Knock Knock...

Who's there?
Linzy...
Linzy who!?!?
See I knew I'd been away too long!

Hi lads & lasses! OMG I'm back, can you believe it? It's been a while, so what have I been doing? Hmmm...a lot of things like spending lots of time with my hubby and moving and studying and test taking and starting my new job and keeping cool in the pool and river floating with the hubs and eating, oh yes, a lot of eating! I am thoroughly amazed by the fantastic food that South Texas has to offer, seriously people, we have lived in a lot of food cities but San Anton rivals the best of them!

Look at this HUGE pizza! Everything really is bigger in Texas! We went to a friend's birthday celebration at Big Lou's Pizza: home of the 42" pizza...crazy big & crazy good!

I've also been doing a lot of coffee drinking and dessert eating. The way I see it, it's research! Here is a tantalizing photo of some pretty much spot on New York Style crumb coffee cake, oh yum! They sell it at the best little coffee shop EVER, called Local. It is the perfect little coffee house that sells by far the best coffee that ever graced these taste buds! Barry and I have spent a lot of time there! Seriously if you guys are ever in San Antonio, it is a must try! So there you have it, my last two months in a nutshell or a blog shell maybe?

So as you can see given my absence I have done almost zero baking. Sad I know, but my plate was a little full in more ways than one! So tomorrow will mark my first day back in the swing of things, I'm doing a small cookie set for a new baby girl who recently entered this world. I will definitely let y'all see how they turn out! What if I forgot how to decorate in 2 months...totally joking!
So now onto the meat of this post...I want to show you guys this awesome book I received from my sister for a housewarming, or rather house-cooling gift as she said. I just wanted to show you all what an adorable book it is. There are so many recipes that I am dying to try & I will definitely share when I make my first paleta!

Key lime paletas...yummy!

These coconut paletas will definitely be my first tested recipe! The look sooooooo yummy and refreshing! Perfect for the end of summer!

After moving to Texas, I decided that it would be so fun to do a post series on Southern State's desserts. And since I am new to the Southern states, I'm going to have to do some research! In addition to my research, I want to include you all in creating the series. So here's your chance to share your recipes with me and with blog land. You wanna join in my End of Summer Southern Treat Series? Just send me an email at: sandwich.cookies.cakes@gmail.com or leave me a comment! Thanks everyone for having faith I'd return! Happy baking, happier eating!

Baby Shower Gift

You know what I do for gifts when I am not so sure what to buy or not so sure how to buy what I want to buy (hello, money does not grow on trees!) Well, I make it! This here is a prime example of this concept. I just "whipped up" a little something for the mama to be as a little keepsake (I forgot to take pre-packaging photos).
You know the old saying...when life gives you lemons. Well when life gives you sugar, make cookies!
Oh and P.S. I PROMISE to be a real baking blogger again once I get settled in our new home!!!

 

 Happier baking, happier eating!

13...

13 days of work left that is! Woohoo! So that is awesome right? More awesomeness coming your way, in 3 weeks + 1 day we will be heading eastward bound on I-10 to the grand state of TX, our new home! My posting has been sporadic at best, but you get it right, I'm super crazy packing, studying and doing going away things that people do! So here are some more pics of you know stuff, baked stuff. It's fun & summery stuff I want you to see. I made it for a little lady's birthday party. Hope you enjoy!

{above pics=cool photographers pics, below pics=cool me pics ;)}

Happy Baking, Happier Eating!

 

 

Pretty In Pink

Alright party people...6 weeks, 6 weeks and we will be Texans! Wowza! I can't believe how fast it is coming so I am going to do some rapid succession posts so I can show you all the fun things I have been doing recently! I just don't have time to woo you with my witty charm ;) 

 This is a cake I did for a dear friend who orders some of the most fun projects I have done. I made this for her 40th birthday celebration. I decided to just have fun with monochrome! Hope you all have a great Monday! Happy baking, happier eating!

Thinking Outside Of The Box

The cigar box that is...So the other day, I had this great idea to go pick up some of those gum cigars for a happy celebration of the baby coming kind for an old college friend. You know the ones, they are usually pink or blue and sometimes yellow or mint green? Yes, those. Well the only problem...I could not figure out where I would find them. You see we have EVERYTHING in Los Angeles, but the only problem...figuring out where in Los Angeles EVERYTHING is. So this could be an all day mission! Instead of taking this mission, spending a lot of time I didn't have, getting frustrated and road ragey with others and stopping at way too many red lights, I decided well duh! I could make my own cookie version! This option was a jackpot! I went straight home, whipped em up and was done in no time sans road rage & with a lot more gas left in my gas guzzler!

