Etsy Love - Summer, Preserved

 Organic Tomato Pepper Basil Jam via

If you haven't quite worked your way up to canning, or you had to do it when you were younger and just don't want to do it anymore, or you don't have access to great produce, Etsy can take care of it for you. I've never heard of tomato pepper basil jam, but the photo and Mirasol Farm's description make me want to try it.

Blackberry Jelly via

There are many, many sellers to choose from. I haven't tried any of these personally, but they have beautiful photos and delicious looking products. The color of this blackberry jelly from The Summer Kitchen makes my mouth water.

Georgia White Peach Jam via

Peaches from Georgia? That's like apples from Washington or lobsters from Maine. Seems like DaniJamz has the right idea. 

Strawberry Pineapple Jam via

HopesPantry claims these are a taste of heaven. Can't hurt to try! I imagine that any of these beauties would make a bagel or piece of toast much more exciting.

One Pretty Thing

Literally! I was lucky enough to be included on yesterday's Valentine Round Up on One Pretty Thing. There you can always find daily crafty inspiration, and my cupcakes from Monday made the list! There's also One Pretty Wedding for those of us looking for nuptial inspiration.

Some of you Etsyers with eagle eyes may have noticed that I raised my shipping rates on Short & Sweets slightly recently due to cost increases. Well, the other pretty thing about today is that I figured out how to lower those, so my rates are back down to where they were before. Huzzah! It's too late for you to receive anything in the mail for Valentine's Day, but next week when you have a fudge or an oreo craving, come visit!

Cookies Galore

via

You should head on over to Bake at 350 (cute name, right?) and ooooh and aaaahhhh over Bridget's cookies. They are super, super, super impressive!

via

She's got tons of recipes, giveaways, and a cookie index for you to peruse. Just pick a topic, and there will be cookies. Beer and hotdogs? check. Bowling? check. And of course, all the usual and many Christmas cookies. 

via

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Vegan Chocolate Orange Two Tones

VeganOs

Speaking of cookies, if you haven't placed your Christmas order with me, you need to get on that! Monday is the last day I'll ship things, so you want to give me a chance to bake you something delicious, right?

Vegan Sugar Cookies with Jam & Buttercream

If you're still looking for presents, I can ship directly to your friends and even include a note. Everything is packaged so that it's gift-pretty.

Etsy on Nightline!

Here's a great little video from ABC's Nightline about Etsy.  If you're having trouble explaining Etsy to people, pass this along!

Flower Arrangements

A friend passed along this link from Apartment Therapy, and the lovely arrangements captured my attention this rainy morning. The writer put these photos together as examples of bouquets that are "androgynous," i.e. not too girly. I think it's odd to categorize flowers as automatically feminine, and I really like a lot of these, particularly the one pictured above. What do you think? Guys, are all flower arrangements girly to you?

In other news, Official Taster and I are settling into Seattle. It's significantly rainier here than we are used to, and the cold was quite a shock to our Southern California acclimated selves. I got the kitchen unpacked and I will have a new treat up in the next couple of days (internet should be up and running tonight or tomorrow). My Etsy shop should also be up and running shortly! Just in time for you to start planning your holiday purchases...

Etsy Love - Halloween Kitchen

I know it's been a while since I've posted Etsy treasures for your viewing pleasure, but today's is pretty fun, so I'm hoping you will forgive the lapse. Whether you use these wine charms for a party or just to decorate your evening glass, they're sure to cheer you up. (and yes, that pun was intended)

I love that this festive apron is nice and short. Cuter that way, no? It even has a shipping rebate.


If you're like me, you have lots of strange things on the fridge. Maybe new magnets will inspire some organization?


How cute is this spoon? It's small, but maybe having it will inspire some baking magic. Chocolate Pumpkin Cake, anyone?


This soap bottle could add some charm to even the scariest sink.

A Year of Sweet Treats

I may have mentioned once or twice that a really important person got married recently. Well, I guess that makes it two important people got married. To each other.

