Cakes and Cookies for November

I don't know if it is true else where but I think November is a really fun month because many people are born on this fateful month. Many of my friends and family have celebrated their birthdays in the past few days which left me so full like almost everyday. I made a box mix cake for my grandma last sunday.

Add to that the baby shower cake and cookies I had to finish on the same day...

 How's this for a rush cake? :D

...And some cookies... :)

 Bib Cookie

 Onesie Cookie

 Baby Shoe Cookie

 Smiley Cookie

Feeding Bottle Cookie

Hey, I have to add this cake I finished yesterday. 

Anniversary Love Birds Cake

and matching cupcakes :D 

Ain't November Sweet? 

Erin's Birthday Carrot Cake

It's my good good friend Erin's birthday today but we had a little celebration yesterday since she was going somewhere else today. We went to KFC and had chicken and a dose of Krusher's. [Yum!] A party[though how little] is never complete without dessert. So I baked her a Carrot Cake, taking the recipe from Lovin' from the Oven by Kim  [I know, I'm such a big fan. :)] Instead of Cream Cheese frosting though, I topped the cake with a crusting buttercream recipe I found at Cake Central so as to try it. Just for the record, it didn't crust. Maybe this is because of the type of weather we have here. Well at least it didn't melt away.

The Carrot Cake tasted really good and so did the buttercream.

That's us girls. 

This is how her cake looked like. 

I opted for an Indian inspired design.

But hey, look closely... the colors bled. :[

But she liked it anyway... :)) 

She said she didn't know if it was really the design or if it was a big blunder.

There you go. Uneven slices. Eating to our hearts' content.

I baked some flower cuppies too. That was her order. 

Happy Birthday, Erin! :D

Sour Cream Apple Bars

This month indeed is a busy month for me not just for baking stuff but also for family and work. I've been trying to and still am catching up with my messed up schedule at the hospital. Yup, you read it right. It's been a mess because of my absences last month and for this month, a new set of absences as well. You see, my Papa was confined yet again at the hospital for a week not because of stroke[Thank God!] but because of Aspiration Pneumonia. The doctor says that's because he can't swallow properly anymore as an after effect of his previous stroke episodes. Anyhoo, he is in better shape now. Still coughing but at least, recovering. 

Part of the hospitalization was also receiving some fruits from friends, family and from the meal tray. We had bananas, papaya and APPLES which by the way will be the main ingredient of my post today. I found this recipe from an awesome blog called Lovin' from the Oven which is among the first blogs I ever read when I started rediscovering my passion for baking. The photos looked yummy and so I wanted to make some so as to taste some. The apples my pop received from my best friend Glysa were the ones I made use of for this one. I also tweaked it a little as I used peanuts instead of pecans[because I don't see 'em a lot here] and a square pan instead of a 9x13[which wasn't a very good idea because the finished product turned out thick... I did it anyway because my oven is too small for a 9x13].

Here's the finished product. 

Slightly scorched crust because of the size of my oven. hihi

This is the bar I tried to cut out nicely but didn't go out perfectly.

Soft innards coming lose. 

But hey, this tastes really good you wouldn't mind the way it's cut. hihi

I had my family taste the bar slices and they said it was good. My mom even gave some to my grandma who is kind of a critic because she was once a baker. I still have to ask for her comments. As for me, it tasted really good.[Did I just say that again? :)] and I'd like to thank Kim for sharing this recipe that intrigued me enough to make me keep thinking of baking this while I was still in the hospital watching over my Papa. 

Right now, we're still busy finishing our job on...

 ...decorating the house for Christmas. 

[This is a cropped photo of our tree this year.]

Holidays, come quick! I'm so excited. :))

Halloween 2010

This year's Halloween by far is the most fun for me, I must say. Not only did I get to bake some goodies, but also I got the chance to don a costume for the first time. You see, I grew up spending halloween watching spooky themed cartoons and TV shows... and on the first day of November, we go to the cemetery to visit the remains of our departed loved ones. Cemetery day [All Saint's Day here] have been fun too but a costume party is way way better!!!

Since one of my neices' birthday is on the 30th of October, she wanted a halloween themed birthday party and so my cousin ordered a witch cake for her and some cookies. I didn't think I would be wearing a costume to the party because I thought it was just for kids but when my cousin said they'd be wearing costumes as well, I decided to join them and make a last-minute costume for me...

I ended up dressed as a...

COW. haha

And now for the goodies... 

Look at this Fruit Punch with floating eyeballs. :)) [love it!]

the Sugar Cookies I made. Too bad the Frankenstein and witch cookies didn't turn out perfectly. 

Now, this is the first fondant cake I sold. :))

I remember, it's been a year already since I first tried my hand on fondant. I started with a cake but found it really difficult to cover so I ended up starting to sell fondant cupcakes instead. 

Happy Halloween, Everyone!

[That's my sister. Dressed as a cat... or mouse? Idk. Haha]