New additions to my addiction

So, I've mentioned that my baking stuff is taking over my house. Total exaggeration, but seriously? I have TONS of it. And every year it gets a little bit worse. It's freaking Christmas's fault, man. Every year, when I get asked that dreaded question ("What do you want for Christmas??") I totally freeze up. I usually just shrug and giggle and turn to the person next to me and start talking about something else. Don't put me on the spot like this! I can't handle the pressure! *Ahem* Even though I HAVE had all year to think about it... I just don't want for anything. My old standby has turned into baking stuff these past few years. Uh, HELLO! Cupcake wrappers are the PERFECT stocking stuffer!! That being said, I wanted to share with you guys some of the awesome baking stuff I got Christmas of 2012. AKA, more crap that's taking up space in my room/closet/baking cupboard. Jeez.

1. You don't even know how hard it was for me to wait for this book! This is the lovely Bridget of Bake at 350's book, and it's certainly a must-have for any cookie decorator out there! This book came out in October of last year, and it was so annoying forcing myself to wait until Christmas. Bridget was my inspiration to start decorating cookies (and still is my inspiration), so one way or another I was GETTING. THIS. BOOK. 

2. Mickey Mouse cookie cutters! We're huge Disney fans at our house, so these are a perfect addition to my cutter addition! I may have to make these for our trip in a couple weeks!

3. This rainbow whisk is the coolest whisk. EVER. I mean, it's just rainbow silicon, but I love rainbow colors! Actually, any bright colors in general...I'm easily amused. Broc got me this whisk for Christmas as a bit of an inside joke. We like to watch Feast of Fiction on YouTube. Anyone seen it? If you're a fiction fan (I think it appeals to my nerdy side, honestly), then you'll love this YouTube channel. I mean, they make mushroom stew from Minecraft. So. Much. Awesome. Anyway, they usually use this rainbow whisk, and I've always loved that. Now I've got my own!

4. These nesting dolls are absolutely freaking adorable!! What you see here aren't just your run of the mill nesting dolls...although I wouldn't complain if they were. I heart nesting dolls. These are in fact measuring cups!! Gaaahhh, so cute! My friend Shannon got them for me (along with numbers 1 and 2), and I LOVE using them!! 

Look at all this! So much cuteness for one kitchen. I'm on cuteness overload here. :D

Cupcake Pen

Alright guys...I have another confession to make (Have I ever mentioned that sometimes I am honest to a fault? Seriously, It gets me in trouble sometimes). I...well...my least favorite treat to make is cupcakes.  I know. Freakin' blasphemy. My friend Hayley (The Domestic Rebel) is probably shaking her head right now in shame/disgust (sorry).  Look, it's not that cupcakes don't TASTE delicious. And it's not that they aren't often freakin' ADORABLE. Seriously, can I get an amen on that one? Cupcakes. Are. Adorable. BUUUTTT...I hate MAKING them. I find it to be messier than making a cake or cookies or even cake pops. One of my pet peeves of baking is when you're baking muffins or cupcakes and while you're spooning the batter into the baking cups, it gets all over the side of the cups and the muffin pan. It happens every time and I find it SO. ANNOYING.

But there's good news!! I may have found a solution to my problem! While shopping with my dad a while ago, we stumbled on THIS bad boy at our local JC Penny:

THIS, my friends, is the Tovolo Cupcake Pen. I knew I HAD to have it when I saw it, in the hopes that it would make cupcake-making more enjoyable. Now...I haven't actually made any cupcakes since purchasing this, but I HAVE made cake pops. This tool is life changing, I tell you!

My cupcake pen with my Babycakes. It's like they were made for each other. =) So if you find cupcake making (or even cake pop making, for that matter) to be annoyingly messy like I do, I suggest you give this a try!!

Babycakes!!

