ChallahMama

Happy Shabbatikkah!

2010-12-05T10:19:00.000-08:00

(aka Shabbat & Chanukah) which means Challah & Latke's on the same night! It is my opinion that Challah and Latke's can take on any cupcake, cookie, or cake any day any time! I found this latke recipe two years ago at www.nycnosh.com and thankfully copied it down because I can't seem to access the site anymore. Either way, its your lucky day because now you can make these amazing little

EZ PEZEE's

2010-11-30T10:16:00.000-08:00

{Brownies & Cookies} A new friend from grad school told me about the MOST AMAZING brownies her mother-in-law makes. I told her if she got the recipe I would bake them...it turns out these brownies are the easiest brownies you'll ever make and with one simple addition you can serve what people will think are Gourmet Brownies or Symphony Brownies as I call them:-) Thx to Summer's MIL. Symphony

Grandma's Sweet Potato Pie

2010-11-26T06:21:00.000-08:00

Bea's Sweet Potato Pie Happy Thanksgiving! For my family, this Thanksgiving was different than any other year. This was our first Thanksgiving without Mom. The "Firsts" in life are either wonderful or difficult. When you lose a loved one the "firsts" are the most difficult. I woke up feeling blue and didn't know how the day would unfold but I was going to be open to the blessings of this

I Scream, You Scream...

2010-11-25T07:15:00.000-08:00

We all scream for Ice Cream, Sorta. After making Hungry Girl Vanilla Cupcakes my Friend shared a secret recipe with me that is in line with the Hungry Girl Philosophy. These little 'Sorta like' Ice Cream sandwich's are worth screaming about and they are so easy to make. Ingredients: 2 Trader Joe's Old Fashioned Cinnamon Graham Crackers2 Tbs Cool Whip (you can use Free Cook Whip if you prefer)1

Hungry Girl Vanilla Cupcakes!

2010-11-24T11:47:00.000-08:00

For those of you that don't know who or what Hungry Girl is, check out her page HERE. I was invited to a HG Potluck which means everyone brings a HG recipe. I love to bake so of course I chose something sweet. I found this recipe in the section Chew on the Right Thing. I wasn't so sure about the recipe at first but thought why not...after a couple of hours these cupcakes were Darn Good!!!!

Peanut Brittle...worth trying!!!

2010-11-20T09:15:00.000-08:00

I made peanut brittle several years ago to give away as gifts and it was a real winner. During the last couple of week I kept dreaming of peanut brittle so Thursday night I thought I would give it a try. TRY is the operative word. I TRIED twice and twice I failed. I always read food network reviews and wonder about those people that say "I followed the recipe exactly and it didn't look

Cake Pops...Gotta Love'em!!

2010-11-17T10:21:00.000-08:00

I went on a cake pop marathon in the past few weeks. At first these little pops seemed difficult and time consuming but once you get the hang of it there actually quite easy and a joy to make. These were the leftovers, just decided to play and have fund with them My best friend and I made these for her children's school. It was Harvest day! These little pops came in first place for taste

Homemade Oreo's-Take II

2010-11-17T09:28:00.000-08:00

So the story goes like this...1. I went to a potluck shabbat and 2. Someone brought homemade oreo cookies. 3. They were beautiful and everyone loved them. 4. They were the perfect potluck dessert5. I wanted to make them. Since I couldn't get the recipe from the baker, I had to do some recon work via the web. I found a few but could't pick just one until I woke up this morning at 4AM

Gingerbread and the Bullseye...

2010-11-17T09:07:00.000-08:00

I got the cutest little gingerbread man cookie cutter at Michaels for .99 cents...and I just can't stop making these little men...I made these for one of my best friends who has been with the bullseye company, aka Target, since we graduated!!!

Challah...

2010-11-06T08:14:00.000-07:00

6-Strand Braided Challah Challah Dough Ball I recently taught a challah baking class at The Wellness Community in West Los Angeles. The Wellness Community (TWC) is a not for profit organization that offers free services to those with cancer and their loved ones. Monday-Saturday there are yoga classes, tai chi classes, workshops, support groups Poppy Seeds to compliment all free of charge.

