What Do Wigs, Duff’s Cake Mix, and Sheri Fink Equal? Fun!

If you’re in a slump and need a pick-me-up, I’ve got just the thing for you! Grab a friend, a couple of wigs, and go decorate a cake.

No, seriously, it will lighten your spirit and refill your creative well. Not to mention, it’s fun as hell and the cakes are super yum!

The place: Duff’s Cake Mix in Hollywood, California.

The players: Sheri Fink, Cake Decorator Extraordinaire Clay, and me.

The mission: Figure out what the heck fondant actually IS. Actually, our mission was to decorate cakes while having a good time and getting messy. I’m pleased to say MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

First, we had to pick our wigs. This is a serious decision and took much thought.

In the end, I went with pink (although, I am loving the lavender!) and Sheri went with light blue. Which is your favorite on us? On you?

Then, off to Duff’s Cake Mix we went. In case you aren’t aware, Duff Goldman had a show on Food Network called, Ace of Cakes. We LOVED that show. I even tried to get them to fly a cake out for my daughter’s birthday, but they said no. 😦 But then Duff came out west and opened up Duff’s Cake Mix (check out the website here). It’s this super cool place where you can go and decorate a cake just like the professionals! Or, just go and buy a cupcake because they are delicious. Next door to the decorating studio is the actual bakery where they make these amazing cakes. That’s right ~ now my daughter can get a birthday cake from Duff! Sweet.

This is a cake! For real.

Aren’t these great? Masterpieces, seriously.

Once we picked our cake flavors, we had to choose icing and our decorative toppings. Then it was off to have the cakes covered in fondant ~ which tastes a lot like marshmallows and was quite tasty. I thought it would be gross, but it wasn’t!

Fondant Master Clay!

Duff’s Fun Frostings!

Duff’s Sparkly Sugars!

Sheri working her mad fondant skills.

Sheri choosing her toppings.

Tameri working with her fondant balls. Yeah, we giggled too. 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once we had the cakes covered, it was all about finding our inner decorator and going wild. Sheri came with a game plan ~ she wanted a mermaid design ~ I just went with where the muse took me. Sort of in a shabby chic celestial direction. Whatever, it was fun!

Glitter! Even cakes need glitter. Oh, yes they do!

Clay prepping Sheri’s cake for glitter.

It was an incredible day! We laughed, we talked, we got all fondant-y. Clay was hilarious and kept us entertained with his boyish charms. It was a perfect day.

Here are our works of art:

Do something silly! Get out there and be creative in another field other than what you usually do. If you’re a writer, pick up a camera and see life through another lens. If you’re a musician, try your hand at sculpting. Or, if you’re just in the mood for something a little goofy, grab a few friends, some cake mix, and a wig. If you’d like to see more pics of our day, check out my Pinterest board here.

Life isn’t going to wait for you ~ get out there and work your magic! With icing, words, music, or whatever inspires you. Be amazing.

Coming up on Tuesday, I’ll have two fun things for you, my dear readers. First, I’ll have a sneak peak of what’s happening with the new website and I need your help with a very important detail…

Next, I’ve got a fun idea for the summer and it’s going to involve all of you. So, I hope you’ll stop by on Tuesday and find out what’s with all the secrecy! Until then, I hope you have a super fabulous weekend. Hug your loved ones, get out the fondant, and get messy!

DFW Writer’s Conference ~ Memorable Moments

This is where we spent our weekend. Not a bad gig, really. They totally spoiled us.

What an amazing weekend! It officially started last Friday with some shopping and sightseeing, but you’ll have to wait for that post because today is all about the conference.

The DFW Writer’s Conference is held in the quaint little town of Hurst, Texas where they talk with accents, decorate with cowboy boots, and call the ladies ‘ma’am’.

I’ll be honest, I am not a fan of the way they set up the schedule at DFWCon. Some workshops are an hour, some an hour and half. This left odd gaps in my schedule that I usually filled with hanging out with all the other awesome writers at the conference.

