Royal Brunch

A good friend and I had a little royal wedding viewing party brunch this morning! Here's our little set up...

A little red, blue, and white to keep in theme with the British colors and a few touches of gold to keep things prim and proper!

ps. The mini scones were from Starbucks... they were amazing! I think I may need to royally treat myself to one of these scones on a regular basis now!

The stars are smiling on us

Mark your calendars... Starbucks is giving each customer a FREE tea or coffee of your choice this Friday (April 22nd)! They are celebrating being green! Yay! I love Starbucks, and free, and the color kelly green!!!

If you're in Texas, I don't believe you'll be riding your bike, that is ill-equipped to carry your fabulously free coffee, in this 90 degree weather. So, maybe load up your SVU with a friend or two to contribute to the day! :)

Here are the non-tiny-wonderful-print details....

1. Bring a reusable mug (the whole point of the gig, otherwise you'll be paying some green)!

2. One per customer!

3. Size limits are from short (8oz) to trenta (31oz), ie. any size you want!

And here are some mug ideas I gathered up for you...

Lemony Fresh

If you know me at all, you know I love cupcakes, especially when they come from Crave Cupcakes! I think I may have found a new favorite in the lemon with coconut cream cheese frosting... and the Easter egg is a cute mini touch!

(photo courtesy of Crave Cupcakes.

I ate mine too fast to get a picture in!)

I'm seriously hoping these end up staying around for the rest of the spring season... and summer season too while we're whisk-fully dreaming! (Actually, they could have been around forever. I've just been blinded by the strawberry haze... that is, until now! I think it's time to branch out to their other flavors, or maybe just switch off with the lemon!)

Spring fling

This spring I've caught the french macaron fever! I've always wanted to make them... they're just so pretty and proper, and, lets be honest... so good to eat!

So I finally built up the courage to whisk them out. I wish I would have looked up recipes before now because macarons only call for 4 ingredients for the cookies and 2-3 for the filling. Super easy, or so I thought. Apparently there are multiple fine lines in baking these little pretentious cookies!

Here is how my first batch turned out...

Okay for a first attempt... but, I'm going to keep practicing! You know the saying, "practice, perfect, yada-yada-yada!" I think I'll try some pink ones next or maybe some lemony yellow ones. Oooo, or decorated! I need some edible markers asap!

ps. The recipe is from Tartelette!

Let them eat cake!

William and Kate's wedding is so close! Weeks away y'all!

So here's what I've learned about the cake details...

1. The groom's cake will not be with the English tradition and will be chocolate!

2. The bride's cake will be multi-tiered! Would you expect anything less? I'm predicting 6 tiers!

3. Each tier will be a different flavor, with the top being the traditional English wedding cake flavor of fruit cake! Yes, you read that right, fruit cake! Bad Christmas gifts come to mind for me... maybe it tastes better over the pond.

4. They will be saving the top tier for the Christening of their first child! Yet another English tradition! Let's hope they don't wait too long!

5. This is the lady baking and designing the cakes...

I can't remember her name, her bakery, or where I even got this photo (ekk!),

but if you know please fill me in on details!

P.s. Don't you just love the colorful backdrop and turquoise in this photo?!

Tickle My Fancy

Today I wish I was in this cute little jewel of Austin, TX!

Walton's Fancy and Staple

Walton's is one of my FAVORITE places to visit in the ATX!

It's such a quaint little place where you can sip on a wonderful cup of tea or coffee and

enjoy a delightful sweet bite while

being surrounded by wonderful smells of blooming in the shoppe!

I dream to one day have a shoppe, or a kitchen, just like this fancy little staple!

D-Arrows!

Here we go... the final product! Arrows... for my sweet friend who just got married and is now Mrs. Darrough (and as she likes to say, "it's pronounced like, D with an arrow!)!!!

Here's the recipe....

1. Choose any flavor box cake and icing you want (just nothing that is like moist extreme or anything extra extra moist).

2. Bake the cake as directed and cool completely.

3. Crumble to cake into a large bowl.

4. Combine cake crumbles with icing.

5. Form mixture into desired shape.

6. Let set in freezer for a little while.

7. Melt dipping chocolate, while chocolate, almond bark, or candy melts to coat.

8. Dip mixture shapes with candy tools or lollipop sticks.

9. Freeze for a moment or leave out to set coating.

10. Enjoy!