Hello everyone! Happy EVERYTHING! I missed every holiday deadline didn't I? Well, I know. I'm terrible lost in the timeline, but I will be having a super collection of what was my Christmas like, the treats (with the awesome recipes from the awesome blogs I got them) that were given out on Christmas eve and a start up on the delicious cuties that will be coming to life for Valentine's day! Yes, I'm talking how I missed Christmas but there I go straight to Valentine... I love Valentines day! I can't help it! Cute little treats are a must to give out to everyone an give anyone you possibly know a nice warming gift for a day so full of love and stuff.. 'Cause you know, not everyone is in a relationship, so not everyone is actually looking forward to that day. And since I am, I wan't to make it special even to those single peeps :) 

I actually planned a super cute fondant cake but I'm still deciding what oh what should be my sweet treat to my boy, since we tend not to go out for dinner on Vday because its simply TOO crowded, so we stay in and make ourselves a delicious dinner, and there is where I'm ready, but the sweet ending? I don't know yet, but I will clear my mind and make a decision in time. I know I will. Or at least I hope so. :) Just kidding, I will! Oh yeah and since we're kinda on a "health kick" its a bit harder to think of healthy sweet treats with less sugar (or non if possible).

Then also happening this month: Tiramisu! The sweet, gorgeous italian sweet is once again been asked for! My in law family asked why I didn't make it for Christmas, because the first time I brought it (on a niece's birthday) they all said it would be a nice tradition to have that Tiramisu on every special occasion, but I honestly thought they were making a joke! Well.. no, it was not a joke! So I missed Christmas with it, so I will be giving one to a cosign for his birthday and I might even include mini tiramisus for everyone on Valentine's Day!  And of course the recipe will be up :) It's such a wonderful dish, I love the easiness and the simple ingredients that come all together to make a decadent and elegant dessert! 

Oh well, I just wanted to apologize for giving the blog such long vacations, and also to give everyone a heads up on whats to come from the past and the future!

'Till next time, XOXO!

Today I confirm my thoughts: this is a lazy weekend. Delicious, relaxing weekend. Even so, I was going through pictures and I realized I never shared with you the candy table that was put up by my lovely sister's in law and me, of course, on our cousin's baby shower! So, here it is. I soooo want to organize a party just to put up another dessert table. I think a dessert table is like the fun, sophisticated part of the party where the theme of the party has to be represented and captivate the guest with its beauty and creativity. I need to make one. I HAVE TO. soon...

'Till next time, XOXO!

YES! Today I am most excited about a little ity bity surprise I received on my email this morning... I won a giveaway! Yay me! I feel like I'm not the luckiest person to win on things like this but it really makes me so happy when I do! 

And who's the giver of such joy? 

"Love from the oven" was one of the first blogs I followed that kept me going with my baking. I've always loved cooking, since I was a little girl, but it's not easy to keep doing something when you do it by yourself. My mom doesn't like to cook or bake, and I don't have any close relatives around, they live kinda far... So Looking at all this yummy recipes, and trying them out, or just keep on reading her blog made me want to keep up with my cooking and baking. 

Amazing how a person can be such an inspiration, even if you don't personally know them. Well, this blog was born trying to follow blogs like Love From the Oven, and it has been a way to share some of the things I create with friends or family, so I think of it as a nice addition to my life. 

Going back to the joy, there's this fabulous thing Christi how going on right now at Love From the Oven: 12 Days of Holiday Baking!

She has such great giveaways all the time! But now, she really made it BIG! She's having tons of giveaways, links to free printables, etc! Talking about inspiration, huh? Well, on one of those giveaways, on which I'm always most certainly entered because I love to comment on her posts, lol, I actually was the lucky winner of a Christmas themed baking supply basket! All from a lovely store she has access to, called ABC Baking, which makes me pretty jealous after seeing her tour of said store....  But this is the section where the Christmas-y theme comes:

Just looking at it makes me oh so thrilled! Can't wait to receive such amazing gift and start doing something yummy with it! 

And talking about yummy, I'll share with you a wonderful treat Christi made in this holiday season spirit: delicious Double Chocolate Candy Cane Cookies! How yummy does it sound right?  and it's all using simple ingredients:

But you need to be as creative as her to end up with something as yummy looking as this!

Tell me you don't want to just run and grab the ingredients and start making these? Yummy! So beautiful and so perfect for this season! 

You see now why it is such an inspiration to follow her blog? Yep. That was Love From the Oven, please go and take a look around, but I warn you: you'll end up either hungry for such delicious photos or with an urge to try any of her recipes for sweet treats on your kitchen!

