Birthdays and babies!

This past weekend I did the most baking I've done in a while! I got to make some CUTE baby shower cookies for a first-time customer. She had some of the "41" cookies I made and got my number from the people that bought them. They were so excited about the cookies- I hope the shower was a success and the cookies were a hit!

Also got to make a couple birthday cakes for a very lucky guy. Remember the bright-colored topsy-turvy cake I made for Rylie in March? Her dad's birthday was Sunday and she requested a UNI colored cake for him. The lucky guy also got a cake to take to work on Monday- isn't that sweet?

The big 4-1 :)

Need some Birthday or Anniversary cookies but don't really have a theme? I've got this cute little set of numbers that, when stuck together, make the cutest little cookies :)

These happen to be a little surprise for Joel's 41st birthday~ Make it a great year, Joel!!

What do all the best treats have?

A little salt, a little sweet, kinda gooey and kinda crunchy :) It's nothing earth-shattering, but if you've never had sweet party mix, you're missing out! It's great for parties, car rides, camping trips, bake sales... well, any occasion really!

PG-13???

All it took to make this cake appropriate for online viewing was a little black bar :) After all, what's better for a birthday/anniversary cake than a tasty pair of... cake domes?
Funny cake- with the right crowd! Enough said :)

Feelin' Patriotic

What better way to celebrate the 4th than with a tasty flag cake?! I had a little helper for this particular cake- she stirred for me and really got a kick out of pouring the batter in the pan :)

The flag cake turned out pretty cool and was a big hit at the 4th of July party!

The other FUN patriotic cake I got to make this year was for my 2nd cousin Brenda's surprise 60th birthday party! They told me they wanted a 3-tier red, white and blue cake and left it wide open for me to do whatever I wanted with the rest! I had a blast making marshmallow fondant (which tastes pretty darn good!) and playing with it to decorate. The cake was a huge hit, and the party was lots of fun. Happy 60th Brenda!!!

Today was my coworker Don's (affectionately referred to as "Uncle Don") 65th Birthday. I had the freedom to do pretty much whatever I wanted, and boy did I have a hard time deciding! I thought long and hard about doing some kind of "Old Man" cake, but ended up going off one of Don's favorite pastimes- golf!

Happy Birthday Don, I hope you have a wonderful year :)

Graduation!

It's the graduation time of year, so instead of posting a bunch of different blogs, I'm compiling into one! Congratulations to all the graduates :)

First up is my bud Jackson who graduated from Pre-School- Congrats Jackson!! Kindergarten is going to be great!!


My friend Nicole is a big orderer, so of course she asked me to make cookies for her sister Aimee's HS graduation. Their theme was gerbera daisies and bright pink, blue, green & purple, and we threw in some soccer balls to make it a little more personal.


And last but not least, 2 graduations at Iowa last weekend- My wonderful brother-in-law Kevin, and my friend Beth, who after 9 long years has graduated with her MBA and a law degree!

Some fun cookies

Seems like I'm so busy working and baking that I don't have time to blog, so here's a quickie! A couple of the cookies I've made recently included a big order with the "It's great to be 8!" theme for a birthday girl to take to school, and some tasty summery ice cream cones!

That's a LOT of mints!

I don't get a LOT of requests for cream cheese mints, but I do love to make them if anyone needs them! I can do a variety of shapes, sizes, colors, so just let me know what you have in mind!

National Nurse Week

Is May 6-12th this year. My mother-in-law works at a hospital and ordered these cute cookies to give to the cardiac nursing unit as a good deed. I thought they were so cute, I had to share!


Happy Nurses Week to all the women and men out there who help keep us alive and well!

Congratulations on your First Communion John!

My neighbor in Algona, John, is celebrating his First Communion this weekend. It's a little hard for me to believe he's old enough for this already- it seems like he was just born a couple years ago!


The cakes I made for his sister Maria's First Communion a few years ago were a big hit with the family, so I was more than happy to make them cakes again!


John is lucky enough to have all sorts of family around for his big day, including his cousin Josie who is celebrating a birthday. I thought it was very nice of them to have a cake for her too :)

Happy 30th Claire!

I got an email a couple weeks ago from a girl I went to HS with saying she had been looking for an excuse to order some cookies from me, and she finally had it! Claire is celebrating the big 3-0 this weekend with a fun and girly party.

