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Saturday, January 22, 2011

Cooking School and More Birthdays


I made the cupcake 1 for Seeley's birthday party. I made it to match the smash cake I made for him last week. 

 30th birthday cake for a friend who was hosting the party
 Today, I took another class at the Viking store up in Atlanta. This class was more hands on cooking than decorating. The name of the class was Baby Cakes, Apparently, the trend right now is toward mini desserts, and so everything we made could be eaten in just a couple of bites. I was really excited to bring the recipes home, and I can't wait to broaden my horizons a bit! Above is one of the petit fours I made. I was never sure how to get the glaze just right, and now I know!
 We made jam jar strawberry cakes. The recipe for the icing called for black pepper, which I thought was odd, but ti tasted really good. Another variation was to add balsamic vinegar, which I think would be very nice with the strawberry cake. Or maybe I think this because I like balsamic on strawberry salad...
 Lemon pudding cake.
And last chocolate bouchons. This was my favorite thing that we made all day. They are somewhere between a cake and a cookie, and would be even better with some raspberry sauce and some whipped cream.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

give away winner

 Awhile back, Shannon D. won the giveaway that I did in November. She was a hostess for a baby shower this past weekend, and she claimed her giveaway cookies for the shower. I some new cookie cutters with a baby theme, and I was happy to be able to use them!
This was the second smash cake of the weekend. It was for, yet another, photo shoot with Cindy.

Friday, January 14, 2011

Smash Cake For Seeley

This cake is for a little guy who goes to church with me, and he is having is 1 year pictures with Cindy Stansberry today! I can't wait to see how they turn out.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

What a difference a YEAR makes!!

It was a year ago today that I made my first post on this blog. I am so excited that I finally kept a New Years Resolution! When I started I wasn't really sure what would happen. I was hoping to work in different mediums each week, but I got so many requests for baked goods that it just kind of took on a life of its own! Granted, I didn't post every week like I said I was going to because this past fall I got very busy while teaching in the morning and at night. But, after I totalled everything up, I had more than enough projects to have one for each week. All together, I had 77 unique projects for the year. There were others, but I didn't take pictures of things I didn't decorate. I really appreciate all of the support that I got from all of you this year, and I am looking forward to a great 2011! As a little thank you, I am giving 25% off any orders placed through the end of the week. Just call or send me an email and I will get it on the calendar, even if you won't want it for months, you can still get the discount!
 This week, I did branch out a little bit, and I made something I had never even eaten before. There seems to be quite a bit of buzz surrounding macaroons right now, so I decided I should try making some. The one's above are French macaroons, I filled these with chocolate ganache. I was drawn to the French style because they make such pretty little sandwiches, and I love the fact that you can make them in so many color and flavor combinations.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Car Cake

Here is a car cake that I did for a family that I have done several cakes for recently. I made the road, and they added the cars.

Monday, January 10, 2011

Trip to Texas




This past weekend, we went to Texas for my friend Megan's wedding. It was absolutely beautiful! We also got to visit Waco, and Brian got to see Baylor for the first time. Here are a few pics from that visit. I realized that I have almost no pictures of campus, so I was happy to snap a few on this visit. This was my first time back since I got my master's in 2006, and many things have changed (new residence halls) and many things were still the same, and I was excited to see it all!

Our mascot, is the bear. Here are Lady and Joy sleeping in their habitat in the middle of campus.
These few are of the Armstrong-Browning Library. This is probably one of my favorite places on campus, it is just an amazing building. It is home to the largest collection of poet Elizabeth Barret Browning "stuff." It is also a popular place for brides to have their portraits taken.  I so wish I could have had mine done there.

Another favorite place- Common Grounds. I was so happy they had pumpkin pie coffee the day we were there!
This was my little house in grad school, I couldn't believe it was still there!
Brian enjoying his first George's experience. (Please note the big o margarita in the bottom right hand corner, I couldn't go without having one)

Sunday, January 2, 2011

Happy New Year!

 I hope everyone had a great new years! We had so much fun celebrating with some great friends. Everyone brought a dish to enjoy for dinner. I am lucky to know so many good chefs because dinner was beyond good.
 I got to use my wiggle woggle again. Shannon had these super cool candle holders that we filled with some small garland. They are from Crate and Barrel, and I think I might need to get my own.

 Here are the desserts I did. They were strawberry champagne parfaits with handmade chocolate garnishes.