MKEFoodies Bake Sale 2014

Today(Saturday) is the #MKEFoodies Bake Sale for Cookies for Kids Cancer. The bake sale is at the Hudson Business Lounge in the Historic Third Ward, from 1 - 4 pm. Please stop on out and pickup some great baked goods from area food bloggers, bakers, chefs and the like.

I baked a lot of treats for this year - some of my classic favorites and some new ones.

All of my bags have my business card attached to them and the recipes are below with my tweaks.

100 Good Cookies - I make this cookie every year and it's the cookie I always remembered my grandma having around her house. The batch truly makes 100 cookies, because you need to keep them small as they are rich.

Mint Chocolate Chip Grinch Cookies - I picked up some mini mint chocolate chips at Simple Life Country Store. So instead of 3 oz of chocolate chips and 3 oz of mint, I did 2 regular and 4 of the mint. I also added Rumchata instead of the Creme de Menthe as I used what I had in the house. I think it was a nice addition.

Gum Drops - This is another treat I remember my grandma making for the holidays. She used to let them dry out in her cellar and my brother and I would sneak down there and eat a few before Christmas, but we weren't smart enough to hide the wrappers so we were caught. I decided on Raspberry and Green Apple and they are delicious!

Shortbread Sandwich Cookies - The recipe says these are Kit Kat cookies, but I find them tasting more like a shortbread with chocolate in the middle. I used semi-sweet chocolate chips instead of milk chocolate as that's what I had at home, but they were still delicious.

Oreo Cream Brownies - These are FANTASTIC and my new favorite treat. It's dangerous that I now know how to make Oreo cream! They were a little more complicated to make than I thought, but they are 100% worth it with the end result.

I hope you can come out and support the cause tomorrow. The Third Ward is also having their Holiday Sale, so it's another reason to come check out the sale and get other holiday shopping done!

Sweet Perfections

From Sweet Perfections' Facebook Page

Last week, I was the proud winner of a Door County Cherry Tart from Sweet Perfections in Waukesha. How did I win this you ask? I simply liked their Win-It-Wednesday post Facebook and that gained me an entry to the contest. I then saw on Thursday that they had selected me as the winner and I had all day Friday to claim my prize 6 am - 6 pm (their hours).

From Sweet Perfections' Facebook Page

The store had been located on Barstow Ave in downtown Waukesha for many years, but it needed to expand and I am so glad the company chose to stay in Waukesha. Now located off Main Street and the 164 bypass on Paramount Drive, it's a much larger space with parking, more traffic and great visibility.

Living solo, I decided to bring the tart into work and share with my coworkers.

I arrived at Sweet Perfections before work and walked into the very warm and inviting new location. The place looks so posh and fun. They have a lot more space to let the creative juices flow in this location. There is a coffee area, many display cases full of scrumptious treats and some tables to sit and enjoy or hold a consultation if you needed treats for a party, wedding, etc.

I was greeted by the friendly workers and when I told them I won, they were happy to see me. They took my photo for their Facebook page and presented me the tart. I couldn't resist looking at the other goodies in the case and ended up buying a lemon bar and brownie to share with my coworkers too.

The lemon bar was heavenly. Just a small slice off of it was enough to satisfy my sweet tooth and others agreed. The brownie was almost like fudge it was so ooey-gooey and delicious. Again, just a small amount will satisfy so plan to share your treats!

The cherry tart was definitely tart but Door County cherries are. Just the right amount of sugar was used to bring the tartness down and make it another very satisfying treat.

I will definitely be back for more of those lemon bars and other treats.

Because I "Like" Sweet Perfections on Facebook, I see that they are very active with their fans and love doing promotions and specials for their fans. Currently they are running a #MorningHappyHour promotion and if your last name starts with that days chosen letters, you get a free cup of coffee with a $5 purchase from 6 - 8 am. And it looks like the Win-It-Wednesdays are continuing.

They also have a Newsletter Sign-Up on their website where they will periodically send out information, specials and more.

From Sweet Perfections' Facebook Page

So far the only thing that I miss about the old location is the breads are missing. I was a huge fan of the garlic herb loaves of breads they had.  Hopefully they bring the breads back or I will have to seek out bread elsewhere. It made the best garlic bread with pasta dishes.

I see big things coming from this place and I love that they are so active on social media. It's a very inexpensive method of interacting with customers. And you know they want to hear from you because they chose to "like" you.