Prep work fondant on the next ""order"...

No Black Friday shopping for this girl instead I was up early making holly and stars for my next cupcake order.  Decided to jump on it to do some prep work so as not to be swamped loosing my mind, next weekend.  Plus, it gave me an excuse to put off  lesson planing which will take up the WHOLE day and probably into the night!

I cheated a little and bought fondant this time.  Usually I make my own using my favorite "go to" fondant recipe but I didn't need much and the colors I needed are hard to make, especially red and honestly making your own fondant is quite time consuming.  It would also jack the price up and I try to keep my cupcakes affordable for people/customers (who are usually my teaching friends and we all know about a teacher's salary). It all worked out though and holly leaves and stars have been custom made and ready for cupcake placement. 

Do you even like fondant?  My son loves it but typically I peel it off and enjoy the buttercream underneath.  I guess you either like it or don't.  It does lend itself to a pretty smooth clean "canvas" to work on though and the decorations you can make while time consuming are amazing. Fondant is a good way to dress up a cake and give it a more polished look in my opinion but it's all in what you like and what it's for.

Custom fondant holly leaves (that's why they are uniformly perfect) and stars.

Mmmm.... Cookies

It's summertime and who doesn't love watermelon, soft watermelon decorated sugar cookies that is.

Since I have extra time on my hands in the summer because I teach and during the rest of the year and we have two busy boys, summer affords me the time to do things I enjoy and making delicious cakes, cupcakes and sugar cookies (along with other great foods) are just some of the things I enjoy.  So I pulled out the ingredients, decided on what kind (shape) of cookies to make and went for it. Not only did they turn out very cute, they were delicious! I used my " go to" recipe for sugar cookies.  It's always a hit! 

There are two things to remember when making sugar cookies... along with a wonderful recipe the thickness you roll out the dough and how long they bake are key in making them soft and delicious! Nothing fancy for the icing. 

I used: 

4 cups powdered sugar

6 tablespoons water

6 tablespoons light corn syrup

1 teaspoon lemon juice

coloring 

*amounts may be adjusted to get the right consistency.  This is just something I've worked on and still don't have it "perfect" . 

There are LOTS of suggestions, sites and tutorials to help you. Start with something simple.  Most importantly don't be afraid to try and have fun!

Have you read...

I just recently finished two great books and I wanted to share that you might enjoy if you are a  historical fiction fan like me!

If you enjoy history, like I do, you will love both of these from completely different eras but equally captivating.

Set in 1765 America, America's First Daughter by Stephanie Dray tells the story of Martha "Patsy" Jefferson Randolph, daughter of our 3rd president, Thomas Jefferson. It is considered "historical fiction" so there is an element of fiction obviously but there is A LOT of historically correct information. It's filled with interesting information and a new perspective as it is told from Patsy's point of view during a time when her father helped develop this country. While the story follows Patsy's life is parallels her father's, Thomas Jefferson's as well and tells both the ups and downs of life in the 18th century.

America's First Daughter  

The second book I highly recommend, along with MANY of my friends, is The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. It's the story of two sisters in occupied France during the second World War. The sisters who appear to be very different couldn't be more alike in their acts of bravery. They find themselves in frighten situations and must muster all of their courage to overcome and prevail in the face of danger and hardship in order to help others.  Their selfless acts of courage make this a beautiful example of strength, love, hope and courage.  It's a book that keep me up late wanting to read a little more and a little more but then I did not want to finish it because the story would be over and it was sooooooo good!

The Nightingale

Neither one of these "reviews" do these great books the justice they deserve.  Both wonderful books that if you choose to read, I hope you will enjoy as much as I did!

                                                             

Snow Days!

It's a great time to be a student AND teacher!   Last Saturday almost 9 inches of snow fell across our state and temps have been in the single digits!  Today was the first day since Saturday that the temp. has been above 26 degrees!  The kids (and teachers) have been out of school going on day 3 tomorrow.   Despite what people think, some teachers do work at home on these days though. It's a great time to catch up on what needs to be done at your leisure.  It's also a good time for recharging...yes, I know we just had Christmas vacation but was it really a vacation (you know the saying, "I need a vacation from the vacation."). So after one week back in the grove we are off for 3 days, working for 2 and then off again for a 3 day weekend.

