Recent cupcakes

Butter Cake Cupcakes with Sticky Fudge Frosting

The aftermath of Sticky Fudge Frosting

Caramel Covered Teacakes

Red, White and Blue Cupcakes

Seeing stars

I hosted a baby shower here today, and had a lot of fun making decorations and baking. My friend is decorating the nursery in purple and stars, so I used that as a theme for the shower.

Purple and pink lollipops (I didn't make those:-), and wooden stars that I painted to hang on the front door. I used some of the texture paint I won in a recent giveaway (the sparkles on the stars), and they turned out nicely.

I cut stars out of several different scrapbook papers, and hung them from my mantel, back door, and entryway into the kitchen/dining room.

I cannot take credit for this mobile--my dear friend Alyson made it, and she did a great job! It is airy and beautiful, and looked gorgeous hanging over the food table.

Yummy cupcakes! Yellow cake cupcakes with buttercream frosting, and peanut butter cupcakes with milk chocolate glaze

Creative spurts

I mentioned that I have several projects I am working on, so I thought I would show you a few things--not completed, by any means, but at least cut out and in process (cutting out is the hardest step, I think!)


Two nursing covers (on the top, the hummingbird fabric and the Pistachio Paisley), and three skirts (bottom, left to right, Ginger Blossom for Girl, Pistachio Paisley for the babysitter, matching Ginger Blossom for me, Mommy). I will post pictures of the completed products once they are finished!


Oh yeah, and cupcakes:

I am hosting a baby shower for a friend (hi Emily!) next weekend, and I want to make the perfect cupcakes. The only problem? My friend (hi Emily!) is a cake decorator. And she is GOOD. So I am afraid I won't hit that mark, but I am having fun trying out a couple of recipes before next Saturday.

More Wonderland and a pie crust

After putting it off for a while because I loved the fabric so much, I finally cut into the rest of my Wonderland by MoMo layer cake and am working on another baby quilt. I was not pleased with how the last one turned out -- I did something wrong, but the recipient of the quilt loved it --so I am looking forward to 'trying again.' I have laid this quilt on a little more methodically than the last one, so we will have to see how that looks when completed.


And for those who enjoy food, I made my first pie crust this past week. My mom always made pie crusts when I was growing up, but I have been afraid to try them (kind of like quilting). But I took the plunge, and the crusts didn't turn out too bad! They might have even been good:-) The Pizza Rustica (see pic below) was delicious, with or without the pie crust

Creamy Chicken Salad

Just as an aside--I hate condiments. I don't like mayonnaise, mustard or ketchup. I eat my sandwiches and my burgers plain. I don't dip my french fries in ketchup, and only in the past few years have 'grown up' enough to eat salad dressing on salads. Since chicken salad is commonly made with mayonnaise, I did not eat chicken salad. Then I found this recipe, and I have a chicken salad that I will eat! These measurements are approximate, so please adjust it to your personal taste:-)

Creamy Chicken Salad
1 1/2-2 cups cooked and shredded chicken
1 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
1 small can diced green chiles
1-2 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. salt (may add more to taste)

Combine all ingredients until well blended. Taste to see if more chili powder or salt is needed. A dash of red or black pepper would be a nice addition. If chicken salad is too dry, add a splash of milk or cream to the mixture. Serve on bed of salad greens, or on croissants as a sandwich. This chicken salad is very savory and is a nice alternative to the fruity chicken salads that are popular. Let me know what you think!

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars

I love a simple, easy and yummy dessert. I made 50+ chocolate chip cheesecake bars on Monday, and praise the Lord, they definitely are simple and easy! And oh, are they yummy! Here you go:

Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Bars
1 small roll (16-18 oz) refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough
1 8 oz. box cream cheese
1 egg
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla (opt)

Press half of the cookie dough into a lightly greased 8x8 pan. Beat cream cheese, egg, sugar and vanilla on medium speed until well-mixed and creamy. Spread cream cheese mixture over cookie dough. Crumble remaining cookie dough over the top of the cream cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool, cut into bars, and enjoy!

Notes: 2 cups of cookie dough can be substituted for the refrigerated cookie dough. You can use the large, family size cookie dough with the same amount of cream cheese, but the cookie to cream cheese ratio will be different. I add a little bit of vanilla to give richness to the cream cheese, but if you like a strong cream cheese flavor you can leave it out.

Five ingredients in this easy dessert. It Works for Me!

A week of baking

I love to bake, and this week I am going to get a baking workout!

As I type this, in my oven is the first pan of 30-50 chocolate chip cheesecake bars that I am making for a ladies event tonight. Also up this week--chicken salad sandwiches for a baby shower on Thursday, sausage balls and cream cheese mints for a (different) ladies event on Saturday, plus planning a cookout for my hubby's 30th birthday.

I also have a couple different sewing projects that I desperately need to finish this week (especially the one for the baby shower!), so we will see if I have enough time...

Just for fun, I will try to take pictures of my baking and post them as they are completed. I might even throw in a recipe or two if anyone is interested:-)

Granola (Candy) Bars

I attempted to make homemade granola bars yesterday afternoon. I followed the directions, but what were supposed to be borderline healthy granola bars turned into what my hubby calls "Granola Candy Bars". Um, there's a LOT of chocolate in these bars! They are delicious, but a lot sweeter than I thought they would be. I plan to keep tweaking the recipe, and will post it as soon as I get it right.

Homemade bread

Confession: I have made bread before, but it always had banana, apple, pumpkin or friendship in its title. Last week was my first attempt at a real, kneading-required, whole wheat bread. It was so yummy, and I think I may have to make it again! Doesn't it look delicious?



Care to share your favorite bread recipe?