Month: December 2018

Loving Lately

It’s holiday-season crunch time… the last inning… the homestretch… the- you get the point. Decorations are up. Plans are set. Presents are bought, made, and wrapped (well, in some homes- not mine yet). There’s only one thing left to do… eat! Which in reality is numerous things; shop, prep, cook, bake, serve, clean, etc. But don’t think you have to do it all by yourself. I love that these days we have so many easily accessible handcrafted options; just a click or phone call away! And if you’re looking to put dessert over the edge and wow your guests (even if it’s just your kids, because let’s face it, they are the most important), have I got a tip for you: Baking Bros!

Birch Buck Cake

You know I love my home state of Michigan. And there is nothing more I’d rather do than showcase local talent. Baking Bros, of Lansing Michigan, is loaded with it. Founders, Stephen (the recipe guru) and Andrew (decorator extraordinaire), began their side business baking for co-workers, friends, and family. Of course, with ability like this, it’s only fair that they let the rest of us have a turn in line.

BakingBros Starting Lineup! Funfetti, Chocolate Peanut Butter, Red Velvet, Carrot Cake, and Lemon Blueberry

If you catch the tagline on the Baking Bros Facebook Page, you will see that they are categorized as a “Cupcake Shop” -which is fantastic… but can I just take a moment to showcase these macarons? 

Grey and Gold Chocolate Macarons

Because, I think they could just as easily refer to themselves as a “Macaron Shop”. And incidentally, how cute would those be served at a New Year’s Eve party?

What about a Christmas ham?

Thanksgiving Ham Cake!

Just kidding. That’s cake.

Really, it’s colored fondant.

I swear!

It’s true that holidays are in the forefront this time of year, but as I have mentioned before this is also birthday season for many of my friends. And I actually wish one of my kids was having a birthday right now, because I have a great idea. It’s so good, I can taste it. And it tastes like dirt (just go with it). It sounds like hammer and chiseling. Or maybe brushing? It sounds like exactly whatever archeologists do on their sites; because we are digging for dinosaur fossils! (I don’t know about your kids, but my boys love dinosaurs.) For this hypothetical party, I would order some fake bones, from like Amazon or something, and bury them in the beach area of our back yard (a good sized sand box would work too.) I’d have to make up some wild story about how a T-Rex must have had an epic battle and ripped this [insert dinosaur name here] limb from limb! (How else would the pieces get scattered around?) I’d have a big tarp where we would lay out our pieces, as we tried to put the puzzle of bone shapes together. Eventually, after a successful dig and fossil assembly, we’d be starving… we would wash up, eat something tasty and sensible (TBD), and follow it up with the perfect cake. Can you see it? I can. It looks like this:

Dinosaur Dig!

Are you kidding me! Is that the cutest dinosaur cake you’ve ever seen? Yes, it is. And I am seriously going to order it, as soon as I can talk one of my kids into a dinosaur birthday party. Coincidentally, it is Andrew’s birthday today, the artistic genius behind that idyllic cake. Happy Birthday Andrew!

As much as I would love to plan this party (and I would), I need to focus. Christmas morning is almost here! And do you know what would make that morning extra special? A cup of freshly brewed coffee and these Double Iced CinnaMuffins from Baking Bros. If you are lucky enough to live in the mid-Michigan area, they deliver! (The rest of you keep on the look-out for shipping options in the future 😉 )

Double Iced CinnaMuffins

Thanks to Stephen and Andrew for being so fun to feature! 

For more information and ordering options check out:

Baking Bros

828 Powderhorn

Lansing, Michigan 48917

www.thebakingbros.com

(908) 246-2626

All images in this post are courtesy of Baking Bros. and used with permission

My Favorite Cut-Out Cookies

The best sugar cookie recipe -ever!

It’s versatile, it’s forgiving; roll it thin, roll it thick. It holds its’ shape. Most importantly, it’s delicious… It makes a good amount, and it doesn’t call for something ridiculous (when trying to homestyle mass produce), like 1 egg yolk. You don’t have to wait for it to chill! What else could you want?

As found at TwoSistersCrafting.com:

Cookie Dough

  • 2 cups Sweet Cream Salted Butter (4 sticks), softened
  • 2 cups Sugar
  • 2 Eggs
  • 2 tbsp. Vanilla
  • 4 tsp. Baking Powder
  • 6 cups Flour
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Add butter and sugar to your mixer.  Cream the butter and sugar until it is completely mixed.  Do not over-mix.
  3. Add vanilla and eggs and mix until completely incorporated.
  4. Add Baking Powder and mix.
  5. Mix in the flour two cups at a time.
  6. Mix until combined (finish with spoon and hands if necessary).
  7. Lightly flour a surface area.
  8. Roll out dough on prepared surface.
  9. Cut out desired shapes, and place on cookie sheet. (Re-rolling leftover dough pieces until used up.)
  10. Bake for 6-8 minutes, or 7-9 minutes if thicker.
  11. Allow to cool before decorating.

For Two Sister’s icing ideas, click on the link above. However, for my classic cut-out sugar cookies, I went old school; straight out of Better Homes & Garden’s Royal Icing circa 1968. (Just how dad used to make them.)

Royal Icing

3 Egg whites, room temperature

1 pound sifted powdered Sugar

1 tsp Vanilla (we skipped this for the white icing, but added it for colors)

1/2 tsp Cream of Tartar

Mix until smooth. Add desired colors. Decorate until your hearts content.

Optional: Food coloring, dragées, colored sugars (varying in size), other decorative edibles.

Also optional: invite friends and family over to decorate.

