Monkey Monday

Jakob doing interpretive dance to Linkin Park!


Take care,
Tania
Love Big, Bake Often


ps - I hate it when Blogger doesn't let me edit my text!

wordless wednesday

Doing dishes with Daddy.

Take Care,

Tania

Love Big, Bake Often

military Monday

I belong to the FRG – otherwise known as the Family Readiness Group. We do all kinds of good things for the families, the soldiers, and are a really good support system for each other.  We deal with all kinds of issues and I am usually ready to jump in with both feet to help out.  But last week I was a little distracted.  There was a fundraiser last week – a Cake Auction – right up my alley right??  Well I felt like I had no time to bake the things I wanted to.  But what I did make turned out pretty darn good!  Just look at these Coconut Cupcakes with Coconut Buttercream and topped with shredded Coconut!  

I made 16 of them, thinking they would sell them all together – but Nikki decided to split them up to make some more money!  8 cupcakes went for $30.00!!  And my Chocolate Cake (sorry no pics) went for $45.00!  Also attached to the bottoms of these cakes were rewards for the soldiers that bought them, like a 3 day pass, lunch with the Commander (I would like that one!), a pass from having to do Physical Training at 6 am!, etc.  So the guys were not only bidding on the yummy treats, but also the chance to win some good prizes underneath.

And I am happy to say that we raised over $700.00 for our company.

Take Care,
Tania
Love Big, Bake Often

it’s a TWD saturday!!

What a week.  It has been a busy one at home and work.  My MIL, Karen, was here this past week….and while I was able to bake the Flaky Apple Turnovers, I was unable to squeeze in the time and energy to post them.  Karen flew home to Saratoga Springs yesterday morning (and now I have a sulky dog and two sad little boys) and so today it is a quiet house and I now have to get these posted.

I am so in love with this recipe.  It is great.  The flaky crust made me a little nervous.  It was a little rough and lumpy when I made it, but then after tweeting about it with some friends I realized that mine was not the only one like that so maybe it was suppose to be that way!  And it was.  The dough came together wonderfully, rolled beautifully, and flaked up perfectly!  These were super yummy.  I used a Granny Smith apple for my filling and it was perfect, still a little crisp after baking, and just the right apple flavour.  I had decided that I was only going to make a half batch of these and I wish I had made a full batch.  But I did save some of the dough and filling for this weekend and Jason and I ate hot from the over turnovers for breakfast this morning!  Divine.  At the beginning of the week when I made the first batch of these I ate mine with some Honey Tart Frozen Yogurt.  The perfect combo.  I apologize to Julie, from Someone’s In the Kitchen, for my late post!  Be sure to check out her blog for the recipe and the other TWD bloggers for their creations and takes on this classic treat!

Hope you all had a great week and are enjoying the end of summer!

Take Care,
Tania
Love Big, Bake Often

Monkey monday

I LOVE going to feed the ducks and geese…..it’s something we can all do together, doesn’t cost a thing (except some sad bread crusts that have been in the fridge for months building up to this day!), and it’s fun!

Aiden hasn’t done it many times, and we kept him in his stroller so he wouldn’t run off the bridge, but he had a blast.

Then it was off to the play ground to burn off some energy…..a great way to spend a Sunday morning with Nana visiting.

Take Care,

Tania
Love Big, Bake Often

TWD - My First Souffle

Things have been a little off here at the Love Big household. Lots of changes going on, Daddy is home, and the we all started to get sick. Jakob started the ball rolling with croup, then Aiden brought home an upper respiratory infection, and I ended up with a cold. I am not sure how Jason has managed to stay healthy, but I am knocking wood that he doesn’t get sick. He isn’t the best patient when sick and when you have actual kids under the weather nothing is more frustrating than a sick hubby!

I was positive that I would find the time to make this week’s Chocolate Souffle. Susan, from She’s Becoming Doughmesstic, chose this weeks recipe and since she is such a good blog buddy and twitter friend, I knew that I could not bail this week. Susan will be posting the recipe over on her blog, but be sure to also check out the Tuesdays with Dorie blogroll and check out some of the other wonderful baker’s creations!

Here is what my FIRST souffle’s looked like…..perfection.





I hope you all are doing well and staying healthy! And I am hoping to get back into the swing of things now that we are all on the mend and under one roof!

Take Care,
Tania
Love Big, Bake Often