Weekend time

It's the weekend now! I delivered a cake Friday morning, took my last final, then it was off to Holland to enjoy a break.

The cake turned out so beautiful the buttercream gave me hell so that's something I'm gonna have to work on. It's a pain but thanks to some Internet research I was able to finish it by 2 am maybe 3 so I went to bed and finished it completely in the morning. I'll attach the picture at the end.

Tonight is the Cornfest dance but earlier we went to the street fair stuff and sat with some really awesome people, one of which was a jolly giant he was really nice, they all were. It's always great when you can sit down with people you've never met and have a blast and wonderful conversations. The lady was a fire cracker like my mom, so I miss her.

She's been having some fun going rock climbing in jeeps and dirt races makes me envious wish I could be with her. So I can't wait to see again!

Not too much else, just going out the dance tonight and then headed to my dads tomorrow for some quality family time and Fathers Day, don't forget.

Office Party - Sharon Lang

2 layers chocolate // 1 layer vanilla // white chocolate buttercream // topped with chocolate covered strawberries // drizzled with chocolate // non-edible red ribbon around the bottom.

Live for the moments you have, remember the ones you had, and never miss out on the ones you'll regret!

iPhone 4

Today I got an iPhone 4g it's been interesting learning how to adjust to a touch screen but I've downloaded tons or apps and I'll be able to update you all with school and better photos since now I can do this on the go. It's going to be an interesting ride readers I hope you'll bare with me till I figure this out. It'd be great itd be great I'd blog spot came out with a free APP that made this easier for me to do. (Come on Blogspot(: Anyways time for bed, nothing too exciting for the day, Made some cakes, white chocolate buttercream and cookie cakes. Plus went to school and did that thing! Enjoy your night <3

Days.

School is coming to a close for this semester and after 11 weeks full of long days standing on my feet between both school and work, I'm VERY ready to sit down and relax. There are many adventures taking place in the next four weeks that will consume my LAST summer as a college student, at least for my first degree (been thinking about going back for a second)

The one and only Holland Cornfest starts Friday night! I'm packing my bags Friday morning for a fun-filled weekend of laughter, friends & family! I'm leaving Friday night when class is let out, driving three hours in the dark, which is a fear so I'm being brave! Saturday morning making breakfast for my loved ones then off to the creek to begin a weekend well DESERVED! So you won't be hearing from me till I get back and I'm not sure how I'll post pictures since the phone is dead, maybe tomorrow I will buy one!! (Any suggestions for AT&T? - I'd love something I can even do my blog on!)

Anyways next week is only full of more, plenty of girls nights to be had with my friends! And I've got a cake delivery this week (Friday) and next week too (Saturday)! I need some dang business cards! But I need a logo first! All in due time but it would be great to have at least a few by Friday, if not no big deal.

Quote of the day:

The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost to reach out eagerly without fear for newer and richer experience

- Eleanor Roosevelt.

Cakes!

I'm back in business and I've finally picked my domain & store front name!!! I will announce it once I have bought it though so it can't be taken. Things are really starting to turn around for me and look up again. I have surrounded myself with people who support my talent and skills, who let me enjoy life, who let me make my mistakes while still being there to help me up! Thank you everyone. Now I have a name & goal, I just need to figure out where I want to locate myself after school... any suggestions I would really love them. I would prefer something up north and a little less humid.

As for right now I'm baking from home! Today I delivered my first cake in a really long time, it was a Mardi Gra themed birthday cake for two of my friends celebrating together. (I'll also be doing their wedding cake in December!) This week I have another order & the following week one more!!! I really need to get some business cards made, even if it's just a basic one for now.

2 layer Confetti Cake// 1 layer Chocolate icing// 1 layer Vanilla icing

Purple, green & black fondant make the mask

Non-edible feathers & beads as decorations

The couple - Layne & Alex, celebrating a combined Mardi Gra themed birthday & both very big Saints fans. I hope you both & your guest enjoyed the cake as much I did making it.

Ahh;

So obviously we all know that I'm not very good at keeping up with this anymore. Well let's update a little of the past month that I only found time to write once. But don't worry I have gathered all my recipes together and I will be able to leave one a day for the remainder of the month. Today starts my finals so it's been crazy busy getting ready for those!

Chocolate class has been interesting. I have been making some really neat things and loving the class. It's been teaching me patience and that it's okay to screw up because normally I give myself such hell over things that go wrong. Also I have not had a partner in the past couple weeks. She decided to not help me with production one day and well a friend of mine started yelling at her then I got some in because it really is a pain to work with chocolate alone. So she left for Kansas and never came back to chocolates, I'm not complaining I work better now than I ever had been with her. But things have been going great, we've been working on some amenity chocolate stands and today is our FINAL! We each create a replica amenity stand of the one Chef drew for us. Then we are producing two sets of truffles to be displayed on it, pictures tomorrow I hope. My camera did break a few weeks ago at a friends house.

Another update, new roomie from the Big Apple, all our friends have been calling her New York. She's really awesome though. We've been taking her out showing her the South, took her to the beach over Memorial Day. Went to a really neat Art Car Show in downtown it was really awesome too, so many hippies around -haha. And we are planning a few more in the near future before her and my roommate start working the games everyday! And some more Texas baseball, Red Soxs will be here the first weekend of July and I'm super pumped about it!

