Birthday Celebrations

With a few birthday's I wanted to recognize, I couldn't decide what to make!! So I made a little bit of everything.....


These cute little penguins were an idea I found here on Glorious Treats blog.
I like bright colors for winter birthdays!
And what says winter more than wanting to get away to the tropics, right? After all, I am about to head in that direction myself!
Happy Birthday to some family and friends in January!

Happy Baking!
Jen

Browine in a Choclate Basket and Crockpot Hot Fudge Cake

Here are a few things I've baked over the past few weeks I wanted to share with you. Both are yummy and did turn out for me!! That's always a bonus in my book.

Did you ever think you could make a cake in the crock pot? Well, neither did I. When I saw this recipe, I was intrigued and had to try it out. Very simple preparation that takes only about 10 min. You put all the ingredients in the crock pot and let it do it's thing for 4 hours. But I was pretty skeptical when it was done because it seemed to be too gooey on the bottom for me. I didn't think I had cooked it long enough. So I tried again and made another batch. Well, that batch turned out the same way. I finally decided it's supposed to be gooey - hence the chocolate fudge name. And that when you cut the cake you flip over the piece so the gooey part is on top. And then it really has hot fudge on it. It is very, very tasty I have to say. But very rich and very gooey! So this little cake will feed a lot of people since they are only going to want small pieces. But I highly recommend it. I found this Hot Fudge Cake from Taste of Home website here.

I ran across these Brownies in a Chocolate Basket from Cake Whiz website here. The chocolate basket was what caught my eye. It looked so simple to do...and it actually was one of those things that was a simple as it looked!
Taking the bottom of a bowl, I wrapped it with parchment paper and then put a bit of shortening on that like the recipe describes. Melted my chocolate and put it in a squeeze bottle and went to town squirting it all over to be a bowl like shape. I was very doubtful while doing this and pleasantly surprised with the results.
It did take a lot of chocolate, so you want to choose your bowl carefully. The first one I did was much too big and used way too much chocolate! The brownie that you can't see inside the basket was pretty good as well. I had planned this for a vegan friends visit one night. A vegan does not eat meat, dairy or eggs. Presents a problem with a brownie you say? Not with this recipe that uses applesauce instead of both of those. Eggs only serve as a leavener in baking so the brownie was just a bit denser than what you might be used to. But this was tasty in my opinion. Something different to try. I actually did like the taste and would make it again!
Off to bake this week for another special occasion!
Happy Baking.
Jen

Girls Night Out

I knew I couldn't go until after our trip without making some sugar cookies.

Did anyone have bets on me?

I made these girly cookies for a special group of ladies. I hope they enjoy them!

I must admit they are not my favorite cookies that I've made. I wasn't copying any designs and more "winging" it. That was my problem. I needed to borrow some ideas from someone!
Nothing says ladies like strawberries and margarita's!

Was trying to be a bit creative and make some cookies that looked like lipstick. Not too pleased with how they turned out and not sure you would know what they were if I didn't tell you. But hey, have to try, right?


Happy Baking.
I do have some cookies planned for next week :)
Another special occasion that I just couldn't miss making cookies for.

Jen

New Year's Eve Dishes

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and rang in the New Year with gusto. I sure did!

I wanted to share 2 things I made for New Year's Eve that turned out very yummy! I've never made bread or rolls from scratch.

When I ran across these 30 minute Rolls, it tempted me to try them. Could it really be this easy? I took a chance and was pleasantly surprised that they were delicious and as easy as the recipe made them look!

I did have to add one cup more of flour than the recipe called for....but once I did that it was great and I could roll them into small balls for baking! These Lasagna Cups were mighty tasty too. The assembly took a bit of time and I was a bit worried about getting them out of the muffin tins once they were cooked. Here they are before baking. And here they are after....once they were cooked in the oven, the noodles held their shape and came out quite nicely.

Another tasty dish!!! I'm going to be taking a break (I think) from cookies for a bit. I need to work on my Shutterfly book and putting all those pictures together for 2011. This takes up a lot of time so I need to sit down and just get it done! So if I force myself to do that and only that with no other projects going on, I might get it done quicker!

And then at the end of January we are going on a week cruise.

So if you don't any new cookies for a month, you won't be surprised!

HAPPY BAKING.

Jen