Menu Appetizer: “Devilish Dance Moms”

– Deviled eggs (Hard boiled eggs with mustard, mayonnaise, salt, and pepper)

Salad: “Who’s On Top of the Pyramid Fruit Salad” and “Apple Lee Miller Yogurt Dip”

– Fruit salad kabobs with strawberries, raspberries, cantaloupes, pineapples, oranges, blueberries, watermelon, and bananas with a cinnamon and vanilla raspberry yogurt dip with real rasperries

• Main Dish: “Ham it Up Country Ham” and “Poppin’ Potatoes”

– Black forest ham with peeled and quartered red potatoes

• Side Dish: “Electricity Spicy Ranch Chicken Wraps”

– Chopped lettuce, tomato, chicken, and spicy ranch sauce, wrapped into a flour tortilla

• Dessert: “Slit my Wrists Softball Cake Pops”; “I’m Not Talking To You Disco Ball Cake Pops”; “Candy Apples Cake Pops”

– Dark chocolate cake balls covered with s’mores dipping chocolate topped with either red or yellow colored coconut flakes or sliver sprinkles

Time management Day One: • 3:00pm- Preheat oven to 350°F. Gather dark chocolate cake ingredients, mix together in electric mixer • 3:15- Grease three 8-inch round pans, pour mix into pans and cook 30 minutes • 3:30- Check cakes in oven • 3:45- Remove cakes from oven, cool on rack. Remove chicken from fridge, cut and cook in skillet • 4:00- Place chicken in storage container in fridge. Cut lettuce and store, chop tomatoes and store • 4:15- Gather potatoes and peel • 4:30- Peel potatoes • 4:45- Peel potatoes • 5:00- Peel potatoes • 5:15- Quarter potatoes • 5:30- Store potatoes Day Two: • 9:00am- Gather eggs, boil eggs in water, cool in bowl of ice • 9:15- Frantically call mother after the eggs are undercooked . Re-boil eggs. • 9:30- Gather cake pop mix from fridge, cut lolli-pop sticks in half, roll cake pops into balls and place on stick, place in fridge • 9:45- Create double boiler, melt s’mores chocolate, dye coconut flakes yellow or red with food coloring ,dip cake pops into chocolate then into

coconut or sprinkles, place all in fridge • 10:00- Gather chicken wrap ingredients, attempt a wrap, eat for brunch • 10:15- Continue making chicken wraps, place all in fridge • 10:30- Gather fruit from fridge, wash all separately and place in assembly line • 10:45- Place fruit on skewers in order and place in fridge • 11:00- Call mother again after finding the eggs are undercooked again, watch YouTube videos to find out what I’m doing wrong • 11:15- Boil new eggs • 11:30- Cool eggs with cold water from sink • 11:45- Cut open eggs, (perfectly cooked this time), create deviled egg mix • 12:00- Store eggs in fridge. Cut apples and create apple raspberry yogurt dip • 12:15- Taste dip and make again with different yogurt after it tastes wrong • 12:30- Lunch break • 12:45- Check on food • 1:00- Butter skillet, cut and cook ham • 1:15- Cook ham • 1:30- Cook ham, put in potatoes • 1:45- Cook potatoes • 2:00- Cook potatoes • 2:15- Cook potatoes • 2:30- Cook potatoes • 2:45- Cook ham and potatoes together, let sit in turned off skillet until it’s time to leave

Shopping List • Butter • 2-3 tablespoons • 4 tablespoons • Milk • 1 tablespoon • 1 cup • Eggs • 2 eggs • 8 eggs • Powdered Sugar • 2 cups • 2 cups • Mayonnaise: • ¼ cup light mayonnaise • 3 tablespoons mayonnaise

• 2 pounds fully cooked sliced ham (about 1/2 inch thick) • 1-1/2 pounds potatoes, peeled, quartered and cooked • Snipped fresh parsley • 8 ounces cream cheese, softened • 3/4 cup cocoa powder • Lollipop sticks • Coconut flakes

•2 teaspoons chili powder •1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin •1 ¼ pounds skinned boned chicken breast •½ cup low-fat buttermilk •2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley •2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and diced •2 cloves garlic, crushed •4 (8 in.) fat free tortillas •3 cups chopped romaine lettuce •1 large chopped seeded tomato •Strawberry •Raspberry •Cantaloupe •Pineapple •Orange •Blueberry •Watermelon •Apple •10 crushed raspberries •Sparkling Cider

Directions •Cut peeled eggs lengthwise into halves.