Of course, being social was my favorite part of the weekend, but I was there to learn, too. Of the five workshops I attended, one was a dud, two were stellar, and two were total rock stars.

David Corbett started off my conference experience getting me excited about characters. Best takeaway from his workshop? Your opponent has as much will or desire to destroy or undermine what your hero wants to achieve. Wow. I’d never really thought of my villain’s motivation like that. Kind of fascinating. His lecture spurned all sorts of ideas and thoughts for my antagonists that I’m excited to put on paper.

Kelly is ridiculously gorgeous and super sweet. Love her! She also made me realize that I should always wear lipstick. See how her face lights up and mine, well doesn’t? Yeah, lipstick. Always.

Kelly Simmon gave us some great marketing tips, but my favorite takeaway from her? When going to book signings, she reminded us that the people who come to the signing will have made an effort. It’s important that we make an effort, too. Take a little time to look good. As one of her authors once told her, “You will be photographed when you don’t know it. If you don’t take the time, you will look like butt.” No one wants to look like butt. Take the time. Kelly is the founder and owner of InkSlinger PR, a marketing company for authors.

Roni rockin’ the website workshop!

My absolute favorite workshop of the weekend was Roni Loren’s. It had so much goodness in it, I was scribbling notes the entire time. The topic? Creating a website readers will love. She walked us through her website and taught us things I didn’t know I didn’t know. Now I know! Roni’s one of those genuinely sweet people that once you meet her, you feel like you’ve known her your whole life. Go on and check out her website, while you’re there, take a browse at her books. They’re a little saucy, but so good! Best take away from Roni’s class? Everything! If I had to pick one thing? Use Spotify for playlists. That way, the artist gets paid each time a reader clicks through. Brilliant.

Of course, the weekend wasn’t all about the workshops! There was much mingling going on, as well as far too much laughing. I finally had the chance to meet tons of my online friends that I’ve been chatting with for years. I also, of course, made new friends.

The wigs, alas, stayed in the hotel room. There was some debate whether they were unprofessional and I am ashamed to admit, I caved to pressure and didn’t don my confection of pinkness. Next time, I’m rocking that damn wig no matter what anyone says!

One of the other cool things about DFWCon is the access to agents. They are everywhere! Even if you don’t have a set pitch time, you can just chat with the agents or editors in the hallways, at the cocktail party, etc. On Sunday, they had a Gong Show where query letters were read aloud (they’re kept anonymous) by this guy with a movie trailer voice. When an agent would normally stop reading, they would bang the gong. It was hilarious and enlightening. Only one query made it all the way through. Even though we were all laughing at the antics and goofiness of the show, it was a great learning process to get inside the minds of several agents.

That’s how the weekend ended! With a gong.

Here are a bunch of pictures to make you feel like you were there. Also, if you want a slightly shorter and much funnier recap, read Jess Witkins’s The DFWCon Stalkathon post here. Or, you can read Syndey Aalilyah’s My #DFWCon by the Numbers post here. She gives a quick and dirty breakdown of the weekend. I’m just way too wordy. I’ll work on that, promise.

Pictures!

The incredibly sweet and most handsome David Walker.

Diana Beebe and Sydney Aaliyah! I finally got to meet both of them.

Mesmerized by David Corbett’s lecture.

Gloria Richards is way too cute. Seriously.

The ever gorgeous duo of Jenny Hansen and Ingrid Shaffenburg.

My sweet Nigel and Jenny Hansen.

Nicole Grubner and the super cute boot decorations.

Nigel and his ladies.

My roomies Debra Kristi and Melinda Vanlone.

Tiffany White and Julie Glover.

If you have a minute, here’s a cool video of the groovy lights they had in the banquet room. I pretty much want this in my house now. My son added the music, he’s so cool.

Thor’s Ultimate Birthday Surprise and Easter Takeover!

