Busy baker

I have been in my happy place the last two weekends ... baking. First I was inspired by this post to make something special for one of my valentines (Hi Mom!). These turned out delicious but next time I'll make them much smaller ... they were about 2" in diameter and so addictive you couldn't just stop at one or two. Before I knew it they were gone! It didn't help that Abbie the wonder dog had a nice big snack while I turned my back for three minutes gee whiz, a girl can't even go to the bathroom around here without having to lock up the goods ... she was literally in the doghouse.

Yesterday I whipped up vanilla cupcakes with Nutella frosting for Sassy and then because I had a whole bunch of frosting leftover I made vanilla macarons.

 I have been trying to perfect the macaron for over a year now and finally achieved success! I would feel incredibly accomplished except I know this could be fleeting ... macarons are notoriously temperamental. While I was at it I made a batch of cranberry pistachio biscotti. A certain someone has dropped some not so subtle hints that they needed restocking. And finally I made hubby a special treat with this recipe for copycat Shamrock Shake... fantastic!