Chocolate Chip Cookies

I have to say. The best chocolate chip cookie recipe is on the back of the Chipits bag. Hands down.

Merry Christmas!!!

     

    

Happy Birthday, Martine!

Wedding Bells are Ringing!

Happy Birthday, Samiyah!

Happy Birthday Heidi and Rebekah!

Just pictures today...

Happy Birthday, Kate!

Wow, how time flies. It seems like yesterday that we were welcoming Kate into our family. It was such a huge change from one kid to two. Kate and Rachel are only 20 months apart and the first year was absolute chaos.

But as time goes by, it seems to get easier and easier. Phew. Thank goodness.

For Kate's first birthday, we celebrated with her boyfriend Luciano with a double-sided stacked cake.

For Kate's second birthday, we had a breakfast party and enjoyed some monkey cupcakes with the family.

This year, Kate is all about Tinkerbell. It's amazing how young you can get sucked into Disney marketing.

So for her party, the only choice I had was a Tinkerbell cake. No problem. I had a great time baking and decorating her cake last night. It is a three-tier, fondant covered Tinkerbell cake. Three flavours--vanilla, chocolate and carrot. Yum Yum!

I thought we would have lots left over, but I was so wrong! The kids and parents gobbled it all up!

To my little girl, Happy Birthday!

Happy 10th Birthday, Eric!

My nephew is turning 10 on Monday. Wow how time flies. I remember the night he was born, it was the night before my first full day as a teacher. It was pretty exciting!

So tonight, we are all heading over to celebrate his 10th birthday.

And I was in charge of the cake....

Usually, he asks for some kind of sports themed/superhero cake. I've done a soccer ball cake, soccer cake, spiderman cake, football cake...

Enough sports already.

So this is the biggest cake I could think of for my little nephew (who's not so little any more!).

That's right. It's a 4 layer chocolate and vanilla cake. It's two full cakes in one!

And covered in Smarties!

Delicious!

I hope he has a wonderful birthday and enjoys every ounce of this massive cake.

Happy Birthday, Eric!

Love Auntie Casey

There's Nothing Like a Cupcake...

Got the winter blues?

Me too.

Help! My Kitchen has been Hijacked!

Help! My kitchen has been hijacked! I had just returned home from my last minute Christmas shopping to find  my kitchen had been taken over by flour, cookies and my loving husband. You see, I've been off school for a week and have been baking a little bit at a time. Well, today is my husband's first day off, and he's trying to cram a week's worth of baking into 4 hours.

Watch out! You have been warned!

This is my husband. Yes, he is sick, and tired and sick and tired.

When I got home, I found trays of gingerbread cookies waiting to go into the oven.

Whipped shortbread cookies cooling on top of the oven...

A flour explosion over the entire kitchen.....

And Rob complaining that the oven can't keep up with his burst of baking energy....

Oops! Rob nearly dropped the cookies while posing for my picture!

 Here's the final tally:

24 double chocolate cream cheese brownies (You definitely need a glass a milk with these!)

60 whipped shortbread

45 gingerbread cookies

I love the holidays. I love having time to bake all sorts of yummy treats for my kids, their teachers and my family.

But the baking didn't stop there. The next morning, as Rob was finishing the last of his Christmas shopping--which consisted of going to Shopper's Drug Mart for my stocking stuffers--I continued to bake. A lemon meringue pie and mini-chocolate cheesecakes for the Daleman family dinner.

So good.

Cheers,
--Casey

Happy Holidays!

Every year, I promise myself to take it easy during the last week of school and slide quietly and stress-free into the holidays.

And once again I opened my big mouth:

Student: Miss, can we do gingerbread houses again?

Me: Sure!

Doh!

So here we go again. This year, all three of my classes decorated gingerbread houses on the last day of classes. On Thursday night, one of my students who works in a bakery help me build 26 houses after school. At night, I whipped up 4 double batches of royal icing and made up 26 piping bags for the next day.

Phew.

Here's the results!

Chocolate Dipped Strawberries

Tonight, I'm going to dispel a common myth. I'm going to burst the bubble. I'm going to let the cat out of the bag.

Chocolate dipped strawberries are EASY!!

I'm always shocked when I see bakeries and chocolatiers selling hand-dipped chocolate strawberries for upwards of $2.50/berries. Sure, they may use better chocolate, but really, who needs it?

So here's how to make your own chocolate dipped strawberries:

Start with dry, washed strawberries (you may want to do this the day before, water will wreck the chocolate)

 In a microwave safe bowl, melt lots of chocolate chips (or better chocolate if you desire) and 1-2 tsp of Parawax (this is what gives the chocolate the shiny texture when then dry, and is found in most candy)

Hold the strawberry by the stem and dip into the chocolate. Let the extra fall off.

Place on a parchement paper lined cookie sheet. Cool.

That's it! I'm not kidding!

These will surely be a hit at your next holiday party!

--Casey