Chocolate Ganache Crepe Cake with Strawberries

This is how I say "Happy Birthday" to my hubby- luscious layers of chocolate ganache and sliced strawberries in between layers of light fluffy crepes. This truly decadent cake was a hit at my husband's birthday dinner. 

Let it Snow- Snowflake Shortbread Cookies

 

With all the concern in California about the drought, and it being the driest year in California's recorded history, I thought I would send out some "let it snow" ju-ju vibes with these gorgeous snowflake shortbread cookies my sister in law and I made over the holiday season.  Honestly, my husband and I wished to not have too much rain this winter because we are in the process of re-siding the house and indoor waterfalls are not a feature that I desire.  But drought conditions are definitely not what we had in mind.  So I hope that Mother Nature will grant us some late in the season snow for the Sierras and some much needed rain for us Foothillers. 

Ok- back to the cookies.  My sister-in-law, Sophia, does not bake much but wanted to make something to give to friends for a holiday treat.  When she asked for my help, I was so excited. We were able to carve out an afternoon where our schedules aligned during the busy holiday hustle and bustle. 

When planning we talked about a lot of different ideas including a the idea of a cookie plate.  Although cookie plates with the menagerie of sweets are wonderful to receive, it usually takes longer than an afternoon to make the many varieties of cookies needed for a proper plate.  So then we thought maybe a bold statement cookie might work where we could do something large enough so that there would be one per person.