Wednesday, March 30, 2011

I'm Official!

I finally ordered some business cards, and I just LOVE them!  I've got quite a few baking jobs lined up for this summer, so it was time to get some cards to hand out to potential clients.  I can't wait... It's like I'm a grown-up now. : )  I blocked my name out of the back for the purposes of this blog, but other than that, here it is!



Blessings-
LC

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Award Winning Cookies

Yes, that's right.  They're that good.

These oatmeal cookies are full of chocolate and butterscotch chips, and they happen to be a favorite of one of my friends.  So when his company had a cookie contest, he asked if he could "make them" for the contest.  I use that term loosely, because as you can imagine, I ended up getting all the ingredients together for him while he stood there and held the mixer.  But hey, somebody had to do it! : )  He submitted these cookies to his company-wide contest and even I was a little surprised that they won - even beating out an older lady that had quite a history of winning the annual company cookie contest.

Something must be right with these cookies!  I still like to make these when I'm in the mood for something a little different, and they're always a hit with the crowd!


Blessings-
LC

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Brownies - Not From a Box!

Most people are used to the brownies you buy that begin with a box, add some eggs/oil/water, and you end up with some brownies that usually taste okay... but they always seem to be too crunchy, too gooey, or too dried out.

Well, these brownies are WAY better - trust me.  The buttermilk in them makes them super moist, and a little more cake-like than a typical brownie.  But you can still pick them up and eat them with your hands.  They are simply delightful, and they make me never want to eat box brownies again!


Blessings-
LC

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Luck O' the Irish

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, and my Irish heritage, I obviously had to post something green!  Now this one might catch you by surprise, but I've been making key lime cupcakes the past several years for St. Patty's Day.  I know that's not a traditional Irish flavor, but it is in keeping with the color scheme.  So that's my tradition and I'm sticking to it!

These cupcakes are definitely a crowd favorite whenever I show up with them.  Not only do they taste delicious, but everyone always loves the little surprise!  And what is that you might ask?  Some tasty key lime filling of course!

This moist yellow cake has a little bit of lime juice and zest, and they have a sweet and tart key lime filling.  The are truly delightful!  I top them with a lime buttercream, and BAM - Luck O' the Irish to ya!




Blessings-
LC

Sunday, March 13, 2011

My Favorite

Snickerdoodles might just be my favorite cookie.  They're not very flashy on the outside, but don't be fooled.  I love their simplicity, their buttery flavor, their sweet cinnamon sugar coating.  Seriously it just doesn't get much better.  Plus, I like that snickerdoodles are a little off the beaten path, and you don't just see them all the time.  So that makes them a little more special.




Blessings-
LC

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Gorillas are Bigger than Monkeys

Remember how we have a Christmas tradition of making monkey bread?  Well this is a sweeter take on that wonderful and nostalgic classic - gorilla bread.

Don't be fooled by the name.  This is delicious and sweet... so don't be scared!  It's similar to monkey bread, except instead of bitesize pieces of dough, I use larger pieces of dough and wrap them around small blocks of cream cheese.  So basically it's kind of like a cinnamon roll drenched in a sweet cinnamon-sugar syrup.  I must admit that I am torn on which bundt pan delight is my favorite.  I have made both for many different people, and preference is mixed... I think I just comes down to what you like.

For me, monkey bread will always have a special place in my heart because it reminds me of family and Christmas morning.  But it's nice to shake things up in a while, so gorilla bread is my go-to brunch food when I'm looking to impress.  Which one is your favorite?




Blessings-
LC

Friday, March 4, 2011

Oldie but Goody

Remember how I was talking about having some photos stored up?... Well this is one of them.  As you can tell from the color scheme, these cookies are from Christmas time, but I just never got around to posting them!  These are very special to me.  They're not just regular, ordinary, Christmas sugar cookies.  These are Aagot's sugar cookies.

Who the heck is Aagot?  That's a good question.  Aagot was a dear friend of my grandma's.  And she happened to be Norwegian.  And these happen to be her sugar cookies.  I usually only like soft and chewy cookies, but these are the exception.  These sugar cookies are buttery and delicious and they've got just a little bit of bite to them, and they literally melt in your mouth.  A little known secret about these - they're also great frozen (a little trick I learned from my mom).  These are very special to me, and another one of my Christmas traditions.  So even though I'm a couple months late in this post, these cookies will not reappear in my kitchen until next Christmas.  I can hardly wait!



Blessings-
LC