These are a Few of my Favorite Things- An Intro

AKA: The blog post I've been meaning to do for a few months. What a loser.

I've gotta say, I love my blog. I love sharing the goodies I make both literally and virtually. I love that people actually get to see my stuff from all over. And I love you, the readers. But I have to admit, sometimes I do kick myself over the fact that I made a blog for such a limited topic. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE baking. As I write this, I'm itching to bake something, as it's been about a week. However, sometimes I wish I made a more generalized blog. Unless I'm mistaken, those of you who follow me are here for the treats. It's not like I can just hop on my blog and talk about the Disneyland trip I'm counting down to (13 Days!!), share my dismay about how much Glee is starting to suck, or share my 10-year work in progress craft project (There's a good explanation for this, I swear). This is Lovin' from the Oven. It seems inappropriate to talk about Dance Moms.

So, after a long time coming and a long internal battle on the subject, I decided to make this new feature. These are a Few of my Favorite Things. You know, just so you guys can get to know me better, and I can get to know you guys better. Just every once in a while, nothing excessive.

What do you guys think? I'll be launching my first edition of TFFT soon- leave me some feedback on what you think!

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

Super Mega Delicious Ginormous MONSTER Lemon Cookies

Well, technically, the recipe calls them "Lemon sugar cookies with lemon buttercream frosting." Well, I mean, it's to the point, but I like my name for them better. Because let me tell you two things about these cookies:

1) As I said in my title, they are delicious. And not just plain ol' delicious, but SUPER MEGA DELICIOUS.

2) These cookies are ginormous MONSTERS. I'm not even exaggerating on this one. You wanna know how many cookies this recipe yields? Twelve. Freakin' twelve. These suckers are HUGE. I think if I made these again, I'd make them slightly smaller. That way I can also get more out of them. I mean, I love me some giant frisbee-sized cookies, but come on. These are like a freakin' small meal apiece. I need limits.

So needless to say, this is part 2 of my lemon-palooza trilogy (If you missed part 1, you can find it here) that my neighbor Jill made possible by bringing over 3 bags of lemons. Uh, what are we going to do with three whole bags of lemons? Damn right, we're making goodies with them. What else? This is a recipe that my dad actually got from a co-worker who brought these to work. My dad raved about them until I agreed to make them. His idea of subtle hinting is printing out the recipe a few days after we got the lemons. Real subtle, dad... =) You can find the recipe here. I have to admit, although the recipe calls for cake flour, I used AP flour and it turned out just fine. I know there's a difference between the two, but... *shrug* I don't own cake flour, and I'm lazy, what can I say.

I just realized that looks like an orange back there. It's a lemon I promise.

All I can say about these are YUM. Just...YUM. Seriously though, these come out super soft, like the cookies you buy at the store (which we LOVE at my house). If you love those and you love lemon, you'll just absolutely DIE when you try these. 

Stay tuned folks! I've got new stuff coming up soon, along with the final part of my lemon-palooza trilogy!! :D 

Strike that, reverse it.

Stop. Halt. Do not pass go, do not collect $200. REWIND.

Do you ever have those *facepalm* moments? When you all of a sudden realize, "Holy crap. I forgot to do _______. I should've done this months ago!!" Well, this happened to me recently. Actually...this happens to me all the time. Not even exaggerating. All. The. Time. I am SO forgetful, and often scatterbrained. And it's getting worse as time goes by. Lost my phone? Better check the pantry. Keys? Check the bathroom. And you can just FORGET about asking me to do ANYTHING. I mean, unless you physically see me write it down to remember later, you can pretty much assume I won't remember it down the road. Something as simple as, "Go outside and get a loaf of bread out of the freezer." One step into the garage, and I have no clue what the heck I'm doing out there. I AM good at remembering birthdays though. That counts for something, right? Right?

Anyway, while going through some old daycare pictures from last summer, I came across some pictures of a tea party we held for our girls. That was when it happened. *FACEPALM* "I made cookies for this!!" And lo and behold, there it was. A picture of the teapot cookies I made. So without even FURTHER delay, here's my teapot cookies!!

I promise you, I'm usually pretty good at remembering blog-related stuff. This is a first. I have NO idea how that happened. I'm just a ditz, I guess. I swear, if I weren't twenty-something years old, I would think I'm going senile.