December Wedding

2010-08-08T11:50:00.000-07:00

One of my nearest and dearest friends from high school called me over a year ago to tell me that he was getting married to the love of his life. Have you ever met a couple who was absolutley perfect for one another? Well Bill & Julie are that couple. Their wedding was December 27 2009 and I had the honor to making their wedding cake. Three tiers: bottom two were wedding white cake with vanilla

Lemon Lemon and More Lemon

2010-04-22T09:48:00.000-07:00

Its Big Ted's birthday this coming Thursday and I wanted to make him a cake that I knew he couldn't resist. Like my dad, he loves all things sweet and lemon flavored. As I continue to grow in the kitchen, I am finding there are some chefs who are spot on EVERY TIME and Ina Garten is one of them (also known as the Barefoot Contessa). This Lemon Cake is the key that will unlock the lemon

Childhood Favorite: Mackerel Patties & Rice

2010-04-18T12:16:00.000-07:00

So its been a very very very very long time since I have posted. Did I already mention that its been a VERY long time since I have blogged. Well it has and I have missed it. I just finished my first term of graduate school and moved my parents to Los Angeles so I can help care for my mother. LOTS going on to say the leaset BUT...today I am sitting on the lanai

Tajrish Restaurant, Marina Del Rey, CA

2010-02-10T21:37:00.000-08:00

I have had a lot of free time on my hands. I guess having the flu and being confined to my bed for four days will do that to a person. Haven't had a huge appetite until this afternoon when I started craving Persian food. I recently had lunch at my new favorite hidden find, The Ruby Room. Since that lunch I have been craving Persian food. So I am still confined to my bed but really, really hungry

When life gives you lemons...

2010-02-10T19:02:00.000-08:00

Or a Ginger & Lemon Hot Toddy Like most people this season I caught the flu and for the last four days-yes 1, 2, 3, 4 DAYS I have been in bed with the fever, sore throat, can't swallow flu. It has not been fun but like the sign says...when life gives you lemons, make lemonade or like I did make a Ginger & Lemon hot toddy. On Sunday morning when I realized that I had been caught by this

Missing 2009 Sweet Treats...

2010-02-09T13:31:00.000-08:00

A few projects that didn't make the blog but I wanted to share with you...Ralph Lauren Inspired Baby Shower CookiesDiamond Engagement Ring vanilla sugar cookies with sugar accented sugar crystalsLouis Vuitton chocolate cake purse with Coffee buttercream filling.Individually wrapped Baby Bunny and Onesis sugar cookies Mini cupcake/cookie tower

Strawberry Shortcake Cookies!

2010-02-06T17:02:00.000-08:00

What happens when you are given a great batch of strawberries and forget about them until its almost too late?Three words- Strawberry Shortcake Cookies. Preliminary reviews from Mom, Dad and friend, Jay, say this is a recipe worth trying. We are having dinner with new friends tonight-I thought I would bring them a few wrapped in this pretty basket!Recipe: Strawberry Shortcake Cookies(from Martha

Got Kosher?

2009-12-17T17:32:00.000-08:00

Got Kosher, anyone? Well if you don't, then you should. Got Kosher isn't your typical kosher restaurant, its a step into Tunisia and embodies the flavors of the owners best childhood memories. First known for his incredible challah, as a connoisseur of challah myself I don't know that I have ever had such a fluffy, melt in your mouth challah before. Imagine Grandma's Challah marrying

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NORA!!!

2009-12-09T08:40:00.000-08:00

This is a special post to wish the Beautful Nora Marsh and very happy birthday. Nora is the grandmother of close friends of mine who won my heart the first time I met her. She embodies the beauty and grace of a strong successful woman. Today I honor Nora Marsh and celabrate another blessed year of her life!Love you!!!

Happy 6th Birthday...

2009-11-11T09:35:00.000-08:00

Another delicious Kosher-Parve cake. The top tier was choclate with filled with two layers of pure vanilla flavored icing and the bottom tier was chocolate cake with my popular mint chocolate chip flavored icing. I had a lot of fun designing this cake. This was the first time I tested shooting stars and will make a few changes next time but really like the added flare it gives the cake.

NY Cake West...

2009-10-31T19:51:00.000-07:00

NY Cake West is a baker's heaven-a cake (and much more) supply store in Los Angeles, CA that recently opened. I visit the store at least once a week, spend no less than 45 minutes and when I walk in NY Cake West it seriously feels like a real live version of Candyland! My eyes get wide and my wallet gets emptied...A special congratulations to NY Cake West as they have begun manufacturing some

Happy Challahween Shabbat!

2009-10-31T15:07:00.000-07:00

Happy Challahween... This year I hosted a Callahween shabbat dinner for my parents...Mom and I made two amazing sweet challahs and tried a few new recipes. One of them included another Paula Dean favorite! Phyllo Wrapped Asparagus...For dessert, it was sweet sugar cookies, of course in the shape of little pumpkins. Notice the little halloween napkins-Nordstrom Rack $1.99...I couldn't resist

Tory Burch's Newest line...

2009-10-31T13:59:00.000-07:00

Can you say The Tory Burch Smore's Choclate Cake with a Graham Cracker Crust...This 30th birthday day cake can and did!

30 is the new 20...