Loving Lately

This is the time of year that every baker (home and professional) thrives on. I get totally blown away by the creativity; the elaborate pie crusts… the eggnog flavored, well everything. If you are, or live with a baker, you totally understand the refrigerators full of butter (or countertops full, because they are softening to room temp); you are not surprised by perhaps multiple 10 pound bags of flour; you don’t get shocked anymore by copious amounts of powdered sugar. It’s par for the seasonal course. My kids probably wouldn’t think anything was out of the ordinary if I said “tonight we are trying out new bundt cake recipes for dinner!” (That’s a good idea, actually.) However, in spite of all of the options, right now I am totally obsessed with Gingerbread House Cakes. Totally.

Courtesy of Pinterest

Never mind that WordPress changed all of their formatting and this already technically challenged blogger is completely thrown. Does anyone really know what they’re doing? …Of course, I am ecstatic that Tiffany Thiessen introduced me to perfect mashed potatoes in her new cookbook, Pull Up a Chair. I am completely disheartened that the Chicken Pot Pie recipe from Magnolia Table turned out more like Chicken Pot Soup. (Side note: did anyone else try that recipe?) But nothing compares with my excitement of the fantastical world of fairy tale inspired, elegant and simultaneously rustic, sweet and scenic, modeled confections known as Gingerbread House Cakes. Nothing. 

Pink Gingerbread Dream House Drip Cake by Veronica Arthur.

Gingerbread House Cakes are perfect all winter long. The epitomize the the spirit of the season without being too specific to one day. They seem so special, and at the same time so approachable. If you can slather on some white frosting, and assemble even a store bought gingerbread structure, maybe rinse and dry a few winter greens, and sprinkle a little powdered sugar… well then, you too can participate in this beautiful trend!

Image courtesy of Pinterest

Naturally if one big centerpiece isn’t your thing, or maybe you have a classroom of 24 little people to accommodate, you don’t have to feel left out.

Image courtesy of alittlebitofsillinessreally.tumblr.com

Maybe you are willing to make cookies, but nothing else! Hmmm…. Here you go!

Image courtesy of taste.com.au

If you’re looking for the whole effect with a real shortcut, Nordic Ware has you covered. Shoot, you can even buy it from Williams-Sonoma with a mix! (There’s no shame in that game.)

Image courtesy of Williams-Sonoma.com

But just consider this:

Image courtesy of @cgoedke

It’s (almost) magical. 

I’ll be in the kitchen.

Featured image courtesy of Postcards and Pretties

Loving Lately

I am in Christmas lovin’ overdrive (I’m sure you are too). I just can’t get enough… and wait until you see what I have in store for you! (Get it… the barn? So clever.)

I don’t know what to talk about first! Gifts? Baking? What to wear? …Holidays literally give you the perfect excuse to go all out and have some fun. Go ahead, wear some flair, add some sparkle, or don that ugly sweater- I won’t judge. It’s time to shine! And in the off-chance that you haven’t had as much time to do Christmas research as I have this season, I’ve put together a few of my favorites.

Let’s start with the party. It’s a season of celebration! I love this play on a “cheese” board. Camille Styles has transformed that inspiration into the assembly of a festive “cookie and candy” board!

Image courtesy of CamilleStyles.com

How much cuter is that than the traditional tray? And yet, so simple! You can mix store bought and homemade. (Or all store bought… I know you’re busy.) It’s perfect for an office gathering, cocktail parties with friends, or watching Christmas movies with your fam!

Next, let’s talk gifts. First of all, I support shopping local. There are so many unique options, often including works from local artists and artisans that you just can’t get anywhere else. Secondly, you know my love of Amazon. They just make it so darn convenient! Lastly, for creative ideas that you haven’t even thought of, my go-to is UncommonGoods.com.

Hot Toddy Mugs? They got ’em.

Image courtesy of UncommonGoods.com

Uncommongoods.com has an extensive selection of beautiful handmade pottery, even as specific as, for the knitter in your life, this “Birdie Yarn Bowl”:

Image courtesy of UncommonGoods.com

How adorable is this bedding for the kiddos?

Image courtesy of UncommonGoods.com

Seriously, for hot sauce lovers, gem stone collectors, fanatics of retro games, or people looking for guitar socks… UncommonGoods.com has a plethora of ideas and gift options. (And no, they are not a sponsor… but I wouldn’t turn them down. You know what I’m sayin’.)

I know that some of you are crafty (in the best sense of the word). I’m really not. But if there was a cute project that would be fun to do with the kids this year, to keep or pass out as gifts… it would be this homemade “Vintage Truck in Mason Jar Snow Globe’ from itallstartedwithpaint.com. (For directions click on the link to the left.)

Adorable.

Ok, so now you know what you are serving or bringing to share. You have some great gifting selections… what are you going to wear? Well, if you are a man looking for a suit, you will have to find a different blog. As a mother of 3 boys, I empathize with the difficulty of the search. For the rest of you, my new favorite… (drumroll please)… is chicwish.com!

Okay, so maybe your occasions don’t call (necessarily) for something dressy. (Maybe they call for something ritzy to the nines, what do I know?) All I’m suggesting is give Chicwish.com a try. (Also, not a sponsor.) They boast “Indie Design in Onepiece dresses, Top clothing, Outers and Bottoms – Retro, Indie and Unique Fashion.” And even better, their prices- especially with their on-going sales, are affordable! #SeasonalWinning!

Alas, perhaps the whole scene isn’t for you and you’re just looking to get the heck out of dodge? MyDomaine.com has put together “7 Winter Vacation Ideas That Are Better Than The Beach”! Now although I can’t verify this to be true, I have to admit that I wouldn’t mind putting it to the test.

Image courtesy of mydomaine.com

Hope you are all enjoying the season!

See Colleen, I don’t get all of my inspiration from Pinterest… Just the featured image, courtesy of BestofChristmasToys.com