Cheesecakes Galore

I love cheesecake. Especially at the Cheesecake Factory. So rich. So creamy. So heavenly.

And since it is so divine, I decided to teach myself how to make them. Funny...I sold my springform pan in a yard sale years ago after NEVER using the one I got as a wedding gift. Now I have two.

Here are a few creations:

This pic is so old, I have no idea what kind it was. Oreo? But I have learned this size piece is too big!

Layered Turtle (quite possibly my favorite)

White Chocolate Peppermint

Pumpkin Praline

S'mores

Peanut Butter

Pecan Praline

Also in the repertoire is Oreo, Key Lime, New York and Brownie Caramel. I would make them more often, but I would eat the whole thing. Fortunately, as you can see, we have regular socials for me to bake and take. Hmm...what to make next?

Cake Decorating Extravaganza

One day a few months ago I was in Hobby Lobby (big surprise) and they put a flyer in my bag about a cake decorating class. I have never thought about doing it before, but for some reason it caught my attention. I thought it would be a fun way to learn something new, especially since I have made my kids' birthday cakes for the past 5 years. A round layer cake can only be so exciting. And it's always more fun with a buddy!

Class 1 we learned how to make stars.

Class 2 I missed while on Staff Retreat. I did make it up, but it was just to learn the technique and my cake was ridiculous looking. It was a practice for Max's b'day cake. You will get the tweaked version in a few weeks.

Class 3 was learning to make flowers. Wilton classes teach lots of flowers. Especially in the second course. We decorated cupcakes with Mums, Pom Poms, and Rosettes.

Class 4 we learned the Ribbon Rose. We decorated a full cake. I made it for a baby shower for a sweet baby girl!

Cupcakes

Back in May I made 4,385 cupcakes for Mimi and Pop's anniversary party. Well, maybe only 120. Mimi gave me a super awesome helpful hint for prepping all those yummies. I may be the last one to know about this, but I thought it was genius. And so, here is the picture tutorial. Let me know if you have questions.

Cut bottom corner not zipped.

Bake per recipe instructions and enjoy!

Summer Bucket List

I mentioned early in the summer that we had all these awesome fun activities to do each and every week this summer. Well, life got in the way. The endless piles of laundry, grocery planning, shopping, cooking, and cleaning, party planning, Summer Spectacular. The list of excuses could go on and on. I dropped the ball. We got off to a great start, then I got impatient and self centered and didn't give it my all. True confessions.

All that to say we have done some fun things.

Make it Monday
-painting with friends

-popsicles

Time to Read Tuesday
-Read Beezus and Ramona (and discussed it per our curriculum)

What's Cookin' Wednesday
-Cinnamon Churro Chexmix

-Butterfinger Blondies

-Homemade Pizzas

-Olympic Cupcakes

Be Thoughtful Thursday (or play dates)
-Runway Cafe
-water fun with bubbles, sprinklers, and slip n slide
-PlayNation
-downtown fountains

-zoo

-pool play dates

-Olympics


Family Day Friday
Umm...summer of the deck. That's all.

I am hoping to hit the last couple of weeks hard with a schedule (including some of the things she really wants to do) to keep me on track and to also get us geared up for structure as we start school in the next few weeks.

Cookin' in the Kitchen

Nesting. It can be an interesting thing.

With Lily, I cleaned house and stocked the pantry.

With Max, I transferred phone numbers to Outlook (in prep for the new iPhone) and started a new blog. A new what??

Yes, I started a new blog.

Recently I was going through my cookbooks and recipe cards in an attempt to make my meal plan and grocery list for the week. I was tired of the same ol' same ol'.

Over the last 5 years I have "published" four cookbooks compiled of recipes from girls I know at church. Let me tell you, these girls have got it together. I have made some super delish dinners (and other goodies) from the recipes that were put together within these four books.

It has been a couple of years since the last one was put together, and to be honest, I just don't want to have to do another one right now. I mean, come on, I am 39 1/2 weeks pregnant (when the blog started--now with a newborn) .

Then it dawned on me: Start a blog where you and your friends can all post whenever they make something great. And pictures can even be included so we each know how super yummy it looks (and what it is supposed to look like for those of us who are visual).

So, how does this work?

You can leave a comment here letting me know you want to join the team. I will need your blogger login email to send you an invite. (If you would rather email me your email, that works too.)

The title of each post will be the name of the recipe. Type out the recipe (if you copy from another blog, please give credit to the original source--don't want anyone coming after me because of copyright laws.) Include a photo YOU have taken. I want to see just how easy this recipe is. Label the post with one of the following: Appetizer, Main Dish, Side Dish, Soup, Dessert. (If the categories start to bust at the seams we can later divide up into type of meat, veggies, etc.) For quick reference, there is a label bar for you to easily search for what type of recipe you are interested in.

Does it make sense?

Check it out: Cookin' in the Kitchen

Can't wait to try out some new yummy stuff!

(To get us started, I did pull previous posts from Tres Alejandros and BAC has added some yummies. BUT I do have new food to show you!)