My First Gig!

Today's post isn't going to be full of tasty pictures because I was so caught up and nervous about getting everything done in time!  One of Justin's co-workers asked me to bake for her boyfriend's surprise 40th birthday party, and I just could not refuse. A chance to see what "catering" is like? 50+ people seeing what I can do? It was the perfect opportunity to test the waters and I could not have been more excited. We decided on about 70 cookie sandwiches - 35 lemon/lemon, and 35 chocolate/peanut butter.

Friday afternoon, I took out all of my ingredients and placed them on the counter. I grabbed all of my whisks, spoons, measuring cups, and knives and I thumbed through my little, pink recipe book until I got to the right page. And then I walked over to the couch and sat down. Turns out, I was more nervous than I thought. This was my first attempt at sharing my baked goods with complete strangers. Were they going to like it? Was I going to be up until 2 a.m. baking cookies?? And then suddenly my nerves turned into excitement and I couldn't wait to get started!!

So I turned on the stove. And then I started creaming the butter and the sugar, and zesting the lemons, and sifting the cocoa powder. I started measuring the flour, and combining the dry ingredients. And then before I knew it, Justin was home and I had already baked over 70 cookies!

And thankfully, I have an incredible support system of friends and family who were cheering me on and helping me get everything together. Justin and some of our wonderful friends, Mike and Mary, came over to help me package the cookie sandwiches and put stickers on flyers with my contact information that I had made to hand out at the party. I was finished and the kitchen was clean as a whistle by 11 p.m.

Final product, all packaged up!

This is me around 10:45pm. Clean up crew!

The actual event flew by in the blink of an eye. I showed up, met some great people, made a few connections, and watched everyone enjoy my cookie sandwiches! It was really fun, and I'm looking forward to being able to do this more often!

If you haven't noticed, Littlest Love has gone into full swing! I've got a Facebook page, a new e-mail address, and there's more REALLY exciting news on the way! Stay tuned for the next post to hear all about it!

Red, White & Nomnoms!

Fourth of July is the day that Americans celebrate 'Merica's birthday by lighting shit on fire, eating until we can't move, and yelling " 'Merica! " at the top of our lungs every time someone mentions beer, anything deep fried, or the colors red, white and blue. It's a time when we all get just a little bit redneck, a little bit patriotic, and a lotta bit full.

And now I get to talk about my redneck, patriotic, and super full week(end)! I started it off early on Tuesday night, baking and shipping cookies to Orlando. Those cookies then made there way to St. Augustine for a VoicePlay performance! They were dispersed amongst family and friends, and from the pictures I received it looked like everyone really enjoyed themselves. I know I had a great time baking these star-cutout brownie cookies. They were chewy in the middle and crisp around the edges, and they were filled with strawberry and blueberry buttercream. And by golly, they screamed 'Merica!

Naturally, I couldn't let the leftover buttercream go to waste, so the little cutouts made cute little star brownie bites that I shared with some local friends.

Wednesday evening I went for a true American pie. I didn't go for the usual strawberry, blueberry and whipped cream stars and stripes. No, I went big. Since blackberries are in season (and a recent obsession of mine) I went for a blackberry and lime pie. And I used a family recipe for the pie crust that would bring big, fat patriotic tears to your eyes. Just look at that golden brown, super delicious, perfectly baked star pie!

As you can see, this bad mamma-jamma didn't last long...

As for the rest of my baking, I put it on hold for a quick trip to Chattanooga as a last hurrah with some Nashville friends who are moving away. We ended up eating plenty of delicious food, all of which I could talk about in great length. Some of the hot spots were: Urban Stack, Aretha Frankenstein's (pancakes pictured below), Rembrandt's (see a picture of Rembrandt's "Nun" - a double stacked chocolate cream puff - here), and Heaven & Ale (four 4-oz sampler pictured below).

Aretha Frankenstein's blueberry pancakes (not pictured: Irish 8-Ball = Guinness + 2 Shots Espresso):

Heaven & Ale - an awesome new growler-fill and tasting station in Chattanooga!

Did everyone enjoy their 4th of July?? Please share links to your holiday festivities! To 'Merica!

Whole30 Craving Post: Fall, Shmall, I Want Pumpkin!

Sadly, Fall and Winter foods are no longer in season. Now if only the weather would just intuitively know this and STAY warm! Fortunately for me, I stocked up on cans of pumpkin. A lot. Of. Pumpkin. Today's craving IS pumpkin, and fortunately for me, I can have that! Just not in it's most delectable form, which is mixed in with cream cheese frosting, slapped between two fluffy, chewy cookies, and rolled around in mini chocolate chips.  I suppose I can make something else with my many cans of pumpkin sitting wistfully in the pantry, but in the meantime, at least I can oogle this beaut in photos!

Anyone else's mouth watering yet?

pumpkin chocolate chip cookie-which