Bun is 'Out' of the Oven!

I heard from a friend that another friend of ours that has been pregnant throughout the entire summer had her baby girl! I bet she is absolutely beautiful and I can't wait to meet her.

Their is something so special about a new baby-almost magical. These little 'packages' that emerge from the mother and into their arms. It always amazes me.

From where exactly do they come from? Naturally, I understand the biological side of things--but there's got to be something beyond that.

I will never (in all of the days of my life) forget the exact moment I met each of my three kids for the very first time.

I love the phrase a 'bun in (or out of) the oven' to refer to a baby in it's mother's womb. I spend a lot of my time in the kitchen not only baking but preparing lots of meals too and I have found over the years that my kids (a long ago bun in the oven themselves) come to me so often to ask for help on something, to chat with me or to ask for a ride to a friends while I am in the kitchen.

It is a place where I often have a 'real' bun in the oven-like a cake or some cookies. In fact, I have lots of cookies to bake this morning for a party tomorrow.

But first, to my dear friend, I wish you the very best with your new little 'bun' who is no longer in your 'oven'. I wish your family the smoothest transition possible in having a new baby in the house and I wish you lasting friendship and joy with your new daughter.

Baking & Beauty

I have been thinking about beauty this week: how beautiful Cape Cod is in the summer, how beautiful my girls are and how beautiful something as simple as a cake can be.

We have a family of four visiting us from California. They've never been to Cape Cod. Naturally they find it beautiful.

This photograph is from my daughter's cell phone. She forwarded it to me while they were on the ferry home from a day trip to Martha's Vineyard. I stayed back that particular day because I wanted to fill my table at the farm.

Late yesterday afternoon I delivered mini lemon cakes and dreamy island cookies. Good thing too-when I arrived my table was completely empty. The weather for today looks beautiful! We are going to take them out to the Outer Cape-go for a swim, maybe a hike and find a fun place for a good meal.

Oh, where has the time gone this summer?

Dreamy Island Cookies

On November 6th of last year I posted an entry here called "The True Tale behind Dreamy Island Cookies". Most of that particular post ended up in a Falmouth Food Column published in the Falmouth Enterprise.
There is something that keeps coming back to me about how special these cookies are. They are not only delicious but the recipe was created out of a fun adventure I had with my kids.
I made three batches of Dreamy Island Cookies this week. One batch was made on the morning my son had three friends at the house for a summer sleepover.
As the boys grow into their adolescence I find it can be challenging to know how best to interact with them. They're certainly not babies--not quite adults. They're always hungry, love their privacy, stay up super late and sleep in all morning.
As they emerged from their slumber they all said, "Wow, those cookies smell so good!"
Granted, cookies can't show me how to raise a teenage boy, but they definitely get the conversations started.

A Girl After My Own Heart & Mama Mia!

Bella celebrated her birthday last night. She invited some friends over for pizza and a sleepover. I took them to see Mama Mia! I knew I was going to love it.
It was so much fun. The movie was funny and sweet and very entertaining. I can't wait to get the music soundtrack. It would be perfect as back ground music for baking or cleaning house.
One of her friends brought her a special gift that went in the refrigerator as soon as she arrived. It turned out to be a home made chocolate brownie carved into her name-Bella!
It was creative and thoughtful- a girl after my own heart.
I delivered a triple chocolate decadence cake yesterday to a client. I topped the dark chocolate ganache with a decorative treat in the shape of a whale.

Dog Days of Summer!

Dog Days of Summer refer to those very hot days during July and August.
I did a quick search on phrasefinder.org and the origin of this phrase goes back to the ancient Romans. The site explains that "the Romans noticed that the hottest days of the year, i.e. in late July and early August, coincided with the appearance of Sirius - the Dog Star, in the same part of the sky as the Sun. Sirius is the largest and brightest star in the Canis Major constellation, in fact it is the brightest star in the sky. The ancients believed that the star contributed to the heat of the day".
For me, Dog Days of Summer mean that when I am baking I gather every fan I can find and position them around my kitchen. It also means that I sneak away to the water every chance I get.
Over this past weekend we met some friends out on Sandy Neck. They have an RV and park it out there for a few days at a time. You never quite know what the day will bring! Saturday we huddled under the awning as we watched a storm pass by. The best part of that day was the brief time just after the storm had passed.
This week I am baking for the farm, filling a Gift Basket order and creating a super chocolate cake for a client's birthday.