La Belle Cookie

My Baby Shower Favors

2010-11-03T21:16:00.003-04:00

When I told my most loyal customer that I was pregnant and would not be able to take on many orders, she asked me....."who is going to make cookies for your baby shower?"

Well, me of course :)

This is the super cute invitation for my shower which provided me excellent cookie options.

First, this is the ribbon I found for the favors which matches the invitation perfectly.

And these are the cookies I created by replicating the designs from the invitation. The bow on the present could use a little work, but this is the best that I could do. I added a pearl dragee for an added touch.

I made little favor tags and each treat bag includes both cookies.

Halloween Treat

2010-10-31T21:05:00.000-04:00

This "graveyard" is a super fun dessert to make....even for adults.

3 cups cold milk
2 packages 4-serving chocolate instant pudding
12 oz cool whip
package of chocolate sandwich cookies
decorations - thombstone cookies, candy corn/pumpkins

Mix milk and pudding packages for 2 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes. Crush cookies in a food processor or with a rolling pin in a large zip lock back. Combine cool whip, pudding and 1/2 crushed cookies. Spread pudding mix in a 9 x 13 pan and top with remaining crushed cookies. Then decorate....

Have fun!

Halloween Cookies

2010-10-26T19:59:00.005-04:00

This year I decided to finally use the candy corn cookie cutter that I have had for a couple of years.

I wasn't sure on the color combination so I bought a bag of candy corn as a reference....and I still managed to screw it up. What was I thinking???!!!! Oh well....they are still cute and I made the cookies for work and friends. Maybe no one will notice....

Oh and they are extra fun because they have sanding sugar on them!

I also made some ghosts....

And pumpkins. I wasn't very creative with faces this year.....

Stay tuned for a cute Halloween graveyard dessert that I am making later this week.

New Books

2010-10-20T18:37:00.002-04:00

I'm very excited about the two newest editions to my cookbook collection.

With baby Charlotte on the way, I will have lots of opportunities to make fun creations.

Seriously, could Bakerella be more creative?!?! I didn't think twice about buying this book when I stumbled upon it on Amazon.

Game Night Dessert

2010-10-17T18:19:00.008-04:00

Last night we enjoyed game night with the E's which was looooonnnnggg overdue. I think our last game night was in February!!!!

I decided to make a dessert on the cover of Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey. Here is how to make Chocolate Cheesecake Pots (yield 8)

1 cup heavy cream

4 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

1/2 cup sugar

3 large eggs

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

pinch of salt

boiling water

Sweetened whipped cream

This was the first time I made something with mascarpone cheese and to be honest, the first time I ever had mascarpone cheese!!

Preheat oven to 325.

In a saucepan, bring the cream to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from heat before it starts to boil and add the chopped chocolate. Stir until the mixture is smooth. Set aside and let cool to room temperature.

In a large bowl, whisk together the mascarpone cheese and sugar until smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, whisking after each addition. Add vanilla, salt and whisk to combine.

Pour cooled chocolate mixture into the mascarpone cheese mixture and whisk gently until smooth.

Put 4 oz custard cups, ramekins, or small oven proof coffee cups in an empty 9 x 13 baking pan. Divide mixture among the cups.

Put the baking pan in the oven and carefully pour bowling water into the pan, adding just enough water to reach halfway up the sides of the cups. Cover with aluminum foil.

Bake until tops of the cheesecakes appear solid, but jiggle slightly when shaken, 30 to 40 minutes (I baked for 35 minutes). The cheesecake pots will firm up as they cool. Transfer pots from baking pan to a wire rack and let cool to room temp. Cover each pot with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight before serving.

Add a dollop of homemade sweetened whipping cream and enjoy! This is a rich treat!

NOTE: If you want to yield 8 pots, only fill the ramekins 1/2 way. I filled the first 4 ramekins 2/3 full and only had enough batter left to make 2-1/2 filled ramekins.

Whoa! It's been.....

2010-10-15T12:50:00.005-04:00

far too long! I am embarrassed to even say that I make cookies anymore.

But, being pregnant and making cookies do not seem to work for me. The last thing I want to do after an 8+ hour work day is come home and stand on my feet baking cookies and decorating. I'm lucky if I can stay awake past 9 p.m.!!!

However, I did take on one order because it was small, one design and only required two icing colors. And can I say how much I misssssssssss making cookies? I am fully prepared to do a lot of holiday baking and make some sugar cookies.....because I can work at my own space with no deadlines.

Here are the cookies I made. I packaged them all up and forgot to take pictures, but here is the finished product! I loved the ribbons I found to match the colors.

I Still Bake

2010-07-09T20:16:00.004-04:00

Just thought I would share some pictures of cookies I have made recently.

This color combination is super cute, if you ask me!

This collection was for an educator retiring from a Jewish school, that I made into favors.

The apple is my favorite!

Surfboards

2010-06-12T19:27:00.003-04:00

Wow....I totally stink at posting lately. Unfortunately, life is quite hectic lately and I have been unable to accept several orders, but I hope that will change soon.

I made these cookies a couple of weeks ago for a baby shower. Unique, but nice to do something different for a baby shower. I'm not sure what the "B" stands for...maybe Baby? Name of the baby? Last name of the baby?.....

Bee & Hive

2010-05-17T20:35:00.006-04:00

How cute are these cookies? My customer wanted bees for her daughter's 2nd birthday party. Since I didn't have a bigger bee, she asked if I could attach the bee to the hive. Sure...why not? I honestly wasn't sure if I could....but it's royal icing. It's dries hard as a rock.

So, I piped a little yellow icing on the back of the bee and voila.

The hives were so incredibly easy to decorate it wasn't even funny. Although the bee is small, it does take several steps.

First, pipe the head and body. Drop in the eyes, then the stripes and stinger.

Once that dries, pipe the wings and add sanding sugar for a little extra touch.

I am in the process of overhauling the photo galleries on my website .Unfortunately, I haven't updated in a very long time AND I have a new computer.....so I did the best I could. The galleries are not as pretty as they use to be so I think I may have missed a step. But the galleries will do until I can consult my "web designer". Additionally, I just managed to delete one of my albums resulting in "page not found". Crap! Julie, I need you!

Tulips

2010-05-09T17:55:00.008-04:00

Last week I worked on an order for a church that ordered 150 tulips for Mother's Day. It took me 2. 5 hours to make the dough, cut out the cookies and bake. I didn't think I would ever see the light at the end of the tunnel. But once I started decorating the cookies, it flew by and I was done in no time.

Happy Mother's Day to all moms, moms-to-be and doggie moms!!!!!

Finally....Some Cookies

2010-05-02T20:23:00.009-04:00

For Administrative Professionals day, I decided to make favors for the annual APD luncheon at work. Why I chose this design is beyond me. The daisy is so time consuming to decorate in my opinion. My goal was to have three daisies per bag. I baked enough cookies, but when it came time to decorate, the icing would not cooperate and I remembered what a pain in the butt it was to decorate a daisy.....so I ended up with one cookie per bag....and the rest of the cookies went in the trash.

I experimented with lemon extract again and think I figured out the correct measurements for both dough and icing.

Super cute favor bags...

Last week I worked on an order for 6 dozen graduation cookies. These are some of my favorite cookies to decorate!!!!!

Two dozen caps, two dozen diplomas.

All the diplomas were personalized with UNF.

And two dozen Ospreys.

Here are some step-by-step shots of the cap and diploma.

Stay tuned....next up....tulips for Mother's Day.

Your Long Lost Cookie Blogger

2010-05-01T08:21:00.013-04:00

Seriously......again, it has been far too long since my last post. Bottom line, I've been lazy.

So what have I been up to, besides making cookies?

Well, first off, it is finally baseball season! We try to catch as many Jacksonville Suns games as we can.

Our nightly entertainment includes Elliot mauling the crap out of Dottie. Hands down the best $8.00 I have ever spent.

I purchased a Keurig Coffee Maker and it has literally changed my life and I am saving oodles of money. I'm making hot chocolate in this picture.

We spent a day at the beach relaxing, drinking beer (out of a can) and searching for sharks teeth.

I took a sewing class with two of my friends and practiced at home making a pillow case. As soon as I learn how to read a pattern, I plan to make aprons.

Converted a spice rack into a sanding sugar rack. Needless to say this is only a FRACTION of my sanding sugars. Cute nonetheless.

Played with my new kitchen gadget, the Egg Cuber, that was advertised in the last Food Network magazine. Very neat gadget, but unless you want to burn the shit out of your hands, it's really not worth it.

Randomly, I was craving gumbo, so I tried this recipe (sans chicken). It was okay....

We enjoyed the April Dachshund Meet Up. The best part about taking the girls to the meet up is they are thoroughly exhausted and sleep the rest of the day. Yay peace and quiet!!!!

And, I started reading Under The Table: Saucy Tales From Culinary School.

Lemon Extract

2010-04-08T18:22:00.004-04:00

This week I made a tray of yellow ducks for a work baby shower and finally decided to try out lemon extract in the icing.

This extract is so potent....I made the mistake of dabbing some of my finger to taste it and couldn't get the lemon taste out of my mouth for hours!

I really didn't know how much to use, so I was very conservative. I added just enough extract to give the icing a hint of lemon taste. I received some good feedback today, so I will definitely use it again and maybe add a touch more next time.

I also decorated the ducks a little differently this time. Instead of dropping the eye and beak in the yellow icing while it was wet, I let the yellow icing set up and then apply. I like how the eye looks but not the beak so much because it doesn't flow very well. Oh well, lesson learned.

Aren't they cute?

Easter Cookies

2010-04-04T17:05:00.007-04:00

It has been far too long since I have posted....

Last week I received an order for Easter Eggs. These cookies were super simple and easy to make. Not to mention, I thoroughly enjoy using sanding sugars.

Since I was making cookies, I decided to try out a new cutter I recently bought. I replicated the design on the package for the carrot and could not have been happier with the results.

The bunny turned out super cute. I especially like the tail covered in nonpareils.

I finally had an opportunity to use the food coloring pens a coworker bought for me. How cool is that and way easier than piping letters!!! I just need to work on centering the name a little bit better!

I packaged up the extra cookies for my friends using these super cute bags a friend sent me.

Happy Easter!

St. Patty's Day!

2010-03-14T16:27:00.004-04:00

While making the dough for clovers this morning, I added green coloring to part of the dough and voila. Once the cookies baked, the color ended up being very subtle.

As you can see, not a huge difference, compared to the dough without coloring.

These cookies were super simple and fun to make.

This one was my favorite!

Happy St. Patrick's Day to all!

More Baby Shower Cookies

2010-03-08T19:04:00.003-05:00

Last week I worked on an order for 60 cookies - strollers and onesies.

The onesies were super cute with the monogram.

And the strollers are not my favorite. I redesigned the stroller and neglected to remove the old design from my website....which I will do this week. Once I find my notes on updating my photo gallery! Needless to say, my customer wanted this design....

Next up......clovers for St. Patrick's Day!

A Wedding, Baby & Birthday

2010-02-25T20:10:00.004-05:00

Cookie orders are starting to pick up, which means I can no longer come home from work and just plop my butt on the couch and watch TV until it is time to go to bed. Oh well.... Good thing I like making cookies!

Over the past week or so I worked on these two orders.

The first order was for a dual baby/wedding shower at work. Just to clarify the shower was not for the same person...but two people. One having a baby. One getting married.

For the bride-to-be.

For the mom-to-be.

And this order is for a little boy turning one. The theme is circus, so I went with these colors. It was the first time decorating balloons and it doesn't get any easier than this!

Next week I have an order for 60 cookies which I am super excited about. Stay tuned....

