Cute little monkeys!

Aren't these little guys cute!!  I got a request for them last week and was excited to make such an adorable cookie.

Their rosy cheeks, crooked smile, big ears and sweet eyes just make me want to eat them all up!!!  BUT...I restrained myself because they aren't mine. :-(

I used the monkey cutter from the Wilton 3 piece Jungle set.

I had to squish it a little since I didn't like the elongated shape of it.  Worked out great!

A perfectly adorable addition for a little monkey party for your little monkey!!  Thank you!  Goodnight!

As always...be blessed, thanks for stopping by and leave some love!

Pencil Sugar Cookie's...How did you...?

It's the start of a new school year!  The kids went back to school and it was great!  They were glad to go back and see all their friends.  They are happy with their teachers...whew!  One less drama to deal with.

You know those pencil cookies I showed you on my last post?  Well, today I'm gonna show you how I did them and what I learned that I would do differently next time.  Remember I'm still fairly new cookie decorating so don't hold me too close to the fire.

I did the pencils in the school's colors so that's why they are only red and blue.  Like I mentioned in my previous post I decided to make these after I saw Georgeanne's pencil cookies on her blog, LilaLoa.  Her's are adorable!!

Yes, I made apples too and some circles to write messages on.  The cookie cutter I used was actually a candle that I found at Sur la Table on clearance for $0.49!!

{via}

That's why the sides are bumpy and I didn't bother smoothing them out.  I used my go to Vanilla Sugar Cookie Recipe from LilaLoa's blog.  It's so yummy and bakes beautifully... when you remember to take them out in time. :-\

I followed her steps on outlining them but used a #1 tip which made it a little difficult for me and I think I had my royal icing a bit too thick.  Next time I'll use a #2 and thin it just a little more.  I did add cocoa to my icing to help achieve the black color and I gotta say I LOVED it!  It smelled soooo good!

After they dried a few minutes I started filling in the areas .  Starting with the "metal" bands, then the eraser, the "wooden" tips and lastly the body.  As you can see I did the outside lines first.

 I let them dry for about 20 min. then filled in the middles.  The blue pencils I did the same way.

I'm not sure if you can tell but I added some silver luster dust to the "metal" bands to give it a bit of a shimmer.  I had a lot of fun and  learned a lot making them.  Here are all of the finished cookies!!

 I delivered these last week to the teachers for them to enjoy and they all were saying how much they loved them!  I am really grateful for the wonderful teachers at our school and all the effort they put forth to care for and teach the students!  Have a great school year!!!

As always...be blessed, thanks for stopping by and leave some love!

Back to School

It's that time again!  Summer's over, though the weather says otherwise and all the frantic running about to get school clothes and supplies commences.  Sigh.  I'm not really sad summer's over because I'm actually glad to get my boys out of the house and back to a more structured schedule.  What I am sad about is having to get up.  Early.  Every day.  I've been enjoying my late mornings although I don't really think I've gotten any more sleep because I've been staying up all hours of the night working on these babies to take to school!!

I have found the wee hours of the night to be the most peaceful lately.  I know you can relate.  During the day it can get so hectic, noisy and frustrating...yes, frustrating, when you just finished cleaning up from making lunch for them and sit down to try to start something and not 30 seconds later you get a, "maaaahhhhhmmm!!!" You know, in that sing songy voice.  You get up to go see what else they need only to be asked if they can have some apple sauce. "NO!  You just had lunch!  Kitchen is closed.  Go play outside for a bit."  "But it's haaahhht! and that's boring!" "Well, if you're bored you can go clean the bathrooms." "Nooo!!!" "Then please find something else to do for a little while." "Like what?"  See what I mean?  This conversation can go on forEVER!

So.  I've resigned myself to the nights to get my stuff done.  They're in bed, all is quite and I can actually sit down for more than a few minutes and complete something!  That is a good feeling.  (Except when your hubby is in the room trying to get your attention dancing to some great new music he's found!  Just kidding sweetheart. :-))  I'm sure I'll hear about this one.

