Wedding season.

It has been the summer of l.o.v.e. - - a summer of weddings. Seems like next summer will be the same way... How very exciting! We really enjoy being part of the celebration (and on the other side of the table). It always makes me think back to our special day. Sometimes I wish you could celebrate anniversaries the same way you do birthdays -- with all your family and friends.

I really enjoyed the whole planning process. Making invitations. Shopping around for a deal (steal) on flowers. Making jewelry. And more. Most of all, I think I enjoyed being able to do it all with pm and my mother. It was stressful at times, but for the most part we made the best of it and have lots of fun along the way.

Today I have a terrible sweet tooth, and as I was looking through photos we've taken recently to include in my post, I can across this photo. This cake was absolutely delicious. Light, fluffy and moist. Three things that are very hard to find in a wedding cake. I've never been one to make vanilla cakes, but this photo has inspired me to try it again. I think I need come up with a one-bowl vanilla cake recipe. That way my one-bowl chocolate cake recipe will not have to be my only fall back plan when I need a dessert whipped up fast.

I am thinking that this upcoming week is going to be the week of the tomato. More to come on that though. Time to eat. :)

Random Baking Desire. 100th Post!

I don't know if there has ever been a time in my "baking" life that I have ever wanted for a recipe to turn out as badly as I do now.

If you know me then you know that I am a huge lover of ice cream. If I had to choose one thing to eat for the rest of my life I think it would be ice cream. My parents have an ice cream maker, and since I have a birthday in the summer I always requested that we made the ice cream. I loved churning it, sprinkling in the salt, and ultimately eating the final product.

We do not have an ice cream maker. I guess I should have thought of that when we did our wedding registry. Oh well. The other day I made custard over the stove top. I also blended a portion of our blackberry load in order to make it a blackberry gelato. It is now in the freezer waiting for judgement day. I am hoping that tonight we get to judge if it turned out well or not. (I did sample it, and if it tastes anything like the sample we will be in business).

Patience is a virtue. Patience is a virtue. But can't the freezer freeze any faster? Come on!

Also - today we are celebrating our 100th post!! Woot woot. Any words of wisdom of what you'd like to see / hear more of? We're taking orders. :)

Creativity: Refocused

About this time last year, I got really into Etsy. While I still dream of crafting up new items to post - the reality is ... I don't. It was exciting at first to get new views, post new items & connect to the creativity community that exists on the internet. I guess my interest waned. Maybe it was that views never really became sales, and that there was never a direct "connection" with other makers. (Truth be told: There was just never enough time (or energy) at the end of the day that I could work with.)

I have, however, got very excited about home brewing. I have also rekindled my love for baking. These two activities have, as of recent, replaced my need to "make things." And, the glory is they both require a similar level of creativity.

My blog is going to be undergoing a face lift, and a slight change of course. Life's been busy - and change is good.

So here's a quick 30-minute recipe for a delicious citrus cake:
Slice of Summer
1.5 c flour
2/3 c sugar
2 tsp baking powder
2/3 c milk (or 1 lemon/vanilla yogurt)
1/4 c butter
1 egg
1 tsp orange extract
zest of 1 lemon

Combine, mix, blend. Grease pan.
Preheat oven to 350, bake for 30 minutes. Great with whipped cream on top - enjoy!