Simply Snowflakes!

I LOVE SNOWFLAKES!

I don't know what it is...

But I think they are beautiful.

And I have always been obsessed with their shapes...

And the way the light catches them and sometimes looks iridescent.

I even sit and draw them sometimes.

With my pens...

With sidewalk chalk with the kids...

With crayons...

It's kind of a silly obsession.

But I think they're gorgeous.

Which is why I had so much fun with these cookies.

They're not as beautiful as my other baking buddies' snowflakes.

But it was fun making each one different.

Because that is the beauty of a snowflake...

That each one is different...

No two are created by God alike.

Just like us...

You'll Never Guess What These Are Made Of...Ok, Maybe You Will...GUESS!

Did ya guess?

This recipe is courtesy of my sister Jessica.

I think she may have been afraid to tell us what was in it the first time we tried them.

I think she might have thought we wouldn't eat them if we knew.

Have you guessed?

Well, I promise...it's nothing gross.

Unusual, maybe.

The original name for these, according to my sister was "Zastrow Delights".

"Zastrow" was the last name of some of my brother-in-law's family and they introduced these so the name stuck.

Since no one else knows who they are...

I have been calling them "Peanut Butter Delights", LOL!

I don't share too many recipes on this blog, but thought I'd share this one because they're so yummy and a Christmas time favorite in our house!

1 box of Wheat Thins (YES!  That's right!  Wheat Thins!)

1 jar of peanut butter

1 block of chocolate almond bark

Spread peanut butter on Wheat Thin and "sandwich" it with another.

Do this to the entire box of Wheat Thins, creating little peanut butter sandwiches.

Melt your almond bark in a bowl in the microwave.

Dip each peanut butter sandwich into the melted chocolate and lay on a sheet of wax paper.

I always put these in the frig and chill them.

And that's it!
I hope your family enjoys them as much as we do!

And thanks Jess!

I would like to bless someone with cookies this Christmas! Share your stories!

I have been inspired by the lovely and amazing Flour De Lis.  She is an extremely talented cookie artist.  She has shared in her blog an amazing thing she is doing to spread some Christmas cheer this holiday season. 

I have spoken with her and asked if she minded if I share her idea.  What I would like to do, is "bless" someone in our local southwest Michigan community this season with some holiday cookies.

What I need you to do, is nominate someone you would like to see "blessed" with some holiday cookies!  Maybe you know a family/friend who is struggling?  Possibly an elderly shut-in?  Perhaps a disabled person who cannot bake holiday cookies on their own?  Maybe it's someone who is always doing for others and never makes time for themself?  It does not have to be a single person or family.  It could be a group or organization as well!

If you would like to nominate someone, please e-mail me your story.  The recipients chosen will receive a card with your story of why you think they are so special and why you want to bless them with a platter of cookies!

I will take nominations for the next couple of weeks and then announce the recipients shortly after that.

E-mail your stories to:

mjames72@sbcglobal.net

Because...

We are blessed to be a blessing!

More Ivy Bits!

I had some extra Royal Icing from another project...

And a little buttercream as well...

And a few minis in the freezer...

So I just decided to play...

Er, uh..."practice"...

I love how these turned out.

Someone told me they thought they looked like little tartlets.

I kind of thought they'd be cute for a shower.

Then I moved on to these.

I don't know what look I was going for.

I was just playing and layering.

I thought they were kind of fun.

The next four pictures...the purple and green ones...

I was NOT happy at all with how they turned out.

But I continued to play.

Oh well, at least my kiddos enjoyed them, LOL!

And a few more...

At least they tasted good!

LOL!

Sweet Ivy's FIRST Real Order!

Well, Sweet Ivy had it's first REAL order this past week!

And although it WAS for a family member...they chose me!

The party invitations were in a pink and green polka dot theme, so it was decided the cake would follow that pattern.

I did a devil's food cake with a vanilla filling.

It was frosted with a classic buttercream icing.

All of the polka dots and trim and also the center pink circle were done in fondant.

Cake pops were also requested as favors/thank-yous for the girls at the party to take home the next day.

I did a cherry chip cake.

Dipped it in white chocolate.

I added pink and green sugar sprinkles.

I attached curly ribbons in various shades of green and white.

I also "tagged" them with "Thank-you, Love Raegan" as they were to be given out before each girl left the next day as a favor/thank-you.

The tags followed the same pink/green polka dot theme as the invitations and cake.

I got a nice thank-you card saying everyone loved the cake and cake pops.

I think order number one was a success...and I am exhausted!

Autumn Treats For The Family

I had an order for some cake pops on Friday.

They only needed a dozen, so with so many leftover...I decided to make some cake truffles for the family.

I had used a cherry chip cake and dipped it in white chocolate.

I used some autumn colored sprinkles.

I just love these little "autumn leaf" sprinkles!

I won these from a giveaway along with some cookie cutters and think they're simply adorable.

Along with the cake truffles, I had some leftover melted white chocolate, so I made up some of my husband's new favorite treat.

White chocolate dipped pretzels.

We all love them actually.

The sweet/salty combo just can't be beat!

Ivy Bits

I had baked a bunch of cookies a while back and froze them so that I could pop them out at any time to practice on.

After making all of my son's party cookies I had some extra icing to "play" with as well.

So here I had all these "mini" cookies to practice on.

I think they're so cute, that off the top of my head, I decided from here on out I'll refer to them as "Ivy Bits" rather than minis (b-o-r-i-n-g).

I just played around with some designs.

The one is just random polka dots.

And the other, I was going for a "spiral" look...but my hand was rather unsteady that night and as I told my son, "It looks more like a rose!".

So whatever the case...I just had some fun "playing" with my new "Ivy Bits".