Project 365, Week 6 - Sweets In This Post :)

Hello Sweet Readers,

Here is the latest edition of Project 365. I'm wondering if any of you are doing the project? Let me know if you are, I'd love to follow your journey!


February 8
This day would have been my mom's 67th birthday. We miss her so much. To top off all the grief, my sweet David developed a rash on his face and before we left for our drive back up north, we made a stop at urgent care. Not the best of days, but at least I can say he has healed now. Turns out, he had spread some lotion on his face and pretended to shave with it. Not with a real blade or anything...he just had a reaction to the lotion.

February 9

My sweet friend Peggy brought us some comfort food the day after we got back from the funeral. I was so touched and the pot pie and other goodies was just perfect for us. We all loved it and were so appreciative. We have some really great friends. So blessed...

February 10

I keep driving by this field of weeds just blooming out of control. I had to stop and take some photos of the beauty within the weeds. They all look so grand from a distance. Close-up is pretty nice, too.

February 11

These two pics are of the sunrise this day. It was beautiful.

The following are some flowers in our yard. Spring is springing here. Some plants are trying to go for it. Love these flowers..looking forward to more!

I played with the pic below in Photoshop. I like the moody effect. What do you think?

February 12

This is Jack's cake and cuppies. He opted for a pirate theme. The cake is chocolate layered with vanilla buttercream and drenched in ganache. I hand cut the pirate out of fondant. I used a mold for the chocolate treasure box, but didn't have time to search a million places for chocolate coins and had to go with plastic. The cuppies are red velvet topped with ganache and buttercream. The toppers are candy, but I didn't make them, Michael's did.

February 13

These two photos of are of Jack on his 7th birthday. We had a very fun celebration with some friends at the bowling alley. The kiddos all loved the pirate-themed glow ball. Jack loved all his gifts and was one happy pirate!

February 14


My sweet Valentine. Notice anything peculiar? How about the fact that he has half a beard! He has been growing one for a bit, but it was time to shave it off. The boys like him to do interesting and funny things with it when he does it. So, as a great dad, he obliges. So here is my sweet hunny with half a beard. :) (I am so lucky to have a man who looks gorgeous even with half a beard!)

MSC: S'Mores Cupcakes

Oh boy, sweet readers. I am not quite my baking self these days. I have been having some baking issues that I can't believe aren't related in some degree to my emotional ones these days. My heart just hasn't been in it. Thank you, sweet friends, who have sent along your prayers, condolences and special thoughts. I am blessed by them.

So today is the day we are supposed to post the cupcake for the Martha Stewart Cupcake Club. I'm just squeaking in under the wire...If you have been following me, you know that it's been a tough time, so I wasn't really into it this month. And to top it off, I went to more than three stores to find the "graham" flour that the recipe called for. No go. Whole Foods, Trader Joe's and a Natural Food Co-Op were of no use. They all thought I was nuts, in fact. Oh well. So I went on Martha's site to find a substitute and there really wasn't one for this ingredient in this particular cupcake. So I went with another cupcake recipe she had on her site for the S'mores cupcakes and then did the ganache and marshmallow frosting.


The cake tasted good- great actually, moist and light, but some overflowed (user error..see disclaimer at the top). The ganache was heavenly and the bottom graham and chocolate were a delicious added buttery crunch. The frosting was very sweet, but such a fun presentation! I don't know if I will do these again in this form. I loved the ones I made a couple years ago from the Fields of Cake blog (http://smileyssweetsandcreations.blogspot.com/search?q=another+cupcake+sampling. I'd probably do those over these.


Thanks to Mary Ann from Meet Me in the Kitchen who chose S'more Cupcakes. I had never heard of graham flour and it's always good to learn something new...even if you can't find it!


Check out the MSC Blogroll to see how it turned out for everyone else.

