CaraCakes: Baking Therapy

I saw a t shirt once that said "make cupcakes, not war." That shirt just gets it. Baking became therapy for me when I was in college and working too many jobs and doing too many activities. It became my sanctuary from my life. Cookies don't talk back, bread has no deadline. After days of taking care of other people's children, running to class, working in the bakery/bar/law firm/grocery store/restaurant, running back to class, going out with my friends, dating, participating in clubs, volunteering, etcetera etcetera, I needed something that could make me stop running for five seconds, and the only thing that could get me to breath and let everything go was baking.

Life is short. Yes, you need to eat healthy to live well, but cupcakes (in moderation) are your friends too. Especially if they are homemade and infused with love.

Kyle's birthday cake didn't come out how I'd planned..I had just finished making peanut butter and chocolate fudge buttercream icings when he called to let me know he was five minutes away. So here's what I can do with cake in five minutes!

I was craving bread the other day (which I've got to be honest, it was kind of weird because I'm not really a bread person.) So I decided to try it out! I have to say it was pretty awesome French bread. Perfectly crispy on the outside, and nice and dense and chewy on the inside.

I wound up using it to make croque monsier in an untraditional way by using the French bread in lieu of white, and leftover pork tenderloin in leiu of ham. My husband was in heaven.

Last Wednesday was my parents wedding anniversary. I'd had these big plans to make them truffles, but the time to do it just wasn't there, so I whipped up some peanut butter and chocolate buttercream cupcakes (they're both pretty big Reeses fans).

I made some extras for Kyle and they were gone in 2 days! I can't wait until Christmastime and I can whip up all of our family recipe chocolates and cookies!

Here are some of the delicious holiday treats that I made this year!