I'll leave you with one of the songs that my love has been listening too lately.  Needless to say my boys love it too!  They like to do their robot/dubstep/breakdance moves to it.  "What is dubstep?" you ask?  That's for another post. :-)  Enjoy!

Cupcake Sugar Cookies

There are a lot of things happening these next few weeks.  For instance, I'm making cookies for a sweet friend's 2 year old, then making cookies for the teachers at school during their work week before kids go back.  I also have several meetings for various things like The Woodlands Marathon, PTO, spanish church and planning my sister-n-law's wedding shower.  Oh!...then there's my monthly girls' night out on Friday and my boys will be going back to school next week!  See, I told you....a LOT!!

BUT...it's not more than this mama can handle cuz "...all things are possible...".

Here's are a few pics of what I've been working on so far...

Birthday Cookies

 Teacher Cookies

I'll post more pics when they are finished.  I got the pencil cookie idea from Georgeanne of LilaLoa's blog.  I think she's super witty and I stalk her blog all the time looking for cookies of awesomeness.  Which I find...always!  To cut out the pencil I actually used a candle cookie cutter I got for $0.50 at Sur la table!  Score! 

That's all for now.  I'll post more pics when I finish them.  Until next time!

As always...be blessed, thanks for stopping by and leave some love!

White and Black Lace Lingerie Shower

Here are a few pictures from my sister-in-law's lingerie party this weekend. 

 I created the desserts which included a vanilla cake with swiss meringue buttercream, chocolate cupcakes with smbc, almond and peppermint marshmallows and "lingerie" sugar cookies.  All were dairy-free except for the cupcakes.  I added the cupcake toppers that I embellished with glitter.  My other sister-in-law created the "R" with coffee filters and we used sheets for the backdrop.

We were so glad with how everything came together and we had such a great time doing it!

Another hostess with the mostess and an incredible smile!

The food table had 3 salads, grilled chicken breast strips, hummus with pita chips, fruit with caramel, rolls and a veggie tray which was provided by the other hostesses.  Thank you ladies!  We had more than enough and it was ALL delicious!!  I cut out the "R", painted it and added a lace flower.

Now all we have left to plan is a wedding shower, a bachelorette party and the wedding!  So exciting!

As always...be blessed, thanks for stopping by and leave some love!

Cinnamon Roll Sugar Cookies

I know what you're thinking...Seriously! Cinnamon Roll Cookies!!  Yes!  And they are scrumptious!  So, yesterday I posted about Cinnamon Marshmallows.  Today it's cookies that I will be taking to the baby shower.  I really want to say something funny right now that will make you laugh out loud (lol) and love me more but my brain is on overload and I can't come up with anything witty at the moment so we'll just get to the pictures and retelling of how I made these bites of awesomeness.  Hopefully you'll love me anyway.

I used my go to sugar cookie recipe from LilaLoa who, I might add, is very witty and is always making me laugh. (sigh)  If you've never read her blog you should pop on over and read whatever hilarious stuff she's talking about now.  (whatever) Anyhoo, her recipe is just what I needed for this and I got to work.

Okay, so evidently my brain was not firing on all cylinders earlier either when I took these because I left out the brown sugar, baking powder and salt.  I am...so ashamed.  Not really.  Moving on!

Cream the butter and sugar.  Add the eggs, mix.  Add the salt and powder, mix. Add vanilla, mix.  Then add the flour and, you guessed it, mix.

Roll out half the dough on parchment in a rectangle, oblong shape thingy.

Spread the butter.

Sprinkle the brown sugar and cinnamon.  Then roll into a log, wrap and refrigerate until ready to bake.

Now I'm ready to bake and here's my cookie log.

I sliced it into about 1/3" slices.  You can see that yummy swirl filling.

They're all on the pan ready to bake at 375º F for 7-9 min.

Ding!  They are golden and still a bit soft.  They didn't come out as "rounded" as I wanted but I think I might have gotten a different result if I'd've baked them right away.  Either way they came out delicious!

