Baked Fried Catfish

A healthier option to fried catfish... baked catfish that tastes like it is fried, without all the grease!  YUMMY! 

Shown with tarter sauce but also great with ketchup or honey mustard!

Candy Cane Reindeer

I make these every year for Hayden's class Christmas party... and I always end up making more for other classes, office parties, etc.  They are great (and inexpensive) holiday gifts to give to a group, attach on top of holiday gifts, or even hang on the Christmas tree!  I like to use the red and white candy canes but any kind can be used, including sugar-free canes.

Jack-O-Lantern Cake

White cake with a chocolate filling... This cake is VERY special to me.  Yes it was made for a celebration on October 31st, but it wasn't to celebrate Halloween.  This was the cake Hayden picked to celebrate his baptism!  He was actually baptized on October 31, 2010.  The Jack-o-Lantern only has one tooth because, at the time, Hayden only had one front tooth.  I will probably think of Hayden every time I make a cake like this!

Color Blast Cake

This cake technique is a fun surprise that can be added to any cake design!  Regular or Sugar-free!  The colors shown below are ideally combined when designing a hippie cake.  You can switch out the colors and play with the theme of the cake.  (For example, if doing a cake for the 4th of July, you may use red, white, and blue mixed!  Or if you are doing Easter cake, you may request pastel colors mixed.)  For a more dramatic look, add another layer!  This technique can also be applied to cupcakes.

 
PLEASE NOTE: This cake was used for PRACTICE ONLY!  This was not a cake that was presented for a party or client... it was merely to practice technique. 

Puppy Friendly Cake

Many traditional cake making ingredients are unsafe for dogs to eat.  (Specifically, chocolate is a toxic to kanine digestive system.) 
This particular cake is a dog-friendly cake I made for my son's puppy's 1st birthday!  It is a peanut butter honey cake, with a banana glaze, and crushed dog treat sprinkles!  I also have a puppy friendly recipe for a beef and bacon cake. 
Size and shape can be played with, but I kept this one small since we only had 3 dogs at the party!   

Flower Pens

These are always a fun thing to have on the desk at work or on the kitchen counter.  I can use any kind of silk flower. 

I usually take a flower pot, store bought or hand painted, and fill it up with some dry beans.  Then I stick the pens in the beans and it looks like a pot full of flowers!  ;-)  These make great gifts for all the women in your life! The bigger the pot, the more flowers I can add... or use a bunch of smaller pots with just a few flowers in each to give to a group of people or clients at work.

Meat & Cheese Trays

Who doesn't love a good party tray!  Holidays, office parties, or while watching the big game!  Customized trays with your choice of meats and cheeses.  Keep it simple, or try something new!

Cheese:  sliced, cubed, or cut into cute shapes... Some of the different types include cheeses from California, or other parts of America.  Low-fat, and fat-free options available.  Swiss, French, Spanish, and Italian cheeses add variety.  My favorite is an Irish Porter!

Meats: Smoked, Baked, Mesquite, and Oven Roasted... Ham & turkey are always the most popular.  Add some roast beef, summer sausage, or a salad served with crackers.

This picture shows a very simple platter requested with the focus on a low-fat/ fat-free food.  It was served with multi-grain crackers.

    

Just Popping In To Say Hello

These little bags of popcorn are versatile, cheap, and make a lasting impression.  I actually used this bag in part of a marketing blitz for clients when I worked with health care facilities.  I purchased the vanilla flavored popcorn from King Korn.   I requested that it be blue colored so it matched the colors of the company I was working for at the time.  Once bagged, I attached my business card with a ribbon and then wrote on the backside of the card, "Just Popping In To Say Hello!"  The clients loved it and it gave me a great excuse to go meet with them!  Each bag cost less than $0.50 each to make!  Everyone LOVED them!!  My clients always asked for more blue popcorn!

This item can be used on a bigger scale as gifts for loved ones in the hospital or someone that you just haven't seen in a while!

Here is an Easter themed version.

Betty Boop Cake

Betty Boop themed cake.  White cake with lemon filling for both tiers.  The cake topper (Betty Boop's head) is made out of rice krispy treats and butter cream icing.  The other Betty Boop is a figurine.  Black ribbon with white polka dots brings it all together!

Same cake... we removed the figurine and replaced it with the candle! 

Door Hangers

These are fun door hangers I have made time after time.  They are easily customized in different colors and decoration to fit the kids' personalities or group.  They make great gifts for a team, girl/boy scouts, class party, etc.

This is a very basic one since it was for a little league football team.  I have found that girls tend to like more decoration, glitter, and other extras. 

Spirit Cupcakes

Vanilla Cupcakes with Buttercream Icing... I call these spirit cupcakes and they were used at a team party!

Flip Flops Cake

This cake was done last summer... and anyone that makes cakes knows that cake and icing is not friendly with the Texas heat!  The client loved it regardless, and it will be something I am sure I will try again in the future. 

Football Rally Towel

Although I did not actually make this towel, I did design it!  (Arellano Embroidery did the screen printing.) We also had matching t-shirts made that sold like crazy!  The shirts had little footballs on the back of it.  Each football had a players name and number... they were super cute. 

Sugar-Free Mint Chocolate Cake

This dessert is popular during the holidays, and is great for the diabetic & health-minded family members or co-workers.  It is a double-layered sugar-free chocolate cake.  I used sugar-free York Peppermint Patties to create a sugar-free filling.  Covered in chocolate and butter cream icing, and topped with a Sugar-Free York Peppermint Patty.  Great alternative for those who love Thin Mint Cookies!

   

Cookie Cake

Trying to get all of these loaded...  This is a cookie cake I made.  I would have put more icing on but the birthday boy didn't want as much.  I used the traditional chocolate chip cookie mix for the cookie cake, and buttercream icing.  These are always fun to do!

Baseball Cake & Cupcakes

Two-layer white cake with butter cream filling.  Fondant bases and crushed cookies for the infield.  Pin Stripes on the sides.  Each cupcake made into baseballs with each players jersey number on it.  Great for end-of-season team parties!

Lion Football Pumpkin

Support the boys of fall by putting their football helmet on a pumpkin!  The pumpkin shown is actually a plastic pumpkin that can be used year after year!  Go Lions!

Texas Rangers Pumpkin

Hand painted Texas Rangers Pumpkin!  I love painting pumpkins... they last longer!  Also makes a great activity for kid parties in the fall!