So.. right... opening..

I am pathetic at updating this. I swear once I get my internet up and running tomorrow at the shop all will be well. :)

I have been open for three weeks today! That's insane to me. Already I am falling into routines and making things work. Reordering things and rearranging eighty times to make sure that all is where I want it to be. I've been pulling almost 20 hour days, so I am truly exhausted, but it was just a mini check in. A picture from the first day! :)




until soon, bakerrrrfriends.

So, IKEA is interesting

when it comes to buying things for restaurants.
I wrote down a ton of different chairs and plates and tables
well, only one table because that's the only one they have.
But I am just completely distraught.
The debt continues to loom higher in the future - I cannot find a decent table, a 30" ROUND LOW BISTRO TABLE FOR HEAVENS SAKE, for less than like $140.
and I need at least four of them.
Add in the chairs, which seem to be coming to about $40 a piece
and you have oh, let's see, four chairs per table, call it five tables
RIGHT twenty chairs at least
meaning ohhh cool $800 for chairs. right.


I am attempting not to hyperventilate.
trying not to give up hope
because there has to be some fabulous discount restaurant seating establishment that can tell me how to do this the right way and not breaking my entire budget on freaking seating!
i'm already huffing and puffing on these ovens that have yet to catch my eye with a price or function.
that's aggravating in itself.

As you can see, I did find some awesome plates that go with my colors for the shop... which is highly exciting.

but I guess I'm just getting distracted. Distraught. Discouraged.
Not willing to believe that every other place is going to have ridiculously priced tables and chairs and have me blow my loan on seating alone.
Hell, it's starting to look like bean bag chairs and some end tables.

there's never been a cuter time to bake cupcakes

thanks to my obsessive web surfing and finding pictures of great cupcakes and cakes, i am now obsessed with the idea of making tfc cupcakes, minies, and cupacakes go out the door in style. how freakin adorable are they with polka dots??!


and i don't know about you - but this would be amazing for bridal showers, baby showers, and really anything slighty flower oriented. i see lots of really adorable set ups with flower cups. that, and it's another one of those 'could go anywhere' ideas. i am now frantically planning how to hold a garden party just to use them. a great idea for an entire line of infused flavors too - i'm not looking to become magnolia or anything of the sort, but i think a lavender essence lemon cupcake would go just perfectly in one of these little guys.
game on.


okay and these i just want to have sitting around my room and mostly in my personal space at all times. they are like small canvases that i would almost feel bad dripping batter on the edge of one of them. how amazing would a little boston cream pie be in one of those? now that would be awesome. hmm.


many thanks to Bake it Pretty
, my new favorite etsy site..
check out the above as well as a ton of other adorable and "can't-pass-up" baking supplies :)

as for cupcake recipes - im not completely sold on the ones i have so far. the carrot cake recipe i have, while very moist and delicious, is not exactly the best rising cake i've made.
any recommendations for recipes? i might have to ransack the BH&G Baking book - all of their recipes are absolutely supposed to work, which is a cool thing. although, it requires at times reading the recipe eighty times to make sure you don't miss a "wait four days until you bake this" note. sigh.
there just aren't any baking cookbooks that throw themselves out to me to make me want to throw down $25 for 50 glossy pages. any recommendations for the best baking book you own / have had the pleasure of baking something from?
any and all suggestions would be appreciated.

flouryfree

So yesterday I completed my first foray into the world of gluten free cakes.
Meaning, start to finished and delivery included "completed".
It was a 16" star, cut from rounds, and alternating layers. It was a chocolate / vanilla cake, but I can't say I really enjoyed the flavor. I wasn't so happy with the taste of the finished cakes, probably because I trusted it to mixes. I used Bob's Red Mill and Pamela's, both very reputable companies whose products I normally enjoy. I used my regular buttercream recipe, and sadly saw the cake sinking as I waited for the icing to settle.
I iced the entire thing and mixed fondant circles to the colors requested (bright, bright, bright) and tacked them on with a little buttercream.
With all the extra cake I had cut away, I made three mini 4" rounds to go along withe the main cake.


This is the most boring entry ever. I need pictures - STAT.
//edit... HERE!

congrats, congrats!

not one but THREE of my favorite blogs won big at the bloggies this year.

congrats to cakewrecks, cute overload, and i can has cheezburger!! :)

cry a little, spice it up

this may sound like a 'duh' statement, but i firmly believe my mood affects my baking or cooking.
normally, this would not mean as much - but as i have been cooking in foreign kitchens this week or just assembling on the side of a crowded table - it's very obvious to me that the food is affected by amount of sleep and definite emotion i happen to be harboring during said preparation.
it is not, however, in the way you would expect.
naturally, if i'm angry or pissy, you would think that everything would be a little sloppier, a little rough.
instead, everything is closer to being perfect.