Sweet A

Hello Sweet Readers,

This is my adorable adorable adorable nephew Anthony. And his dad, my brother Mike. They are so cute, huh? Especially little A. Love him so much. He was the light of my momma's life this last year and he just makes us so happy when we see him. Looking forward to getting to know him better in the years to come.

Have a great weekend.

Project 365, Week 5

Hello Sweet Readers,

Thanks for the hugs sent my way. It's been been a rough time and I miss my momma so much. Also, today is my first son, Joshua's birthday. He would have been 11 today. I miss him. I'm not sure what we are like in heaven...but if we are able to recognize our loved ones, I envision my sweet son dancing with my sweet momma today to celebrate their birthdays. I love the picture, and it gives me comfort.

So here is a snapshot of my week. It was a challenge to snap photos, but I'm glad I did.

Feb. 1
These are some of the flowers given to me by my incredible husband. He and the boys met me at the airport with them.

Feb 2
There are two shots. One of the awesome rainbow alone (it was a double rainbow, though it's hard to see) and the other is my sweet son posing in front of it. He ran in to tell me about it and it touched my heart.

Feb 3
I took a shot of a treat stand I made a couple weeks ago. I covered the plate with fabric and glue and attached a candlestick.

The other shot is our luggage for our trip to So Cal for the funeral.

Feb 4
My momma's rings

and

Rick, Tom and the boys

Feb 5
A drawing for me by my youngest son. I was gone all day preparing the house for the funeral and he drew me a rainbow.

Feb 6
This was the day of the funeral.

Feb 7
The boys made an awesome fort in my MIL's backyard and they constructed a little store for us to come shop. These were the beverages.

Project 365, Week 4

Hello Sweet Readers,
I have been away from blogging. It has been a very hard week. I will post today and you may not see me for a bit, but I wanted to check in and post these photos from my Project 365, Week 4. I hope you are well. I hope that you are loving those you love with great passion and commitment and holding nothing back.

January 24: I started the week with a cold. Boo. The picture above shows some of the remedies I tried. Fortunately, it didn't last too long.
January 25 : The rain was here for the beginning part of the week, and we got some patches of sun interspersed in it. Here was some morning relief from the rain. I looked out my kitchen window and saw these little water droplets on our tree. So pretty and delicate.

January 26: Got to try a wonderful soup place called "La Bonne" cafe. This incredible guy owns it who does everything himself. Everything. The line gets to be over an hour long. We got there early and avoided the crowds. I had some nice quiet time with my sweet husband. January 27 : This is a cake I made for a dear friend's 40th birthday party. It was big - a 12 incch square on the bottom and a 10 inch one on top. I wasn't going to finish it on this day, but I got news that my momma was doing poorly, so I finished the cake and got on a plane to go see her.

January 28 : This is my sweetie pie nephew. Yes, totally delicious. He is so stinkin' cute, but he's now at a stage where he won't hold still long enough for me to get my fill of kisses. I just have to keep at it. This is in the backyard of my mom's house and I was taking a few moments away from her side so I could take some photos of this cute face. January 29. A poinsettia flower growing in my mom's front yard. Today I had the wonderful opportunity to hold her hand, pray with her, cherish her and let her know how very much she is loved. And I got to do this with many of my family there doing the same.
January 30. This is mom's sunset. The Lord always ALWAYS speaks to me in a special way through sunsets, sunrises and rainbows. On this day, my sweet momma went to be with Him and he showed me this spectacular sunset. I truly believe that the uniqueness of it was the Lord's way of letting me know she is in His arms, that they both love me beyond measure, and that she is at peace. Can you see the cloud in the middle? And how the sun setting makes it look vertical? And how it almost looks like a cross with the other clouds? Amazing. Just beautiful. He didn't need to show me that, but He did. I miss her terribly. TERRIBLY. But I am happy for her and for her new body, and new home and new peace. She deserves the very best and now she has it. January 31- My flight back to Sacramento. The sunset was very different today. It was hazy and dreary on the ground, but when I got up high, right over Catalina, the horizon was bright and beautiful.

