hot chocolate and thank you cards: day five

365 photo challenge: day four

4/365: today kenneth stopped by for a visit..i have not seen him in almost 8 years! so nice to see an old familiar face.

365 photo challenge:day three

this consumed my entire day...new hobby?...i think so. (thanks bev) :)

-Jess

365 photo challenge:day one and two

i decided to try and do a 365 photo challenge..it seems easy enough since i take pictures almost every day. but i think the hardest part will be actually posting them..already i have failed :P

1 and 2: into town for a new years day movie date with my husband! (django unchanged was pretty entertaining, i would recommend it..that is if you dont mind seeming Jamie Foxx in his birthday suit) 
3: winding down on new years day with hot chocolate topped with homemade candycane whipped cream!
4: (todays photo) snack time with Riley

fancy chocolate peppermint bunt cake!

cousin justin approves this cake

Its no secret that i have an obsession with pinterest. i spend WAY too much time pinning and obsessing over things i "need" . dont even get me started on the "food boards" ... i make myself hungry just looking at all the tasty treats! This recipe was one i came across on pinterest and just had to add to my Christmas baking list! we decided to make it in honor of cousin justin's birthday (which was on Wednesday) and i must say it was a pretty big success! Peppermint and Chocolate are my two favorite things during the holidays! the only thing i changed about the original recipe is that i did not add corn syrup to the ganache.

merry Christmas everyone! happy baking xoxo-Jess

Fancy Christmas sugar cookies

 Its that time of year again! man, the year just kinda flew by! i have been baking like a mad woman trying to get all the cookies and treats i had planned to make this season done!

Riley ready to work! 

 i pretty much gave up trying to make my cookies look perfect. i use to spend hours on them, but its so much more fun letting Riley take over and use her own creativity in decorating!

 this is the same recipe we used for our fancy halloween cookies. so get yourself some fancy xmas cookie cutters and get to baking!!!

Riley said this snow flake needed a nose :)

i did sneak a few cookies and decorate them myself :) i love the snowflakes!

Merry Christmas friends! i will try to be back with a few more treats before xmas, Happy baking! xoxo-Jess

fancy buttermilk biscuits

Riley's reindeer feet

Riley Claus! 

Rain days are for making Christmas projects and baking just because!

Today I decided to make some biscuits using the container of buttermilk i had sitting in the fridge since thanksgiving.. the buttermilk was meant for biscuits that were to be had with thanksgiving dinner but i got lazy and ended up using.. (gasp).. store bought biscuits :O i know right? who am i? anyway, i didnt want it to go bad and its not like biscuits are very hard to make, they are actually really simple, i have no excuse, really. so here you go..my fancy recipe, i actually made two versions, one using a teaspoon of cinnamon, but honestly i could have used 1/2 tea'spoon and they would have been much better, the full teaspoon was a bit over kill. but hey, you live you learn :) Happy Baking!-Jess

regular buttermilk biscuits on left, cinnamon biscuits on right

Fancy Buttermilk Biscuits
ingredients:
2 cups All purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon(optional)
6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, very cold, cut into cubes 
3/4 cup buttermilk, very cold..more if needed

Preheat oven to 450F. combine dry ingredients in medium bowl. cut butter into flour using pastry blender or by hand by squeezing butter and flour together until resembles a course meal. add buttermilk and mix just until combined. if dough appears on the dry side add a bit more buttermilk, but you do not want the dough to be very sticky. turn dough out onto a floured board and gently pat (do not roll with pin) dough out until its about 1/2" thick. use round cutter to cut, i used a medium size one and was able to get about 8-9 biscuits per patch. feel free to use any size, but you may need to adjust baking time. place biscuits on cookie sheet about 1"apart if you like them to be "crusty" if you rather they be soft, place them touching each other. bake for 10-12 minutes until lightly golden brown. i like to eat my biscuits fresh out of the oven and smothered with strawberry jam! enjoy!