Merry Christmas!

Wishing you a very merry Christmas!

Festive & Delicious Anytime!

My New Favorite Cookie!

Apricot shortbread with white chocolate & pistachios.

I definitely had these for dinner tonight.☺

Holiday Baking

Thank you for all the Thanksgiving orders (& for the pre-Christmas orders too!!)!!!

Here's the first order to go out: Cranberry Bliss Bars. Love these!
By the way, I made a double batch. One for my friend Lin & one for my family. ☺

What's on today's menu?

Refrigerator pinwheel cookies & mini pumpkin doughnut muffins. ☺ The kitchen smells extra good today!

Baking, Baking, Baking!

What am I baking this week? Take a look!

Oatmeal cookies with dried cranberries & white chocolate.

Scones (of course!).
Cranberry orange this week.

 It's no secret that I love WSU (Go Cougs!) & Cougar Gold Cheese.

Freshly openend can of Cougar Gold.

I tried my hand at making cheese crackers last night.

Snuggle time with Remy while the cracker dough chilled.

They were delicious!

A Sad Farewell & a Heartfelt Thank You

A friend of mine had to put her sweet Westie to sleep on Tuesday. The poor dog had been battling a serious disease for the last year & a half. My friend wanted to thank the kind veterninary staff with some treats and asked me to make something for them.

 I made two batches of my white chocolate bark & wrapped them in fall & paw print ribbon; I also baked a loaf of banana-nutmeg bread as well.

Rest in peace sweet Mac. You were a loved pooch!

Candy!

White Chocolate Bark

I love the fall colors in this candy.

Party favors

...(or in this case...something to munch on while watching the WSU-OSU game tonight).

Go Cougs!

Let's Talk Sugar!

Turbinado (aka raw sugar) & pearl sugar to be exact. I love to sprinkle one or the other top of certain baked goods. The sugars deliver a nice crunchy topping & a hint of sweetness. I like the final touch the sugars lend to my breads, cookies, muffins & scones.

On a personal note, I tend to prefer the raw sugar and use it 80% of the time. I really like how the sugar 'sparkles' on top of my desserts.

Sugar in the Raw brand.
Found at most grocery stores. It's around $3.50 for a 24 oz bag.

Lars brand Pearl sugar.
The only place I could find the pearl sugar in our area was at IKEA.
$4.00 for a 10 oz box. 

Scones!

How do you pronounce the word? Growing up with a Scottish mom, our family rhymed the word with  'on' not 'bone.'

I've always found it funny when I order a pumpkin scone from Starbucks and the barista corrects me. You mean scone (rhyming it with bone.). Yes, that's what I meant! ☺

Scones are one of my favorite things to bake.  I bake them at least once a week. We love to eat them not only for breakfast, but for dessert too.

pumpkin scones

cranberry orange scones

vanilla bean with pearl sugar

lemon

The Start of Something New!

I love to bake and that's no secret! I have to bake something several times a week, or I go stir crazy.  I'm starting up a small home-based baking business. If you would like me to bake something for you & deliver it to your door, give me a call or send me an email. I am excited to bake for you!