Cookie Fun!

Do you remember the days back when you were in grade school and the entire back page of your notebook as covered in scribbles, doodles, and sketches? Drifting off to whatever daydream distracts you while your pen has a mind of it’s own? Well the following cookies are pretty much my “adult” version of that. (No, not “Adult” as X-rated, but adult as in I’m no longer living my life by a school bell schedule).

See what I mean?

Guess I was still day dreaming about the beach?!?!

I don’t know what kind of day dream this was because I am not a super fan of facial hair, but all the same I think the mustaches came out kind of cute! These cookies I think will be golden in the Fall when my guy friends all decide to participate in Movember! I’m thinking these will be a seller!

And finally these were the culprit tools that led to my goofing around! Sometimes I just end up with extra cookies and extra icing! I surely can’t let good cookies OR good icing go to waste! So I doodled! And I doodled some more… finally the icing ran out.

This was a fun cookie day! A way more enjoyable afternoon than doing my taxes!!

Thanks for stopping by!

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Vacation Hangover!

Oh wow, this is a vacation hangover at it’s best! And let me state for the record there is no alcohol involved in this one. Just a lot of sunscreen!

My sister and I often take spring breaks together. She and I are both school teachers (although, I haven’t taught in 2 years) and by the time spring break comes the students (and teachers) are so ready and itching for a break from the everyday school life that we skedaddle out of here…. and to the beach! This year was no different; she was beat out, so off to the beach we went!

Now the two of us aren’t particularly hard to please when it comes to the beach. We need the following:

* A beach

* Sunshine

* Clean sleeping conditions

* A refrigerator

* A grocery store within walking distance

Oh, and chocolate! Lot’s of chocolate. Primarily the refrigerator is to keep our chocolate cold, and maybe along with a few beers and deli meats. Mostly the chocolate. Other than that, we don’t need anything too fancy!

We eat our own deli meat sandwiches for a late lunch, (chocolate for breakfast, obviously), and then after spending the day basking in the sun we close up our reading entertainment and head out to find refreshments!

One evening it took a while to get our food, so since I hadn’t been at home in a few days being creative in the kitchen, I had to do something to let out some my skillz! I present to you my dinner placemat! Like I said, we were traveling in high style!

After dinner most nights we took a long walk. Checking out the different beach boutiques. Finally one night we poked into Ron Jon’s Surf Shop. I remember when I was really really young going into this place. Back then Ron Jon’s was pretty much a beach/suffer shack, now the place is the size of a department store! Two stories and full of beach everything! I thought that the wall of never ending surf boards was pretty cool!

When I was telling the Boss about all of the surf boards and how there was a big surfing competition happening while we were down there, he asks “so how’s the water?” I think he was asking if I had actually gotten in the water…. no. I think I have been watching too much of the Discovery Channel’s “River Monsters”. Plus I KNEW these guys (below) would be out and about! I think I went in a few times about ankle deep, that’s about it.

Plus, I didn’t have time to get in the water. I was finishing off the third book of the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series and then diving head first into the Hunger Games Trilogy. I’m telling you, if you have not bothered to read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, you’re missing out! That whole series was quite a roller coaster. I highly recommend it (as does the rest of the world!) IF you think “those books are too long”, which they are fairly long, then you should not wait any longer! You MUST go out and get the Hunger Games! This is a super fast read. I was finished the first two books in two and a half days, and honestly once I press publish on this post, I’m heading down to Barns and Nobel for the third!! You best start reading!

Since my sister and I only hit up the Florida coast for a short trip, Monday to Friday, the Boss had plans for me when I came home for the weekend. We had our own little Easter celebration in Boston, VA at a B&B followed by dinner at my absolute favorite restaurant, The Inn at Little Washington.  

Now that it’s Monday, and everything has gone back to normal (a.k.a I don’t have a beach to go lounge around on) you might understand how I am suffering from what I call my “Vacation Hangover”. It’s very sad. And honestly, the buzzer for the dryer just went off, so now it’s confirmed that I’m really home. Maybe I’ll go curl up in the pile of warm towels for a while and pretend I’m back at the warmth of the beach!!

Thanks for stopping by!

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DIY Wedding Out of town Guests bags

Being at the beach this week has made me reflect on my wedding last July. We were married on the beach, and that was what I always wanted!

Right after the wedding I posted several posts about the wedding, mostly the wedding details. You can find them all here in “The Bird House”. I didn’t post all of the wedding details back in July only because I didn’t want you to burn out from reading wedding posts!

As you may know, I love creating desserts, but I also love taking care of all of the party planning details! One detail that I absolutely wanted (and so did the Boss) were “Out of Town Guest Bags”. These are traditionally left at the hotel for family and friends who may have traveled from out of town to the wedding. The bags contain things of convenience and/or snacks that one might forget to pack.

Since we had a destination wedding, essentially ALL of our guests were out of towners! I made one bag for each hotel room and stuffed it with more beach festive things. The bags in our case were more like “Thanks for making the trip” bags!

First I started off with buying the bags from Creative Packaging (I don’t have any connection with this company, I just have had zero problems with them, they are fast to ship and I have not found anyone cheaper!). Also, I bought a few cute ink stamps from the local craft store, and had left over 2” wide ribbon from another wedding project.

I stamped away and my Mom tied of the bows.

Then we did a run through with one bag to make sure the all of the goodies actually fit in the bag! Maybe I should have thought of this earlier, but it worked out just fine!

We only stuffed one bag because we had to travel with a lot of wedding stuff and it was WAY easier to pack the paper bags while folded up tight and stuff the other contents into boxes were they fit. My sister and I stuffed all of the bags in our hotel room as guests showed up during the week!

By now you must be wondering, “what did they put in the bags?” Well, we were staying at an all inclusive beach resort, and most guests were staying for 5 days or so. What would YOU want in a loot bag on the beach? I thought it was pretty straight forward:

* Reading material

* Snack food (be honest, you can’t get Swedish Fish at a resort in the Dominican on your own)

* SPF Lip Gloss

* Pool toys

* Pain killers (remember it was an all inclusive resort AND wedding week = lots of celebrating)

As our guests arrived, The Boss and I would make every effort we could to find them at check in or soon after and say hi and give them their welcome bag. Our guests LOVED getting a little something upon arrival, and even more so thought it was a great way to be welcomed and start their stay!

So even if your guests aren’t traveling to a destination wedding or even cross country, maybe you should think of having a little surprise for them upon arrival. It doesn’t have to be an entire treat bag, maybe just a snack bag of Swedish Fish with a tag that says “We’re glad you are here”.

So there you have it. “Out of Town Guest Bags” they are so simple yet so meaningful. What do you think? Would you have liked to receive a little something upon arrival to your last wedding?

Have a great weekend everyone! See you Monday.

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Nautical Cookies

Recently a friend of Bertie’s Bakery Blog inquired about a possible cookie arrangement for her sister’s family who were proud new boat owners! Since custom made cookies are definitely a part of my world here at Bertie’s Bakery I was excited to take on the project!

After much deliberation over the cookie design and what nautical symbols to choose, I came up with these. I love the traditional nautical colors, and was really pleased with how the cookies turned out!

Hopefully the new boat owners felt the same way. In the event that they do not like the colors or designs, I imagine they would have been distracted by the great taste and texture of the cookies!

I think I like the lighthouse cookies the best :)

What about you, would you have enjoyed this package showing up on your doorstep?

As always, thanks for stopping by!

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“A Day of Modeling Chocolate”

Last week amongst all of the excitement of the cake competition at the National Capital Area Cake Show, I was also taking several classes for “cake education”. One of the classes that I took was called “A Day of Modeling Chocolate”, taught by Lauren Kitchens and Mike McCary. Both of these cake designers I have followed for quite some time and I am always baffled by the creations that they design. Fortunately for me, I was able to take an all day class co-taught by the both of them and attempt to absorb everything that they had to offer!

The start of the morning began with Mike giving us a sort of modeling chocolate 101. We did everything from learning to make and temper our own modeling chocolate, to finishing a cake with it and air brushing it! There was a lot of demoing on the versatility of what you can do with this type of chocolate! This guy was a piece of work! So knowledgeable and talented, yet his personality was perfect for a chocolate instructor; there was no ego there, just a urgency to make us love the craft as much as he does!

In what seemed like 30 minutes turned out to be 3 hours and it was time for lunch. Upon return Lauren had taken over and Mike became her sous chef- which meant it was sushi time!