The "prom dress" cookies were inspired by her invitations and the fact that she and her friends are dressing up in old prom & bridesmaid dresses and hitting the town. Sounds like a good time!

Hope you had a fabulous birthday Claire!!

May Day!

Just some fun flower cookies I made for May Day :)

A first time for everything

Believe it or not, I've never made a carrot cake. Well.... hadn't until a week ago when someone asked for one! I was a little worried about making it because I don't like it at all, so I have no idea what makes a good one!


I did a little research, talked to a few people that love it, and came up with a winning recipe. I had no idea carrot cake was such a time-consuming project!


I still didn't try it, but from what I hear, it ended up great, so the time spent researching and baking was well worth it :)

Oz with Orchestra

Since coming back to the Waterloo/Cedar Falls area, I haven't had a chance to attend a symphony concert. When Chris told me they were showing one of my favorite movies- The Wizard of Oz- and playing the score, I couldn't miss it!

In appreciation of their volunteers, the Symphony Director asked me to make some "ruby slipper" cookies to give them. They loved the cookies- they were even covered in (edible) glitter like the real thing but it's hard to tell in the picture.

A reason to celebrate

Some very dear friends of ours recently celebrated the 1st birthday and baptism of their little girl, Janey. They had a nice party with family and friends, and I was fortunate enough to be able to provide the cake!

I don't have any pictures, but even Janey got in on the cake action- she wasn't so sure at first, but the dug right in! She did get some in her mouth, but left quite a bit on her dad and the floor :)

Rylie's birthday extravaganza!

I'm behind on blogging again (sorry!), so between baking and decorating today I'm playing catch-up.

These are all goodies I made for my birthday-buddy Rylie's 3rd birthday. This lucky little girl had cookies to take to "preschool", a cake for her actual birthday at home, and a huge topsy-turvy cake for her big party.
The topsy-turvy cake was such a big hit my fans, I've already gotten requests for similar cakes!

New cookie

I got to use this CUTE birthday cupcake cookie cutter this week to help a fabulous customer (Janelle!!) celebrate her birthday. She tells me she's "addicted" to my cookies, so I hope these hit the spot :) Happy Birthday Janelle!

Baby shower!

A fun polka-dot cake I made for my friend Bryn who had a baby shower for her sister. We put the cake on a glass pedestal and not only did it look cute, it tasted great, too!

The frosting bags after I was done with all the dots :)

Celebrating 20 years!

This week I had the opportunity to make some sample cookies for the 20th anniversary of the Hearst Center for the Arts in Cedar Falls. We decided to go with "20"'s and paint palettes to represent the arts.
The Hearst Center is a valuable part of the community, so I'd like to say an early CONGRATULATIONS on 20 wonderful years!

Just for fun...

Do something nice for your friends!

For example, if your friend loves red velvet cake, perhaps some red velvet cupcakes would be the perfect birthday treat!


Or say your friend is engaged and you don't want to give them the typical "Congrats on your engagement" card. How about some cute engagement ring cookies?

Beer's To You!

Last week, the Friends of the Gallagher Bluedorn Performing Arts Center celebrated their second annual Beer's To You And Gourmet Too event. It was a great night filled with fabulous food and unique beverages, and was celebrated with quite a crowd!

So when I was asked to make "thank you" cookies for the Friends group, was I surprised that I was asked to make beer cookies? Not beer FLAVORED cookies, cookies that LOOK like beer!

Through a little imagination and creative cookie cutter bending, I came up with a pilsner with a foamy top. I was a little unsure at first, but the cookies were a big hit!

Love is in the air...

And so is the smell of Valentine cookies! (Seriously, you should sniff my house and car!)

A big THANK YOU goes out to everyone who ordered a little something sweet for their sweetie, especially those of you who ordered for the first time!


Something new for this year: GIANT heart cookies! The one pictured is a huge monster cookie and smelled delicious *drool* :) I think the big cookie was a great addition to the lineup!

Sometimes cookies straight out of a bakery box just won't do, so here's a fun alternative. Cute little cellophane bags tied with curling ribbon!

Word is out!

Cookies make an awesome birthday treat for daycare or school!

Jackson, who is a big fan of my cookies, had birthday cakes and presents.


I also made some fun cookies for the Mellin family, who had eaten cookies I made at a family holiday. They ordered watermelons (get it? melon= Mellin! Cute huh?) and cars for the kids to take to school.