Tiny Cakes

These are all miniatures. The first are petits-fours with a layer of raspberry buttercream icing in the middle and covered in lemon royal icing. The second set of pictures is of a saucer-sized two-tiered cake. The bottom tier has three layers of lemon cake with raspberry buttercream and the top tier has two layers of the same. The outside frosting is buttercream (done smooth, though). The last set of pictures is of a cake of the same size and type, but covered in a layer of buttercream and then covered in fondant. All the icings and cakes are from scratch- making even the fondant pretty dang delicious. =) What a difference homemade makes! All natural ingredients, too- no trans-fats or anything.

Enjoy! =)



These are teacup-saucer sized cakes (see, they're sitting on saucers!):

Spring Cookies

Here's my newest experiment in the kitchen. They were in celebration of spring but then it started snowing. Eh. I'm not complaining! =) I know there are a lotta pictures of these, but I didn't know which were my favorite- and this collection is actually quite pared down from the original set. Aw, aren't they cute little things?

"Everything is Amazing and Nobody's Happy"

Perhaps you have seen this. Perhaps you have not- especially if you have no television and intermittent internet like me. Oops! I'm not complaining. ;)

I apologize for brief crudeness, but I am a supporter of his doctrine as presented on Conan so I had to share.

My 15 Minutes of Fame

Actually, it's more like four minutes. I edited this because there was quite a bit of air time between the parts about me. And really, that's what we're here for, right? Kidding.

Anyway, I was nervous, and wasn't really sure when I was actually on the air because of being on hold, so I sound pretty unexcited in my first moment. No, my dear readers, do not let that fool you. I was running around with excitement. It was a great experience. Thanks to you guys for making it happen.

The end of the recording didn't work out, but the guys on the show (who were awesome!) said they would send me a copy so I can make one for my mom- since she missed it (in a brief moment of forgetfulness- she had been waiting all morning for it to come on!). For those who just can not wait to hear how sultry my voice sounds on the radio, here you go:

This is a cool idea

Ok, another web application, but I thought this was pretty cool. I was looking up "how to design a blog template" and ran across this site: http://www.43things.com/ which told me that 80 other people want to do this, 10 people have and three other things that all those people want to do. So I checked out the home page and it says:
List Your Goals
Share Your Progress
Cheer Each Other On
So, basically it's a site where people can sorta network about the things they want to do or help each other out with it.

Kinda cool!

What I Did This Semester

We had to create a business portfolio using all original work in my class. I had so many pictures of my garden that I decided to go with a container garden business. It's not supposed to be a business website- all the way. (I'm actually not really understanding what the project is, but I went ahead and made these anyway.) I'm almost happy with them. I am not all the way finished (still needs some alignment work). They are supposed to feel organic and homespun, with a touch of refinement- but still warm. Did I come close?

Seed Swap

Last gardening season I grew a ridiculous amount of plants. I loved it & neighbors loved it- but what I did NOT love was how much plants cost. Even seed is pricier than I expected. So my little head got to thinking that I could try a seed swap.


I'm not sure how many of you out there have seeds or collect them, but this might be a way to get your hands into gardening without much startup. Interested? It could go something like this:

Say you've got a packet of seeds, but you only need half. You've also got a plant that can be propogated (basically- regrown) by cuttings or division. You list whatever you've got to share. Pretty soon, there's a healthy little seed exchange list going. You take a look around, find some stuff you'd be interested in, and ask that person if they'd like to trade. Seeds can easily be mailed without much special consideration (mark "hand-stamp" on the envelope) and some cuttings are okay mailed as well.

I could get this set up pretty easily if there's interest.

I'm probably the only nerdy-enough person to want to swap seeds, though. ;)

I'm Basically Martha

A couple of weeks ago I wrote a short story for a contest on Martha Stewart and I was just notified that I am now one of three finalists. Woot! My little story is posted on the Martha Stewart blog and will be up there for a week. It all comes down to votes- so far I'm KILLING IT! Big thanks to you readers out there!

cabinet change

So the landlord thinks that the cabinets look super awesome the way they are, but the handles always catch on my pants and rip holes in them. Plus, it's such a small space that it really needs a lighter color. The not-cool dark brown (if it was chocolate color, I might not complain) is chipping off anyway and underneath there is a nice light wood. I talked to the "landlord" about it and "the landlord" doesn't want any changes made to the color even though pretty much everyone thinks lighter would be better. So I'm taking matters into my own hands in a non-permanent way.






Finished project: