The Sweet Tooth Fairy Experience

I spent the better part of the day in Provo today. We stumbled upon the Sweet Tooth Fairy bakery almost by accident. While I was in the store, I was overwhelmed with pure happiness. I didn't even have to be eating or buying anything, I was just happy with the sights and atmosphere of the place. Fortunately for us, a young man entered the shop just after we did and asked for his free Friday cupcake. He then explained to us that they give away free cupcakes every Friday but you have to ask for it to get the deal. I don't know if every location does this or if it's just the Provo location. Here are a few pictures I took with the kids (who all got their own free cupcake). And, because it was our first time in the store, we were all given a free "cakebite" to sample. We super-scored, and didn't spend a penny while we were there. But I was extremely tempted to try the samoa cookie or samoa cupcake. Maybe next time when I'm not given everything for free!

Holly, I think these would become your new favorite sugar cookies, putting Granny B's to shame. 

There's that samoa cookie I was referring to (upper left).

Cakebites all lined up so purdy!

Like a kid in a candy store (where's the kids?)

Here they are!

We had such a good time! I didn't want to leave. Ever. 

And look at their cute pen-holding jar! Brilliant! 

I know you didn't get to see Matthew in this post. Wait till the next post. You'll get to see a lot of him! 

One Day, Two Parties

My sister hosted two parties in one day. The first was a snowman party for her grandchildren and she invited mine to come along. Here are a few pictures of them at the party. I think Olive has decided to smile without showing her teeth nowadays.

Here is Matthew, wearing a cute little hat made by my niece. 

Adorable Eliot- doesn't that basketball look 3-D? 

This little Olive has me completely wrapped around any finger she chooses. 

Agnes is coloring

And here she is with her snowman. I sure love this girl!

See what I mean about her not showing her teeth when she smiles? 

This the cutest picture EVER! 

Later that day we celebrated my other sister's birthday.

Laura and I spent way too much time fussing with this cake. I baked it and Laura decorated it, but she had a difficult time because that middle layer was non-cooperative during the baking process. No, it's not a hat. Laura did a great job salvaging what should have been an easy cake. Check out the icicles on the top layer! The fondant snowflakes were cut with a Cricut cake machine. There was a slight learning curve that went with it, but Laura mastered it quickly. 

Trying to cut the cake isn't as easy as you'd think. 

These two ladies have birthdays only one day apart. This is my niece that made Matthew's hat. 

I left the party for a short time and while I was away, LynnEl opened her gifts. One little thing I gave her was a cookie cutter. They could not figure out what the shape was supposed to be.

When I returned (having put on comfy clothes), I told them what it was (a sewing machine). OH! 

Seriously? It wasn't at all hard for me to figure it out when I saw it in the store! 

The three sisters! We're not spring chickens anymore, but we can still party with the best of them! Besides, who wants to be a chicken? Happy Birthday, LynnEl! That day is also a birthday for two of my grandchildren, Jackson and Sara. Happy Birthday to you too! XOXO

The Last Breakfast

This morning was the very laaast time we put on our missionary badges, and we went to a meeting. Once a month they do a training meeting and we eat breakfast (it's potluck). I took this as my final offering.  

It's called Overnight Blueberry French Toast. It's from here and I found it on Pinterest. It looked delicious! Her photo of the food is killer and mine kind of looks like a hamster or a wingless bat other small creature. I don't think there are such things as wingless bats, so forget I said that. 

Anyway, let's talk about the food. If you like French toast, and if you like cream cheese, and if you like blueberries, you'll like this. I used a loaf of French bread that was two days old. I shouldn't have used the entire loaf as I thought the bread to egg ratio was a little lopsided. The missionaries gave me many compliments on it, so I think they liked it. Either that, or they were all just being nice because it was my last day. However, the blueberry topping is awesome, no doubt about it. I'll type that part up because I'll need it later (when I'm off my diet) to spoon over vanilla ice cream. 

