Happy Fall Y'all!

This is my favorite time of year for baking... Hope you all have a wonderfull, family-fun filled Thanksgiving. I'm thankful for all of you!

Thanksgiving fun.... make someone smile!

I made these for my Mom today, I love Thanksgiving and so does she. The "crust" is sugar cookie and the "pie" and whipped cream" is royal icing. Thanks for looking. Try some for someone you love, they are sure to make them smile!

Busy week!

Oh, what a great week I had! I made a cake for a "man shower" & and 18th bday. Just wanted to share with Y'all. Cheers!

Not Your Grandmothers Sugar Cookies!

CLICK ON "NOT YOUR GRANDMOTHERS SUGAR COOKIES" TO FOLLOW LINK TO THE RECIPE!

With the holidays upon us I've been baking alot of sugar cookies. I wanted to share this recipe with you all. I made these cookies for a friends daughters birthday. This recipe is the best & EASIEST I have tried by far. Happy Baking Y'all!

Party Cookies....

Fun summer cookies made for the 70's Surf Party! Cookies are the perfect "side dish" to a custom cake. Any color, any design, what more could you ask for?!

Extreme talent!

I just wanted to share my cousins blog with y'all! She is so talented & creative.... she always has been! She is a very talented photographer and amazing at scrapbooking! Everytime I look at her blog it makes me crazy to craft. The holidays are the perfect time of year for your creativity to shine, and Jeanette's blog is the perfect inspiration! Kudos Jeanette!

http://www.jeannettesiciliani.typepad.com/

Custom Votive Wraps...

I made these for my brothers party as well. I photoshopped his face onto some of them, and used old photos of him on others. I made about 120 of these, with about 10 different designs. Everyone really enjoyed looking at them during the party, and some people even took them home with them!

Happy Birthday Billy

Me, with my brother, Billy and my sister-in-law, Sue.

Custom Candy Wrappers...

I made about 6 different chocolate bar wrappers, all with Billy's favorite things. He loved them and they were a huge hit at the party.

A Summer Full of Parties!

What a great summer it was.... starting with my brother's Surprise 70's Beach Bash. I was very busy on this one. I did everything from the invitations, to the party website, cake, decorations etc....

This was his cake, one of my favorites I've ever done!

my new love........

Photos.... such a fun way to be creative. This picture is going to Photo Friday.com, a weekly photo contest with a theme. This week, Fast Food.....

New Camera! Happy Birthday to me!

A Batman Birthday!

This past weekend was Anthony's 3rd Birthday! All he wanted was a batman cake! He had so much fun at his party, and finally go to "eat Batman's head!" He was so cute.... he wouldn't even take his eyes off of the cake to look at us for the picture.

CHECK OUT ALL OF T PARTY DESIGNS FUN STUFF AT:

Party & Gift Ideas
 

Wow, what a week....

It has been a crazy week or two.... August is filled with birthdays! Just wanted to share the cake topper I've been working on for my brothers surprise 70's surf party. This is inspired by Debbie Brown's Hippy Flashers

Bake with your kids!

I loved Family Fun Magazine when my kids were young, and this time of year is perfect for baking with them. I found this recipe on thier website and thought I would share it with you.

http://familyfun.go.com/

Peanut Butter & Jelly Surprise Muffins


Hidden inside these moist peanut butter muffins is a secret filling--your child's favorite jelly. If you make up a batch over the weekend, your kids can enjoy them as after school treats all week long. RECIPE INGREDIENTS:
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
2-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 large egg
3/4 cup milk
1/3 cup butter, melted
1/2 cup strawberry, raspberry, or grape jelly
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a 12 muffin tin with muffin papers. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl, mix the peanut butter with the egg. Add the milk, a little at a time, then mix in the butter. Pour the wet batter into the bowl with the dry ingredients and stir gently to combine. The batter will be stiff.

2. Put a heaping tablespoon of batter in the bottom of each muffin cup. Use a finger to make an indentation in the center and put a teaspoon of jelly in the hole. Cover with another heaping tablespoon of batter or enough to fill each cup about 2/3 full. Spread the batter gently until no jelly is visible. Bake for 20 minutes, then turn the muffins onto a wire rack to cool for at least 10 minutes. Be careful: the jelly centers can get hot. Makes 12 muffins.

Love, Love, Love these...... Carolyns Kitchen Aprons!

I just found this website, and LOVE it..... Obviously I spent alot of time in aprons, and I'm always looking for cute chic ones. They also have matching gloves, what a great idea for gifts. These aren't your mama's old aprons!

http://www.carolynskitchenonline.com/

Do "stew" want some cake?

