Getting Ready To Bake!

That right there, that is just some of the stuff I used. Also please ignore the junk on the chairs, I have no room in my house!

 Firstly I wanted to say happy anniversary to my Hubby, he says I can be overly dramatic on my blog.  And yeah; I so said it Hubby, what you going to do now?  That's right, I am dramatic, and very brave on a key board.  But you still love me and I like you, a lot.  So it's all good.  It has not always been easy but it has always been what I wanted, no matter what, I knew it was going to be. 10 years of marriage later, and over 15 years of knowing you, I still get that feeling when I hear your voice or see you make that face you make when you really want to roll your eye when I say something so super smart you just cannot tell me any different.  So I love you, and you are awesome, and now I am going to talk about food.  

  So, a few weeks back I did my first wedding sweet table, and probably my last.  I don't think I realized how much work it would be.  I mean I know how to work a baking schedule, but even with three days and a helper it was not easy.  If I was not working two jobs, or if I was rich, I would so do this again.  But as that is not in the cards, I will stick to the things I can do.  Like little things for friends and family, and for Pork Chop of course.  Hubby, well he won't eat it, so I give up on him.  Sort of, you know I will keep trying right?

  Anyway this wedding was fun, I didn't get lot's of pictures because I was trying to do a lot in a little time.  But I took a few, and I hope to get some professional pictures from her photographer of my desserts, could you imagine?  I real picture on my blog, not you know, crazy blurry ones?   I know, I dream big.

 So for this wedding, the bride, my friend from work, really wanted lots of options.  She is such a foodie, every time I bring something in, she is always telling me she loves it.  This is also the friend that thought whoopie pies were called whoopie cushions.  She will never live that down.  

  When we talked about what she wanted we picked a whole bunch of things, her only really specific requests were that I use the best ingredients, so the best cocoa and vanilla bean paste of course.  And then she also wanted a gluten free option for her friend.  I have never done that so it was a sort of "OMG I hope this tastes good."  And it did.

Just a few of the chocolate pretzel rods, yeah I said it, rods.

Dessert Table Menu:

Double Chocolate and Chocolate Vanilla Cake Pops
Chocolate Dipped Pretzel Rods
Chocolate and Vanilla Cupcakes
Chocolate Covered Strawberries
Chocolate and Vanilla Whoopie Pies
Hazelnut Donuts
Triple Chocolate Chip Cookies
Mint Chocolate Brownies
Chocolate Fudge Brownies
Vanilla Bean Macarons with Chocolate Ganache
Gluten Free Chocolate Cupcakes


 So I wrote a list of what  I needed.  It was something like 5 dozen eggs, 6 blocks of butter, lots of sugar, flour and milk.  And that was just the beginning.  I set up a day by day baking schedule and asked my mom and sister to each come help me out one day.  It worked out great, and the bride seemed very happy.  Or she could have been drunk, or just happy to be married. I choose to believe it was the sight of all that yummy food that did it, you cannot tell me any different!

  I am not going to share the recipes here with you, yet.  If I have made the things before I will link them in the post, if not I will talk about them, then come back and make them again, because I only did like three new things and they were good, so they deserve to be made again.

This right here is my new favorite thing.  Last month Bakerella released a kids baking set.  And I so wanted it, but Hubby was all "that's for kids"  And I gave him the stink eye and got it anyway.  But I got a picture of Pork Chop holding the box, so I totally get to say it was for him.  He is also not allowed to touch it, well at least until I play with all the things first.  I did pay for it after all.  Anyway this is the cake crumbler thingy doo dah.  It is amazing and I am sort of mad these were not around before.  And I also think there needs to be one made for adults, but I am not above using it for myself, I will now be using it all the time. Love it!

So a few of the things I made and have made  before are:

Chocolate and Vanilla Cupcakes - Linked Here

Chocolate and Vanilla Whoopie Pies - Linked Here

Chocolate Mint Brownies - Linked Here

Triple Chocolate Cookies - Linked Here, but using lots of different chocolate chips

Vanilla Bean Macarons and Chocolate Ganache - Linked Here

Chocolate Covered Pretzels - Linked Here

Chocolate Cake Pops  - Linked Here

Hazelnut Donuts - Linked Here

  So I will share with you in the near future the Chocolate Fudge Brownies, the Gluten Free Cupcakes and the Chocolate Covered Strawberries.  I tried making the tuxedo strawberries and I was happy with how they turned out.  For a first try anyway.

This is just part of my prep.  I would measure everything out.  Like all the flour and sugar and such, then plastic wrap the bowls, this made it so I could bake 5 or more different recipes really quickly, only stopping to crack eggs and measure the wet ingredients.  Saves a lot of time.

  I was really surprised by how much work this was, I loved it, and seriously would do it again if I had the time, but wow I was tired.  I had dishes like you wouldn't believe and my mom and sister were great about doing them as I worked.  I hate measuring out everything ahead of time for the simple fact it takes up a lot of dishes.  I could measure everything out into plastic bags, but those get costly, so I use the bowls.  I also love that I can use my blog to go back and get my own recipes.  I have a page started for those, but have not had the time to get to it.  I will one day.  I mean you know, I should right?

Sort of lop sided, but they tasted great.  I got some really good strawberries at the farmers market, and the ones on top were perfect.  The ones on the bottom were too small, and ended up going moldy within a few days.  Oh well, these ones looked good.

  So I hope to share the nice pictures with you soon, and also those other recipes, I seriously now want to make that gluten free cake again and again, it was so good!  Also my one year blog anniversary is coming up, but there will be no big give away, sorry, unless we win the lottery.  Also Pork Chop is turning 8 this month, and I had plans for his birthday.  We already booked and paid for the pool and party room, so we will have that and most of the other extras will not happen.  But there will be cupcakes and cookies and cake pops and home made marshmallows, so it won't be all bad.  Also there will be a bunch of friends and family and Pizza.  I will share all the baking too.

  And I also just want you all to know I am way too young to have an 8 year old, I mean have you seen how good I look?  Have you also noticed how immature I am?  It all factors in people.