Blueberry Sauce (adapted slightly)

2 cups granulated sugar

1/3 cup plus 1 T cornstarch

3 cups water

2 T lemon juice

4 cups fresh or frozen blueberries (I used half of each because that's what I had in the house)

In a medium-large saucepan whisk together the sugar and cornstarch. Add water and and lemon juice. Stir over medium-high heat until mixture boils. Continue boiling for one minute (use a rubber spatula or wooden spoon with a long handle as the mixture pops a little and if it touches your hand, you'll reeeeally feel it, if you catch my drift). Add blueberries and reduce heat to low. Simmer, stirring occasionally for at least ten minutes. I continued to let mine simmer for about 30 minutes, while the casserole was baking. The flavor improved the longer it cooked.

Italian Cream Cake

For Matthew's blessing luncheon, there were several desserts. This one was particularly raved about. I promised I would post the recipe on Tuesday, but it didn't get done. I'm only one day late though, so I'm okay with that. Anyway, here's the link for the recipe.
Agnes enjoyed it a lot!

Face Painting

 We went to the Olympic Oval today to watch the speed skating trials for next month's Winter Olympics. It's crazy to me that these "kids" and their families still don't know who is on the team that will be competing in just a few weeks! Anyway, the kids were interested in the races, but they only do about three races before stopping to bring out the Zamboni to slick up the ice again. That means waiting around for twenty minutes. That's a lot of waiting for little kids. The line for the face painting was rather short, so we took the kids to have a turn. Just before it was their turn, the painting lady took a break. We thought that a little odd, since she was only "open" for another forty minutes. I guess she was seriously hungry and needed sustenance. The kids used her break time to chose their patterns.

Eliot got to go first and he chose this tiger!

Agnes

Olive

Side view!

Theo is Spidey

Gary is Wolverine (I think)

Tracy is butterfly #1

Nora

Sara is butterfly #2

And in case you don't recognize her without her glasses

Mia missed out. She was catching a few winks. 

My cute bunch of kiddos! 

I sure hope they got the USA team chosen while the kids were getting our faces painted. 

Peppermint Sugar Cookies

These need to make it onto your Christmas cookie platter. I put them together three different ways and loved them all. Bake up your favorite sugar cookie recipe. I have a couple of favorite recipes that I really like. Try this one, or this one or try this one, depending on whether or not you have any sour cream or cream cheese in the house. Once you have the cookies baked, it's time for the frosting!

You can sandwich two cookies together

or you can pile some frosting on top

or you can omit the frosting and dip one edge in melted white chocolate and just sprinkle on some crushed candy canes (apologies for the weird lighting on the third photo. It was late which made for an off-red coloring). My favorite cookie was the middle option.

Peppermint Frosting

4 cups powdered sugar, divided

8 regular-sized candy canes (with more for decorating, if desired)

1 cup butter, softened

1 tsp clear vanilla extract

5-10 drops of peppermint oil (or extract to taste)

2-4 T milk

1/2 cup Cool Whip, thawed

In a food processor, add one cup of powdered sugar and the candy canes (I got that idea from my friends at OBB from this post). Pulse until you hear only small crunching sounds instead of major crunching sounds. You want the candy canes to be fairly small in size, but not turned entirely into dust particles. You can see the bits of candy in the photos. 

Cream butter for about a minute. Add the extract(s) and/or oil, and add the remaining powdered sugar (3 cups). Beat until it is well blended. It will be quite stiff at this point. Add 2 T of milk and continue beating. Check the consistency and if you want it a little thinner, add a little more milk. Fold in Cool Whip. This makes a nice light, not too sweet frosting that you can sandwich between cookies or pile on top of cookies. Then either roll the edges in crushed candy canes, or sprinkle on top of the cookie. 

To make a great tasting cookie without making the frosting, melt about 1 cup of white chocolate discs in the microwave for one minute. Stir the chocolate and melt for 30 more seconds if necessary. Dip one edge of cooled cookie into the chocolate and set on parchment paper. Immediately sprinkle with finely chopped candy canes. Let set for at least 15 minutes.