Lovely Wedding Cakes

One of my best friends in the world is getting married today! I am so happy for her and her lucky groom. In honor of her wedding, I'm linking you over to Real Simple for their collection of 12 Great Wedding Cakes. Photos by Tara Donne.

Enjoy!

A Little Bit of Awesome

I know I haven't posted all week, but you may have picked up on the fact that I moved, so I'm laying the blame on the packing, moving, cleaning, working, moving some more, cleaning, thrift store runs, more moving...you get the idea. Unfortunately, I didn't get any welcome baskets, but instead several "hellos" and even an offer of help (though that came after the really heavy stuff).

However, I think that many of you will forgive my dereliction of duty when you watch this video from Charles Phoenix. It's pretty phenomenal. Not only is he surrounded by cute vintage ovens, but he surrounds pie with cake. Three times, in fact.

He's named his creation the Cherpumple. A three layer cake with a pie baked into each layer. You have to see it to believe it!

Charles Phoenix is pretty entertaining throughout. My favorite quote? "You don't want to be stingy with the frosting, ever, on any cake." Words to live by.

Gift Label Free Download

I'm moving this weekend, so this free download from Joy Ever After seems appropriate. This label would be a wonderful addition to an already tasty treat. I've never gotten presents from my new neighbors, but maybe it only happens in neighborhoods of houses and homeowners? I admit, I also haven't taken treats over to people who've just moved in near me, so maybe it's karma.

What has been your experience? Do you always take a treat over when new people arrive in your neighborhood? Have you gotten welcome baskets when you've moved, or does that only exist in the land of wishful thinking or good books?

Photo from Joy Ever After

Etsy Love - Tea Towels

Today's Etsy Love is all kitchen towels. I don't know about you, but I go through kitchen towels really fast. It seems there's always a pile ready to be added to the next load of laundry. I try to avoid using paper towels, so I use my cloth ones for everything from drying my hands to cleaning up the tea I spilled. This organic cotton tea towel - summer pennant print makes every day a party! katherinejlee picked a nice rainbow of colors to brighten your kitchen, and it's even organic.

I can't resist a cute frog. Especially in a tea cup. This particular Hand printed Tea Frog tea towel from DesignKitty is actually a misprint because the colors don't line up, but I kind of like it that way.

I had to include this Historic San Diego Street Car Marquee Tea Towel, No. 16 Line from DecorumSD. This towel would be great for someone who gets married or honeymoons here in San Diego, a hostess gift, anyone who likes traveling or street cars (even those not named Desire)...the list goes on.

How cute is this Matryoshka Tea Towel? PonyandPoppy has a lot of great ones to choose from, but this is a nice teal (it's hard to find good teals) and just plain fun.

Fun Food and Flower Photography

If you like food, flowers, fun, and good photos, head on over to Fulvio Bonavia's site. Under the Work section, there are some lovely landscapes, famous people, and also fun with flowers and food. These photos are but a sampling - do check his out!

Pretty Cakes!

As you may have noticed, I like pretty cakes. I've shared these and these with you, and I have a new collection today from Real Simple Weddings. Enjoy!

Pesto! Pesto! Pesto!

I hope you have an abundance of herbs right about now. It's that time of year, and so I put my basil to their most delicious use - pesto! It's very easy to make, freezable, and a great reminder of summer in February. I froze mine in an ice cube tray. That way, I can enjoy it in the exact portion I need. It didn't come out as cleanly as I wanted, so next time I'll try spraying the tray with cooking spray. Pine nuts are pretty pricey, so you can substitute walnuts or cashews. I hear spinach is good for you, so I added a couple handfuls. I can't taste, smell, or see a difference from other batches of pesto I've made. If you don't want to use spinach, though, just use more basil. Looking for a dairy free version? Just omit the cheese.

If you're anything like me, after you scrape the bowl clean with a spoon, you'll rip up a piece of bread to get the last drops.

Pesto
4 oz Romano or Parmesan cheese, cut into 1 inch pieces
3-4 garlic cloves
2 C tightly packed fresh basil leaves
2/3 C fresh baby spinach
1/3 C pine nuts
3/4 tsp salt
1/3 C olive oil

Using the metal blade of your food processor or blender, chop cheese and garlic. Add remaining ingredients, except olive oil, and process until combined, about 8 pulses. With the machine running, pour oil through feed tube. Process until combined. Scrape bowl and continue processing until smooth.

I'm baaa-aaack

I realize it's been a while since my last post. Like, a long while. Things were rather busy, and then really busy, and then I needed a minute to breathe and recover, and now, here I am. See it all started with a wedding I made cookies for (if you're a facebook fan, you may have heard about this wedding). There were 250 cookies to be baked, frosted, custom messaged and packaged. Luckily, my fabulous neighbors came over to help. Well, to be fair, the Most Glamorous 4-Year-Old I know didn't help so much as play with cookie cutters. Her mom, however, was a great help. Thank you!

Obviously, I took some pictures of my finished product, and hopefully you all can tell it was a time-intensive labor of love. Brooke wanted rainbow colors for her frosting and packaging, and she chose 6 custom messages for her vegan cookies. Best wishes to Brooke and Justin! Once I got those finished, packed, and mailed, Mom flew out here for a birthday visit (hers, not mine). We had a grand old time up in Longbeach at a giant quilt show (and I do mean giant. Pictures to come). I also wrapped up my summer term at school, which meant a flurry of homework, the final project, and, of course, the final test. I'm proud to say, the flurry paid off, and I ended up with an A. whew.

Oh yeah, and in the midst of all of that, Official Taster and I decided to move to a different (read: less expensive) apartment. So the current flurry consists of packing and Craigslist-selling.

But I missed you! So while posts may be a little sporadic, I will be trying to get recipes and other items of interest up.