First Cake Completed!

I've finally done it! I've completed my first cake order and if I can toot my own horn, I think it looks pretty amazing! We'll see what Scott thinks of it tomorrow at his wife's surprise birthday party! Here's an idea of what he'll be seeing!

Getting ready to decorate....

A tree, ready for the cake

Ryan's is on the left and mine is on the right....obviously I haven't learned how to use fondant or make people yet. Maybe he will be my teacher!

Yes, this is a tree in a mug!

The cake layers- white with white frosting, ready for its crumb coat.

Cake with crumb coat

Final product

The side of the final cake.

The final product...again.

The sign to signify where all of the canoe tipping adventures happened to the birthday girl

Final product- Karen is in the water after her canoe tipped over and everything spilled out. This was for a surprise birthday party!

I hope you enjoyed my first adventure in cake decorating! I'll be starting my next class soon so look for my pictures from that soon!

New name, New trade

Ok, so I'm definitely a woman....I can change my mind right? I have been looking at the title at the top of my page for my blog and didn't really ever like it, but that is one area where I never felt creative enough. So....I'm unveiling a new name today- I've decided to focus more on my baking since I seem to be making that into my life and career right now so Katie's Tasty Treats is my new adventure.

Here's a dinner that I've made recently and of course I'll be sharing the pictures from the upcoming cakes that I'll be making over the next few weeks. I'm also making all of the desserts for two church dinners in February so I'll be a very busy girl. Hopefully by the end of March, I'll even have the option to become a Wilton instructor since I will have taken all of the cake classes by then and will be qualified. I'll still put up some dinners every now and then, but want to focus more on the cakes and baking because I feel like that is where I'm being led to go with my career right now.

I started out dinner by wanting to make a chicken and broccoli alfredo type thing, but that didn't turn out when I found I had no chicken in the freezer and didn't end up having the fettucine noodles I needed so instead I used soy crumbles for the meat, steamed broccoli with noodles and then mixed in some milk, a can of practically fat free cream of chicken soup and some reduced fat cheese. Needless to say, it was an amazing dinner even though it was on the fly. I loved it and Ryan seemed to enjoy it as well!

 

 

Well, it's time for me to move on for the night, but keep looking for more pictures- especially over the next few days and next week as I have 2-3 cakes due by Tuesday. Blessings to all!

Cake Decorating Class 2 and 3...Getting ready for my final!

The last 2 weeks have been a crazy one and here's a little of what I've been working on. I've been taking a cake decorating class and its been keeping me quite busy spending 2-3 hours to get ready for it each week- baking, making icing, cleaning the tips and bags after each use, practicing what I've done and making sure that Ryan's work eats all of the treats in time for the next week- they're keeping up so far!

Week 2 involved cutting a cake in half horizontally and then filling it with icing, covering the whole thing with icing and then transferring a design onto it so I could decorate it for a birthday at Ryan's work. Here's a little of what it looked like afterwards as well as the cupcakes that I made most recently for the third week of class. This week, we'll be learning how to make roses (which will come in handy around Valentines Day) and then decorating our final cake in time for the second class which starts the following week.

Before- This is what it looks like before I take it home and continue working on it. I did this much in class and then decided that I can do better than this!

After- This is what it looked like after I worked on it for about 20 minutes after I got home. 

What the side of the cake looks like after I worked on it at home. This encompasses most of what I learned in the second class.

My first cake EVER! I actually love this cake!

Some of the cupcakes I made in Week 3 with my flowers I learned!

A close up of the shaggy mums flowers- one of my favorites. I think they are soo beautiful and fluffy looking even though they are only made of icing!

Some of the pansies and rosettes that I learned in week 3. I think the pansies look so pretty and dainty, and of course they taste amazing!

A menagerie of what I did when I got home from my third class. I had 18 more to decorate after class so I was busy for quite some time and had tons of fun doing it!

I love these designs because they are so simple- circles, lines, etc but I love them so much! I love the bright blues and yellows as well...makes them POP!

A mixture of flowers that I've learned over the past few weeks- I am practicing for my final cake which will happen this week! I'm so excited to showcase all I've learned in 3 weeks and to move onto the next course!

I think I'll know how to make these from now on- I made 2 trays of these. I love making the leaves because they have such a wonderful look to them and give the flowers that feel to make them look real...I love doing this type of stuff!

This is something I learned in the first or second week and wanted to review before I wanted to do them on the final cake. I think these type of borders make cakes look so sophisticated and feel that it adds that little extra PUNCH to a cake to make them look professional. I truly feel like I'm a pro now and this is only the first course!

New Changes, New, New, New

Well, ok...the holidays took their toll on me and alot has happened since my last post. I think I skipped through most of November and December and never even had a chance to glance around. For those that don't know, I was laid off from Bridgewater due to budget cuts with 2 days notice and 2 weeks before Christmas. It's been a rough few weeks since then and I've made quite a few changes in my life.

