I have been away for far to long.....

I am finally back!!! I can't believe I haven't posted anything since August! Life has been crazy, and on top of that I had taken a job outside of my home. Well, I decided to slow down and work from home again! Yay! It feels great to be a duck back in my own pond! I am working on cookies today. I will post them soon! Here are a few of the cakes and cookies I have done lately. Talk to you soon! :)

I'll Post Soon.....

Hello everyone! I am working on some new and very exciting things. I am almost ready to start posting about them. Just give a few days and I am taking this blog in a different direction. I will still post about cakes & cookies, because they are my main squeeze, but I also have a few other loves that I can't wait to talk about. If you haven't noticed I have also changed my blog name just a bit. See you soon!

It's 4-H Fair Week!

I know, your thinking what? No picture? Nope....I have been just to busy this week. We are 4-H people. If you don't know what that means....well, I will tell you.

It means....we live at the the fair grounds for eight days straight. We eat, sleep and breath the fair.

Life as we know it ceases to exist. For one whole week (and a day) we vanish from ordinary life.
Our kids (the ones that are grown) know where to find us. That would be in.... the Cattle Barn.

Yes, with the sweet smelling, wonderful moo cows. We show cows (and a lamb). We have two wonderful children in 4-H. We have four that have gone through and finished their 10 years.

4-H is a wonderful thing. I personally believe it has made all of our children better people. It has taught them hard work and responsibility. It has also taught them that for one week a year everyone is created equal.

You can take the most popular kids in school and everyone else and mix them together at the fair and you can't tell a difference. Kids helping kids. I doesn't matter who you are, just having
the time of their lives. Fair friends for ever.

My youngest daughter is 18 (sigh), and my youngest son is 9 (sigh again). They both show cattle and sheep. So, here we go again. Another year at the fair. Ready for an awesome week, with great food, wonderful company and lots and lots of laughs! Good luck kids, mom loves you!

See you all in a week!

Wedding Cookies

I am working on wedding cookies this week. I am still trying to get the feel of decorating in buttercream. I do really like it, but it does have some quirks. I hope everyone is having a great summer! :)

Sugar (Kim) I love your work!

I have a cookie idol and her name is Sugar (Kim). I tried to attach a link to flickr, but it wouldn't let me. So I will try and type it in... http://www.flickr.com

Ok, so go to flickr and type in Sugar and it should bring up Sugar (Kim) and then check out her cookies! She is awesome and let me tell you why. She decorates her cookies with butter cream and they are gorgeous! I have struggled with royal icing since the beginning. Not that its difficult, its the hardness that I dislike. My family really hates it. So, I say why make a cookie that looks great, but tastes terrible. Then I found Sugar (Kim). This is my attempt to try her method. It worked out OK, it took a little getting used to, but I think I like it! It helps that I already make cakes. I am familiar with the tips and how to use them. But, best of all......the cookies taste AWESOME!

I know, because my family said so! I will still use royal icing occasionally on things like camouflage cookies that may not work like this. But, I believe at this moment (LOL, because we women have the right to change our minds) that this is the way I will make most of my cookies. Thank you Sugar (Kim) and please keep up your beautiful work.

Cakes, cakes & more cakes!

I think that I am finally through the graduation cakes. This week I made a cake for my nephew Luke's graduation open house. He is just an awesome guy! Luke is off to college to be a fireman.

Congrats Luke & we love you! I was also asked to make a couple of full sheet cakes for our school principal, Mrs. Sleva. She is retiring after 24 years. Thank you Mrs. Sleva for all you have done for our school. You will be missed. Best wishes on your retirement!

Baby Shower Cake and Cupcakes

Have I told you how much I LOVE gum paste?....If so, I am gonna tell ya again anyway. I love, love, love it! You can design and make pretty much make anything. It has been the turning point for me in decorating cakes and cupcakes. I was really kind of struggling to find my own style. You know, that thing that sets you apart from everyone else. When someone sees one of your creations and says " Yep, that's a Missy Craig cake!" I can't find enough time in the day to work with it. I already love it for flowers, (you can create a flower that looks as if you just picked it out of your flower garden.) Characters, details on cakes, I even use it exclusively for the lettering on my cakes. The picture above is a cake and cupcakes that I did for a baby shower for a friend. She ask me to match a cake to the napkin. This is what I came up with. The monkey and the presents are all gum paste. The cake is a white vanilla cake with butter cream frosting, covered in chocolate fondant, with fondant circles, and fondant border. Thanks for looking! I am off to mess with some more gum paste! :)