Christmas Memories

My sister asked me what was my fondest memory of Christmas. I knew right away what to tell her. It was when I got my Easy Bake Oven. I was soooo excited!! My mom always made it a point to encourage my "culinary hobbies". She bought me candy and ice cream makers but the one thing that stuck out was my Easy Bake Oven. Every little girl who's ever had one knows exactly what I'm talking about. The ability to bake without having to worry about the oven and stovetops. All you needed was a light bulb!! (haha) I'd make all kinds of random sweets. Brownies, cakes, etc. (and they were good!!) So this is an tribute to all the little girls around the world (some who have grown up into women) and some who are just discovering this wonderful toy. My niece already knows that when she turns 8 years old (she's 5 now) she is getting an Easy Bake Oven. So Happy Holidays to you all. Enjoy family, food and everything sweet!!!

Nutty Buddy

Growing up I was close with all of my siblings. My second oldest brother and I got especially close throughout high school. He drove me to school and looked out for his freshman sister while he was a senior.We were each others buddies. Literally, we came up with the endearing term "buddy" for one another. Even through college (we went to the same one) once again he took care of his freshman sister while he was a big bad senior. lol. Even years later, we still use that term. It's a little nutty but nice. These are my Peanut Buddy Cookies with a little twist. I did a milk chocolate drizzle over them for my chocolate lovers. A great chunky peanut butter cookie any day of the week.

BIRTHDAY SWEETS

My fabulous sister(in-law)recently celebrated her birthday with the family. It was intimate and sweet. I really wanted to create some babycakes that were a reflection of the kind of woman she is. So I came up with my traditional lemon babycakes with lemon buttercream frosting. But I used a flower effect for the design and topped them off with fresh strawberries. She's just that. Always, growing into something beautiful like a flower, bright like the color yellow and sweet like strawberries. I even have some cookies named after her (The Smart Cookie). Since she was birthday girl she had a supersized babycake!!! Enjoy!