Surgeon General's Warning: This Product Contains Perfectionism

So, many of you might be wondering what I might have been up to as of late and what goodies and baking adventures have come my way.  Well, I attempted some colombian recipes for a homesick boy who needed some good home cooking which resulted in a Treaty Tuesday of arequipe, milhojas, arequipe brownies, arequipe bars, fried plantains and arepas.  I am no expert to these dishes, but I have found an awesome blog www.mycolombianrecipes.com which helped the process.  I feel some day I might make a meal just like momma makes it, but the learning process is fun.  Random fact?  Yucca is not found in Colorado.  Many recipes must wait.  Send me some or hook me up with a place to locate it?  I will give you a high five.  High fives are cool.  You know you want one.

Other baking adventures?  Welllllll, lots of cookies, breads, buns, the usual. Then I made biscotti. You need to understand that I bake thousands of calories worth of food a week and never eat any of it but then I made biscotti on Wednesday and it all came crashing down.  In fact I am pretty sure my night total was 6 biscotti.  It was insane.  Insanely delicious.  I. love. biscotti.  This is a new discovery for me.  I am adjusting to my new identity as a biscotti addict and trying to avoid it at all costs.  I will bake them blindfolded and with a pin to clip my nose shut as a preventative measure.  Totally safe, right? Riiiight.

This week also included a few treasures for special treats.  I love birthdays because they involve fancy goodies and I get to imagine my life as a pastry chef in all its glory.

On Friday, this resulted in a strawberry swirl cheesecake with an oreo crust and strawberry sauce on top.  See here:

Birthday number two? A carrot cake.  It was carrot cake the way a carrot cake should be made.  Half cake batter, half carrots, raisins, pineapple, coconut and walnuts.  The works.  This same carrot cake almost resulted in a heart attack at my young age of 24.  Story as follows: Andrei rolling a cart.  Cart rolling into cart with cake on it.  Pan alllllmost toppling over onto freshly sculpted carrot cake bunny.  Heart stopping.  Heavy breathing.  I am a perfectionist, so ruined cakes don't exactly keep me cool as a cucumber.  This baking job has really heightened that perfectionism in me to an exceptional degree.  But? Such is life.  I ended with a carrot cake, bunny sculpture on top, bunny tracks, carrots, half eaten carrots by the bunny and bike tracks (since the birthday boy is a biker).  It was fun!  

Speaking of baking... this baker has to clock in for the morning so it is time to sign off.  More adventures to come!  

Love,

Me