A Thanksgiving Idea for Next Year

At Thanksgiving this year, I volunteered to bring the dessert. Seems natural, right? Well, my desserts (I'll post the recipes I used later this week) were trumped by these super-cute treats Taylor brought:


(Please forgive the poor quality of these photos...all I had available to take the pictures with was an iphone...)

These pilgrim's hats are easy to make and perfect for a family project! According to Taylor, here's how you make them:

1. Melt semisweet chocolate chips in the microwave or on the stovetop, being careful not to burn the chocolate.
2. Place one large marshmallow on a skewer. Dip the marshmallow into the chocolate, coating the top and sides completely.
3. Thread the skewer through the center of an upside-down Fudge Stripe cookie until the marshmallow is sitting right on top of the cookie. Remove the skewer.
4. Set aside until the chocolate has solidified again.
5. Draw the buckle on the hat with yellow icing.

These cookies were adorable and delicious! I mean, who doesn't love Fudge Strip cookies, marshmallows, and chocolate?! Great job, Taylor!

Cyber Monday - Cupcake Earrings Giveaway!

I would say that this giveaway is to celebrate Cyber Monday and the official start of holiday shopping...but that'd be a lie. I'm a horrible liar so you'd see right through it anyway. If truth be told, I just love giveaways!

So what is the giveaway this week? Kelly, owner of the egyptianruin Etsy shop, is giving away a pair of design-it-yourself cupcake earrings! The winner will get to choose the flavor of both the cupcake and the topping, and all earrings come on sterling silver fish hooks.

Here are some cupcakes she's done for a former client:

If you ask me, they're the perfect size! They're dime-sized so they're not huge and bulky - they're cute like cupcakes should be!

Kelly also sells these adorable cupcake gift boxes...

...and these pie slice earrings (Love them!)...

...and waffle jewelry. This one makes me want to have waffles for dinner tonight!

Orders placed by December 15th within the U.S. will arrive by Christmas so hurry over to her shop now! And the icing on the cake? If you spend $30 or more before December 24th, she'll send you a hand-painted gift box for FREE!

Just had to throw these into the mix. Does anyone recognize the Xbox controller or am I the only gaming nerd here? *wink*

For a chance to win, visit egyptianruin. Then come back here and leave a comment about your favorite item.

Extra entries:
1 entry - Be a Cake Walk follower.
1 entry - Subscribe to Cake Walk's RSS feed.
1 entry - Add the Cake Walk button to your blog.
1 entry - Leave a comment with what colors you'd choose if you won the cupcake earrings.
1 entry - Subscribe to egyptianruin's RSS feed.
1 entry - Follow egyptianruin on Deviant Art.
3 entries - Make a post about this contest on your own blog.
5 entries - Make a purchase from egyptianruin (come back here and leave 5 comments to get credit).

Leave one comment per entry please. The giveaway will end December 4th at midnight eastern time. Good luck!

Dog Treats and Cupcake Pendant Winners!

Thank you all for entering the giveaways this week! The winners were chosen using random.org and are as follows:

MyPooperScooper Dog Treats:

Comment #31

Lisa said...

I follow your blog.

StoryBird Designs Cupcake Scrabble Pendant:

Comment #69

Melissa said...

I love the "Scrabble Tile Pendant Necklace -- Brown Bird Heart 20"

And a special thanks to MyPooperScooper and Storybird Designs for sponsoring the giveaways!

Funky Friday Finds - 11/27/09

It's Black Friday! I'm not a crowd-fighter or someone who camps out overnight to get that must-have item, but I still want to get great deals! Luckily, you can find some really amazing sales online this year!

I'm making it my personal quest to find some really unique, fun stocking stuffers for my family, and I'll post some ideas for you too! I found all of today's Funky Friday Finds on perpetualkid.com.

Do you know a fan of "A Christmas Story"? You don't have to get him a Red Ryder BB Gun! "You'll shoot your eye out!" Nah, that's no good. "Fuuuuuu...dge"...what to get him? How 'bout a leg lamp?!



At perpetualkid.com, they have leg lamp votive burners, night lights, yard decorations, and string lights that range from $9.99 to $79.99 so they're perfect for any budget!

For the American Idol Wanna Be on your gift list, consider this Mic Sponge so he can sing his heart out in the shower!

There's something comforting about cinnamon rolls fresh from the oven, and now Pillsbury has packaged that comfort into lip balm! Perfect for a bleary, cold, winter day!


Speaking of food...tomorrow is the highly anticipated Florida State University-University of Florida football game! Go Noles! No tailgate is complete without hot dogs...and the perfect gift for the ultimate tailgator is...

...hot dog SOAP! In fact, perpetualkid.com has quite a selection of novelty soaps - double stack blueberry pancakes, a lump of coal, a cupcake, a chocolate doughnut, bacon, eggnog, and many more!

And here's something that every baker needs on-hand:


How many times have you been in your kitchen baking and someone swipes his finger through the batter? Well, now you can hand him a "Batter Finger" instead! At only $7.99, you can have a bunch of them ready for all the wandering fingers in your family!

Dog Treat Giveaway!

