The Adam's Family Visit

I have the cutest grandkids in the world and am very blessed to have them visit for Christmas.  I hope we can get a family picture of all of us before they go back home.  However, I do know that it is next to impossible to get a big group of people together for a family picture.  So if it gets done we will have really accomplished so mething.

This little cutie is the newest in our trib of grand kids.  She is adorable and good natured.  I love rocking her in my rocking chair. She snuggles right in to me and  we just enjoy rocking.  I have a rocking chair song but because I have laryngitis I haven't been able to sing it to her.  I'm starting to get get my voice back so maybe I will get a chance before she leaves.  She is a real ham for the camera.  Love the sun glasses.

Christmas Trees And The Princess

My daughter got the brilliant idea to dress Abby as a princess.   Sheis beautiful and adores being a princess.  She looked into the mirror and say, "Pretty!" Abby is a pretty princess!"  Of course my grandson doesn't want to have anything to do with princeses or princesses.  So when Abby told him he was the prince he retorted, "NO, I'M NOT!  I fly airplanes!"  So he is the pilot. Maybe he is the royal pilot.  In any case Abby accepted that and off they went to play trains.

Callie also saw on the "Pioneer Woman" website this cute dessert.  It's strawberries on top of mini brownies covered in chocolate glaze.  The trees are covered in buttercream frosting and decorated like Christmas trees.  There are also Santa Hats.  Very cute.  She wanted to put them on a plate that we were returning to the next door neighbor. She decided she didn't like the glaze because it is too soft.  We are doing another batch tomorrow with a harder glaze.  They look very pretty and dress up nice for gifts.

As you can see Princess Abby was very pleased with her "Christmas Tree". She ate it in like two seconds! Can you tell she stuffed it in her mouth? LOL!!!

Thomas The Train Cake with Crossing Gates

Sebby's Fourth Birthday Cake

I asked my grandson, Sebby, what he wanted on his birthday cake this year.  He is turning four.  He said he wanted a crossing gate cake.  He was very specific.  I don't know what it is that has him enamored with crossing gates.  Maybe he likes the flashing lights, the gates coming down, or the ding-ding-ding sound.  When I ask him what he wants to do he says, "Can I watch crossing gates on the computer?" I never knew there were so many crossing gates on You Tube.  You can see crossing gates from anywhere in the world.  He would watch them for hours if I let him, but he only gets a half hour.  Thus we made a plan for a crossing gate cake and, of course, it had to have Thomas the Train.

I found this cute cow, or one like it on the internet and I changed it to fit my cake.  I think he is the best sculpture on the cake. Thomas and the gates were the most difficult to do and they are far from great.  But you can recognize him and Sebby said that this was, "The most awesome cake ever!"  So if he likes it then it is a great success.  I used popsicle s

This cake was fun to do but took forever.  I don't know how those cake challenge guys do huge cakes in 8 hours.  It is unreal! I started this cake, made from scratch, on Sunday.  I crumb coated it and put it in the fridge until the next day when I covered it with home made fondant.  I used gumpaste for the sculptures and fondant for the trees.

I like the bird Callie made.  This was her only contribution to the cake, other than keeping the kids busy while I worked on it. 

I needed something for the back of the cake so I made a tree and put a little blue bird in it.  I know I have several different kinds of trees on here.  I wanted the bottom layer to look more "valley-meadow" and the top a rocky mountain for the tunnel. Not perfect but you get the general idea.

This little lamb is supposed to be wooly.  He isn't nearly as good as the cow I made, but he is still cute so we used him because Sebby didn't want me to throw him in the trash.  So he is here thanks to him.  I should have made some buddies for him but this cake was taking way too long and I don't have ideal work area to spread out like I want.

Chocolate Truffles

These were fairly easy to make.  They were time consuming only because they have to be chilled between each step.  I made three flavors.  Kalua, Creme de Minth, and Rasberry.  The coatings are chopped pecans with the Kalua, Andes baking chips with the Creme de Minth, and powdered sugar with the Rasberry. I used Bavarian Chocolate that comes in squares and chopped it down to melting size.
I found this recipe on http://www.joyofbaking.com/ChocolateTruffles.html

I took these to a Christmas Party and they received rave reviews.  These are rich and decadent.  It's easy to flavor them too with all the flavorings and liquers available.  I used coatings that would allow for handling without getting melting chocolate all over the hands.  Plus the coatings fancy up the truffles and they look pretty in a nice tin.  I bought these tins for $2.00 at Walmart. They work perfect for a batch of truffles. The little candy papers I also found there in the cake decorating aisle.

