Hot Cocoa Treats

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas at our house. The lights are hung, the tree is decorated, and my Christmas gift crafting is well underway. It hasn't quite felt so much like winter in Georgia yet. The temperatures have dropped and snow is in the forecast this week, but today was the first day that a coat was really required.Still the snuggly-weather spirit moves me in December and I just want to drink hot cocoa under the Christmas lights and watch the Charlie Brown Christmas special, instead of tackling anything on my holiday "to-do" list.

Just a Tip

You never leave your whipping cream unattended in the mixer, do you? So you never come back to said mixer to find over-whipped cream, right? Me either!

Ok, except maybe this one time when I wanted to show you how to fix it. Add a few tablespoons heavy cream to the whipped cream and whisk in slowly by hand. It won't help you if you've made butter from your cream and it might not be quite as silky, but at least dessert won't be ruined. I mean could you imagine?!

On Love and Cake

I had a panic attack on the first flight. "I should have packed my cake decorating stand," I thought. I ran down the list again, a suitcase already packed and checked: 3 sizes of cake pans (2 of each), a full size off-set spatula, same in mini, a box of pastry tips, piping bags, parchment paper, two jars of vanilla bean paste, and a jar of Duke's mayonnaise*. "When can I get into the kitchen? Will there be enough fridge space? Is there even a mixer?" The panic continued.