Thanks for letting me share these photos with you ..and a little piece of what I've been going through. God bless.

My beautiful Mom, Valerie Menze - 1943-2010

Creme Brulee Cheesecake

Hello Sweet Readers,

I made this cheesecake a couple weeks ago for a church meeting. Looking back, I can laugh, and I guess I did that night, but I have to say, the recipe failed me on this one! I made it per the instructions (except I threw in some homemade toffee for our pleasure) and it tasted divine, especially that yummy caramel topping. However, when I went to cut the beauty, oh dear. The caramel had solidified and was sooo hard to slice. I had to serve 13 people and they were hungry. I was hungry. So I just gently took off the layer of caramel from most of the cake and served it without it. Too bad. It would have tasted really good with it had it stayed the correct texture. Live and learn, I guess. Next time, I will make the sauce on the side and drizzle it over at serving.

Project 365, Week 3

Hello Sweet Readers! Here is week 3 of my Project 365 postings. Instead of a collage this week, I am posting the photos separately. I have found that I have been taking many more photos each day and it's getting hard to choose which ones to share! Life is pretty amazing when you really stop and take notice. There is so much around me that I have to be thankful for and it's all a reminder of how blessed I am.

The first photo, taken on January 17, 2010 is looking out my bedroom window. It has been dreary and rainy here lately, but in a way, it's pretty, too. The photo was taken close to sunset.
January 18, 2010 - This is out in my side yard. I have never really noticed these berries on this plant before. I guess I never really ventured out in the rain this time of year when they were producing. They are not edible, but they look good. I love the little bit of of sun we got this day.
January 19, 2010- This is a shot I took while waiting for my son to get out of school. It's sometimes a frustrating time of day dealing with all the drivers picking up their kiddos. Some people just don't get the "pull forward" aspect of a line full of cars. It didn't bother me this day since I was busy taking shots and making them all wonder what the heck I was doing! I've never, ever noticed palm trees near the school. I like them in this cold, rainy shot.
January 20, 2010 - We had a little bit of sun and the boys and I saw a full rainbow out our window. Of course I ran to get my camera and something to cover it with since it was raining, but I was able to shoot some fun shots. I had my 50 mm lens on, though, so I could only get a bit of it at a time.
January 21, 2010 - This was my son's 9th birthday. We celebrated last weekend with a huge party, but on his actual birthday, we had dinner at Spaghetti Factory (his choice). This was after some fun at Chuck E. Cheese to celebrate Rhys and Otto's birthday. (Rhys and Otto are are friends and neighbors who share David's same birthday).
Same day. I had to include this one, too. My sweet hubby and I met for coffee and had some prayer time together. See, very blessed.

Again, same day. Sorry, I couldn't choose which to share with you. These two birds (one hummingbird, one finch) were fighting over the feeder.
January 22, 2010 - We have one rose on our miniature rose bush. In the rain, it really stands out. In the photo above, I altered it in photoshop. I like the look, but I also like the one below, which is not altered.

January 23, 2010 - We had the pleasure of meeting up for dinner with some good friends for our wine dinner Saturday night. We meet with this group every couple months and always have such a nice time. Last night was no exception. (I actually didn't take this photo so I could be in it. )

Oh, we did not coordinate our outfits. It just happened to be that two of us gals wore hot pink and two wore gray. Good times.

I'd love to know which is your favorite shot.

Have a great week!

Toblerone Shortbread

Happy Friday, Sweet Readers!

These are some little Toblerone shortbread bars I made last week. They were not as good as I expected them to be. Oh well, you win some, you lose some. At least they look good!

Have a great weekend!

Sweet David

Hello Sweet Readers!

Today is David's birthday. He is 9. Wow. Almost double digits, but not quite! Happy birthday, sweet David!