Christi, again, thank you for having such a wonderful blog, and for the fun and joy of having this giveaways. I don't win much, but I'm feeling pretty lucky! Maybe I should go buy a lottery ticket? No? Maybe, lol! And people: visit the 12 Days of Holiday Baking, don't think "oh no, only her family and friends have a chance of winning those kind of giveaways", No, she clearly states she will use Random.org to pick a winning number (this is a comment number), and who knows, you might just win, like me! :)

'Till next time, XOXO!

I've been going like a crazy lady over the Cricut, since now I'm stuck on the food channel, and all things creative have commercials there, I was a victim of consumerism and HAD to buy a cricut. I did looked everywhere to get it to the cheapest price, etc etc. But it doesn't get lower that maybe $50 bucks from the retail price. So I ended up buying it at Michaels, yay! An expensive little gift from me to me. 

But remember I was making x-mas tags? Well, this little baby has been my little helping elf on creating even more tags! And let me tell you, while at michaels I was tempted by these wonderful glitters...

Every color of the rainbow is here with some friends to play along, yay! Any ways, now the tags have shimmer and more complex forms. Since they are so pretty I had to start using them on my christmas wrapping, thats why I have no pictures of them yet, it is a mess of scissors, tape and pieces of paper everywhere. But I will get to them :) On the meanwhile I keep abusing my new Cricut to the point where I don't have anything else to cut with it. Though it comes with 2 pre loaded cartridges I bought 3 online (yes on ebay at $15 bucks when they are $60-$89 everywhere else) and oh boy! I'm just hoping the "winter" one arrives soon to be used for this jolly season!

Now only scraps are left (and I use every little bit of paper! You see those corners? good enough for some puncher action). Oh my, I feel like a little kid every time I use my cricut, the same feeling when I'm baking, or behind the camera... I get to always be thankful that been a photographer is not a job, I get paid to do one of the things I love the most. :)

'Till next time, XOXO!

HEllo :) Far from been a cozy x-mas time.. is a freezing time. We had to put on throws just to keep us warm while on the office. Not cool. Well, too cool maybe. Not nice. But here is the post about all the little cuties that now live around the house to give the holiday cheer! :) 

From our colorful tree to little penguins all over it and all over the house! You know.. thats why they call me Pinwi.. from been a penguin lover :) Yes oh yes. 

Then theres the cutest little Santa with a cookie and a glass of milk, why that couldn't be more perfect :). Our new center piece threw away the pumpkins for ornaments in various colors, and even the breakfast bar chairs have 3 ornaments hanging on them! So holiday-ish all over the house! Well, I leave to you, the pics to see all this cheer!

'Till next time, XOXO!

I'm freezing right now! I don't like getting the heat up.. I just bulk on the throws while on the couch and pile the covers on the bed until I'm warm and toasty! And yet, I feel cold right now. I'd prefer to be baking something, it even heats the house! It's a small house so it serves well. 

Also! This is just a post to let you know tomorrow I'll be sharing the christmas stuff that lives around the house :) And the baked goods I plan on sharing for this holiday season! Yay for baking and sharing! (less temptations on eating it all!)

'Till next time, XOXO!

Yay! My house is finally turning christmas-y! We went and look for the perfect tree.. and we found it!  (Sorry for the dark pictures.. it was kinda late, and the phone had a little struggle there)

And it has the cutest little pines all over! And when I say little, I mean bigger than usual for a Christmas tree. but still the size of a button! So cute! And so perfect to hold the ornaments, you know, the ones that always find their way sliding down the branch... Those ornaments. Oh well, time to get the x-mas decorations and set this little cutie with lights and every other colorful ornament we have here! 

'Till next time, XOXO!

Hello everyone! Last week I made a little twist on the common yellow cake, by adding oreo cookies! Yes, having oreos made it so much better. I even delivered the cake to my cousin, since it was made for his birthday, and when I was offered a slice I had to accept! And let me tell you: it was yummy! 

Here's how I did it:

So simple, right? Well, just prepare the cake mix as it says on the packaging. Of course I had to use my beautiful Kitchen Aid stand mixer! I know it sounds as if I'm lazy for not putting everything in the bowl and just hand mix it... BUT! Having this is so much better, I can mix everything, leave it and still be preparing the frosting or something. It's like an extra pair of hands. With a bowl of course. 

Then, put that cake in the oven! I used two 9in pans as regular cake would have. And mean while, I took out 25 oreo cookies and my boyfriend and I started separating them, and with a spatula, scraped the filling into a bowl!

Ta da! Now you have empty oreos, ready to be used covering the sides of the cake, and enough filling to mix with a little frosting and spread between the layers! Yummy!

Ok, now that the cake is ready, let it cool for around 20 minutes, and it will come of easily. And while you wait you can start mixing the frosting and the oreo filling!