Anyway, their wedding present (besides my wonderful presence, of course) is a year of sweetness in the form of 12 boxes of assorted cookies, fudge, and the like. Each month I'll mail their treats about the time of their wedding date- in this case, the 28th. And each month, I'll share with you what I've mailed.

We'll have to get some feedback from the bride and groom here, but I think this is an excellent idea. Personalized, sentimental, and not simply more "stuff." I mention this not to toot my own horn, but to give you a present idea, whether it be for birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, or assorted winter holidays. I also like this idea because it spreads the [insert holiday here] gifts out over time. If you're not a baker or don't have the time, simply send me an email or convo me via Etsy and we can set something up.

Have you ever given anything like this or received some sort of present-of-the-month? Was it a hit?

This month's recipe is over at Smitten Kitchen. I added dried orange flavored cranberries (in tribute to the wedding colors!) and chocolate chips, both of which I mixed in finely chopped. If you haven't ever browsed her blog, do. It's humorous, pretty, and always mouth-watering.

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.

There seems to be some confusion...

So, as you may know, there's a cookie giveaway going on, on this very blog, right now. I'm excited to see people are entering the contest and becoming fans on facebook and followers. However, in order for those actions to count as entries, you need to comment on the giveaway blog posting telling me you've become a fan.

For instance, say you are already a fan on facebook. Here's what you need to do:

FIRST leave a comment and say what looks yummy in the store. That enters you in the contest. To get bonus entries, you can leave a SECOND comment saying you are are a fan. Then leave a THIRD if you tell your friends about it on FB. Follow the blog? Leave another comment & so on for all the bonus opportunities. Each comment is an entry. Make sense?

A couple people have already left multiple comments/entries, so look at those, too. Let me know if you have any questions!

Giveaway Coming Soon!

This Friday there's going to be a giveaway. Here. On this very blog. I haven't decided which treat I'm going to be giving, so I'm asking you, dear readers, what would you like to win? Check out Short and Sweets on Etsy and cast your vote in the comments!

Friday Morning Flowers

Good morning!
Today's flowers are simple and sweet- a yellow rose and purple tulips in the center with greens and alstroemaria around them. Enjoy!



Also, I have new cookies up on Etsy!
I'm really excited about them because they're a brand new creation of mine. I used organic lemon zest and mint from my [container] garden to fancy up some vegan sugar cookies. Check them out and let me know how they sound! Don't forget Mother's Day is sooooon.... I also think they'd be great for showers, teas, favors, graduates, or your next snack.

Have a great weekend!

Updates and a new way to search Etsy

OK, first the bad news. That recipe I posted a link to in this post because it sounded good? NOT good. I made it last night and promptly poured it down the drain. Which is something I don't do. like, ever. It tasted ucky and adding things didn't help enough. That's why there's no picture of it on here today. So now you know- don't try it at home, folks!

Now, good news! I have little spinach sprouting already! yay. Hopefully more things will follow.
Also, on HowAboutOrange, another blog, Jess posted about a new way to search on Etsy. it's fantastic because you can see a billion results at once instead of a measly 33. Check it out here!

Etsy Treasury!

NessysNest has put together a beautiful treasury on Etsy. I feel so lucky to have my mint oreos next to works of art! To view it, click here. Take a few minutes to explore while you're at it. There's always something new and fun to find :)

Friday Morning Flowers (and chocolate!)

Good morning! Happy March! I realize that I have not posted in a WHOLE WEEK, and so, dear friends, I present lots and lots of flowers for you. There's actually another vase of the Gerberas upstairs, but I thought you could visualize for yourself. Since it's up the stairs.
very far away.





Daffodils were on sale at the grocery store 2 bunches/$3 and I love them. So I bought them.
The Amaryllis (much more red in person) were a post-Christmas Christmas present from Mom (thank you) and I've got a second starting on the windowsill.
The roses are, I think, a little less orange in real life and a bit more peachy, but pretty either way.