When it comes to my health, I'm currently trying to lose the last 15 pounds so I'm on my own weight loss journey which I'm calling "My Biggest Loser Journey". So far, I've lost about a pound in two weeks which doesn't seem like much to anyone else but is a HUGE deal for me with all of my medical stuf which prevents it! I'm just trying to stay motivated now, but a few changes that I've made have helped. I started out the year by planning a menu for the whole month of January at a time. If you ever get a chance to do that, it saves time and money! Now its easier than ever to figure out what coupons I need as I go and I can save even more (As a side note, if you want to learn about couponing, I am setting up online classes soon, so let me know if you are interested in learning about it. There will be prizes of course and lots of things to learn to save even the pickiest person a ton of money!)

Ok, so all of that being said, I've been looking to see where my career path is leading and I think its starting to lead into a cake decorating career. I'm taking courses at Michaels to learn how to decorate and will be starting my second one at the beginning of February. I'll follow up with the last 2 in March and hopefully in April so I'll be totally skilled by the end. Of course, I'm taking orders now and even have a few lined up so you'll see pictures of those until then. Here's a little of what I learned in the first class.

A collection of what I made in class as well as what I did when I got home to help practice. These are simple stars, but can be made into so many different things that they are easy to do and make into whatever you want. The letters are for each of the guys that Ryan works with, but he said that they didn't really care and at whatever they wanted so oh, well I guess I have practice in writing those letters now right?

Turning a cookie into a baby carriage with a cookie, star tip with icing and gum drops for the wheels and handle. Perfect for a baby shower in which the gender of the baby is unknown. The kind of cookie and flavor of icing could be the mother-to-be's favorite and the icing could match the colors of the shower. The mother and father's initials or last name could be put on the carriage as well or more decorations could be used.

Another baby carriage- perfect for a baby girl with its purple wheels and handle. The baby's name could be put on the carriage as well.

Another baby carriage- perfect for a baby boy and his name would be put on the carriage as well. Or you could put other decorations on to match the shower or nursery too! Isn't it soo cute?

A few more of my creative designs using chocolate chip cookies and star icing designs. Everything from spirals, snow flakes, or even flowers can be done on a cookie. Anything your heart desires...or mine!

The rest of the cookies- ready to go to Ryan's work to be eaten!

My favorite is the spiral or the two that are covered totally since I think they look like giant snow balls and of course are covered with sugar!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LOTS of Baking and Cooking comin' up!

Well, with the holidays coming up, this is about the time when I start looking for recipes that I want to try over the next 2 months. We've had a busy weekend so far and I've done alot of baking in preparation for it. I've been meaning to bake a coffee cake for breakfasts and even got fresh raspberries for it, but I wasn't able to do it until today. I also had the joy of baking 2 1/2 dozen cupcakes for a choir that is coming to our church tomorrow and our church is serving them lunch, cream cheese brownies for a fall fest tomorrow evening and of course I made the fresh raspberry coffee cake. I've included some pictures below to send some baking creativity your way....what have you been baking or cooking lately?

Dinner from tonight!- I made steaks, peas and homemade macaroni and cheese! Definitely a great end to a busy Saturday. Thanks to Rita and Randy (my in-laws) for the steaks. Because of the snow that you'll see below, we couldn't stay for dinner, but they sent steaks home with us for dinner!

 

 

 

Going home from my in-laws, we went through a ton of snow.

Heading home from my in-laws, the cars in front of us.

Once we got home, we found very little snow. We didn't get pounded until later in the day!

Fresh raspberry coffee cake with milk....oh so yummy!

Chocolate Marshmallow Cupcakes for a choir that is coming to our church tomorrow.

And...just so you're not wondering, Ryan and I both taste tested the cupcakes and they were amazingly moist and soft, but still oh so good. And they're actually healthy....definitely liking that! Enjoy!

Icing Smiles, Inc + Cookie Club =

So I know in my last post I explained that I'm part of a non profit organization that offers cakes to children in need at local medical facilities. You can go to www.icingsmiles.org to find out more about it- it's definitely a worthwhile organization. As part of that, there is a Cookie Club in which each month we will get a theme for the cookies in which we need to create and mail cookies to children and families who need a little surprise! For November, it's all about smiling faces and pumpkins so of course I did a test run of some pumpkin cookies that I decorated and sent to Ryan's work. I'm sure all 60+ will be gone by early this week if not mid-week. I have high expectations from them so if I don't get empty containers back.....well, it always happens! Here's a few examples!

News, News and more News

Ok, so I know it's been awhile again. It's been a busy few days recently and it's only getting worse as the school year goes. As I've gone, I've been trying to snap pictures of some dinners so they're below.