I made this for Alex, the girl that cleans my house. She is so sweet, and she loves to cook. She is actually going to cooking school. I know real chefs probally don't make stew, but I could figure out how to make a cake look like rack of lamb in the 3 hours I had to bake & decorate this cake. She loved it, anyway!

Pauline's Baby Shower....

This was one my favorite parties we've ever done. For my best friend, Pauline, when she was expecting her first child... Anthony. So many of us worked very hard on this day, and it was alot of fun!

Cookies for Reese....

I love making cookies for Reese!

Sunday Funday Treats....

I went to visit my favorite kids today (well, besides my own)and I made them some Marshmallow Pops and choclolate dipped rice krispie treats. So fast & easy to make and so much fun!

Carnation Cupcakes.... I want to learn this next!

Sugar Coookie Recipe

I have tried ALOT of recipes, and I just found this one. It is the best, by far. It does not spread much, so its great for shaped cookies. I got this recipe from Susan Carberry at The Cake Cottage in Murrieta.... my "home away from home!"

SUGAR COOKIE RECIPE

MAKES APPROX. 3 DOZEN 5" COOKIES

2 CUPS UNSALTED BUTTER, SOFTENED

2 CUPS GRANULATED SUGAR, I LIKE BAKERS SUGAR

2 EGGS

1 TSP VANILLA EXTRACT

2 TSP LEMON EXTRACT ( OR FLAVOR OF CHOICE)

6 CUPS ALL PURPOSE FLOUR

3 TSP BAKING POWDER

1 TSP SALT

Directions: In at least a 5 qt. mixer or a large bowl, cream the butter & the sugar until fluffy. Then add the eggs, mix. Add vanilla and lemon extract, mix.

In a seperate bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and salt together. Gradually add to the butter mixture until incorporated. Scrape bowl and mix until dough comes together.

Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate atleast 1 hour.

** Great TIP** Roll out cookies on parchment paper, cut shapes leaving space between the cookies, remove the excess dough from in between the shapes, leaving the cut shapes on the paper. Then, simply move the parchment with the cookies onto a cookie sheet.

Bake cookies at 350 degrees in a regular oven or 300-325 degrees in a convection oven until golden brown. I find it usually takes approx. 8 minutes!

More Shower Photos...

Happy Baby Shower Kasey!

Well, it is done! We had Kasey's Baby Shower today, she looked beautiful & everyone had a great time. Her sister-in-law did a great job, and had everything decorated so cute. I made her cake & some cookies. Kasey waited a long time for her shower, and I'm so glad she enjoyed herself today.

I heart Weddings!

I was going thru some old photos and came across these.... This is a wedding I did for a friend a few years back. I did everything from the invitations, table cards, favors and even carved the pumpkins for the centerpieces. Fall is a great time for parties & decorating... I love the colors. The only thing I didn't do at this event was the cake, I did however decorate it. This was a fun reception, and everyone had a great time.

New Sugar Cookies......

While trying to come up with an idea for Kasey's Baby Shower I came up with these...

It's not what I'm using, but I had fun making them. I have a new recipe for Sugar Cookies which is perfect, and the royal icing is too. I will post the recipe later.

Working hard on Billy's Suprise 50th Birthday- 70's Surf Party!

We are so excited about Billy's Surprise 50th birthday. We have so many groovy things planned. Including, my version of this cake.... which I found on Cake Central. I love it and know it will make Billy laugh! I can't wait to share the pictures with you!

How time flys...

I've spent most of the past week preparing for my BFF's baby shower! It seems like they just got married. I can't wait to surprise her with her cake this weekend. I loved making her cake for her reception, and I hope she likes what I make for her first born.

New Fondant Summer Cookies!

OMG! These are my favorite thing right now. I love cookies :)

These are so easy to make & a great gift for any of your friends.

I'm going to be putting together a

"Girls Night In" Happy Hour Cookie Party.....

we will be making margarita, martini & wine shaped sugar cookies

& drinking them too! Stay tuned for more info...

My LOVE of All things Party!

Today I decided that I wanted to share my passion for parties and everything that goes with it! I have always loved throwing parties, but over the last year or so I have been learning to make cakes, cookies & cupcakes. It's been alot of fun, and some have come out good & some.... not so good. This is what makes me the happiest in life! I spend alot of time enjoying others' blogs and I want to share my journey as I learn more about the world of cakes & such, and continue to plan fabulous parties. I hope you enjoy what I have to share!