I’m a sucker for the novelty Oreo’s. My absolute favorite are the birthday cake Oreo. They are in my opinion better than the originals. The red velvet also come in a close second. It seems Oreo comes out with a limited edition flavor almost every month now!

It’s been a little quiet around here the last month or two. While it’s been summer and so so hot in Nashville I decided it would be a good time to shed the rest of the baby weight. I’ve never gone on a diet or regularly visited a gym in my life so it’s been a challenge.

I’ve modeled this magical cake after the German Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte. I was doing research on Black Forest Cake and disappointingly the top recipes that came up (from the “biggest” blogs) were filled with cake mix, canned cherry pie filling and no Kirsch! Blasphemy!

One of my friends has to eat a gluten free diet and I’ve been wanting to try and learn a few things to bake for her next time she visits. I’ve tried mixing the different flours and using xantham gum before and it did not end well.

It’s not often that I feel like making pie but the recent hot Tennessee weather called for something very summery. Strawberries are already in season down here. Basically the only local fruit you’ll find at the farmers market right now.

Hooray for long weekends! We had some friends from out of town visit. This is the first time someone non family has come to stay and I was so excited to bust out some hosting skills.