As some of you may know, last Friday was my birthday. Okay, okay, I promise, this is the last time I’m going to mention it! Even I’m getting tired of hearing about it. 🙂

Well, something kind of cool happened that I’ve been waiting to tell you about ~ Thor finally visited me! My super fabulous friend, Debra Kristi had this crazy idea back in the summer to send Thor on a world tour and I immediately said YES! Thor’s been to England, Canada, all around the US, and now he stopped at my house. Just in time for my birthday. How special. You can catch up with Thor and his wily adventures on Debra’s blog here, or you can check out the pictures of him on Pinterest here. It’s been a fun romp, so be sure to check back often because you never know where he’ll end up next!

This was Thor’s steak. Mine was a petite 6 oz. filet. 🙂

So, what did Thor and I do all weekend? Oh, my. What didn’t we do? First up, Thor surprised me at my favorite restaurant. We were enjoying a nice dinner out when there he was, demanding to be fed. This wasn’t nearly enough to satisfy him

He went on to devour half of my meal and most of my dessert. Thankfully, he didn’t blow out my birthday candle. Which left me to make my wish. I can’t tell, but I’m sure you all know what it was.

The next morning Thor got us up bright and early to work out because, as he said, we needed to work off that cake. (Technically it was bread pudding, but I wasn’t going to argue. That hammer packs a punch. If you know what I mean!)

After a tough workout that rivaled Nicole’s (she would be so proud!), we had breakfast with an old friend of Thor’s ~ Queen Elizabeth. Tea, toast, and protein drink. No time for finger sandwiches or scones for us, we were off to the beach. Thor wanted to learn to surf. Too bad the locals got in his way.

Place me upon that board so that I might ride the waves.

What’s this? A fiend is trying to eat my leg!

Arrgh! It’s got me! Get back! I am a God. I will smite you!

Along came a giant to help poor Thor untangle himself from the fray.

Needless to say, Thor wasn’t much interested in surfing anymore. Except atop my car. We took Thor home and gave him a nice, hot shower. Then it was time to decorate eggs. Seems Thor never heard of Easter or egg decorating and wanted to do everything. First, though, I had to get him to stop flirting with all my Barbies! You’d think after the disaster that happened at Kristy K. James‘ place he would’ve taken one look at those women and ran, but not Thor.

You should’ve seen his big head after chatting up the ladies. I managed to snap this quick pic, shhh, don’t tell him.

We almost had to poke him with a pin just to get it back down to size. It sure was fun to make it bobble about, though. 🙂

Once he got himself straightened out, he was a great help! He supervised the making of cupcakes, decorating of eggs, and later the cupcakes, but there was a slight issue with Thor and the frosting. Our favorite Norse God likes the sweet stuff a little too much. Who knew!

Later that night Thor joined my husband and me for a second birthday dinner out with the in-laws where he learned to appreciate the finer points of Mexican cuisine. With no ale in sight, he settled for a margarita. Two, actually, but since he wasn’t driving we let him live a little. We did have to take the chips away. Dang, but he can eat like a teenage boy!

The next morning Thor was thrilled to find an Easter basket just for him filled with all kinds of chocolates. Because that’s just what he needed after all that frosting from the day before.

Before we knew it, Thor declared he was tired of us and searched my home for some new minions, of which I thought I had plenty, but he found them all lacking. And so, hopped up on sugar, I bid my sweet Thor farewell and sent him on to his next destination. What an amazing weekend we had with him! I hope he finds what he’s looking for ~ somewhere.

It’s been five days and the Barbies are still asking when that handsome blond will be back… oh my.

Thor breakfasts with the Queen

Thor dazzles the Barbies

Thor car surfs

Thor is baffled by Easter

Thor supervises the cupcakes

Thor adds the special ingredient

Thor decorates the cupcakes

Thor loves frosting a little TOO much

Thor is master of the cupcakes

Thor supervises the dye making

Thor checks the eggs

Thor discovers a new drink

Thor’s Easter stash

Thor finds new minions

Buy me a cup of water for my birthday?

