Pinterest in Real Life

If you aren't already familiar with Pinterest, it's a semi-new social networking site that I affectionately called “the time-sucking vortex.” What it amounts to is a virtual, online scrapbook. More like a bookshelf, really, where you keep your scrapbooks. You can create “boards” for different topics, and then “pin” things to the board, so you have them all in one place for future reference. Pinterest keeps the link live, so it's super easy to go back and revisit whatever you first “pinned”

I installed a little widget up in my toolbar that just says Pin It, so I can mark literally anything I find on the web. As I write this, I've got 22 boards, and they include clothes I'd like to own, quotes I love, things that make me smile, party ideas, boredom busters for Max, home decorating/storage ideas, craft ideas and tutorials, and food. Oh, the food!

I've got 4 boards, just of food. There's snacks/side dishes, meals, kid-friendly foods (mostly manipulated or decorated hot dogs, I've noticed) and sweets. As I scroll through these screens of deliciousness that obviously appeal to me, I thought, when am I ever going to make these?

I've read more than one article that talks about how Pinterest shows the life we think we want to live; clothes we'll never wear, homes we'll never decorate, recipes we'll never try. So I decided to try!
I'm going to start doing as much of the Pinterest “stuff” as I can, be it recipes, craft tutorials, projects with Max, whatever.

And so starts my “Pinterest in Real Life” series! It'll cover a variety of things, so check back and see what else I've tried!

Up first…

I made these for a friend's party, because she's a huge book nerd, and knew she'd love them. Made the recipe as written, and it was pretty straightforward.

The texture on the cups is interesting, but I can't really explain it; they were quite good. For people who weren't familiar with Butterbeer (I know, right?) I describad it as a vanilla butterscotch, and no one complained about my description.

Next time, I think I might let the cream soda flatten a little before mixing it it; the fizzing was annoying while I worked, and think the bubbles may have had something to do with the texture.

We have SO MUCH of the filling/drizzle left over! I'm sure it would be delcious over ice cream, but we're trying not to eat too much junk food, so the full squirt bottle sits in my fridge, mocking me… I could have been WAAY more generous with the filling. I did the recommended “cheap squeeze bottle” method from the original post, and would squeeze until it started oozing out. I let them sit for a bit and noticed that by the time I got to the last one, the first had absorbed quite a bit of the filling. I think next time I make these (yes, there will probably be a next time!) I'll go through and do the filling several times, letting it absorb in between squirtings.

Overall verdict: Yum! The frosting is delish, the cake is nice and super moist, and they're lovely to look at!

I'd love to have others join me in this endeavor, so please be sure to let me know if you've tried anything you've come across on Pinterest and let me know the link so I can pin it and try it too!

ETA: A friend just suggested we do this as a link-up, so keep an eye out! I'll get some things organized and be putting a call out here, on Twitter and Facebook, if you want to join in!