Baking with my niece!

 My beautiful niece turned 13 this year!

She was excited to be a teenager and

she was also excited to make

her own birthday cake for her party!

So we started by figuring out the design for her

13th birthday cake.

And then we decided to sneak a surprise inside

the cake, which is always fun when you slice the

first piece of cake!

We will have to wait and see if our little surprise works!

So then it was off to the oven, while it baked and cooled

 there was a movie to watch and lasagna to eat!

Icing the cake using a turn table makes the job so much easier.

  She is a natural at decorating!

We then made homemade marshmallow fondant.

There was a lot gong on and so much sugar!

Rolling out the fondant the next morning to cover the cake!

And the decorating begins with these two!

The amount of laughter could

be contributed to the amout of sugar these

two girls consumed.

 I loved watching them work

 together as the vison of

 the cake came to be a beautiful work of art!

Oh, the personalities of these two,

it's just so fun!

And now that she is 13 1/2 its time I get this posted!

A very fun, sweet day!

And the inside...

Bouncing back...birthday parties...bonfires...

Weekends...

they are good

and busy,

fun and go crazy fast!

 

 

But bouncing back from a busy

weekend, seems to take

longer the older I get.

 

Chalkboard art by Lauren
Cake by Unique Sweets

 

This past weekend it was my

Mom's birthday

and so two siblings and their

families came for lunch

on Sunday along with

my parents!

 

My mom and I

 

Food and laughter shared

with those you love

is always a treat.

And I'm grateful for each one

of them in my life.

 

Cousin fun and
is Roger really sleeping?

 

But a birthday party wasn't the

only plans for the day,

as evening came so did more

friends along with more food.

It was time to light the bonfire...

 

 

See the long shadows of the guests in the yard...
it was soooo HOT!!

 

Beautiful evening!

 

You see the bonfire was "built" last fall but

due to a very windy night

we couldn't light it

and so, I was time.

After all campfire season is just around the corner.

 RIGHT!?

 

Sending off a lantren while we
waited till the fire died down.

 

Still waiting to roast hot dogs...

A fabulous weekend with

wonderful friends and family!

I AM BLESSED!

The challenges of FONDANT

Costa Rica is a beautiful country

with many flowers...

...but fondant flowers like this will

have to wait till we

return home.

You can fine the tutorial on these flowers

 HERE and HERE

High - heeled shoes are

also so very much a

part of Costa Rica...

...but ones made out of sugar,

non-exsistent.

See the original post of these shoes HERE.

Have a blessed day!

Coffee time...and cake!

So as a family living in Costa Rica we have found many places we love to visit.

And since Mr. Sweet and I

enjoy drinking coffee each day,

We needed to find our favorite coffee shop

with fresh roasted coffee.

Coffee beans are dried in the sun and turned every 15 min.

The first week after living here we found it...

our favorite coffee comes from a little shop

in Central Market,

that roasts their own coffee.

While drinking a fresh cup of coffee one day

sitting at Cafe Central

my husband mentioned that I make cakes.

So for more than 8 months everytime we go for

coffee

they ask,

"Where is our cake?"

Yesterday, Mr. Sweet delivered

their CAKE.

They were super excited and were showing

all the other venders

around them.

And in return they gave me a large

burlap coffee sack.

Yes, that made me happy!