Creative in Cleveland Pet Art

Mug // Canvas

Oh my goodness! I am obsessed with my purchases from Creative in Cleveland, an Etsy shop. Emma, the shop owner is an optometry student who loves animals and painting. She operates her Etsy shop in her free time. I originally found Creative in Cleveland on Instagram. I absolutely fell in love with the incredible artwork she creates of people’s pets. I ordered a mug of my dear Agatha as soon as her shop opened this spring. I loved my mug so much when it came that I then ordered a canvas in addition. Her products make amazing gifts and she is so easy to work with and wants to make sure that you love your painting of your pet!

This is the photo that I sent Emma to use for the paintings. She did a fantastic job!

Halloween Pumpkins

It has always been a tradition for us to carve pumpkins for halloween, but this year we took it a step further and carved 9 pumpkin! Since I am a hygienist and love teeth, I naturally carved a dental theme pumpkin. Jake decided to carve the laughing emoji, you can see it if you look real hard. In addition to our two large pumpkins we decided to carve 7 little pumpkins- the pipsqueak variety that we grew. We made a little army of jack-o-lanterns! I think they are absolutely adorable sitting on the front steps lit up.

Happy Halloween!

Chocolate Sugar Cookies

I think I have found the best chocolate cookie recipe ever! Jake has always loved the chocolate cookies from Patrick’s Bakery and Cafe here in Minnesota and introduced me to them. They are pure chocolate goodness! I was determined to find a recipe that tastes similar to Patrick’s chocolate cookies and I think I found one over at Savor the Best. They have an amazing chocolate flavor and are soft on the inside, plus super easy to make!

Ingredients:

1 cup butter (2 sticks), softened

2 cups packed dark brown sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract (I added a little extra)

2 eggs

1-2/3cups all-purpose flour

1-1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

Chocolate Sugar Topping

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons cocoa powder

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Place the butter, brown sugar, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl and beat until smooth and creamy. Beat in the eggs.

3. Sift (this is important!) the flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking soda and baking powder over the butter mixture and stir until just barely combined.

4. In a separate bowl, combine the sugar and cocoa powder.

5. Use a large cookie dough scooper to scoop some dough and roll into balls. Roll the balls into the sugar mixture then place on the baking sheet. Make sure you leave 2 inches of space between the cookies- they get large! Push the cookies flat to about 1/3 inch thick. After I flattened the cookies with a cup I sprinkled some extra granulated sugar on top for a pretty bakery look.

6. Bake for 10 to 14 minutes (I did 12). They will puff up slightly, crack and look wet in the cracks. Don’t bake them longer or they won’t be soft and chewy.

7. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely.

Enjoy!