Unplanned fun in the kitchen. its called impromptu, right?

Over the past couple of months, I've been playing a bit more in the kitchen at home. I think it's because I'm not getting to play as much as I would like at work but I also blame my new favorite past time.

Pinterest

If you are a member of the Pinterest community, you surely must know how quickly it sucks you and and literally a 5 minute 'peruse' turns into an hour. or more. maybe 2. just two. OK THREE, but THATS IT!
(I don't know if I've ever spent three on there, but I do know I mean to go to bed 'early' and next thing you know....)

There are so many wonderfully creative people in the world. I don't need a website to tell me that, but whenever I check in, I am amazed. Primarily I think, HOW DO THESE PEOPLE LIVE WITH THEIR CREATIVE MINDS?! second, where do they find the time and third, "damn... I wish I was that good...sigh" I especially love the DIY crafty type things because in my own little mind I think I am crafty. Just a tiny bit compared to some of these Martha Stewarts. People also find and 'pin' up these inspirational quotes and motivational pictures. I get down on those too.

But what really gets me are the recipes. Good LORD shut the FRONT door sometimes with these ideas. I drool and think of how I can create some of these things and make them 'my own'. From savory to sweet, quick to 25 step processes, home made from scratch to jazzed up 'box and can' recipes- they all get my attention and I LOVE it. like a love song.

Some ideas are so all consuming I must do them immediately- that's where the 'impromptu' fun comes. Others just sit in the back of my mind and as I'm making lunch for the kids, I'll recall something I saw somewhere.. once... I think... oh yeah, MAYBE PINTEREST? and then I just tweak it a little and there you go.

SO, without further ado, here are some that I would like to contribute and thank Pinterest for....drum roll please!

A "Peanut Butter and Jelly Sammich" in the form of a cookie. Yes I did. And YES, I do sell these on my etsy shop


"Elf Donuts" for Santa's elves on Christmas Eve.




These actually did not come from any sort of Pinterest anything. These are from Exactlywatt. How well does this man KNOW me? He gave me this amazing cookie cutter for Christmas, and all I kept thinking when I opened the package was- gingerbread skeletons?! the options are endless... Halloween! Friday the 13th... and, my favorite idea- wedding favors. For that couple that would rock my socks and would so 'get' the whole "til death do us part". super rad. I'm going to put these up on Etsy too.


Last, my kicked up lunch for the kids. We take our encased meats here very seriously. Hot dogs are a staple menu item and I was looking to bring an unexpected smile to their faces during lunch one day this week. I loved watching them play with their octupi (?) as they bit off one 'tentacle' at a time. It was great!

Anyhow, I can't agree w/ people when they say Pinterest is a waste of time. Because clearly it's inspired me.
I have even done around the house crafty type things- especially w/ Christmas- and it made me happy.

And frankly, that's all a girl can ask for. To be happy, every day.

SO BUY SOME OF MY DAMN COOKIES FROM MY ETSY SITE!
please
www.etsy.com/shop/sweetsandyb

I'll be adding more cookies in the very near future. My mind races daily!

Johnny Cupcakes

Johnny Cupcakes

This caused quite the commotion in my life yesterday.
I'm still tail wagging and purring about it this morning.

Click on the title and check out Johnny's video blog about his stop in Royal Oak at 323 East Gallery. or click this: www.johnnycupcakes.com/blog It's Day 23..

It's about 8 minutes, and while the first 6 minutes are great, the last 2 are dear to me. You can see my container of treats on his podium and then, the last minute.... The last minute is the best. My name sounds so lovely coming from his mouth. Just sayin'

Crazy Town (my life, not the band)

Can't think of where to begin as I have a lot to say/show after this weekend. Here's me jumping in- try to follow:

I want to first show you a tiny bit of what my kitchen looks like after I decorate a cake. This gives me anxiety just looking at it-



and that's not even showing what the other countertops look like or what the sink is filled with. heart palpitations..

So- I delivered the cookies, bread and U of M graduation cake on Friday. Forgot that my cake was also commemorating the fact that our President was going to be delivering the commencement speech at my Alma Mater. Kind of proud.
Well, I had an awesome day on Friday. Overall a great start to my weekend. Met up with some friends, caught up on some girl time- happy girl I was. I went to sleep that night and had a nightmare about that dumb cake though. This is what my life is about now- waking up in a cold sweat about someone hating my cakes.

Saturday- busy BUSY and loo-oooong.
Had another session with Libby set up and had to bake/decorate some things for her to use. This is where my Mom juggling skills come into play- took the kiddies to breakfast, played, baked, decorated, nap, get ready and be on time for Libby. Um, I wasn't on time. Poor thing had to wait while I finished getting dressed.
This is what I wore for our photo shoot-



Her idea was something along the lines of whimsical/bright colors/flowers.. This is the girliest dress I own so it seemed to fit the bill. Can't wait to see how the pictures come out... we drove ALL OVER town and ended up at a cemetery. To take some pictures with these:




Which were the cupcakes that I made for my friends birthday. He had a show that night and I was going to go deliver them, after the photo shoot... Down in the D. And also somehow go to a meet and greet for someone called Johnny Cupcakes :)

If I could clone myself I think I would. OK- Libby is quick and efficient (I however am not) and she made quick work out of me and the goodies. I changed into my David Seibei shirt that arrived just in the nick of time and high tailed it out of Dodge to get to the next part of my day.