Here is what I came up with. Now I planned to do a quick mini tutorial, but you know, in my time crunch, I sorta forgot to take the tutorial pics...oops! You know the saying...best laid intentions...

So I am sorry no tutorial, but I may be doing them again if someone I know gets a little baby bump and at that time, I promise...TUTORIAL! But for now, feast your eyes on all things pink & blue.

happy baking, happier eating!

Life in 3D

You know what is awesome about this morning? I am sitting at home, drinking my coffee and listening to the sites and sounds of Los Angeles. Okay, maybe that last part is not awesome, but more interesting. As of now, I am hearing the voice of a probably 10-12 year old screaming "Good morning" to every person he sees. What a polite lad!
Actually come to think of it, this little lad screaming "Good Morning" actually helps with some research I have been trying to conduct while living in Los Angeles. My hypothesis: that the mass majority of people in large urban sprawls were not taught proper manners. I came upon this hypothesis because my hubbs and I were both born and raised in small towns. You know the kind of towns with a couple of stop lights surrounded by a lotta fields and filled with people who say "good day" as you walk by? So it appeared odd to me while living in a big ole city that somehow common courtesy was lost in the urban sprawl. So obviously, I assumed, that maybe small town manners are not universal, right?
Well, today I may have been proven wrong. As I sit in the heart of Los Angeles, I have a young boy being courteous to all those who enter his line of sight. Therefore, it is possible that all most people are taught proper manners at some point in their life, but there must be something that happens that diminishes this common courtesy in adult life...hmm...something to ponder right? So I have a challenge for all of you today (including myself), when you are out and about in our all too busy lives. Instead of passing by the people you encounter without a peep, raise up your inner humanitarian and say "good day" to those who come your way! After all, we are living life in 3D aren't we? Sorry for the cheese, I had to transition to what I am posting today ;)
So why am I here today? Well, I need to show some blog love, it's been a while, I know! And what better way to show blog love than to post some pics of the recent 3D cookies I have made. I just love the world of 3D cookies! Whoever invented it, THANK YOU! So here they are folks:
1. Birthday present 3D cookies for a class celebration:

 

 2. Baby theme 3D sugar cookies for a baby shower:

 3. Customized cake topper for a wedding shower (love these BTW):

Happy baking, happier eating, happiest "good-day-ing"

Zen

This is what I need right now, I need some ZEN. So what do I do when I need some zen??? I go to yoga, I get my sweat on, and I get back in balance. It is the most amazing feeling, really it is. So instead of going to yoga today, I am posting some yoga pose cookies I recently made to try to find some zen in this crazy day!Trust me, I am NOT HAPPY about not making it to yoga, but my darn "real job" has prohibited me from going. Why you ask? Well that is because people like to drag their feet and apparently they love to work all day and not actually see anything outside of the stark, sterile hospital ALL DAY LONG! Me, I am not like that AT ALL, I pretty much never actually even want to be at work, much less be there ALL DAY LONG. So if you all don't know yet, now you will, I am an anesthesiologist, so I obviously work with surgeons all day long, and sometimes I want to be a fly on the wall while they are conversating with their loved ones because I swear, surgeons are those people who love to be a the hospital ALL DAY LONG! I mean what do they say to their wives (or husbands because yes, there are female surgeons) "Hi hunny, yeah, another long day at the hospital, you know I just can't get away and truly enjoy spending every minute of my day at the hospital." Doesn't that get old? I would think so! In terms of being a fly on the wall in my phone conversation to my hubby...here is how it goes, "Hi hunny, yes, I. AM. STILL. HERE, just waiting on the surgeon to decide they have worked long enough today and wrap this case up, I hope to see you sometime..." Now don't get me wrong, I love doing what I do, but after 10, 12, 14, 24 hrs straight, it gets a bit tiresome! Because afterall, I am human, and that is a normal feeling to feel, but for some, its just fuel to the fire!