Every celebration needs some glitter.

Even though my birthday isn’t until Friday, we’re starting the celebrations early here at A Cup of Tea and Sorcery!

I wasn’t sure how I wanted to celebrate this year ~ the party I threw last year was off the hook. If you missed it, you can check it out here.

I was thinking more low-key, less ostentatious, and then I read this tweet from my sweet Nathan and I knew I had to get involved.

So, I started my own birthday campaign and I’m hoping all of my fabulous friends will buy me a cup of water for my birthday. You can go here to check out all the details. It’s not much for us to give up one fancy cup of coffee or tea, but it makes a world of difference to some other folks around the world. I’d sure appreciate it if you could help me bring clean water to them.

And if you’re so inclined, I’d love it if you could check out my friend Patricia Sands’ blog today. She’s talking about an amazing woman named Rikki who is working her fanny off to bring books to kids around the world. It’s amazing to me what $5.00 can do to change the lives of so many! Please go here to read about Rikki and her incredible organization.

Be sure to check back on Friday because a friend of mine is kidnapping me for a special birthday excursion aboard one of his sci-fi ships! You’ll get to meet Ren Garcia and learn all about the fascinating universe he’s created in the League of Elder series.

The awesomeness doesn’t stop there! There’s a new newsletter out called BeABestSeller.com and they featured me this week! Sweet. This is what they had to say about me:

MAKIN’ IT HAPPEN!

This week’s BAB subscriber that is heating up both the fantasy and erotic romance worlds is the smokin’ hot Tameri Etherton.

I’ve had to privilege to get to know Tameri and watch her bloom as writer through our association with the Southern California Writers’ Conference.

A huge shift occurred for Tameri when she embraced another writing community – The Romance Writers of America.

Since Tameri joined RWA, she has written THREE manuscripts: The Temple of Ardyn (fantasy); Because of You (suspense); and Developing Cassandra (erotic romance). Two of which were written entirely in the last ten months!

Additionally, Tameri was just awarded PRO status by RWA. PRO is a designation given to someone who has submitted a completed manuscript to an industry professional. Basically, it means you’re serious about being published. Therefore, RWA takes you more seriously as a writer.

This is one BAB rising star you want to get to know! You can connect with Tameri at:

http://www.tamerietherton.com
http://www.facebook.com/tameri
http://www.twitter.com/tamerietherton

 

Aww! I’m blushing. For real. To subscribe to BeABestSeller.com, just click here. Jen sends out great writing tips once a week, right to your inbox. Easy peasy.

Thank you all so much for being a part of my life for the past few years! You’ve challenged me, enriched my life, made me laugh and sometimes cry. But through it all, you’ve reminded me why I love to write. Thank you. That’s the coolest gift anyone could ever give me.

Sisterhood of the Traveling Wig ~ What Lights Your Creative Spirit?

Yesterday on her blog Jenny Hansen asked, “What Lights Your Creative Spirit On Fire?” It’s a fascinating post delving into the need for writers and creative types to nurture our mind, body, and spirits. When you’re finished here, I’d love it if you popped on over to show Jenny some bloggy love.

My response to Jenny’s question came instantly ~ being around other writers lights my creative spirit on fire.

Nearly two years ago I took a blogging class from Kristen Lamb, the WANA Mama who created a community for writers where we can come together to encourage and support each other. What’s WANA? It stands for We Are Not Alone. Because this writing gig is often lonely, it’s important to have people around who ‘get you’.

In Kristen’s online class, I learned loads about blogging, but what I ultimately gained from the experience was a family. A group of writers as excited about me and my writing as I am about them and theirs. As Kristen added more classes, the family grew.

On Monday I got to hang out with some of those family members and we had a blast. We talked about our real life families, schooling, our books, merkins (Google it, but please don’t drink anything when you do), and we talked about flashy pink wigs and tiaras.

