さようなら, America! Hello, 日本！

In just two short weeks, anyway...

This is something I haven't gotten to talk about on my blog yet, so I think now is a good time to share. 

In two weeks, I will be leaving for Japan! 

...Wow, it still doesn't feel real to say it (or type it), even though I've known about this trip for months. 

I will be in Tokyo for the summer, and I'll be coming back to the States at the end of August. I can't even put into words the excitement, nervousness, and all-around anxiety I am feeling right now.

I've never been out of the country before, apart from visiting Canada once or twice in high school for class trips. And then, it was not as if I could do anything I wanted. I was on a strict schedule where I needed to be at specific places at certain times, and with a particular group. 

This trip is going to be so different than that!

I am going to be spending my time in Tokyo doing what I'd like during the day, and then spending the evenings and weekends with my host family. I don't have more specific details to share about the trip, because I'd like to respect the privacy of the family and the circumstances for my travels. So, please don't ask about why I'm going, who I'm going to be staying with, where exactly in Tokyo I'll be, etc. Other questions are absolutely welcome, though!

So what does this mean for my blog and YouTube channel?

If I had realized I was going to be this busy right now with the million things I still need to do before I leave, I would have tried to get more blog posts and videos out these last few weeks. Oh well... I still have a lot of ideas that I'd like to share, so I will certainly try to start putting more baking and craft posts up once I get back!

And I am obviously going to bring my camera with me to Japan. I have a few back up batteries in case I want to record some video while I'm out and about, and I would love to share my adventures with you! Who knows, maybe I will spot some awesome food or crafts while I'm there that I can show you, even if I can't make a tutorial at that time! I am very confident that I will be eating a lot of amazing food, and will therefore probably be taking lots of FPSs (Food Porn Shots, if you haven't been paying attention to my other posts) to put up too.

Stay tuned!

Look forward to the Squeaky Bunny: Japan Edition blog posts, coming soon!!

Excited to get my passport stamped for the first time!

Please Do Not Sample the Frosting...

It's made of mercury. You will die!

Alright, not really, but these are still by far the most metal cookies I have ever made.
I am a huge fan of the show Metalocalypse, and the band the show is centered on, Dethklok. This show is great for me. It has awesome music, hilarious and occasionally dumb jokes, and lots and lots of blood and guts. I have seen each episode pentuples of times.

To celebrate my love for this brutal band, I decided to decorate some sugar cookies with their faces! 

Tl;dr? There's a video tutorial for these dethcookies at the bottom!

Inventory

For the Cookies: 

• 1/2 cup plus 5 teaspoons butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 and 1/2 eggs
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups flour
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt

*When I first made these cookies, I ended up making like 30 or more because the recipe I used was too big. If you want to make too many cookies like me so that you can have lots of extras to snack on/make sure the finished ones are all the best, this is the recipe I used:

• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 and 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 and 1/2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt

For the Frosting:

*Note: You will need approx. double this amount, as we will be making frosting twice

• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 Tbsp milk
• 2 Tbsp light corn syrup
• 2 tsp clear extract (clear vanilla, almond, lemon, etc.)

Dethrecipe

1. With a stand mixer or hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the eggs and vanilla (if you need 1 and 1/2 eggs, just use 1 egg plus 1 egg yolk). Stir in the flour, baking powder. and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight)

2. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Roll out cookie dough on a surface dusted with either flour or powdered sugar (I used the sugar, because sugar). Flatten to about 1/4-1/2 inch thick. Cut into circle shapes with cookie cutter (or just a glass). Please cookies 1 inch apart on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

3. Bake 5-8 minutes. Keep an eye on these cookies because the different thickness could lead to different cook times. 

4. Cool completely.

5. To make the first round of frosting, whisk together 2 cups powdered sugar, 2 Tbsp milk, 2 Tbsp light corn syrup, and 2 tsp clear extract. Pipe onto cookies in a large circle and use a toothpick or chopstick to fill in any gaps. Leave to harden overnight.

Frosting after sitting overnight.

6. Once cookies are hardened, it's time to make the 2nd round of frosting. This time, only add 1 Tbsp of milk, 1 Tbsp corn syrup, and 1 tsp extract to the 2 cups of powdered sugar. then add more milk a little at a time until it is the desired (thicker) consistency.

7. Split frosting into four bowls and dye each one a different color (yellow, brown, orange, and black). You will want more brown frosting than the other colors, because 2 of the characters have brown hair.

8. Use a simple design of the characters and start to pipe onto the cookies (I only included hair, eyebrows, and facial hair).

9. Allow time to harden again.

Done!

Food porn shots (FPS) 

Who to devour first?

Video