Champagne Cupcakes ~ gluten free

I made festive gluten free Champagne Cupcakes and a Cranberry Orange Trifle { not pictured } for dessert on Christmas Day. It was a busy morning of baking and unfortunately I did not have time for very many pictures however we liked both the cupcakes and the trifle and I would definitely make them both again with a few modifications to the cupcake recipe and garnishes added to the trifle.   

Have a terrific Tuesday!

SNOW & homemade MARSHMALLOWS

It SNOWED here yesterday afternoon

and what better way to warm up than sitting by the fire with a cute mug filled with hot cocoa and homemade Marshmallows!!

These homemade marshmallows and cocoa were a Christmas gift from a friend. I had never tasted a homemade marshmallow before and I must say they are amazing! So much better than anything I have ever had from the store. I think I will need to try making a batch since these will be gone soon. 

And here's a little oxymoron...

SNOW & Fuchsia's!

Not typically a winter flower so thought it would be fun to get a picture.

We keep watering and they keeping blooming. 

I suppose we should put them in the shed until spring however we are enjoying the little spots of color on the porch along with the Christmas lights.

Have a cozy Monday!

Cranberry Brie Tartlets ~ Christmas 2015

This festive little appetizer turned out a little different than originally planned. After the phyllo shells were baked I intended on filling each cup with a piece of brie and putting them back in the oven to melt the cheese however when I opened the round of Brie it was not at all what I expected. In my rush to pick up a few last minute groceries at the store I obviously did not notice the fine print on the Brie label. It looked very similar to what I always buy but to my surprise I had picked up "spreadable" Brie instead of a regular round. Since I was running out of time and had already made the cranberry topping I decided to try it so I filled the cups and topped each with the cranberry orange sauce. The results were great. They looked and tasted very similar to my original recipe and were so quick and easy I am sure I will make them again. 

Have a beautiful day!

Santa Hat Cake Pops ~ Christmas Eve

My first attempt at 

Cake Pops!

I really wanted to make something fun for Christmas Eve and thought 

Santa Hat Cake Pops 

would be quick and easy

and I'm sure they are for the most part 

although my timing was certainly not the best { very last minute }

however I did get them finished 

just in the 

"Nick" of time! 

Once the cake pops were made I wasn't quite sure how to serve them and because it was  Christmas Eve I had very little time left to get creative on the presentation so the first thing I did was covered each with a very little clear cellophane bag and closed each with a silver twisty tie. I then grabbed a red solo cup, weighted the bottom with a small bag of crushed walnut shells and cut a round of styrofoam to fit in the cup. Once I had the Santa Hats arranged I wrapped cellophane around the cup and tied a red ribbon around it to hold it in place. It worked fine however there is definitely room for improvement. 

Next time I will definitely set aside a little more time for production and most important, make them earlier in December. I think overall with more time and practice the process will become easier, I will gain more confidence in my cake pops skills and the end result will hopefully be a little more polished.

Have a wonderful weekend!

mini Cheesecakes ~ gluten free

On Sunday I prepared an entirely gluten free dinner which was a first for me. 

Our menu included chicken enchiladas, black bean & corn salad, cornbread and for dessert I made these yummy little cheesecakes with gluten free crusts. 

Our gluten free Sunday Supper was easy to make and disappeared so quickly that I did not have a chance to take pictures of anything except the mini cheesecakes before it was all gone. 

Have a beautiful Thursday!

Polly Wolly "doodles".... Christmas

These are my most recent little doodles. 
They are all approximately 6 x 4"
and most were created in the wee hours of the morning
while listening to Christmas music 
{ of course! }

 yourself a 
Merry little Sunday!

Thanksgiving 2015 ~ festive beginnings

Happy { belated } Thanksgiving! 

One thing about Thanksgiving is that the basic menu is always the same, at least at our house. We never divert from the traditional turkey, dressing, potatoes and cranberry sauce however, when it comes to sides and appetizers, there is always room for something new.

The bruschetta was very easy since I made the pear chutney and toasted the bread the day before. On Thanksgiving Day all I had to do was add the cheese and chutney to the toasted bread slices and it was ready to serve. 

I served these adorable cheeseballs with crackers.

A fun and festive way to serve cheese and crackers.

This year I decided to make sorbet. I served it right before dinner as a way to cleanse the palate for the main course.

These Acorn Kisses were so simple to make and disappeared quickly.

Happy Saturday!

Polly Wolly "Doodle"...

...all the day!

from my list of one thousand gifts

:: family time at BBR :: surprise visit :: catching up with friends :: long walks :: mountain air :: neighborhood potluck :: sunday suppers :: new roof "november" :: a few days of sun :: dad & daughter time :: extra special text :: long distance phone calls :: caring, helpful, thoughtful, amazing kids :: solid food :: hot spiced cider :: pumpkin pie :: rain storms :: tea with a friend :: smoothies :: time to sew :: thoughtful friends :: foggy days :: 

Happy Sunday!

Spider Web Cupcakes

I made these fun cupcakes for dessert on Saturday. 

I frosted half the cupcakes with chocolate frosting and made white chocolate spider webs for the tops and for the other half I made buttercream frosting and sprinkled the tops with black and orange jimmies. 

Happy November!

Life starts....in the FALL

Have a beautiful Sunday!

Pumpkin Play Quilt .... making progress

I have been working on this cute little quilt the last couple weeks. The faces are not actually finished yet so the quilt below is how it really looks. I will be using buttons to make the faces but I looked through all of mine and discovered I don't have nearly enough however before I had a chance to go out and buy buttons my mother offered to let me look through her collection...even better! I look forward to creating 5 little pumpkin button faces with her.

In the meantime, I am still looking for fabric for one border. I actually bought all of the fabric for this project in September at the Stitchin' Post in Sisters, Oregon during our family getaway. I had taken my pattern along knowing that we would make a visit{s} to one of our favorite quilt stores. I found lots of great fabric there for my little quilt but had a hard time deciding on one border section and decided to think about it since most of my family was sitting outside on the bench waiting for me. Our intentions were to go into Sisters one more time but unfortunately we didn't make it back and now I am still looking for the border fabric. Maybe I will get out today and search for fabric and hopefully have this finished soon.

Have a Super Saturday!!

J & C's Kitchen Makeover ~ PART 3: DIY custom kitchen cabinets { paint }

All the lower cabinets have been painted!

Next...
construction of drawers, doors and shelves.

Happy Friday!

J & C's Kitchen Makeover ~ PART 2: DIY custom kitchen cabinets { construction }

J & C's custom kitchen cabinets are 

currently under construction.

The interior of the new cabinets will be upgraded. They will feature sliding shelves, soft close doors and easy glide, self closing drawers.

The cabinet that will replaced the island will be approximately the same size but will be moved against the wall which will open up the kitchen and provide more floor space and the ability to add an upper unit for additional storage. 

Next step...Paint!

Have a wonderful day!