Bring on the cake!

I just went to my first Wilton cake decorating class yesterday morning. We (myself and 3 other women) didn't actually get to bake anything but I did learn some stuff I didn't know (just a little though). We learned about butter cream, all the different tools we will need for the class, and some techniques. The only decorating we did was piping a border around the bottom of the cake the instructor had used to show us hot to ice a cake. It was the first time I had piped a shell design (know that I actually knew how after looking in the book) and everyone kept complimenting me on it. Telling me I did it like a pro and how all the shells were the same size. It made me feel really good :)

Next Wednesday we have to bring in a cake, tools, butter cream icing, coloring, and a turn table. We actually get to play this time. I can't wait. We got to choose between a character cake or just a two layer cake. The two layer one's going to have a rainbow piped onto it (ok?) but she said it doesn't have to be the awful colors in the book (and there was much rejoicing!). I'm not sure what colors I'm going to do yet but it's definitely going to have some purple! My friend is letting me use her kitchen, since she actually has an oven. I can't wait to get started, going to have to start brain storming.

Besides the fact that I want to get some technique and knowledge under my belt before I go to baking and pastry school, my friend wants me to make his wedding cake (*gulp*). I was flattered that he would ask ME but I also have never made a wedding cake and have never even touched fondant in my culinary life. There's going to be a fondant and gum paste class at the end of the month in the Wilton series and my friend's wedding is not till October. So hopefully between now and then I'll have enough practice to make a cake for him. I am so excited about it but on the other hand, this is not a Birthday cake...it's a WEDDING cake! Wedding's are suppose to be the one day where every thing's perfect. I would not for the life of me want to ruin that for anyone by bringing a Wal*Mart looking cake. Everyone loved my chess cake but I would Never bring that quality of cake to a wedding. I am a perfectionist, so if I give it a stamp of approval, it's probably pretty good. It's hard for my work to please me.

Good news about that is the flowers he wants are one of the easiest (so I've been told) to make out of gum paste: Calla lily's. Also it's not going to be a 5 tier monster, just a small 3 layer fondant covered cake. I want to jump right in and start but I'll be patience and wait for the class. If anyone has any good advice, pictures, videos they want to send me please feel free!

Vegan weekend

I have decided not to post my tattoo because I think I want it to be my little "mascot" for my bakery. Don't want anyone to take it.
Hope everyone had a great 4th of July. I was in the kitchen the whole weekend. I have recently decided to go as vegan as I can afford. It's also very hard to find a lot of the vegan products that are suppose to be in your local whole foods store. Living in NC is hard if you don't like greasy, artery clogging foods. I was able to hit up Trader Joe's and a Whole Foods but still was unable to find a lot of stuff I see in many vegan or just cooking show recipes. But back to the holiday cooking.

I made a Grilled Tomato Bruchetta as a starter. Then I took yellow squash, zuchini, red onion, red pepper, snap peas, and yukon gold potatoes and made shishcabobs with a rosemary vinegarette. Very yummy. For the main course I made Portabella mushroom "sliders" with sauteed onions on top on whole grain rolls with sweet potato fries on the side. It was a lot of slicing and prep work but it all turned out wonderful. My mom and grandma loved everything. They didn't miss meat at all :) I didn't care for the sliders that much but I would definitly make everything else again. I got all of the recipes from this month's Vegetarian Times. I also got my dessert idea from the magazine but I switched it up a bit. The Summer Pudding recipe called for Angel food cake. Making this cake vegan would be a lot of trial and error due to the large amount of eggs used in a traditional angel food cake. So instead I made a pound cake. It stayed so nice and soft that I was able to mold the cake into the bowls and then fill it with the fruit syrup. One fed three people lol But it just depends on how big the cups you put them in are.
In addition to 4th of July grilling, I also made sushi this past weekend. I made one of my boyfriend and my favorites, Spicy Tuna Roll. Then I tried a couple new things: Phili Rolls and California Rolls. I was able to make my Phili rolls vegan with some Tofutti. My Cali rolls I filled with red snapper instead of crab and it was the first time I had ever made an inside out roll. I think I like making them and eating them better that way. They all turned out really well, especially the Philli rolls. Obviously everyone liked them since they were pretty much gone that day.
I am on the look out for easy, non-spicy vegan recipes if anyone has suggestions. I've been wanting to go vegan but, as a student, didn't know if I could afford the cost of the foods or the long drives I'd have to take to get them. After reading Skinny Bitch, I knew I couldn't eat meat anymore...If you've read it you know what I'm talking about. If you haven't, you should, it's a real eye opener. I still eat fish but I try to not eat any other animal products. I hope you enjoy the recipes I've posted!

Bubbles and Stabbing

Yes, I have been a very bad blogger... I am sorry. I've just been very busy and have not been baking much. I went to California with my boyfriend for two weeks! It was so much fun. The weather was perfect, no humidity or bugs. I didn't want to come home. It was nice to see my family and to have a chance to relax. I made a couple of pizza's and different things while I was out there but nothing new or exciting. While I was out there I read an article about a woman who opened up a cupcake shop. I decided to go check her bakery out. It wasn't much but it was cute and she is obviously doing quite well. I got a mini Party Girl. It was a bit too much icing for me but this is coming from the girl who rarely eats junk food. The name of her shop is Cupcake Love. So if you're ever in Solana Beach and want a cupcake go see her.

Well today is full of fun stuff! I made Boba for the first time today! I use to have to wait till I went to California over the summer before I could enjoy this treat but then I found a place in Greenville! Of course I find the place right before I move... So I went to an Asian Market in Raleigh and guess what I found?! A package of boba with instructions. So excited. I made one today for lunch in a strawberry banana smoothie. Pure Gooey Bliss.

