Pet Dog Video Contest to Win Trip to Westminster Dog Show 2013, Hurry Ends 8/27

Pets

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How is Your Dog Great? Here's your chance to show it by submitting a short video demonstrating why your own pet pup is the most special of all.  Take a look at this mini movie of my own Miniature Pinscher Dexter I shot earlier this summer. As a blogger I'm not eligible to submit this to the contest but this would be my submission if I could. You MommyBlogExpert readers are in luck though because you are invited to enter your own pets in this competition and I hope you will!

The Grand Prize winner of this contest which is being hosted by Purina Pro Plan dog food will receive an all expenses paid trip for two humans plus their loveable canine to the 2013 Westminster Kennel Club All Breed Dog Show in New York. The winner also will have their video featured in the brand's national TV commercial that will be launched during Westminster, the most famous dog exhibition and competition in the world. 

All ten finalists will get a year's supply of the brand's dog food besides. But hurry, you only have until Monday, August 27, 2012 to get your movie clip in the running.

Our family's pet Miniature Pinscher

Entering the contest is simple and really fun for dog lovers: just upload a short film two minutes in length or less to the Pro Plan Channel on YouTube. The 10 finalists and grand prize winners will be selected based on these criteria. 

I really wish I could enter this fun contest myself but I encourage MBE readers who love their doggies to go for the great prizes up for grabs.  At worst you'll end up with a wonderful heirloom film of your pet and at best, well think of all the prizes you could win!

Still need inspiration? You might want to watch the YouTube video below that one of my kids happened to show me today. In fact when I first watched this I thought this reminded me of my own family pet because the dog in it is the same breed, color and build as mine and even has the same mannerisms. But alas the video below is not my dog but I wanted to share it with you any way because I really was entertained by this. I have no idea if this particular YouTube has been submitted to the Purina contest... but if it hasn't been yet, it definitely should be.
 

Enter the Purina Pro Plan
 How is Your Dog Great? Contest

HERE

Don't Delay, Deadline to enter
 August 27, 2012  

About Purina Pro Plan

Purina Pro Plan supports and their owners on their personal journeys toward greatness. The brand offers a complete line of dog and cat food made with high-quality ingredients that result in both great nutrition and taste. Available in an array of formulas suited to all the stages of a pet's life, lifestyle and breed.

FTC Disclosure:  I was compensated for this sponsored post by Purina Pro Plan that was made possible by Mom Spark Media. I did not receive any other compensation from other sources related to this post. Thoughts are my own. See complete FTC Disclosure information that appears at the bottom of MommyBlogExpert's main page and at the bottom of every individual post on this blog, including this one.

Very Random Birthday Cake Recipe Fun Creative Baking Project to Make With Kids & Teens

Baking

As promised in MBE's post on Pepperidge Farm's 75th birthday here are directions, recipes, images and a short video for making the original Very Random Birthday Cake that my 15 year-old triplet daughter and I dreamed up together earlier this week as a birthday surprise for a grown-up lady friend of my teen.

We call this ultimate round cake "random" because it combines homemade yeast cinnamon roll sticky buns on top and a rich cocoa cake below with a layer of the richest dark chocolate ganache that you've ever tasted in between. 

The side on this most unusual round layer cake coated with mouth-watering buttercream frosting is embellished with the two newest varieties of Pepperidge Farm Milano cookie varieties. These store-bought cookies become homemade when they are dipped into semi-sweet chocolate and sprinkles and placed in a random pattern around the bottom. 

That is the most random grouping of recipes and ingredients for a birthday cake you'll find anywhere, don't you think?

For sure this is a wonderful and engaging baking project for you to do together with your child because it involves several hours to make it from scratch and really is more fun when two of you are creating this together.  Working side-by-side teens can do a lot of the work alone while you can assign the easier steps and decorating to even the youngest kids as long as they are well-supervised. If your experience is anything like mine was, you'll bond with your child and have a really good time working together to assemble this.

Dexter underfoot again in the kitchen explaining flour on his back during this project

In case you're curious this very wild and crazy concoction has already received rave reviews from the birthday girl we made this for and lots of people are talking about it on Facebook too. Certainly the end-result of this over-the-top cake is well worth the effort and the person you make this for will likely say "Wow!" and never forget this super special celebratory cake.

Very Random Birthday Cake Directions

An original Mommy Blog Expert recipe creation

1. Make the bottom layer by baking a single 9 inch round cake of your choice and letting it cool completely on a baking rack. We used a delicious recipe called "My Lost Childhood Chocolate Birthday cake " from Max Brenner's Chocolate a Love Story Cookbook
which was previously reviewed on Mommy Blog Expert.

Me making Max Brenner's Birthday Cake recipe for the bottom layer

2. While the round cake is in the oven, get out an identical 9" round cake pan for making a circle of pull-apart Cinnamon Yeast Roll Sticky Buns that will become the top layer of the cake. 

The recipe we used for this was Cinnamon Sticky Buns by YumKosher but you can choose any other similar recipe -- as long as it makes buns that are sticky, loaded with butter and nuts it should work out just fine and end of being just as delicious.