Slip out yolks; mash with fork. Mix in salt, mustard, pepper and mayonnaise.

Fill whites with egg yolk mixture, heaping it lightly. Arrange eggs on large serving plate. Cover and refrigerate no

longer than 24 hours.

Ingredients •8 hard-cooked eggs •¼ teaspoon salt •½ teaspoon dry mustard •¼ teaspoon pepper •3 tablespoons mayonnaise

Source •Betty Crocker’s Cookbook

Ingredients (Fruit Salad) • Strawberries • Raspberries • Cantaloupes • Pineapples • Oranges • Blueberries • Watermelons • Bananas • Apples (Raspberry Yogurt Dip) • 1 cup raspberry yogurt • 1/4 tsp. cinnamon • 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract • 10 crushed raspberries

Directions • Cut and skewer fruit in desired order, in

separate bowl, mix yogurt, cinnamon, and vanilla. Cut 10 raspberries and add to mixture. Stir until blended. Serve.

Source • http://www.yummly.com/recipe/Raspb

erry-Yogurt-Apple-Dip-Recipezaar

Ingredients •2 pounds fully cooked sliced ham (about 1/2 inch thick) •2 to 3 tablespoons butter •1-1/2 pounds potatoes, peeled, quartered and cooked •Snipped fresh parsley

Directions •In a large heavy skillet, brown ham over medium-high heat in butter on both sides until heated through. Move ham to one side of the skillet; brown potatoes in drippings until tender. Sprinkle potatoes with parsley.

Source •http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Country-Ham-and-Potatoes

Ingredients • 2 teaspoons chili powder • 2 teaspoons vegetable oil • 1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin • ½ teaspoon salt • 1 ¼ pounds skinned boned chicken breast • ½ cup low-fat buttermilk • ¼ cup light mayonnaise • 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley • 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice • 2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and diced • 2 cloves garlic, crushed • 4 (8 in.) fat free tortillas • 3 cups chopped romaine lettuce • 1 large chopped seeded tomato • About ¾ C shredded cheddar cheese

Directions • Cut the chick breasts into ½” strips and set aside. • In the bag from the chicken, combine the first 4

ingredients and seal the bag. Mix it together inside the bag.

• Add chicken to the bag: seal and shake to coat. • In a small bowl, combine the buttermilk and next 5

ingredients (buttermilk through garlic), and stir well with whisk.

• Place a large nonstick skillet over a medium-high heat until hot. Add chicken and sauté 2 minutes. Remove from heat.

• Warm the tortillas accordingly to the package directions. Spoon about ¾ cup chicken mixture onto each tortilla, and top each serving with ¾ cup chopped lettuce and 1/3 cup chopped tomatoes and some cheese. Roll up wrap. Yield: 4 servings

Source • Life On your Own Online Recipe

Dark Chocolate Cake Makes two 9-inch round cakes or three 8-inch round cakes

Ingredients 2 cups white sugar

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 3/4 cup cocoa powder 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 2 eggs 1 cup milk 1/2 cup vegetable oil 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1 cup boiling water

Directions • Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-

inch round baking pans, or three 8-inch round baking pans.

• Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large mixer bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer for 2 minutes. Mix in boiling water - the batter will be quite thin. Pour batter into prepared pans.

• Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes on a wire rack, then tap the cakes out of the pans. Cool completely before frosting.

Cake Ball Mix Ingredients

1 batch Dark Chocolate Cake 8 ounces cream cheese, softened 2 cups confectioner's sugar 4 tablespoons butter 1 tablespoon milk (or more, as necessary)

Directions • Bake the cake and let it cool completely on a

rack. This is a very moist cake, which is ideal for this recipe. It's best to let it cool overnight at least. When it is completely cool, break the cake into a large bowl. Crumble it with forks or your fingers until it is in fine crumbs.

• In a separate bowl, whip the cream cheese, butter, powdered sugar, and milk together until smooth. Pour into the cake crumbs and mix with a spoon. Then continue mixing with your fingers, kneading and mixing until fully incorporated into the cake. Check to see if it will roll into a ball. It should: this makes a very malleable, easy-to-handle cake mixture. But if it needs a little extra moisture, add milk a spoonful at a time.