Valentine's Day

2010-02-14T19:34:00.014-05:00

Since heart day was on a Sunday this year, I made a tray of cookies for work that I took in on Friday. A co-worker gave me a box set of Martha Stewart heart cutters last year and had a chance to use this.

Jeff & I typically do not give into the Hallmark holiday, but this year we did.

Every Sunday, I roll out of bed and go to Publix to get a Sunday paper and Dunkin Donuts for coffee. However, this morning, we enjoyed an ever so romantical breakfast of munchkins, coffee and chocolate milk while reading through the circulars.

Like total cheeseballs, we gave into the holiday by going to see a matinee of Valentine's Day...along with every other couple in Jacksonville. It wasn't the best movie, nor the worst movie. It was....okay. With so many famous people it's hard to not want to see it!

We took the girls for a walk when we got home and soaked up the perfect Florida day! Then, I was ready for quality time in the kitchen.

I received this cookbook for my birthday last year and to be honest, was a little intimidated by the recipes. Not to mention, the recipes feed an army! But, I pulled it out and was determined to make the one recipe that I have been dying to try since I received it - Chocolate Soup.

The garnish for the chocolate soup are toasted pound cake croutons. Since the book included a recipe I decided to not cheat and buy a premade pound cake. It was my first time making pound cake and it was a success.

This recipe makes two loaves of pound cake!!!! I didn't realize this until after I made the batter or I would have cut the recipe in half!

I cut the croutons in the shape of hearts using cookie cutters.....aww....

Prepping the croutons with butter and cinnamon/sugar before toasting....

Yes, that is a Vday apron I am wearing :)

Next, I started on dinner......Frittata with asparagus, tomato and fontina cheese (from Everyday Italian.

Perfection!

A shot of our lovely table scape.

After dinner I made the chocolate soup. Holy Ganache is all I have to say!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Be prepared....be very prepared before making this. It is so rich and amazing that a few sips is all you need. And I cut the recipe in half....not only would the chocolate needed for the full recipe cost a fortune, but I would have needed to have a party in order to serve this recipe.

The soup reminded me of the hot chocolate I had at Hot Chocolate in Chicago last May.

The chocolate soup before it was "dressed" up....

Soup with a little scoop of vanilla ice cream and a pound cake crouton.

If you would like the recipe for the pound cake and/or chocolate soup, please post a comment with your email address and I can send it to you.

I hope everyone had a lovely Valentine's Day!

Celebrations

2010-02-08T17:20:00.007-05:00

One of my friends at work is preggo with a boy and today was her work shower. Since there is another preggo at work due around the same they coordinated a joint shower. The other co-worker, is having a girl. I offered to make cookies.....because, well, that's what I do.

What to make for a boy and a girl and for a big crowd?? The easiest cookies E-V-E-R!!!

Umbrellas.

Outline...

Sprinkle with sanding sugar....

Shake off excess....If you want to add an extra touch....add the heart and voila!

Seriously, it doesn't get any easier than that!!!

That was the first celebration of the day. The second being Elliot's birthday!!!

Elliot turned two today. In honor of the occasion the girl's enjoyed a Frosty Paws. Unfortunately, they enjoy these very sparingly since Elliot has a wee bit of a weight issue.

The girls anxiously awaiting their treat....

Seriously, how cute is Elliot?????

Being oh so patient...mind you Sabrett ditched the party hat in a matter of a second.

Happy Birthday Elliot!

Finally....Some Sugar Cookies

2010-02-06T15:43:00.006-05:00

It has been a while, but I finally have some sugar cookies to share. But before I do, I have to share this super nifty organizer I found around the holidays. I can store all my tips, couplers, clips, food coloring and odds and ends in this one organizer, rather than separate containers.

The order I worked on this week was for the beach collection, which is one of my favorites. Unfortunately it calls for 5 different colors which takes a while to prepare...especially just for 20 cookies.

Each color (except the blue) requires two pipping bags - one for outlining and one for flooding. Since I didn't need to outline in blue, I just had to prepare one bag. This is a shot after the cookies were decorated, hence two of the bags being empty!

As much as I adore the cold weather, decorating these cookies sure did put me in a beach mood!!!

Next time I make this collection I am going to try to drop some flowers in the bikini and surf shorts to change up the design. I meant to to do that this time, but the cookies sat too long and the icing already started to set up when I remembered I wanted to do that.

I usually have to get creative but all the cookies fit perfectly in the box.

This weekend I'll be making some baby themed cookies for a work shower....but haven't decided what shapes to use. Stay tuned....

Peanut Butter Cookies

2010-01-31T17:59:00.006-05:00

I actually have some orders for February so I will get to share some sugar cookies with you soon.

Until then, this is a post that is almost identical to last Sunday's post but this time I made Peanut Butter Cookies. And yes, this is another Baked recipe.

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1 cup granulated sugar, plus more for sprinkling

1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 cup creamy peanut butter

6 oz good milk chocolate, coarsely chopped

Mix butter and sugars, them add 1 egg at a time and vanilla. Then add peanut butter.

Add flour mixture and stir in chocolate with a spatula.

Chill dough for 3 hours. No skipping this step. It is necessary.

Sprinkle with sugar (or roll in sugar as I did) and bake 10-12 at 375 degrees.

Yummo!

As a kid I could not wait until I could lick the beater. As an adult, I get just as excited :) Do you lick the beater????

Another Baked Sunday

2010-01-24T18:33:00.006-05:00

Here we are....another Sunday thumbing through the Baked cookbook deciding what to bake.

Since I had all the ingredients on hand for the Chocolate Chip Cookies, I gave this recipe a try. Nothing overly exciting here.....it is what it is....a chocolate chip cookie. If you are a chocolate chip cookie snob (and I know they exist)....give this recipe a try and see what you think.

Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened*
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 2/3 cups (16 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips (1 bag plus 2/3 cups)

*If you are a rebel like me, you will use salted butter....!!

Abbreviated instructions: In a large bowl, whisk first 3 ingredients together. In another bowl, beat butter and sugars together until smooth and creamy. Add eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla. Add half the flour mixture and mix for 15 seconds. Add the remaining flour mixture and beat until just incorporated. Scraping bowl throughout the entire process.

Using a spatula, fold in the choco chips.

Cover bowl tightly and put in the refrigerator for 6 hours. That's right 6 hours!!!! Eek! Since I didn't read the directions prior to starting this recipe I didn't have time to wait 6 hours. So, I gave it a couple of hours and the cookies turned out just fine....

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper (if you see fit). I can do with or without parchment paper to be honest with you...

Scoop out 2 tablespoon size balls. Using hands shape into perfect balls. Place on baking sheet 1 inch apart. Bake 12-14 minutes.

This recipe calls for A LOT of chips so be prepared to have a glass of milk with your cookies.

When I bake chocolate chip cookies they tend to go stale before I can eat them all. So, as the recipe recommends, I only baked a tray of cookies and I'm storing the remaining dough in the refrigerator and will bake off in small bathes to ensure fresh-from-the-oven cookies. The dough can be stored up to 5 days.

Enjoy!

In The Kitchen Sundays

2010-01-17T16:44:00.012-05:00

I decided to try another recipe from Baked and it did not let me down. This time I made the Easy Homemade Granola. It is delish!!!!

Ingredients:
2 cups rolled oats
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
3 tbs plus 1 tsp vegetable oil
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/3 cup each: almonds, hazelnuts, golden raisins, dried cherries

Abbreviated instructions: Combine the first three ingredients in one bowl and the next 4 ingredients in another bowl, then combine. Using hands mix to ensure all oats are coated with mixture.

Spread mixture on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes at 325.

Then, add the almonds and bake another 5 minutes. Then, add hazelnuts and bake another 10 minutes. (My granola is sans hazelnuts because I couldn't find them in the grocery store.) Each time you remove the baking sheet from the oven, flip and mix the mixture with a spatula.

Let granola cool on the baking sheet. Then add raisins and cherries (or dried cranberries in this case), toss and store in an airtight container up to a week.

Voila.

Cooking/baking in the kitchen would not be complete without one of the girls or both sitting at my feet just waiting for me to drop something. She wasn't so lucky today!

While the granola cooled I whipped up a batch of hummus in my new Kitchen Aid Food Processor that I got for Christmas. I'm loving it! Way better than my circa 1980's processor!

The hummus recipe I use is from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook. I have made this recipe a number of times and it is so simple.

Ingredients:

2 cups canned chickpeas, drained, liquid reserved

1 1/2 tsp kosher salt

4 garlic cloves, minced

1/3 cup tahini (sesame paste)

6 tbs freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons)

2 tbs water or liquid from the chickpeas

8 dashes Tabasco sauce

When I first made hummus, I searched high and lowfor tahini. I went to several stores with no luck. I finally found it at our grocery store on the ethnic aisle (in the above picture next to the lemons). Over the years the price has gone up. It is currently running $7.50 a can. But, you can get several batches of hummus out of it and it keeps for quite a while in the fridge.

Using a can opener, remove the lid. The tahini will have separated so take the time to stir and combine all the ingredients. This can take several minutes. When you open the can, the paste will have settled to the bottle leaving the oils on the top.

After stirring the tahini it should resemble a paste.

The two lemons I squeezed generated more than 6 tbs of juice, so do yourself a favor measure the liquid before adding to the other ingredients. Or your hummus will be too lemony.

Place all ingredients in the food processor bowl and process until the hummus is coarsely pureed.

We like to each hummus with toasted pita bread drizzled with olive oil or Stacy's pita chips.

While writing this post, Elliot wore herself out removing the innards of her stuffed animal.

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies & Elliot

2010-01-10T15:03:00.009-05:00

Since the new year I have had nothing really to blog about. I blame it on my new year's resolution to eat healthier and incorporate a little exercise in my life. There is nothing exciting to blog about when it comes to salads and pb&j sandwiches. But I couldn't take it anymore....I had to bake something. Especially since my friend, Daphne, sent me a wicked awesome cookbook called Baked. I am literally considering making every recipe in this cookbook.

The first recipe to catch my eye was Pumpkin Whoopie Pies. My blog friend over at A Dozen Eggs has made these before and they looked so delish. I even gave whoopies a try at one point and they didn't turn out all that great. So, I gave it another shot, using Matt & Renato's recipe. Success!

Wet ingredients.

Dry ingredients.Now, the recipe says it yields 12 whoopies. Either I did something drastically wrong or there is a typo because this recipe, which I followed to a T, yielded a lot more than 12 whoopies! I even used the correct size ice cream scooper so I can't figure it out...

I decided to use vanilla bean paste in the icing.

See all the specs of vanilla bean?

Overall, the whoopies turned out pretty good!!! Not exactly like the cookbook picture, but pretty close. And ten times better than my first attempt! Now, I have to take them to work tomorrow because I'm not eating them. :)

I will leave you with a few pictures of Elliot after her bath today. Yes, she is wearing a terry cloth robe! :)

Summer Shack Night

2009-12-31T21:00:00.009-05:00

While we were in Boston, one of my favorite dinners was at The Summer Shack. You can read all about it here.

After dinner I bought the Summer Shack Cookbook in the little gift shop and unbeknownst to me, it was signed by the author Jasper White.

My goal tonight was to recreate our Summer Shack experience and I have to say, mission accomplished.

We really like calamari and after trying the Rhode Island style at Summer Shack, we had to give this recipe a try.

Being that I have never purchased squid before I didn't know what to expect when I opened the package. (Thankfully, Fresh Market carries fresh squid or we would have been up a creek.) Little did I know that the tentacles and body were separated. Had I known this I would have asked for less tentacles because we don't care for them!