Hey guys! Remember this post when I said I had the coolest family ever? Well not only are they the coolest, but they're friggin' GENIUSES (And I know my mom is reading this and nodding and/or saying "Yep"). So one of the many yummy blogs I love is Bakerella's blog. Love, love, LOVE it. And I had ALWAYS wanted to try making cake pops...so I attempted them once- disaster. That's all I'm gonna say. I hadn't tried making them since then...that is, until I got this little beauty from my fam for Christmas.

This, my friends, is the babycakes cake pop maker. No joke, it's like a waffle iron, but you put cake batter in it, and adorable little balls of cake come out of it. Since then, as you'll see in later posts, I've been a cake pop-makin' fool. Cake pops are SO EASY to make this way. And I've gotten a lot of positive feedback taste-wise. The people who have tried them like them better than the ones you mix with frosting. AND you can make donut holes with this bad boy! So. Excited. Totally recommend this to anyone who hasn't had luck with cake balls/pops the traditional way, like me. How did my family know that this gift would keep me so busy in the kitchen, and would produce such great results?

Like I said. Friggin'. Geniuses.

I have the coolest family ever.

No, really, they are. Why, you ask? Well because I got a TRUCKLOAD of cool baking stuff for Christmas this year. I got cupcake wrappers, silver star sprinkles (which are REALLY cool, by the way), tons of new cutters, and...wait for it....brownie pop molds!! I've never tried making brownie pops or anything of that sort, but I am very excited to try it out!! Now, all these goodies were just from my parents and sister, but what I wasn't expecting was for my aunt to get me some cool stuff!



One of my favorite things to do is browse different blogs and websites for baking ideas. I could literally spend all day doing it. One of my favorite places to visit is a website called Bakerella. Have you visited Bakerella's site? If not, you totally should. She makes the cutest goodies! The thing she's most well known for is her creation of cake pops or cupcake pops. She even made a book about it, showing different pop designs and giving step-by-step instructions for each one. Weellll, my super cool aunt got me her book for Christmas!! It's really good I didn't buy it before Christmas because she would've been soo upset! It was difficult, but I resisted!


Not only do I get to experiment with these cupcake pops, but I also have several cake and cookie decorating ideas! Another book I recieved was this book called 1000 ideas for decorating cupcakes, cakes, and cookies.

Now, it doesn't have step-by-step instructions for anything (in fact, it doesn't even have labels for the pictures), but there are a lot of pictures with some really neat ideas! Granted....with the lack of labels, I have to figure out what some of the sweets even are, but if you can get past that, it's a cool book. I'd definitely recommend both of these books if you're looking for some great baking and decorating ideas. Now, it's time to try some of these ideas out! Thanks, family!!

A Sweet Gift!

So, in my absence, Debbi, my neighbor across the street came over to pay my mom a visit. It was just a normal visit, they stood around chatting about, you know, life. But after my mom told her about my interest in baking and decorating, my sweet neighbor ran out my door saying, "I'll be right back"! And right back she came....with about FOUR containers of baking goodies in tow. One of those containers was a Wilton cake decorating kit, FILLED with stuff (several icing colors, bags, tips, etc)! One container had several different colors of EDIBLE GLITTER (something I had yet to try), and the other two were PACKED with cookie cutters. And I'm not talking those cheap plastic cookie cutters you buy in a bucket of 100 from your local Wal Mart. Oh, no. I'm talking about those nice, easy grip ones, sets of Williams Sonoma cutters, and sets of copper cutters. All this stuff was just sitting in her house unused, so it all needed to go to a good home. Well believe me, it will ALL go to use at my house.

Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to take a picture of all the stuff. There was so much, and it was literally taking over our dining room table, I had to get it put away. But I know you would've been impressed. =)

I could not express my excitement or my gratitude well enough. Well I probably could've, but that would've consisted of me jumping up and down at her door and squealing like a little girl. I wanted to at least TRY to act 20 years old. But it was like Christmas had come early! And I have sooo many more options for my goodies now. What a sweet gift from a sweet lady. Thank you soooo much, Debbi!