Why pink wigs and tiaras?

Because that’s what I wore to dinner.

Sure, it was a little strange to be the only one at the table wearing them, but I didn’t care. I was surrounded by women who accepted me and all my zaniness. Encouraged it, even.

I was surrounded by love.

By the end of the night that wig and tiara made their way to almost every head. Like the jeans in Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, that wig looked great on everyone! Just take a look at these beauties.

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I’m fortunate that I live in an area where I can see my writing friends on a regular basis and I can’t recommend this enough. No matter where you live, or what you do, you need to find those folks who ‘get you’. Through my WANA sistas, I joined the Romance Writers of America (RWA). In less than a year with RWA, I’ve pushed my writing further than I did in nearly seven years of attending conferences. Why? Because I see my chapter mates once a month and it’s that continual support that encourages me to be the best writer I can be and to get my work out there.

All of these writers, whether they are friends from conferences, online, WANA, or RWA, have enriched my life in so many ways, but mostly what they do is light my creative spirit’s fire. They challenge me to be a better writer, and dare I say, a better person.

So today, I challenge you to get out of your comfort zone. Don a pink wig and tiara and find your family. Whether it be artists, writers, grave diggers, or whatever lights your creative spirt’s fire, find people who will push you to be amazing. Because we can all use a little nudge every now and again.

In the coming months you’re going to see some changes around the blog. I’ll be making the  leap to a self hosted website and I hope you’ll all come along for the adventure. The amazing and gorgeous Laird Sapir is hard at work on the new site. It’s going to be fun and groovy, filled with lots of writerly and readerly goodness.

I also hope to have some ultra super fabulous news about my books in the next month. Great things have been happening behind the scenes, but I’m not ready to unveil them yet.  If you’ve been wondering why the blog has been hit or miss lately, it’s because I’ve been feverishly finishing edits. How’s that for a sweet hint? 😉

So tell us, what lights your creative spirit? Do you have a group of writers or creative types that make you want to be better? What color wig do you own? Want to own?

In case you didn’t get enough of our zaniness, here are a few more pics from the night. Enjoy!

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Super Bowl Ads ~ Three Hits and One Noisy Miss

Some people watch the Super Bowl for the football game. Me? I’m all about the commercials. It’s the one time of the year that I have to remind myself not to skip forward during the two minutes and two seconds of advertisements.

So, which ones were my faves?

The Clydesdale commercial brought me to tears. Literally. In fact, watching it again for this post made me all misty eyed. This is the extended commercial because, well, I love it.

Grab a tissue, you might need it.

You gotta love a kid with spunk and this guy has it. No one wants to go to prom all alone, but he makes sure it’s a night to remember. Not just for him, either.

And finally… Oh, Calvin Klein you make my heart go thumpity thump! I will always buy my husband your underwear. Thank you.

Now for the stinker. Before I show you the video, you need to know that I have no problem watching people kiss or have sex for that matter. But this ad had me hiding my eyes and plugging my ears. I do not need to see a smooch this close, or hear it! Ugh.

You’ve been warned.

So tell us, did you watch the big game? Are you a fan of football or the commercials? What was your favorite commercial?

And what we really want to know is… what’s your favorite snack and beverage for watching the Super Bowl?

Best Book Club Ever ~ Fifty Shades of Fabulous!

I’m not going to lie, I have a pretty darn cool book club on the best of days, but this past Sunday, we knocked it out of the park.

It might’ve been the spiced eggnog we had at our December book club, but when Susie said she wanted to read Fifty Shades of Grey for January AND have a passion party to go with it, we were all a bit giggly. And excited. IYKWIM. 😉

We knew it would be fun, but we had no idea how fahhhhbulous Susie would make it. Not only did she decorate her entire house, including a special Red Room of Pain, but she even themed the food.

It was out of this world incredible!

And the Passion Party? So fun!