And we were given a lot more tentacles than body.... :(

However, the R.I Style Calamari turned out almost like the real thing. (And yes....I have Summer Shack paper. Our server was very nice and gave me some to scrapbook :)

Then, it was time to steam the lobster. According to Jasper, the best way to eat lobster is in "the rough". Jeff & I even bought a special steamer pot for the lobster.

I'm not going to lie......making lobster was a little overwhelming. I didn't think putting a live creature in a pot would bother me but it did. It was even weird having live lobster chilling in the fridge. I was afraid they would bust out of their box, break their rubberbands and attack me the next time I opened the door. Seriously...

I was excited about making lobster.... (and I even wore my Red Sox apron for the big night!)

Until it was time to put them in the pot.

How beautiful does this guy look?? And look at that killer claw!

Now.......this was no Summer Shack lobster for two reasons. 1) We do not have the luxury of having soft shells in the state of Florida.....so they were a beast to crack and 2) the flavor was not as good....which has no reflection on my ability to steam a lobster :) There was just an interesting after taste I can't quite explain....

Oh well...I guess we have to go back to New England in 2010 for another soft shell when they are in season...

HAPPY NEW YEAR to all my blog readers!

Cookie Day 2009

2009-12-20T20:40:00.008-05:00

Sunday was the annual Cookie Day with the LaSage's. I hopped on the road around 8 a.m. (after making a pit stop at Starbucks) and once again I underestimated how long the drive actually is....approximately an hour and 45 minutes. Although it doesn't sound that long, it is....because Cookie Day is one of my favorite days of the year and the anticipation kills me the entire drive. And, most importantly, I look forward to spending time with my family!!!!!!

So, here is a small collection of pictures from the big day!

Teamwork taking place making sugar cookies with Aunt Chris and Meghan.

Meghan even had her own ball of dough to make cookies.....for the dog :)

I foresee Meghan being my future decorating competition....

What I love about these sugar cookies is that we work with a simple glaze (applied with a spoon!) and sprinkles. It doesn't get any easier than that. I enjoy the break from royal icing and piping bags!!!!!!

Well, we manage to squeeze in some intense decorating....

Gingerbread production....

Most of the days work.....

I took a break to bond with the newest addition to the family...Lizzy. Shortly after this photo was snapped, Lizzy decided to vomit all of me. Talk about bonding....

Blooming Flower Wreaths

2009-12-18T14:30:00.000-05:00

While in Boston, we went to Paper Source and I found this wreath kit to make a Blooming Flower Wreath. I bought it and thought I would use it as a guide to make Christmas themed wreaths for friends and family this year.

I also like this wreath kit and may look into making these next year for the fall season.

Here are the supplies you need:

Scissors

Pencil

Flower Templates (I found a punch for a small flower and a circle which saved some time)

Two-sided scrapbook paper

Brads (in the scrapbook section)

Satin Ribbon

Foam Squares (in the scrapbook section)

12" Floral & Craft Ring Wreath (found at Michaels)

Needless to say this turned into a very time consuming craft project. Tracing and cutting out the flowers is a very tedious process. I wish there were punches in larger sizes for the flowers! I only had a punch for the smallest flower and a circle punch. Lots of tracing and cutting!

Assemble the flowers, in as many layers as you like, completing it with a circle cut out and brad. Curl and bend flower edges as you see fit.

Place a foam square on the back of the flower and then attach to the wreath.

Arrange the flowers on the wreath and then add ribbon for hanging and voila!

I also made some small wreaths in different designs.

Hanukkah Cookies

2009-12-17T19:58:00.005-05:00

I received an order for Hanukkah cookies for a party and ended up making them as part of my Hanukkah gift for this person.

The collection includes a menorah, dreidel, star of David and gelt. The menorah is my favorite!

I decided to make favors which include a star, gelt and a menorah or dreidel, tied with silver ribbon.

Gingerbread House

2009-12-13T21:32:00.011-05:00

As part of our holiday work party, each department in our division was given a pre-made gingerbread house and two weeks to decorate. Now this project was right up my alley, especially since I was planning on making a gingerbread house this year myself. Competition was on....especially since I was being referenced to as the "Martha Stewart" of Enrollment Services. No pressure. No pressure at all.....

Well, after we started decorating our work house I decided to ditch the idea of making my own house, as it would be way too much work.

This was the premade house we were given. (The icing job was a bit sloppy but I had no control over that....)

We used cardboard from a box as the base and applied aluminum foil.

Here is an array of pictures of our finished house. I'm not going to lie......I'm impressed. There were a total of 6 ladies working on the house and/or contributing ideas.

Rachel drew the windows on parchment paper. Amazing job! The house did not have a chimney, so we added one! Just used the back of a notepad and applied royal icing and red hots and voila.

The roof is tiled with chocolate Neccos.

Oh, might I add......we used a hot glue to secure almost everything. Brilliant idea instead of using royal icing and waiting for it to dry.

I pre-made the trees using a waffle cone and royal icing. So simple! Then, using a sifter we sifted confectioners sugar on everything.

The fence is made out of tootsie rolls and pretzels. Topped off with royal icing and a candy.

The string of lights is actually a necklace I found at Hallmark and some of the bulbs actually light up.

The ground is covered in royal icing and coconut.

And yes, our house has a Christmas Tree and Menorah.

I'm loving the reindeer which is made from a tootsie roll, pretzels and a piece from a cupcake kit. And the pile of logs. Love it!

Snowman made out of foam balls, twizzler scarf, toothpick nose and tootsie rolls for the hat.

How cute is this sled and mini snowmen? The sled is made from mini candy canes and twizzlers and the snowmen are gum drops with royal icing for the features.

Seriously, how cute is our mailbox and lamp posts??????????

Close up of the wreath and icicles I piped.

And you can't forget about the snowcap walk way!

A lot of our ideas came from this book I purchased a couple of years ago. I highly recommend buying it if you are going to make a gingerbread house and are not naturally creative (like me)!!

Unfortunately we did not win. We did not even make it into the top 3 (out of 6 houses). We were robbed. Bottom line!

When Disaster Strikes

2009-12-13T19:03:00.010-05:00

I was looking forward to this weekend since the beginning of December when I marked it off on the calendar. Why? Because I planned to spend the entire weekend baking. One of my favorite weekends of the holiday season left me almost in tears and vowing to never bake another sugar cookie again.

I even bought a container to hold all my fun ingredients in an effort to stay organized throughout the process.

The baking schedule included:

3 sugar cookie orders:
22 Christmas Tree
50 Snowflakes
12 Hanukkah Cookies
Plus sugar cookies for trays

Chocolate-and-Almond Macaroons
Peanut Butter Blossoms
Chocolate Walnut Coconut Bars
Grammy's Chocolate Cookies (MS Cookies, Page 75)

It all started Friday night when I baked 180 sugar cookies....

Saturday morning after running a couple of errands and having breakfast, I set up camp and started decorating the sugar cookies.

I spent some time decorating the snowflakes and Christmas trees. After an hour or so, I noticed the icing was not setting up. I couldn't believe this was happening again. But I had no time to waste. The xmas trees had to be delivered Sunday afternoon and the Snowflakes were for a party on Monday. Of course, the weather was absolutely horrid on Saturday (as it literally rained 24 hours straight and was humid) which was not conducive for the icing to set up.

I blame the Florida weather.

I had no desire to salvage the perfectly good cookies, so this was the end result for the Christmas trees and several other designs I made for trays. Right in the garbage. Nothing like wasted money, ingredients and time!

The second time was a charm...for the most part. The trees still did not dry as quickly as they should.

Now, the snowflakes for the work party were my contribution and since I promised I would make them I was hesitant to throw them out just yet. Although after 12 hours....they were still not right.

I started out with a perfect icy blue color icing...

Piped and flooded...
And waited and waited and waited for them to set up. The icing was still tacky and didn't look right when I went to bed Saturday night.

Sunday morning the cookies hardened just a wee little bit and were no longer tackey. Knowing full well I didn't have it in me to bake all new cookies, make more icing and decorate them....I decided to salvage the cookies. Now, if this were a paying order, I would have never gone through with decorating these cookies. In fact, I would have thrown them out with the trees and started over (while crying.... hysterically).

I can't even describe what happened to the icing, but it is not hard and sort of crumbles when you bite into the cookie. However, on this cookie is doesn't look all that bad. Kind of reminds me of ice or snow. Disclaimer: I am not at all excited about presenting this cookie to approximately 120 people tomorrow. It is not a positive reflection of my work....but I had no other choice...other than showing up empty handed.)

(Has anyone else experienced icing setting up like this??)

They look pretty....from a far and taste like normal!!

After decorating cookies Saturday morning I moved on to the other cookies on my list. Making these cookies had no baring on the weather. Thank you for that!!!!!!!!!!!!

First up, Chocolate Walnut Coconut Bars.

Then, peanut butter blossoms and macaroons.

Then, a break. Emily came over to hang out and help bake....and brought the wine (which was very much needed!). Since a lot of the cookies were going in the trash, Emily tried her hand at decorating.

Not bad! She even managed to smudge the cookie. Welcome to my world!!! :)

Sunday afternoon I baked the MS Chocolate Cookies and started packaging everything up.

Aside from the major sugar cookie disaster, the other baking was very successful, but I was not able to enjoy one minute of it. I was so stressed out from the sugar cookie disaster that it ruined the rest of my time baking.

How cute are these boxes??

I managed to successfully decorate the Hanukkah cookies on the first try and I will post those pictures later this week.

Manatee

2009-12-07T17:29:00.000-05:00

While home for Thanksgiving, my sister-n-law, aunt-in-law and I went to Blue Spring State Park to see the manatees. Growing up, we went to Blue Springs quite a few times, including school field trips. It had been years since I saw manatees.

They are such unique creatures.

See the scars on her back? So sad...

Kissy, Kissy.

Look at how crystal clear the water is!

The boil.

Dog Treat Give Away

2009-11-30T19:23:00.003-05:00

Some of you may remember that I was paired up with Bev of Blue Collar Dog Treats during the Fall Foodie Swap and she sent me two packages of her dog treats for the girls.

The girls loved the treats and I highly recommend that you check out her Etsy shop and spring for a couple of boxes of treats. The boxes are packaged so nicely and are perfect to give as gifts.

And during the month of December, Bev is hosting some give aways on her blog. So check it out and enter to win some treats!!!! Be sure to check out her blog regularly during the month of December for your chance to win.

Thanksgiving Cookies

2009-11-29T17:39:00.005-05:00

This year I only took on one order for Thanksgiving. I really did not want to be tied down before the holidays this year.

I made enough leaves and turkeys for the order and a tray to take home.

Working with four colors:

My favorite out of this collection is the acorn.

With the turkey as the runner up. And many thanks to Bridget at Bake at 350 for sharing this design on her blog.

Thanksgiving Themed Game Night

2009-11-29T16:49:00.007-05:00

This month, Jeff and I hosted game night at our place. I decided to make a Thanksgiving themed dinner - turkey breast, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, rolls and salad.

For an appetizer, I made my baked brie.

It is so easy to make. This is what you need:

1 sheet puff pastry
1 wheel brie
lemon
rosemary
egg (for egg wash)

I used a cake leveler to evenly slice the wheel of brie (brilliant, I know). Squeeze a wedge of lemon on one side and add rosemary (to taste).

Place the wheel on a slightly rolled out sheet of puff pastry and wrap up.

Brush with egg wash.

Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes and serve with crackers. It never fails that my baked brie leaks.

For dessert I spotted Ina Garten's Pumpkin Banana Mousse Tart in the latest issue of Food Network Magazine and just had to try it. Now, the link says that this recipe is easy, but I beg to differ. It is a little challenging because of all the steps....which I will not go into detail on this post. I will say that I managed to eff it up by adding too much sugar in one of the steps (because I picked up the sugar measurement in the next step) and it turned out way too sweet. Aside from the 4 slices we ate, the tart was thrown out :(

A lot of people have told me about the game Apples to Apples. Have you played? If not, go buy the game. You won't regret it. It is such a great game and we will definitely play it again during our game nights.

