Sunday, November 14, 2010

Boxes of Baking


Since arriving home from San Fransisco last week, I have been overwhelmed by school work, loads of festival photos, and a strong desire to cook and bake (with little time to do it).  I didn't snap photos of all my food last week as I had too many photos to go through as it was.  The highlights of my eats last week included lots of fruit and veggies, as well as:

Spinach Lasagna from Costco
Chicken Curry
Tortilla Soup
We got plenty of snow last week, and it made me crave seasonal flavours.  I made Angela's Gingerbread Pumpkin Vegan Overnight Oat Parfait.  Find the recipe here.



I gobbled it all up.  I made the hubby some too, and he was impressed.

On Thursday evening I went on a baking extravaganza!  
I was inspired by the goodies at the Food Buzz festival, and had been itching to try some recipes from some of my favourite blogs.  Also, I will be honest, I was totally avoiding my homework. I decided to put together little goodie boxes for the dinner party guests that I would be having over on Friday evening.

I made some spiced nuts.


I made Melissa's Pumpkin Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Buttercream.


And Emily's Oreo Stuffed Double Chocolate Cookies.
(There is an entire Oreo cookie inside!)


I also made Angela's pumpkin pie 'brownie' cupcakes.

 

I was in dessert heaven.  There are no words. 
I ate 1/2 of a cupcake, and 1/2 a cookie to test for quality control :-)  My sweet tooth couldn't handle more than that. I also may or may not have licked a few spatulas before throwing them in the sink.



If that wasn't enough, I also made another one of Angela's dessert recipes, and one of my own the next morning while I prepared for the dinner party ... but that will have to wait for another post!

Have you ever had a baking extravaganza?  How do you procrastinate?

20 comments:

Madeline - Greens and Jeans said...

What do I need to do to get one of those magical boxes?! Snow always makes me want to bake! There is something about getting cozy in the kitchen when it is cold outside

Astrid said...

I wish I was coming to your dinner party. Those boxes are adorable and you put so much thought and work into them, too. I procrastinate the same way. I bake a lot. Or I will make bread. Or paint. But really I don't view it so much as procrastinate, just doing something that I love.

Kat said...

Those boxes are adorable!! Where did you get them? I am going on a baking extravaganza for thanksgiving. I told my daddy I would bring up a bunch of baked goods for thanksgiving breakfast, so I will be doing it all in one day!! All of these recipes look amazing! My hubby would LOVE the oreo one

DessertForTwo said...

Haha Jolene, my whole life is a baking extravaganza! I have 3 miniature pumpkin tarts in my fridge right now. If I see another pumpkin, I might cry :)

Hope things are going well for you!

Jessica @ Dairyfreebetty said...

I am making a bunch of treats for my next Our big earth article!! MMM... How did you make that cute little box? I'd love to use that for my photo for my article!! :)

If you want to send one of those boxes this way, feel free!! hehe :)

Unknown said...

Mmmmmm!! I need a bigger kitchen...

Kacy said...

Those boxes are so cute! Love all the treats.

Anonymous said...

1. Did you make that tortilla soup? It's looks SO GOOD and I've always wanted to try it!

2. Your parfait looks even better. I am craving gingerbread everything right now... last night I bought a piece of Gingerbread-Macadamia Nut Biscotti at SBucks and I'm dying to tie into it!

3. I have the same cookie boxes as you. They are the perfect size!

4. I'd give my right arm for a baking extravaganza of my own right now... unfortunately it'll probably be another week before the kitchen here is in working order...

You sure had some pretty amazing eats this week! Hope this week is even better :-)

Anonymous said...

Those boxes are so cute!!

When my husband and I first met, I went all out and baked him chocolate cookies, chocolate chip cookies, toffee, and 7 layer bars.

I went a little crazy - for him and the baking! :)

Simply Life said...

wow, those cupcakes are PERFECT!!!

:Deliciously Healthy said...

Wow! You are an excellent host!

Averie @ Averie Cooks said...

One thing looks better than the next...OMG!!!! AMAZING!!!!!

The spiced nuts you made look stellar.

I can only imagine how great your house has been smelling w/ all this baking and cooking! YUM!

Thx for the sweet compliment you just left me...that you have been impressed w/ all the recipes of mine you've tried and what i come up with.

This, btw, i think is my fave post ever of yours!!!

sophia said...

I'm baking cornbread right now. And before that, I baked lemon pound cake. Looks like the baking urge has hit me too! What has Foodbuzz done to us? And you must share, ahem. When you come down to LA. Riiiiiight?

Anonymous said...

i think for xmas you should send me and some bloggers those boxes. :) just sayin.

Judy said...

Your photos of those luscious desserts had me almost licking the screen!

Eden said...

You need to get your booty over to LA ASAP! Have you thought of starting up your own event planning company? you would be great at it!

Lisa from Lisa's Yarns said...

oh my gosh, you made more in one night than I baked in the last 2 years, girl! Wowsers. It all looks delish, though! i don't really bake much because I am afraid of GF baking for some reason. Which is kind of dumb!

Elina (Russian Bites) said...

I haven't baked like that in a while... actually maybe never. I want to though. I procrastinate by making lists of a million things I need to do (yeah, like that's productive!) and then spending way too much time on twitter and my google reader :)
PS - it was really nice meeting you at the Foodbuzz festival. Hopefully we get to meet again next year :)

Amanda said...

Those boxes of treats look absolutely incredible. Can I come over? ;)

Anonymous said...

Ahhhh, okay well next time you make tortilla soup you need to show me how! :-)

I showed what I got at Sunterra in this one... http://nevernotbeautiful.blogspot.com/2010/11/back-to-bc.html

I didn't buy anything crazy because I was pretty short for time... but I did make a point to only buy things I'd never had before (with the exception of the pita chips for Steve... if you've never had them they are a MUST on your next trip).