The next post will be current, I promise! Well....I hope so.  =/

When life hands you lemons...

You make lemonade. Or so they say. And I say when your bonus grandma, or the sweetest long-time neighbor you could ever ask for, hands you three GIANT bags of lemons, you say eff the lemonade, I'm makin' something friggin' delicious with these bad boys. So I present to you: friggin' delicious lemon bars. OH YEAH. I found the recipe here.

I must admit, these are a lot of effort. I mean...I hadn't made a lemon curd since my baking/cooking classes. We're talking 2009 here, people! And while these are a lot of work, compared to what I usually make (easy peasy is my mantra, after all), they were TOTALLY worth it. I mean...GAWD. I've never really been a huge lemon fan, but these may just have converted me into a HUGE fan. And my favorite part? Besides the lemony, curdy goodness? THE CRUST. It tastes like a shortbread cookie, and I could nom on it all. Day. Long. 

I'm asking you, no, I'm begging you: if you're a lemon dessert fan, hell, even if you're not a lemon dessert fan, make these. Please? And make sure you send me some? ;)

Birthday Pandas!!

I'm what most people would call easily amused. How so, you ask? I'm that person. You know the one. The one who is the first to laugh at jokes. I laugh at little things that others don't find funny. Facial expressions that I find amusing, certain tones, awkward moments... I just like to laugh and have such a dry sense of humor. Which is why I love goodies that have cute faces. When I make goodies like my Cookie Monster cupcakes, chick cake pops, or even my jack-o-lantern cookies, I can't help but giggle because well....they just look like adorable little armies of cuteness!!! Gah, so cute! So it comes as so surprise that when I saw Bakerella's panda mini cupcakes, I knew I'd have to recreate these little guys. I mean, come on. They just REEK of cuteness. REEK of it. So of course I had to recreate them for my little sister's 16th birthday. I used a box of cake mix for the cupcakes (end of the semester=laziness), but I did use Bakerella's recipe for easy buttercream frosting, which you can find here. Ok seriously guys, who knew simple buttercream could TOTALLY hit the spot?? Buttercream I've made in the past was purely for decorating class purposes...and we were required to use Crisco/lard instead of butter for some reason. And that didn't even compare in taste to butter. I don't...I can't...Seriously?? HOW did I not even put together that butter=better buttercream. BUTTER IS KING. Ok, maybe it's queen. We all know BACON is the real ruler in foodie land. Anyway! Cupcakes! Here's mine!

Bwahaha! I can't even help myself, they're just funny to look at. And they tasted GOOD (Butter in buttercream. My new mantra). And that poor panda with the candle...doesn't even know what hit him. Just look at his face, poor guy.

And finally, I just have to show off my little spokesmodels!! They're just perfect! These are my daycare girls and they just LOVED these cupcakes! Look at them working those cupcakes! Thanks for being the cutest advertisement I've ever had, girls!!

It's that time of year again...

You know, the time of the year which is second best to Christmas. You know what time that is? No, not Valentine's Day, that's towards the bottom of the list. It's....GIRL SCOUT COOKIE TIME!! Woo hoo!! In honor of cookie season fast approaching, I made something I've been meaning to make since last cookie season. Serious slacker status over here. I've literally had a box of cookies that I bought last year just hanging out in my freezer waiting to be used for this very purpose. Whoops. Anyway, I finally got around to making these Thin Mint Truffles I found over at Cookin' Cowgirl, here are the instructions. They are SUPER easy.

I mean, come on guys. These have THREE ingredients: Thin Mint cookies, cream cheese, and melting chocolates. If you're a Thin Mint lover, or lover of the chocolate/mint combination like I am (I'd be pretty much addicted to my favorite candy, Junior Mints if I could), this is a MUST TRY. Needless to say, you know what Girl Scout cookies I'll be ordering this year!! Well, I mean, in addition to Samoas. Those are my absolute favorite! How about you? What's your favorite Girl Scout cookie?

On a small, unrelated side note- today is my 6 year anniversary with my awesome boyfriend, Broc! Time to celebrate with yummy food- here's to 6 wonderful years and many, many more to come! =D