I'm also getting a tattoo today. I have been wanting to get another one for a while but wasn't sure what to get. I don't like getting random things on my body. I want them to mean something to me. Since I want to be a cake decorator I thought I'd get something that has to do with baking. I really think cupcakes are cute so I took those thoughts and made something up. I tied a couple of the things I love in life together to make (what I think is) a really cute tattoo. I can't wait to see how it turns out and I'll be sure to post some pics when I get back!

Easter

Sorry about the late post. I made some sugar free yellow cupcake with left over vegan chocolate icing from my birthday cupcakes. I decorated them with some edible Easter grass (Target), Dove Dark Chocolate Eggs, and Reese Pieces eggs. Everyone loved them. I made them specially for my boyfriend since his favorite is yellow cake with chocolate icing and his favorite candy is Reeses. ^.^ I also helped with brunch after church. I made a spinach egg roll. That turned out...ok. I'm a perfectionist so if it's not perfect, I'm not happy with it. Everyone liked the taste, and it was good, I just didn't like how it looked. The rolling didn't go so well and it kind of fell apart. Oh well, food is suppose to taste good and it did so I guess I didn't do too badly. I also made buttermilk biscuits for the first time =) They turned out a little small since I didn't have a biscuit cutter and used a drinking glass instead. They were very tasty though.
The Easter bunny was very good to me this year (yes he still visits me). I got some baking stuff which always makes my day. Didn't get my Easter egg hunt due to the fact that we couldn't find the box with the eggs in them. Oh well, I still have an IOU when we find them! Hope everyone had a blessed and fun Easter and didn't eat too many chocolate bunnies or peeps!
I also made an awesome pizza over my long weekend. I had made one before but without a pizza pan so it didn't turn out as nice. This is the best pizza I've ever eaten. It's not greasy or anything. It's mushrooms, mozerella and goat cheese, with some parsley sprinkled on top and a few other things tossed in for flavor. The best part though, is the wheat crust! It's amazing! My boyfriend and I think I should just make some bread stick out of it next time lol I might do that next time I make some pasta. Yummy!

Birthday!

Today is my birthday! And what better way to spend it than in the kitchen ^.^ I made some cupcakes this morning instead of a cake (not a big cake eater). My mom was surprised when I told her I wanted to make my own birthday cupcakes AND cook my birthday dinner. lol I don't mind, I love cooking and baking so I'm still having fun on my b-day. I made Vanilla Bean Cupcakes with Chocolate Kahlua Buttercream Frosting. I found the recipe on one of my favorite blogs have cake, will travel. The frosting turned out really well! I made one with Kahlua and one just plain chocolate for those weird people who don't like kahlua. The plain chocolate one turned out very creamy and smooth because of the milk where as the kahlua one wasn't shiny and a bit thicker. No one will ever know they are vegan *sinister laugh*
I just made dinner for everyone and they loved it of course. I am trying to teach my brother portion sizes so he was a bit disappointed when there were no seconds. He'll be ok, there's still cupcakes and he doesn't need seconds anyway. I made some Flounder with seafood seasoning on the stove. I served it over a bed of white rice with broccoli on the side. I love broccoli :) I originally was going to serve the fish with a sauce from my Cooking Light magazine. When I finished the sauce though, it tasted like butter...I'm not a big butter person and decided to just toss it out and stick to the seasoning. Granished with scallions and a little bit of soy sauce for the rice. Yum!
Everyone ate my cupcakes and I waited till they had already started to tell them they were vegan. They still loved them, even my boyfriend who ate one of each. He has a bit of a sweet tooth. They were very good and pound-cakey. I would definitely make them again. I had a great birthday and thank everyone for my presents and b-day wishes!

Pita Bowl!

I think it'll be the next big thing :P I was making Pitas yesterday and for some reason my second batch got a bit dark and harder than they should have. I wasn't about to throw them away because the bottoms where still soft and all but one was still usable. I cut the hard part of the burnt one off and filled it with lettuce, cheese, and chicken salad. I was pretty good. I just picked it up and took bites out of it. ^.^ Very Nummy.

Going Green?

I am seriously considering going vegan... Most days out of the week at least. I love sushi way too much to go 100% veg. I have been browsing around and I know I wouldn't mind the food, it all looks and sounds delicious. My problem is the price of the groceries I would have to buy. I am a college student who can't find a job and I don't have a stove or oven either. I'm hoping maybe someone will comment and let me know what they think.
I would not be going vegan because I think eating animals is wrong, that's what they are there for. That and being cute of course. Don't worry PITA people, I only eat the ugly ones (chicken and fish). I would be going veg for health reasons. My stomach has become very sensitive for some reason and I think that maybe changing over to a more plant based diet might help. We shall see. I'm going to go check out Whole Foods and Lowes Foods tomorrow to see about how much their vegetarian foods are. I already drink Light Silk and eat tofu every now and then but that's about as far as I've ever gone. I know they aren't that much more expensive than regular products but I've seen other things that are kind of pricey.
Another of my big concerns is even being able to FIND some of this stuff. I don't know how many times I've had a recipe and gone in search of the ingredients just to have to people at the grocery store look at me like I'm stupid. Living in North Carolina is hard for those of us who don't wish to eat everything fried. I'm hoping when I move to a bigger city this fall that there will be more choice as far as groceries and restaurants. Wish me luck and any comments or advise would be greatly appreciated!