Dog Themed Cookies

2009-11-18T18:29:00.005-05:00

This week I fulfilled an order for dog themed cookies. These cookies were so much fun to decorate.

I encountered yet another icing issue this go around. Thankfully the icing set up this time, but the black icing crumbled when it dried. What could have caused this?? Thankfully I was able to package them gently enough to keep the icing in tact.

I decided to personalize a couple of the bones too. How cute are these??

I was impressed with my writing.....which is my least favorite thing to do (because I am not good at it!). But, I am seeing minor improvements.

And Jeff got a shot of me in action.

Cheesecake Cupcakes & Cookies

2009-11-14T16:33:00.005-05:00

This week I did some baking for a few festivities at work.

First, I made Cookies and Cream Cheesecakes from Martha Stewart Cupcakes. These cupcakes were sooooooo easy to make and were a hit!!!

Ingredients:
42 cream filled chocolate sandwich cookies, 30 left whole and 12 coarsely chopped
2 pounds cream cheese room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
1 cup sour cream
pinch of salt

Preheat over to 275. Line standard muffin tines with paper liners. Place 1 whole cookie in the bottom of each lined cup.

Coarsely chop 12 cookies.

With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat cream cheese until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Gradually add sugar, and beat until combined. Beat in vanilla.

Drizzle in eggs, a bit at a time, beating to combine and scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in sour cream and salt.

Stir in chopped cookies by hand.

Divide batter evenly among cookie-filled cups, filling each almost to the top. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until filling is set, about 22 minutes. Transfer tins to wire wracks to cool completely. Refrigerate (in tins) at least 4 hours (or up to overnight). Remove from tins just before serving.

Yummo!
I also made these cookies for a baby shower, which ultimately were the cookies from hell! The flooding icing did not set up after 6 hours, thanks to the climate change. So I had to scrape all the icing off and start over because I didn't have time to bake more cookies. No fun at all!!!

A Baby Shower

2009-11-09T18:55:00.008-05:00

This past weekend I co-hosted a baby shower at my house for my dearest friend Vicky who is expecting a boy.

I'm all about simple when it comes to entertaining....especially baby showers. There is no need to go over board with all the decorations and crepe paper. A few balloons, simple decorations and fresh flowers is all you need!

I neglected to take a picture of the food once it was all set up, but Vicky's mom was gracious enough to have the event catered from Secret Garden. We enjoyed assorted sandwiches, pasta salad, field green salad with assorted dressings and sweet potato chips (which are amazing!!).

The cake was designed to match the invitation that my friend Julie created and I think The Cake Shop did an amazing job replicating the invitation.

(almost final version of the invite.)

Seriously...how cute is this cake???? And it tasted as good as it looked, including the lemon filling!

I made cookies and wasn't too pleased with the polka dots. For some reason the brown bled....which has not happened to me in a very long time! But I love the addition of the heart on the stroller.

I was very excited about the beverage station! :) I served lemonade with sliced lemon and water with sliced lime...simple!

And here is the mom-to-be!! Don't you love the cute clothesline with onesies and socks in the background??? I got this idea from the last shower I attended and it was an absolute hit at this shower! You can steal the idea....I won't mind :)

Pumpkin Pound Cake

2009-10-31T07:30:00.000-04:00

This month's theme: Pumpkin

Just after the theme was posted, I checked my email and received an email from MyRecipes.com featuring this recipe:

Pumpkin Pound Glaze with Buttermilk Glaze

The cake was very good. After the cake sat for a day, the glaze soaked in and made it so moist. I took the cake to work and it was a hit!

Boston - Days 4 & 5

2009-10-28T18:54:00.006-04:00

Saturday morning, after sleeping in , we took a really long walk from our hotel to Flour Bakery (1.92 miles to be exact). I thoroughly enjoyed walking through the city and you really do not feel like you are walking as much as you. I guess there are so many distractions to keep your mind off of the actual walking you are doing.

The walk to Flour Bakery was very long...but well worth it.

We looked over the menu online before heading to the bakery so we knew exactly what we wanted.

Jeff ordered the roast beef with horseradish, crispy onions & tomato. He said it was very tasty.

I ordered the grilled roast chicken with brie, arugula, roasted red peppers & caramelized onions.....so I thought!!! As I was eating the first half of the sandwich I thought to myself...where the hell is the brie???? I couldn't remember the other ingredients....but I was expecting brie. Then I realized I received the roast chicken with guacamole and jicama. I was soooooooooooooooooo upset. I was on the verge of crying. The girl obviously didn't hear me say GRILLED. They really shouldn't have two sandwiches so closely related - roast chicken and grilled roast chicken. Seriously....

I still enjoyed the sandwich....but not as much as I would have enjoyed brie, arugula, roasted red peppers and caramelized onions.

And I ordered a sticky bun. I can't say that I am a huge sticky bun fan to begin with, but I thought I should try the bun that outdid Bobby Flay in a throwdown.

(and I wonder why I didn't actually lose weight with all the walking we did.....)

Next on the agenda - tour of the Harpoon Brewery. It was a great experience and they had some really good beers on tap, that we were able to sample during the 30 minute tasting of the tour.

During the tour, we were able to taste beer that was almost ready. It was nasty....

Almost every day, we passed a place called Beantown Pub just a block from our hotel. And every time I walked by it, I couldn't help buy notice the weird smell that came from the vent. Well, after the brewery we wanted a quick bite to eat and thought, what the heck, let's try the pub.

Hands down, the worst place ever. It was so nasty and dirty inside. The wait staff was not so pleasant and the food was absolutely horrible.

We ordered nachos with chili. Let me talk about the "chili" for a second. The chili consisted of ground beef, tomato paste/sauce, a few kidney beans and diced onions. There was no flavor, what so ever. The worst chili ever.

Note the random kalamata olive on the very top. Really????

As we headed to the hotel, walking down the side walk I looked at the guy approaching me and swore it was Jimmy Falon. I mean....it looked just like him. So I call out to Jeff and said that was Jimmy Falon! That was JIMMY FALON!!!! Jeff not believing me convinced me that there is no way Jimmy Falon would a) be in Boston and b) walk down the street by himself. So...I let it go. The next morning, Jeff read Twitter and guess what....Jimmy Falon was in Boston at Northeastern University that day. It was Jimmy Falon!!! I literally brushed shoulders with him. I could have said hi and got a picture with him. But no....................!!!!!!!!!!! Celebrity sighting # 2!

Anyways, at some point during the day, Jeff's knee started hurting so we laid low at the hotel for a while so he could get some relief. I think the walk to Flour Bakery did him in. Needless to say, the pain got worse and we ended up at the Dr. on Monday to find out he has tendinitis. EEK!

During dinner at Neptune Oyster, we received a recommendation from the couple next to us. I had enough lobster (did I really just say that???) and it was time for something different. They asked if we were interested in BBQ and we thought BBQ in Boston???? Sure.....we'll give it a try.

We took the T to Somerville for dinner at RedBones BBQ in Davis Square. It was another small place where everyone was sitting on top of each other, it was a total hole it the wall, but had a great feel.

The crowd starting forming and we got there just in time to score two seats at the bar (which sat 6 people) in front of the cooks. There were 5 guys packed into such a small space. It was fun to watch them.

We were super excited to see fried pickles on the menu, which is one of our favorite appetizers. The drinks were served in large mason jars. So fun!

Jeff ordered ribs.....which he really couldn't enjoy because those nachos weren't sitting too well with him. Hmm...I wonder why?

I ordered Beef Brisket...which I had never had before. Thought I would try something different. It was nothing spectacular and I thought it was lacking in flavor. The fries needed salt, but the black eyed peas were yummy. I had not had black eyed peas since living at home! The cornbread was just okay and the bbq was not impressive.

Overall......THE SOUTH DOES IT BETTER! Bottom line!

However, RedBones had a great atmosphere and the food was good....not great.....but good. I think I would have like ribs better than the brisket.

After dinner we headed to Cheers for a drink. It ended up pouring while we were there and we had to take a cab back to the hotel.

Sunday morning we headed to the airport and of course, it was an absolutely beautiful day!

There were beautiful blue skies the entire flight home and I was able to get a shot of the Appalachian mountains.

Our trip was wonderful and a great way to celebrate our 4th anniversary. I can't wait to visit Boston again!!!!!

Boston - Day 3

2009-10-27T21:12:00.009-04:00

On the third day of our trip, we had nothing planned other than shop, explore and eat.

We started off by walking through Boston Commons and taking in the beauty. I love the Willow trees.

Then, we walked to what we thought was the South End and realized we didn't know where we were going so we turned around and headed to Beacon Hill. On the way we found some great streets lined with brown stones. Oh to live here....

This corner reminded me of a scene from Fever Pitch. I doubt it is the same block since every other block in this area looks like this...

Of course, I had to go by the Real World Fire House again (because Boston was my all time favorite season!). I visited here in 2006 and even ventured inside, which is now a community center. The girl working tried to tell me the room she was sitting in was the confessional. I didn't have the heart to correct her...but she was wrong. She was sitting in the phone room. Duh!

I really wanted to have lunch at The Paramount (which the Real World cast frequented). But after standing in line for a few minutes we realized they were still serving breakfast at 11 a.m. and it would be a bit before they started serving lunch. Not to mention that place was insanely crowded, very small and we were afraid we would never get a seat if we went back.

After strolling down Charles Street we stumbled across Artu which is another place I saw on Real World Boston. We sat in front of that window which was eye level with the sidewalk.

We both ordered Panini - Jeff had chicken Parmesan and I had mozzarella, tomato and basil. I was not impressed. These were no panini's I had ever seen.....

After lunch we took a really long walk from Beacon Hill down to what appeared to be Little Italy to have a cannoli at Modern Pastry.

Oh Dear God.....I was in heaven!

The ricotta filling in this cannoli was the creamiest I had ever tasted. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!

While we were there I spotted a lobster tail and had to try it. I recently learned about the lobster tail watching Cake Boss (one of our new favorite shows, btw).

The lobster tail must have weighed 2 lbs.... I snacked on this pasty for two full days and still threw out a big portion of it!

I can't describe the yummy goodness inside! Pastry cream......!!!!

I have no shame...I dug right in!

Again, Laura and Nai recommended a fabulous restaurant - Neptune Oyster.

We walked inside and this place was no bigger than our living room. A gorgeous bar lines one side of the wall and tables along the other side .

We were sat next to a lovely local couple from Somerville and we soon became friends because we were sitting at the same table!! No privacy what-so-ever. I immediately felt uncomfortable, but after Jeff broke the ice with them it was no biggie. Jeff & I were able to have our own personal conversation and we chatted with them at other times.

We both ordered the $25.00 lobster roll - mine was cold, Jeff's hot. They were both divine. They do not skimp on the lobster either......this roll was filled with large chunks of lobster meat and was wonderful. I thoroughly enjoyed every bite. The french fries were very good as well. The bread was nothing to write home about though...

Served hot with butter.......

Served cold.......

A very happy Melissa!!!!

You know how we ended the third night in Boston.....

Stay tuned for Day 4 and our return home.

Boston - Day 2

2009-10-27T19:38:00.016-04:00

The second full day in Boston was jam packed...not to mention it was our 4 year anniversary! We started by getting our Charlie passes for the T and headed to Fenway Park. I love riding the T. It's quite the adventure and rather easy to navigate!

We took the Fenway tour during our visit in 2006 but had to do it again. Our tour guy was about 80 years old and was an absolute hoot and a half. Seriously....he had me in tears! And he felt the need to hit on me multiple times. Geesh!