Cheesy Broccoli and chicken Alfredo-surprisingly healthy and it even passed the "Ryan test".

CSA fresh corn on the cob and cauliflower and macaroni and cheese. Oh so cheesy and oh so good! Again, it passed the Ryan test...I must be doing well recently!

Oven "Fried" Chicken legs....always a keeper and definitely a great comfort food! Instead of bread crumbs and fatty stuff, I use Fiber One cereal crumbs and egg substitute to stick the crumbs to the chicken. Of course, I take off the skin to take off extra fat and calories that are not needed. These are good without all of that!

Quiche- Ryan's first quiche and he liked it! I used corn and kale in mine. Of course you can't forget the cheese, so we had that as well!

A rare glimpse of the hungry man before dinner and before his food has disappeared.

Eggplant Parmesan and low fat buttered corn. Definitely a quick meal, but oh so delicious!

One of the quickest and healthiest meals in awhile- a large salad, fresh from the CSA farm and grilled chicken with some low fat, low calorie dressing. Definitely filling and oh so yummy!

Tilapia with roasted veggies. Light, but a little something different than the normal meat and potatoes kind of meal.

Roasted eggplant, squash, red and green peppers, and onions- all CSA and all oh so yummy. I used this in so many ways- roased veggie sandwiches, wraps for lunch, on pizza and whatever I decided to use it for. This is a quick, and easy way to use and add vegetables to lots of different dishes without worrying about what to do with each type of veggie individually. I just roasted them with a little oil, salt and pepper and some simple garlic powder and spcies.

This was something that I did not think we would like- Turkey stuffed cabbage. This was a Hungry Girl recipe and used CSA cabbage with veggies and turkey stuffed inside with some simple spices and tomato sauce. It started out not as good, with the cooking time taking longer than usual I thought, but once they were cooked, we realized what we had been missing all these years! I'll be making these again and changing the filling as I go!

Donut Acorns-I made these as small treats for a business fair I was involved in at church. The bottom is a donut hole with chocolate frosting and crusted pretzels on top and half of a pretzel stick for the "handle". They were definitely cute and oh so delicious!

My first of two attempts at making my own homemade caremel. Apparently, it has to be cooked for at least 16 minutes, so the second time around turned out as caremel. The first time was just a sugar syrup that I still have to find a use for since I wasn't going to throw out the ingredients. Hmmm....

Green apple Caramel Apple Cupcakes....I made these for the business fair and Ryan's work buddies benefited as well. The inside is a fresh apple cupcake with homemade caramel filling then it's topped with cream cheese frosting, green sugar to create the green apple and half of a pretzel stick and mint leaf to show the top of the apple. Fun to make and definitely fun to eat!

Another view of the Caramel Apple Green Apple Cupcakes.

Homemade with chunky tomatoes for sauce, green peppers, arugula, more tomatoes, cheese and pepperoni under all of that as well. Was very good and very veggie loaded!

"Cookies" I made from frozen pie dough I got from the store. I took decorations along to the business fair and let kids decorate them while their parents shopped.

I've also been working on some of my baking and have found a great resource for this...it's a company called Icing Smiles Inc, which is a non-profit organization that provides birthday and special event cakes for children and their siblings/family who has major medical concerns that often prevent them from having a cake or celebration. I would create and donate the cake for these children and would get more experience in the process. We'll see what this turns into, but I'm definitely looking forward to my first cake for these kids. They deserve it!Along with cakes, I'm also part of the "cookie team" which creates cookies based on a theme and sends them to kids who may need a little pick me up. November's theme is smiley faces and pumpkins. We'll see what I come up with for those!

I'm also working on expanding my baking to church functions and to try to help others and benefit them. I know I am looking forward to the holidays to get my creativity moving and seeing what I can come up with! You never know where I'll come up with ideas and when you'll see some goodies showing up! See you there!

Exciting News

Hi all,
Wow, it's been an exciting week or so and definitely awhile since I've been on here. First of all, I appreciate all the support that you all give me!

Ready for my big news? Ya sure?

I'm officially a part of a "small, home" business fair at my church. The preschool is having a fundraiser that has small home business like Creative Memories, 31 Purses etc. We will each have a table to display and sell our products and take orders. What am I selling, you may ask? LOTS of things....crafts like baby blocks that can be personalized, no sew blankets, and of course baking for the upcoming holidays. I'll have treats to sell and cupcakes for kids to decorate as well. It's definitely exciting since I'm hoping to get some orders for the holidays and to make some extra money for us since I'm working part-time right now.

If anyone would like to order anything, let me know! I'm always taking orders for any baked goods, crafts for gifts or whatever....I deal with the creativity while you take the credit for it! I'm so excited for this opportunity at the business fair and hope to be able to come home with LOTS of orders!