Okay, so now back to ZEN-ing out with my yoga cookies, since right about now I am missing the intense flow phase of my yoga class (not that I am bitter or anything), which is the part that gets my heart pumping, my sweat pouring and my evil humors outta sight & outta mind. I made these cookies for my bff who wanted to bring them to a 30th birthday/slumber party for another friend of ours who loves yoga. The idea was all my bff's, and I LOVE the way they turned out, I may need to consider hiring her in the creative department of my LLC, lol!
Well thank you all for listening to my venting/Zen session, oddly I do feel better! Sometimes you just gotta get it outta your head and onto paper, eh...computer screen I mean. Happy baking, happier eating!

How To Craft Your Own Wine Bottle Cookie When The Mail System Fails You...

Do I win for bloglands longest title evah? I would hope so! Well, I am not even sure there is a competition going on, but if there is (and there should be) I want to win it! I am just competitive like that. It's sort of a condition I have, over-competitive-ness. I do believe I have toned it down a bit since-oh like high school. My HS pals would likely vouch that I was a little tightly wound when it came to being competitive in high school sports, namely volleyball & basketball. It was like I HAD to win, I was possessed! It ruled my every thought on game day, and when we didn't win, it was devastating! I cannot tell you how many times I nearly lost my voice screaming and cheering for my teammates! Man, those were the days, I miss those days! I blame part of my competitive nature on the fact that I played on pretty good teams, (ahem, 1998 Nevada State Volleyball Champs-wow I'm getting old), so that bred my competitive nature. You know nature vs. nurture sorta thing, like maybe I was born at a baseline a bit competitive but then because of my team sport environment, I developed an "overly competitive condition." I'm pretty sure that term will make it on WebMD soon enough! Wow, why did I start talking about this? Oh yes, in defense of winning the longest title award, duh!
Okay, so why such a long post title you ask? Because I wanted to emphasize that although the planning and carrying out of these cookies too a long time, the end product was worth it.
So I got this order for wine bottle cookies (obviously) and I had about a week and a half to turn out 50 of them in time for a 40th birthday party being held on the East Coast. No biggie for the most part except when you don't have the cookie cutter...sooo, I order one thinking if I get it on the sooner end of things, I should have no problemo getting these guys done. Unfortunately, I was on the longer end of the shipping spectrum. It took me a week to get my cutter, yikes, and since I have to leave 3 days before they are due for shipping time, I had to get creative with cutting to finish these cookies. So here is how it all went down.
I used 2 cutters:
2x3" rectangle & 1x1.5" rectangle
Here are my series of cuts...

 smooth all of the seams so that the cookie bakes nicely together

 there you have it, ready to be baked & decorated...

Okay, so although preparing these cookies to be baked and decorated took significantly longer than normal, it was so worth it. I loved the size, look, and the true to real life proportions I achieved by cutting each one individually. But what I liked even more was that when I did receive my wine bottle cutter in the mail, I was SO happy I didn't wait for it! It was TINY! You know, I don't know what kind of ruler people use but the advertised 5.5" cutter was more like 5.5 cm. Yet another reason we should all just be on the metric system, so much easier! So anyway, a little panic, a little creativity & a little extra time to create something I was pretty darn happy with! Happy baking, happier eating!

Owl-lo Kitty

You are stumped, right? You want to know why I am naming this post part owl part kitty. Well duh dolls and dudes, that's because I used a Hello Kitty cutter to make these adorable owl cookies. I got an order for these little owls and thought long and hard about what shape to use. Then unsuspectingly, I was perusing my local cake & candy supply and stumbled upon the Hello Kitty cutter duo. Suddenly it came to me, Hello Kitty's head looms just like an owl! I felt that I was channeling my inner SSB when I had this lightbulb of a moment! I feel that I must admit, I probably would not have bought the HK duo otherwise, I guess I'm one of those weird people who just doesn't love HK!
Okay so there you have it, this is me thinking outside of the box, which doesn't happen much with my type A personality/Capricorn-ism and all. Hope you all enjoy! Happy baking, happier eating!