The Green Monster (pronounced Monstah)!

After the tour we took the T to the Prudential Building. While making our way to the Prudential building we walked by this library that had the most unique light fixtures. They look so gothic! This same style was on another building we walked by later that day. Can't remember which building though...

When we finally made it to the Prudential building, after missing the entrance and walking a lot more than we needed to (which happened quite frequently during our excursions), we went up to the observatory (52nd floor and the elevator was wicked fast). Now, the view is spectacular....$12 per person spectacular....not so much. That's right....we paid $24 to look out windows. And it was incredibly hot with the sun shining in. Needless to say...at this point in the day I was Mrs. Cranky Pants and hungry. Not a good combination!!

After the Prudential we jumped on the T and headed to Cambridge. I heard about a place called Alive and Kicking. I neglected to do any research about this place and just showed up. Um.....as we approached the place I thought....is this it?

When we got to the building we were greeted by a guy sitting at a table outside the door. He probably thought we were lost but in my scared voice said "we are here for lunch?" He said .....well we only have a lobster sandwhich. Well then, we will take two.

Turns out this is a fish market and they only serve a lobster sandwich.

There were a couple of picnic tables to the right of the building (and a single soul there) so we took a seat and waited for our lunch to arrive. For $13.00 you get a lobster sandwich and Cape Cod chips. It was a dang good sandwich!!!!

I can't say that I would go out of my way to go back next time we are in Boston....but it was an experience to say the least.

After lunch we made our way to Harvard and saw some amazing fall leaves along the way. Colors you will NEVER see in Florida!

This is a Harvard tree.

While in Harvard Square I really wanted to try Sweet. Let's just say I was not one bit impressed with the cupcake I picked.

Cranberry chocolate cupcake.

Wanting really badly to enjoy the cupcake, but it didn't do it for me.

Two of my friends suggested Summer Shack. Well, during our little adventure to the Prudential building look what we stumbled across! The Summer Shack! Since they were only open for dinner we made reservations for that evening.

Okay, hands down I loved this place! Thanks Laura and Nai for recommending it!

We started with Rhode Island Calamari. We do not have R.I. style calamari in Florida and we need to. It was delish! Good thing I bought the Summer Shack cookbook which includes this recipe, because I am going to make it the first chance I get.

We devoured this appetizer!

Jeff had the fried clams with bellys which included coleslaw and fries. He really liked the coleslaw, which is also included in the cookbook. I foresee a "Summer Shack" night at our house in the near future.

And finally.....my 1 1/2 lb soft shell lobster. I could have not been happier!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We ended our wonderful day at Cheers and got ready for Day 3 of our trip. Stay tuned.....

Boston - Day 1

2009-10-26T16:37:00.009-04:00

As I started identifying what pictures to use for the "Boston" blog it occurred to me this is going to be an extremely long blog. So, I will post about each day of our trip separately.

It was an amazing trip. We were able to do so much and took in as much of the city as we could. I would move to Boston in a heartbeat if I could!!!

Unfortunately, the weather was not as I had hoped. I wanted COLD weather and the first day felt like a Florida day. It was the pits! But it slowly cooled off during our stay....but not as cold as I would have liked! I was seriously hoping for snow (like the weekend before we got there).

We got to Boston on Wednesday and took a cab to the Omni Parker House. We could not have been in a better location. It was centrally located to almost everything and we were able to walk a majority of the trip.

Now, this trip revolved around food! One of my blogger friends, Laura, provided a multitude of suggestions as well as some other friends of mine. The first place we went to from the recommendations was Chacarero which serve Chilean cuisine.

The sandwich was very tasty! This is my sandwich without the green beans. If you know me at all...you know the one food that I despise the most is the green bean. What can be better than juicy chicken, guacamole, tomato, and munster cheese on delicious bread???

After walking a couple of blocks we ended up at the Harbor and decided to take a boat tour. It was a beautiful day and thought it would be great to be out on the water. (note: not a cloud in the sky....)

Clouds slowly started forming.....

And before you know it, the clouds rolled in and our views were shot to hell. Oh well....we had a great time and it was great to see the view of the city from the harbor.

After the boat tour we made our way back to the hotel to freshen up and head out to the Bruins game. Now, I have only seen hockey in Florida, which let's be honest here....it is pretty pathetic.

The Bruins game was a blast and the energy from the fans made it that much better. Our seats could have not been better....center ice!

It was a close game, but the Bruins won!!!

We stopped by the hotel before going out again and so glad we did. As we got off the elevator we heard a someone knocking and saying "room service". Thinking nothing of it, we rounded the corner and that someone was knocking on our door! Our dearest friends Emily & Erik sent us this lovely anniversary gift!!

We ended the evening at Cheers. Yes, this is a complete tourist trap, but we enjoy it. During our first trip in 2006 we ended every night at Cheers, so we decided to do the same this trip. The bartenders are extra nice and chatting and they don't treat you like a tourist.

If you look up while sitting at the bar, you will see an array of business cards....so I made my mark! Can you spot the UNF business card??

Oh yeah....on the way to Cheers we passed a theatre where Lenny Kravitz was playing that night. During our walk back to the hotel we saw what looked like a tour bus so I peeked in from the front and guess who was in it??? Lenny Kravitz!!! After gawking and ready to pull out the camera, the driver turned off the interior lights...which was our queue to keep walking!!!! Celebrity sighting # 1!!

Stay tuned for Day 2!!

Elliot - The Miniature Dachshund

2009-10-19T17:25:00.009-04:00

It seems like forever since I have posted anything about the girls. So this post is dedicated to Elliot.

About two months ago we noticed she was limping on her front left leg. It took us a good month to realize that the limping was consistent. I know...that sounds horrible.....but it's true.

We took her to the vet and they weren't sure what was wrong. So before doing xrays, they put her on an anti-inflammatory medication for three weeks. Needless to say....that didn't do anything to help her, in fact, the limping became even more prevalent. Poor thing.

Last week, we went back to the vet and had xrays done. As I suspected, she has arthritis...at the age of 1.5 years old. Plus, the joint may not have developed correctly. The vet is sending the xray to a specialist to see if we need to be concerned about the joint development. This news just breaks my heart. The doctor put her on a stronger anti-inflammatory medication and we are also putting her on glucosamine.

This is an xray of the bad shoulder. It's really hard to see in this shot because the picture uploaded pretty small. But there is a thick white band along the top joint that is not in the good shoulder below. This white band is arthritis. Plus the bottom joint is not perfectly curved like the good one and this could be a cause for concern. It looks like there is a chip out of it and it is cracked. Of course, this is not the technical interpretation of the xray!

This is the good shoulder....including her microchip and collar!! Xrays are so neat!

Here is a shot of Sabrett being lovey with Elliot. It is usually the other way around!

Fall Is In The Air...

2009-10-17T18:10:00.000-04:00

It truly amazes me that people move to the state of Florida. It is dreadfully hot 90% of the year. It is the middle of October and we just experienced our first fall day....which will not last. The weather is just a tease!!

So, I have to pretend it is fall by drinking Pumpkin Spice Lattes, burning fall smelling candles and decorating the house!

I just love my table scape this year!!!

And the mantle is simple, yet elegant. Oh yeah....I have a few Halloween decorations out too :)

We have lived in our house through three 'winters' (and I use that term very loosely) and have yet to use our fireplace. Maybe this year!! Since it is never used, I have a faux wood log votive candle holder.

Can't forget about fresh flowers!

Pretty In Pink

2009-10-15T20:00:00.004-04:00

I received a baby shower order and the colors included two shades of pink and brown.

Planning to make polka dot onesies, I quickly learned that brown + pink = green. Eek! So, I had to tweak the color scheme and just use the two shades of pink.

Isn't the pink duck too cute?

And I just adore this cookie....I think it is the bright pink color that I really like about it!

Thankfully the brown icing did not go to waste. I baked up some footballs hoping to use any extra brown icing to decorate them. My father-in-law and husband are going to the Jaguars game on Sunday and will have some football cookies for tailgating.

Fall Foodie Swap

2009-10-05T20:45:00.007-04:00

My favorite blogger Laura, of A Dozen Eggs, hosted a Fall Foodie Swap and I participated.

I was partnered up with Bev who owns her own dog treat business - Blue Collar Dog Treats. My package arrived last week, which was very exciting!!!!!!

The girls received two boxes of Blue Collar Dog Treats - Chicken and Peanut Butter. They are currently enjoying the peanut butter treats! My package also included a Dog Duty Pouch which is one of Bev's creations.

A bar of soap from Ancient City Dragonfly Soap Company. It smells just beautiful!

Three jars of jam from Aldrich Farms. I already enjoyed the Raspberry Chocolate jam this weekend on an English muffin and can't wait to try the Pumpkin Butter and Apple Garlic Pepper Jelly!! Apple Garlic Pepper....seriously that is an interesting combination!!!

And these adorable mints...for people not pets.....

in the shape of bones!!

Unfortunately, my package was not filled with unique items. Instead, it was filled with:

Pumpkin Chocolate Bark, from World Market

Fall themed cupcake cups

A set of bone shaped cookie cutters

Chocolate covered peanut brittle from Becky's Brittle

Dog Treats from Star Barks

Fall themed ceramic loaf pans

And some fall themed sugar cookies.

Cake Bites

2009-09-30T07:40:00.000-04:00

This month's Flavor of the Month is in honor of John Hughes. He wrote some of the most famous 80's movies - 16 Candles, Pretty in Pink, The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off...the list goes on.

So, this month we are making something pink.

Easy enough, right?

After reading many blog posts about cake balls, I decided it was time to give them a try...and will make them pink.

Also, I will not reference cake balls, instead they will be called cake bites.

This is the third Flavor of the Month and I am seeing a pattern. Something is bound to go wrong.

I followed the instructions to a T. I mean...they aren't that hard. But, I managed to make a simple recipe difficult. Oh well....I managed to make enough bites presentable for pictures!! :)

Ingedients:

1 Cake Mix

1 Can of Frosting

Candy Melts

Mix/bake according to box instructions. Let cool, then crumble into pieces.

Add frosting and mix.

Maybe this is the point where I went wrong....the cake concoction appeared to be rather moist....which made it difficult to "set up" for dipping.

Form in to bite size round bites and chill in the fridge for several hours.

After cake has chillled, melt chocolate.

It did not occur to me to look for pink candy melts, which I am sure exists, instead I used food coloring to make it pink.

Then, dip round bites into melted candy and voila.....cake bites. I topped mine with pink sprinkles.

Yumm!

Okay, truth be told...the dipping of the cake into the melted candy is easier said than done. Using a toothpick, most of the balls crumbled and this is what I dealth with. Not to mention the melted candy was thick.....not dipping consistency at all! I have no shame.....I will show you the truth!! :)

I'm Still Here

2009-09-21T19:09:00.006-04:00

I can't believe I have not posted in over 3 weeks!!!! I'm here though.

Cookies orders are slow, which is completely fine with me. I have been able to devote my time to other things....like scrapbooking, major purging/cleaning/organizing, and quality time with the hubs and girls.

But, this is an order I completed last week. I purchased a smaller cake cutter. The other one I was using was way too big and would serve better as a favor.

Now, I was into scrapbooking for a hot second a couple of years ago. When I realized I wasn't overly creative I gave it up. Recently I started scrapbooking again and two weekends ago I created 12 pages (the hubs was out of town and I had way too much time on my hands). I had so much fun!!! I can't say that I am all of a sudden creative, but instead of being so hard on myself I just had fun with it. Oh yeah....scrapbooking can get kind of pricey. Eek!

Here are some of the pages I created. Unfortunately, the pictures do not show all of the features...

