Happy Birthday Cousin RJ!

Yay! It's my take on Thomas the Train. He's not quite done in the pic above though. I made this for my cousins son's first birthday. So sad that I wont be there to help them celebrate this weekend, but I will be there in spirit! So I wanted to take a pic of what I had pictured in my mind so my cousin would know how to put it together. Thomas's face is sitting on a tupperware in this picture lol because we cant assemble him yet. So dont mind the gaps in the pic. But I am happy with the turnout, it is how I pictured it in my mind! lol.

So to help my cousin figure out how to assemble the cupcakes, I wrote all over the baseboard. I measured out and labeled which color goes where. And I think the pics I took will help give her a visual of what it should look like.

I hope he enjoys it!

:)

-Treen.

Oatmeal Cherry Chocolate Cookies and Choco Tarragon Cuppies!

Baking is my stress reliever. I've been super busy with work, and all the house stuff and all those other little things...I couldnt wait to get in the kitch and bake.

I didnt really know what to make. So I thought about this Bakery I went to in San Clemente a few weeks ago. There cupcakes were ehhh but there cookies were SO good. Their signature cookie is the Oatmeal toffee cherry chocolate cookie. And yes, it definitely lives up to its rep. Sweet, tart, crunch, chewy all in one=perfect. So I decided to try and recreate it.

When I was mixing, I realized that I didnt have enough quick oats (:{ ). I didnt want to stop baking just to go to the store for that, so I decided to throw in some of my steel cuts. Luckily, I was just a half cup short, but still, even with that amount I felt a bit sketchy adding it in. I was getting worried that they were going to not bake through and I'd have to throw em out....boo!

When I took them out, I tried them, and they were pretty good! Every few bites I'd get an extra crunch from the steel cuts, but the cookie was good. And next time, I'll add real toffee in the batter instead of toffee sprinkles.

only pic i took:

And then...Of course I had to bake cupcakes too! I love love love chocklity's blog and I tried her recipe for tarragon choco cupcakes. First time I've ever used tarragon in anything. Only thing I knew that had tarragon in it is this mint tea my boss likes hehe. So I wasnt really sure what I was supposed to be looking for. But I did half the recipe and add the same amount of tarragon, and it was still pretty light. But still. It was yummy, and everyone at work seemed to enjoy them!

til next time!

xo,

treen.

Spun Sugar

Spun sugar is my go to baking supply store (and its near the gourmet ghetto!score!) and I finally took one of their courses. :)

It was a cupcake decorating class! All of the decorating was really fun...but I probably wont buy things like the french tree on the gnome cake. :p

Check em out!

Not bad eh? :P