Baking & Cooking

Lately I've made:
+ Sour Cream Sugar Cookies
+ Chocolate cupcakes with fancy vanilla frosting (Megan's B-day)
+ Caramel Treasure brownies
+ Fresh outta the oven: devil's food brownies with cream cheese filling

If heaven has a smell, I bet it's the one that's lingering in my kitchen right now. I can't wait to taste these puppies.

I have been baking & cooking a ton lately. The other night I just poured over my mom's Betty Crocker International Cookbook. I need it. I want to make curry, paella, baklava, everything!!! I am definitely putting that on my Buy list for the new apartment. I made tangy organic beef sandwiches for dinner tonight and they were a success :) A crock pot is also on my list. We stopped by the grocery store real quick tonight and I picked up some chicken thighs and mango chutney to make some chicken curry for dinner soon. Chicken curry, cous cous, mango chutney, and asparagus will probably on that menu :) I hope next year I really get a chance to cook a lot. I've grown to like doing it around here when my mom asks because she pretty much gives me free reign and everyone ends up loving what I make.

I'm also excited to make my own birthday cake! I haven't decided what it will be yet, or if it will be cupcakes, but it's going to be something different and interesting for sure. Maybe lime, ginger & chocolate cupcakes? Maybe orange coconut cake. I've got a week to decide :)

Baking & cooking have definitely become a source of pride and accomplishment for me. If I'm ever feeling anxious or down, I just do some deep breathing and focus on how I feel when people give me compliments about my food. I'm getting better at controlling my anxiety and derailing my pessimistic thoughts, and I really do think cooking and keeping busy has helped that.

I'm getting pretty excited about the Culinary Institute of Arts in New York. A famous chef guy Aaron knows told him that I should go there. Mr. Ace of Cakes himself went there and so did 3 winners of Top Chef. I looked around the site and the requirements and I would love to go. I'd only have to get an associates because I'll have already taken the business and language classes at the U. One HUGE downfall: $50,000 for that associates degree. I want to cry, really. School only costs my parents $500 - $1000 a year plus rent, and I don't think they'd want to pay for baking school for me, too. I highly doubt I'll be able to afford it, but who knows. Maybe it will be worth it.
OFFER: Need something (relatively simple for now) baked for a party or just for tasty snacks? I'll make you what you want! We can talk about it and I promise I'll make it cheap for you to have. Just call/text/email/im/message me!

Cupcake Assessment: Pure heaven, I need to whip the filling a little better next time. Holy cow. Have me make you these. Yum. Yummmmmmm. I'll post a picture tomorrow because I don't want to give myself a reason to eat another.