If you look at my Pinterest account, you will see plenty of fancy cakes with interesting ingredients and elaborate construction.  I love these inspiring cakes, but they are far from what I would consider  "perfect" cakes.  For me, the perfect cake is baked with love, ...
Five Minute Fudge!
You will fall in love with this Five Minute Fudge! This is an easy recipe for kids, and makes a great treat for parties, bake sales, or just to satisfy a serious chocolate craving. Â For the fudge, we used one of our favorite chocolate brands, Sharffen Berger, and for the topping ...
Omni Grove Park Inn: Recipe for Success
For the last 25 years, the Omni Grove Park Inn in Asheville, North Carolina has hosted the National Gingerbread House Competition.  The competition began as a community gathering, and over two decades has become one of the most noteworthy holiday baking events ...
Baking Gifts for Kids
Last night I was lying in bed with my son at the Grove Park Inn, and the television was on with the volume off. Â Suddenly, my two year-old yelled, "Arbys!" Â I looked at the tv, and the Arby's logo was on the screen. Â Knowing that my son can't read at his age, I was wondering if I ...
Peace of Cake
My husband and I were having a holiday tactical meeting earlier this week, to discuss the inner-workings of our family's holiday plans. In a ten minute period, I went from jamming out to "Run-Run Rudolph" on the radio, to stressing out over the crazy logistics required to pull of ...
Facing your Fears!
Since we are in the season of all things spooky, the kids and I took on a baking project this week with the theme of facing your fears. Anxiety is something I know well. Â Despite having a wonderful childhood, I remember having anxious thoughts as a little girl, and not ...
Kooky Cookies
Boo! Around our house, we prefer to make Halloween a little more kooky than spooky. Â This week, we got into the kooky Halloween spirit by baking monster themed sugar cookies with inspiration from one of our favorite artists, Ed Emberley. If you and your kids have any interest ...
Macaron Pops
The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge, but imagination. -Albert Einstein I think it's funny how we encourage children to have vivid imaginations, but as we get older there is this notion that having a vivid imagination is, well, a little weird. A while ...
Weathering a Storm
You can't have a rainbow without any rain. -Dolly Parton This week we packed up our most treasured belongings, cleaned the house, and secured the outdoor furniture in preparation for Hurricane Irma. Â As the children and I were packing up, the UPS fairy brought us a ...
Moon Pies and Wild Skies
Today is the Great American Eclipse, and here in Charleston we are in the path of totality.  This little city has taken on a million new friends for the event, and despite a cloudy forecast, the parties and festivities are in full-swing.  From the Blackout Bash at Fleet Landing, ...