Let’s just say I left Susie’s with my sides hurting from laughing too much and a few dollars poorer from my, um, toy purchases. Yes, friends, it was that kind of party.

But what I really came away with that night was a better sense of who I am and a confidence I didn’t know I had. There I was, sitting in a room full of friends, some close, and others on their way to being close, and we were talking about masturbation, sex toys, and the grandmother of them all, our G-spots.

Yes, we giggled like naughty school girls caught oggling the hot teacher. Especially when Azule brought out the vagina pillow with a special diamond for the, um, clitoris. Seriously! Of course I took a picture of it to share with you because I love you and I care.

It was one helluva sexy night. If you’ve never been to a passion party, I say go! Get some girlfriends together, have a little wine beforehand, and let your imagination take flight. It was fun, informative, and insightful.

As for the book? We didn’t really discuss it much. We were too busy giggling over the nipple clamp cookies.

Want to get in touch with your inner goddess? August McLaughlin has a great series on her blog she calls #GirlBoner, you can read all about fantasies in this post. Or if you want some ideas for boosting your body image for satisfying sex, click here. As you can tell, August is all about empowering women to be their most beautiful and sexy selves!

That’s really what the fun party was all about. Passion. For ourselves, our partners, our lives.

For all of Susie’s fabulous party ideas, check out my Pinterest board here. She really did an amazing job!

Now it’s your turn to share ~ have you ever been to a Passion Party? Would you giggle like a little girl (like we did), or would you be smooth and casual about it all?

Merry Christmas!

Christmas means different things to many people, but for me it means love.

A day to be with those you love.

A day to remember those who have gone on without us.

A day to love the possibility of what our lives can be.

A day to dream.

So on this day, in the midst of the chaos of presents, food, and family, I send you this simple gift of love.

Thank you for being here with me and enjoying a cup of tea and sorcery. It’s been a remarkable year. I have a feeling 2013 is going to blow this year out of the water. And that’s a very good thing.

Merry Christmas my friends!

~Tameri xoxoxo

Holiday Treats That Make You Go YUM!

This past week I’ve been a baking fool. I made Faerie Cakes, fudge, Creme de Menthe brownies, Russian Tea Cakes, pumpkin muffins, snickerdoodles, and cheesecake ‘presents’. All to give away to friends for the holiday. Well, mostly to give away ~ I did have helpers who, like me, had to taste everything to make sure it was perfect.

Since I can’t bring you all a plate of goodies (as much as I’d love to!), I’m sharing the recipes with you. This way, if you feel so inclined, you can make some for yourself or for sharing.

Fantasy (Old Fashioned) Fudge

First up was the fudge. I made the ‘fantasy fudge’ found on the back of a jar of marshmallow creme. Not sexy or exciting, but there you go. I did mix it up a bit with the chocolate – in stead of using baking squares, I used Ghiradelli semi-sweet chocolate chips. Here’s a fun tidbit ~ one year my mom and I made about nine different types of fudge, just to see which we liked the best. To this day, neither of us remember which one won so we both just use the fantasy fudge recipe. If you have a killer fudge recipe, please share ~ I would love to try it!

Russian Tea Cakes

The Russian Tea Cakes are from a recipe I’ve had since before paper was invented, I think. It might be from a Betty Crocker recipe book, or one of my mom’s aunts made it up. Either way, these little tidbits are delicious with coffee or tea. They’re also known as Mexican Wedding Cakes.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup stick butter
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• More powdered sugar for rolling the cookies in

1. Heat oven to 400°
2. Mix butter, 1/2 cup powdered sugar, and the vanilla in a large bowl. Stir in flour, nuts, and salt until the dough holds together (you might have to get physical with it and use your hands).
3. Shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place about an inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet (I use parchment paper in my baking, it’s awesome).
4. Bake 10 to 12 minutes until set but not brown (they should look slightly darker than when you put them in. This is where making them a few times and totally screwing up helps. Now I know what to look for). Remove from cookie sheet to a wire rack. Let cool slightly (5 minutes, maybe).
5. Roll warm cookies in powdered sugar a few times, cool on rack again before repeating the rolling in the powdered sugar as many times as you think the cookies need it. You don’t want too much powdered sugar, but you don’t want too little. Tasting is a good idea at this point. 🙂

Decadent Pumpkin Muffins

I used this recipe from allrecipes.com. The only change I made was to use light instead of fat free vanilla yogurt and I had to add a bit of fat free Fage to make up the one cup.

