A Few of May's Makes & Bakes

May can be a pretty crazy month for us... We had 3 birthdays to celebrate:
My bff turned 50 this year, so her husband planned a little "Seis de Mayo" shindig. (Last August they helped me surprise Mr. ElisabethJean for his 50th, and then in September was Mr. BFF's 50th, so we're pretty good at this...) My job was to bring cheesecake.

This was my first attempt at baking a slab, but it turned out pretty well!

Next was the red-headed middle child's day.

Unfortunately, his birthday frequently gets tossed into the
Let'sCelebrateGrandpa'sBirthdayMother'sDayToo - mix, but this year we let him have his own day & his own cake. He chose to order pizza (which we smoked -- try it, it's fantastic!) and wanted a brownie-bottomed chocolate cheesecake with chocolate ganache

(I found the recipe here)that was quite indulgent!

Then I made a t-shirt for my daddy's birthday. I put a heart where he was born in the state (...and still owns a sliver of the old farmstead...)

It was beautiful until the last pass of the iron - the cover sheet I was using had static electricitied a scrap that was lingering nearby.

ARGH!

Fortunately, I had another shirt on hand...


We also had some graduation announcements that I needed to send cards for.

(They were a little different from last year's...)

 

And then I made a special onesie -- but that's a story for another day...