Week in Photos 6/24-6/30

Hi!

Test kitchen

Thank you!

Picking co-workers

Quality time with my married-into fam

Backup



Project organization

 

Cute, but not helpful

A Grey Distraction

I'm halfway through Fifty Shade Freed.  Between this triology and cooking/baking and Christmas shopping and spending time with friends I've been a bit distracted from this blog.  I will do better.  Right after I finish this book..

P.S. To be fair I didn't know it was a triology when I started the first book.

Tasty Tuesday

Sunday I made enchilada from scratch right down to the enchilada sauce and chili con carne.  They turned out pretty good but we had a bit extra of both the sauce and the chili.  Tonight I'm modifying my usual stuffed bell pepper recipe which I think is delicious to make the stuffing mixture with the chili con carne.  I hope it comes out!  I'm very intrigued to see if it will.  I may take a picture if looks ok and I remember.

On a slight side note this weekend my two Cake in a JIF cakes were devoured!  Keep in mind these are layer cakes and one of them was gone in like an hour and half!  I'm so glad everyone enjoyed it, especially since it was a recipe I just made up.  I'm thinking one day I may try making a chocolate cake with my peanut butter frosting I use, or use the peanut butter cake recipe and use chocolate frosting just to mix it up.  The only thing is Mr. Woo won't be able to eat much of it since he's allergic to caffeine.  (Sad, huh?  No chocolate, no coffee would equal a sad, cranky me.)

Oh and I was with my MIL in the kitchen on Saturday morning and learned how to make biscuits from scratch.  I was thrilled with learning and spending that time with her.  I am so blessed I love all of my in-laws and that I have such a great relationship with MIL.  I can't wait to spend Thanksgiving day with her in the kitchen.

Hope you're doing well!

Random Writings - Vol. 5

• I have adjusted my work schedule and now get off at 4:30.  I love it.  My life has been changed.  I think I have cooked or baked something homemade every day since my new schedule started.  It's amazing what a difference 30 minutes makes.
• Speaking of baking, I'm making two of my [Peanut Butter] Cake in a JIF cakes this week, one for Granny Woo's visit and the other for Mr. Woo to take to work.  He has been asking for this cake since I made it for his dad's birthday back in July.  I hope they come out as good as the first time I came up with the recipe.  I'm not trying to brag but it was delicious and made the house smell A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.
• I am ready for the coming holidays and wish it was November already!  I just want to be in the kitchen all day, shop and wrap presents, and listen to Christmas music.  This Thanksgiving I'm hanging out with my MIL and helping her prepare the meal.  I could not be more excited! 
• I promise I do more than just spend time in the kitchen but lately it seems like that's all I've wanted to do.  I've been feeling so domestic.  It's quite nice.
• I love having time to read.  When I'm not in the kitchen, or with my hubs and pups, I want to be reading a book.  I just finished my last one (well my last chick-lit book, I'm still in the middle of a self improvement book and a cookbook) and now I need a new one.  That's always the hardest part for me but now that I've signed up for Good Reads I am hopeful it will be a little easier.

Hope you're doing well.  Have a great week!

One Day Goal

Happy pseudo Friday!! 

I'm taking tomorrow off - much needed - and will be spending the day baking my Berry Natural Strawberry cake for Holly's birthday.  The day genuinely sounds like heaven right now and the thought of it will be helping me get through the next seven hours. 

Let me just stop and say work is not as bad as it's probably sounding; I just need a break.

Anyway I think I've decided to set a goal for myself today..

I'm going to try to go the whole day without spending any money. 

Just looking at the goal it seems pretty easy but truth be told for some reason I have been spending money like crazy lately!  Whether it be for Starbucks or lunch with my boss or groceries or bills, the list goes on and on.  So today I'm going to try and go without.  I went shopping for the ingredients for the cake yesterday and can pay my hospital bill tomorrow without incurring any additional fees.  (Side note: I will literally jump for joy when I am done paying off of my medical bills.  It still doesn't process for me that I have been paying medical bills every single month for the past two years and I'm only 28.  Oh and I still have my headache.  *sigh*  I'll step off my soapbox now.)

To position myself to be successful for this I have fat free half and half in the fridge downstairs for my coffee fix, I have a plan for all of my meals today, and can spend money if I realize I need to tomorrow. 

Hopefully I'll have good news to share on Friday.

A Slacker in Photos

Pineapple cake

Peanut butter cake mise en plas

The aftermath

Her's and his hand-dipped Maker's bottles

Cake Making (continued)

After about seven hours, a thousand songs, five recipes, a cup of coffee, and a little less than a half of bottle of wine (and slightly tipsy me) later, I finished what Mr. Woo has named Leslie's Berry Natural Strawberry Cake! No boxed cake mix, jello, jelly/jam, or food coloring here!

I had a great time and probably milked my time in the kitchen a bit more than was truly needed but this was my way to unwind after a pretty heavy/draining week. Overall I think the cake came out pretty visually appealing and everyone said they really liked it -- though let's be honest, my family loves me and may have just been being nice. Either way, the cake got eatten and Mr. Woo's Granny had a great birthday which is all that matters.

You can see the rest of the of the progress pictures and the finished cake below.

Fresh whipped cream with strawberry puree'.

Strawberry whipped cream for in between the layers and to cover the cake.

It's starting to come together.

The finished product!

The last piece of cake.

Next up a peanut butter cake with peanut butter frosting for Mr. Woo's dad's birthday.

Friday Fun - Cake Making

I am currently a cake making fool.  I've been working on this cake for five hours.  A cup of coffee and a glass of wine later I'm still working on it and loving every second.  I promise I would be a chef if it was a lucrative career and provided a work-life balance I find critical in jobs (specifically not having to work every weekend, holiday, and evening).  Either way this evening has been pretty much my ideal way to unwind after a hard week -- my loves are home keeping me company in the kitchen while I bake and listen to music.  Here's my progress on the as-from-scratch-as-possible (aka no box cake mix or jello) strawberry cake so far.  (BTW, I couldn't find a recipe for such a cake so I had to make it up.  I hope it comes out ok!  *fingers triple crossed*)

The star of this cake - 2 packages full to make sure only the best go in.

The start of the strawberry puree'

My mise en plas

Strawberry Puree'

The cake batter with the strawberry puree'

My current status

I Like Cake

Granny of Woo's 85th birthday is on Saturday.  I am determined to make her a fantastic cake from scratch right down to the icing.  I'm currently on the hunt for a recipe worthy of this celebration.  Any ideas?