Anne's Bridal Shower

My sisters and I threw a 'cocktails and desserts' bridal shower for our cousin Anne.  I tried my best not to micro-manage everything (I'm sure my sisters would tell you I failed miserably).  We used the floral teacups my grandmother has so many of as our inspiration and came up with a pink and green floral theme.  It was a lovely evening.

 The table.

Strawberry Mousse in cookie cups with a hidden white chocolate centre.

I love making French macarons - they're finicky but so pretty and yummy - well worth the effort.

 Cylindrical vases each held different varieties of pink flowers and my little sister made some scrumptious chocolate dipped strawberries, a specialty of hers.

White chocolate brownies had a pretty pink floral design piped on them.

Lemon mousse was served in teacups with a small chocolate heart garnish and bowls of fresh raspberries and blueberries to put on top.

Goldfish Babypool Party

I stumbled across a very cute idea for a little kids party - a blue and orange goldfish cracker theme!   Since we've been wanting to get to know a few more families with toddlers our son's age, I thought it would be a great fit.  Throw in a blue inflatable babypool to keep the tots entertained on a hot summer day and we had the makings of a fun afternoon.    

 The blue-and-orange buffet had blue streamers resembling waves in water as a background, a big fishbowl of blue gelatin with orange candy fish 'swimming' in it, a goldfish 'pinata', vases with four varieties of goldfish crackers, and water bottles of 'ocean water' (blue water and baby oil) for the babies to take home with them.

Goldfish cookies 

Blue and Orange chocolate dipped pretzel sticks. 

Goldfish cake pops

Blood Orange soda for the grown-ups and goldfish crackers for the toddlers.

The babies in (around?) the pool.

Bake Sale for Childhood Cancer Research

I've been making some tasty and creative bake sale treats for a friend who is raising money for childhood cancer research in honour of her 8-year old son.  Below are a few of the tempting treats I hope will help her reach her goal faster.

Watermelon slice rice krispy treats.

White Chocolate Popcorn with Smarties 

Melt-in-your-Mouth Toffee Shortbreads

Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes - chocolate cupcake with a mini peanut butter cup baked in the middle topped with peanut butter buttercream and another mini peanut butter cup.

 Vanilla Cupcake with Salted Caramel Buttercream and a gold ribbon in support of Childhood Cancer

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcake - a chocolate cupcake with a surprise chocolate chip cookie dough center and cookie dough frosting topped with mini chocolate chips and a mini chocolate chip cookie

Strawberry Cupcake with Strawberry Buttercream

Lili's Having a Little Lamb

My sister is expecting a baby in September and I was so excited to FINALLY host a themed baby shower!  I based it all around a "Little Lamb" theme with off whites, beiges and browns and a touch of lime green to set everything off.  Unfortunately, the day of the shower I had a terrible sore throat and laryngitis so was feeling miserable and didn't get to enjoy the party at all.  It also meant that I was scrambling to take pictures at the last minute so I didn't capture all the details as well as I would have liked.  The essentials are captured below.  I hope you enjoy!

The invitation was sent out wrapped in yarn with a card requesting guests to bring books in lieu of cards.  

The mantle was decorated with yarn-wrapped letters spelling out BABY, balls of yarn, a basket of raw wool and a stuffed sheep of my son's.

With the temperature hovering around 30 celsius, the drinks were white sangria (hugely popular!), limeade and iced tea all served in pitchers wrapped in cotton with a large safety pin, to resemble a cloth diaper.  

Some cute bottles of water with labels saying "Lili's having a little lamb" and the sheep from the invitation. 

 Supper was chicken pesto sandwiches, veggie and hummus wraps and orzo salad.  The desserts were coconut cupcakes (to resemble sheep, of course!), lime green almond macaroons, coffee meringue cookies and shortbreads.

Cutlery bundles tied with green polka dot ribbon.

I found the idea for these sheep cookies online and couldn't resist passing up a nap to finish them for the party.  I'm glad I did because everyone loved them as much as I did.

