In the Kitchen

Kaelyn and I spent some time in the kitchen today making pumpkin cookies. I meant to get these made before the holidays but for some reason I ran out of time. :)
When I suggested making them with K today, she was not interested... I think because chocolate was not in the name. But I told her she might really like them if she gave them a try, so she did.

And she loved them. I think it's one of the yummiest cookies to come out of my kitchen so thought I'd pass on the recipe. I followed the directions HERE but halved everything, which made 30 cookies. If you like pumpkin you should definitely make some. They are really good right out of the oven without any icing... yes I may have eaten too many that way. :)

Christmas 2011

We had a wonderful Christmas... very busy, but fun. When Kaelyn was asked today what her favorite part of Christmas was, she answered "eating together!" So I guess she really enjoyed all the yummy food she had while family was around! :)

{collage created using Smilebox}

From Us...

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Photo shot by K's Aunt Amy, Edited by me, Outfit from Shoppe on the Corner.

Yummy House and Shop News

{Kaelyn decorating her first gingerbread house}

With every one piece of candy that went on the house, one would go in her mouth. Little stinker! She had so much fun! :)

Quick Enduring Arts update: The shop will be closing Monday morning, the 19th for holiday break. I plan on opening back up January 2nd. Thank you to all those who have supported the shop this last year! I wouldn't be able to do what I love if it wasn't for you! ♥

Simple Owl Cake Directions

Since I've received a few emails/comments asking how I did the owl cake for Kaelyn's last birthday I figured I should just share the directions on here. If you've been reading my blog for awhile you know I don't spend any longer in the kitchen than I have to so this cake was quick and easy.
I made two cakes in a 9x13 cake pan. (Pick your favorite kind(s) of cake.) The body part of the owl is chocolate and when the cake was cool I cut the outline... just eyeballed it. If you want something exact I suggest making a template out of wax paper then placing it on top and cutting around it. (I prefer making a slight indention with my knife first to make sure I like the shape.) I made the body as big as possible, so not much cutting off the sides, just the top and rounding off the bottom. The wings are white cake... again just eyeballed the cutout. When moving the big body part out of the pan I did have my husband help so we each had a spatula under it so it wouldn't break apart. I bought 1 container of vanilla whipped frosting. I kept some of the frosting as is for the whites of the eyes, then added a few drops of red food coloring for the pink, and a few more drops for the darker pink. Jellybeans were used for the flower and beak and a mini oreo split in half makes up the dark parts in the eyes. Simple, right!? :)
Go HERE if you want to see more pictures of Kaelyn's owl birthday.
Can't believe my baby is almost 4! Tear. I do have some fun ideas for her next cake though. I plan on keeping it just as simple. Stay tuned...