Easter

This year our March was very busy...so instead of making the cake I had in mind for our annual family get together, I opted for cookies which I made that morning.

I had bought some white chocolate m&ms to use as well as a bag of white chocolate chips.

I have a ridiculous collection of treat bags that I have collected over the years so I grabbed one of the four Easter designs and bagged the cookies, three to a bag.

Unfortunately, I suck at taking pictures and did not snap a shot of the basket full of cookie bags.

Still, it was a wonderful day with family.

Thankful

Thanksgiving 2012 was hosted by myself again, meaning I managed to cram over 20 family members into my house and entertain them for a day.

Since our family is so GINORMOUS, we divide up food assignments for Thanksgiving.
Of course, mine has been dessert for the last five years or so...and this year was no different.

I pinned this recipe on Pinterest months ago that I planned to use for the Holidays.
We have some non-pumpkin eaters in my family so I made a double batch, half pumpkin swirl and the other half plain cheesecake.

As I cleaned and prepped my house for the big...I rewarded myself here and there for completing the tough tasks like mopping the kitchen floor and cleaning behind the toilets.

Best. Reward. Ever.

I also made some sugar cookies.
Fall Leaf shaped cookies.

It was a wonderful day...I am so thankful for my family.

Ethan's Little Monster 1st Birthday

I can't believe my little guy is a year old.
He has blessed our lives every single day and we are so excited to see him grow.

Of course, I had to go big for his 1st Birthday Party.

I decided on a Little Monsters theme.

I had to spend the entire month of June crafting, cutting, taping, ribbon-ing, glueing, streaming...all his decorations because I knew the week of the party I would be consumed with baking.

All my hard work paid off.
The party was so much fun.
Family and Friends from all over attended and Ethan loved every second of it.

Originally I wanted to do rainbow cake and cupcakes but I soon came to my senses and decided to serve the same flavors that I was making for the order due the day before.

So I just decorated them differently to match the theme.

Ethan didn't smash into his Smash Cake...he ate it neatly with two fingers.

I think he just wanted to get back to all those toys...

I also made some giant M&M cookies for the favors.
Basically, they were awesome and I am lucky that I didn't make too many extras.

Happy Birthday to my son, Ethan James.
Mommy and Daddy love you sooooo much!

300 Sugar Cookie Hearts

Yup...300.

Last year I did 468 with icing and sprinkles.
This time, kids would be decorating them themselves so they were left plain.

I used my most favorite sugar cookie recipe, it's the best.
Try it!
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/michelles-soft-sugar-cookies/

These were being delivered two days before Valentines Day, so they were packaged to stay extra fresh.

That's one of my favorite things about this recipe, you can eat the cookies for more than a week and they stay soft and delicious.

I had some leftovers....well, it wasn't exactly an accident.
I decorated these ones and put them in special boxes for some special people.

My Valentine got some special messages in his box : )

Then...I filled my Cupcake Cookie Jar!

Mini Oreo Cheesecakes

Dear Martha Stewart,

You're recipes are going to make me fat.

You'd think that would stop me from using them for no reason other than to have a dessert to eat after dinner...but, no.

This recipe has been on my baking to-do list ever since I bought the Martha Stewart's Cupcake Book....like 2 years ago.

Oreos, check.

Cheesecake filling and more Oreos, check.

30 filled cupcakes liners ready to bake, check.

Finished product!

So freakin' delicious...

Valentine's Day Cookies...40 Dozen of them!

I got a last minute call from a customer a couple weeks before Valentine's Day asking if I could make 39 DOZEN cookies for some preschoolers...the baker who had the order was going out of business.

My schedule was and is already pretty tight until the baby arrives, but I couldn't turn down an order for preschoolers!

The customer requested heart shaped sugar cookies with icing and sprinkles, nice and simple - nothing fancy.

Thank goodness...because with that many cookies, who knows how long it would have taken me!

I prepared all the dough and had it chill for a day in the refrigerator.
I had to multiply my recipe by 10!
I managed to fit all the dough in these two containers....which I proceeded to drop on my foot when pulling them out of the refrigerator for this picture.


I decided to use two different cookie cutters for the order, one basic heart and one with a ridged edge.


I baked 1/2 the cookies on Friday and the other 1/2 on Saturday.


Half way through baking on Saturday, lost in my routine of pulling one sheet from the oven and popping in a new sheet to bake - I picked up a hot sheet with my bare hand, burning all 5 of my fingers.

Needless to say, I took a break - not only because I was clearly in need of one, but because it's kinda hard to roll cookies dough, cut cookies and bake them with one hand.

Sunday was all about decorating.

I used red and white royal icing and an assortment of different sprinkles and color combinations.

The icing had to set for about an hour before I could stack and box the cookies, so it made for a long day since I was only allowed to do so many cookies at once.

I used every inch of counter space and appreciated the breaks in between each batch.


I boxed the cookies up, 10 dozen to each box.
I rounded up to 40 dozen, just because.


I delivered the cookies this morning to the Preschool.


Happy Valentine's Day!!!