Baby clothes were hung on yarn clothes-lines with old fashioned clothes pins.

Flowers and Strawberries

This was a Canada Day birthday cake.  Inside it was layers three layers with red velvet cake on the top and bottom and a white butter cake for the middle layer ... reminiscent of the Canadian Flag, of course. But really, it was a birthday cake for my grandmother so it is decorated with fondant flowers and strawberries on a swiss meringue buttercream background.  I didn't have time to take a good picture before the party, so this was taken just before lighting and blowing out the candles.

Ruffles and Ribbon Roses

A birthday cake with teal buttercream ruffles and burgundy ribbon roses.

Valentine's Day Cake

My husband's office was having a Valentine's Day party so I created this chocolate cake with chocolate mousse filling for them to enjoy.  I was a little short on time so kept the decorations simple on this cake.

Valentine's Brunch

I hosted a Valentine's Day Brunch for a few friends.  We ate Belgian waffles and deep-dish quiche until we were stuffed then gabbed away the early part of the afternoon.  Below are some pictures of the spread I set for them.

Orange Cardamom Cookies

I made these very yummy Orange Cardamom Butter Cookies as a thank you gift for someone.  I like the way the orange polka dots make the packaging bright and cheery. 

Bee Hive Cake

It has been a while since I've decorated a cake and I was feeling itchy to get creative in the kitchen again.  So, I sent this bee hive and dragonfly cake to work with my husband .... just because it was a Friday.  ;)

Very Hungry Caterpillar First Birthday

We celebrated my son's first birthday party in January.  I decided to give the party a Very Hungry Caterpillar theme and drew inspiration from the children's book - polkadots, bright colours, lots of fruit.

The cake was simple (we didn't want anyone breaking their New Year's Resolutions, after all), a six-inch chocolate cake with buttercream frosting and a cute Very Hungry Caterpillar on top.

Bunches of fruit from the book were set around the cake with little flags quoting the book stuck in them. All the food I served was inspired by the book, salami, swiss cheese, strawberries, apples, chocolate cake, ice cream, etc.

Meringue cookies dipped in chocolate and topped with colourful chocolate sprinkles fit with the colourful palette of the party.  

Italian sodas (chosen for their bright colours and fruity flavours) were served in tall glasses.

Sparkly New Year's Eve Cake

We were invited to a 'Sparkly' New Year's Eve Party for People Who Go To Bed Before 9pm (ie. a baby party), with our one year old this year.  I took along this sparkly cake to help celebrate the occasion.  It is difficult to tell form the picture but the cake had a very sparkly look.  In hindsight, I wish I hadn't covered the board in that wrapping paper ... it does not go at all - lesson learned.  

New Year's Eve Penguins

This Sparkly New Year's Eve cake was made for my Aunt and Uncle's annual party.  The bottom layer is chocolate cake with chocolate fudge buttercream filling and the top layer is a white chocolate cake with white chocolate sour cream filling. 

Bra and Panty Cookies

I found the idea for these bra and panty cookies online and couldn't resist giving them a try.  It was fun coming up with the ideas for all the matching sets.

Gold and Silver Birthday

I was asked to create a 30th birthday cake for a friend who has a birthday close to Christmas.  She loves chocolate so I alternated layers of dark chocolate mud cake and white chocolate mud cake with chocolate ganache.  The cake is frosted in Swiss Meringue Buttercream.  I chose gold and silver because I wanted it to match the christmas decorations but didn't have the heart to make her 30th birthday cake red and green.

Gingerbread Man Cake

A few years ago I started a Gingerbread House Festival in my hometown, Chester.  It's taken on a life of its own now.  This year I was asked to create a gingerbread man themed cake for them to auction off as a fundraiser.  Aren't you tempted to steal a candy or two?

Gingerbread House Presents

I made these sweet little gingerbread houses for my husband to give his work colleagues as Christmas presents this year.  They were a huge hit at the office the day he took them in.