Ahoy! It's a boy!

For a girl who doesn't have a baby nor likes to shower that much, I sure throw a great baby shower!

My twin sister, Amanda, is pregnant with a baby boy, so we decided on a nautical themed baby shower. Ahoy, it's a boy! I started crafting about a month ago, so that I didn't have to rush through everything. My wonderful neighbor lent me her hot glue gun which i burned my fingers on approximately 67 times. I made an Ahoy it's a boy pennant banner, food table tent cards, a baby shower bingo game, tissue pom pom balls for ceiling hanging, water bottle wraps, and sailboat sugar cookie goodie bags.

My mom, Lisa and Katie helped to overflow the food and desert tables with deliciousness; the highlights being Katie's pasta salad and Mom's meatballs. I have to say the brownies I baked were top notch - gooey and fudgey - definitely a keeper (will post later).

Amanda got a zillion or so presents that she loved. Not surprisingly, I think she already has all the baby clothes washed and put away! Damon was dressed in a nautical outfit, which was probably my favorite part of the entire day. Here's some a link to my BABY SHOWER BINGO document and some photos...

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valentinestastic.

Happy Valentine's Day!

 To celebrate, I baked a super duper batch of sugar cookies. I am always concerned when a recipe has less than half a dozen ingredients. How could something so delicious be so simple? Somehow this simple recipe ended up being a four hour project. Myself and my kitchen are covered head to toe (ceiling to floor) in flour, icing sugar and food coloring, which some (cough, katie) may find concerning, but i like to turn a blind eye to things like that...  I'd say the results are worth it. The cookies turned out adorable.  I tasted them to make sure they weren't poisonous and they are delicious. There's about 4 dozen, so if you'd like a cookie fix, come find me- I'll cookie you. xo shelly. 

 

Spookies!

6:06 AM Sunday morning, pouring rain. Sounds perfect for a sleep in, right? Wrong! Time for breakfast and baking. It's sugar cookie Sunday!

Once I put something on my baking to do list it haunts me and yells at me in my brain until I make it. Some items are on my To Do-one day in the future if I happen to have all the ingredients and a special occasion to fulfill-List and others are on my To Do-as soon as humanly possible as my brain will give me no rest until said recipe adventure has been tested-List. Trust me when I say it's a debilitating character trait. It's 6:30 on Sunday morning and I'm elbow deep in sugar cookies. I'm also face masking. Lucky I don't have a roommate, they would hate me. A white-clay faced, sweat panted baking monster who listens to Norah Jones on repeat for hours on end at the crack of dawn. I'd probably hate them for the very reason that they are not OK with that.

The SPOOKY cookie cutters that sara got me for my birthday after finding out the only shape i had was a circle. For a girl that bakes a lot i have an embarrassingly pitiful collection of cookie cutters. I decided the cookies, being Halloween themed should be called SPOOKIES. Spooky cookies. Get it? I used the sugar cookie recipe off the back of the Wiltons cookie cutter packaging. IMHO (that's geek speak for 'in my humble opinion') any brand recipes result in the best baked goods. Think Rice Krispie squares and Kraft peanut butter cookies, both recipes right off the package make delicious treats. I whipped up a batch and went to the gym then came home and decorated them. Viola! Halloweenified. Spooky right? Distributing to any suckers that'll take em.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! May you rot your teeth with sweets and get your pants scared off you by a horror movie or two.