Real leaves from the mountains....

Lemon Velvet Tart

2009-08-30T19:07:00.010-04:00

This month's theme is lemon or lime which gave me the perfect opportunity to make a recipe I have been eyeing for quite some time. I actually pulled the recipe out of the February 2008 Southern Living Magazine.

The recipe is for a Lemon Velvet Tart and a picture of what it is suppose to look like.

Mine is close but I could not find Lemonheads anywhere.....so no decorative topping. I even bought a candy thermometer for the job too. Oh well..... This recipe was rather tricky because I have never made lemon curd. I followed the recipe to a T and the consistency did not match the recipe description. However, after setting up in the fridge for three hours, the consistency was just right.

I squeezed 7 lemons to get 1 cup of lemon juice.

1 tablespoon of zest.

The curd. The curd that almost brought me to tears.

Adding the curd to the cream cheese and melted white chocolate concoction.

Thankfully the package comes with two pie crust because the first crust went right in the trash after baking because it formed a huge bubble and was no good. Pricking did not help that crust apparently.

Second try was a success...

Yummo!

In The Kitchen Sundays

2009-08-30T18:50:00.007-04:00

As usual, I spent Sunday in the kitchen making a variety of things - prepping for Flavor of the Month, French Onion Soup for lunch and Grilled Chicken and Rice for dinner.

I am on a French Onion soup kick and have been ordering it out a lot lately. My coworker shared the Martha Stewart recipe she uses, so I decided to give it a shot.

Recipe:
4 tablespoons butter
2 pounds yellow onions, slicked in 1/4 inch half circles
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon flour
1/2 cup dry sherry
6 cups beef stock (*the link above notes 3 cups...)
2/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1 small French Baguette
8 ounces cheese (Gruyere, Mozzarella, Mont Jack or Parm)

The soup turned out really good. The next time, though, I will cut back the thyme from 3/4 teaspon to maybe 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon. I thought the thyme took over...

And for dinner we grilled chicken marinated in Mojo sauce with Spanish rice.

Finally...Some Cookies

2009-08-21T07:08:00.011-04:00

Finally......I get to post about cookies!

These Ospreys were for the Office of Admissions at UNF earlier this week.

Remember the tool cookies I made a while ago? Well, I brought some extra cookies in to work and it landed me an instant order for this little guy. He is enjoying a saw that his mom took home for him. Seriously...how cute is he????

For his birthday party this weekend, I made the tool collection. Since I had extra blue icing from the Ospreys, I used blue for the screwdriver and it really helped with the drab colors.

Here are step by step pictures for icing the hammer.

Smokey Bones

2009-08-14T11:35:00.008-04:00

Saturday we invited my in-laws over for a cook-out. Instead of using the grill, we decided to buy a smoker. We didn't buy anything fancy, not knowing how often we will actually use it. Plus we needed something compact because we have very little space.

We smoked ribs and chicken. My intent was to smoke chicken wing drumettes and instead bought drumsticks. Oops.

Smoking is quite an experience and it was quite a challenge maintaining the proper temperature over 6 hours.

We used a dry rub on the ribs and they turned out fantastic and just salt & pepper on the chicken. For sides I made a tomato, cucumber, mozzarella, and basil salad with a balsamic dressing.
And roasted potatoes with olive oil, rosemary and parsley.

And dessert - cheesecake. The recipe is from Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook.

I overcooked it slightly but it still tasted delish!!!!!!!!!!

In The Kitchen Sundays

2009-08-09T20:06:00.009-04:00

After mulling over different ideas of what to do today with the hubby and not deciding on anything, I decided to spend quality time in the kitchen.

My inspiration: Barefoot Contessa Back To Basics.

First, I made Raisin Pecan Oatmeal Cookies (page 214). I did, however, make two minor tweaks - I left out the pecans (because I forgot to add them to the shopping list) and added about 1/3 cup shredded coconut.

P.S. Did you notice my nifty cookbook holder? It's my napkin holder and works perfectly!!

The cookies are wonderful, if I do say so myself....as I enjoy a few with a glass of milk as I type this post!

We had Chef Salads for lunch, which didn't require a recipe.

For dinner, I made Chive Risotto Cakes (page 174) and Roasted Tomatoes with Basil (page 183). Kind of a random dinner, but I had all the ingredients on hand for both recipes and wanted to make them. I probably wouldn't pair these two recipes again.

The risotta cakes were a wee bit challenging, only because I neglected to measure a key ingredient. Oops! I really thought I could eye ball the measurement.

After the mixture set up in the fridge for a few hours, it was time to make the cakes. This is where I realized I made a mistake. The mixture was pretty soupy and would not hold its shape. Apparently, the little cup of Greek yogurt was not 1/2 cup as I thought, instead was 1 cup. Oops! So, I improvised and added Panko to the mixture and voila....!

The roasted tomatoes were super simple and delish!!

Although hubby was pretty disappointed that we didn't have a meat with dinner, he thought the cakes were really good and ate three of them!!!!

I, on the other hand, thought the cakes were pretty bland. If I make these again, I will definitely add minced garlic and more salt & pepper!!!!!

Julie & Julia

2009-08-09T19:45:00.008-04:00

Recently, a co-worker recommended a book to me that seemed quite interesting. While on vacation this past week, I read My Life in France by Julia Child. I literally could not put this book down and it still took me three days to read it! This book consumed my every thought and left me dreaming in food. What a remarkable life Julia led and I was envious of Julia Child. To reward myself for actually reading a book from beginning to end , I went to the movies and saw Julie & Julia....by myself!

I was again left envious of both Julia Child and Julie Powell. Why didn't I think of blogging about a cookbook? Now to take on such a challenge would make me a copycat so I won't go down that road. But the movie really hit home, since I am a blogger myself, love food, and Julie's occasional meltdowns left me chuckling to myself because I saw myself in her. Needless to say, I have had similar meltdowns in the kitchen!

This book and movie have left me yearning to do more with food.....

And since Mastering the Art of French Cooking is not currently part of my library, it will be on my door step Tuesday!

Birthday Festivities

2009-08-04T07:25:00.011-04:00

This past weekend, Jeff & I threw a Luau themed party for my 30th birthday. Now let me clarify....we did not roast a pig in the backyard or have Hawaiian dancers....nothing like that. There were Luau decorations and we used a lot of pineapple and coconut in the food. :)

First, I must show off the fabulous invitation my friend Julie created for me (with some info deleted).

The girls actually wore leis during the entire party....and did not fuss one time.

How fabulous are these napkins Emily found? They stand up!

This was the first time I made a watermelon fruit bowl and used a melon baller! Super simple and fun! Of course, Hawaiian themed cookies....

Frozen Blue Hawaiian drinks.

I neglected to take pictures of the main course which consisted of two different types of kabobs - steak and chicken with coconut rice.

And a surprise from Jeff......this cake! How amazing is he???

My birthday party was amazing! My friend, Vicky and hubby John flew down from Chicago to surprise me! Seriously...left me in tears!

And, the night ended with a fireworks show, compliments of Emily & Erik.

More Cupcakes & Cookies

2009-07-31T21:47:00.005-04:00

Today was Julie's work baby shower that I co-hosted. Again, I volunteered to make cupcakes and cookies.

While making the cookie batter, I was quite surprised when I cracked the 2nd egg - Twins!!! I couldn't believe it. This was the first time I have ever seen this and even called Jeff in the kitchen to witness the event!

Not knowing how many people would attend the shower and extremely crunched for time, I needed a cookie shape that didn't require a lot of decorating. In fact, I needed something that I could make a lot of and required very little time to decorate. Thank God for Martha Stewart! I remembered seeing an umbrella shaped sugar cookie in her cookie book that was simply pipped (no flooding involved) and finished with sprinkles. Bingo!!

Not to mention I acquired 3 different umbrella shapes in my cookie collection that I finally put to use. Too bad all cookies couldn't be this easy to decorate.

For the cupcakes, I used the MS One Bowl Chocolate cupcakes that I made last week. Not only were they super simple to make but the moistest cupcake I have ever made. The cupcakes were topped off with a homemade cream cheese frosting.

I decided to use the package of silicone cups I received and to be honest....I'm not that impressed with them. Why should I do all the work to remove the cupcakes? Paper cups work just as well and there is no extra work involved...and clean up is a cinch. Cleaning these cups is a bitch! Hopefully the dishwasher can clean out all the ridges! Forgive me, but I can't figure out why these silicone cups are all the rage.....

On a side note, I must show you the most delicate ribbon I purchased from Michaels for $1/roll for the shower. These are the vases from my wedding reception and I have been able to use them for several events. Just add a ribbon suited for the occasion and voila...

And I must show off this fabulous group gift I wrapped.

Gingered Peach Pie

2009-07-31T07:30:00.001-04:00

One of my favorite bloggers, Bake at 350, is hosting a monthly blog carnival called Flavor of the Month.

What's a blog carnival, you ask??? Well, it is a blog "event" dedicated to a particular topic and organized by a host. Read more here. If you would like to participate, go here for instructions.

This month's theme -Pie!! Which leads me to the purchase of these peaches.

And, the opportunity to use the crystallized ginger Vicky sent me.

The Peach Pie recipe is from Food Network and I simply added 1/4 cup crystallized ginger.

Now, this recipe calls for "quick cooking Tapioca". I'm not going to lie, I am not a fan of tapioca. I had no idea the purpose this ingredient served as I have never cooked with it. I was hesitant to leave it out...what if this was a thickening agent? What happens if I leave this ingredient out? Seriously, I need a true baker on speed dial so I can ask these important questions.

Since time was of the essence, I mean I have a due date for crying out loud, I had no time to waste....Sunday was the only free time I had to make this pie! I went ahead and bought the tapioca and went for it.

I peeled 8 not-so ripe peaches. Mistake # 1. Again, the clock was ticking and the peaches probably needed another day or so for perfection. I tried blanching for the first time and peeling was still a headache.

Then it was on to the crust. Well, the recipe instructed me to use a food processor, which I quickly learned mine was not big enough to handle 3 1/2 cups of flour and 3 sticks of butter. Mistake # 2. I had to figure out how to make the dough in batches then finally decided to transfer to the Kitchen Aid Mixer.

Being that I am not a master Pie maker, I was trying very hard to follow the recipe to a T.

Now, rolling dough is my forte. No problem here...

Fill with peach mixture. Easy enough....

Can you see the bits of quick-cooking tapioca? Eww... There are also bits of ginger in there. Yumm...

Add the top and voila...into the oven it goes....

After cooling for quite sometime....I cut my first piece. I almost cried. Where did I go wrong??

No pretty slice of pie to show off, instead a big mess. However, it tasted yummy. Although I couldn't taste the tapioca, I almost had to eat with my eyes closed. Tapioca resembles caviar in my book and although I have never eaten caviar...the little round eggs just gross me out, thus I have the same feeling towards tapioca.

The crust was buttery, the peaches were yummy and the ginger added a lovely spice that brought everything together. This would be a nice pie for Thanksgiving. That is if you know how to make a pie that doesn't result in this mess.....

Fresh Produce & Boiled Peanuts

2009-07-26T20:31:00.002-04:00

A friend at work told me about the great produce prices at the local flea market, so I checked it out Saturday morning.

I picked up peaches and 1 lb of raw peanuts. Since the prices were amazingly cheap, Jeff and I headed back Sunday morning for more produce and equipped with bags to carry everything.

2 buckets of peaches = $4.00. Such a steal compared to grocery store prices. Stay tuned....I'll be posting a blog on July 31st letting you know how I used these peaches!

Sunday, we picked up two pineapples, a watermelon, 8 lemons, 7 limes, 5 tomatoes and another pound of raw peanuts = $14.50.

