road show made a come back!

I have fond memories of the Road Shows our Stake did years and years ago. I was never old enough but my siblings had their share of performances. I can remember being captivated by the costumes, the stage props, the music! Oh how I wanted to be a part of it! But then, it just stopped! Why? I was heart broken. Well, this year our ward made the announcement that we were going to participate in a Road Show!!!! I missed the sign up sheet! Otherwise, I TOTALLY would have been on stage and loving every minute! Luckily Bailey got asked to have a part in it. She has loved it. But to me, that is a no brainer. Bailey should have been in acting at 4. So now I've FINALLY convinced her to take a class. She was made for this stuff. So if I can't be up there, I'll be happy to live through her! She was a "talking animal" on a deserted island of talking animals. Our group did AWESOME!!! It was a very entertaining night with 8 different shows-all very imaginative!

heaven in a jar

That's what I got on my front step from a friend of mine! It was gone within one week but luckily it can be ordered online. What is it? A "spread" from Belgium made from a buttery cookie. It has the texture of peanut butter but has tiny crunchy bits of cookie mixed up in it. It tastes sort of like graham crackers but better! Honestly, I ate most of the jar. The best part is that the nutritional info is in French or Dutch so I have no way of counting anything! I just don't want to know. Those Europeans know what they're doing that is for SURE! While eating this creamy, crunchy concoction, I was thinking how sad that someone would smear this on bread thus losing the flavor by polluting it with wheat! I prefer to eat it with a spoon. But then I got thinking, how would this best be eaten and enjoyed other than my method? A truffle!!!!! Filling in a truffle would be dreamy! Sure enough, on one web site I was looking at there was a truffle that looked amazing! Should I order some? Could be dangerous!

the carrot, {not just for your eyesight}

Mini Carrot cupcakes with dulce de leche buttercream frosting (my first time making dulce de leche and now I'm hooked!)
The best pumpkin cheesecake!!!!! (Recipe said it was "Cheesecake Factory Pumpkin Cheesecake"). Whether it was or not, it came very close! No crust, none needed. The perfect combo, cream cheese and carrot with whipped cream on top!

These are carrot cookies! They are MELT IN YOUR MOUTH good! They have lemon extract in them so they are NOT your typical carrot cake cookie. There is also orange zest in the cream cheese frosting. Seriously, divine!


I went on a carrot baking frenzy around Easter time. Glad I did because I learned a lot. And now I appreciate the carrot cake more than ever! I found some really amazing recipes and just had to share some pictures and thoughts. I go through on again off again baking frenzies where I'll bake 3 things in one day and then go two weeks with nothing. One Sunday (my favorite day to bake) Kelly said that he would clean up behind me if I wanted to bake all 3 cookies I had in mind (can never decide so why not just make them all?) I jumped at the chance to have Kelly there with me, following me around the kitchen, taking bowls for me and washing them so I could use them again! I've told you, I'm a very messy cook! I'll share some other things I plan to make in the next week. They may not be impressive but they are things I haven't made for a LONG time! Oldies but goodies! I'm excited for spring cooking!