Coming Soon!

New post coming soon... Sorry for the large gap in between posts; since we've been having snow days galore, my teachers have PILED on all the work! I have an idea for a new post and I'll get it up ASAP!
xoxoxo

PB&C

As I blog, I am munching on a delicious PB&C (peanut butter and chocolate) cookie. Totally delicious! I baked them earlier today and they are so yummy that I just have to share them with you!

Ingredients: 

6 tbsp.  butter, room temp.

1 c. sugar

1 c. packed light brown sugar

2 eggs

½ tsp. pure vanilla extract

1 c. crunchy peanut butter

2 2/3 cups all purpose flower

2 ½ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. salt

½ c. chocolate chips

Yields 24 cookies. 

(I ended up being able to squeeze 25 out of mine... And I make mine a bit larger than normal!)

Okay, so to be totally honest, the recipe called for 1 stick PLUS 6 tbsp. butter. In my distracted state, I didn't see the "1 stick PLUS" part, and I only used 6 tbsp. Nevertheless, the cookies turned out GREAT! And now I feel even better because now they're like "diet" cookies! Well, maybe not so much but... I'll just keep telling myself that. ;)

Also, I used organic light brown sugar and EXTRA crunchy peanut butter, which gave the cookies the best texture and flavor!

Preheat oven to 325°F.

Put the butters and sugar in a freestanding electric mixer with a paddle attachment (or a handheld electric whisk) and cream until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time (scrape the sides with a rubber spatula to remove any unmixed ingredients). Turn the mixer to slow speed and add the vanilla and peanut butter.

Add flour, baking soda, and salt and mix well until a smooth dough is formed. Stir in the chocolate chips until evenly mixed.

Drop 12 equal amounts of cookie dough on each prepared baking sheet. Make sure they are spaced apart to allow for spreading while baking.

Now, the recipe says to bake them for ten minutes, but I like to make my cookies a bit bigger than normal, so I ended up having to bake them about sixteen minutes per batch. And trust me, I am not one to over-bake. I love my cookies to be soft and chewy.

And, ouila! These cookies don't take very long to make and they are a tasty treat!

If you try out this recipe, let me know how it goes! 

Credits for this yummy recipe go to: The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook. This cookbook has great recipes for cupcakes, cakes, pies, cookies, brownies and more! I definitely recommend this cookbook to anyone who loves to bake. And, you don't have to be experienced to do it. The recipes are very easy to follow!

A Tide-Over

I would really love to start posting pictures of myself actually wearing my favorite outfits, soon! But, with this lovely winter wonderland (or, "blizzastard" as I've heard our local weathermen call it), I have not yet gotten the chance to grab my handy-dandy photographer (aka, one of my friends) and go out to shoot a few pictures. So, instead of pictures of me, I'm just going to post a few things on my wish-list for this spring.


One thing that you will soon discover about me is that I love J. Crew. I've been a loyal shopper there for quite some time, and I've acquired quite the collection!


Item #1: New cafe capri



Item #2: Floral tulle mini



Item #3: Sequin fête dress (it's a long shot, but totally adorable!)



Item #4: Silk Henley Tunic



Is there more? Oh, yes. Much more. So excited for the new J. Crew spring line! 


Arrivederci, fashionistas!

Sugar Sweet Summertime.

As I'm looking out the window at what everyone is calling "Snowpocalypse 2011", it hits me how much I miss summertime. I miss shorts and sandals, swimming and basking in the warm sun. 

So, while I'm throwing a pity party for myself, I thought I would post some sunshine-inspiring cupcakes.

I made these cupcakes just in my spare time... Ha! I wish. These cupcakes were made by Eleanor Meloul of Prestige Cakes! If you live in the Dallas area, she designs some of the cutest cupcakes I've ever seen, and they are super yummy!

Just imagine sprawling out in this crisp, green grass and taking a big bite out of this scrumptious cupcake! Mmm... Summer, hurry up!

Prestige Cakes by Eleanor Meloul: www.prestigecake.com

Photography: Katharine Bain

This Should Be Illegal.

Hello sweet-toothers! Sorry I haven't updated since my first post; I just started back at school and it is going to be a tough semester. That being said, I haven't taken many fashionable pictures, but I will soon!

However, I do have something for you! The other day, my mom and I were at Cracker Barrel to get a nice, delicious, hearty salad (oh, boy!)... We had been on our post-holiday diet for a couple of weeks and were seriously chocolate deprived. Well, lo and behold, we stumbled upon two chocolate cookbooks. Although I am very excited we bought these books, I am not sure if we would have felt so compelled to have them were we not so seriously craving chocolate...

I can't wait to try out some of these recipes! I'll be sure to post a ton of pictures when I do, and I'll post my favorite recipes for you right here!

Yep, this should definitely be illegal.

Breaking the Icing

Bonjour, friends!


My name is Taylor, and I am eighteen years old. I'm in my first year of college and I'm loving it. It has been a dream of mine for quite some time to be a writer, so I figured that while I'm in college I might as well get some practice in. So, I got to thinking, and I wanted to write about something that I love. Two things came to mind: baking and clothes. But which one? Well, I couldn't decide between the two, so I decided on both!


After this was decided, I started browsing the web for some other fashion blogs. I was a bit disturbed by what I found. Many of the most popular blogs were girls who dressed like they just stepped out of Vogue and dressed like Lady Gaga everyday. Well, I don't dress in New York shabby chic clothing everyday. I don't wear a size 2.  I don't walk out of my house in nine inch heels and a micro mini all the time, and sometimes I even (gasp!) pick comfort over style every now and then. For the most part, I like to dress up when I go places, but let's get real...sometimes, it's just a sweatshirt day. Is that such a crime? No! But here's the deal... IF I can get enough of a following, I will save up some money and buy a nicer camera. But I'm not going to rush out and buy one until I know for sure that I can put it to good use.


As far as the baking goes, this is kind of a new interest of mine. In the past year, I have really grown to love it. I sometimes find recipes online, but my favorite recipes I have gotten out of the Hummingbird Bakery cookbook. Let me just say the cream cheese frosting is to die for. Yum! I've probably made cupcakes the most, but I've made a couple cakes and just about the best brownies in the universe.

My first attempt at a carrot cake... It was yummy, but next time I'm going to make more frosting so that I can really lay it on thick between layers!

In the future, you can be looking for style tips, recent outfits of mine, and yummy recipes! Au revoir!