These are rich and moist. Very decadent!

Creme de Menthe Brownies

This recipe was given to me this year by my friend Nicole whose grandmother passed it down through the family. She said it’s the go to dessert she makes every year, so you know I had to try it.

Mine came out a little ugly (trial and error, people!), but they taste delicious. If you like Andes chocolates, this is the yummier, cake version.

For the brownies, don’t cheese out and use a mix, these are more cakey and you won’t get the same results with a brownie mix.

Brownie/cake Layer:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 4 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 16 ounces chocolate syrup (I used Hersheys)

Mix together the brownie ingredients. Pour into a greased and floured 13×9 inch pan. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes. Cool in pan.

Mint Layer:

• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons (or 3 if you like it stronger) Creme de Menthe liquer
• 1/2 cup butter

Mix all ingredients together. When the brownies are COMPLETELY cooled (yes, this is where I went horribly, irrevocably wrong), spread over the top.

Glaze Layer:

• 6 oz chocolate chips (I used Ghiradelli semi-sweet)
• 6 tablespoons butter

Mix and melt butter and chips (I used the microwave, just be careful not to burn the chocolate. It took about four 20 second spins in the microwave before they were melted, but your time may vary).

Spread over the top of the mint layer. Chill for 5-10 minutes before cutting into squares. Enjoy!

Snickerdoodles

Okay, I totally cheated on these. I bought the Krusteaz box mix. They’re still good, but not homemade good. I need a fabulous Snickerdoodle recipe ~ got one? My son loves these cookies and I need to make it right for him. 🙂

Holiday Cheesecake Presents

I don’t know where I got this recipe ~ it was from someone’s blog last year and I loved the idea. Now that I’ve made them a few times, I love the taste and better yet, the simplicity of this treat!

Ingredients:

• Your favorite sprinkles and decorating gels
• 1 1/2 cups Graham cracker crumbs (I used my food processor)
• 3 packages softened cream cheese
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3 eggs

Mix crumbs, butter, and 3 tablespoons sugar together. Press mix onto bottom of a 13×9 inch baking dish.

Mix cream cheese, 3/4 cup sugar, and vanilla until well blended. Add eggs, mix until blended. Pour over pie crust.

Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until center is almost set. (Do NOT enter a toothpick into center to check for doneness like Natalie Hartford or you’ll have a cheesecake travesty).

Cool, then refrigerate 3 hours or overnight.

Cut into bars and decorate with your favorite gels or sprinkles to resemble presents.

Faerie Cakes

This recipe is adapted from the cookbook, Celtic Folklore Cooking by Joanne Asala. It’s available on Amazon and has tons of fabulous recipes, along with stories or folklore to go with them. While I won’t be trying the fried eel in butter sauce, I will try the mincemeat parcels with Irish whiskey cream. Yum.

Back to the Faerie Cakes. You’ll need:

• 1 stick butter
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• Grated rind of one orange
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 1 tablespoon milk
• 1/3 cup sultanas (golden raisins)

For the sugar icing:

• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons boiling water (I used milk)

*Wait to make the icing until the cakes are cooled. To make icing combine powdered sugar and a little water or milk at a time until you get a nice, smooth consistency that isn’t too runny. If it sticks to the spoon but doesn’t clump, you’re good.

