Featured Shop Simply Divine Desserts

I recently interviewed Sharon who is the owner and baker behind Simply Devine Desserts  on Etsy.  She is a fellow  FEST (Florida Etsy Street Team) member and resides in Sarasota, Florida.

Here is my interview with her:

Tell me a little about yourself.

I’m a brown-eyed girl, strong in mind and body, with a Christ centered spirit. I am a happy, busy, productive, strong willed, organized, unemployed, single mom. I have two grown sons, 25 and 22, who are the biggest blessings in my life (along with my new daughter-in-law!). I was a home school mom for 16 years, and they were some of the best years of my life. I’m an active member of a great church, I love music, the beach, and going to the movies.



Autumn Leaves Cake Pops Edible Bouquet

How long have you been baking?

I’ve been baking for most of my life. I grew up loving to be in the kitchen with my mom and grandmothers, not only for the great food that was always being created, but for the warmth and comfort that it brought. My older brother started calling me “Bake” when I was 11, and for some reason the nickname stuck and to this day, I am “Bake” to my family and many old friends.

What made you decide to sell on Etsy?

I decided to try etsy after a dear friend of mine kept poking and prodding me to give it a shot. I sold books to homeschoolers on ebay for many years, so I’m used to online selling, but the thought of starting an online bake shop seemed strange to me at first. But now that I’ve made some sales and have sent my goodies to various parts of the country, I’m excited to see what the future will bring.

Cranberry Cookies Mix in a Jar

What kinds of things do you like to shop for on Etsy?

I’m forever browsing the many beautiful earrings on etsy. I’m in awe of all the talented jewelry makers all over etsy, and I’d be buying lots of wonderful items if I wasn’t unemployed. So for right now, I window shop and put lots of earrings and jewelry into the treasuries that I make.

What is your favorite dessert from your shop?



Old Fashioned Bonnie's Butter Cake



My shop favorite has to be my Bonnie Butter Cake. My mom used to make this cake for me every year on my birthday. And for the past 25 years, I’ve been making it for my boys on their birthdays. Now I’m baking it more frequently, as it’s one of the most popular flavors for the cake pops that I make.

What would you like other people to know about your shop?

I bake using only the finest, all natural ingredients. I’m blessed to be surrounded by neighbors who let me hand pick many wonderful organic citrus fruits from their trees, and I use many of them in my baked goods. I take great pride in all that I create, and I hope that whoever buys something from me can taste the love that I added to their goodies!!

I asked Sharon for a photo of her "work" area.  Look at all the cute little angels overseeing everything.

 I just had to get in a shot of these delicious looking scones (below), and in a heart shape no less!

These wonderful little goodies come in several flavors; Blueberry Lemon, Cranberry Orange, Tropical, Mango, Pineapple and Coconut, Classic Raisin, Lemon, Luscious Lime, Apple Cinnamon, or Classic Plain.  You can order 8 different flavors for a sampler package.





Check out Simply Devine Desserts for a perfect gift for the holidays. Everything is made to order and shipped USPS priority mail.

Tips for The First Time Cruisers

With summer just around the corner many people are thinking about vacations and possibly taking their first cruise.

My husband and I have been very fortunate in that we have been able to take a cruise at least once a year for the 21 years we have been married so I have picked up some tips along the way that I thought I would share.

The cruising industry has changed considerably over the years and I am finding that most regular cruisers have chosen a particular line such as Norweigian Cruise Lines (NCL), Royal Caribbean, Carnival, etc. because the more you cruise with one line the more benefits you receive.  Everything from discounts on future trips, upgrades on cabins and special parties on board can be had for those loyal customers, but not all ships are alike and neither are the amenities so maybe I can help you wade through some of this with my experience with the various lines.

One tip that I find helps those first time cruisers is to decide what is most important to you on your vacation.  Entertainment is a given and all ships provide that in one form or another, however, choice of dining experience, shopping, on board activities, and service are all different depending on the ship.
 When I first started cruising in the late '80's you were assigned seats and times for dinner and everyone ate in the main dining room no matter what cruise line you were on.   There was an "early seating" and a "late seating" and you were  placed with the same group of people for the entire week.  If you didn't hit it off with them you were basically stuck with the situation.  Most of the time we were in good company, but occasionally we found ourselves with people who didn't speak English and so there was a lot of nodding going on.

