giveaway delivered ^^

so last month, i had a snail mail giveaway where i promised to give one reader mailed dessert.

it's been a crazy holidy month...and although it took a little longer than i wanted,

the packaged dessert crawled on its way over to the winners house.

well pictures are in and i thought i'd share them with you.

i placed the truffles in this little box. prior to putting it into a bubble envelope for mailing.

(i'm glad it arrived in one piece)whew.

i sent over a variety packet of coconut covered truffles, almond truffles, toffee truffles.

thank you Alice for the pictures :)

happy new years eve my friends.

i cant believe 2010 is already over.

i must do a recap of this year.

its been amazing ^^

truffles

a couple entries ago, i shared the hot chocolate on a stick

well with the left over chocolate from the recipe,

i decided to make truffles.

i wanted to try a couple different kinds.

not the most flattering pictures (esp the ones just covered in cocoa powder)

but they were delicious and it melted in your mouth. yum

the cocoa powder covered ones had either toffee in the center OR almonds.

after a couple of those, i decided to just coat the rest with toasted coconut ^^

they're cuter and cleaner i think.

packaged and ready for delivery.

see you soon!!

christmas dinner

Every holiday, I cook enough to feed maybe 10+ people but in reality theres only 5 of us.

this Christmas, we decided to try for a smaller menu.

one that was fitting for the family of 5.

start off with a cup of sparkling apple cider.

then a bowl of homemade french onion soup.

i used tyler's recipe

it was pretty good.

its definitely a soup that tastes better after its been cooked for a long time.

baked some potatoes.

(potato, thyme, garlic, salt, pepper, olive oil)

sourdough garlic bread

sliced up steak.

(seasoned with thyme, garlic, salt, pepper, butter)

simple plate for a simple family.

Merry Christmas everyone!

hot chocolate...on a stick

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

thought I'd share something that seems fitting for this holiday season.

hot chocolate... on a stick.

i found this awesome recipe on whipperberry

its an amazing idea and it makes for a cute gift.

heres some pictures of the making process.

place the stick in a cup with hot milk and you've got a nice fresh cup of hot chocolate :)

homemade marshmallows are awesome.

they taste good and they instantly melt in your hot chocolate.

in case you dont like marshmallow OR want to eat extra marshmallows, i left them solo.

now that i know how to make homemade marshmallow, next step: make a smore cupcake and use my torch.

hope everyone had an amazing christmas with your family and friends ^^

gt2: green tea coconut macaroons recipe

one thing i love baking : coconut macaroons

they're super easy to bake and its pretty quick.

last month, i baked a dessert bar for my friends for their wedding.

i found out that they werent able to try any of the desserts...

i decided that i would surprise the couple (more so the bride) with her own batch of macaroons.

i scooped out some regular coconut macaroons...

i then decided to make half of the batch green tea coconut macaroons.

the flavor is really nice i think.

its a sweet green tea flavored party in your mouth.

they're so cute together.

perfect for the holidays.

i packed hers in a box and had it packaged for hand delivery

(forgot to take a picture of the box and bow.)-oops

i found a new function on my camera.

it takes 16 pictures super duper fast.

i'll try using it again another time...

i didnt really know what it did until i uploaded my pictures onto the computer.

i packaged them in threes to pass them out to friends.

nice and clean holiday gifts.

people will love it.(whats not to love?)

its not a useless gift...they can eat it...if they dont like it...they can regive it.

green tea coconut macaroons recipe

-1 bag of shredded coconut (14oz)

-1 can of sweetened condensed milk

-2/3 cups flour

-1/4 tspn salt

-1 tspn vanilla extract

-1 1/2 tspn green tea powder

~preheat oven 350F

~mix coconut, flour, salt, and green tea powder together.

~add condensed milk and vanilla extract and mix together.

~scoop out onto parchment paper with 1tspn scooper

~bake for 12 mins

gingerbread cookies part 2

a couple entries ago, i shared with you my cookies and a recipe.

remember? if you dont...i posted a picture ^.

well....i left my cookies out and told myself that i'd come back to them to frost...

every night something ALWAYS came up..

after a couple days, i came back to my cookie station and all i found was 6 cookies

i guess people slowly just ate them all.

(which is fine)

i'm not the best froster but just thought i'd bring these cookies to life.

you know...give gingerbread men a face...

i think the wreath was my favorite.

that is all.

5 more days til christmas my friends

cookie jar

with christmas only being a couple days away, i've been thinking of what gifts to give.

i personally think that i am a horrible gift giver.

(or its really hard to me to figure out what i need to buy for people)

something i'm better at doing:

making personalized gifts for people.

the only problem about handmade gifts is that sometimes, people dont see the value of it...

or they just dont like it.

regardless, i decided that i would go this route and make some personalized items.

cookie mix in a jar.

ingredients all ready and measured out for you.

perfect for nonbakers who wish to make homemade goodies.

its also a nice way to share your recipes with people

ap flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt on the bottom.

oats

christmas colored m&ms

brown sugar

white sugar

some more m&ms to fill the top

add instructions~~> ribbon jar up ~~> ready for lift off