As much as I would like to take you through the step by step of how we made these super cool bites of chocolate, I don’t think that that would be right…instead you’ll have to take her class! I highly recommend that you do!  In the meantime I will give you the up close of each piece of sushi!

Shrimp Sashimi

Sushi Omelet

Salmon Sashimi

California Roll

Salmon Sashimi

And sure enough, your wasabi and ginger!

This is Lauren. She demoed each piece and then sent us back to our seats to make our own! I loved it and was even happier with how her style of teaching set us up for success!

After we were done making the sushi I thought we were done for the day. I was wrong. After the sushi we created plates of the “Grand Slam Breakfasts” that you would often see at fine dining restaurants such as IHOP!

There your have it folks. Four of the absolute best things on earth! Bacon, eggs, French toast, and chocolate! That’s right, chocolate. Did you forget already that this was a chocolate class? Everything you’ve seen here so far has been made with chocolate! Which means, if you were to pick up that nice thick slice of French toast and bite into it, it would most certainly taste ten times better than fondant. Therefore, I’m fairly confident that from here on out most of my cake decoration details and sculpted objects are going to be modeling chocolate!

As for now, I’m now furiously saving money in an attempt to attend another class taught by these two! The one that I see on the schedule that interests me the most is “Muppetizing” with Lauren! Eeeeek I need to get moving!

What do you think? Did I have you fooled with the first photo? Do you know someone who LOVES sushi and would love to have a sushi cake or an occasion?

As always, thanks for reading!

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Novelty- Tiered Entry Takes the cake!

Last but not least. I had three entries in the National Capital Area Cake Show this past weekend, and this is the final one! If you missed the first two, click HERE for the cookie competition and HERE for my wedding cake entry, and since it’s Friday, if you really want to kill some time click HERE for the album that shows all entries into the show.

This cake was entered in the “Novelty-Tiered” category, and it was my take on a whimsical tea party. I really enjoyed making all of the different elements to this cake, especially the tea cups!

Here’s a closer look at all of the details:

Looking at all the details, I think I liked the pink tea cup on top the best, with the purple polka-dots coming a close second!  I’d love to hear your feedback though!

Since it’s Friday, I figured a more photo-full post would be best over lots of wordiness. Most importantly, hopefully I inspired you to go find some cake…and eat it too! Many of you might have a “long run” or “long ride” tomorrow anyways, so go for it… go find something sweet to eat!  And even if not, go enjoy some cake!

Have a great weekend!

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National Capital Area Cake Show: Wedding Cake Reveal

I think it is time to show off one of my favorite accomplishments to date!

The first ever Bertie’s Bakery wedding cake! When I signed up for the cake show this year I wanted to force myself to take the opportunity to create a wedding cake. As most of you know, a lot of my cakes are very animated and take on a bit of character. I wanted to also show that I could do something elegant and classic for a bride (in case a bride-to-be ever comes along looking for a cake!).

I was so excited to get going on this cake that I had too many ideas on how the design should look. In the end I reeled myself back and created a very classic lace and pearls design. What girl doesn’t love pink, pearls, and lace? To top it off over two dozen roses!

I was really pleased with how the cake turned out, and I was actually really surprised by how much I really loved making the sugar roses. I had never made sugar roses before, how hard could it be?

Before the cake show I was on the phone with my dad explaining the process of creating the rose. I couldn’t help but explain how every rose is different. The color, number of petals, and the curl of each petal all differed slightly, and that was what I enjoyed the most. There was almost something very “zen” about creating each individual rose.

So finally came the weekend and it was judgment time.

A 1st place blue ribbon! Wow! I was stoked! I did take some criticism on the color of the leafs incorporated within the roses. The judge felt that a deeper leaf green would have been a better choice. I knew going in that would be said. In my mind there is a difference in making “show cakes” and “current cakes”. Personally I don’t always need a perfect real life replica of flowers on my cakes. If the flowers were all ivory or all pink, then yes I would agree a pop of green would be nice. However in this case I wanted the leaves to be supporting, but not stand out. They were there and added another dimension to the roses, but they didn’t take away or distract your eye from the color flow of pink and ivory. Either way, I did make the conscious choice to create that color scheme, so I was ready and willing to receive the feedback.

Very proud of my Blue Ribbon 1st place win, I took my cake home :)

Now…anyone out there getting married?

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