Thursday, August 7, 2008

Food porn (carrot cake cookies)


These cookies are truly a labor of love but ohhhh are they worth it!

4 1/2 hours from start to finish. That includes cooking dinner, bathing one child and putting 2 kids to bed. I finished putting them together while watching the final 4 dance on So You Think You Can Dance (it was so fantastic but more on that later). I did make them smaller than called for in the recipe because I was taking them to work for a birthday and wanted more bite size cookies. They were a huge hit, I got so many compliments on them. Everyone LOVED them, which made me feel so good.

So, these cookies are a lot of work, like I said but they are so yummy. If you like carrot cake at all, you have to try them.

Recipe from Martha Stewart.com

Ingredients

Makes about 25 sandwiches

  • 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  • 2 large eggs, room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
  • 1 1/2 cups finely grated carrots, (about 3 large carrots)
  • 1 cup raisins
  • Cream Cheese Frosting

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with Silpat baking mats or parchment paper, and set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine sugars and butter; beat until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla, and beat on medium speed until well combined.
  2. In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger; stir to combine. Gradually add flour to butter mixture; mix on a low speed until just blended. Mix in oats, carrots, and raisins. Chill dough in refrigerator until firm, at least 1 hour.
  3. Using a 1/2-ounce ice-cream scoop, scoop dough onto prepared baking sheets, leaving 2 inches between cookies. Transfer to oven, and bake until browned and crisped, rotating pan halfway through baking to ensure even color, 12 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Repeat baking process with remaining dough. Once cooled completely, use an offset spatula to spread about 2 teaspoons of cream-cheese filling onto a cookie. Sandwich together with a second cookie. Repeat with remaining cookies. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days in the refrigerator.

Ingredients

Makes about 2 cups

  • 8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
  • 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, room temperature
  • 1 cup confectioners' sugar
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

  1. Place cream cheese in a medium mixing bowl. Using a rubber spatula, soften cream cheese. Gradually add butter, and continue beating until smooth and well blended. Sift in confectioners' sugar, and continue beating until smooth. Add vanilla, and stir to combine.

And the winner is

Congrats to Linda! She's the winner of my first ever giveaway. Your little cards will be in the mail soon!

And a big thank you to everyone who entered my giveaway! I feel like it was a great success. I loved reading all of your nice comments. I hope to see some of you in my shop very soon!

Monday, August 4, 2008

New videos

It's been a while since I mentioned America's Got Talent and I know you've been wondering "when is she going to post another AGT video". Well, your wait is over!

This act cracked me up. I laughed so hard the first time I saw it and even harder the second time.





The man they mention at the beginning is the winner of last year's show. He is fantastic. I am seriously planning on going to Vegas to see him perform. If you want to see more, go to YouTube and search for Terry Fator (<----- or just click on his name over there). I could add so many videos for him but I'll settle for 3 of my favorites. He will blow you away.




Sunday, August 3, 2008

New cards in the shop

These are some of the cards I was working on last night


And, can I just say, I love the way these pictures turned out!

I also cut these out today and listed them. Never too soon to start shopping!

I want to reshoot the tags, I'm not totally happy with the pics. The sun went into hiding as I was setting up to take the pictures. The cards all came out but the tags could be brighter.

Saturday, August 2, 2008

Ink and glue

My hands were covered in ink and glue just a few minutes ago.....a sure sign of a successful night of card making.

I started working on my samples for the Little Black Box. I'm planning on sending in my little mini TY cards for the November box. Fingers crossed that it will bring in some more business. I want to buy one for myself soon. They just look like so much fun.

The mini cards have become my go to item for promotion. I just love that they are fairly easy to make and they use up some of my scrap paper. If you could see my scrap paper pile, you'd understand. Oh wait, you can!

It's out of control! I need to find a better solution but I can't come up with anything....

I also made a couple of other cards. Hopefully, I'll get pictures of them tomorrow so I can get them listed.

I've washed my hands so they aren't sticking to the keyboard, in case you were wondering!

Big sale


One of my fellow East Countians is having a big sale on her adorable aprons. Stop by Rachel's Aprons to pick up some fantastic deals!

Wedding present part 2

The shower went really well. She was extremely surprised, had no idea that it was happening. That's amazing, considering that we've all known about it since March. No one spilled the beans.

I think she really loved the frame. Everyone was very impressed that I had made it and it was properly ooohed and ahhhed over. I even had one of the other ladies I work with ask about putting in an order for a frame of her own.

Cool, looks like I might have found a new thing to make. I think I'm going to make a frame to match a Congratulations card that I have and sell them as a gift set. At least, that's the plan.