Heart Shaped Hand Pies

I was hoping to share these recipes sooner but last week got crazy! I'm so glad I'm still managing to squeeze this fun recipe in before Valentine's Day! This idea popped into my head soon after Christmas - I am always ready for the next holiday! I was so excited to make these when my friend Jess and I got together recently to bake. And when I say bake, I mean, we baked! We made these fabulous heart shaped hand pies and we made gluten free earl grey cupcakes (find those HERE).

Here's the low down on these hand pies - they have the most perfect flaky crust! We cut the crust into hearts, instead of the usual hand pie circles. Then, I filled them with Strawberry Rhubarb. Because red just works on Valentine's day! These festive treats are so darling and they are delicious! Let's get started!

Easter Bunny Cake

My Gammie turned 81 on Easter Sunday! My family celebrated her birthday on Friday evening with a delicious butternut squash & Fontina cheese lasagna, some Italian sausages, my favorite apple & walnut salad (recipe HERE!) and a fun cake!

Technically, there is nothing new about what I'm sharing today - I've shared the cake before (recipe HERE) and the chocolate icing before (recipe HERE), and I used store bought fondant. So, I won't be sharing a new recipe today but more so a concept, and I'll talk about how I made my cake making process.

Most of my cakes start out with a drawing. I had so many ideas about this cake - pastel colored icing for Easter, flowers, bunnies on top of the cake, bunnies on the side of the cake, a banner on top of the cake... I have never made a cake for Easter before so I was full of new ideas and Pinterest was filling my brain with so much more! I ended up deciding on icing the cake to look like a tree trunk, having a little bunny bum made of fondant sticking out the bottom of the cake, some little pieces of green fondant to look like grass along the side of the cake, and a little flag banner on top supported with 2 paper straws.

Sending love (& cupcakes)

A family member recently had cancer related surgery. My family has gotten updates every so often and after the most recent update, we knew we wanted to send love in a big way! In the past, when supporting a loved one from a distance, we've looked up bakeries/flower shops close to them. That works great but it can get a little pricey. This time we thought we would try baking at home and express mailing it. I volunteered to make the cupcakes and my dad took care of all the packaging and mailing details.

Music for Monday: Love, Love Love!

Today, I'm sharing one of my all time favorite songs about love. I thought this was fitting since Valentine's Day is tomorrow. I'll be sharing some fun Valentine's treats all week long - I have some cards to share, some cookies & more!! Happy love week!!

What the World Needs Now - Jackie DeShannon