when i made those grilled cheese sandwiches, my head hurt, a lot. i was rushing around in order to make sure that things were still hot when i took them to the set.
i burned myself with the oily pot lid, cut myself by reaching into a sink that was definitely not left by me.
(note to anyone who SHARES a kitchen with ANYONE - never EVER leave a knife in a dirty sink, or even in a basin of drying dishes. it will usually result in a painful reach.)
anyway.
those sandwiches were, while a bit dark, melted perfectly. browned by not charred, with a nice browning taste - not oily or too greasy. it is 'grilled' cheese, after all, so you have to expect a little bit of grease.
the tomato soup was spicy, but not burned. it didn't splash everywhere or have weird chunks floating in it because i didn't take the time to chop the tomatoes fine or have the soups meld together.
it came together. all of it.

wednesday night, as i was making delectable pretzel roll sandwiches, i was not in a rush. i felt decent - it was gorgeous outside and i didn't really have to be anywhere until 2:30. i guess it was the comfort - the NON deadline, i suppose - and things got sloppy. i forgot to count lettuce leaves so we were short on lettuce. the cookies were okay - but not the softness i usually bake my dough to. the pretzels were lopsided... still good but weird to look at.
this was from a happy girl? weird.

cakes are almost impossible to track. wedding cakes i am a bloody wreck - especially when i think they will be simple cakes.
for instance.
this cake - hexagonal, with 'PLEATS' on the second layer.
i was also doing an entire wedding as well as a double wedding cake for the next day, so i planned on spending the necessary time but no more on this cake.
in the end.. i was horrified. especially when i took it to the venue and the florist had neglected to leave the promised flowers for the top.
the top tier, which had a huge blerb in the middle because i was planning on plopping a beautiful hydrangea on it.
instead, i had to whip out my trusty offset that i carry with me everywhere and hope to the cake gods that the cake would smooth.
the result, after the freakout and a random rose?

not too bad.

i think the ultimate scary was this grass cake. as i was carrying it out to the car, the entire top tier BOUNCED off center. that's right.
bounced.
introduce the worst two hours of my life, making grass out of fondant that should have dried all night and attempting to fix buttercream that was so beautiful until my feet hit the concrete floor. also introduce the night i almost gave up baking.


it was based upon a magazine article, and we mirrored it basically down to the petrified wood base. the groom heat lasered their names and anniversary in the edge - it was incredible. i was very happy by the end, but let me tell you - it was terrifying.

to be honest, i'm not sure if there is one cake i was totally good with from the beginning. in fact, i'm usually pretty pessimistic when i begin a cake - yet somehow i get this breath of happy halfway through and im willing to carry on and believe that something good will come out of it.
it sounds lame, but it's just the way i work.

i hold my breath daily to make sure i haven't made it onto cakewrecks. i love that site so much, and i might actually be okay if i do in fact make it on there one day just to be on it. however, it would be one end of the spectrum or the other... either my item was horrific enough to be reported for ultimate damage control, or i made it into the sunday sweets post... one thing i aspire to, actually.

we shall see. *gulp*

PS. today i'm making sauteed mushroom pockets, as well as garlicky sloppy joe pockets. they smell fabulous. thanks again to my girl sandra. plus a few tfc adjustments, as per usual.


(all of these pictures aren't copyrighted, but they are MINE. as in, cakes I have done.... just for the record.)

i LOVE catering.

i know it's not quite the way most do it, but i've only been in pittsburgh for less than 24 hours and i'm loving it.
grocery shopping this morning, cutting, prepping, and mis-en-placing all afternoon, and now just chilling until about 7ish to begin the actual cooking in order to report to set at 8:00 to set up and be ready for the hungry masses.
granted, all of this was done solo, and it may seem like a lonely job - but i'm having such a good time.
i love watching people whine about how far away dinner is when i'm smashing turkey hill ice cream (which costs an arm and a leg in pittsburgh) between freshly baked pumpkin cookies.

tonight's menu...

romaine, english cuke, and celery green salad
jonagold slices and navel orange wedges
zesty grilled cheese
spicy tomato basil soup (both thanks to our friend sandra... plus a few alixe adjustments)

for dessert, the aforementioned ice cream sandwiches.

it seems really simple, but sometimes you don't need massive mediterranean antipasto trays for ten people.
this is such a new experience for me - i mean, the broke part is still very normal
but it's fun to have to really plan ahead with no 'go backs' - once the door is closed, it's locked and i have to make due with the stores around me and what i have along.

i have a photojournal of this catering journey, which will eventually make it's way here, but i will need to get home before i can put those on here.

itunes radio choice for cooking: Planet Hits Radio, solely for the reason that Mika was the first song playing when I randomly chose it earlier.
fantastic.

a bientot for now, friends - i should begin assembling my fabulous sandwiches.