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!