Food for Thought...Nutella Frosting

A few years ago, while I was still with GE, I was nominated to attend a leadership development workshop at the famous Crotonville. Crotonville is like university for the folks at the heart of GE. The company invests about $2.0 billion a year in the center on courses and innovative learning. It's no wonder the campus looks like this:

Yea, it's pretty sweet. The hotel located on the campus can hold over 400 folks and has stocked kitchens with ready-to-eat sandwiches, yogurt, fruit, snack, and Haagen Dazs ice cream. It's like heaven there. Oh, and there's five star meals from the on campus executive chef. They really spare no cost. This is the place to make connections across the company and up the ladder. 

The campus also has two places to hang out, the Green House and the White House. The Green House is self-sustainable and off the grid (hence the "Green"). The fully open bar, pool tables, and darts offer ways to interact and network with folks. If that's not your speed, the completely redesigned White House, is a coffee shop with professional baristas and the most delicious thing on this entire planet. The Nutella Hot Chocolate.

Up until that point in my life, I had never had nutella. Ever. I'm not quite sure where my life was headed before this magical drink but I certainly knew that my life was going to have a whole lot more nutella in it afterwards.

Which brings me to today's recipe. Nutella Frosting. Since my glorious discovery of the delicious hazelnut spread, I've tried to incorporate it into everything. Today, I bring you frosting. Here's what you need:

1 stick of butter

1/2 cup nutella

1/4 cup milk

1 cup powered sugar

Step 1. Soften butter in microwave but be sure not to melt. You don't want to wait to spread this on your cupcake. 

Step 2. Beat together butter and nutella until well combined and there are no butter lumps. (Sorry, no pictures. I was making this up as I went.)

Step 3. Add in milk and powdered sugar. Beat on high until all ingredients are well combined and fluffy.

Step 4. Refrigerate for 30 minutes as your cupcakes are cooling. (This step is NOT required.)

Step 5. Layer this delicious-ness on your cupcake (I made vanilla) and try not to eat one right then and there. 

I sprinkled toffee bits on top of these to make them just a little bit more heavenly. Ryan couldn't wait for these to come out of the oven. Or for them to be frosted for that matter. 

On another note, I truly hate, hate, hate my kitchen lighting. It's dull and gross. Someday I'll switch to nice bulbs. Maybe even LED, you know, after I hit the lottery.

Another one lost

Internships at GE are coveted. A lot of students in the Capital District apply. A select few get in and generally they're pretty good. On my team we always have two interns - one for Pension support and one for S&SP and Family Services support. Unfortunately for us we only get to keep them for a year. Yesterday one of those years was up and we lost a terrific intern.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Nicole alongside my coworker Stephanie. Out of the three interns we interviewed, I thought she was the best. She had been in banking, went to school for accounting, and she seemed like she was ready to learn.A year later, she's made a great impact on our team: improving processes, making reconciliations more efficient, and really making my job a little easier because I NEVER have to worry.

Tuesday was her last day. I typically work from home on Tuesdays but when she texted me I knew I had to be there to see her off. I wanted to give her a token of my appreciation, so I used some Pinterest inspiration and on hand document frames to make her an inspirational white board. This one was black metal but it had some dings in it which made the silver shine through. Good thing I have my Martha Stewart paint!

 

Again, I covered my lap desk in plastic wrap (I swear I'll use more of it for that board than I will on food). I took the metallic Martha Stewart paint and using an "X" type brush stroke on leftover fabric from a previous project. I did a few layers to make sure the dings were covered. While that was drying (sorry, I apparently didn't take a picture of the painting step) I took out my button/string collection. This is just a collection of all the buttons/strings that any of mine or my husband's clothes come with. Typically if you buy a button up shirt it comes with extra button - so in the bag they go. 

I looked for white buttons because I thought they'd go well with the silver. I also had about 8 inches of silver ribbon from some random craft in college and a whole roll of white ribbon. I cut two pieces of white ribbon and used about half of the silver to tie three quick, cute bows. With 3 buttons I was set to go. Hot glue gun in hand - the ribbons and buttons were quickly attached.

I wanted to give Nicole something more than just a white board so I looked for a quote that was inspirational but not overdone. I found one by Pamela Vaull Starr that said "Reach high, for stars lie hidden in your soul. Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal." I chose Artistamp Medium for the larger words and Appleberry for the others. Together I think they look really neat.

I know Nicole grew a lot in her role as an intern and I hope she continues to through her experiences in NYC. Best of luck!

Since I think my steps are generally straightforward I'll include just the cost of materials:

Supplies
1. Document Frame - $2.99
2. Martha Stewart  Metallic Paint (Polished Silver) - $5.48
3. Copy Paper (500 Sheets) -  $3.72
4. Hot Glue Gun - $5.97
5. Buttons - Free with purchase of any button up shirt!
6. Spool 'O 1/4" Ribbon - $1.99 (look at Hobby Lobby when their ribbon is 50% off)

Total cost for the project considering percentage of paint, paper, ribbon, etc used is probably close to $3.15.