Thursday, December 18, 2008

OBG: Round 5 Roundup

Here is our Operation: Baking Gals
Team Ugly AngelRound 5 Roundup

Jennifer ~ Alaska
Ginger Cookies w/ Lime Glaze
Sugar Cookies
Seasoned Oyster Crackers + TONS of extras
including some holiday decorations!!!



Anna S.
Oatmeal Molasses Chocolate Chip Bars

Julie S. ~ Hawaii
Black Forest Crinkle Cookies with Cherries plus lots of extra goodies!

Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Still Sick...

Ugh...still sick here. It's been over a week. Never have I been so run down and blah feeling. I'm going to the doctor tomorrow, so hopefully I'll find out what's going on with me. We are flying back home in a couple days for Christmas, so I hope to be on the mend by then... I hate flying enough as it is, so flying when I feel like this will totally suck.

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

TWD - Down in the Dumps

I've let you all down again this week. After a crazy last week of baking for our squadron Christmas Party, and two birthday parties in one weekend, one being my own baby girls', I am exhausted!!!

I think my body is giving up on me and sending very obvious hints that it's time for a few days off. I still need to bake for my Operation Baking Gals Marine and get his package sent off. At least I have until the 18th for that.

I was supposed to go to our Officer Spouses Christmas Coffee tonight, but my husband is flying late, and left me at home with the three kiddos. So, with early bedtimes, taking them along with me was pretty much out of the question. It would have been a lost cause. I was really looking forward to the ornament exchange, goodie raffles, ugly christmas sweaters we all were to wear, and just getting out and being with the gals.

I haven't done much Christmas shopping, and we are flying home at the end of next week to be with family. I need this time to relax and recover. This holiday season has really snuck up on me! I plan to take a nice hot shower, and then relax in bed and browse all the TWDers blogs. I can't wait to see all the pretty sugar cookies!

*Besides, I have my own sugar cookie recipe I have to stay loyal to!

Monday, December 8, 2008

Birthdays Galore!

My baby girl turned 1 year old yesterday. We had some friends over for a "Ladybug" party! Instead of making a big birthday cake, I made ladybug cupcakes.

And for the birthday girl, I made a #1 ladybug themed smash cake!
Aren't smash cakes fun?
I even wrapped up some of my yummy sugar cookies shaped as ladybugs for guest favors!
One other thing I made, was the cake balls. I had so much cake scraps from all the baking I've done this past week, that it was time for some cake balls. So I poured some Amaretto coffee creamer in a bowl of cake scraps, scooped them into balls and froze them. Dipped them in red chocolate, then sprinkled them with mini chocolate chips. They somewhat resembled ladybugs, or atleast carried out the theme! They sure didn't last long!

The day before, I made another Mickey Mouse Clubhouse cake for a friend's son's birthday. He is turning 2! I made a matching #2 smash cake for him, but have lost that picture?!

UPDATE: PICTURES FOUND!!!

Friday, December 5, 2008

Squadron Christmas Party Cakes

Our squadron is having a big Christmas party today for all the Marines and their families. I helped coordinate the door prizes and the cake walk, so here are the cakes I made for that. Several other spouses are bringing cakes...I can't wait to see them all! I had fun decorating....I got to use some pans I haven't used yet.

3D Snowman
(I found a clear plastic tube container to box him up, and used a small wooden dowel through the lid to hold it in place for transport)


Christmas Tree

Santa

6 inch round Holly Cake


And 3 containers of cupcakes!

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Yikes! Is it Tuesday already?!

Sorry TWD-ers, this week really got away from me. I would have loved to try these yummy looking cookies out, but I have a big week ahead of me!

Stay tuned for tons of Christmas Cakes I'll be baking for our squadron christmas party, and a couple birthday party treats! My daughter is turning 1, and I have big plans for this weekend!!!

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Operation: Baking GALS, Team Ugly Angel Round 5


Operation: Baking GALS (Give a Little Support) is a blog group that teams up to mail home baked goodies to our troops each month.

My team, TEAM UGLY ANGEL, hosted a Marine last round and had a fabulous turnout! This round, I have another Marine who is also a very good friend of ours.

Captain Tom GibbonsCapt. Gibbons is on the far right

Tom is currently stationed at Al Asad, Iraq. He's a CH-53D helicopter pilot with HMH-363, the Red Lions. Their mission is to transport "beans, bullets & bandaids" to the surrounding military bases in Iraq.

