To Freeze or Not To Freeze

This week I was asked to make a cake for a baby shower.  Last minute, but if I could make it work I would.  The biggest problem I had was not that the person needed it a day before the party so that they could travel to the destination.  It was that I am going away with my family and I would need to complete it 3 days prior to the shower.  Not exactly ideal circumstances or timing.  After reading different opinions on different baking websites I found that some people decorate and freeze cakes with the claim that no one notices, while others won't do it because it compromises the cake.  I have never frozen a decorated cake before so I just don't know which side of the debate I support.  I respectfully declined making the cake, for fear that it would not be best work and I didn't want the party to be tainted by yucky cake.

But the question still remains in my mind.  To freeze or not to freeze?  So, today I made two small cakes and decorated them.  One was straight buttercream icing with royal icing flowers.  The other was buttercream icing topped with buttercream fondant and a gum paste bow.  I placed them in two separate cake boxes and wrapped them extremely well in plastic wrap and tin foil.  Then, down into the freeze they went.  Next week I will pop them out and see what happened.  Fingers crossed that the cakes make it!

P.S.  Check out the cake page - more photos added!

Cinnamon Bun Scones

Ever since our trip to Disney this past spring I have been looking for the perfect breakfast pastries.  Yes, instead of heading to the "healthy" side of the breakfast buffet we bee-lined it to the puffy, yummy, decadent side.  My daughter, miss picky eater supreme, couldn't get enough.  Well, if you put chocolate chips in a breakfast food I do the same thing.  Everything tastes better with a touch of chocolate!

Since the chocolate chip scones were a smashing success here I decided to try out another scone recipe.

I give you Cinnamon Bun Scones!

When put on the table, my 5 year old son said, "These are soooo yummy!"  Which was promptly followed by, "And they have icing!" from my 3 year old son.  My daughter tried to hand it back to me after taking the tiniest bite.  After a second "real" bite, it was all gone!  Smashing success in our book!

Good Morning, Yummy Treats!

Last night, while everyone was asleep, I made Milk Chocolate Fudge and Butterscotch Fudge.  This morning, as I was cutting it into bite size pieces and packaging it for delivery, I had a few little fingers trying to creep onto the countertop.  I didn't let them steal any of the pieces.  But, being the good mom that I am, I of course said, "Here, have a little sample of fudge before breakfast.".............. Bet you were expecting something else?!?!

Milk Chocolate Fudge Bites

Butterscotch Fudge Bites

Daisies

It's been a busy two weeks with cakes and cookies!  This week's cake is all about flowers....Daisies.  So simple a flower, yet so incredibly beautiful.  A favorite among many!  Hope it brings a smile to your face today!

Daisy Cake

Present Cake

Happy Anniversary to a couple who couldn't deserve it more....my parents.

Straight from the Garden

This year our garden seemed to do extremely well, extremely fast.  Not sure how or why, since I usually kill any plant that comes into our home.  But, it did and we were inundated with zucchini.  There are only so many times I can make broiled zucchini topped with parmesan cheese and bread crumbs.  So, I searched the internet and found to really interesting recipes.

The first was for Stuffed Zucchini.  Easy to make with few ingredients, it was well received at a barbecue.  The second was for Zucchini Bread.  I, myself, had never tried it before but since I love bread I thought why not.  Again, easy to make with few ingredients.  The bread came out great.  Reminds me of banana bread...obviously, swapping the zucchini for the bananas.  Definitely worth it.

Zucchini Bread

Happy 4th of July!

4th of July Sugar Cookies

Pop-Up Cards

I have long since thought that the art of the written word is being left by the wayside in favor of a quick email or text.  It's sad that my children will never truly understand the joy of getting a long awaited letter in the mail and the excitement of writing back.  I make it a point to handwrite their birthday party invitations and their thank you cards (which one day when they are big enough they will have to do all on their own).  If I am hosting a holiday, I like to try to send out invitations I create.  And I don't mean an evite!  There is just something special about getting something personalized in the mail.

I can't quite remember when I was first introduced to Robert Sabuda, but I do know it was by a librarian at one of the schools I worked at.  He makes the most amazing pop-up books for children.  On his website he most generously shares step-by-step instructions (with pictures!) on how to make all different types of cards.  Check him out at http://www.robertsabuda.com

So, in an effort to create something special that can be given to a friend or relative, my daughter and I took our first stab at making a pop-up birthday card.  There was definitely a little bit of a learning curve - don't use too much glue...try telling that to a 7 year old!  Hopefully, as we try to make more they will get half as good as Mr. Sabuda's!

Keeping It All Together

On any given day, something is being created in this house.  Know I know I can make a big mess when I bake.  It's the price I willingly pay.  And, since I am the one who has to clean it up, I accept it.  My kids can top my mess in mere minutes.  By the end of the day, there are projects drying everywhere, paint dripping from paint brushes left on the table, crayons rolling all over the floor....I think you get where I am going with this.  The good news is that there is always giggling to accompany the creating.  The bad news is that bedtime always rears its beautiful head before the little crafty monsters have helped put everything away!

Welcome our art closet.  It is one of my favorite areas of the house because it is the most organized.  Shelves for projects waiting to be worked on, buckets for crayons, markers, coloring books, play dough, etc. and drawers for stickers, glue, beads, scissors and so on.  I even labeled everything so that it would all be put back in the right spot and I didn't have to hear, "I didn't know where to put it" anymore (especially from my husband!).  Sounds perfect right?  Almost.  Two out of the three kids can't read yet, and my daughter and husband temporarily forget during clean-up time.  The babysitter - forget it!  Needless to say, my perfect art closet became a perfect dump.  That was, until this morning.  Thanks to my hanging babysitter (aka the T.V.), I was able to return my art closet back to its former glory and restore my sanity!

Let the guilt-free crafting begin!!!