Ahh how sweet it was!

So I was under some pressure this week playing hostess okay so yes I had some help from Saucy(my mom) but here is a little info about Cupcake...I like things to be perfect and I like to control! But I do both with the grace and style of a good southern girl! Now the fact that I like perfection made this weeks critique more of a challenge. Baking is far from perfect. One degree off in that oven and everything sinks or burns or both!

While looking for muffin recipes in the cookbook I was stuck between two. Praline and cream pecan muffins and Zucchini, citrus and honey muffins (which I called Citrus and Honey muffins until everyone had taken thier first bite...I didn't want the Zucchini to scare anyone off!). So being the overachiever I am, I baked both! First thing I noticed about this section of the book.....nowhere does she explain muffin pan sizes. Don't think this is important....well when she says it makes 14 muffins (ive never seen a 14 cup muffin pan by the way) I figured it meant standard size, well no I was wrong. The Zucchini, Citrus and Honey muffins made 12 standard and 6 Jumbo size muffins and the Pralines and Cream muffins called for a "standard or large" pan, well which one? I ended up making 12 Jumbo muffins and had batter left over!

The taste however made me forget this oversight. I don't want to brag but my muffins were yummy! I will say that the Pralines and Cream muffins were about 500 steps too many but it was nice that all the steps could be done in the food processor. The flavor was good and very sweet but a bit heavy for the spring weather. I think this would be great with a cup of hot tea, bundled under a blanket during the winter. However the Zucchini muffins were so light and fresh they were a great accompinament to the beautiful spring day! D-licious even told a little fib to her veggie-phobic husband that the green in the muffin was just lime zest...he ate it and loved it! It is definately going into my must do again recipe list!

Now all the other women worked so hard I want to make sure I discuss their lovely dishes.

Sweet Jeanettes cookies weren't my favorite, I did think they lacked flavor. I had actually tried to make these cookies before but couldn't find dried strawberries so I tried to dry them myself in the oven (well google said I could dry them that way!) and they didn't turn out very good. There just isn't enough flavor.

D-licious' two breads (and yes I do believe I could live my life on nothing but good bread!) were great and ho-hum. The Double - Garlic Foccacia was divine. My mouth was so happy I didn't know what to do with myself. Please I beg you to get over your yeast fear and make this bread (lucky for me I can just call up D-licious and have her make it for me!). It was super flavorful and as one Woman remarked "it has garlic treasures inside". The Chunky Cheese Bread was a bust in my opinion. Too salty on top of the bread and no flavor inside. In fact you could almost taste the yeast.

Saucy's French Silk Pie wasn't that great either. Well actually I took two bites and said "more bread please". Thats right, I passed on chocolate! The pie had a weird texture and the crust was strange ( I will let Saucy fill you in on her complaints about measurements etc...). And if it were possible (which I didn't think it was) the pie had too strong a chocolate taste!

The group did finish up with a winner, Buttercream's Hummingbird Carrot Cake. Wow, this cake was excellent and so very moist. I am not a big fan of banana but the flavor in this cake kept me craving more! And with all the fruits and veggies in the cake who can pass it up, it's practically like eating a salad!

So overall this book had its good and bad moments. Seriously, a cookie sheet with parchment paper under everything? But the foccacia, muffins and that cake made my heart sing! So as a group we decided that this cookbook deserves.....3 spoons!