The second giveaway for this week comes from MyPooperScooper on ETSY. Owner of MyPooperScooper, Danielle, offers dog treats, biscuits, dog soaps, shampoos, handmade fleece toys and other accessories. She says...

Our primary goal is to provide dogs and puppies, and their owners, with an all natural, tasty and healthy treat at a reasonable cost, as an alternative to mass produced, store bought treats. We add only the finest and freshest, all natural ingredients. We use wholesome grains, USDA chicken, ground sirloin beef, fresh fruits and vegetables, along with other natural, healthy herbs and ingredients.

When you receive a bag of treats from us, you can be assured those treats contain lots of meat, lots of vegetables and fruits, adding delicious taste to them, unlike lot of store bought treats, made with tons of flour and broth, and harsh preservatives.

Danielle sent me a sample of her Pooper Scooper Dog Treats to try out on my puppy Nani. Just after reading the ingredients list (goat's milk, chicken broth, cheese, ground sirloin beef, beef liver, olive oil, bacon, bacon fat, white and brown rice flour, organic oat flour, granola, white corn meal, cranberries, sea salt, black sesame seeds), I knew Nani would be hooked. But, man, I had no idea how hooked she would be!

I put the treat in the yard to see if she could find it...it really looks like poop, doesn't it!? hehe!

"La la la...oh! What's this?"

"No, seriously, what is this???"

...And then she snatched it and ran into the bushes. I guess she was afraid I'd take it away from her (as I so often do when she finds dead animals or random scraps of food on the ground).

She wouldn't come out until there was no evidence left...

I finally lured her out with another treat, and this time she ate it right in front of me so I could get some great pictures!

After she finished the second one, she stood with her nose to the ground for what seemed like forever, checking for any remaining crumbs. Then she bounced around (literally) for the next 30 minutes looking for another one! She loves these things!

For a chance to win, visit MyPooperScooper. Then, come back here and leave a comment about your favorite item.

Here are ways to get extra entries:
1 entry - Be a Cake Walk follower.
1 entry - Subscribe to Cake Walk's RSS feed.
1 entry - Add the Cake Walk button to your blog.
1 entry - Subscribe to MyPooperScooper's RSS feed.
3 entries - Make a post about this contest on your own blog.
5 entries - Make a purchase from MyPooperScopper (come back here and leave 5 comments to get credit).

Leave one comment per entry please. The giveaway will end November 27th at midnight eastern time.

And don't forget to enter to win the other giveaway this week: A Cupcake Scrabble Pendant!

Cupcake Pendant Giveaway!

This week, I have 2 - yes 2 - awesome giveaways for you! Let's just call it a celebration of my doctoral defense! If all goes well on Monday morning, you can all start calling me Dr. Judge. Just teasing - you can call me whatever you want. After all, my dad still calls me Smelly and Booger. But doesn't the name Dr. Judge rock?! Even now, people think I'm judging a competition when I wear a name tag at events....now they won't know what to think! *smiling devilishly*

Thank you to everyone who has sent such encouraging emails for my defense. You know who you are, and I really appreciate the positive thoughts!

And now on to the first giveaway!

Storybird Designs on ETSY makes handmade glass and scrabble tile pendants. They're gorgeous! They have tons of designs and are currently running a buy 3, get one FREE special!

Here are a few that caught my eye:


If you're new to this blog, the Wizard of Oz is my favorite movie! "Somewhere over the rainbow...."


Here's a great one for all the Twilight fans out there! Be sure to check out her other Twilight designs too.

Super cute! This one makes me happy!

This is an example of one of Storybird's glass pendants. Beautiful, isn't it?

And this one is perfect for the holiday season! So pretty!

And just for you guys & gals, Storybird is giving away one cupcake pendant! Check it out:

Don't you just love it?! And they've opened up the giveaway to EVERYONE - they can ship to wherever you call home on this big blue Earth!

For a chance to win, visit StoryBird Designs. Then, come back here and leave a comment about your favorite item.

Here are ways to get extra entries:
1 entry - Be a Cake Walk follower.
1 entry - Subscribe to Cake Walk's RSS feed.
1 entry - Add the Cake Walk button to your blog.
1 entry - Subscribe to Storybird's RSS feed.
1 entry - Follow Storybird on twitter.
3 entries - Make a post about this contest on your own blog.
5 entries - Make a purchase from Storybird Designs (come back here and leave 5 comments to get credit).

Leave one comment per entry please. The giveaway will end November 27th at midnight eastern time. Good luck!

While you're here, enter the second giveaway for this week for some incredibly yummy dog treats (at least that's what my dog thinks).

Cake Slice Postcard Winner and Upcomig Giveaways!

Congratulations to Leona for winning the cake slice postcard from TangBaby! As usual, the winner was chosen using www.random.org. Thank you all for entering.

Next week, I have 2 great giveaways lined up! You'll love them!

Get Your Cookie On

After Ben & Shelby's wedding this weekend, Adam & I rushed home so I could make 80 cookies for another rehearsal dinner this Friday. The dinner is out of state so I had to ship the cookies early in the week to make sure they arrived on time.