Our snow days have been filled with football, food and fun!  Today was the first day it was really nice enough to get outside though.  Our son has been waiting for good packing snow to build his famous "perfect snowman", today was finally the day!

             

On Monday night we enjoyed "football food" and kinda watched the college game.  We really didn't have a preference about which team won; the ACC/SEC, Clemson or Alabama, but we do love a good excuse to fix yummy finger foods! I found a great recipe for homemade sriracha chicken tenders so we tried them out.  Mmmm...mmm good!!  For someone who is not a fan of hot (spicy) food, I loved them! Of course you have to make the delicious sour cream sauce to dip them in too.  Along with chicken tenders we had deer meat wrapped in bacon and shrimp on the grill. DELICIOUS! 

And secretly we're glad Clemson won the game!

I also spent time doing some work related things, grading papers and adding an item to TPT.  Click here to get your free copy of Counting on Neighbors (adding) and Goodbye Neighbors (subtracting) to use for math stations in your classroom.  It's a great fun way to reinforce the counting on  and counting back 1,2,3 strategies.

Alas, today is our last snow day and conditions don't look favorable for anymore snow anytime soon.  With a warm up today and temps in the 60's (only in VA can you go from 0 to 65 in the same week) we should be back to school tomorrow but today we'll enjoy!

2017 is underway!

The first day of 2017 has been quiet.  Turned out to be a relaxing way to spend the first day of the New Year and hope that it's an indication of things to come.  It will be a busy year with one of our boys graduating and starting college and another who will finish middle school and start HS in the fall. All anxious but exciting changes for everyone!

So this week it was back to work (school) and routines. something every evening...but I'm taking time tonight to relax and watch the impending weather forecast (when I should probably be grading some papers)  Why does it have to snow on the weekend!? Time to pull out the soup recipes, line up the movies and a good book or two and pile up the blankets. We'll keep our fingers for a good ole snow day (or two) this winter

One of my FAVORITE go to winter soups is Cheesy Vegetable Chowder from Lulu the Baker's site. I absolutely love it! Click on the link  above to visit her site and get this delicious recipe and many others!!

Cheesy Vegetable Chowder

Another soup (well, really it's a stew) that we LOVE is Chicken Stew from Christy Jordan's site, Southern Plate.

 It's a great recipe but I do make some changes... I never use the whole chicken, just chicken breasts that I boil and shred (she suggests this in her recipe and honestly it's just much easier).  I use the water from the boiled chicken and some low sodium chicken broth to get 7 cups of liquid.  I don't add quite that much sugar as my husband doesn't like it to taste sweet, I usually go with about a tablespoon if that much and I sometimes use a bag of mixed vegetables; corn, green beans, peas and lima beans just to get some more vegetables into it. The pictures from her blog really help with the process! The mashed potatoes and butter that you add make it great!! I hope you'll check it out!

                                                                       Chicken Stew

So there you have it, two great recipes (at least they are some of our favorites) for some 

cold winter days!

Enjoy!! And keep your fingers crossed for one or two (or more) good snow days!

2016 Comes to an End...

Personally I am glad to see 2016 come to an end.  It has been a year of changes and challenges and quite honestly I'm exhausted.  While I am thankful for each day, I feel I'm in a constant state of problem solving, putting out fires,cleanning up the mess and trying to forget. I find it hard to unwind and relax enough to enjoy what I have and those I love.  I want to do more of what I enjoy, I want to feel less pressured and distracted by the demands others and work obligations put on me.  So I look forward to closing 2016 and starting  2017 with a fresh outlook.

Good bye 2016!

ANOTHER shark cake...

Yes, again this year our son chose a shark cake...beginning to think we are running out of designs. This year I had lots of fancy ideas but he wanted to keep it simple. Lucky for me HE drew the template and all I had to do was trace and create it onto the cake.

Here is his original template prior to "creation". Glad I have such a great little artist!