Dinner Testing

I had an interview yesterday to work for a catering/ballroom company as their head chef and kitchen manager. SUPER EXCITED.
Interview went really really well and I have been asked to do a "practical interview" for them. They want me to come up with a menu and create the food. Main entree, 2 sides and a dessert.  And prepare it for them (5 people).

So, tonight I decided it would be smart to do a test run of my menu ideas.

Chicken Marsala
Dutchess Potatoes
Asparagus with Hollandaise Sauce

Ending with::
Warm Chocolate Melting Cake

AMAZING Dinner...A few things I need to fix and work on before my Practical interview in 2 weeks-- but i'm sure they will love it as much as we did!  :)

Cupcake Heaven

Spent the weekend in Chicago!! Had an amazing weekend! Fancy Italian dinners, wine, massage, spa, cooking class,and.... A Cupcake Tour of Chicago!
I have been to chicago many times, but have never been into or bought any of the sweet treats from chicago bakeries. So, this time, we decided to try as many cupcake places (within walking distance) that we could find..

More (Forever More Cupcakes)
Sprinkles
Sweet Mandy B's
Sugar Bliss
Sensational Bites

So-- we tried  Chocolate Hazelnut, Smores,Lemon Meringue,Andes Mint,Black and White, Carrot, Strawberry,Vanilla,Chocolate,Butterfinger,Red Velvet and More!!

Ratings:::

Best Packaging:: More
Best Logo::More & Sugar Bliss
Best Shop::Sprinkles
Best Cake::More
Worst Cake::Sprinkles
Best Icing::Sugar Bliss
Worst Icing::Sweet Mandy B's
Most Unique Flavors:: More

So-- If someone (maybe me!) Could make cupcakes that taste like More with unique flavors like More but made an icing like Sugar Bliss--they would make a lot of people happy and make a lot of money!!

So, today, my first day back at home and a day off of work (MLK Day)..I decided to start my venture with this idea- starting with Icing!

I usually make the "American Buttercream" which is shortening,butter,powdered sugar,vanilla....WELL this is NOT my kind of icing anymore!
I am LOVING the Roux Buttercream

1/2 cup Milk
2 1/2 TBL. Flour
1/2 cup Butter
1/2 cup Granulated Sugar

Easy measurements--i've only made it once and have it memorized! Delicious..a few problems..

Making sure the sugar granuals get all dissolved without melting the butter..pushing the roux through a sieve before adding it to the sugar/butter to get rid of any flour clumps.

But- texture is amazing, consistancy is amazing, it is thick enough to pipe, sturdy enough to keep a cake from sliding around and taste= FANTASTIC!

 So after I made this icing.. I decided you can't truely tell how great it is unless you are eating it with cake!
So I made a quick carrot cake batter and made some mini cupcakes to test this icing!

AMAZING.  This icing almost has a natural cream cheese flavor without ever adding cream cheese! It is so great. Not overly sweet, not a crunchy sugar texture. It's so great and easy to pipe!

My new love!!  <3

Cookies and a Lazy night

It's a Monday--what a boring day...

Didn't do much after work- the Bachelor is back on TV!

I found a great new recipe--i've been CRAVING chocolate chip cookies, but we don't have chocolate chips in our house right now, just have butterscotch chips and white chocolate chips ...soo trying to find a cookie to satisfy my cravings, I found this recipe..

Butterscotch and White Chip Cookies

Combine:
2 1/2 cups Flour
1 tsp. baking soda
-Keep seperate

Cream:
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar

Beat in:
2 eggs
1 TBL vanilla

Add Flour mix.
Then add:
1/2 cup butterscotch chips
1/2 cup white chocolate chips

Pre-heat oven to 350 degree. Spoon out cookies onto sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes, until light brown. After pulling the cookies out of the oven, they will continue to bake on the sheet so do not over-bake them in the oven.

My Boy's Birthday!

It has been a LONG time since I have posted. Seems like the Holidays throws me off my game every year. 
Christmas time was CRAZY.   We went to 6 christmas's and a new years eve party. A lot of Baking happend on my part..

I made my first ever Pineapple Upside Down Cake- which turned out pretty great for my first time!
I made Cream Puffs (first time since culinary school). It took me 2 times. My first recipe was a flop. But once I found a great recipe, they turned out fantastic!! With a Bavarian Cream filling! Yummm.
I also found a great recipe for a light lemon cheesecake fluff dessert. It was so low in calories but so delicious! Even my father-in-law didn't notice!!


Just last night I threw a birthday party for my hubby! We had about 12 people at our house with some snacky foods.  He wanted a Chocolate cake with chocolate mousse filling and iced in a chocolate buttercream.  It turned out really great! But incredibly sweet-. I couldn't finish my piece but everyone at it all! And my Hubby loved it- which is all that matters on his birthday!

I am officially a part of the Daring Kitchen- Daring Bakers!! Super excited! This month should be great and I am so ready to bake! Now, if I could just find the time!  ;)

Well! On to my 2nd job! Have to pay the bills!

Just Another Day!

Another day at home as winter  break continues. Starting to get ready for Christmas parties and all the baking that needs to be done with them!

I found a recipe for Pizza Hut Breadsticks

they ended up tasting really great! And very similar to the real Pizza Hut Breadsticks!


Also, I made my magic bars ( 7 layer bars)

One of my favorite! It completely cures any sweet tooth or craving you are having by satisfying every aspect !  mmmmhmmm


Had a job interview today.. Still not sure what I want to do, but got a call back for a 2nd interview for tomorrow. We'll see.. Pay is having a lot to do with my decision..

I wish I coud just magically start the business I want to start and forget about working for everyone else.

Oh well-- so is life.  Hopefully tomorrow I can get my Chocolate Cream Pie made and maybe a Pumpkin Cheesecake?!

First day of Winter Break!

So.. I'm new to blogging.. but recently i've been reading everyone else's blogs across the world and decided I should take a shot at it.

Today marked the beggining of Winter Break from work so I am officially off work for 2 weeks! Which means baking, cooking,baking,cleaning,baking,sleeping, and baking!

Last night I made some delicious Chocolate Chip Cookies--I cannot begin to tell you how long I have been searching for the perfect chocolate chip cookie recipe and I believe I have FINALLY found one!  *I know that everyone loves different types of chocolate chip cookies, so this might be my perfect cookie, but not everyone else's favorite*

Chocolate Chip Cookies::
Makes about 3 dozen

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed light-brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups (about 12 ounces) semisweet and/or milk chocolate chips
Directions
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour
 and baking soda; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted
with the paddle attachment, combine the butter with both sugars;
 beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low;
add the salt, vanilla, and eggs. Beat until well mixed, about 1 minute.
 Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
2.Drop heaping tablespoon-size balls of dough about 2 inches apart on
 baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
3.Bake until cookies are golden around the edges, but still soft in the
 center, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool on baking sheet
1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool completely. .


Also this weekend, we celebrated my mother-in-law's birthday- and of course- I made the cake. I was so excited to make this specific cake i've been dying to make, and it was a hit!!

AMAZING! Everyone loved it! How much fun when they cut into the cake!  It was a lot of work, but totally worth it in the end!

The rest of this week is a lot more baking getting ready for all of the Christmas' we have to go to!