Mocha Mousse cake with Candied flowers

This cake was done for a coworker's birthday. I had wanted to try sugared flowers for some time now and this was a great opportunity. I had never realized that you could eat a pansy but I’m glad I tried. With a little care they came out quite well.

The chocolate cake and mousse is form my favorite recipes see http://fatorfight.blogspot.com/2010/11/cupcake-happenings.html . But add 2 shots of express, or two packages of starbucks via coffee dissolved in very hot water use only the smallest amount of water to dissolve the instant coffee, let cool a bit and add it in at the end. Also use a similar mixture to brush on the cakes as you stack each layer.

For the flowers:

Pick your favorite edible flowers; some of witch includes violets roses, nasturtiums, pansies, lilacs, carnations, cherry and apple blossoms – along with herb flowers like borage or lavender, rosemary and mint.

I chose pansies for this cake. I started by cleaning the flowers by dipping them in water and drying them gently. Do not use flowers that have already been sprayed! After your flowers are dry use a paintbrush to paint each petal front and back with egg whites. After one is painted dip in very fine sugar. I used a food processor to make my regular sugar a bit finer. Also it seemed to be easier to pour the sugar between the petals rather than simply dipping them. After the flower is coated lay it out to dry and harden overnight on wax paper.

A long overdue update

What’s new with me…well a lot has happened these last few months, both good and bad.

Starting with the bad. My aunt Sherri passed away unexpectedly leaving behind her 12 year old daughter. I wasn’t able to make it up for the funeral but I am planning on going up in the spring for a service at my grandmother’s house. It was hard not being there with my family but I was able to talk to them often and it sounds like they are doing better.

When you loose a loved one it really causes you to stop and think about how precious life really is. It really could be gone any minute. I’ve been pondering this off and on for the last two months. I’m a point in my life where I don’t really know what is next. I know I want to pass my tests and get licensed but other than that, what am I doing other than going to work everyday. This has helped me to push myself a little harder. One of my main goals to get things in order by the end of the year. I want to be debt free, licensed or close to it, and happy with the other things I wanted to accomplish for the year.

On a better note, I did find a job at a bakery! Last weekend was my first weekend at a little bakery down in Chesapeake. They are currently transitioning from a full service bakery just to custom cakes. I am lucky enough to be able to come in and help on the weekends. It is hard work and fast passed but I think something I am really going to enjoy. I am getting to decorate cakes that I would have never gotten to before, and learn skills I had only hoped to. My feet may be sore and I may not have any weekend plans anymore, but I think it is for the best, and will help me work towards paying off what I need to.

There have been some rumors that I am doing this to try to get out of Architecture. That is not the case at all! I’m doing it for the money and the experience. Between work, ELA, and studying I needed to find something different. And because I didn’t really want to serve again, I thought this would be fun.

Studying is going ok, with deadlines looming and cake decorating I’m finding little time to study. I have enrolled in a Structures seminar that meets every Tuesday night, so at least I am keeping up with that.

I have also started rock climbing with M1. We found out that if we go on Saturday nights we practically have the gym to ourselves. I can’t remember the last time I was as sore as I was after the first night but I loved it! I used to do it when I was younger and I’m really excited to be doing it again. I took all the sisters when they were in town last week and I think they had fun with it. M1 even came home the other night with two harnesses he got from a friend. We are going Wednesday night to try them out and hopefully get certified to climb on our own. I can’t wait!

I guess that pretty much sums it up for now, lots of work and little sleep, and little money…I kind of feel like I’m in college again.

Lovey Dovey Cake

So I may hate Valentines day, but I do love this print by Charley Harper. I have been swamped at work lately but couldn't get this little cake out of my head (maybe because I have a card of the print hanging on my desk wall). I just had to try it out. Certain things could be cleaner, but all in all it was fun to make

Anything Quiche

...and here is that quiche I was talking about.

Ingredients:

Premade pie crust

6 large eggs (or 7 small)

3 tbls milk or cream

Salt and pepper

2 cloves garlic chopped fine

1 pkg shredded cheddar cheese (about 1 ½ c.)

1 pkg frozen chopped broccoli (or fresh that has been chopped and steamed)

4-8 strips cooked bacon – crumbled

½ chopped onion

1 c. chopped mushrooms

-Pre-bake pie crust for 5 min at 350

- Beat eggs, milk, salt and pepper, and garlic together

-Stir in remaining ingredients

-Pour into pie crusts. You will have remaining filling, either pour into a second crust or save for a yummy omelet

-Cover edges of crust loosely with aluminum foil

-Bake at 350 for about 25min or until toothpick is inserted and comes out clean.

