Pink & Gold Hot Air Balloon Party

For years my sister and I have thought it would be really fun to have a "singles shower" - lots of our friends are getting married and it is so fun seeing them get all this new kitchen and home stuff at their showers. We thought, well, why shouldn't single girls get some fun new stuff for their house too? Besides, we love an excuse to have a party. :-)

We never got around to actually doing it, until Tara and Grace started scheming making the party actually happen. They came up with a hot air balloon theme and a pink & gold color scheme, and ran with it! Grace, baker extraordinaire, made adorable hot air balloon cookies, raspberry macarons, and the beautiful gold-painted cake. They created little hot air balloons out of gold paper lanterns with small pink paper boxes hung from them - SO cute! We spent an exhausting evening draping our entire front room in tulle and gold streamers. Some of our lovely single girlfriends came to the party and each brought a fun gift like you might give at a shower, and we had a gift swap. Delicious food and delightful conversation topped off quite the smashing event! :-)

Alas, I was too busy participating to snap any photos during the actual event, but enjoy the photos of everything untouched!

Source Credits:
Cake, cookies, and macarons: Simply Grace
Tulle: Tablecloths Factory
Gold streamers: Shindigz
Gold paper straws: Amazon
Gold paper lanterns: Oriental Trading Co.

Sweet | Snowflake Sugar Cookies

You all have met Grace on this blog before… she's the one who makes you drool around here. Whenever she visits she always brings some kind of delicious concoction; and it's never enough to just be delicious. It has to be ridiculously cute into the bargain.

This time around we got a cookie collection, among which are (er… were. After being photographed the devouring began) these adorable snowflake sugar cookies. Almost too cute to eat (emphasis on "almost"). Thanks, Grace!!! :-)

The Cutest Cupcake

Our friend Grace, whose delightful confections have made it on the blog before, brought these delicious  chocolate raspberry cupcakes with her when she visited and her visit coincided with my Oma's birthday. She had to finish them off here with chocolate ganache and Ghirardelli chunks, and when I saw the mounds of frosting in this particularly adorable and photogenic shade of pink... well, let's just say a photo shoot was inevitable.

And yes... they tasted just as good as they look. I pity all of you that you can only imagine biting into these things. Grace, I think we need to strategically plan your visits around birthdays...

Feasting

Happy Thanksgiving! | Personal

My favorite holiday has arrived! We always say we don't know why we don't cook a turkey more than once a year - it makes the house smell divine. We're feasting on roasted turkey, sweet potato pecan casserole, homemade honey cranberry sauce, beef tenderloin roast for my Opa who hates turkey (more for us!), and that's only our side of it. I'm not sure what my aunt and Oma are making. :-) By the end of the day, I will probably have consumed approximately 6 pounds of butter. And enjoyed every minute of it, thank you very much.

But of course we have to remember... it's not about the food. (Ok, it's partly about the food). Above all, though, it's about being thankful to the Lord for what He has done for us and in us. Warm homes to live in; clothes to wear; air to breathe and lungs with which to do it. Families that love us and for us to love. For saving us from eternity apart from Him. I'm thankful, aren't you?

Probably more pictures to come... here's two from yesterday. :-)

Cranberry sauce pre-apple juice, honey and heat.

I made Pioneer Woman's cinnamon rolls for breakfast yesterday... this was all that was left.

Randomness

I was "putzing" today... (does anyone know if there is a correct spelling for this technically non-existent word?).

This picture is titled, "Oranges." I know, real original, right?

Sorry the blog has been rather quiet; last week we spent almost all our time painting our kitchen, which left me no time to do work for clients, let alone blog! But, that project got finished, just in time for me to get the flu (it seems like every time I come in contact with someone who's had a flu shot, I get sick. Go figure). Thankfully I am feeling better now!

Things should be picking up a bit here in blogland... I'm listening to your votes on the poll and I'm planning to start doing sneak peeks/previews of large shoots. Check back for one coming up soon!

See you soon... enjoy the fall weather!

Jicama Fries

Get the recipe here

I have some fun stuff in the works (thinking about a new blog design...) so stay tuned!

P.S. Samantha is having another lovely jewelry giveaway on her blog Sunshine! Check it out!

Fresh Tomato Mozzarella Salad with Balsamic Reduction

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes

Chocolate Cupcakes...

+ Peanut Butter Frosting...

+ Chocolate Ganache...

+ Mini Peanut Butter Cups...

= either Heaven or a Self-Induced Sugar Coma. Possibly both.

