Pumpkins!

It has been a tradition in my family since I was a little girl to bake pumpkin shaped sugar cookies the week of Halloween, and I have continued the tradition in my own family. Growing up, we always did the outline of the pumpkin with orange frosting, the stem with green, and then added candy corns for the eyes and a chocolate chip for the nose. Since I did the cookies pretty last minute this year, I didn't have any candy corn, so I decided just to do frosting lines down the cookies instead, and I was really happy with how they turned out! Check out my new pumpkin design. The other fun part that was new this year was that my son was old enough to help mommy make the cookies...well, sort of. :)

The Urge to Be Homey

What is it about fall that makes me want to bake? I love it when the weather cools down and gets brisk--it makes me want to be inside and be warm and cozy. All of a sudden, I want to be all domestic and cook warm meals for my family, and bake all kinds of yummy treats! I haven't been taking pictures of what I've been making (sadly), but my treats lately have been very fall inspired. They include Apple Strudel Bars, Apple Crisp, Apple Pie, and Pumpkin Chiffon Pie, sort of my fall specialty. Anyone out there who doesn't like regular pumpkin pie, you've got to try my Pumpkin Chiffon--I'll convert you! Enjoy the fall and have fun in your kitchens!

My Birthday

What do you do when it's your birthday, but you're the one who does all the baking for everyone else's birthdays?? You bake your own cake, of course! And that is just what I did, because I really like my cake better than store bought cakes now. So I baked myself a triple layer strawberry cake and my sweet husband decorated it for me. Check out his handiwork!

Birthdays Galore!

Summer is full of so many birthdays! I was a busy girl baking cakes and pies for all of them! This cake was for my husband's aunt. It was a triple layer chocolate cake with chocolate fudge and buttercream filling and chocolate icing. I got to have a piece of it and it was delicious, but so rich! If it had been my choice, I would have done white frosting to help tone down the chocolate a little bit. But it wasn't my birthday! And it was still to die for! The design was pretty similar to the last cake I did, but since I am still learning all this decorating stuff, I figured it was better to play it safe and stick with what I knew I could do than mess it up. Here it is!

Another Cake

I did this cake for my mother-in-law's birthday. It was white cake with chocolate fudge filling and chocolate frosting.

More Goodies!

Here are some things I have been making lately:

Iced Molasses Meltaways

All-American Apple Pie

Raspberry Firecracker Pie

Why do I love to bake?

I love the creativity of baking, and being able to take a whole bunch of ingredients that are not much on their own and making a delicious treat out of them. It really amazes me what all the different combinations of ingredients do. The other big reason I love to bake is because I love to eat! I have such a sweet tooth and so I so look forward to testing the finished product (and sometimes testing along the way!). Baking is like therapy for me. When I have a stressful day, going in the kitchen, putting on my apron and whipping something up totally clears my head and calms me down. And that is why I love to bake.

Cars Party

This cake was for a friend's son's birthday party. The cake was strawberry cake with a strawberry buttercream filling and white buttercream icing. The image was again an edible image.

Birthday Cakes

These cakes were done for my son's first birthday party. Both cakes were banana cake to fit with the monkey theme, the adult cake had whipped cream frosting and bananas for the filling and buttercream frosting. The baby cake had whipped cream filling and frosting. The image on the cake was an edible image, printed on a thin sheet of frosting, applied to the cake after icing it.