Well time to get ready, sorry there aren't any pictures for the day I've got to go on a new camera search before next quarter. Ohh one more thing, my cousin graduated high school and it wasn't till I was sitting in the stands that I realized I was a high school graduate in a few months I'd be a college graduate! It's amazing the times we realize we really are growing up.

Off to take my final, wish me luck! <3

Cool down

Now that things in life have started to cool down a little bit I can update. I don't have a lot of recipes to give anymore other than a few bread ones which I will post sometime. For those who know I was coughing like crazy and feeling like poo, I'm almost 100% better! It was just allergies kicking my butt!

April was a crazy month! May should start panning out a little better with "me" time! I am slowly starting my business and baking from home, I've got birthday cakes, wedding cakes and grooms cakes being asked for. I LOVE IT! It's like realizing your dreams are slowly coming true and waking up to the reality is still unreal! I've been making some really neat things in class and I love it. I've also been learning how to calm down and take it as a learning experience and realize that I can't always be as perfect as I'd like to be the first time. I take my curves as learning now and helping me grow to not make those mistakes. I'm studying as much as I can too.

Let's talk a little politics now! 5/1/2011 forever remember the soldiers who have fought for us, those who have passed for us, and the families who have raised these great men and women! I have a lot of friends and family that are soldiers and I want to thank them for everything, they have called me their Sunshine on a cloudy day but they are the ones who deserve the glory! Welcome back to those who are returning home, you have been incredible missed and loved beyond words. My last statement is "Thank a soldier, not obama, he wasn't the one fighting, he was the one cutting budgets to soldiers who saved the country"

So today was great and productive! Tomorrow Midterms start!!! I'm nervous but I've been studying so I think I've got this, I need this for my grade, Big Time! Just two more quarters then it's time to wear my second cap and gown! WH11P!!! I've got 6 weeks left in this quarter, 12 hours next quarter then my last quarter of 15 hours! To even say I graduate this soon makes my heart skip a beat and my stomach fill with butterflies!

I hope all is well with my readers! I love you all for the support you send me, your my sunshines and the reason I keep writing. I promise to get better.

-xoxo

"You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go..."

— Dr. Seuss (Oh, the Places You'll Go!)

CRAZY right now!

Holy Moly has life gotten extremely CRAZY since I've been back from Virginia! I've gone from barely having one job to having an awesome full on job working at the Tanning & Spa place! It's been really great, I'm getting the hours I need and making a pretty good amount, plus perks are great and the people are better! And big time bonus the rising gas prices don't phase me right now because I'm less than half a mile from work I can see it from my apartment window! Pretty ballin'! As for the job that barely gave me hours I'm quitting this week I love the people I work with but it's not as fun and as rewarding as it once was. And of course my biggest job right now is School! I'm taking two lab class, Chocolate Confections & Centerpieces and Artisan Breads! Both are really awesome classes! I have 4 recipes for you today from the Chocolate class, TRUFFLES! They are really good too! I plan on attempting to make some this week for the girls at work. I will give you bread recipes tomorrow. I say that but I'm going to try really hard between school and work my only free days are Sundays, Wednesdays (some) and every other Saturday. Sunday is the only day I have nothing to do which is nice I just do chores that have piled up like homework and homework that has piled up too. I'm also in a club called The Great Chef's Club and we just had a really awesome dinner Saturday night! The chefs did an amazing job! And the people I got to serve were really excellent people!

Eventually I'll get around to being completely organized it's only Week 2 so I've got at least another week to get organized and figure out a gym schedule since I don't need to be anywhere until 9AM on some days and later than that on others.

As for Baltimore and Virginia! HOLY words don't explain how great this trip was! I was nervous at first meeting all these new people and seeing my friend again that I haven't seen in probably 5+ years! But there was nothing to be nervous about I fit right in like we had known each other for years! In fact we are organizing two more trips this year, one is me going back there for a middle school/ MIZZOU/ Baltimore reunion and all of them packing their bags to come down here in the fall to stay with me. I think we are going to the coast and renting a house there and just having a blast. It'd be really awesome if every year we tried getting together again at least once! One of the girls has already said she is just going to move in because I was studying at the pool yesterday and she was inside studying. And we have a master awesome plan for her visit too! We are redoing a 90s music video! Ohh man that's gonna be fun. So I believe my next investment with either be an Xbox 360 w/ kinect or a video camera, dang I wish it could be my birthday again! shucks.

Well now it's time for your recipes and photos of the final product I hope you enjoy!

Chai Tea Truffles

6 oz heavy cream

2 bags of tea (i used orange spice)

2 tsp vanilla extract

milk - as needed

2 oz glucose syrup

12 oz milk chocolate, chopped

1 oz butter, very soft

milk chocolate - as needed for precoating and coating

dark chocolate - as needed for filagree

Coffee Truffles

6 oz heavy cream

1/2 oz coffee ground

2 oz glucose syrup

14 oz dark chocolate, chopped

1 1/2 oz butter, very soft

1 1/2 oz coffee liqueur (Kahlua)

dark chocolate - as needed for precoacting and coating

chocolate - as need for chocolate curls garnish

Amaretti Truffles

5 oz heavy cream

11 oz milk chocolate, chopped

1/2 oz butter

1 1/4 oz amaretto liqueur

dark chocolate - as needed for precating and coating

roasted pine nuts for garnish

Rochers

500 grams (g) slivered almonds

20 g liqueur

50 g powdered sugar

70 g melted cocoa butter

100 g tempered milk chocolate

H