Celebrate Africa!

This weekend I had the pleasure of participating in Odyssey World International's Celebrate Africa!

 This event was an amazing celebration of all the different 

African cultures that are present in Spokane. 

Over the past few months, I have had the opportunity to get to know of number 

of African refugees that live in Spokane.  I've learned so much from my new friends 

and am so glad we could celebrate their wonderful contributions to the Spokane community.

Penguins and Polar Bears

Aren't these penguins and polar bears the cutest thing?!  

I'm just in love with those cute little penguin faces!  

 Now, I can't take all the credit for them.  

There are so many cookie geniuses out there who provided oodles of inspiration for these designs.  

These little guys were quickly gobbled up by my friends at Empowering, Inc. Services.

Let me tell you...everyday I'm so impressed by all the amazing work 

these people do to keep children and families safe and healthy!

Raspberry Cream Cheese Breakfast Buns

I was looking for a yummy breakfast treat, so I decided to try the
Raspberry Cream Cheese Breakfast Buns
from my Magnolia Bakery cookbook. 

 Magnolia Bakery was one of my most favorite places to go
when I lived in New York! 

 I always crack open their cookbook
whenever I'm looking for something new.  

These turned out pretty tasty, but I think they need a little tweaking 

before I share with friends and family. 

 I bet if I find a real delicious, fresh raspberry preserve to swirl on top, 

they'll be too delicious to keep around!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Happy Birthday, Mr. Fix-It!

I whipped these puppies up for a friend's husband's birthday!
I haven't had the pleasure of meeting the fellow, but I hear he'sa real Mr. Fix-It.        

When I decided to make tool cookies,

 I hopped on the internet to check out what tool cookies cutter were available.  

Of course, there were a number of amazing sets (I'm always amazed at how many different cookie cutters are out there!),
but I wasn't about to pay the ridiculous shipping cost to get them here quickly.  

So, that left me with the "delightful" task of drawing my own tool shapes
 and tracing them onto the dough. 

 I say delightful sarcastically because I'm a really terrible drawer...I'm mean, really terrible.  

All of this accounts for the fairly rough edges of the tool cookies. 

 In the end though, after I slapped some frosting on them, I think they came out pretty cute. 

 I also want to apologize for the not-so-hot photography :) 

 I always end up baking in the middle of the night, 

so there's really no natural light to help the pictures look pretty.  

Oh well!

Pomegranate Buttercream Brownies

 Hope you have a yummy day!

60 years old!

Oh my goodness!  

My Uncle Hal, whom we affectionately refer to as Tordoc Oldhar (long story),

 is turning 60! 

We had a surprise birthday party for him last night so that everyone 

could be there before heading back home for school, work, etc.  

We told him we were celebrating our grandpa's brithday, 

but no, we were really celebrating his birthday! 

 I know he really appreciated the tombstone cookies :)