Neither Snow Nor Rain

Neither snow nor rain nor frigidly cold temps could keep me from attending the 1st birthday party of my first great niece.  Because, I am after all, a GREAT aunt. *wink wink*

Her party was book themed with all the food, drinks, and, of course, cakes being book inspired.  Yes, I said cakes; four to be exact.

Animal Kingdom

October brought a veritable menagerie to my kitchen.   Yes, I said October; you know by now that I have a tendency to get behind schedule with my postings.  I figure it's something you like about me...maybe.

Anywho, back to that menagerie.  It started with the peacock.

(I've still got feathers in my house.)

December = Done

And, I'm back again today with December goodies.  Which means, I have finally managed to get all the 2016 goodies edited and posted.  Let's take a moment to appreciate this happening and to hope I don't get this far behind ever again.

Ok, moving on.

December is for Christmas goodies.  These were my first attempt at petit fours.  They were a pain.  I'm not sure I ever want to make them again.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Yes, it's Valentine's Day.

You didn't forget, did you?

December Sugar Rush

Happy 2016!  How are your resolutions holding up?  Going well, I hope.

Let's get down to it - we'll start off with Christmas goodies!

Cookies! 60 dozen this year.  Not quite a record, but still plenty for my liking.

December Delights

Yes, I know it's January.

Yes, I know it's the middle of January, but, hey, that doesn't mean we can't still enjoy the Christmas-y confection eye-candy.  (Although, I'll admit, most of these photos are a bit blah...the short days really wreak havoc on my photographing "skills.")

Happy 2015!

Let's make it a good one, shall we?

Because I Know You Love It

Love what you ask?  Those moments when I share failed baking experiments on the blog.  Don't worry, I get a kick out of them, too.  At least after the initial anger at the fact the recipe didn't work out subsides, then I have a good chuckle, tell myself "never again" for that recipe and onward we go.

Well, today, I have a Halloween goodie "fail" for you.  Yes, I know Halloween was a couple of weeks ago, but I'm behind schedule.  It's all good, you'll still enjoy it.

Here's what it was supposed to look like:

By Happy Food Healthy Life,
click here for the instructions.

Out With The Old

And in with the new!

I know what you're thinking..."it's Tuesday, where is my "Tasty Tip""?  Well, it is Tuesday, but it's also New Year's Eve; in a few hours we'll be ushering in 2014, so I thought I'd do something a little different for this Tuesday.  Don't worry, Tasty Tips will be back next week.

For this week though, how about a little questionnaire for you, yourself, to fill out.  Give some consideration to what you want in the new year, what you'd like to achieve, things you'd like to try, etc.  Don't let the list below limit you, it's really just a starting point.

Feel free to print out the pic, fill in the blanks, and post it somewhere as a reminder.  Who knows, you might find you complete every item on the list this year.

Photo from:  Bits of Truth

Hope 2014 is your best year yet!

Happy New Year!  Salud!

O Christmas Tree

Update 12/30/2013:  Giveaway has ended!  Winner is comment #1 left by Denise!  Congratulations!  Post with official results and instructions on how to claim your prize over here.

O Christmas Tree!

While Christmas sugar cookies are pretty much taking over my kitchen right now, I do still have a few other things on the schedule.  This week it was two Christmas tree cakes.

Rather than decorating them both exactly the same (they were for a holiday auction event), I opted to go two different routes.

Scent of the Holidays

Holiday aroma made easy. Boil a pot of water with orange rinds, cinnamon sticks, whole star anise, and whole cloves.  Just don't let the pot boil dry!

Mmm...tasty!

I Like You For Your Brains

Occasionally, a cake order comes along that really reaffirms to me why I started doing this in the first place.  This was one of those cakes.  To say I had far, far too much fun making this cake is probably an understatement...

Yes...it's a brain!  With a real knife sticking out of it.  And...aside from said knife, it's 100% edible - blood, brain matter, and goo-like spinal fluid globs - all ready to make an appearance on your plate.  I think the silver platter really ups the elegance factor, don't you?

Wait!  Where are you going?

Eek!

Halloween is tomorrow!  Yay!  It's probably my second favorite holiday; Christmas comes first.

Have you gathered up your costume?  Bought candy for the trick-or-treaters?  Or maybe you are making treats rather than buying them in the store?

Or maybe you had the great idea that you'd make treats, but just haven't gotten around to it...if so, might I suggest one of the following options?  They all come together fairly quickly (translation - last minute) though they will probably require a trip to the store, so don't dilly dally too long.

Chocolate covered Oreos with fondant cut-outs.  Because Oreos are as addictive as cocaine, so some say, so let's give them to the kiddos.

Pumpkin Playtime

Have you carved your jack-o-lantern yet?  If not, consider some of the non-traditional tools below to add extra pizazz to your sculpture:

• A power drill - try out a rotary bit to make perfect circles, or get adventurous and experiment with other types of bits.
• A Dremel - with its assortment of attachments, you can drill, cut, carve, etch, and engrave to your heart's content.
• Linoleum cutter - carve details into the surface of your pumpkin without cutting all the way through, and experiment with a range of depths; this will result in areas that "glow" once the pumpkin is lit.
• Cookie cutters - using metal cookie cutters and a rubber mallet, you can pound the cutter into the pumpkin, resulting in cut-out shapes quickly and easily.  (You may want to opt for cutters you won't mind getting bent or misshapen, just in case.)

