Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Happy New Year!!



Wow... I can't believe it's already time for a new year. I haven't decided if I will make any resolutions or not. Most of the time I just resolve to lose some attitude, lose some weight, and just try to be an overall better person. I'm not too sure how that's been going for me.... what do you think? Maybe I'll just resolve to save more money by shopping less (always referring to the grocery store, not the mall... of course) which will in turn lead me to loosing a few of those pastry school pounds. This plan may not improve my attitude, but its all give and take, right? What kind of resolutions do you make? Any suggestions??

Anyhow, I have quite a bit to do when I get back to school on Monday.... another practical exam, a cake competition, a written test, and the start of a new subject... chocolates I think. I've been searching for recipes to prepare for my practical and have found one definite, one maybe, and a big question mark. I have been wanting to try my hand an macarons for a while, but have somehow been a little hesitant to try them out. Over the Christmas break I tried a recipe for almond and chocolate macarons with an espresso buttercream filling. They were amazing!! They take a bit of time to set up, but overall they were really easy to prepare. I'm looking forward to expirimenting with more flavors in the future.



I spent a good portion of this afternoon looking for inspiration for my next cake design for the upcoming competion. I think I've found the perfect subject, but I'm not going to announce it just yet. You will just have to check back to see how it goes. I'm pretty excited about it I just hope that it comes together as well as I have it in my mind.

I probably wont be cooking or baking too much outside of school since I've probably eaten my weight in baked goods over the past week and a half. I'm not looking forward to meeting with my nutritionist in a few days.... what a walk of shame.... :(

Whatever... until next year.... Happy Baking!!

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Merry Christmas!!!


Finally got around to doing another Iron Cupcake Challenge! Read about them and get the recipe on The Food Knows. This month I created Super Moist Chocolate Cupcakes with an Almond Fudge Frosting... simple yet satisfying and completely delicious!!!

Hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas with family and friends!!

Friday, December 19, 2008

Merry Christmas to all.....

(yeah, I need to work on my piping skills and handwriting, though I don't think my penmanship is going to get any better since it has sucked my whole life)


I'm ready for Christmas now. Right now! We wrapped up classes yesterday by having a fun cookies exchange and potluck lunch. We made a ton of cookies (less holiday baking to do now!) and everyone brought an interesting assortment of foods for our lunch.... wings, fried pickles, queso, guacamole, samosas, chutney, and a cream cheese spread. A well rounded lunch if you ask me.

Now that my Christmas break from school has begun I am aching to go home! I've got a few things to attend to here first though. Fun things, but still.... Tonight is our city group's ugly Christmas sweater party, and I am way excited! I've been looking at some other sweater party pics on facebook, and some people just don't know how to give it their all. It's not just about the sweater, it's about the accessories and the attitude that you wear the sweater with. I'm not very good at taking pics at events, mostly because my camera is around 6 years old and takes crappy pics (I'm sure you've noticed), but I'll do my best to get some pics up. I may just swipe them from someone's facebook album.

Tomorrow morning I am helping with a cookies decorating class at the school then loading up the car and heading home! Finally! My boss is graciously allowing me to work from home over the holidays, so I'm pretty excited to get to stay a while :)

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Gingerbread Madness

A few weeks back I told you guys that were would be working on gingerbread houses. Well, we did and they were great. Everyone was really creative and I think we all had a lot of fun. As much as I loved the house/bakery that I worked on and wished to keep it, I was happy to send it away to Dell Children's Hospital. We rounded up all of the buildings our class created (and a few other interesting ones the other class created) to create a gingerbread village. Here are a few pics.... enjoy!



































Friday, December 5, 2008

Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat....

Yup, Christmas is upon us, and I am so excited!! I am such a holiday whore junkie (as my friend Melissa would say ;)) I've thrown out the last of my fall decorations (see below) and ushered in a little bit of holiday cheer! I've programed the Christmas station into my dash, bought my first Christmas album of the season (The Hotel Cafe presents Winter Songs.... A-mazing! Go buy or download it now!), and already purchased 3 gifts!



Here goes nothing...





It's a pumpkin graveyard



Ew! .... Care for a slice??


It is tradition in our house to set up the Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving, then end the day watching Miracle on 34th Street with a warm cup of hot chocolate and popcorn. Mmm... love it! Seeing as the sister and her hubby were sick over Thanksgiving and the other sister had to go back to work it was up to me and my mom to deck the halls! Falalalala!





In about an hour I'm leaving to meet up with the girls for our annual Christmas party! We haven't all been together since May, so I am really excited! This year we are doing an ornament exchange (since we are all poor college grads), can you guess what kind of ornament I'm bringing???

Merry Christmas!!!!

Monday, December 1, 2008

"Thanksgiving Day is a happy day with turkey and pumpkin pie..."

Just thought I'd share a few photos of our Thanksgiving feast!! (for some reason only the dessert photos made it to the blog.... guess it shows my priorities)


Paige's pumpkin cookies... so soft and chewy!

Tori made a yummy pumpkin chiffon pie


Dad's favorite strawberry salad


My new favorite, pumpkin bread pudding.... yum!!


Mom's delicious maple pecan pie

Go check out The Food Knows for all of our Thanksgiving recipes!!