Falling...

I stepped outside this morning with a view of this tree. Absolutely gorgeous! How could dying leaves be so exquisite? I guess it's just perspective....

"Being happy doesn't mean that everything is perfect. It means that you've decided to look beyond the imperfections."   -unknown

Disasters...

How does that saying go... whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger?

Last night's baking adventures went bad. I was trying a new recipe for macarons, and needless to say everything went wrong. First off, I had to borrow a coffee grinder from someone to grind up my nuts, which slightly turned into a hassle. Then I made a complete mess trying to pipe them onto the cookie sheets. I started out making them too big, then too small, then too close together. My table was so full of stuff, that I stacked the 2 cookie sheets while I was working on them. Of course, the one on top slipped and fell onto the macarons on the bottom tray. But that was only the beginning.

For times sake, I put both pans in at the same time and just switched them half way through, so some were darker on top than others. When I pulled them out of the oven to see if they were done, I very lightly touched one and it crumbled under my finger. Great. So I decided to let them cool before I touched another one. When it came time to get them off the wax paper, it was a complete nightmare. Almost all of them were stuck and when I tried to pull them off, they would just crack and crumble, ruining them. I managed to rescued a little plateful of them and was excited to finish my project. I put filling in the middle between two macarons and put a pop-stick in between. I let them set all night to get firm.

This morning they looked adorable. I picked them up and put them all in a cup and was getting ready to tie little ribbons on the stick when the cup fell over, crushing every single last one that I had rescued. That was the icing on the cake.

Three hours wasted on a disaster...

Tiny kitchens...

For any of you that have been in my apartment, you know that I have an extremely small kitchen. So small in fact, that I do all of my baking prep on the dining room table. Ha!

If you can only imagine that if I turned around in this kitchen, I would be at the sink. There is absolutely no counter space to do anything in here. So this morning, as I was thinking of all the baking that I need to do tonight and tomorrow (cupcakes for baby shower, cake ball gift for expecting parents, festive treats for my bff's and family, etc.), I was imagining how nice it would be to have a bigger kitchen.

Maybe some decent counter space that isn't the dining room table and is actually in the kitchen so when I accidentally drop cake batter on the floor it's not falling onto the carpet.

I love this kitchen. So cute and I absolutely love the chalkboard on the wall. Very cute idea. I think it would be very easy to achieve this look with very little expense.

So as I plan my dream kitchen in my head today, just curious...what would yours look like?

Cake balls and pops....

Here's a little glimpse of what my evening held for me...

First the pumpkins:

And then for Knox...

Tiny fingers, tiny toes...

Yesterday, after much anticipation, my sister Kristen found out that she will be having a sweet baby boy.
Knox Kenneth Soder
I absolutely cannot wait to meet him. I am already blessed with 2 wonderful nephews that are my everything! I miss them so much! They are growing up way too fast!

So in celebration of knowing that Knox is actually Knox....

... I will be doing some baking this evening to send to the expectant parents. I'll be posting pictures on here later today, so stay tuned.

I will also be attempting to make some pumpkin cake pops for my husband's business meeting this evening, since fall is in the air.

Inspiration comes in disguises....

Last Christmas when I was all curled up on the couch, in a cottage, in the woods, surrounded by feet of snow outside, I happened upon a movie that was so inspirational to me. So while my husband was fast asleep next to me (even though he never sleeps through movies), and everyone else in the room thought it was the most pointless, slow, drawn-out movie they'd ever seen, I somehow felt inspired. Not even the all negative vibes could get me down.

That's right. Julie & Julia. From the moment I saw the movie, all that I've been wanting to do is blog. All the time. I would like to quit my second job and just experience new things and blog about them every day. But unfortunately we need money to pay the bills, so therefore I cram in my blogging sessions when I can.

I started this blog shortly after that, and somehow it never took off. Then I started a different blog and forgot about this one. Needless to say, I have started back at this one now that I've started baking on a regular basis.



Bake - [beyk]
-verb (used with object)
1. to cook by dry heat in an oven or on heated metal or stones.
That is how the dictionary defines baking. However, I define it as the act of making something so delicious and delicate, it is like a tiny piece of heaven in my hands.

Bliss... 

So join me through all of my baking experiments and disasters. And just know that I'm always open for business too. :) Check out my facebook page!