2014 Winter + Olympics

Posted in Cupcakes, Sweet by shimmrblu

It’s snowing outside… and inside… 😉

Last night I walked to a local venue to watch the opening ceremonies of the 2014 Winter Olympics on the big screen. Today, I felt inspired to bake these…

this is what people watching Russian television saw...

this is essentially what people watching Russian television saw…

and this is what everyone else in the stadium and on other networks saw!

Strolling around the neighborhood earlier in the day (pre-opening ceremonies), there were a lot of people out playing and sledding in the snow…

And it reminded me of this very cool article I came across last month… can’t you just see this as a cookies ‘n cream ice cream cake or something with little figurines?? 🙂 I love it. I always see food in things. For example–this foot print that reminded me of an imprint cookie cutter…

and these which make me think of piped frosting…

and this which looks kind of like a frosted cake…

But what an interesting way to look at food at a different level! I need to go find myself some little figurines…

1Feb2014

More decorating fun…

Posted in Cookies, Sweet by shimmrblu

A few decorations! Someday I’ll find a better lighted spot for capturing images……..

31Jan2014

Congratulations!

Posted in Celebration, Cookies, Sweet by shimmrblu

Happy US Citizenship to my good friend 🙂

It’s a good thing I am sure she knows how many stars are actually on the American flag 😉

30Dec2013

Holiday Cookies 2013

Posted in Cookies, Sweet by shimmrblu

Though I wasn’t sure if I could fit this in, I’m so glad that I did…. had some friends over for some decorating!

cookies baked, sprinkles dispersed, frosting tinted…

all these must be decorated

I had a few friends over to decorate holiday cookies with me… here’s what some of them looked like! As always, I love seeing the creativity, humor and beauty. 🙂

Somebody’s getting a Tiffany Blue Box for Christmas!

M E R R Y C H R I S T M A S !!

30Dec2013

Holiday Cookie Exchange 2013

Posted in Cookies, Sweet by shimmrblu

I was invited and participated in my first holiday cookie exchange!

Almost all the cookies on the table ready for exchange…

How it works:

1. Bake 6-8 dozen holiday cookies, and package them up in 6 or 12 – depending on what the cookie is, how many you bring, what fits best etc.

2. All invited parties gather at one location on the designated cookie exchange night

3. All extras, burnt cookies, broken pieces etc. are set out for sampling

4. All ready-to-exchange-cookie packages are displayed for later exchange

5. After some visiting, drinking, snacking and sampling….

6. Each person introduces the cookies that he or she brought… and the exchange commences!

At the end of the evening, you leave with as many cookies as you arrived with, but so many more, beautiful and tasty varieties to enjoy. Happy Holidays!!!

I made these two:

Potato chip cookies

I’ve made these before and have been very happy with them. Of course, right!?–they have potato chips in and on top of them!!! 😉

crushed potato chips for the dough, and crushed potato chip and flaked sea salt topping ready to go for my two batches…

golden brown and you can see the toasted pecans

Chocolate Rugelach

This was a new recipe for me, but I was happy with how they turned out. The dough was nice and flaky, and the Ghiradelli chocolate on the inside was of course quite nice as well. 🙂

chilled dough, ready to roll. Each dough quarter makes 12 rolls according to the recipe. I ended up making 8 each so that they were slightly larger…

dessert pizza?

cinnamon sugar and bittersweet chocolate chunks

up close

30Dec2013

A Woodland Baby Shower

Posted in Chocolate, Cookies, Sweet, Themed by shimmrblu

Boy, December sure has been a busy month!! Before December ends, I want to try and catch up on a few posts that I haven’t had time to get to because… well, partly because I have been baking! 😉

Acorn cookies

Toadstool mushroom cupcakes

A college friend of mine is having a baby boy soon, so I helped bake a couple of treats for her woodland themed baby shower in early December. Among the rest of the delicious spread complete with baked stuffed mushrooms, orzo pasta salad, green salad, spiced nuts, cheese, crackers and fig spread, and an outstanding (and delicious I must say!) chocolate cake baked and decorated to look like a tree stub by another friend, were these toadstool mushroom cupcakes…

trays full of yellow cupcakes and tinted vanilla frosting to look like toadstools… it took a little time to get just the right orangey-red. And placing each spot took some effort too!

Home habitat…

Before packing these up for the party, I used a few items that I had to create a quick home habitat to snap a few shots of these little ‘shrooms.

Toadstool mushroom cupcakes in their “true habitat” for the party! The habitat was pretty much set when I arrived and made the perfect backdrop for these little red mushrooms. Thanks to Sheena for this picture!

And for the acorn cookies, I baked up a batch of my Grandma’s sugar cookies and dipped them in semi-sweet chocolate for the little cap. Mmmmm! I contemplated sprinkles on the chocolate part, but decided that I liked the simplicity as they were…

Dancing on the cookie sheet

acorn swirl… getting packed and ready to go

One acorn…

Two acorns!

1Dec2013

‘Tis the season for pumpkin muffins!

Posted in Gluten-free, Sweet by shimmrblu

I made these pumpkin muffins to take to Thanksgiving dinner this year. Even though the recipe is for a gluten, egg and dairy free treat, I altered it slightly for my use….

Only got a chance to snap this quick pic!

For the first ingredient, I used this “gluten-free flour mix” which I found at a local store. To avoid cane sugar sensitivities, I replaced both the brown sugar and white sugar with coconut sugar like this, and since the dairy allergies present were not extreme, I went ahead and used regular dairy butter. I did need to avoid using cinnamon though, so replaced the 1-1/2 tsp. that the recipe calls for with 1 tsp. Allspice and 1/2 tsp. cardamom.

They didn’t turn out looking like the picture in the recipe, but taste-wise, I think they turned out pretty well.

28Oct2013

Octobery + Halloween

Posted in Cupcakes, Sweet, Themed by shimmrblu

What is more Octobery than pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting?!

And my nod to the Halloween holiday, just around the corner… mummy pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting wrap and candy googely eyes 🙂 These are inspired by a picture I saw in Target!

Peeking out

Such characters!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

29Sep2013

Thirty-ONEderful!

Posted in Celebration, Chocolate, Cupcakes, Mini, Sweet by shimmrblu

These adorable mini birthday cupcakes were so fun to make, and perfectly bite-sized. I wrapped my old Architecture 101 wooden drafting board in sprinkle wrapping paper, and it made the perfect backdrop for the Thirty-ONEderful cupcakes! (Yes, there are 31 of them).

waiting to be lit

yellow cake minis with chocolate frosting

chocolate minis with chocolate frosting

My mixer makes a flower shape in powdered sugar 🙂

22Sep2013

Happy 4th Birthday, Bridgetown Design!

Posted in Celebration, Cupcakes, Fruit, Recipes, Sweet by shimmrblu

My friends hired me to bake cupcakes for their company birthday party! I had fun with these vintage malt milkshake-inspired cupcakes; they were my first filled cupcakes, and I got to try out my cupcake corer! 🙂 Still working on the piping techniques!

Happy 4th, Bridgetown Design!

CUPCAKE FLAVOR 1:

Vanilla cupcakes with real strawberry filling and cream cheese frosting. Garnished with a strawberry and red and white paper straw. {I’m hearing Contestant voices on Cupcake Wars presenting their cupcake flavors to the judges….haha!}