Now, I am a true Floridian, born and raised. Not sure if that counts as being a "Southern" or not, but it must be said that I love boiled peanuts!!! I grew up eating them at fairs, flea markets, sporting events, a stop on the side of road and homemade. You name it...we were a boiled peanut eating family!

A few weeks ago, I checked the produce section for boiled peanuts and the package couldn't have even been one pound and they were a little over $9. I couldn't believe it! Since they were only $1.50 a pound at the market, I decided to make some boiled peanuts this weekend. Yummo!!!

They are so easy to make. All you need is a large pot, water, peanuts, salt and about 5 hours! :)

Cupcakes & Cookies

2009-07-22T08:29:00.010-04:00

This weekend I am co-hosting a co-ed baby shower for my friend Julie. Of course I volunteered to make cupcakes and iced sugar cookies.

When it came to the cupcakes, I was completely stumped. So I had a perfect excuse to order Martha Stewart's Cupcakes. As if I needed an excuse....

I decided to go with the One-Bowl Chocolate Cupcakes (page 152) with the Swiss Meringue Buttercream (page 304). I was really nervous about the cupcake batter because it was so soupy, but the cupcakes turned out super moist and delicious.

The buttercream was a different story. I have made Swiss Meringue Buttercream before but this time around it was challenging and frustrating. Although I consider myself a half way decent cookie decorator, I had the hardest time piping the tops of the cupcakes. No two are alike and mostly lopsided. Nothing sprinkles can't fix...

For the cookies, I went with the bib cutter in pink & green pastels. They are okay....I should have spent some time in the baby section at Target to get inspiration for designs.

Onesies

2009-07-19T18:04:00.005-04:00

July is pretty busy with baby showers for my friend Julie. Her first shower was this weekend and I made these onesies.

The weather has been down right nasty every afternoon, including Saturday. But thankfully the rain stopped just in time for Julie's shower!

Tool Collection

2009-07-16T16:05:00.011-04:00

When it comes to weddings, the bride steals the show. But here is a brilliant idea....a shower for the groom to stock his toolbox!!! Hence the order for the tool collection.

Unfortunately, I struggled through the entire decorating process. I had a screwdriver and wrench on the counter for inspiration and called the hubby in every other minute to check on my progress to ensure the cookies really looked like tools. Seriously....these cookies were dreadful to decorate. After finishing up it occurred to me why it was so dreadful...the colors were so drab!!!!! Too much gray...but Jeff assured me that tools are not suppose to be fun and colorful. :)

In The Kitchen Sundays

2009-07-12T18:41:00.006-04:00

Sundays are my day in the kitchen and I spend a majority of the day wearing an apron. Call me June Cleaver, but I am always wearing an apron!

Since I had a couple of bananas that I didn't want to go to waste, I decided to make banana nut muffins with a streusel topping, using a banana bread recipe. They turned out super yummy and will take them into work tomorrow. I sure as heck can't eat 12 muffins by myself!

For dinner, I made a classic recipe I grew up eating. Actually, this isn't a recipe from my mom, but a family friend that made this salad for every group get together - Taco Salad. And she handed the recipe over at my bridal shower.

Note: This recipe is enough to feed an army. I cut the recipe in half for me and Jeff, and we still have left overs!

1 lb ground beef

1 pack Lipton Onion Soup Mix

1 pack Taco Seasoning

1 bag Doritos - crushed

1 can Red Kidney Beans (drained/rinsed)

1 can Chick Peas (drained/rinsed)

1 can Black Olives (drained)

1 head Iceberg Lettuce

3 Tomatoes

8-10 oz. Shredded Cheese

Directions: Brown meat and drain fat. Add season packets and simmer together. Toss all ingredients together*.

*I add the Doritos when I plate up the salad. If you have left overs, the Doritos will be soggy if added all at once.

On a side note, a wonderful care packaged arrived on Friday from my friend Vicky.

The suspense was killing me and it took everything in my power to snap a photo before digging in!

Super fun stuff - An avocado slicer, crystallized ginger, a mushroom brush, cupcake boxes and vanilla bean paste.

I couldn't be more excited about the Vanilla Bean Paste. I told Vicky about the paste after reading about it on this blog. Of course none of the stores around here carry it, but she works at Sur La Table in Chicago and has access to the finer things :) I plan to bake with this next weekend!

I'm very excited about the crystallized ginger. I swore I just read a recipe that called for it but I can't remember what it was. Any ideas of how I can bake/cook with the ginger?

Blogiversary

2009-07-07T07:30:00.000-04:00

Today is my one year blogiversary!!!!

It's amazing that a year has already passed by! It seems like just yesterday I was making my debut into the blogging world....not really sure where it would take me.

I have thoroughly enjoyed writing about my cookies, cooking, pets and life in general. I have also enjoyed reading other blogs and making new (bloggy) friends.

Aagain I would like to thank everyone for reading my blog and especially for your encouraging and thoughtful feedback. Nothing is more exciting than logging in to see new comments (and to know that people are actually reading my blog!!)

And in honor of my blogiversary, I made up these cookies over the weekend to share with you. How cute are these? (My swirls need a little work....but practice makes perfect, right?)

Fun, Food & Fireworks

2009-07-05T08:32:00.015-04:00

The fourth of July was a fun filled day for us. First, we started off with a pitcher of Bloody Marys while we watched the movie New In Town. It was pretty good.

Then, we made a shrimp boil. One of my favorite meals because it is so easy. One pot of boiling water and gradually add ingredients. It doesn't get any easier than that!

I was super excited to use my new tray. I have an odd obsession for trays and beverage buckets!!

Later that day went to an Irish Pub for beers before the fireworks show on the St. John's River.

Before the show, I lit up some sparklers which attracted the surrounding munchkins. The sparklers were a hit!

Friday we went to one of our favorite restaurants, Mellow Mushroom, for dinner and ordered the Buffalo Chicken pizza. It was amazingly delish and I was determined to try it at home.

Nothing beats homemade pizza dough. However, it requires quite a lot of forethought being that the breadmaker takes an hour and a half to make the dough. So, it is rare that we have homemade dough.

Super simple to make - chicken, bacon, wing sauce, ranch dressing, carmelized onions. It turned out super yummy. Jeff was even impressed! However, it wasn't exactly like Mellow Mushroom because their dough is to die for. And, the wing sauce we selected was a bit hot and we are waiting for heart burn to set in....

Knowing that I would use the breadmaker for pizza dough, I decided to make cinnamon raisin bread Saturday morning. Let me tell you the truth about my breadmaker. I received the breadmaker as a graduation gift nine years ago. I have used it a handful of times because I have yet to make a successful loaf of bread. Needless to say, something always seems to go wrong and this time was no different. Somehow I managed to not hear the 14 beep notification to add Raisins/Nuts. So....about an hour into the cycle I realized this and quickly added the raisins. Thankfully some of the raisins made it into the loaf, the rest stuck to the outside :). Overall, the bread turned out very tasty.

Sunday morning I thought the bread would be great for French Toast and it was!!

The girls spend most of the weekend on the porch which means we end up air conditioning most of Jacksonville because we leave the sliding glass door open enough for them to come in and out as they please. As each weekend gets hotter and hotter, we decided it was smart to invest in a doggy door for the sliding glass door.

We tried training them today, but I am afraid it may take them a while to figure it out!!!!

We gave the girls a Frosty Paw this evening and I just had to capture this. Sabrett always carries her cup while she finds a private place to enjoy!

This evening...the couch!

And Elliot.....She just digs right in!!!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

4th of July

2009-07-03T08:17:00.010-04:00

Before I talk about 4th of July cookies, I have to show you this adorable duck. I tweaked the design by adding a wing and sanding sugar. Adorable!

Since this was a very small order, I packaged the cookies in a smaller box.

The good thing about 4th of July is that the designs can be very simple, only three icing colors and I get to use a lot of sanding sugars and nonpareils.

I made up a bunch of stars to photograph for the website gallery. There were plenty of cookies to make two cookies trays - one for my work and one for Jeff's work.

I received an order from my very best customer for her son's 1st birthday. She wanted #1's in red, white and blue. Jeff got a picture of me in action - flooding the # 1's.

The colors turned out fabulous on this collection, especially the blue.

My customer only wanted # 1's but I am surprising her with a bunch of stars too.

All packaged up and ready for pick-up!

Wishing everyone a very happy and safe 4th of July!

Atlanta

2009-06-28T18:44:00.021-04:00

Since we were unable to see the Red Sox when they were in Tampa, we planned a long weekend in Atlanta to see the Red Sox play the Braves.

I found a cute little bed & breakfast, Maison LaVigne, just outside the city while searching for a hotel that allowed pets. The B&B was very charming and the innkeeper, Eileen, was very pleasant. This was the first time staying in a B&B and well.....it was different. I didn't realize that we would be in such tight quarters, especially having the girls with us. This too, was the first time we traveled with the girls (other than to my in-law's house). They did amazingly well in the car and okay in the room. I was pretty stressed every time we left them worrying that they would bark the entire time we were gone. Thankfully they behaved themselves (for the most part...I know they exercised their vocal cords while we were gone) and we didn't get kicked out. Needless to say, we probably won't travel with them again. It was too stressful!

Breakfast was included with our room and we sat right in the kitchen with Eileen as she made up breakfast each morning. I didn't take pictures because I thought she might find that a little odd. Haha. So....no pictures of our fabulous fruit bowls, Creme Brule French Toast, homemade blue berry muffins and homemade sausage and scrambled eggs with cream cheese.

Our room was on the first floor, on the left hand side.

The red painted section on the first floor was our bathroom.
After checking in and getting the girls situated, we drove into the city for dinner.
We went to Six Feet Under several years ago while visiting a friend, so we thought it would be great to go back. The restaurant is appropriately named as it is located across from a cemetery!!

The first visit to Six Feet Under was the first time we ever had fried green tomatoes and ordered them during this visit.

The food was amazing.......Blackened Shrimp Tacos with homemade chips and hands down the best salsa verde I have EVER tasted! If you are ever in Atlanta I highly recommend a visit to Six Feet Under as well as P'Cheen.

After dinner we went to P'Cheen where my brother is a chef, for some drinks. We didn't tell him we were heading to the restaurant and instead surprised him. It was great to see my brother and spend some time with him, since I do not get to see him very often.

My brother in action...

We packed a lot into Saturday. First we went to the Georgia Aquarium. The Aquarium was really nice and we had a good time. Well....aside from the zillions of kids that felt the need to take a front row seat at every window and exhibit and scream at the top of their lungs every time they spotted a fish. Seriously... !!!

After the aquarium we had fish and chips at a local Irish Pub. Then it was off to the Red Sox game. I can't describe how hot it was at this game and there was zero shade. At times I thought I was going to pass out. Unfortunately, it was not an overly exciting game leaving you on the edge of your seat.....but, Red Sox won 1 to 0.

It was so hot that we could barely eat or drink. After one beer each we couldn't drink anymore. On the verge of passing out we had to get something in our bellies....so we opted to split a Chicago Hot Dog and Coke. YUMMMMMM-O! This may be my new favorite way to eat hot dog!!!

After the game we decided to go to P'Cheen to have a bite to eat, plus I wanted to see my brother again.

We had an amazing medley of marinated olives with caper berries. We delve right in and neglected to take a picture until we were half way through the olives!

Still not overly hungry we each had an appetizer. I had the Spanakopita and Jeff had something very frou frou looking. I forget what it was called...but it had sausage and mushrooms in it.

After a jam packed weekend, it was time to head home. The drive each way was 5.5 hours and thankfully the girls did really well in the car, aside from occasional whining and crying. Here is a picture of the girls on the way home. They really cuddled up with each other the entire time!!