NCL started a new program several years ago called "freestyle cruising".  Instead of having just the main dining rooms for people to have their evening meal they added several upscale International restaurants with cuisines from France, Japan, Italy and Spain as well as a 5 star steak house.  For an additional fee you could have dinner at any one of these restaurants and choose your own time table.  Originally this was relatively inexpensive but the charges now are anywhere from $10.00-$30.00 per person extra.  This is my favorite kind of dining experience as I feel the service is better and the food is more authentic then you might find in the main dining rooms. You also have a change of scenery as each one is decorated according to the cuisine served.

Now many of the other cruise lines have added an "anytime dining" alternative to their standard fare, but generally offer only one or two additional restaurants.  I think this has a lot to do with the fact that cruising is becoming more popular and the need to compete comes into play.

The "Anytime dining" works well for the days you are in port until the late evening as you can relax and enjoy yourself without the worry of rushing back to the ship so that you can have enough time to change and still make it to your scheduled dinner hour.   Many times we had to race back to grab a shower and a quick change because we opted for the early seating which was 6:30.  There is always a full buffet served on the upper decks until at least 10pm so you never go hungry, but the food is not the same and it's self serve.
Unfortunately you sacrifice one thing for another among the different cruise ships.  The specialty restaurants on NCL are exceptional in service and flavor but the ships themselves leave a lot to be desired as far as decor.  This is just my opinion, but this is not a ship I would choose for ambiance. 

If you want really great food without worrying about a time table then I would suggest you opt for a ship that has the "anytime dining" and at least try one of the restaurants other than the main dining room during your trip.  This is not to say that the food in the main dining rooms is bad. Far from it.  They offer a variety of main courses as well as specialty dishes and a host of desserts, but the experience can become mundane day after day.

Another area that has changed considerably over the years is the type of service you receive on board. There isn't a whole lot you can do about it, but I do have some tips to make it a little better and I will be posting about that next time.

My Eastern Caribbean Cruise Journal, Pt.3

We landed in Samana, Dominican Republic around 10am and this is what the island looks like as we were coming into it. The boat with the red stripe is called a "tender'. Each of the cruise ships has several tenders that they use to transpot people into the ports when there either isn't enough room or the waters are to shallow for the large ships.
Each tender holds about 150 people and can get a little warm as there are few windows that are opened.

This picture is of the dock where the tenders were coming in. They usually run back and forth all day.

This picture of the "bridge to nowhere" was taken from the tender on our way over to Samana.

It was built with the idea in mind that the tiny island on the left would house a resort, but nothing ever became of it so this literally goes nowhere.

Ralph and I stopped for a drink and an order of fries just to sit and watch the sites. It was a hot day that day and it was nice to get out of the sun. Ralph likes their Presidente brand of beer.

This is a common mode of transportation around the island. Sort of their idea of a cab.

We met a man while we were shopping at their "straw market" who asked us if we would contact his brother in Miami and ask that he call him. Apparently the earthquake in Haiti has destroyed the phone system for calling out and he wanted us to let his brother know he needed some help.

Ralph took the number and called him as soon as we got home. I wish I would have thought to get a picture of this man. He kept offering us a picture he painted as payment but we told him we were just happy to help.

Here is a closer look at the 2 tenders used by the NCL Pearl.

I took this picture to show what the inside of the tenders look like. We were headed back to the ship around 1pm so it wasn't very crowded.

My husband bought this wooden statue for our 8 yr. old grandson for getting such good grades on his report card. The little turtle was something I picked up for a future mosaic. We weren't planning to eat the canapes that were delivered that night so Ralph put our purchases on the plate.

I took a picture of us in the mirror in back of the bed just before heading out to dinner.

We had dinner in the Japanese restaurant and tried every appetizer they had. Following that was a show featuring "The Jersey Boys" from Las Vegas and a juggling/comedy act called "Sharkbait".

When we got back to the room our cabin steward had this monkey made of towels sitting on the bed.

Tomorrow we dock in Tortolla, then on to St. Thomas.