baking baby.

If you follow me on Facebook, then you may (or may not) know that the hubs and I just moved a couple months ago. As I packed up my old kitchen, I dreamt about the cake plates and platters and such that have been stored in the garage over the years. And then I organized my baking supplies into gigantic storage containers, dreaming of using it all, and having it all easily accessible to me, now that they would have a dedicated place in our finished basement.

For a couple weeks after we had finally moved in, I was still in denial about having to cook again...I was under the impression we could get take out for dinner every night, despite the fact that our entire kitchen was unpacked, organized, and clean (oh yah, and that we now had a mortgage to pay).

Slowly but surely, though, I began getting to know my new oven. I started by acquainting myself with her friend, the stove. Then I worked up the courage to start courting her, with easy things, like frozen french fries (seriously people...the hubs and I have been eating out since May...I've kinda forgotten what real veggies are). 

Rather quickly, things got a little more serious. We spent more and more time together, as I worked my way up to a casserole and meals of the sort. And then...we decided...it was time. Our first time together was magical, and we made beautiful chocolate chip whoopie pies. 
So. Good. 
It almost made me forget about the past four years that I spent with my old oven. And what makes this relationship more exciting is the fact that I get to use all the things I had been longing to break out.

We've been baking together as much as my schedule allows, and I got my first official order based out of our new location. Baking with my new baby for a new baby. 

One little buggy adorned the sweet invitation, so naturally buggy cookies had to be made.

And of course some onesies.

Stripes, houndstooth, and polka dots. Perfect patterns for baby boys.

S'mores cupcakes: graham cracker crust, graham cracker and chocolate chip cake, marshmallow frosting .

Caramel Mocha cupcake: vanilla cake, caramel filling, mocha butter cream, chocolate covered espresso beans garnish.

Cupcake toppers to display a sweet message for the shower guests.

I must say, it was nice getting prepped to bake, since everything was organized much better than I had it in our other place. All of my icing bottles were in one place. My treat bags and boxes were all together. It was lovely. I could definitely get used to this.

 

It's nice to finally feel settled. Perhaps I'll go make s'more whoopie with the hubs my oven. hee hee ;)

I have a soft spot for babies. They're so cute and cuddly and I just wanna squish their little cheeks! [Note: At this juncture in my life, I have no babies of my own.] One of my cousins has six kids. 

That's right, I said six. Three of them are five and under. I'll let that sink in for a minute.

To an outsider, she makes it look rather easy. It's madness, I tell you. Straight up madness. And my family often questions when I have will have my own. Umm....lemme think about that for a second.

Right now, my baby is this new venture in my life. I'm loving it and giving it time to grow. So given the opportunity to do a little work for my cousin, and hopefully gain some new customers out of it -- I had to jump at the chance...despite the fact that I had less than two weeks. [This would be a good time to remind you all that I am still working full time. Those of you who work, bake your business, and have kids...you're crazy :P hehe]

When my cousin told me that the party's theme was Baby Mickey and she wanted 100 cake pops, I immediately thought of Bakerella and her amazing Mickey Mouse cake pops.  But I didn't want to get into all the detail that Bakerella had. Half of the cake pops were balls of various cake flavors, with light blue or light green candy melt coating adorned with the number '1'. The other half were Mickey's silhouette in the same colors, with white sanding sugar covering the top half.

It was definitely a challenge to get all of these pops done so quickly, but oh so worth it. :) See?? *SO CUTE* but this one's a terror ;)