Cupcakes made by Grace, the Baking Queen, for my sister's birthday last month!

Blackberry Cobbler Waffles

My sister had a birthday last month... and this is what we made for breakfast on her birthday. Oh, yes. With ice cream on top. Life is short... eat your waffles with ice cream. Especially if it's your birthday.
Get the recipe at www.howsweeteats.com

Chocolate Peppermint Truffles

It's our yearly winter tradition to make chocolate truffles. We've experimented with different flavors over the years, but our hands-down favorite is peppermint!

Peppermint Chocolate Truffles

1 8-oz.(eight ounce) package cream cheese, softened
3 cups confectioners' sugar,
3 cups semisweet chocolate chips, melted
1 1/2 tsp. pure peppermint extract (or extract of your choice, such as vanilla, orange, almond)
Crushed peppermints for rolling, optional

1. Beat cream cheese until smooth in a large bowl. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar until well blended.
2. Stir in melted chocolate until no streaks remain. Mix in peppermint extract. Refrigerate for about 1 hour. Shape into 1-inch balls and roll in crushed peppermints. Store in parchment-lined candy tins in a cool place. Makes about 60 truffles.

The Granola Recipe

Ashlei requested the recipe for the granola, so here it is for her and anyone else who might like to mix up a batch for themselves. :-)

Vanilla Almond Spice Granola

4 cups uncooked oatmeal
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup honey
1 Tbsp. vanilla
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup raisins

Mix oatmeal and cinnamon. Add honey and vanilla and mix until oatmeal is evenly coated. Stir in almonds and sunflower seeds. Spread in a thin layer on a cookie sheet. Bake at 350ºF for about 10 minutes; stir, and then back another 5-10 minutes. You want the oats to get a nice toasty color but not get burnt (though I've burned it before and it doesn't taste THAT bad :-). Remove the granola from the oven and let cool. Stir in the raisins and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. (We usually eat it up fast enough to just keep it on the shelf, but it will probably last longer if you refrigerate it).
Enjoy!

Vanilla Almond Spice Granola

That's what I made today... it's been a loooong time since I have made granola. Homemade is so much better than the store kind!

It's been a while since I've done any food photography. It was fun... I should do it more often. :-)

Homemade Caramel Frappuccinos...

Remember those cinnamon rolls I posted a while back? Well, this is what we had with them. Milk, sugar, coffee, caramel, ice and homemade whipped cream. It doesn't get much better!

Cinnamon Rolls

We made these wonderful cinnamon rolls with some friends yesterday... they were to die for!

If you are not drooling, you may want to go to the doctor... there might be something wrong with you. :-)

EDIT: I've received a request for the recipe, so here it is! We made all the separate elements (dough, filling and glaze) the night before and then put them together in the morning.

To-Die-For Cinnamon Rolls

Dough:
2 pkg. Yeast
1 cup warm water (105-115 degrees)
2/3 cup sugar + 1 teaspoon of sugar
1 cup warm milk
2/3 cup melted butter
2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, lightly beaten
7 cups flour

Filling:
1 cup melted butter
1 3/4 cups sugar
3 Tablespoons cinnamon
1 1/2 cups walnuts, chopped

Cream Cheese Glaze:
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
2 Tablespoon butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 Tablespoon milk
4 cups confectioners' sugar

For Filling:
Mix all ingredients together. If making ahead of time, refrigerate until needed and then melt before using.
For Glaze:
Mix all ingredients except sugar. Stir in sugar until smooth. If making ahead, refrigerate until needed and let soften before using (you can microwave it gently if you want).
For Dough: 
Place warm water, yeast and 1 teaspoon sugar in a bowl. Let sit so it will get foamy.
In a mixer, mix milk, 2/3 cup sugar, melted butter, and salt. And eggs; stir well. Add yeast mixture. Then add ½ of the flour and mix till smooth. Stir in enough flour to create smooth but slightly sticky dough. Knead. *If you are making this the night before, place in a bowl at this point, cover and refrigerate. Punch the dough down if it rises to the top of the bowl. The next morning continue as follows.* Put dough onto a lightly floured counter and roll dough into a large rectangle. Filling on top and spread evenly. Roll jelly roll style, lengthwise, and cut in to 15 pieces (we got 16 out of this).
Place rolls in two 9x13 pans. Let rise 45 minutes (omit the rising if you followed the instructions for making the night before). Bake for 25 minutes, more or less, until golden brown. Spread with glaze. Enjoy!

Original recipe from Cross Country Bakers.