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That time of the year. The time of the year I wait for on baited breath until that first chill of air rushes in from the Arctic and I grin...Fall has arrived, kids are in school and for me that means.... Halloween!!!! You see, for my family, it just isn't a day of candy. It is bigger for us than Christmas. For many many reason, from heritage to just refusing to grow up, it is our most favorite time of the year! And so it started, the first Halloween Cookies. Trust me, there will be many more to come!

Sesame Street, where most every child begins their love of TV and all things plush. I know it was for me and my favorite was always Count Von Count! (Probably explains why I have a love for things gothic and I was a math major in college. O.o) Sadly, the spirit behind Count passed away this week. (Yes, it was a bad week in general.) So, needless to say I couldn't not make a cookie set in honor of my favorite character. RIP Count, ah, ah, ah. ~wants to cry~ Count was very easy to make for those that wish to later. Check out this tutorials on how to use a Tulip Cookie Cutter and turn him into a vampire -  Not So Spooky Vampire

I know, another post today but I honestly cannot help myself. I have done a lot of sets of cookies this week and I really just want to show them all off but seriously cannot do them all in a single post. They all are just so different. I will say this though, this was my favorite set to do this week.  How can it not be? I am a total geek, that much is more than evident from looking at the projects I take on. More than that I am an FF fanatic. I am talking buy the games, the sound tracks, map everything out and even know the b-days of the characters. Some people obsess over coins, I do FF. So needless to say when my kids started playing FF I was just happy chocobo! They really have gotten into the game and are constantly searching for the older ones to play on console. ~geek mommy pride there~ My youngest is not playing the games as of yet but he is in the design process as it were. He is constantly drawing Chocobo's, Tonberry and Cactuar. Just to name a few. He is even constructing

"That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." - Neil Armstrong These words have echoed through space since they were spoken back on July 20th, 1960. They will continue to echo through not only United States history but the history of mankind. That day Neil Armstrong became the first human being in history to step foot on the surface of the moon.  Sadly this past week he took the final voyage to the heavens above. A living legend passed away and though he is gone his mark will continue to inspire people for generations to come. He was once quoted as saying -  I believe every human has a finite number of heartbeats. I don't intend to waste any of mine - and looking back on his life, he didn't waste a moment. From being an astronaut to a teacher, he made sure his life was lived to the fullest and not only that he made sure the world was better for him having been here.  These are in honor of him. RIP Armstrong, may your honor, valor and dedication b

Angry birds, angry birds, angry birds. Those vindictive little fouls that over a few stolen eggs are willing to sacrifice the entire species, lol. What can I say, I love them. They are the perfect end to a day, flinging those little buggers through the air and smashing those pigs to high heaven. Even better when you are munching on a Chicken Club sandwich at the same time. LOL But hey, sometimes you need something sweet to go with your victory and that is when these babies come in. Had posted a few pictures of these last month for my sons birthday party but I felt they deserved just as much attention as the cake got. Honestly, I don't think I have had a better turn out for themed cookies yet than these babies. Now these are surprisingly easy to make and here are a few pictures to give you an idea of how to. To start, simple print out some of your favorite images of said Angry Birds on card stock paper, cut them out and then use those as cookie stencils. After that, all you really n

Doughnuts....Aww the very mention of them makes your mouth water doesn't it. Those, either fried or baked, little rings of golden deliciousness that so many find so tempting in the morning. You stand in line for them, buy them days ahead, use them for fund raisers and more. Cake, glazed, chocolate dipped, cream filled or sprinkles on top. It doesn't matter. You grab one, some milk or coffee and go to town. Munch, munch, munch!!!!!! Oh so good! And so freaking easy to make!!!!!!!  As promised I am posting a how to on Doughnuts. Now, these are super easy and you may just stop buying them from the store once you try these. From start to finish, including rise time for your dough, it should only take about an hour to make a full batch and gobble it down. And thankfully you are only going to need a few things and honestly nothing special you probably don't already have in your house. Materials: Round Cutters: 2 of them. 3 inch & 1 inch. If you don't have, the rim of a la

