What keeps you going? Peaking into my kitchen

 For all of my adult life, I have been dreaming of my kitchen. I pictured myself in my cute apron, whipping up batches of cookies and sweets for my husband, who comes in with the paper and sits down at the table just as I place the roast ham down next to the yams.

That will never happen.

First, my husband does not read the paper, as he is technologically inclined to download it instead, or check the online headlines.
Next, he hates ham. I love it. He hates it... a dilemma if ever there was one.
Finally, my husband loves to eat on the couch. True story.... no joke. Go figure!

So, now that I have moved into my dream mansion on the lake, and my kitchen is oodles bigger than before, I get to live only parts of my dreams. At least I can share them with hubby.

December always marks baking season for me. Every year I whip up hundreds (no literally, hundreds) of goodies to give away in tins and boxes to family and friends. The way I see it, people spend lots of money and time making dainties for people who drop in for a visit, so wouldn't it be nice to give out some of those dainties and save them time?
No
They eat them,
They eat them as soon as they are given,
And they are happy,
Which is just as good.

This year I had the pleasure of baking goodies with friends and family in my new home. If you did not know, this was the reason I had sparse posts and uninteresting pictures. I recently moved into my newly-built home on the shores of Rainy Lake. It is a gorgeous paradise. And my kitchen is about 5X bigger, without exaggeration from what I had before.

It is so big, in fact, that I was able to have company over for a cookie decorating party (as seen above) which was super fun! I was also able to bake more than one batch of cookies for the dainty boxes, which is amazing! I have never had two batches baking in my double oven while the third batch chilled... HOW MUCH DID THAT BLOW MY MIND?!

Here's my new paradise:

 It is super hard to believe that it is perfect... except for a valance curtain (teal or yellow... I have yet to decide) the place is perfect. I even had a sign made for above the island.
Je suis la propriétaire d'une patisserie!
N'êtes-vous pas exciter? Non... mais, je suis laide.

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So, from my home to yours, Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays.

Teacup cake

I was playing around in the kitchen last night because it was raining all day, and it was cool outside, and I thought I'd make something a little fun. I made, the Teacup cake! Perfect for tea parties!

The idea behind this little dessert is that it is a black-forest cupcake wrapped in white fondant, then, filled with chocolate ganache to give it the appearance of a cup of hot-cocoa in a teacup.

♥♥♥ SO CUTE! ♥♥♥

Hubbie was feeling deprived of sweets, and Black Forest cake is his favorite, so this was a cute and creative way to play.

Recipes used:

Chocolate Cake (for the black-forest base) + cherry pie filling (any will do)
Marshmallow Fondant (for the cup)

DIRECTIONS:
1. Bake your cupcakes in wrappers, remove wrappers when cool.

2. Cut out the center and fill with cherry pie filing.

3.Cut a strip of fondant, let harden slightly, wrap around the cupcake using a little white icing to stick it to the cuppie.

4. Using cooled (not too hot) ganache, fill the 'cup' with a little chocolate so as to cover the top of the cuppie. Add a marshmallow.

5. Using a bit of fondant, make a little handle in the shape of a 'C' and adhere to cupie with a little piping gel.

Voilà!
Serve on a saucer for best effect.