 years. Every fall, over the course of three days, they make 150 pints of apple butter in the same copper cauldron that's been in the family for seven generations. Now that's tradition!