If you really want to think outside the traditional pumpkin mold, pick up a white, green, or other alternatively colored pumpkin.  Just keep in mind that they may be slightly more difficult to carve.  Or, to really step outside the box, consider transforming a watermelon - it will definitely make your neighbors look twice!

Mmm...tasty!

Double Duty: Ice Cream Scoop

Are you planning to carve a pumpkin for Halloween or Thanksgiving this year?  If so, when it comes time to clean out the pumpkin "guts" and seeds, consider using an ice cream scoop rather than one of the plastic scrapers you usually find in a pumpkin carving kit.  The ice cream scoop is not only more rigid with a longer handle, but it also has a nice edge to it that quickly scrapes down the sides of the pumpkin.  And, the bowl on the scoop is also useful when it comes time to remove all the loose bits and pieces your scraping has left behind.

Happy carving!

Mmm...tasty!

Hats Off

Did you survive New Year's Eve?  Still planning to do a little celebrating today maybe?  If so, try this fun way to serve chips and dip.  Flip over an unused plastic top hat, line it with paper towel, napkins, or a (clean) dish towel, and fill it with chips.  Serve salsa, guacamole, or any other dipping options in martini glasses.

This doesn't have to just be for New Year's though, you could use it for any occasion, as long as you've got a hat to use.  Hmm...maybe pick up a few extra for use throughout the year?

Mmm...tasty!

Arrivederci 2012

Well, we made it through another year.  Here's to 2012; the memories made, the friendships forged, the days we won't forget, and all the rest - good and bad.  May your 2013 be even better with less of the "bad" and more of the "good."

I stumbled across this quote from F. Scott Fitzgerald the other day and thought it was a perfect sentiment to not only start the New Year with, but to keep in mind everyday.  After all, any time is a good time to make a change.

I hope you do.  Happy 2013!

The Run Down

I survived the Christmas season!  How about you?  I hope you had a fabulous holiday, even if you were a bit stressed and stretched at the seams.  I was, but would we be happy any other way?

In case you're curious, my Christmas was great.  I spent time with family and friends and we even got some snow.  Which meant we had a white Christmas, but more importantly we maybe eked out a tenth of an inch of moisture...one of the best presents our area could receive right now.  We would have gladly taken more!

But, anywho, on to the Christmas cookies; the cookies that pretty much consumed my December.  Cookie Monster may always want a cookie, but at this point I definitely don't.  *sigh*

A few statistics from the cookie carousel:

• Cookies baked:  52 dozen (624 individual cookies)
• Pounds of butter used:  17
• Pounds of powdered sugar used:  48
• Sheet pans borrowed:  6
• Rolls of parchment paper used:  4
• Burns sustained from hot pans and/or oven:  5
• Average decorated cookie completion rate:  3 dozen/hour
• Days spent baking:  2
• Days spent decorating:  8

I was pretty pleased with my burn rate this year - I think it's down from previous years, even though the cookie count was up.  I must admit though that it's this time of year when I most seriously consider finding a temporary sous chef; but haven't cracked under the pressure yet.  Luckily, I've figured out a decent system to keep everything running smoothly for the most part.  I'm basically a cookie making machine once I get rolling.

Of course, there are things that happen that are out of my control.  Like a winter storm with 60 mph winds, snirt (snow + dirt, for those of you unfamiliar with the term), and loss of electricity.

Yep...I boxed cookies by lantern light.  I can honestly say this is the first time I've had to do that, but orders must go out on time, so a resourceful baker does what she has to do.

Oh, and since the cookies weren't keeping me busy enough, I also whipped up a few dozen mini cupcakes for a birthday.

Yes, those are Christmas cookies in the background.  I'm telling you, there's a point where there's no escaping the cookie.

And, since I couldn't very well just feed the fam Christmas cookies as dessert on the 25th, I also made some pies and other sweets.

Mini peanut butter pies, anyone?  Yep, I used store-bought graham crusts.  I'm not ashamed, they work like a charm and save me time.  In addition, there was also puppy chow, homemade reeses, grape salad, lumps of coal, and apple pie dip.  Oh, and rice krispies treats, which ironically enough, went the fastest of anything. My group is sometimes happiest with the simplest, most classic things.  C'est la vie.

Do you have big plans for ringing in the new year?

Merry Christmas!

Happy Holidays!  Or whatever sentiment would be proper for the season you observe!  Wishing you the best today and in the year to come.  Oh, and just a quick reminder:

Try to remember this today - especially when the in-laws start to drive you crazy or the kids have already given up on the new toys, or your exhaustion with the entire escapade starts to set in.  These are the times, and these are the days, that you can never go back and "do over."  Embrace the crazy, live, laugh, and love.

Mmm...tasty!

Trick or Treat

Give me something good to eat!

Thought I'd tempt you with a few of the Halloween treats I made this year - sugar cookies, homemade candy corn, and "blood" spattered red velvet cake balls.  Yum, yum!  Oh, and don't forget the orange and black vodka.  It's only for those of age though, sorry kiddos.

Celebrate safe and Happy Halloween!