Baked goods.

Hey there! I told you I would be better about posting. Let's see how long this lasts.

So I told you that I had one of my first true baking successes. About a month ago, it was my friend Alex's birthday. Months before, he was over our apartment, drinking Trader Joe's wine and eating a family dinner. As we were browsing through Food Network magazines, we came across an awesome issue that had birthday cakes for every month of the year. The first one I made was the maple walnut cake for Steve's birthday, which was only a minor failure. This was a black and white mocha cake. I agreed to make it for Alex's birthday without much of a thought. My, my this cake was a labor of love, but so much fun and it came out pretty beautifully.

I made all FOUR (that's right, four) cakes the night before, because I am notoriously known for being too impatient to frost my cakes before they've cooled.

The next morning, I made the frosting and the ganache. Holy moly. This cake was GOOD.

Making sure it didn't topple over proved very difficult. There were a few moments of panic, but all went well.

I was also very fearful when cutting the cake, but surprisingly that went okay too.  I mean, how could this four layer cake cut in one whole piece? And how were people supposed to eat it!?!?! Man this cake was anxiety inducing. Lucky the birthday gods were shining down on Alex, because I cut that cake like a friggin surgeon. I should probably stop bragging, but I do believe this might be my one successful baking experience EVER. Here is the link for the recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/black-and-white-mocha-cake-recipe/index.html

I also made some pretty good cupcakes for my friend Josh's birthday...I didn't take any pictures but the link is here: http://www.howsweeteats.com/2011/06/peanut-butter-cupcakes-with-chocolate-cheesecake-frosting/. Peanut butter cupcakes with chocolate cheesecake frosting. How could those not be good? Wish me luck in all my future baking endeavors! For now I'll just stick to shoving Dove chocolates in my face every night.

Happy eating!

Let's pretend this post isn't over 2 months late...

Oh hey there remember that time that I had a food blog that I tried to post in at least once a month?

That being said, this was the HARDEST SEMESTER EVA. I'm glad it is over so I can go back to posting pics of delishie food instead of writing up confusing SAS syntax for my statistics class.

A quick update over the last couple months...

We got a kitten (if you didn't know already by the bajillions of pictures I post all over the internet). His name is Ernie and he is the devil/the cutest.

 It was a million people's birthdays, and I actually had not one but TWO successful baking experiences! WHATTTT?!?! No way. Stay tuned for my next post, including the masterpiece.

I went to Denver with two of my besties. I ate amazing food (including an out-of-this-world macaroni and cheese burrito at a diners, drive-ins, and dives restaurant, featured below), drank beerfloats, and hiked with gorgeous views.

I'm currently on this new kick of making something really cool for lunch for the week.  Here's been my favorite so far: Thai quinoa salad.

This was so so yum. Textures galore, and peanut butter was involved. Need I say more? Plus, it made enough for a decent sized lunch for the majority of the week. Find the recipe here: http://www.ambitiouskitchen.com/2013/04/crunchy-cashew-thai-quinoa-salad-with-ginger-peanut-dressing/#comment-5123

Now, to make up for being absent for a few months, I have some recipes saved up and will try to update much more frequently :) But, first I will leave you with our dinner from this evening: mini cheddar BBQ turkey meatloaf, wild mushroom rice pilaf, and roasted asparagus. It took less than 30 minutes tops.

I got the recipe for the meatloaf on pinterest (http://aggieskitchen.com/2013/04/29/mini-cheddar-bbq-turkey-meatloaf-muffins/). Steve took care of this part, and basically you just toss everything together and put everything into muffin tins! The rice pilaf was from the box (Near East) and the asparagus I roasted for ten minutes with some olive oil, parmesan cheese, and garlic salt at 375 degrees.

Happy eating!