Ready for Christmas?

Handmade personalized holiday gifts are fun to give.
Do you have room on your to do list to get them done?
Wouldn’t you rather enjoy the holidays and let us do all the work? Treat those on your gift list to one of these handmade goodies. They are perfect for neighbors, teachers, clients, or as thoughtful hostess gifts.

Give us your to do list, and let it be done!


Keep fresh bills crisp or stash a gift card from your loved one’s favorite store in these colorful paper wallets that double as gift box and card. Package of 3 for $4.




Cook up compliments with this wonderful Christmas aroma of lemon, orange, cinnamon and cloves all served up in a vintage enamelware pan. $12 each.



The perfect coffee break! Enjoy a cranberry and white chocolate chip cookie with a latte all bundled together for a holiday afternoon pick-me-up. $4 each.



Not your traditional snack mix! Surprise someone with a white chocolate popcorn blend or a sweet cinnamon crunch. Single serving 6oz bag. $2.50 per bag.




Chocolate dipped brownies on a stick. Fun to give and delicious to eat! Don’t be fooled. They’re not just a treat for kids! $1.25 each or $15 per dozen.



What is Christmas without cookies? Pick your favorite cookie and we will bake them and bag them up for you. $3 for ½ dozen.



Call or e-mail your order today. Please give three days notice.
Ask about personalized, large quantities,and special orders.

Kellee Zweifel 970.744.0913
Laura Burrill 970.481.2191

Photography by Jan Melius www.justimagineheaven.blogspot.com

Cupcakes and More

A few months ago, I purchased Martha Stewart's Cupcakes cookbook. It finally cried out to me and last week I made TWO kinds of cupcakes. I made the Pumpkin Brown-Butter cupcakes for Bible study on Thursday, (yes, I am a week behind again). These cupcakes didn't last a day! A few days later I made the Cookies and Cream Cheesecakes. We were invited to dinner and asked to bring dessert. I made only half a batch (15 cupcakes). These were easy and very, very good.

Pumpkin-Brown Butter Cupcakes-

¾ cup unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for tins
1 2/3 cups all purpose flour, plus more for tins
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
1 cup packed light brown sugar
½ granulated sugar
2 large eggs

1. Preheat oven to 3250 . Brush 15 muffin tins with butter; dust with flour, tapping out excess. In a saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Continue to cook, swirling occasionally until butter turns golden brown. Skim foam from top and remove from heat. Pour into a bowl to stop the cooking, leaving any burned sediments behind; let cool.
2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. In another bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, both sugars, eggs and brown-butter mixture. Add flour mixture and whisk until just combined.
3. Divide batter evenly among buttered/floured cups, filling each about ¾ full. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until a cake tester comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely before removing cupcakes. Cupcakes can be stored overnight at room temperature, or frozen up to 2 months, in airtight containers.
4. To finish, dip top of each cupcake in brown-butter icing, then turn over quickly and let set. Cupcakes are best eaten the day they are glazed; keep at room temperature until ready to serve.

Brown-Butter Icing

½ cup unsalted butter
2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk, plus more if needed

1. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat, swirling pan occasionally, until nut-brown in color, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat, and pour butter into a bowl, leaving any burned sediment behind.

Cookies and Cream Cheesecakes

42 cream-filled chocolate sandwich cookies, such as Oreos, 30 left whole and 12 coarsely chopped
2 pounds cream cheese, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
1 cup sour cream
Pinch of salt

1. Preheat oven to 2750. Line 30 standard muffin tins with paper liners. Place one whole cookie in the bottom of each lined cup.
2. With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat cream cheese until smooth, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Gradually add sugar, and beat until combined. Beat in vanilla.
3. Drizzle in eggs, a bit at a time, beating to combine and scraping down sides of bowls as needed. Beat in sour cream and salt. Stir in chopped cookies by hand. Divide batter evenly among the cookie filled cups, filling each almost to the top. Bake, rotating tins halfway through, until filling is set, about 22 minutes. Transfer tins to wire racks to cool completely. Refrigerate (in tins) at least 4 hours (or up to overnight). Remove from tins just before serving.

Thanks Laura!

As you can see from Laura's post, the shower for Priscilla was so sweet and pink and very nice. I am quite impressed with Laura's ability to keep a secret too. She gave not a single hint as to what she was up to and so I was completely surprised when I finally got to see what she had been up to all week. As I wrote my thank you notes today, I got to look through all the great gifts and remember what a nice day it was. Here are some more pictures of the lunch
.

A Baby Shower for Priscilla

Precious, Pretty, Perfect, Pink: A Baby Shower for Priscilla

Sunday afternoon, November 1st , the basement of Mount Olive Lutheran church took on a new look.
ABC’s, blocks, and the letter “P” surrounded by pink flowers and precious pictures.
A most delightful luncheon of salads, sandwiches and pretty desserts.
Wonderful fellowship, great gifts, a most Pleasant afternoon.

The white chocolate popcorn might be a new favorite!

White Chocolate Popcorn Snack

1- 3.3 oz. bag butter flavor microwave popcorn
1 cup salted mixed nuts
1 cup dried cranberries
1 – 12 oz. package white chocolate morsels
½ tsp ground cinnamon
Discard unpopped kernels from popcorn that you have popped and placed in a large bowl.
Stir in nuts and cranberries. Microwave the white chocolate morsels in a 2 cup glass measuring cup at high for 1 ½ minutes or until melted and smooth, stirring every 30 seconds. Pour over popcorn mixture and stir to coat. Spread mixture in a 15x9 jelly roll pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Let stand until chocolate hardens. Break into chunks and store in an air-tight container.
You may also sprinkle with edible sprinkles.

Halloween Fun

The Halloween characters at my house this year nibbled on mummy dogs and wormy mac n chz before heading out to trick or treat. Guests included a famous video game character, storybook beauties, a pair of sibling bears and one beautiful baby. The monster munch snack was a hit with everyone!

Monster Munch
4 cups assorted chex cereal
4 cups popped popcorn
1 cup honey-roasted cashews
1 cup roasted salted pumpkin seeds
¼ cup butter
6 tablespoons packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
¼ teaspoon vanilla
¼ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 cup candy corn

In a 4-quart microwavable bowl, mix cereal, popcorn, cashews and pumpkins seeds. Set aside.
In medium microwavable bowl, microwave butter, brown sugar, corn syrup and vanilla uncovered on High about 2 minutes or until mixture is boiling, stirring after 1 minute; stir in pumpkin pie spice. Pour over cereal mixture, stirring until evenly coated.
Microwave 5 to 6 minutes, stirring and scraping bowl after every minute. Spread on waxed paper to cool, about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally break up.
Stir in candy corn. Store in airtight container.