color board : daiquiri ice...

the color of this Baskin Robbin's flavor has me feeling refreshed... and craving a cone :)

photo from Molly Anne Make

photo from Prettyville

photo from All Custom Gifts

photo from Little Dog Vintage

cupcakes at work...

there are cupcakes at work AGAIN today and they're making me fat because i have no willpower when it comes to Molly's cupcakes or brownies or pretty much anything that comes out of her kitchen... the cupcakes she brought in today are not only delicious but very photogenic ...so i set up a little impromptu iphone photo shoot in my work window with a cake stand i had in my office by Red Poppy ... Molly always uses the best ingredients and goes to great lengths to come up with the perfect recipe to achieve the desired flavor, texture, moisture and look... seems like quite an art form/science project in every cupcake but the hard work always pays off in a big bite... it makes me happy to know that such care & thought went into this little bite of heaven... Molly also has a total cupcake crush on Enjoy Cupcakes but how could you not? ... this particular little cake pictured below is a vanilla cake with flecks of chocolate, cinnamon cream cheese icing topped with chocolate candy swirls...you can't see this, but Bailey's Irish Whipped Cream is the filling in the middle...mmmm!...if you need cupcakes, let me know and i'll hook you up with my work-cupcake-homegirls, Molly or Brooke from Just Call Me Cupcake ...you will not be disappointed...SEE....

sweets week: Derby Pie—yea I said it!

I'm happy to welcome a guest blogger for Sweets Week!!! Brooke Nunnelley, who is quite the authority on sweet treats since she's always coming up with new recipes for her bakery business called Just Call Me Cupcake shares a timely treat with us today... much thanks to her for this special batch of yummy and adorable cupcakes that she made for the P&P blog!

"May is just a couple days away and you know what that means—
The Kentucky Derby! and all the classic treats that appear during this time of year.

One staple is a 50-year-old tradition, and registered trademark, of Kern’s Kitchen. A scrumptious pie that combines walnuts with a layer of chocolate called DERBY-PIE®. YUM! People all over the bluegrass like to partake in this sweet treat for the run for the roses.

One of my first cupcake recipes was a “Derby Pie-esque” cupcake that I made even more infield-appropriate by adding some good ole Kentucky bourbon and Heath®! Since I can’t call them Derby Pie—shhh—I call them Derby Day Darlings (and they are just that—darling).

Below are a few I made in honor of Sweets Week
and the beginning of May.
Our co-workers will be thanking EB!"

just call me cupcake...

i rushed out the door to make it to work this morning and skipped breakfast which is bad because i get really grumpy when i don't have breakfast... so hopes for a happy & productive day at work were dashed UNTIL... ta da!... nourishment of the yummiest kind descended upon my humble office and saved the day!!! my friend Brooke (owner/maker of all the confectionary goodness that comes out of Just Call Me Cupcake's kitchen) was experimenting with new recipes last night!... and lucky me got to partake of this adorable mini cake creation in the photos above and below... forget the fact that we have access to the best quality photo equipment and two well-lit photo studios at our disposal... i set this little cake up in the window light with some white boards as a backdrop and propped up Brooke's business card with a white-out dispenser ...now if that's not a CLASSY iphone photo shoot, i don't know what is... Just Call Me Cupcake is fulfilling orders all over Louisville these days so give them a call! 502-338-9257... i've tried a variety of delicious indulgences from their kitchen... since Just Call Me Cupcake came to my rescue today, i'm considering suggesting that the logo be modified to include a flowing cape behind the cupcake lady...what do you think?

dinner last night : valentine's day...

did you go out to a fancy restaurant last night to celebrate the holiday of LOVE or did you stay at home for a romantic candlelit dinner? here's what was for dinner last night... homemade cupcakes using this recipe for white cake and this recipe for buttercream icing but i substituted butter for shortening... i also fixed one of our favorite recipes from Super Natural Cooking by Heidi Swanson... Straw & Hay Fettuccine Tangle (follow this link & scroll down to see the full recipe)...i modified it a bit with spaghetti noodles instead of fettuccine & soy nuts instead of pine nuts (just because that's what i had around the house...not because it tasted better)... and some fresh strawberries (YUM!) hope you had a delicious Valentine's Day with the ones you love & with the food you love!

love is in the air : Ashley & Jeremiah's wedding

with Valentine's Day coming up, love is in the air! so i wanted to share some beautiful wedding details from a few weekends ago... this was actually my sister-in-law's wedding... so Matt & i helped with a lot of the set-up and got to see the whole thing come together quite nicely, which is always fun!... i successfully coordinated my first wedding ceremony! yay! i have a renewed respect for all those wedding coordinators/planners out there...and want to send a special thanks out to my friend, Jill from Scout House, who coordinated my wedding back in July...my favorite tip she gave me when i told her i was asked to coordinate Ashley & Jeremiah's ceremony was, no matter what happens "Just act like you have everything under control" :) ... so without further ado, here's the photos... forgive the low-quality iphone pics...i tried to help them in photoshop a bit but i think you can get the idea of how fabulous it all was from these :)

beautiful cupcakes...including a banana flavor (yum!)

pretty purple flowers for the table centerpieces

the beautiful bride's first dance with her husband...please note the perfectly distributed paper lanterns hanging above them...
Matt hung them ;)

Ashely hand-stamped all of these cleverly displayed name cards

Ashley wore this custom hair flower i made from Posies & Plume

i also had the honor of designing a program & a timeline of the big day to hand out to all those involved

Ashley had a whole bunch of lavender and put it to use in these cute glass bottles... simple paper squares with a damask print really dressed up the tables... bags of hot chocolate mix & marshmallows served as favors...they were tied with a silver ribbon & topped with a heartfelt note from the couple... as conversation starters, Ashley made, silver paper fortune tellers that all related to the wedding & couple

i thought this groom's cake was so funny!
Jeremiah loves rock climbing so that represents him

great food, friends, family & atmosphere at the Northend Cafe for the rehearsal dinner

congrats A & J... love you guys!...can't wait to see your real pictures...these don't do it all justice!