I love these photos from our little impromptu photo shoot. Last week, after I picked him up from school, we made a run over to Sur La Table. They had a Peet's coffee right next door, so David and I got to enjoy some yummy warmth. These photos are of him thoroughly enjoying his hot chocolate with whipped cream. He is such a willing participant. I love watching him enjoy. Warms my heart.

I just love his smile. I love how he looks with the high contrast look of this photo. One problem is that he looks so much older here..with the brick wall, the jacket, the contrast. Too old! It would be so nice to have them little just a bit longer. But alas, I love him the way he is and and I love who he is becoming. He's a smart, creative, witty, athletic boy who loves the Lord. What more could I ask for? Well, I know I ask for much more certain days, but that is just my human nature. I pray he sees how much I love him each day. And more importantly, how very much he is loved and cherished by the God who created him and knows his inmost thoughts.

Project 365, Week 2

Hello Sweet Readers!
Here is my week 2 of project 365. I have to say, I have been loving doing this. I have been challenged to bring my camera everywhere and it has made me really see all the amazing things around me. This week was a great example.

On the 11th, I documented my baking through the Martha Stewart Cupcake book with many other bloggers. The photo is of the ingredients.
On the 12th, the sun was peeking out a bit and I was trying to capture it behind our hummingbird feeder. And I got a sweet visitor. He seemed slightly annoyed that I was there at one point. I have been playing with some editing software and the photo above is what resulted.
On the 13th, I took an alternate route home from my kid's school and documented some of the farmland nearby. So funny, because we live so close to a relatively big city, but there is still a remnant of what used to be around...
On the 14th, I took some photos of the Death Star topper cake I made for my OS's 9th birthday celebration. Sorry, the photo denotes the 16th. See, I'm still learning.
On the 15th, I had a wonderful trip to Sur La Table to purchase some fun items and new square baking pans.
On the 16th, we began a sleepover birthday celebration for my son and these are some of his guests. They are getting so old..so big..it has gone by fast.

Thanks for letting me share this project with you! I have heard from some of you that you are going to give it a shot, too. Please send me links and let me see what you are shooting. I would really love to see.

Have a fabulous week!

MSC: Coconut Cupcakes

Hello Sweet Readers,
Here is the latest installment for the Martha Stewart Cupcake Club. This month, the cupcake was chosen by Cinema Cupcakes (http://www.cinemacupcakes.blogspot.com/) and it's coconut! I love coconut and I love coconut cupcakes. My usual go to recipe is from the Barefoot Contessa. I have to say, this one is just as good and maybe even a little better. In the photograph above, you can see the ingredients. I doubled them because I made some cupcakes, but I also made some cakes for my son's birthday party coming up tomorrow!
They weren't complicated to make at all. There were a couple little extra steps, though, such as grinding the coconut fine in the food processor. I think this step was very good for the cupcake. It gave it a smoother texture so you don't have to tear through any coconut bits while eating it. And I didn't have to add any artificial coconut flavoring. It's a win-win.

Here are the pretty, perfectly domed cupcakes. I cooked them for just a tad less than the recipe recommends. Now as far as the frosting goes, I went a bit more complicated. The actual recipe in the book calls for seven minute frosting, which is pretty light and airy and not my type of frosting at all. I am one of those sweet, buttery, rich frosting kind of gals. My husband is even more that way. No light frostings over her. The denser and richer, the better.

So I went with the coconut buttercream in the fabulous cookbook "Cakelove". He claims this to be his all time favorite buttercream and I can see why. It's rich, creamy, and decadent! It's base is a pastry cream and it's heaven from there. Granted, it takes many steps and lots of extra time, but it was wayyyy worth it. The only complaint that I got from my husband was that I didn't put on enough frosting!

So here is my final cuppie. I was only frosting one that night (yes, amazingly enough, it was possible!), so I didn't do my usual piping, but I wanted it to look pretty. So I added some toasted coconut and some pretty pink dragees. With Valentines Day coming up, I went with that theme for the photo. I hope you like it...I wish you could taste it. Sooo yummy!