Friday, September 24, 2010

Painted Cakes


For more images, click here.

The Bitter Baking Company is going to be a sponsor at a local photography event. As I work on creating cookies I thought in the spirit of creativity I thought I would blog about another artist who's desserts, I mean work, I fell in love with many years ago. Wayne Thiebaud. His paintings are made of bright colors, thick oil paints frosted onto canvas and they are uplifting in every way. What's not to love!

"Thiebaud is well known for his paintings of production line objects found in diners and cafeterias, such as pies and pastries. Many wonder if he spent time working in the food industry, and in fact he did. As a young man in Long Beach, he worked at a cafe named Mile High and Red Hot, where "Mile High" was ice cream and "Red Hot" was a hot dog.

He was associated with the Pop art painters because of his interest in objects of mass culture, however, his works, executed during the fifties and sixties, slightly predate the works of the classic pop artists, suggesting that Thiebaud may have had an influence on the movement. Thiebaud uses heavy pigment and exaggerated colors to depict his subjects, and the well-defined shadows characteristic of advertisements are almost always included in his work." -From Wikipedia

For more details watch this delightful Sunday Morning video - enjoy!

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Oh, Blunt Delivery!



We’re fans of your hilarious blog. Blunt Delivery is exactly what the blog name preaches – brazen, brutally honest and all around awesome. And it got a pretty new design this week!

Although, as a serious Neil Diamond fan, one of us (Jessica) thinks Britteny should reconsider her hatred of the music icon and is already working on a '7 Reasons to Adore Neil Diamond' list. One of those reasons? An unbelievable Christmas album from someone who doesn't even celebrate the holiday. Also, obviously, his incredible ability to rock a jumpsuit.

Read it, love it – www.bluntdelivery.com

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Makin' Whoopie (Pies)!



There are so many delicious sugary snacks to write about but today I am choosing a very simple one. Whoopie Pies. My Grandma used to make these, along with pies, bars, cakes and cookies, and they were quite a special treat.

Grandma Hall is the one who opened my heart to food and baking - there wasn't a day that went by when she wasn't making something tasty to have on-hand when friends or family came to the house. And by family I don't mean just a couple of kids and grandchildren, I mean 9 of her own kids each with a spouse and 20 grandchildren. Later, we added another 19 great-grandchildren to the mix - with more to come.

From an early age I spent summers in the kitchen with my Grandma who taught me all the tricks to creating delicious meals and desserts, from scratch. She encouraged me to try recipes myself, using real butter and whole milk. I spent hours of my own time making the recipes because I never thought they were as good as hers, my dad disagreed though - he enjoyed eating everything :o)

So today we let our mouths water a little as a tribute to Grandma Hall and her amazing desserts, especially the easy to make and eat Whoopie Pies. For recipe click here, for dozens of mix and match Whoopie Pie flavors order this book by Sarah Billingsley & Amy Treadwell. ENJOY and go give your grandmother a big hug!