Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Yesterday was just a flurry of baking. One of Bekah's friends wanted to come help me bake and perhaps learn something from a "professional" baker. Keep in mind, this young woman already makes cakes and cupcakes on her own, so I really wasn't sure how much I could teach her. She reminded of Janelle, one of the techs at GIC who makes gorgeous cakes using fondant. Me, I am a fondant newbie!

The graduation cake I was suppose to make that looked like an old book, never quite made it to the fondant stage. I thought I could spend the morning working on this cake, but received a call from work asking where I was?!? I ended up working all day and did not get home until 2:30pm. The party was suppose to start at 5pm. With the help of my sister, I did get everything done but was a little late in getting to the party. Here is what the cake ended up looking like:

I really would like to take some Wilton classes (which is what both these women did) to see what skills I can pick up. But I digress....

Good thing I did most of my baking during the day, because we had one of the worst thunder storms I've seen in a long time. We lost electricity for an hour! My nieces were upset it was so dark so I asked if they had any candles. Oh, they said, what a good idea, lol. Good thing it was evening and close to bedtime anyway. We all went to bed early.

So far I have baked chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter cookies, brownie snowballs, mini apple pies, mini mixed berry pies, strawberry-rhubarb mini pies, chocolate cupcakes and almond cupcakes. I need to make another batch of chocolate chip cookies. My pregnant niece and her husband came in late last night, and when she saw the chocolate cookies sitting out on the counter cooling, she couldn't help herself, she ate some of them. So...I need to make another batch, lol. She felt so bad about eating them when she wasn't suppose to. There have been a LOT of offers to taste test my work! Checking quality control and all that...

Tomorrow I will need to shop for the savory part of the meal. My brother picked up the meat on Tuesday evening. He got a very good deal on all of it. Guess it pays to have connections! The meat is in the cooler, the desserts are in the freezer. I'll take the cupcakes out on Friday and frost them once they thaw out. I've made the bride and groom's cake (chocolate) and have that in the freezer. I'll frost that on Friday also. I am not feeling the pressure as of yet, but maybe I should be more concerned about making mass quantities of food (for 250 people).

I did take some time off to take my mother to her see her orthopedic doctor. Her doctor reminds me of Al Roker, the weather guy on Good Morning America, or is it NBC? Hmmmm... But before we saw the doctor, my mom took me out to dinner at Lettie Mae's Tea Room. I took these pictures of the inside of the restaurant. Very retro, with old-fashioned aprons hanging from the ceiling, napkins on the windows and miss-matched tea cups, dishes and silverware. Very nice. I had a salad, my mom had soup and sandwich. Her soup was cold strawberry soup. She let me try it-almost like a liquid dessert! Quite tasty. We shared a slice of chocolate cheesecake, also very good.

I did get some time to myself tonight while everyone else went to church and I finished the mini apple pies and made Brownie Snowballs. After cleaning up the kitchen (my sister-in-law likes things clean according to my brother), I settled in with a cup of hot chai tea and read a little. Cindy was sewing hooks and eyes onto my niece's wedding dress so the train doesn't drag on the ground during the reception and my mom was working on my other niece's dress (the pregnant one who was very upset about the gathers in her dress, so grandma has to fix it so she doesn't feel so "fat"). So, here I am doing the blog.... But you know what? Everyone is gone now (I am sleeping in the crafts room of the house) so I think I'm going to go to bed myself.

Monday, May 27, 2013

Well....here I am in not so sunning Dwight, IL for my neice's wedding. I'll try to take some pictures along the way so you can see all the baking and cooking over the next week. The wedding is on Saturday, June 1 and I am here to cater the wedding (my gift to my neice, Bekah-short for Rebekah). She is my brother's middle daughter. How he ended up with such sweet girls, I don't know, lol!

It seems slated to be rainy most of the week, but am praying it clears at least for the wedding! Bekah will be married inside a church but the reception will be in the barn at my brother's house. They are setting up games for all the kids attending but that won't turn out too well if it's raining!!

I met Bekah's fiancee last night. His name is Micah. He is such a nice guy and I think he will be perfect for Bekah! He and his brother have pitched in to help with wedding preparations. The barn had to be cleaned out, cleaned up and patches of it repaired or repainted in order to be presentable. My brother considered a big tent, but last month, there was a wedding very near Dwight and the tent used for that wedding was blown over by strong winds. Over 200 people were injured! No fatalities, but still.....not a happy wedding day memory.

Even as I get ready to get some sleep, my brother, Dan, my sister-in-law Cindy and two of their daughters, plus Micah, are still working to get the garage kitchen set up. Weddings are an awful lot of work and very stressful!

My sister, Corie, and I went shopping for all the supplies I need to make desserts for the wedding. Corie thought I should just buy some frozen desserts and not work so hard, but I told her no. My reputation is on the line here! And why come all this way if I am only going to make all pre-made food? No thanks. Cooking for 250 people seems a little daunting, but you just take one step at a time to make it through.

So...tomorrow the baking starts in earnest and I will try to keep you posted AND include pictures. What an adventure, lol!

May 7, 2013

It is cold and rainy here in northern Nevada. A good day to stay indoors and nap or read a book. Instead of doing those things, I worked. Can't complain about having a job though!


I started working at Big Horn Olive Oil Company, right up the road. It really is a fun job, and I think we all need a little more fun in life! The shop is owned by Mercedes Burkavage. She calls Big Horn her "retirement condo in Florida". She has always wanted to own her own shop and here she is. Big Horn has been open about seven months and it is doing well. She encourages people to come to her "tasting room" to try not only olive oil, but also the balsamic vinegars she carries. I think of it as an adult candy store. As I wander around the shop, I see all the possibilites these oils and balsamics give me to experiment with flavors. Big Horn olive oils and balsamics really do taste great! And just in case you think I "drank the koolaid", try it for yourself-you'll be amazed. Mercedes calls it educating people, not selling products. Makes sense to me!

I am still working as a personal chef, planning and cooking weekly. Next week I have two catering jobs. One a corporate dinner, the other a graduation party for one of my sister's friends. She wanted pasta with three different sauces (so far so good), a salad, and a few appetizers. Ok, I'm there. They wanted to get a cake from the store, but I said I could bake a chocolate cake with chocolate or mocha frosting. Then came the surprise--"Could you make the cake in the shape of a book?" I can't say I'm a big fan of fancy theme cakes. I'd rather leave it to the Cake Boss! I went online looking for book shaped cakes and found a bundle of them! Who'da thunk?! Her daughter is an English Lit major, so that's where the books come in. Wilton has a pan in the shape of a book, and since it was inexpensive, I ordered it. I saw cakes that were stacks of books and open books. And you can pick any theme you want. Only thing is, the cakes are all covered in fondant. Fondant will hide the chocolate, but I think that will be ok. I'll be working on writing with frosting also, as soon as they left me know what they want the cake to say. I'll be stretching my baking skills with this one, although I'm trying not to psych myself out over this. There are some AMAZING cakes out there!!

My neice's wedding is coming up quickly-June 1. I am flying back to Chicago to cater her wedding (of 250 people, lol). My gift to her and her fiancee. The menu is done and approved. I am flying out a week before the wedding to make sure everything gets done. She is having a dessert bar rather than a big wedding cake. I will make a regular sized layer cake for the bride and groom to cut (chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting--and maybe some strawberries in the frosting). I'll be sure to take pictures and post them later. Wow!! lots coming up!