2009-10-22T07:23:00.000-07:00

Jay-Z has coined the statement "30 is the new 20"- even if you dont know who Jay-Z is, my guess is-if you are 29 to 39 years of age you would agree with this statement...I most certainly do. Who wouldn't want to be in their twenties again but with the wisdom and knowledge of their 30's!New: Cookie Platters prices vary depending on size of cookies 10-12 cookies $26.00

Noah's Vader...

2009-10-18T21:17:00.000-07:00

About a week ago a girlfriend of mine called and asked me to make her son's birthday cake. I said sure no problem! Well I had no idea what I was getting myself into but after it was all said and done I had the best time. This was the first time I had baked in a long while and boy o boy did it feel good to be back in the kitchen. With a little help from a fellow caker and my friend Natalie, Vader

Here comes the bride...and her cake!

2009-08-31T11:10:00.000-07:00

This past Saturday I completed my first wedding cake...I have to say for someone who has never stacked a cake before I did pretty well-THANK YOU EDNA FROM YOUTUBE!Cake was chocolate, vanilla, and red velvet with traditional buttercream icing.The torte (which for those of you who were once like me and clueless as to what "to torte" means, it just splitting the cake into its layers) and icing

Baby takes the cake!!!

2009-08-08T17:27:00.001-07:00

I wanted to do something special for our friends Joanna & Jay in honor of their wedding and the coming of their unborn blueberry (AKA baby). Their gift basket included white onesies accented with green sanding sugar. Also included in the basket were three-tiered wedding cake sugar cookies that had piped ribbons on the top two tiers and their initials monogrammed o the bottom tiered also accented

Happy Birthday Sara!!

2009-08-08T10:05:00.000-07:00

It is always a pleasure to make sweet treats for friends and family. This weekend I had the pleasure of baking for two special occasions. First, was Sara's 29th birthday dinner and the second was a bridal/baby shower.The cat you see in the picture above was on the evite Sara sent out. I was asked to make the cookies on Tuesday and since the party didn't have a specific theme I was originally

Bridal Shower Mini-Dessert Bar

2009-08-02T20:42:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to my friend, Meghan, who is getting married at the end of August. Meghan asked me to bake her dessert for her bridal shower. Meghan's mom gave me carte blanche to be as creative as I would like. I was honored and decided to take a stab at a mini dessert table inspired by AmyAtlas. White chocolate and Milk Chocolate dipped pretzels with pink and blue squizzles to match the

My humble beginnings with Fondant...

2009-07-20T15:34:00.000-07:00

The purple boxes (my first fondant cakes) were made for one of my best friends 30th birthday dinner.The purple bow cupcakes and purple Orchid cake were my 1st fondant covered cupcakes and my second fondant cake which I made for another best friend's 30th birthday. I also made the cupcake tower out of Styrofoam and ribbon.My third fondant cake was the blue "Tiffany" like box which was made "just

2009-07-20T14:22:00.000-07:00

This was too cute not to share.

Welcome New Ones!

2009-07-19T19:46:00.000-07:00

I have been dying to try onesie sugar cookies and today I gave it a go. I used the sugar cookie recipe from Confetti Cakes (which I love) and Joy of Baking's royal icing recipe. In honor of Aidan born 9/08, Mari born 4/09, Chloe born 6/09, and Doran born 7/09... thank you for giving me a reason to bake today.Thank you Amy for letting me borrow the onesie cookie cutter!And a special

NOW that is a peach cobbler!!!

2009-07-14T11:24:00.000-07:00

Teddy has been asking me to make peach cobbler for as long as I could remember so last Sunday I went to the Santa Monica Main street Farmer's Market and got the sweetest and Juiciest peaches I could find and adapted one of Paula Dean's Cobbler recipe's. What followed was a shower of compliments from a true cobbler connoisseur who called again this morning to tell me that "This is the BEST cobbler

Paula Deen meet Gluten Free

2009-07-05T08:50:00.000-07:00

There is nothing like a July 4th BBQ with Fried Chicken and watermelon. This year I adapted Paula Deen's famous fried chicken recipe to make it Gluten Free so that I could enjoy it too. I have never made fried chicken before so this was an entirely new experience. I used coconut oil which is said to have many health benefits and Bob Mills Gluten Free Flour. The results-DELISH!!!!Ingredients *

Thomas the Train Cookies

2009-06-21T07:27:00.000-07:00

As a single lady without children I had no idea how popular Thomas the Train was until a friend ask me to make Thomas the train cookies for her daughter's 3rd birthday party. I had 4 days to get the job done while packing for my trip to Israel. I thought "No Problem" finding a train cookie cutter will be a snap-WRONG! I spent a day calling every store, shop, and friend that I thought might have

Awww, Firsts...