Grammy's Buttermilk Biscuits

I got this recipe off the internet and changed it to work for my taste and altitude.

3 cups all purpose flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

¾ teaspoon baking soda

¾ cup real butter

1¼ cups buttermilk

1 egg beaten


In a large mixing bowl sift the flour with baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Cut into flour mixture the butter with a pastry blender until well blended. Butter should be cold to start and it should look like very small bits when blended into flour. Add one cup of buttermilk and stir. If the dough is dry add the rest of the buttermilk. Mix until slightly blended. Turn out on lightly floured board or counter top and kneed for about two minutes or until dough is mixed well enough to form large ball. Roll out to about 1 inch thick and cut with round biscuit cutter or with a small juice glass that is greased around the edges. Place on a cookie sheet and brush with pastry brush the tops of the biscuits with beaten egg. Bake at 350 degrees F for 18 to 22 minutes. Serve warm.

Corn Chowder

I found this recipe at allrecipes.com and tweeked it. Don said this was the best soup I have made in years!

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons flour

1 onion, chopped

1 large potato, peeled and diced

1 bay leaf

½ teaspoon cumin

(dash) cayenne pepper

¼ teaspoon dried sage
1 tablespoon dried parsley

2 cups chicken stock or vegetable stock
1 1/4 cups milk

1½ cups frozen corn kernels

2 tablespoons fresh chopped chives

⅓ cup heavy cream

2 cups Tillamook Medium Cheddar Cheese shredded



1. In a large saucepan over medium high heat, melt the butter and stir in the onion, potato, bay leaf, cumin, parsley, and sage. Saute about 5 minutes, until the onion is tender. Mix in the flour, coating the onion and potato. Pour in the chicken stock and milk. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly until smooth. Reduce heat, and simmer 30 minutes, stirring frequently, until the potato is tender.

2. Mix the corn, chives, and cream into the saucepan, and cook about 5 minutes, until heated through. Remove the bay leaf, and stir in the Cheddar cheese until melted and blended. Season with salt and pepper.

German Chocolate Daisy Birthday Cake

It was fun to have another excuse to make a cake.  I have been practicing a lot and find that I can be quite artistic on simple projects that everyone enjoys. My sister-in -law's birthday is today, November 5.  She loves German Chocolate cake.  I tried making one on a previous cake but I haven't found or tweeked the recipe for high altitude so this one is a Betty Crocker box mix and Betty Crocker Pecan Frosting in the center.  I used my good ol' buttercream frosting that you can find at http://whatscookingamerica.net/.  The fondant recipe is from this site too.  I used Wilton's gum paste but I am searching for a good home made gum paste recipe to try next.  I bought the Wilton set of simple daisy cutters and used it for the flowers and the daisy leaves.

One thing that I discovered while shopping for supplies is that when it is recommended to use a foam to soften the edges of your flowers with a round ball tool I used a thick craft foam pad.  I bought it for .89.  Wiltons or other foams go upwards of $3.oo and that is for a small one.  I am learning what I can make here without the added cost of  "supplies".  I watch videos on how to make flowers.  There are many out there.  As I get better I will add tools that are required for cleaner flowers.  They are expensive and I am learning to do a lot of cutting by hand or drawing a template on card stock and cutting around it with an exacto knife.  I smooth the edges if they are slightly jagged with a lightly greased finger.  You can't get it to wet or it gets sticky. 

I had a lot of fun decorating this cake. I learned how to make simple daisies.  I want to do better centers. These are kind of kindergarten, but they are cute. I just love looking on line for video classes.  These people have figured out how to make beautiful life like flowers and are willing to share their knowledge.  So take advantage of that.  Where I live there are no classes so I have having to self teach.  It's also a fun thing to do with my grandsons. 

I used wire with a loop or hook on the end so that it "grabs" onto the fondant and then when it dries it's easier to add petals.  I also use as glue a small amount of white fondant disolved in about three Tablespoons of water.  It makes a "glue" that holds pretty strong and dries faster than plain water.  Saves on buying the "flower glue" that can be expensive too.  I'd rather save my money for cutters and luster or pear dusts.  I have ordered my first set of luster dust and will be trying that next week.  I'm really excited to be "painting" flowers.  I also ordered a leaf set with veiners to make my leaves look more realistic.  We'll post the next experiment as soon as I get it done.