I was extremely pleased with the flavors!  You definitely get the "cinnamon roll" flavor!  I did try drizzling a bit of a sugar glaze on a few just to see how it tasted and I wasn't completely sold.  So, I'm gonna wait and ice them with a bit of the cream cheese icing I'm making for the Cinnamon Swirl Cupcakes!  I know they are going to be scrumptious! 

Here's LilaLoa's original recipe and my "cinnamon roll" addition at the bottom.

Vanilla Sugar Cookies (my additions)

1 cup butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon orange (or almond) extract
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
4 (or 4 1/2 cups) flour

Cream butter and sugar together. Add eggs, vanilla, and orange extract. Mix well. Add baking powder and salt and mix again.  Add flour 1 cup at a time. Again, IF YOU ARE GOING TO MAKE THESE COOKIES RIGHT AWAY, add 4 1/2 cups flour and go for it. No need to chill the dough. If you are not going to use the dough immediately-- stop at 4 cups of flour. Roll out half the dough on a lightly floured parchment paper covered surface to 3/8 inch thick. Proceed with Cinnamon Roll Addition below if making Cinnamon Roll cookies. or cut dough into desired shapes and bake as directed. Bake at 375 F for 7 minutes. Eat and enjoy. Repeat as necessary.

** I use butter that is only slightly softened. Mostly because I don't have the foresight to get it out until EXACTLY when I need it. This recipe is perfect for that. Get your butter out first and then gather the rest of your ingredients and you should be good to go.

** You can see that this recipe really is only a variation of the End-All Chocolate recipe. The texture is the same. The sharp edges are the same. The mouth-feel of the cookies is the same. They are just....you know, Chocolate-Free. I hope that's okay.

Cinnamon Roll Addition

4 tablespoons of soften butter, divided

1/2 C packed brown sugar, divided

2 tsp cinnamon, divided

Spread half the butter onto rolled out dough, sprinkle with half the brown sugar and half the cinnamon. Roll up dough starting from the long side. Wrap in plastic wrap until ready to bake or slice and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet right away and bake at 375º F for 7 minutes. Ice with a cream cheese icing or sugar glaze! Enjoy!

As always...be blessed, thanks for reading, and leave some love!

What's new cupcake?

Good morning everyone!

I hope you are all doing well today.  I wanted to touch base with all of my wonderfully supportive fans and let you know to come check out my blog!  I've done some serious updating the past few days and I'd love to hear what you think about what I've added.  There will be more updating over the next week or two and some "pages" are in the in between stages.

I know that I mentioned before that I would be having a website up soon and I promise that is still in the works.  It's just taking a bit longer than I anticipated.  So, until it's up come check out my blog and stay plugged in with what's going on.

Before I leave you here are a couple pictures from the Cook-off I took part in on Fourth of July.  This is the cook-off where I was lucky enough to win 1st place dessert for the second year in a row and let me tell you the competition definitely raised the bar this year!  There were so many wonderful desserts!  We had such a great time...I ate some of the best brisket, fajitas, chicken and ribs around!  For those of you that didn't catch my prize winning recipe from my other post I've included it again...

This is from 2 batches...about 60 cookies.  I use a small ice cream scoop.

Don't they look incredible!  Round and crisp on the outside with a soft chewy center.

My youngest saw them bring out the trophies and demanded that he get one...I told him that you had to cook something to win.  So he said he wanted to cook something! (sigh) I said that if I won he could have my trophy...

Boy was he excited!

Since they were all gone by the time we left I came home and made more!  What goes best with warm chocolate chip cookies?

An ice cold glass of milk, of course!

I've called these cookies many things since I've started making them but whatever you call them they're just as delicious and will be a hit with everyone!  Even those who claim to NOT like chocolate chip cookies!  What?  Yeah.

My Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe (whatever you want to call it)

Cream together:

1 stick butter

1/2 cup Sugar

1/2 cup Light Brown Sugar

1 egg

Then add:

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

Fold in:

12 oz chocolate chips ( you can divide this between whatever chips you like or just add a bit more)

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup of oatmeal

2-3 Tbl of Peanut butter (back off your sugar if you use one high in sugar) 

Bake approximately 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees on an parchment covered baking sheet or until edges brown.  Middle might seem a bit undercooked.  It will firm up after they sit for a few minutes.

Enjoy!

SUCCESS!!

Yay!  Gluten-Free: Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie success!  I've had several people asking about baking breads, cakes and other desserts Gluten-Free.  Well, I tried and tried but never prioritized enough time, or money, to pursue it.  So, two days ago I started buying ingredients for this awesome chocolate chip cookie recipe I found (cuz I'm a sucker for chocolate chip cookies, see my recipe here) and was determined to try it!  I even posted it to FB in case someone could get to it before I did.  As you know by now...I did it!  And they are perfect to satisfy that craving for a chocolate chip cookie!  So, I managed to snap a few shots this evening when I decided to whip them up for my family who was coming over for dinner!  The recipe is simple and straightforward... almost easier than a regular recipe!

If you've tried to bake anything gluten-free OR Vegan you know that the ingredients can be quite pricey and sometimes hard to come by if you don't have a nice grocery store that stocks items for this kind of lifestyle.  Albeit more and more stores are providing a wider selection of these ingredients and prepared foods but it still may be difficult to find that one last elusive ingredient to complete your list.

I only had to make two trips to two different grocery stores to compile the ingredients called for in this particular recipe.  First, I headed to "Wallie-World" for some usual groceries and to start my hunt for items on the list.  I was able to find...
Coconut Oil - $7.32, 14 fl oz (holy moly!)
Dark Brown Sugar - $1.62, 2# bag (of course)... and
Ground Flax Meal by Bobs Red Mill - $3.45, 1# bag (Eh...ok)

Yesterday I headed to my ever trusty, H.E.B. Central Market, in search of the rest of the items on my list, which...I found!
Brown Rice Flour, Bob's - $3.72, 1lb 8oz (breathe)
Sorghum Flour, Bob's - $3.39, 1lb 6oz (suck it up)
Guittard Extra Dark Chocolate Chips - $2.59, 11.5oz (I needed 12oz darnit!)

So, while I was catching my breathe and realizing that I had spent over $22 to make one batch of cookies I had to remind myself that, "I am on a mission", "My readers are depending on me", "This could lead to increased business" and "I'm helping others to live a healthier, happier life!"  Also, I knew that I would get more than one batch out of my ingredients but still there was that initial sticker shock.

Okay!  Enough about details!  Let's get down to business!  Picture time!

Coconut oil is in a semi-solid/soft state until warmed

TADA!

When I first tasted it I tried to pretend that I didn't know it was "different" and honestly I don't think I could tell the difference aside from a slightly and I mean slightly grainy texture.  If you  have a hankering for a chocolate chip cookie this will definitely do the trick!  My awesome hubby even said that he couldn't tell the difference!  And my Vegan SIL was jumping for joy when I told her what they were...she loved them...and so did the rest of my family!

So there you have it!  Another new recipe adventure success story!  If you have a new or different recipe you've tried leave me a comment and let me know about it!  Or if you have a recipe you'd like ME to try email me and I'll do my best to oblige!

As always, drop me a comment, God bless and thanks for stopping by!

Random Randomness

Well, hello everyone!  It's been a while since I've posted.  To be honest I got a bit frustrated with trying to come up with something and then when I did I didn't have the time!  Se la vi!

So, today I'm just going to share a few very random thoughts with you.  And I mean RANDOM folks!  You'll probably be asking, "where did you pull that from?" Wouldn't you like to know.

Anyhow, first I'd like to share a little gem with you that my husband got me hooked on a few months back.  Drum roll please...

COCONUT WATER!!!!

