Thursday, December 8, 2011

fun, friends, and duncan hines


Thanks to Duncan Hines for sponsoring my writing. There's no limit to the baking possibilities, so grab your favorite Duncan Hines mix and Comstock or Wilderness fruit fillings and Bake On! www.duncanhines.com.


cupcakes_toppers
No one wants to talk about the fact that Christmas is only 17 days away (YIKES!!), so let’s talk about one of my favorite topics…holiday desserts!  When asked to bring something for a Christmas party or holiday get-together, I almost always sign up for a dessert.  I love to bake and have accumulated some great recipes.  But, sometimes there isn’t time to spend making a dessert from scratch…so I always keep a box of Duncan Hines cake mix and frosting in my pantry!

In fact, we just celebrated Grayson’s fourth birthday last week and had Duncan Hines cupcakes for his “friend” birthday party.  I was going to make homemade butter cream frosting, but what child really cares about frosting?  I used a Duncan Hines yellow cake mix, piped canned chocolate frosting on, and stuck in a cupcake topper that I designed.  The cupcakes looked great and tasted great!

While checking out the Duncan Hines website, I came across LOTS of yummy sounding recipes.  In fact, I’m going to try this one this weekend to bring to a playdate with Grayson’s friends on Monday.  I’m thinking of having the kiddos decorate their own Gingerbread Men!

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Duncan Hines Recipe Gingerbread Men


 
  1. Preheat oven to 375 ºF.
  2. Combine cake mix, flour, eggs, oil, molasses and ginger in large bowl (mixture will be soft). Refrigerate 2 hours.
  3. Place dough on lightly floured surface, cover with waxed paper. Roll dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut with gingerbread man cookie cutter. Place 3 inches apart on non-pareils ungreased cookie sheet. Decorate with non pareils.
  4. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until edges start to brown. Remove immediately to cooling rack.
  5. Makes 12 to 14 six-inch gingerbread men.
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Don’t those sound delicious?  I’ll let you know next week after I test them!
What are your favorite desserts to make for the holidays?  Does your family have any “traditional” desserts that are always made around this time of year?

Remember to check out Duncan Hines' website www.duncanhines.com to find some great recipes for your holiday get-together! I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

cookie exchange wrapping & recipe…

We had our annual cookie exchange at my MOPS group this morning and I knew just what cookie I was going to bake…my double chocolate peanut butter cookies!

I whipped up a batch last night but realized that I didn’t have any paper plates (or disposable trays) to wrap my cookies up.  I racked my brain and remembered a “good thing” from Martha Stewart Living years ago…wrap the cookies in a wax paper tube and tie some ribbon (or tulle) on the ends!

cookie_exchange_wrapping

We were also encouraged to bring the recipe along, so I designed a cute “Christmassy” recipe card in Photoshop, typed out my recipe, printed it on cardstock, and attached it to the tulle.

cookie_exchange_wrapping2

Need a good cookie exchange recipe?  Here’s a copy of my recipe card.  Just save it on your computer and print it out!

double chocolate peanut butter

Want to make your own recipe card for a cookie exchange?  Here’s a blank one you can print out and write your recipe on!  These would also make cute note cards to use during the Christmas season.

recipe_card

Do you have a favorite “go to” cookie recipe?  Or are you more of a “slice and baker”?

Monday, December 5, 2011

Chevron wrap around labels…

Have you ordered your Christmas cards yet?  We should have ours in the mail any day – just waiting on the order to arrive from TinyPrints!  In the mean time I designed the wrap around label for our Christmas cards.  I always print my own labels as soon as I order the cards and then by the time my cards arrive, I have the addresses done!  I simply wrap the labels around, sign the cards, stuff the envelopes, and mail them!

chevron labels_jpg

I’ve created a .pdf version for you if you’d like to download it!

Can you guess what color scheme we used for our Christmas cards?  Do you stick with the traditional red/green colors or branch out a little?
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