St. Patrick's Day Recipe Round-up

As you probably know already, St. Patrick's Day is coming up on the 17th. Not only do I love this holiday because the "P" in...well...P stands for Patrick, but also because it's a lovely, once-yearly excuse to celebrate all things green and/or Irish (including their whiskey =p). For any of you in search of drinks or desserts for Saturday's festivities, here's my handy dandy round-up of St. Paddy's Day-friendly recipes here on 6 Bittersweets. Have fun and be safe this weekend, my friends!

1. Homemade Irish Cream Liqueur (Like Baileys)

2. Chocolate Baileys Cupcakes with Irish Cream Liqueur Shots in Chocolate Cups

3. Chocolate Thin Mint Shamrock Cupcakes

4. Peppermint Cookies N' Cream Fudge Brownies

5. Homemade Coffee Liqueur and Black Russian Chocolate Kahlua Cake
***This one's just in here 'cause of reasons booze O=)

6. Mojito Mint Lime Rum Cupcakes

12 Tasks for 2012

I'm not a big fan of resolutions traditionally (usually too vague and easily forgotten), but I've found checklists for specific tasks are a great way to keep myself on track throughout the year. Thus I thought it might be fun to share with you just a few of the food and blog-related items on my to-do list for this year. Consider it a little peek at what's coming up on 6 Bittersweets =). Plus I hope it'll encourage you to make and share some of your own foodie goals for 2012!

1. Make my first: multiple-tiered cake, fondant-covered cake, batch of homemade doughnuts, poppyseed strudel, French macaron tower, and choux pastry.

2. Make a Black Russian (Kahlua vodka chocolate) cake from scratch that's every bit as decadently satisfying as the popular version using store-bought cake and pudding mixes CHECK -- see the post HERE!

3. Decorate a cake with gumpaste quilling à la My Sweet and Saucy

4. Use my new silicone mold-making kit and edible image-capable printer (awesome gifts from P and his family) to make fun decorations for cakes and cupcakes

5. Try this unique and scrumptious-sounding cobbler with cherry tomatoes and caramelized onions The season's passed, so I've put this off until 2013...still excited though!

6. Share more healthy and/or savory recipes on this blog

7. Learn to apply the brush embroidery technique with royal icing à la the cookies below by Etsy seller Sweet Ambs

8. Upgrade my camera to a Canon 50D (my friend who'd agreed to sell his 50D to me changed his mind, so I'll need to save up a bit longer for this) and expand my photography horizons beyond food/parties

9. Decorate a cake or cupcakes with French macarons à la the ones below by Cupcakes Couture of Manhattan Beach

10. Come up with a reeeeally good tricksy recipe for April Fools Day O;-) Oops -- I ended up too busy to bake this April, but I've got some great ideas for 2013, I promise!

11. Recreate Laduree's incredible Orange Blossom French macarons at home

12. Convince as many people as possible of how awesome the BBC show Sherlock is (FYI, season 1 is on Netflix Instant!) and of how incredibly talented the actors Benedict Cumberbatch (photo collage top) and Michael Fassbender (photo collage bottom) are! (Yep, I know...not even a tiny bit related to baking or this blog but I regret nothing =D)

Oh and just a bonus tidbit of Sherlock candy...try not to swoon ;p

Your Favorite Posts of 2011 (Thanks for Making It Incredible!)

Wow wow, wow wow WOW...2011 was certainly a thrill-ride for me, in which the blog passed many incredible milestones and in which I've been greatly honored to make sweet treats for some really special people. And "lucky" is the only word I can think of to describe how it's felt to have you all along with me, backing me up every step of the way.

The past year's had so many brilliant moments that I simply couldn't imagine picking my favorites. Luckily you'd already done that job for me, and I bet ya didn't even know it! ;p Once the lovely Tracey of Tracey's Culinary Adventures gave me a crash course on Google Analytics (over Twitter, no less!), it was a cinch to pull a list of my most clicked-on posts of 2011 to compile this list. I hope you enjoy reviewing last year's highlights as much as I have! Wishing you a Happy New Year with much love, XL

1. Boston Cream Pie Cake Pops

2. DIY Pom-pom Cupcake Topper Tutorial

3. My Take on Food Photography and Styling

4. Homemade Baileys Irish Cream Liqueur

5. Lemon-shaped Lemon French Macarons

6. Black Widow Spider Chocolate Rum Halloween Cupcakes

7. Snickers (Chocolate Peanut Caramel) French Macarons

8. French Macaron Tutorial with Step-by-step Photos

9. Butter Paneer Indian Curry and Naan Pizza

10. Oreo Cookies N' Cream Cake Pops