SO... I could go on about Johnny. I would if any of you care to know- but it involves about 4-5 hours of standing in line, driving to the Magic Stick TWICE, handing out cookies, making small talk, running into old friends... yeah, nevermind. Too much to say. It was exhausting but great. Here I am w/ Johnny:



yes, he is holding up a container of my cookies. Which he claimed he loved. I believe him ;)

And here is what Just Baked made for his appearance:




By the time I got inside the gallery to get to the cupcakes I was starving. My stomach was eating itself. I inhaled the cupcake and can't even begin to comment on what it tasted like. It wasn't awful, and that's about all I can give you. I did get a menu from their store and sweet Jesus are they pricey. $2.95 PER cupcake. They have four locations so clearly most people don't think that's too much. For.One.CUPCAKE. Maybe they are flecked with gold?

Alright, so I get my shirts, I ate the cupcake, I got my poster signed and I limp out of there. Wearing 4 inch wedges for 5 hours of standing in the same spot (for the most part) did a number on my soles and my wonky knees. I hobbled to my car and got myself into some more shenanigans....

I'm exhausted just reflecting on the weekend. But, yesterday I got this lovely picture on my phone:


I wish more people sent me pictures of them w/ their cakes. Even though it's not a picture of my friend eating the cupcakes, I like that the candles are all lit up and I know that people who love him are all standing with him at that moment. And my cupcakes were a part of it. I LOVE that....

I need a day off from the weekend. But you know I'm at work. Working.

All in a days work...

Saturday a.m. I turned the oven on, oh, around 8:30 a.m. It didn't get shut off until about 7 p.m.... It was one of those days.

I was running out of cake and I have two cakes to deliver this week so I figured I'd get those going. And I also had some requests for cookies, so I figured I'll just do it today- you know, get some dough made, whip up a few cakes. Well, a few turned into THIRTEEN, six batches of cookie dough, one tray of chocolate chip cookie dough brownies and a loaf of banana bread.
I'm now wondering about my sanity...

Friday night was a good night at home w/ the kiddies- we had a chill dinner, watched some Yo Gabba Gabba and bed time was pretty easy. Played some Rock Band and avoided blisters (thank GOD!) and went to sleep at a fairly reasonable time. I woke up on Saturday a.m. to find my little #1 fast asleep next to me in bed. It melted this mama's heart. He looks so sweet when he sleeps, so calm and quiet... the calm before the storm. I cherish his sleeping moments when he is still my sweet little baby boy. :)

but then he wakes up and the chaos ensues! He is ALL boy and I love it... He even helped me mix some cookie dough! mostly because he wanted to eat the dough, but still!
SO- the six batches of dough ready for the fridge for a cool down....



Mooch decides to get in on the kitchen action and wants to help me by cleaning out the tupperware drawer...


and leaves this in her wake....


Time to go outside I think! I put the banana bread in the oven and we went for a bike ride/walk. #1 has a Like-A-Bike and he is amazing on it. Have you heard of these before?? They rock! Balance bikes are such a neat idea and I love that he gets to zoom around on it like a 'big boy' and also prepares for other activities that require a lot of balance- i.e. skateboarding, snowboarding! :)


We come back, eat some lunch, and take naps. Let me clarify, MOOCH took a nap. #1 negotiated his way OUT of a nap and I therefore didn't get much cake baking done. But, we managed... and somehow ended up with THIS:



and then, after a good chill in the fridge I baked all six batches of cookies. I found boxes to ship them in and wrapped them up... Here they are ready to go



These cookies are making their way to California, Georgia and various places in Michigan. the thought makes me smile, but I'm nervous about how well they will travel. I hope they taste delicious upon arrival, as good as they do now... I hope to get feedback from the recipients..
AND, hey- if you didn't get a sample of Sweet Sandy B goodness, it's not too late! Send me an email and I'll see what I can do..

I won't be baking much this week- I have a really REALLY big day tomorrow and then I'm going to be in class for work the rest of the week.
If you get a chance, keep me in your thoughts. Tomorrow, the rest of my life changes.

back to the basics

I didn't really have anything to bake in the cake or cupcake department, so I was open to suggestions tonight. Chocolate chip cookies were shot called and I haven't made any in over a month now! That's a really long time for me- I usually keep some readily available at all times.
Here is what I came up with... and had some mishaps along the way-
which NEVER happens. I have this recipe down... but a month really was long enough to get me out of practice. I'll explain below....





I've taken years and countless BAD batches of cookies to come up with this recipe. Over the last 8 months I finally FINALLY got it right. I didn't adhere to ONE major step and that is to refrigerate the dough before scooping it. so the cookies spread way too much while baking (I didn't include a picture of those because it was shameful). I tried to adjust the butter content, then the egg content, then the buttermilk content... sigh, all to no avail. Seriously, it was because I didn't refrigerate the dough! My recipe is pretty secretive at this point so don't even bother asking. All's I'm saying is that there are some pretty strict steps to making this cookie and if you skip out on one or half a** it, they won't turn out the same. Period.

My little seed

Chocolate Chip Cookies.....

Hands down, my favorite thing to make. Mostly because I think they are delicious and it took me forever to come up with the recipe... with my 'secret' ingredient.

Last year, I think I made them at least every other week... I fell in love with them more because I knew other people were enjoying them immensely. Or so they said! :)

These chocolate chip cookies are ultimately the seed of my dream. Maybe that could be the next tattoo... speaking of which I haven't heard back from J.D.....