Before rolling it, my girl gets creative spreading melted butter on dough

It's easy roll up the cinnamon roll dough after you have brushed it with butter and sprinkled it with cinnamon sugar. Just make sure it's sealed tightly when you roll up and cut thick slices with a sharp knife to create individual rolls. 

And here you see the cinnamon buns rising after they've been sliced and placed in the round cake baking plan...

3. Now it's time to make the Dark Chocolate Ganache (the recipe used for this post is included in the same Max Brenner's cake recipe that is mentioned in step #1). After it has completely cooled out of the pan on a baking rack, place the round cake on a fancy serving dish. Then spread the top of it with a generous slathering of ganache and chill briefly. 

These scrumptious-looking cinnamon rolls will double in size before baking

As soon as the Cinnamon Sticky Buns are ready you'll get the bottom cake out of the frig and immediately invert the cinnamon buns pan directly over the cake that has been frosted with ganache so that the piping hot buns are right (sticky) side up and are aligned to create the top layer.

Rich Dark Chocolate Ganache is spread on the bottom layer cake top

4. After your two-layer cake is completely cool, you'll frost the side of the cake all the way around to conceal the where the two layers meet with either homemade Betty Crocker Buttercream Frosting like we did or with a can of any brand ready-made white frosting you can buy at the store.  Remember don't frost the top of the cinnamon rolls with the frosting. Instead drizzle the top surface with the cream cheese glaze that is traditionally featured in most cinnamon roll recipes including the one we made (see step 2).

Closeup of chocolate dipped Pepperidge Farm Milano cookie accents we made

5. Next melt some semi-sweet chocolate in the microwave. Using a half bag each of Pepperidge Farm's new Milano Slices Salted Pretzel and Milano Melts Vanilla Creme cookies, dip each cookie about 1/3 of the way into the melted chocolate at one end, then immediately spoon on colorful sprinkles over some cookies and plain brown chocolate jimmies on the others. As you work line up freshly dipped cookies on a tray covered with wax paper and chill in frig about 30 mins to allow chocolate to harden. Then place cookies standing on end vertically around the bottom of the cake at random -- rather than trying to alternate a colorful cookie with a brown sprinkle one.

6. Don't forget to take photos of your own edible design so that both you and the person you make this for have a visual to enjoy long after the cake is devoured and gone.


FTC Disclosure:  I did not receive any payment or other compensation for this particular post. See complete FTC Disclosure information that appears at the bottom of MommyBlogExpert's main page and at the bottom of every individual post on this blog, including this one.

Pepperidge Farm Celebrates 75th Anniversary With More Delicious New Products

Good Food 

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Few brands ring more true as All-American than Pepperidge Farm which was founded on August 15, 1937 by a young woman named Margaret Rudkin in response  to her son's allergies to the preservatives commonly found in commercially-prepared foods at the time.

Margaret Rudkin, company founder, Vintage image provided by Pepperidge Farm

As a Baby Boomer I can't help but love this vintage photo of Mrs. Rudkin, the forward-thinking lady we all have to thank for bringing those cute little Pepperidge Farm Goldfish crackers to America from Switzerland in 1962. Apparently there are millions of other consumers who feel the same way.

  

Many new bakery products later the company that began with a caring mom who baked a healthy loaf of natural whole grain bread in her rural Connecticut kitchen that sold for 25 cents is still going strong, celebrating their 75th Anniversary this month. 

In fact today one of the most widely recognized brands in U.S. supermarkets continues to bake about 206 million loaves of bread annually. They also produce somewhere around 558 million Milano cookies per year -- that if they were laid side by side would be enough to cross America from coast to coast seven times!

Image provided by Pepperidge Farm

Joining old-fashioned favorites like Pepperidge Farm Goldfish and a wide variety of healthful breads that are still available today, are the newest members of the brand's family

Pepperidge Farm New Products Now in Stores, Image by MommyBlogExpert.com

• Jingos! a new snack cracker available in three yummy choices: Lime & Sweet Chili, Parmesan Garlic and Fiesta Cheddar

and

• Two additions to the Milano cookie line: Milano Slices Salted Pretzel, with crunchy sweet chocolate and salty pretzel bits, and Milano Melts Vanilla Creme, a crispy chocolate cookie with a surprise cream filling inside
  

Check out this Very Random Birthday Cake how-to post with recipes and directions to learn how my teen daughter and I made the cake pictured. Chances are you'll also wanted to try your hand as baking this to divine dessert.

The Very Random Birthday Cake, an original cake design by MommyBlogExpert.com

We've named this The Very Random Birthday Cake because it is an original, scrumptious and celebratory dessert that incorporates cinnamon roll sticky buns, rich cake with delectable chocolate ganache and Milano Slices Salted Pretzel and Milano Melts Vanilla Creme cookies that we specially decorated all into a single over the top cake.

Join me in wishing Pepperidge Farm

A Happy 75th Birthday!

FTC Disclosure:  This review was made possible by Mom Spark Media and I received the products mentioned to facilitate this post but did not receive any payment. Thoughts are my own. See complete FTC Disclosure information that appears at the bottom of MommyBlogExpert's main page and at the bottom of every individual post on this blog, including this one.