summer is for apricots and sunday birthday parties

Hands down my favorite fruit is a juicy ripe apricot and for some reason I feel like they always get lost in the shuffle of all the other exciting summer fruit. Well the other day while I was in Whole Foods I could not resist buying a full basket of beautiful fresh apricots (mostly because the basket was so darling). I have been trying to find a good apricot recipe to try my hand at baking with them. I am liking the looks of this apricot pie with coconut crumble, I will let you know how it goes. I am so thrilled for summer and fresh fruit to experiment with. Please tell me if you have other great apricot recipes for me to try.

Tonight was my friend Maggie's birthday party and my assignment was a plate of cookies. Her favorite cookie is oatmeal raisin (everyone is really loving oatmeal cookies these days) so I decided to try a new recipe I had found add some milk chocolate chips to it and see how they turned out.

finished product was pretty delicious!

a special bag for the birthday girl

and a perfect summer birthday party

{decorations and party by Jane and Egan Metcalf}

and satisfied party goers {Martin the raccoon}

This was a really good recipe that is easy to follow and quick to make. I supplemented chocolate chips for the pecans, but I am sure the pecans taste equally delicious. Bake these today, they will make you happy.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups pecans or chocolate chips {I am sure dark would taste so good}
• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3 cups old-fashioned oatmeal
• 1 1/2 cups raisins

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the pecans on a sheet pan and bake for 5 minutes, until crisp. Set aside to cool. Chop very coarsely.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. With the mixer on low, add the eggs, one at a time, and the vanilla.
Sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt together into a medium bowl. With the mixer on low, slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture. Add the oats, raisins, and pecans and mix just until combined.
Using a small ice-cream scoop or a tablespoon, drop 2-inch mounds of dough onto sheet pans lined with parchment paper. Flatten slightly with a damp hand. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until lightly browned. Transfer the cookies to a baking rack and cool completely.

{happy treat eating}

and so it begins.........

Well hello blogging world (for this blog that might mean me and mom)! My name is Heather and I decided to start this blog because I love to eat and I thought it would be fun to share some of my food finds with friends. I know that might sound kind of snoozey but what it means is recipes tried and failed, fun eateries I have stumbled upon, favorite ingredients, healthy eating ideas and much much more. The disclaimer to this blog is that I am not a writer in any way shape or form and I do not have any food or cooking credentials to speak of. I am just a girl that loves to cook, bake and most importantly chow down.

I started a very small baked goods catering company a few years ago called dulcet which is a word that means something sweet or pleasing to the eye. I had a very talented graphic designer and friend, Martha Christensen, design my logo and over the years I have been able to work on some fun baking projects and even make a little dough. Here are some pictures from the early dulcet days.

 oatmeal cranberry white chocolate chip cookies

confetti cake pops with white chocolate/orange creme cupcakes with butter cream frosting

organic low fat blueberry granola

heath bar oatmeal cookies

When I started to toy around with the idea of a food type blog it seemed like I should just build off of what I had already started with dulcet and its fitting name and beautiful logo. So {dul⋅cet} is now a little baking business and a food blog, woohoo!!!!!! I am really excited for this new project and I hope that I can share something fun and creative and different plus maybe along the way gain some much need experience in the kitchen. I have so much love for all of the friends who have encouraged and supported me in my business and with the idea of starting a blog. So here it goes, I am now a blogger.