Disclaimer: my customer sent me a photo of an owl cake that she wanted the cookies modeled after. Although I spent a great deal of time searching for the original source, the only way I could find the image was on google images and then when I clicked on that, it just brought me to another photo upload site, no original source, so I am so sorry that I am not able to give real credit to the original design :( 

The SA & The Birthday Cake

Yep, that's what I'm sayin since we're movin to the SA, from the LA. That's just how I roll, I'm a lazy talker. I like abbreviations it makes talking easier. Now don't think just because I'm a lazy talker that I don't talk much...highly the opposite, I have jabber jaws pretty much. Especially in the morning and especially after a few sips of Joe, and basically it is this feature alone that makes my hubby love me so.
Quick tangent...why do they call a cup of coffee a cup of Joe? Okay, and since we are on the topic of tangents, did y'all know that tangental thinking/talking is part of a psychiatric evaluation? Yep, that's right, I remember learning that when I was a wee little medical student, and now I catch myself tangenting (likely not a word) ALL the time! So I am thinking I likely have some sort of disorder, but I will unlikely abandon my tangental talking, it's sorta just there.
Okay, where were we...yes, yes talking about the SA. So we recently visited the SA to get a grip on the place and figure out where in the world we are gonna live when we move. We did a lot of looking and can I just say, where the heck has Texas been all of our life! First off, it's March and 80 degrees, secondly, there are amazing places to live that are oh like 60% less than LA, and lastly, the people are so dang nice! Since we were there during my hubby's bday, I wanted to get him a sweet treat to celebrate with. So I ordered some cupcakes from this doll's bakery...Kate's Frosting! Her cupcakes...YUMMY!!! Her service...AMAZING! Her bakery...ADORABLE! She was so sweet and had the cupcakes delivered to our hotel so my hubby had a tasty surprise waiting his arrival. In case I haven't mentioned it, I must emphasize, the baking world is INCREDIBLE! It never ceases to amaze me just how nice and thoughtful everyone is. So if you guys are ever in San Antonio...stop by Kate's Frosting, you won't be sorry you did!

The other highlight of our trip...our hotel. I hesitate to give our hotel a shout out in fear that the next time I go, it will get super busy, but I have to share them. Havana Hotel. It will seriously transport you to Havana circa 1950 or whenever it was cool and hip and vintage (oh and safe). Not only is the hotel cool, but they have this delicioso restaurant called Ocho (we may have eaten there 3 times in 4 days), that has a simple yet complex menu featuring a Latin twist on American favorites. Well atleast that is my interpretation :) I'm no foodie! Finally, they have this hip cigar & cocktail lounge in the basement that is super dark and has these great couches and lounge chairs scattered about. Love this place! Oh and did I mention it's on the Riverwalk? Not the touristy Riverwalk part but the cool calm Riverwalk part. Seriously peeps, stay there!

They had so many cool chairs there as well!

 My fave! Bull horns are really strong apparently, I won't lie, I was a little scared to sit on it for fear that the horns would break and I would be on my a**!

So other than eating, drinking and sleeping, we did a lot of apartment searching which although we think it is exciting, it is unlikely exciting to you all.

This is us, thinking about eating! This is our standard, "we are trying to take a picture of ourselves on vacation and look natural while trying to push the camera button." Trust me, same look every photo!

 This may have been what the hubbs ate 3 times in 4 days...

 This may have been what I ate 3 times in 4 days...Pollo Tinga Torta! Everything about it was delectable!

 I only had one of these, as our server said, this cocktail is heavy on the rum, light on the mixers...agreed! I ordered it solely for the fact that there was coconut milk and nutmeg in it! So creative!

Oh one more shout out before I go. Boxcar Creamery, you must go. It is (as the name suggests) in a boxcar and the surrounding area is so cute!

So as you can see, we are so happy with our upcoming move and we can't wait to explore the rest of the SA! Now I leave you with the photos of the birthday cake I made for my hubby. I was going for a simple yet modern white on white design with little sayings or dates that are important between the two of us. I know we are sooo sorta that couple that loves to use pet names and celebrate all sorts of special dates, its just fun like that! So this year for his birthday instead of me thinking I will be super creative and do some crazy sweet rich elaborate cake for just us two, I decided, hey why don't I allow Barry to choose the cake he wants (novel idea I know)! So he got out a bunch of my books and searched through the recipes until he had it narrowed down and came to the conclusion that the "Aunt Sassy Cake" from Baked Explorations (you simply must buy the Baked books...AHHH-MAZING!) would be his 2012 birthday cake. It is a pistachio cake with honey buttercream...YUM! Anyway, I hope you enjoy and thanks for following along! Happy baking, happier eating!

my initial canvas

 

 Many of these were cracked...like I say, baking is a true labor of love ;)