Just so you know, when you don't find enough of the same icing.. .don't be afraid to mix flavors. I know that Duncan Hines and Betty Crocker are completely different! But some times, like in these hard economy times, you might find certain brands at discounted prices, and its amazing if you do! Just buy them. I had these two mixed up, and guess what? Yes they are different, yes they have different consistencies... But they taste the same once mixed. Yep, they do. Now, I put them on the microwave for around 15 seconds to soften them up. Always on a microwave safe bowl, never on the cans. I'm kinda scared to do that. 

Now position your cake, grab yourself a spatula and.. frost! 

First I do the center of the cake with the oreo filling mixed with the frosting. Just the perfect portion, it was incredibly perfect. Then, finish covering the cake as usual. Don't stress on making it perfectly smooth on the sides, you'll end up covering them with oreos!

Looking yummy? Yes it is! Now.. top it off!

Some more oreos on the top... and its ready to be packed and delivered!

So yummy, and so easy! Right? It looks so nice, so lovely and it tastes even better! I loved it. Everyone did! I've been asked about the recipe, I bet no one thought it'd be that easy! :) Oh well, a nice cake, with nice ingredients and made with love.. thats all you need! I'm adding this cake to my "favorites"! 

'Till next time, XOXO!

November's last day. Is it sad? NO!  It's christmas rolling over! I personally will start decorating until Dec 1st, and that means looking for a nice green tree! Why? Because even though we do have a plastic tree.. I don't like it. If it doesn't smell like pine tree in my whole house.. then it is definitely not Christmas! I, once, even tried to put those candled with pine scent.. NOT THE SAME! I could't do it another year so, I do have the artificial tree down in the garage, all packed up... Just in case. But a real tree is coming into my home. I'm a tree hugger, and I do know its Tree killing season, but if I don't buy it, it doesn't mean it will live longer, it's already cut and for sale, I might as we'll give it a loving home in my house.

That said, the Christmas spirit came yesterday but in a small way... small paper way... Gift tags! Yay! Besides loving to do photography and cooking... crafts are the other thing that set me on OCD but gives me a relaxing time. My mother always said "you are not relaxed... you are stressed about getting the crafts and food and photos perfect! That is not relaxing" Oh but it is. I do get the perfectionist in me a little way out once every now and then, but still I love doing this stuff. I really do love it! And yesterday while buying some groceries at Target, I found this adorable little Christmas tree and snowflake punchers! How could I resist!

You see that third border puncher? Yeah, I couldn't resist either. They are so adorable! I love them! And let me tell you something, I'm not really a puncher person. I don't like to be limited to "how far the puncher can enter" the paper, but these are perfect. I had to have them.  Also I bought a bag of crap paper, literally scraps of paper. I did not know those exited for sale. And 4 bucks later I had it. 

I had everything I needed to try those punchers now. And as soon as we finished having dinner, my boyfriend wanted to watch some Terra Nova, yeah we missed the past episode, so we had to catch on to it! And it was a perfect timing, I could sit and watch it while trying out the new punchers! And Christmas tags starting to be created. I am so pleased with how they turned out. And since i'm planning to make some snowflake cookies to give away, this will look lovely! 

Now one by one...

I had them in my fingers so you can see the different sizes. Lovely, I just love them all! So what do you think? I can't have enough of the punchers now, and that scrap paper? Amazing what you can do with it... Imagination is just a scrap away apparently, just add punchers, scissors, a guillotine, some glue and presto! 

'Till next time, XOXO!

Finally! I get to post pictures on that!! I had them, but remember I was having some trout;e with the pics, yeah.. it was the size. I'm so used to getting the hi res for web images (like with the photography stuff) but then I realized this is a whole different thing! I can't seem to figure why I never read the "upload" max info, but then again I was too exited posting stuff.

Anyway, I'm here trying to compensate for the past time with no rent updates! BUT, here are the cute cookies I made for my cousin's baby shower! 

First some hearts with the baby girl's name on it "Sara-Marie" And then some stars with the tag "It's a girl". They were delicious and made everyone so happy! I will try to get the candy table pics, I have them on my phone so yeah.. lazy me will update them soon :) It's a promise! 

Oh and yes I ended up using Bakingdom's sugar cookie recipe! So easy to fold and cut! I think I liked it better (even in taste) than the Martha Stewart one. Just saying.

Yes, I went nuts with the sprinkles! I had left over chocolate (melted) from the cake pops and .. ta da! Sprinkles where everywhere! From chocolate little ones to this pearls...  Oh and down here: The cake pops in the making! 

I think wrapping them made them so much nicer! And so elegant, in my opinion. I loved them, and had to put the heart sprinkles on them to kinda resemble flower petals. You know, it's a GIRL baby shower, how can you not have flowers! And well, yes I went over board with the soft pink.. the cookies and the melted chocolate were pink, but hey! It was cute. Yes, yes it was. 


Hope you enjoyed this past treats! 
'Till next time, XOXO!