Can you really eat cheap but healthy?

I have been battling this idea for the last few weeks. As my budget gets tighter, my meals seem to get less healthy. I know there have been studies that eating well will lead to savings down the road with less medical bills and medications, but what about the right now? How am I supposed to eat this week until I make it to the next paycheck? I found this article of a photographer comparing prices of food. Each picture is of $1 of a certain food. From 7 Ramon noodle meals to 10 organic blueberries. When it's time for dinner, which would you choose?

http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/08/food-for-a-dollar/

I am finding more and more the missing factor here is time. You can eat well and pay more but do so for less time. This may be grabbing the freshest thing at the grocery store close to you, or going straight to the the gourmet store, or buying organic prepared food. It is when you really start to spend some time that you realize it is possible, but how much time are you willing to spend. I love to make my own spaghetti sauce from fresh tomatoes, or even the tomatoes that are slightly bruised and on sale, but the time it takes to prepare that sauce is exponential to the time it takes to grab a jar of the discounted store brand full of preservatives. To buy discounted produce you also have to eat it within a day or two. Who has time to go to the store every other day.

So my new challenge to myself is to not only save money at the store but to create healthy meals for myself that don't take too much time. tonight I'm making a quiche that should last me the rest of the week, but I was in hurry at the store last night and carefully watching my budget, so I bought a premade crust and frozen broccoli. All of which were cheaper than buying the ingredients or the fresh version.

And lets face it...it is impossible to make a hamburger, fries and a drink for what a happy meal costs at the drive through. Especially if you are trying to do so with quality ingredients.

Cheap Eats

So the theme for tonight was making more with less. I went to the store with the goal of getting all the food I needed for the next week for $30. I am very proud of myself for spending a total of $35.49 with 6 bags of groceries. So I decided to see what I could make with the following ingredients that were on sale or I already had in the fridge. I decided on a play of a childhood favorite, Hot dogs and Mac and cheese.

Quick Mac and Cheese Bake:

1 box Mac and cheese + ingredients listed

½ pkg ranch dressing mix

2 tbls mayonnaise

2 pieces of sliced bread

A bit of olive oil

Make according to the directions on the box. As soon as you start boiling your water, brush two pieces of sliced bread with olive oil and put in the oven or toaster oven on 250. Bake until crispy. After Mac and cheese is ready, mix in ½ pkg ranch dressing mix, 2 tbls mayonnaise, and ½ c. shredded cheese. Place in a shallow baking dish and crumble bread on top. Bake for about 10 min at 350 or until top is golden brown.

For the hotdogs, I did a quick search online and found this recipe.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Glorified-Hot-Dogs/Detail.aspx

Glorified Hot dogs:

Hot dogs

Sliced cheddar cheese

Dill pickle (sandwich stacker or whole)

1 slice bacon for each hotdog

French baguette

Salad dressing

Toothpicks

Cut hot dogs in half-length wise. Place strips of cheese and dill pickle between the two halves and wrap with bacon. Secure ends with toothpicks. Cook hotdogs in a skillet or on the grill until the bacon and hotdog are cooked through (about 3 min each side). To make them a little more fancy I also used a baguette instead of the hot dog buns and instead of mustard or ketchup I used the Greek vinaigrette dressing we had in the fridge. All in all it came out pretty well and I have more than enough left overs of the Mac and cheese for lunch tomorrow!

CAKES FOR SALE!

This weekend I was lucky to sell one of my Carrot cakes to a lady I work with. This is one of my favorite recipes. It is a 3-layer Carrot cake with Roasted salted pecans, White chocolate drizzle and Candied Carrot curls. This cake was fun to make and I hope her family enjoys it!

Now just to sell many, many more! If you know anyone in the Hampton Road’s area looking for a cake send them my way!

So the more I try to get my financials in order the more it is looking towards me getting a second job. I put together a little teaser of the cakes I had done and sent it along with my resume to about 12 bakeries in the area. I figure if I need to work it may as well be in something I enjoy. So far the responses have been positive but they don’t seem to be hiring. I am going to try my best to not end up back to the world of waiting tables. Fingers crossed this works out in the end.