Oh Finally!

Finally, a chance to bake! My cousin asked me to make her some cupcakes. She is throwing a party in the jungle theme and had an exact idea in mind. Well, here is the result...

Piped green "shrubbery" with an animal sucker I bought from Oriental Trading, and a tree made with a pretzel.

Have I Lost My Mojo?

I can barely remember the last time I baked! It was some cookies I made for my kids' teachers and my husband's work - for Christmas! I know to some of you it doesn't seem like a long time, but to me-- ages.
I have to think of a new project. Williams-Sonoma had this cute cookie-cutter set on SUPER sale. I just opened it a couple of days ago (the box sat in my kitchen for over a week!). It was better than I expected.

So, stay tuned for my next baking adventure!

My House for my friend Donna

Donna, here's an updated picture of our house. I received your letter and sketches. Thank you!!! I am so excited to get started. I like what you did with the porch area. By looking at this picture, you will see that we're kinda heading in the right direction. I measured it and it's 8 feet wide. If you click on the picture it will enlarge it for you.

Cupcakes for Benefit

This Sunday my nieces and my daughters volunteered in a special event to raise money for children with Down's Syndrome. They were working the cupcake booth, so what better opportunity to practice some more!
These cupcakes were easy. I used the Cinch cake mix in yellow and chocolate, which are both very tasty. Then I decorated them in three different ways to add a little variety.

Cookie Class Part 3 - Fondant Cookies

Today was the last of our 3-day cookie course. We were asked to bring some cookies, colored fondant, the cookie cutters we used for the cookies, some Crisco and some corn syrup. Getting this ready was a breeze because I still had all the different colored fondant from my daughter's birthday cake. I'm glad I stored it properly in Ziplock bags.
I had never used fondant to decorate cookies and I must say that I was impressed. The result was a neater, more professional-looking cookie.
As additional decoration, we used the royal icing from the 2 day of class.