They left the design totally up to me - as long as the cookies were black & white and had the letter "H" on them. I decided to do a double-decker cookie decorated with fondant and royal icing, and here's how they came out:


The holiday season is almost upon us so it's time for you to get your cookie on too! Here are a few great holiday cookie countdowns:


One of my favorite cookie newsletters is from MyRecipes.com, which includes recipes from Cooking Light, Southern Living, Coastal Living, Health, Sunset, and many other great publications. MyRecipes.com is my go-to for almost all recipes - breakfast, dinner, dessert, etc. - and I especially love it because some of the recipes offer healthier options to the classic favorites we're used to.


Next, you've got Martha Stewart's "Cookie of the Day" newsletter. It wouldn't be a holiday with Martha, would it? By signing up for this newsletter, you actually get a new cookie recipe every day of the year - not just around the holidays. I bookmark the ones I like so I have quite a selection by the time Christmas rolls around!


The Food Network offers a "12 Days of Cookies" newsletter that's always good. In fact, while you're there, check out some of the other newsletters they offer like "Healthy Eats" and "Food Network Recipe of the Day."


And, lastly, Taste of Home has a "Holiday Cookie Countdown" right on their website. I just came across this one, but it looks like it's worth checking out! As far as I can tell, the recipes aren't delivered to your email inbox every day. You just go to their website and see all 12 cookie at once - no waiting!

Get in a bind while you're cooking/baking? Check out this post on Baking Bites about all the Holiday Hotlines you can call for help!

BONUS: Michael's stores nationwide will be having a holiday cookie demo 1-3pm this Saturday, November 21st! Stop by to get some great ideas. I'll be doing the demo at the Gainesville Michael's so come say hi!

Stay tuned for a post about hosting your own cookie exchange, and don't forget to enter for a chance to win the delicious-looking cake slice postcard from TangBaby!

Ben & Shelby's Wedding

This weekend, two of my good friends got married in Amelia Island, FL, and - even better - I got to do their cakes!

Here's the wedding cake from the front:

And from the side:
The bottom tier is a 14-inch Styrofoam cake dummy because they wanted to add height to the cake without adding more cake to eat. The next tier up is a 12-inch round white cake with fudge filling. The second tier is an 8-inch round yellow cake with strawberry cream and lemon curd filling. And the top tier is a 6-inch round chocolate cake with raspberry cream filling.

The cake was topped with a bunch of sugar flowers (anemones, hydrangeas, and lisianthus) and two sugar turtles. Ben proposed to Shelby during a cruise to the Galapagos Islands (Aren't you jealous? I am.), and the wedding invitations featured turtles with a swirl pattern on their backs so I recreated it on the cake. Actually, Adam painted the turtles for me!

He's a sweetheart. He hates to go to bed and leave me alone to work on cakes all night. I put him to work on the turtles as long as I could, but he was soon fast asleep on the couch with Nani snoozing on the floor beside him.

Here's another close-up of the rest of the cake:

And here's the groom's cake:

Shelby asked me to make a really tacky University of Oregon-themed Hawaiian shirt as a surprise to Ben. You know, it's actually pretty challenging to purposely make something tacky! It was a gluten-free chocolate cake (using the new Betty Crocker mix available at grocery stores) with raspberry cream filling.

So which cake tier did I eat at the wedding? Well, how can you choose just one?! I sampled a couple of them - strictly quality control, of course.

It took me 15 hours to decorate these cakes (that doesn't even include baking and icing), but it was so worth it! I always love decorating cakes, but I find a special reward in making wedding cakes - especially for friends. The bride and groom were on cloud nine...Ben was all smiles, and I've never seen Shelby that giggly!...and it just makes me happy to have contributed even a little bit to their big day!


Enough about cake though! The ceremony was outside overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. The weather was perfect, the view was amazing, and, of course, the bride was gorgeous!

I'll leave you with a random shot of me, Shelby, and Nicole at the reception:

Thank you, Ben & Shelby, for letting me be a part of your day! I love you guys!

Freebie Alert: Cake Slice Postcard Giveaway

I'm thrilled to announce this week's giveaway from TangBaby's ETSY store!


Doesn't it look yummy!? I know we're all watching our waist lines, but I can guarantee that this cake won't add an inch! In fact, it's 0 calories and 0 grams of fat!

How is that possible you say? Well...


...it's a postcard!

Some of you may remember that I mentioned this cake slice back in an October post. I loved it so much, I bought one of my own! Who wouldn't love to get this postcard in the mail?! In fact, it's so awesome that it has taken me a couple of weeks to decide who to mail mine to. I'm mailing it this week but I want it to be a surprise so I'm not telling who's getting it!

To make things even better, TangBaby has offered to give one Cake Slice Postcard away to a lucky blog reader! That's you! For a chance to win, visit TangBaby's store. Then, come back here and leave a comment about your favorite item. (Sorry, open to US residents only.)

Here are ways to get extra entries:
1 entry - Become a Cake Walk follower
1 entry - Add the Cake Walk button to your blog
3 entries - Make a post about this contest on your own blog

No cheating! I will check to make sure you are a follower and that the button is on your blog! Leave one comment per entry please. The giveaway will end November 20th at midnight eastern time. Good luck!