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So I'm really excited and honored to be part of 4 special days this summer - weddings!  It's that time of year when love is in the air, or at least when most people choose to make it legal. : )

My first wedding of the summer was a few weeks ago, and I was so blessed to have my mom come out to visit me and help me get everything ready and setup - thanks mom!!!  The bride and groom chose to just have a small cake for themselves to cut, and then the guests ate the cupcakes.  I really like that idea, and thought everything turned out super cute.

The cake was a chocolate cake with chocolate-hazelnut filling, and the cupcakes were an assortment of carrot, lemon, and key lime.  What a great combo for a spring wedding!  It went fantastically and I'm excited for the next wedding coming up soon!

Blessings-
LC

Salty and Sweet

I am a sucker for anything salty and sweet.  It is the BEST combo ever.  So when I found this recipe for browned butter and sea salt cookies, I was immediately hooked.  The little sprinkling of sea salt on top makes such a difference.  The browned butter gives the cookies a caramel-like taste, and the salt just compliments it so well.  Usually chocolate chip cookies aren't my favorite, but these cookies could be topping the list quickly.  I think next time I make them I would play with the recipe a little bit, but they're still awesome just as-is.

Blessings-
LC

Baby Brooks

One of my coworkers just had her first baby!  We were all so excited for her, and I know she's gonna be a fabulous mom.  Little Baby Brooks Robert was born a little over a week ago, but before he was born, our office threw her a little baby shower.

No one knew the baby's name until he was born, but we all knew that she was having a boy.  She loves zoo animals and had gone with that theme for all his baby things.  So when I found out that she especially loved monkeys, I knew I needed to do something extra special for her baby shower - in theme of course!

So these are the chocolate cupcakes I made for her - they were super cute!  I used peanut butter frosting for some of the decorations, so they had a nice little flavor combo going on in the frosting.  And how could you resist their cute little faces!

Congratulations Mama!

Blessings-
LC

Hanukkah Mother's Day!

Although it's too late for Mother's Day, here is another treat I think would be perfect for a special brunch with mom.  These are my go-to sugar cookies that are a hit - every time!  I also made these for the recent bridal shower I hosted, in keeping with the floral theme.  The bride-to-be's favorite flowers are sunflowers, so that was my inspiration for these beautiful cookies.  I just wish that I had saved a few to send to my own mom for mother's day!

Blessings-
LC

Moms are Awesome

With Mothers Day right around the corner, I thought this was the perfect treat to share.  I must admit that I made this for a bridal shower recently, and not for my mom, but I just think it is gorgeous and would be the perfect thing for a special mom this Sunday.

I made this cake taller than usual (4-layers) because there were lots of ladies at the bridal shower, and I wanted to make sure there was enough to go around.  And boy... what a treat!  The bride-to-be is lactose intolerant, so it was my first time making a dairy-free cake.  It was a success!  I wouldn't choose to bake dairy-free (a girl's gotta have her butter!), but my girl friend loved it, and that's all that mattered.  It's a lemon cake with lemon buttercream, not only a great flavor for spring, but one of the bride's favorites.

I don't know if you can really tell from the photos, but the cake kinda looked like a big hydrangea with swirls of green and blue icing - and a little edible glitter thrown on for good measure.  Next time I think I'd make the colors a little less-vivid, but it looked great with the other floral decorations we had for the bridal shower (that were actually real flowers).  All in all, I thought it was a beautiful cake and definitely something different that the guests weren't expecting!

Blessings-
LC

Chock Full 'O Chunks

With the temperatures getting warmer, I've been really excited about baking (and eating!) all kinds of fun summer-time flavors that you don't see as often during the cold and dreary winter.  One of my new favorites is white chocolate and cranberry.

So I made these white chocolate brownies and then stirred in lots and lots of white chocolate chips and dried cranberries.  It's deliciously sweet, but kinda tart from the cranberries.  They were a hit with my coworkers!

Blessings-
LC