Favorite Friday

Happy Friday Peeps!!! I just had to share this fav with you all. I stopped to look at it a few times over the holiday shopping season at my Walmart. They were on an end cap for $15. But I kept telling myself I didn't really need it....but last week I was doing some shopping and I stopped to look at it yet again....and at that exact moment a lady with a scanner gun came over my shoulder and reduced it to $4!! SOLD!!!! I felt like I hit the jackpot.....there were two left and I bought both of them. I gave one to my niece who loves to bake...every girl should have a pretty cake stand. Did you notice? It even turns into a punch bowl too :)



I used it right away when I made T. his birthday cupcakes. And just this past week when I made my all-time favorite Devil Foods cake with Cookies 'n Cream buttercream frosting.....I'm sure it will be a favorite for a long time to come. Have a wonderful weekend everyone....maybe bake a cake????

Baking with Marzipan

I was so excited to bake with my dear friend Marzipanmom last week. I have been obsessing over THIS and don't trust myself to have it actually turn out....so Marzipan was so wonderful to offer to have me come over and watch over me while I tried it myself.



We got things mixed and spinning....



Oh, and a few other sisters came along too.....Joy and Jennifer Juniper shared a cup of tea while I got my lesson.



Check this out! Marzipan has a little scale that makes sure all of the layers are the same size. This totally amazed me!!



Oh, and look how pretty it looks out the kitchen window with the snowflakes gently coming down.



We got them in the oven and they turned out beautifully. I couldn't have been happier.



Then we were off to lunch at a cute little cafe nearby while they cooled. We all had to have the truffle french fries...they were amazing and I can't wait to go back for more :)



Marzipan gave me the buttercream frosting lesson a while ago and I've become quite proficient at it....but she taught me to wrap my cakes in plastic wrap and freeze them before frosting them....this works terrific! No crumbs! And apparently everyone knows the trick of placing a few pieces of wax paper under the cake so you don't get frosting all over your cake stand.



Ta-daa!!! I'm so happy!!!!!! I served it to friends after watching the Steelers beat the the Baltimore Ravens Saturday night......and I've been eating it every day since then. YUM!! Thank you so much again Marzipan! Go Steelers!!!!!!

Favorite Friday

These cutie patooties are my total favorite this Friday!! My SIL got them for me for Christmas...along with the frosty, snowflake winter cupcake candle. The snowmen are actually stackable bowls. Perfect for a little bowl of ice cream. How lucky am I??? They bring a smile to my face everytime I look at them. I hope everyone is bundled up and keeping warm out there....Happy Friday!!!

Snow! Snow!

We've had steady snow here for most of the month of December...but just these past few days it's been really accumulating.



The kiddos had a snow day and Cub got in some snowboarding.



Whoops! I guess I forgot to bring my watering can in at the end of the season :) The treatgirl has been loving the coziness and stillness of the snow....lighting candles, knitting and sipping my coffee watching it come down. Have you been taking a few moments to enjoy it too??

Favorite Friday

I'm keeping the peppermint thing going over here......I know Christmas is over, the traditional season of candy canes and peppermint, but I'm allowed. I bought a box of the Andes candies on our way home from Buffalo last week and just couldn't stop loving them. Then today, when I finally broke down and went grocery shopping...look what I found!!...these cutie patootie Andes Peppermint Crunch baking chips. HOW FUN!!! I'm so excited! I'm just wondering if they'll have them year-round?? Any ideas on how I should use them??????? I know they will make a very special treat. Happy Friday bloggy friends!!

Snowman Tree

I've been kicking this idea around for a while now...and this year I really did it. I know hubs thinks I'm nuts and have waaaaay too many ornaments. But that's the point...at our old house we had a 9 foot tree and I had plenty of room for all of my treasured ornaments. When we moved I had to downsize to a regular 7 1/2 ft. tree. Every year I have to be choosy about which ones I could put on...leaving so many in the box because there wasn't enough room.



Over the past few years I've assessed that I have a looooot of snowmen ornaments, and because I love them all so much I thought I would get them their very own tree. That would free up a lot of space on my main tree, so I can now get all of my ornaments out every year.



My dad and I have an annual tradition of him driving me around the morning after Christmas to hit a few sales really early. Usually he drops me at Target and goes over to Panera to get bagels for everyone for breakfast. Well after Target this year we rode around to try and find a pencil tree on clearance. I scored on one and I was sooo happy! So after I took down all of the Christmas decorations, the very next morning I put up my snowman tree. I loooooooove it!! I always miss the glow of our tree when the holidays are over, so now I will enjoy it longer. What a winter treat!

Here and gone.......

I just can't believe how fast it flew by this year....We sent out cards, made our gingerbread house, watched all of the great christmas movies, went to parties, shopped, wrapped, baked cookies, checked the advent calendar, and visited Santa. Of course we went to church on Christmas eve and as tradtion goes....spent Christmas eve with Chip's family and on Christmas day my dad came to spend the day here.



Santa brought a kindle and Uggs...



Beyblades and toys...



...and a t.v. too...



Every year he brings T. the Guiness Book of World of Records and the Ripley's Believe it or not book that Grampsy reads aallll day loooong cover to cover, and fills us on on the craziest of facts.



Another big hit of the day were the origiami books and paper. Cub folded paper for HOURS!!!!! He is addicted!!!!



Then we packed it all up and and headed to Buffalo. Cub got to try out the snowboard Grampsy got him.



Gracie watched it all from the sofa.



The boys cleared off a bit of the pond to skate, slide and get some fresh air. My sister came to spend some days on her way to Dusseldorf, Germany. We got to visit with Aunts, Uncles and cousins...it was a nice visit. But all too quickly we were on our way home and taking down the tree and decorations.....As always there just wasn't enough time to relax and play a few games.....What were the highlights of your holidays???? Happy New Year to all of you.......and best wishes for a happy and healthy 2011!!