Tag: Cakes

Christmas Baking Planning

By: Hallee

I have a confession to make: I barely baked last Christmas at all. I did gifts for Scott’s teacher, and that’s about it.
This year, my intention is to do my mammoth baking that I’ve enjoyed in the past. I want to make cookies and candies and breads and just have a blast doing it. But, to incorporate something like that into my schedule, it takes some planning and some time. With just three weeks until Christmas, and only two full weeks of school left, it’s time to get to planning!
I love giving my friends delicious homemade treats as a Christmas gift. I used to do it while I worked full time, and would spend and entire Saturday and most of a Sunday baking and cooking and cleaning and mixing. Over the years, I’ve learned how to space the work out so that it’s not so frantic and exhausting.

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Valentine’s Day Gifts From the Kitchen

By: Hallee

One of the reasons I love Valentine’s Day is because there are so many different from-the-kitchen crafty ideas – easy, inexpensive, fun ways to show someone you love them. You can keep it as simple as some construction paper and paper doilies, or go as extreme as cookie flower bouquets.

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Chocolate Groundhog Day Cupcakes

By: Hallee

These cupcakes were so much fun to make. I just put them together with things I had in my pantry.

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Peanut Butter & Jelly Cake

By: Hallee

I made this cake for Gregg’s birthday this year. I’d made his traditional Red Velvet Cake in the form of a cake roll for him to take to work with him that day, so I thought I’d change things up a bit. This was an amazing flavor – it tasted just like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but in the form of a cake! I did not not take pictures of the process, but it’s very simple.

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Planning for Christmas Baking

By: Hallee

As I write this, it’s December 6th and we have just under three weeks to prepare for our Christmas baking gift giving. This is a tradition my mother taught me, and something I look forward to and plan for every single year.

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Red Velvet Whoopie Pies

By: Hallee

Recently, Gregg suggested a picnic for our date night. I posed the question on my personal Facebook wall and on Hallee the Homemaker’s Facebook as to what would be a good dessert for a night time picnic. A friend on my personal wall immediately came back with “Whoopie Pies.” It was intended to be a clever joke, but I thought it was brilliant. Only, whoopie pies are traditionally chocolate, and Gregg isn’t a huge chocolate fan. So, I thought, “I bet someone has made a red velvet whoopie pie.” A quick search took me to Liz at Hoosier Homemade – a long time resident of my blog roll and the site to which I often turn for cupcake ideas. This recipe was EASY. I adjusted it slightly. The cookies I made were big – this recipe gave me 6 whoopie pies. However, if I were going to make it again (and I will – maybe even today!) – I would cut the size in half to come up with 12 pies. I was working fast to get these in the oven so that they could cool in time to make for our date, so I did not take any pictures of the process.

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Decadent & Creamy Marshmallow Coconut Frosting

By: Hallee

I made this frosting to fill my Red Velvet Whoopie Pies, but it would be an amazing frosting for any kind of cupcake or cake.

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Menu Monday 08 AUG 2011 – First Day of School!

By: Hallee

Here’s the menu for my family for the week of August 8th. As far as desserts go, school starts this week, and Kaylee has requested miniature Cars 2 cakelettes for her first day of school lunch. Her little brother is desperate to make some, and I think that she’s accommodating him. So, we’ll be making some mini-cakes out of Yummy Yellow Cake. I’ll probably also make some Doodleroo’s Snickerdoodles as well.

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Menu Monday 27 JUN 2011 – 9th Anniversary Week

By: Hallee

Here’s the menu for my family for the week of June 27th. Gregg is home (yay!) and Tuesday this week is our 9th wedding anniversary. As such, I’m going to attempt to create a red velvet cheesecake my friend Heather from Out of the Box Into the Kitchen recommended to me. The recipe she gave me called for a Devil’s Food cake mix, so I’m going to try to recreate the recipe real food style. I also found a cookie cutter in the shape of Lightning McQueen, and may make some Traditional Sugar Cookies and let my boys decorate some cookies. We also have a ton of birthday cake left.

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Natalee’s Summertime Strawberry Cupcakes

By: Hallee

I wrote her a few weeks ago and asked her to make me a cupcake worthy of the first day of summer. I have to tell you — this is my new favorite cucpake recipe. I may forever and always do strawberries. YUM. And, the ladybugs just were the perfect touch to these amazing cakes.

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