Traditional Cinnamon No Topping Okay I don't know a single person who doesn't love breakfast rolls. Heck that "Yummy-Bun" place, you know the one I am talking about, makes a fortune off just that. People buy them like crazy in the can to bake at home, from their local bakery and more. Thing is, they are actually super easy to make and you don't have to limit yourself to just 1 type. Orange Rolls Cream Cheese Frosting So I am going to break it down for you with 1 dough recipe, one I use for practically everything and show you different fillings you can do to keep things interesting at home. Today I will be giving you 4 different fillings and 4 different frostings. All are super simple to do and you can prep all this the night before and just toss in the oven in the morning. (Which I love because I can prep everything in like 30 minutes before bed, after the kids are asleep so they are not under foot, and then just bake fresh in the morning.) Candied Bacon Maple Cre

When I was younger, much younger, I spent a lot of time with my Grandmother in East Cobb Marietta. Well grandmothers being grandmothers, she saw it fit to spoil me rotten every chance she got. That wasn't too hard in that neck of the woods. Everything was available, including toys from Japan. You see, even back then I was into things that were not mainstream in the US as of yet. Hello Kitty and Badtz Maru were two of those. Back when I was a youngster, you whipper snappers, Japanese toys were not easy to find and there was no Ebay or Amazon to order from. (Yes, I just dated myself. LOL) I was lucky though, there was one store near us that was a kids dream if you were into that type of thing. Sanrio Surprises! (Right next to the Great American Cookie Company and this was no mall people, an actually full store.) I loved going to Sanrio anytime I could. From the candy to the toys it was like a taking a trip right over to Tokyo as far as I was concerned. Five, six years old and I was s

Quick update: 2 Recipes I have recently tested out in my home kitchen that I want to share with you.  Great Grandma's Pioneer Trail Biscuits : One is for the most simple biscuit recipe I have ever come across and frankly, one of the best! I love it. Make it exactly as it says, with the butter Crisco as recommended by the author. (Thought I will say when it came to baking them I smeared down my pan with butter before placing the biscuits on it and then brushed the top with melted butter before baking.) Let's Get Ready To Crumble : Two is for an amazingly tart Cherry Crumble that my family devoured in no time flat. I made it exactly as the recipe called and it baked up perfectly. I won't be making any changes or suggestions to this recipe. It is just perfect, for my tastes, as is. Even my most picky eater devoured an entire bowl full happily and he hates all things tart!  And that about covers it! Enjoy them as much as I have! make sure to check out the rest of my Sweetly App

Alright, this past week I posted a cake for " It's Okay To Be Takei " and it was a huge success. Thing is I got tons of questions of how to make the cake layers the way I did without having to bake a whole bunch of different layers, level, frost and assemble. I have a tutorial on how to make a quick rainbow cake but that one comes out like most, with the colors swirled around. (Rainbow Cake) This one produces an even level color separation that is just astounding! You honestly will not believe how easy it is! What you will need: Sheet Cake Recipe (At bottom of page) Gel Food Colorings Baking Spray Measuring Cup 9 Inch Rounds - 1 per 3 colors you will be prepping Patience! Now I will explain this as if you are baking a cake with 6 color - Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple. Prepare your cake batter. Preheat your oven to 375 F. Divide the batter into 6 bowls - 2/3's cup of batter each. (Anything left over use for cupcakes or something. If it very important to use

With all the hoopla going on this week over a certain companies stance the copy cat recipes for Chicken sandwiches have been flying around more than pancakes at a lumberjack's convention. So, what does that mean for you? Maybe nothing but for thousands of people out there that have always wanted to know just how to make that chicken, it could be a dream come true. So, here you have it, a Sweetly Approved recipe that needs a few tweaks in my opinion. (But not much.) First thing is first you will need this recipe - Almost Famous Chicken Sandwiches  This is the recipe that I have found to be the closest to the actual restaurant. (Having being from the south and raised on that chicken and those waffle fries makes any southern an expert on that taste, lol.) Now I will say this, you need to do 1 more step to prep that I found out about by reading the comments for the recipe. Make sure to soak your chicken breasts in pickle juice for 10-15 minutes before you start!!!! Seriously, this make