It is pretty amazing stuff, this Coconut water.  Pictured above is the Goya brand, which also happens to be the cheapest at a whopping 17.6 fl oz for $0.97!!!  Yes, folks, you heard that right.  $.97!  There are other good brands line O.N.E. and Vita Coco but they cost at least twice as much for almost half the volume.

...I wonder if Goya will send me free Coconut water for this free marketing I'm giving them?...

Here are a few benefits of consuming Coconut Water-

-Low in Carbs
-99% Fat Free
-Low in sugars
-Contains 15x more potassium than a banana

...and a few more...

Coconut water contains organic compounds possessing healthy growth promoting properties that
have been known to help
1. Keep the body cool and at the proper temperature.
2. Orally re-hydrate your body, it is an all natural isotonic beverage.
3. Carry nutrients and oxygen to cells.
4. Naturally replenish your body's fluids after exercising.
5. Raise your metabolism.
6. Promote weight loss.
7. Boost your immune system.
8. Detoxify and fight viruses.
9. Cleanse your digestive tract.
10. Control diabetes.
11. Aid your body in fighting viruses that cause the flu, herpes, and AIDS.
12. Balance your PH and reduce risk of cancer.
13. Treat kidney and urethral stones.
14. Boost poor circulation.

So drink up everyone!  There is much to be had from Coconut Water!

My next random thought actually ties to my drinking more Coconut water so it's probably not as random as I'd hoped.

I've started "running".  Running being a very loose term as I don't do it as consistently as I'd like but am really trying.

...As you probably know we have 3 dogs, a Miniature Schnauzer, Shadow.  He loves to play soccer and the harmonica.

Demi, our Great Weimer, as we like to call her (she's mixed but shhhh, don't tell her), loves to act silly and play with her bunny.

...and our newest addition to the family, Rachmaninoff or "Rock", a Great Dane who is the still a wee pup at about 11 months.  He loves to take long walks and lounge around.

"What do your dogs have to do with you running?" you may ask.  Well, they help motivate me to run because if I don't get them out at least 3 times a week they start going bonkers on me!  So, about 3 times a week I take Rock and Demi on a 3 miler or so and then when I get back I take shadow out for a few minutes just so he doesn't feel left out.

My husband has signed me up for the Susan G Komen, Race for the Cure tomorrow but since we'll have the boys I'll only be able to do the family K walk.  Oh well, there's always another race.

Okay, if you've read this far, I thank you.  For my final random thought I am choosing cookies!  See how I did that?  From Coconut water to running to cookies!  That's pretty random, huh?  Boom!  That just happened!

So, the other day...Tuesday I think...the cooler weather was really making me feel good and I decided to do some baking!  I've never really been a sugar cookie fan but figured I'd try my hand at decorating a few since I had some leftover icings.

I used the recipe found on this post by Bakeat350.  She's a sugar cookie expert here in The Woodlands so I knew she wouldn't let me down.  I was right!  These cookies came out great!  I already had some pumpkin cookie cutters so I used those and made some circles just to use up the extra dough.  This is what I came up with!  I think they turned out pretty cute, not to mention delicious!

 For the orange icing I had leftover cream cheese icing that I tinted orange.  The I piped Royal icing, tinted green, to make the stem and curly twigs.  The round ones I iced with white royal icing and added the green on top.

I was on such a roll that I decided to make my absolutely scrumptious ChocoPeanutbutter Oatmeal cookies too!

The recipe for these I stole from the back of my Imperial brand Brown Sugar bag then tweeked it to make it good!

ChocoPeanutButter Oatmeal Cookies

Cream together:

1 stick butter

1/4 cup Sugar

1/2 cup Light Brown Sugar

1 egg

Then add:

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

Fold in:

1 package (12 oz) chocolate chips

1 1/3 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup of oatmeal

2 Tbl of Peanut butter

Bake approximately 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees on an parchment covered baking sheet or until edges brown.

Until next time...drink coconut water, go for a run and eat cookies!  Happy Fall ya'll!