Tom is getting close to completing his 7 month deployment, and should be home in January. During his deployment, he missed the birth of his first child. Little Tommy Jr. Luckily, he was able to see him soon after he was born via web cam. His new wife and baby are back home with her family until Tom returns home.

If you would like to join Team Ugly Angel and send some goodies to Captain Gibbons, go to the Baking GALS website, register, and then click on Join a Round 5 Team, scroll down to Team Ugly Angel, and join us! There are lots of tips on the FAQ page, so take the time to look around the website.

Once you join the team, I will send out the mailing info and any additional supplies or requests that Captain Gibbons has.

We are shipping packages between December 5th-18th, so that the packages will arrive before Christmas.

I know December is a busy time for all of us, but let's remember the troops in Iraq who have to spend the holidays away from their loved ones. Let's help make this holiday extra special for them by baking special holiday treats!

Thursday, November 27, 2008

TWD: Baking, Baking & Baking

So I held out on making Tuesdays With Dorie this week until closer to the big day. A bunch my friends in our squadron are getting together this holiday, and having a big potluck of Thanksgiving feasting!

This week's recipe was chosen by
Vibi of La Casserole Carree.

Thanksgiving Twofer Pie
It's a cross between Pumpkin and Pecan Pie

I remember growing up how much my dad LOVED pecan pie. I just couldn't stand it! I thought it was too rich and just.... bluck! But now, I think I've kind of grown to like it. It's definitely not my favorite, but I'll eat it.

My 4 year old, as you know by now, loves to help me in the kitchen, so he was very excited to help me make some pies. I don't do pies much, so this was his first experience with that!

He was quite an expert at designing the crust edge! Not even letting me help him!

I partially cooked the crust, but didn't get the crust completely covered with the foil. The edges got a bit browner than I wanted.

It was fun to pour all the different layers in the pie. I was worried it all wouldn't fit! But it did!


And here is the final product! I snuck a little sliver to try it out! I am thinking I'll need a bigger slice this afternoon after the big Thanksgiving feast to decide it I really like it...however, I could taste the pecan pie part instantly, and then right at the end, you get that burst of pumpkin flavor! Both I love very much!
Notice my crust edges are pretty much burnt! Argh!

I decided that just in case this pie wasn't a big hit, I'd bring back up...
Besides, what is Thanksgiving without Pumpkin Pie?

The spouses are also baking/cooking some food for the single marines living in the barracks, so I baked up some cookies from some dough I had leftover from yesterday. I pulled out some cupcakes from the freezer and frosted those up, and then made little mini pumpkin pies from the extra pumpkin pie filling and pie crust.
I have two pans full of the goodies my husband will deliver this morning. I hope they enjoy them!

As I'm posting this, I'm waiting for my potato rolls to rise so I can start baking those up! These always go fast, and I am wishing I would have made a double batch... oh well, hopefully 4+ dozen will be enough!!!

Then, I think I'm going to make up some mashed potatoes to take along as well. Then, I'm done. Then the rest of the morning I'll just be running around getting things loaded up, kids bathed and ready, and oh yes, try to get myself made up too, if I have time! Oh, a mother's work is never done!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

A Simple Carrot Cake

I had a last minute order for a carrot cake for Thanksgiving!
They wanted it simple...so here it is!
Yum, I love cream cheese frosting!

Here is the simple recipe I use:

8 oz. cold cream cheese
5 T softened butter
2 tsp. vanilla
2+ cups of powdered sugar
(depending on the desired consistency)

Fall Treats

A friend of mine has family flying in for Thanksgiving, so she asked me to make her some goodies! Here is a fall birthday cake I made for "grandma" who gets to see her little grandson for the first time!
I also made 2 fall leaf cookie bouquets.


Happy Thanksgiving!

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Shaka Cake & Frog Cake

My fellow squadron spouses get together every other Thursday for playgroup with our little ones. They are all turning a year old- one month apart, spanning across about 5 months!

Here is a frog came I did for one of the little guys in our playgroup!

Happy 1st Birthday Richie!






And you can't have a first birthday without the #1 smash cake!


Here is a "shaka" cake I made for a friend's husband! Living in Hawaii, we had to have a little fun with this one!