To make the cakes:

Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, vanilla, and orange rind. Mix baking powder into flour (the recipe says to sieve them, but I didn’t), add to the butter mixture. Add a little milk to create a batter of dropping consistency ( have no idea what this means, so I just got it to where it looked like cake batter, smooth and creamy, but not too thick or runny). Fold in sultanas (golden raisins) into mix. Spoon mixture into well-greased muffin pans or just use cute cupcake liners like I did. To make 12, fill halfway.

Here’s where it gets tricky. The recipe says to bake at 375° for 25 minutes. I did and the first batch came out like hockey pucks. Then I tried 375° for 15 minutes, checked them and they weren’t done, so I gave them a few more minutes. It came out to almost 20 minutes of cooking time. It’s going to depend on how full you make your muffin tins.

Cool slightly before drizzling on sugar icing.

~~~ooOOoo~~~

Well there you have it!  Have you been baking this year? Do you have yearly favorites you make, or do you like to mix it up? I’m always looking for delicious new treats to make for my friends, I’d love to know what you enjoy.

On this, the day after the supposed end of the world, I would like to wish all of you a happy new beginning, Blessed Winter Solstice, and a Very Merry Christmas!

From the Ridiculous to the Sublime, A Year of Gratitude

Happy Thanksgiving my beautiful friends! 

Back in November of last year there were loads of posts from my blogging friends about what they were thankful for, and a handful of them suggested we should be thankful all year, not just on one day.

Well, yeah, that totally makes sense. There is so much in our lives to be grateful for that it should spread out to a whole year.

At the time, my sister Karla was posting a pic a day on Facebook and something in my squirmy brain went, ‘Aha!’. A picture AND gratitude everyday.

And that’s when the Attitude of Gratitude 366 began. Since starting my AoG366 on January 1st of this year, I’ve only missed a few days of pics, not because I wasn’t grateful, but due to simple reasons like ~ I work at home and sometimes I don’t change out of my jammies to see what the world is doing. Or, I was sick and you really don’t want a picture of  what I was staring at most of the day. Sometimes I took a picture and forgot to put it up because I’m easily distracted by sparkly things.

Like the title of this blog post suggests, some of the pictures were quite ridiculous, like this one of a random goat that lives in the front yard of this house. I live in a city, people. Not the country where this might be more common.

Others were more sublime, like this pic of the sky I snapped on the way home from the market. The clouds were almost close enough to touch.

Many of the pictures were of family or friends. As I scroll through looking at my year in review, I realize what an awesome life I have.

Just looking at this picture of Michael and a friend jumping on the trampoline gives me chills of happiness. Seeing kids being kids is one of life’s greatest joys.

So is enjoying a cup of tea with my daughter on one of her visits home.

And the friends?

Oh my! This year was filled with good times from hanging out at Disneyland or a horse show with Gayle Carline, to meeting tons of new friends at various conferences.

These women rocked my world this year, not just in writing, but in life. They are giving of their time, their wisdom, and when needed, a shoulder to cry upon. I just wish I had pictures of ALL the fabulous ladies I have the honor of calling my friends. That’s my new goal for next year.

Here are just a few…

Melinda VanLone, Kate Wood, and Debra Kristi

Angela Wallace, Ali Dent, and Kate Wood

Jessica Therrien, Sheri Fink, Debra Kristi, and Bethany Lopez

Gayle and Snoopy

Jenny Hansen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tomorrow when I’m sitting at the table with friends and family, I’ll know exactly what I’m thankful for. The large moments, as well as the small, the beauty of a rose, to the quiet magnificence of a setting sun’s last rays.

I’m thankful for this life I have and all the wonderful, crazy, quirky, kind, mysterious, gorgeous people who make every day worth living.

To you, I say thank you.

Have a wonderful holiday tomorrow and if you’re not in the States, Happy Thursday! 🙂

May your year be filled with gratitude.

Much love and hugs to you all.

~Tameri

There is far too much goodness in my year to put into this one blog, so if you’d like to see the rest of my pictures, check out the Attitude of Gratitude 366 Pinterest board I made.