Did you know that you can make a Bird of Paradise have more "feathers"? If you hold the flower under water you can open the slit on the top of the green part (facing the right in the arrangement) and get out some more of the orange and purple. Cool, huh? I thought so!

I brought home some left over flowers that were pretty and needed a home and plopped them in a beer glass. Classy, I know.


ALSO! Chocolate flowers! yay! I love these little fudge blooms and I hope you do too :) I thought they were perfect for spring and I'm hoping to get them posted on Etsy this weekend. Maybe Mom will comment with a review since I just mailed her some?


Enjoy and have a lovely weekend!

Etsy Treasury!

NaiyaArtBoutique made a green treasury and featured my green oreos! Thanks to her and everyone should check it out. There are some really great items highlighted.
Treasuries are pretty cool- etsy members build a small (12) collection of items they like around some theme they choose. Once it's posted, anyone looking to browse or buy things on etsy can search treasuries and see what other people like for ideas. It's a neat way of interconnecting etsians

New Item! and a Treasury!

I've got new yummy cookies up on Etsy! These are lucky green (St. Patrick's day is coming up!) vegan oreos. Instead of plain buttercream sandwiched between chocolate cookies, I've made it green and mint flavored.

They were gone approximately 30 seconds after I finished taking pictures.

Also, here's a Yummy Vegan Desserts treasury I made today. Check it out for some pretty pictures and tasty treats!

A Valentine Thank You and Discount!

Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who ordered Valentine sweets for their sweeties! I went a little crazy baking for a few days, but I really appreciate your support and orders. If you are one of the lucky gift recipients, I hope you liked your goodies! As a thank you to YOU, if you order something from Short and Sweets between now and Feb 28, I will refund you 10% of your order (not shipping) via paypal. I highly recommend the VeganOs and the Fudge. (the Official Taster always recommends those in hope that he gets some leftovers).
**Here's the important part: when you're checking out, in the Message to Seller section, please type in ValentineThankYou so I know to give you your refund.

Please feel free to share this post with friends, family, and countrymen. Word of mouth and a good recommendation from a trusted source are my best tools.

Thanks again! Now, off to bake a cake!

Buttercream + Jam = Delicious

So yesterday I made Jammie Bodgers (I'm taking suggestions on more sellable/searchable names), whose name practically forces me to talk with a British accent and sip tea with my pinkie up. Where's my fine china?
They turned out to be rather tasty and very pretty. I think the ones with the apple cutouts would be great Valentine's (or anything) presents for teachers. I have to leave for work in a few minutes, but I'm hoping to get them onto ShortandSweets when I get back home. For the red ones I used strawberry jam and the orange ones are pumpkin butter. Unfortunately, after reading the label of the jar I had in the fridge, I realized my current pumpkin butter is not vegan since there's honey in it. So I'll have to find a different source than Trader Joe's. I think that means it's time to go to one of the farmers' markets!

Gluten Free Treasury on Etsy

If you click here you can view a treasury put together by an Etsy member of yummy looking gluten free treats. I think mine are the best, but if wheat is an issue for you, it might introduce you to other options :)

Weekend Baking

It's been a tasty 48 hours! Yesterday I found this recipe for cornbread and decided to give it a whirl. The main draw was that it didn't call for buttermilk, so I could substitute soy milk for regular milk. I got to use my new whisk (thanks, mom!), which was an added bonus. It turned out well, though next time I may try adding creamed corn as some people suggest. I think it will make it significantly moister.

Next up: Snickerdoodles! Thanks to one of my loyal Etsy buyers who reminded me I wanted to make these. Light, sweet, and cinnamony.

Finally, VEGAN HOMEMADE OREOS!! These turned out phenomenally well. I'm really excited about them because they taste delicious and are 100% vegan. You will not be disappointed with them! Order them from me :)