Update...photos!

My friend Monica sent me some photographs from the pumpkin themed baby shower she threw for her sister-in-law.

Look how creative she is! She made the pumpkin mobile and the leaves on the branches had "mommy" quotes written on them.

Monica's daughter L.C. liked the pumpkin cupcakes.

She also gave out pumpkin spice playdough in plastic containers to all the kids at the shower. Can you tell she's a pre-school teacher?

Thanks for stopping by.

How cute are these?!?!

So, here's the 2nd half of the baby shower order. The theme was fall and I was given free reign.

An order for a dozen pumpkin cupcakes that I could decorate however I wanted. How lucky is that?

I think these fit the bill perfectly.

I used the Pumpkin Browned Butter Cupcake recipe from here and then just frosted them with a brown sugar cream cheese frosting.

A coating of orange sugar sprinkles...a little pretzel stem, some vines and leaves and they were good to go.

They fit in perfectly at the shower. My very creative friend gave out pumpkin playdough as favors to the kids at the shower. Isn't that cute?

Ok...and just so you know...this was my first time making browned butter. Definitely not my last. I might have a little problem with that browned butter....just saying.

Thanks for stopping by.

TWD: Rewind...or Fast Forward?

So...I skipped the Cranberry Lime Galette because I didn't want to have to eat it myself and my freezer is so jam packed with baked goods that I couldn't stuff one more thing in there.

I'm sure I'll regret it, because I love, love, love cranberries!

Anyway....this week's TWD is a Rewind....which basically meant, I could bake something that had already been chosen by the group or a recipe I happened to miss one week. I did neither. I chose the fast forward route and I baked something completely new. Luckily for me...I had an order for a dozen mini pumpkin tarts and a dozen pumpkin cupcakes to be served at a baby shower.

I wouldn't have to eat anything I baked!!! :)

So..I chose to make Dorie's Sour Cream Pumpkin Tart (page 324) in a bunch of mini versions. The filling is super easy to whip up. Throw everything into the food processor. Process for 2 minutes, pour it into a partially baked tart shell, or in my case...12 tart shells, and bake.

FYI...the recipe says to bake the mini tarts for 10 - 15 minutes, mine took more like 25 minutes.

A little drizzle of chocolate on the top and some lightly sweetened real whipped cream. YUM!

Oh yeah, I sprinkled a little pumpkin pie spice over the tops of them.

Ok...so I did eat 1. But it was in the name of research. I couldn't deliver the goods without checking to make sure they were edible. :)

Check here to see what the others chose for their Rewind.

Thanks for stopping by.

TWD: Not-Just-For-Thanksgiving Cranberry Shortbread Cake

So....this weekend in Northern California...Saturday was sunny, a warm 79 degrees and I was wearing shorts to my sons' soccer games. Sunday rolls around and it's rainy, gray and a cool 53 degrees. How does that happen? I guess I shouldn't sound surprised...it happens every year here and every year we act like it's the weirdest thing.

Perfect weather for baking though. Especially something reminding me of fall...something with cranberries baked right in. Even though I would much rather be snuggled on the couch in front of a warm fire... :) I had to make do with the oven warming the house.

Let me just start by telling you that the cranberry jam is so very good. Just cranberries, orange zest, oranges and sugar. I could have just made the jam and stopped there. Jarred it and given it away as Christmas gifts. I just might make another batch and do that.

I didn't add any extra sugar to the mixture. I thought it was just right with the 1 cup of sugar added at the beginning.

I also didn't roll the dough. I froze the discs and grated one into the bottom of the pan. Spread the cranberry jam on top and then grated the other frozen disc onto the top. Anytime I can avoid rolling dough...I gladly do just that.

Oh yeah, I did double the recipe and bake it in a 9x13 pan. I thought the PTC would like something other than a bundt cake this month. So this is what they get...hope they like it. :)

However, let me tell you, when you double the recipe...that's a lot of grating...a lot.

And as you can see...I should have pressed the dough together a little more. The top looks a little spaetzle-y. Oh well, it sure tastes good. Not too sweet, very tangy and tart. A big hit in my house. I'll be making this again for sure.

Thank you, thank you to Jessica over at Singleton in the Kitchen. Your choice this week was great.

Don't forget to stop by the TWD site to see what the others have created.

Thanks for stopping by.

Oh yeah!

It's here......the red cup.

Now, I can go get a Peppermint Mocha.

Because...I can only drink one out of a red cup, anyone else have this problem? Anyone?

See ya. :)

TWD: Peanuttiest Blondies

It's Tuesday and I'm on time for TWD!

Miracle of miracles...

Ok, these Blondies were really easy to mix up and dump into a pan. I did it the day after Halloween...with KitKats, Almond Joys and Snickers bars...all calling my name. I didn't think the kids picked up enough sweets while trick-or-treating so I decided to bake something more!

I'll let you in on something...I make blondies a lot. My oldest does not like full on chocolate, hence, he does not like brownies. WHOSE KID IS HE???

I switched a few things up. I used dark brown sugar instead of light, because that's what I had.

I used mostly natural peanut butter with maybe an 1/8 of a cup of regular peanut butter, because I wanted to use the last of the jar.

I also didn't put the salted peanuts in...otherwise no kid of mine would have eaten them...and you know what happens there.

Dumped in a cup of mini chocolate chips. Oh yeah...I also baked them in a 9x13 pan sprayed with Baker's Joy. No problems there.

The result?

Peanut buttery goodness with some chocolate thrown in for good measure. Because everything is better with chocolate....wait that's bacon. Bacon or chocolate? Bacon AND chocolate! I can't decide.

Thanks go to Nicole from Bakeologie for this week's recipe.

Don't forget to stop by here to see the other baked up blondies.

Thanks for stopping by. See you next week if I can keep this up. :)