Roasted Chestnuts

Roasted Chestnuts

Ingredients:

• 1 lb chestnuts

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 385 F(190 C).
2. Clean the chestnuts with the paper towel and then with a knife cut them a little bit on the side.
3. Place them in the oven and bake for about 30 minutes. When they are done take them out and put them in the kitchen towel for about 5 minutes.Peel roasted chestnuts as soon as they are cool enough to handle. Once they cool completely, they are difficult to peel. 

Bon Appétit

Ginger Bread Cookies

Ginger Bread Cookies

Gingerbread Cookies

6 cups all-purpose flour

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1 Tablespoon ground ginger

1Tablespoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 cup butter

1 cup molasses

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1.  In a large bowl, gently stir together flour, baking powder, and all spices. Set aside.

2.  In the bowl of your electric mixer beat butter until smooth.  Add brown sugar, molasses, eggs and vanilla.

3.  Gradually stir in the dry ingredients until they are fully incorporated.

4.  Divide the dough into 3 pieces, and flatten into rounded disk (about 1 1/2 inches thick).  Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

5. When dough has chilled, preheat oven to 350*F.  On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to desired thickness (1/4- 1/2 inch thick).  Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters.  Place cookies at least 1 inch apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  If the dough is too sticky or soft to work with, put it in the refrigerator or freezer for a few minutes to firm up.

6.  Bake for 9-12 minutes (depending on the size of cookies).  Cool slightly on cookie sheet, then move to a cooling rack to cool completely.

7.  Frost with royal icing.

Enjoy! 

Whale Baby Shower

I just love,love how this theme for baby shower came out. One  lovely pregnant lady asked us to do her baby shower and if possible to have under the sea and whale theme. I thought that it's going to be hard to make all this but I guess we pull out , it came out looking better than we expected. She was so happy when she saw this dessert table.

Baked Mac & Cheese

Ingredients

• 1 (8 ounce) package macaroni
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 4 tablespoons flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup cream
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• fresh ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded good quality
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Cook and drain macaroni according to package directions; set aside.
3. In a large saucepan melt butter.
4. Add flour mixed with salt and pepper, using a whisk to stir until well blended.
5. Pour milk and cream in gradually; stirring constantly.
6. Bring to boiling point and boil 2 minutes (stirring constantly).
7. Add the sour cream and continue to cook.
8. Reduce heat and cook (stirring constantly) a few minutes.
9. Add shredded cheddar little by little and simmer an additional 5 minutes, or until cheese melts.
10. Turn off flame.
11. Add macaroni to the saucepan and toss to coat with the cheese sauce.
12. Transfer macaroni to a buttered baking dish.
13. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.
14. Bake 20 minutes until the top is golden brown but reduce the temperature on 380 F.

Enjoy!

Some our new kids cakes

Again we had a few orders in a row of kids birthdays and baby shower so here are some we did. They are just so cute!

Fall wedding

This was our first fall wedding and I love it. This was a wonderful couple. We had a couple that ordered not just the wedding cake but also the grooms cake, well two more cakes. One cake was a truck cake, the second cake was a old feed mill and of course a beautiful wedding cake with gum paste flowers in fall colors. The cakes were covered in fondant. The wedding cake was a cannoli cake and other two cakes were lemon cake with a raspberry fillings.

Teddy Bear Cake

This cake was for the first birthday for one very cute little boy. I really like how this cake came out. The colors were darker but they go very good together.