2009-05-27T06:53:00.000-07:00

I likened my next journey with sugar to all those first's in my life. Do you remember your first day of school? Or how about your first kiss? The anticipatory feelings of not knowing what the outcome will be but excited to get there. Sometimes your disappointed and the kiss just isn't that great or that first day of school felt more like prison than the fun place you expected. However on the

Happy Birthday Daddy & Gramdma

2009-05-23T09:00:00.000-07:00

Today is both my dad and grandma's birthday so I decided to bake them a cake. My dad's a little old fashion in that he loves a moist yellow cake with real chocolaty frosting, usually the kind in the box. I have been in search of a moist yellow cake for a long time and found a recipe on bakerella's blog that look absolutely delicious. I made two 8 in round cakes even though the recipe calls for

Almost Gluten Free Vegan Cupcake

2009-05-22T15:28:00.000-07:00

Most people know that I love to bake but few know that I have an allergy to flour, wheat, etc. That's right, I bake and never actually get to taste my sweet treats. I am blessed to have a wonderful BF and plenty of friends who serve as my taste-testers (none of them seem to mind the daunting task).I received the Babycakes NYC cookbook for my birthday and couldn't have been more excited to get

Popcorn-Smile for the Camera

2009-05-17T06:22:00.000-07:00

What's Star Trek the movie without some popcorn...

2009-05-17T05:52:00.000-07:00

Birthday celebration number two...Star Trek with the parental's (my parent's and Teddy's parents) and dinner with my oldest and dear friend, Lisa, and her family and the parental's. I had a great time and to my surprise, I LOVED Star Trek. At 31, Star Trek didn't bring back the same nostalgic feelings that it did for my parents but it was great to share in their joy and it was a great movie!But

Happy Birthday

2009-05-15T09:48:00.000-07:00

So today is my 31st birthday!! I can't believe it has already been 365 since my 30th. Last year I did a big to-do so this year I am keeping it mellow. Tonight I am taking a cooking class at Sur La table with 8 of my friends. In honor of the cooking themed party I made a fork & spoon cookie cutter for both my fondant decorations and cookies that I planned to give each guest. This was my first time

Baby Converse

2009-05-12T15:18:00.001-07:00

Last night I was paroosing around the internet and came across You-Tuber, "fairytalecakes" who inspired to me to make these absolutely precious baby converse using gumpaste and fondant. This is the first figure I've made using a pattern. www.CakeCentral.com is an excellent resource for patterns of all shapes and sizes. If you are doing a small number of sugar decorations, like a pair of shoes,

"Born to Bake" Cake

2009-05-11T19:39:00.001-07:00

My birthday is this coming Friday and I must say that I can't believe that I am actually turning another year older. Last year was a big one for me-I did a big shah-bang so this year I decided to keep it low key. I am taking a cooking class at Sur La table with my boyfriend and three other couples. Since its a cooking theme I have decided to make a cake consistent with the theme. I am going to

First 3D Figures (Fondant)

2009-05-10T18:35:00.000-07:00

I made the dress to match the dress of the mother-to-be and her little pug "Snickers". This is my first stab at figures and while I feel pretty good about it, I realized that I either have to use tylose or rice crispy treats (RKT)in order for her to keep her shape. She began to slouch and look much heavier than I wanted. I used food coloring gel to paint her dress and topped it off with a pair

Baby Shower ups and downs

2009-05-10T09:28:00.000-07:00

After months of prep, the baby shower was a success. I have to give it an A++ with two exceptions; first, the cake recipe I used was not good and two, I ended up losing all of my pictures from the shower. I had a blast doing it and I was proud of how the cake turned out visually. I really want to work on getting the cake even and having a extra smooth layer of butter cream under the fondant. The

Cupcake Galore

2009-05-10T09:27:00.000-07:00

2009-05-07T14:47:00.000-07:00

Baby Shower Baking Prep

2009-05-06T23:53:00.000-07:00

Today I went to class from 8AM-9:20AM (I am taking an abnormal psych class at SMC, local community college). I love my class but I couldn't wait to come home and get baking. I am hosting a baby shower with 5 other gals this coming Saturday and I have agreed to make the dessert. I decided on a cupcake tower with a topper cake, an idea I saw on Pink Cake Box's website. So today I was testing

2009-04-09T10:22:00.000-07:00

I am teaching myself how to make characters out of fondant. My first character will be a trendy pregnant woman which will top a baby shower cake May 9, 2009.

LAdy Happy HOur

2008-07-30T16:12:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my blog of LA's hottest (and best valued) Happy Hour spots. I'm Lady Happy Hour which is where the title of the blog comes from; get it LAdy Happy Hour!?!? So behind every blog is a story and my story happens to be short sweet and simple; I usually spend Thursday nights and Friday nights with my boyfriend. Since we are not engaged yet I still have my lovely apt and I have committed