Shark Teeth Adventures

2009-06-21T11:06:00.003-04:00

Yesterday, we packed up the car and headed to the beach, despite the 101 degree forecast. We heard about a good spot to find shark's teeth and made it our mission to find some.

It felt like we were looking for a needle in a haystack and took quite a while before we found the first tooth.

And this is why.....there is no sand...just shells. Zillions of shells.

We were lucky enough to find a few teeth!!!

Father's Day Order

2009-06-18T19:57:00.004-04:00

For Father's Day, I received an order for 100 ties. These cookies were not overly difficult but required several steps...which I neglected to take pictures throughout the process.

Basically you outline the tie, flood, drop in the stripes and let set over night. Then pipe the border.

Tomorrow night I will package the cookies for delivery Saturday morning.

In addition to the tie order, I received a daisy/bee collection order. This is probably one of my favorite collections, but the daises are rather time consuming to decorate!

On a side note, I have noticed a strange new habit Elliot has developed. Every day, she places her toys around her food bowl. Although I move them back to the 'toy box' daily, they end up back in the same place. We can't figure out why she does this. Does she think her toys will protect her bowl and keep Sabrett from eating her food????? She never ceases to amaze me.

Silicone Cupcake Cups - Help!

2009-06-16T12:07:00.007-04:00

There are cups with feet.....

Cups in the shape of animals.... Cups in different shapes...

And regular old cups.

Jeff's aunt gave me a set of 24 regular silicone cupcake cups and I honestly don't know how to use them.

Do you use them in place of paper cups?
Do you place them in a cupcake tray or do you they stand alone on a cookie sheet?
Do you serve the cupcake in the silicone cup?

Seriously....I have no idea what to do with these cups. I do know they are pretty expensive and that is why I don't own any.....

But, I am excited to have this set and need help!

Wedding Dresses

2009-06-14T17:03:00.008-04:00

While I was updating my website, I realized I didn't have any decent wedding dress cookies. So, I scrapped the picture on my website and decided to make new cookies.

What I like about these designs is that they are sooooooooo simple, yet elegant (much like my own wedding gown).

I also experimented with orange extract while making the icing. So far, I have received raving reviews!

Be sure to check my website periodically for updated photo galleries!

Coconut Cupcakes

2009-06-04T14:05:00.006-04:00

Cookie orders have died down a little. No complaints though because the break is nice AND I am able to focus on other priorities, like finishing an unfinished house project from 2 1/2 years ago (no joke!) and maybe establishing a work out routine (it is too soon to tell where this will go).

This weekend, I FINALLY got around to making Barefoot Contessa's Coconut Cupcakes and they are fabulous!!!!. Unfortunately, batch of frosting made enough to ice 100 cupcakes and have quite a bit left. Any ideas of what I could use the remaining frosting on??? I hate to waste it....

I used the new C&B liners. Too bad the batter had so much butter that it seeped through and distorted the colors on the liners!!!

This morning we took the girls to the monthly Dachshund Meet Up and Elliot thoroughly enjoyed the water. Before the pool was set up she kept making the water bowl her personal pool.

Not the best shot...but all I could get.

100th Post

2009-06-01T20:39:00.006-04:00

Unfortunately, I have nothing spectacular to talk about or cookies to write about for my 100th post.

However, I would like to take this opportunity to THANK everyone that reads my blog, especially those that leave comments. It is very exciting to log in and see new comments. For those that are shy.....I would love to hear from you!!

Now for something pretty fun. We had the opportunity to use our new corn cob holders this weekend. These holders were such a great find!

Memorial Day Weekend

2009-05-25T20:37:00.019-04:00

After a full week of nonstop rain, the clouds slowly disappeared and we were able to enjoy the long weekend.

Friday night we saw Terminator Salvation. It was okay.... Jeff has seen countless girlie movies....so I figured I could suck it up. There was about 20 minutes left in the movie and the fire alarm went off. The entire building had to evacuate. Made for an interesting night at the movies.

Next up....a Sun's Baseball game Saturday night. Unfortunately, there were sprinkles, but not enough to stop the game. I first enjoyed a soda and popcorn.... yumm!!

And when I spotted a kid next to use eating a corn dog, I instantly had a craving.

We moved undercover during the little shower.

Sunday morning, I worked on an order of 30 birthday cookies. This is a new color combo

and I think it is cute.

Monday, we took the girls to the dog park. They were going stir crazy and we had to get them out of the house. Elliot thoroughly enjoyed the pool (which is in desperate need of replacing) for the first time.

When we got home, I made two types of cookies from Martha Stewart Cookies and managed to botch both recipes.....so no pictures to show.

Later that day we made a fabulous surf-n-turf dinner - grilled lobster tail, steaks (seasoned with truffle salt and pepper) and lemon garlic potatoes.

(the plate definitely needs something green!)

Can't forget the Memorial Day Mojitos!!

A quick picture of Elliot using Snoopy as her pillow. Seriously....how cute is she???? I love her oodles!

7 Dozen Cookies

2009-05-23T16:20:00.006-04:00

It was a busy cookie week, which included 5 dozen Mexican Fiesta cookies:

1 dozen Daisies & Bees:

and 1 dozen yellow ducks:

The joys of pets....

2009-05-15T21:24:00.008-04:00

Trust me, I could have come up with better ways to spend $115 but unfortunately I had to purchase this little machine.

The girls are testing my patience. They are potty trained (for the most part) and are paper trained for any inside accidents. But lately, one of the girls has taken an extreme liking to the seagrass Pottery Barn rug (sigh). And most recently, my couch. My pristine couch. I could have cried. Which led me to this purchase.

I spent a better part of Saturday shampooing the couch. Shockingly, this little machine is amazing! It's like I have a brand new couch.

What's unfortunate is that I do not know which one is to blame. I have my suspicions, but with these girls you really never know. They never seize to amaze me. Just when I think things are going well, one of them lets me down.

But how can you be mad at this face? (I'm quite positive Elliot is the culprit!)

Truffle Salt

2009-05-12T21:24:00.004-04:00

I have a very bad habit of salting everything, even before I taste food. I'm sure this will result in some future health ailment, but until then, I am enjoying the salt. And speaking of salt, my good friend, Vicky, told me about truffle salt while I was in Chicago. Hands down...amazingness in a jar.

If you don't have this in your pantry, well then you are missing out....

You can purchase the truffle salt here for a great price.

Thanks Chef (a.k.a. Vicky)!

Tulips

2009-05-08T15:26:00.009-04:00

While in Chicago, tulips were in bloom and lined the sidewalks and parks. They were everywhere and were breathtaking.

And when I got home, I got to make 225 tulips in a variety of colors. Two hundred of the tulips were for one order and 25 for another order. Seriously......that's a lot of cookies when I am cramming all the work into the evenings. Needless to say, it was exhausting work, yet rewarding.

Speaking of Chicago, we went to Sur La Table and I picked up some cookie cutters. P.S fabulous store!

And I picked these up at Crate & Barrel. I can't wait to use them!

Chicago

2009-05-06T14:38:00.018-04:00

The second I got back from Chicago, I was in the kitchen making 225 tulip cookies which resulted in a major delay in posting about my trip to Chicago.

The trip was so much fun and most importantly I was able to spend quality time with friends. In addition to some site seeing and shopping, we went on an architectural boat tour, caught a show at Second City and watched the Cubs beat the Florida Marlins. We also ate at some swanky restaurants - Blackbird and Perennial and sampled Chef Vicky's cooking. I would highly recommend eating at Hot Chocolate and trying a sandwich at Pot Belly while visiting Chicago.

When it came time to post pictures from the trip, it was hard to pick out of 200+ pictures. So, if you are interested in seeing most all of the pictures from my trip, click here.

In the meantime, here are some highlights.

Cityline from the plane.

Your eyes will roll in the back of your head hot chocolate. No exaggeration. I didn't believe hot chocolate could do this to me until I tasted the first sip.

Vicky, me & Julie at Perennial.

Shopping. Julie was the lucky duck carrying a Tiffany's bag. I resisted!

The Bean!!!

And....Wrigley Field. The game was probably the highlight of the entire trip for me....!!!

New Designs & Some # 3's

2009-04-29T21:09:00.006-04:00

This week I had an order for 20 #3 cookies. Since I knew I would have extra icing, I decided to bake up some cookies using a few new cutters I recently purchased.

The baby bib is new and already a favorite. The designs for this cutter could be endless.

The wand is also new and creates a cute set with the tiara. Unfortunately, this cutter is extremely fragile....

And here are the #3's.

New Books

2009-04-27T12:34:00.004-04:00

What was waiting on the door step when I got home yesterday? These two new books!!!

I foresee "back to basics" being my new favorite cookbook! I just adore Ina Garten and her sophisticated yet simple recipes!!!

This book is packed full of information and I can't wait to dig in and learn the basics to cooking.

A Fun Filled Weekend

2009-04-26T18:01:00.016-04:00

Friday, Jeff's family was in town for his sister's graduation. As always, hearing "Pomp and Circumstance" gave me goose bumps and made me teary eyed...

Here are the graduation cookies plated up.

The family....

Me & Hubby...

Saturday, we took advantage of the beautiful weather and went to the driving range. Note: I am not a golfer, I don't know how to golf, and do not own clubs. I borrow the smallest club from Jeff's set. :) Maybe one day I will have a set of baby blue clubs of my own....to match my future baby blue scooter. A girl can dream.....

While getting ready for game night, Jeff spotted a hummingbird at the feeder. I was just beside myself. I adore hummingbirds. I am glad I put the feeder up early this year.

Last weekend I put up this squirrel feeder. My hope was that the squirrels would use their own feeder and stay out of my bird feeders, but no such luck. However, this is a great shot!

We hosted game night with E&E Saturday night. The menu was as follows:

Beverage: Red Wine

Appetizer: Morton's Crab Cakes

Salad: Spinach leaves with cherry tomatoes, pine nuts, parm cheese and a balsamic vinegar dressing

Side: Parmesan Roasted Broccoli

Side: Lobster Macaroni and Cheese

Main Course: Grilled Steaks

Desert: Chocolate Buttercream Cake (see previous blog post)

Emily gets an A+ for her crab cake presentation!

The making of the Lobster Mac-N-Cheese.

I couldn't find lobster meat so I finally just bought a tail. The recipe called for 6-8 oz of lobster meat and the tail was 6 oz. Next time, I am going with two tails.....it definitely needed more lobster!!!

The super delicious cheese sauce. Note to self: I need a bigger sauce pan. My biggest pan wasn't nearly big enough! Hence the edges of the pan covered in cheese....I kept spilling!!!!

Voila! Amazingness in a dish!

After dinner, we played poker, Pictionary and Wii bowling!

Sunday was an equally beautiful day. After taking my very first trip to Whole Foods (amazing by the way), we went to a UNF baseball game and cheered on the Ospreys.

Ozzie (Mascot # 1)

Harriet (Mascot # 2)

Chocolate Buttercream Cake

2009-04-26T09:32:00.011-04:00

As I started to write a blog about my fabulous weekend, it was evident that the Chocolate Buttercream Cake deserved a post of its own.

I have eyed Barefoot Contessa's Chocolate Buttercream Cake ever since I got the cookbook and finally decided to make it for game night with E&E.

Seriously, I have never tasted anything so amazing. This is hands down the best desert I have ever made and possibly ever tasted.

If you want the recipe, post a comment with your email address and I can email it to you. Food Network doesn't have the same recipe on their website as the cookbook.

The making of the cake...

The making of the Chocolate Buttercream Frosting. The recipe on Food Network's website is slightly different than the one in the cookbook. The recipe was a little challenging because it required a meringue base but was worth the challenge.

Warning: I would recommend eating along with a glass of milk!