• When the mix is completely done, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm. You can leave the mix refrigerated for several days at this point. I left mine in the fridge for about three days before making the balls. You could probably also freeze this.

Making Cake Pops Ingredients

Lollipop sticks (found at Michael's, JoAnn's, or other craft stores) 12 ounces chocolate chips 12 ounces white chocolate bark Edible wax, optional Colored sugars, candies, and other decorative sprinkles

Directions • Prepare two large baking sheets by

covering with wax paper or parchment. Take a bit of the cake mixture and roll it into a smooth ball. If you want to use the lollipop sticks, stick one into the end of each ball, pointing upward, as you put the ball back down on the sheet. [Note: I cut the long lollipop sticks in half; they seemed a little long for the size of the balls.] Repeat until you've used up all the mixture. As each sheet fills up, put it in the freezer so that the balls harden.

How To decorate the cake pops Directions • Melt chocolate or white chocolate

in a double boiler on the stove. If you want to make the coating a little more resistant to melting, add a small square of wax to the pot and let it melt too. Stir well. Dip each ball into the chocolate until covered.

• Dip in sugar, coconut, sprinkles, or anything else you'd like to decorate with. Put it back on the sheet to harden.

• Don't refrigerate these; it will cause the coating to weep or melt. They can be frozen, however.

Source • http://www.thekitchn.com/how-

to-make-cake-balls-78637

Table setting

My plate • Fruits

– Fruit Salad Kabobs – Raspberry yogurt dip

• Grains – Tortilla wraps (Spicy

Ranch Chicken Wraps) • Vegetables

– Potatoes (Ham and Potatoes)

– Tomato and lettuce (Spicy Ranch Chicken Wraps)

• Protein – Deviled Eggs – Chicken (Spicy Ranch

Chicken Wraps) – Ham (Ham and Potatoes)

• Dairy – Yogurt dip – Dark chocolate cake pop

mix with cream cheese

Why I chose my menu • I wanted food items that

would match my theme, each of the food chosen initially reminded me of something from the show – Especially the fruit

because I could match each fruit to each girl and stack them in an a “pyramid” just like Abby does

How it all went Positives:

– Chicken, eggs, and potatoes were fully cooked! – Cake pops turned out great – Was able to keep ham and potatoes fully heated

while serving – Was able to do everything in a timely manner

and transport it with time to spare

Negatives: – Only help was by phone and online how-to’s – Continually undercooked the hard boiled eggs,

started over three times

Funny story: – The cake pops were so rich, it became a

competition to see who could eat one of each of the three different types

What to do differently

• I wanted to practice each meal before my dinner party, but I was only able to do my cake pops once before

• If I were to do this again, I would try to make each meal I wasn’t fully sure of or comfortable with prior so I could time my meal, improve what needs to be fixed, and have a better understanding of what I need to do

Reaction from

others

• “Everything was delicious, especially the fruit kabobs! (: ” –Latasha Averett

• “Cake pops are soooooo good” –Lahela Kanoho • “Deviled eggs= Very devilish” –Hailey Sieben • “The Poppin’ Potatoes were to die for! They were so tender

and had they perfect amount of saltiness!” –Tiegan Heald • “Place setting is very creative and tied it all together.”

–Dani Duncan • “Chicken is very tender and nice” –Anisha Kili

• “What do you mean by ‘measurements’?” – Never really measured anything, didn’t know

the difference between dry and liquid food cups

• Don’t have to rely on microwave or boxed food anymore, I can look up recipes and make things from scratch

• Before creative cooking I needed someone to work with me if I cooked or baked anything, thanks to this class I can do it all on my own, and simply ask a question if I need help

How creative cooking helped

Thank you... • To my mom, Kathryn Lewis, who was on the receiving end of many stressed out and panicked phone calls from me, drove me to the QFC, bought all the necessary ingredients, and tried my food even when she was allergic to it

• To Latasha Averett , Lahela Kanoho, Hailey Sieben, Tiegan Heald, Dani Duncan, and Anisha Kili for attending my dinner party and giving me feedback

• To the Duncan family for letting me use their house for hosting my dinner party

• To Abby Lee Miller and the cast of Dance Moms for existing…