nutella scones

Where were you on July 29, 1981? I was glued to our 13-inch Sanyo TV, watching Princess Diana's procession to Westminster Abbey.  I do not profess to be an Anglophile, but really, who doesn't love a tale of a young lady marrying a prince? So, I will be up at 5 again, 30 years later, watching the Royal Procession of Kate and Prince William.


In honor of such an historic event, I had to make something British, and since it was breakfast time, I chose a scone. And since it's such a special occasion, the scone needed to have an extra little something.

bunny cupcakes

Today, The SIL and Cousins are over for some bunny-cupcake-making fun times. It definitely is a Good Friday with Family.

vanilla cream doughnuts

The first and only recipe from flour cookbook that interested The Daughter was this one- Vanilla Creme Doughnuts. Fried dough with pastry cream— what's not to love?

Nothing... except the prescribed 8 hour+ time it takes to make them (talk about delayed gratification)... I'm not sure why Ms. Joanna Chang wants you to refrigerate the dough for minimum 6 hours (develop the flavor, I'm thinking) but we did away with that step.

We'd never made yeast doughnuts before, so I'm not positive that our dough (stiff and on the heavy side) was the right consistency.

There are few things as satisfying as working with yeasty dough. I love the texture- the elasticity and poofiness- and the smells of the yeast. The Daughter likened the line-up to an army of puff balls. 

orange creamsicle smoothie

The Daughter is guest blogging today.

Hello, The Daughter reporting for duty. On this fine day, I've teamed up with The (Annoying) Brother and come together to create this exquisite gem— a creamsicle smoothie. I must say, I never would have made this thing if it weren't for that little bug, who happened to take all these wonderful pictures. Anyway, after scanning through April 2011 issue of Food Network Magazine, I stumbled upon this refreshing, delicious treat.

chai-tea mini cupcakes {msc}

I LOVE Chai Tea (thank you, Starbucks and Tazo, for introducing us!) 

The combination of spices — cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, cloves—are enticing and appealing. (Oh, I can smell it right now, and I might have to stop by after my workout later on.)

bill's big carrot cake {bwd}

This week for the Baking with Dorie baking club, I got to choose the recipe. Yay! It's fun to sit, dream, imagine and salivate through her cookbook, but in the end, it is a rather difficult task. Dorie's tome is huge. Doorstop huge. More than three hundred recipes huge— and I had to whittle it down to one.

The deciding factor was what I thought the The Husband liked. Hehe, maybe I should have asked him first...

speculaas ~ st. nicholas cookies

Speculaas, St. Nicholas cookies, Windmill cookies — call them what you may, you MUST call them good. They're a spiced, shortbread biscuit. And I love them.

You can get them on a Delta flight— Hello Biscoff!— and you can get it in a jar (sort of like nutella!?!)

chocolate salted-caramel mini cupcakes

Cupcake Wars.

The Kids love watching the show, and now, The Daughter gets to participate in one. Today, her middle school is hosting a fundraiser and competition — game on!

She needed to find a cupcake both eye-appealing and scrumptious, and she spent a good hour perusing Hello Cupcake! and Martha Stewart's Cupcakes looking for The Perfect Cupcake.  The chocolate salted-caramel ones seemed most delicious, and we're hoping they'll win over the judges' hearts and taste buds.