A Year of Yum...3rd and final installment!

Ok, so you might be tired of the yumminess by now, but I promise, this is the last post reviewing my year of baking adventures! Christmas is my absolute most favorite holiday, one of the reasons being is because I'm constantly baking and giving things away. There's really nothing like the look on someone's face when you surprise them with a delightful treat. I fully believe that acts of service if one of my strongest love languages God has given me, and one of the ways I can do that is by baking. He continually blesses me in that area and gives me new opportunities to minister, and spread a little homemade sweetness along the way.

Enjoy these last few pictures...I hope they stir up memories of the wonderful Christmas you had with your family!

THE best birthday present I could ever receive. I can't even tell you how much I love my lil' Pistachio!

Date Nut Pinwheels..I used the extra sugar cookie dough I had left over to make these little guys and they turned out alright!

Sugar cookies! I improved upon my methods from last year. These were a big hit at Baires!

I had SO much fun making special cards to send to friends. I think my favorite was the whale anniversary card for my good friends Zach and Becki. :)

Just a little cowl I knitted for my restaurant mama Marcela. I wore an apron like the one on the card all during December, thus earning myself the nickname "Santa Baby." She loved it!

Another Baires favorite-Gingersnaps! Soft and moist, topped with a drizzle of sweetness!

Probably the prettiest cheesecake I've made...White Chocolate Raspberry Swirl, with a rich dark chocolate crust.

Not a typical wintery dessert (perfect for the non-typical winter we had), but this is Lemon Pound Cake I made for a birthday.

Marcela made it lovely with some wine soaked pears and whipped cream!

Little heart shaped Chocolate Raspberry Cakes I made to surprise two of my newly engaged friends.

One of the best purchases I made before the baking season began...a must have for every baker with a tiny kitchen!

A fun birthday cake in honor of Marcela's son's 9th birthday! It was quite late when I finished and almost wrote "Packers" in the end zone instead of "Patriots"...that could've been bad.

Cupcakes! Who doesn't love a strawberry vanilla cupcake, with buttercream frosting and gold sprinkles??

Attempt #1 at caramel...not the color I was hoping for at all. Luckily I was able to use it to fill my Brown Sugar Salted Caramel cupcakes!

Attempt #2-much better! I poured it over top of my Salted Caramel Cheesecake, which has become a favorite at Baires.

Sweet lil' Red Velvies for a friend's birthday!

Ooey gooey caramel...I'm all about repurposing baking failures!

And last but not least, amongst all the sugar and calories, a healthy treat! This is an original vegan cookie recipe, based loosely upon the oatmeal I eat every morning. On the left is a Cran Apple cookie, and on the right is some sort of Blueberry Peach concoction. 

Well friends, that's it for my "Year of Yum"! Thanks for sticking with me and walking through my tasty year. I'm SO excited, because my business cards just came in, so now people will have all of my information (including a link to my blog) on a precious little card! Yay! I do have to say that many of these recipes are NOT original, but almost all I have adapted and change in more than one way or another. I will have a blog post coming soon citing all of my sources, so if you happen to stumble upon this blog and see one of your recipes, please know that I am working on giving the credit where it's due!

It's my goal to be extremely diligent about updating my blog, where I will go into more detail about some of my favorite recipes and tricks of the kitchen. I consider myself to be the "Queen of Substitutions and Food Combinations", so I'm also going to use this as a venue to share of my favorite healthy substitutions and show how I can make an ordinary salad into a delicious creation that you'll want to eat all the time.

I'm SO very excited for this upcoming summer, and the various baking opportunities God has been placing in my lap-weddings, grad parties, and other fun things. I feel very blessed, and I need to send a HUGE thank you out to those who continue to love and support me, and encourage me every step of the way. I don't know where my baking (and maybe acting) will take me, but I know that I don't have to worry, because God already knows. I'm just going to continue to sprinkle love into whatever I bake and use the gifts God has given me to benefit others.

Enjoy the life you've been given, and never stop loving.

-xoxo

2011- A Year of Yum (Part 2).

Whole wheat zucchini bread.

Here are a few more delicious creations for you to feast (heh heh) your eyes on if you'd like. I got a new camera some time in the spring, so I hope you'll notice that the quality of the pictures improved. I'm still working on the framing of the photos and making them look interesting-hopefully they'll just keep getting better and better!

Enjoy.

My most favorite thing about the morning: epic oatmeal. It's full of things that are good for you!

Yogurt fruit pops, made with blueberries and strawberries. Perfect summer treat!

Applesauce! (One of the many appley dishes I made...)

Picking apples from our local orchard was a new experience for me, but it's now going to become one of my fall traditions!

Apple chips...sadly they didn't turn out as crispy as I liked but were still yummy.

Mmmm.

Potato stamp!

The finished product!

Veg burger made with quinoa. I also figured out a way to make a perfect shaped burger. Just pop them in these mini pie pans and freeze them. Voila! A homemade burger whenever you need one!

My attempt at homemade pumpkin spice creamer...definitely needs to be perfected.

Ratatouille!

Mini maple pumpkin pie, with a candied walnut topping!

Up close and personal.

My version of a margherita pizza. Whole wheat crust, spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes and feta cheese!

Apple spice cake with maple frosting, topped with candied walnuts. SO fall, so delish!

All wrapped up and ready to share!

Hey there vegan rosemary sweet potato bread!

The larger version of my pumpkin pie, which helped me win a local contest (and lots of fun Pampered Chef goodies!)

Sadly, it was not without injury that I won. Note to self-never try to scrape off excess caramel from a wooden spoon with your fingers.

My first cake from cake decorating class...a little rough.

My final cake, fit for a gender party!

One of the aprons I cut, dyed and sewed for my boss and I to celebrate Breast Cancer Awareness!

A genie outfit I made for my boss for her Halloween party. This was a true test of my repurposing and sewing skills!

This is now one of my most favorite fall recipes (and a favorite at Baires too!) Pumpkin Cheesecake, topped with candied walnuts.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cake, topped with a spicy Maple frosting!

Some sort of pumpkin bread, topped with oats and blueberries, I believe.

I love fall...the sounds, smells, and especially the tastes! I think one last installment of my "Year of Yum" should cover my most favorite holiday-Christmas! Stay tuned for some recipes from the most wonderful time of the year....


-xoxo

2011-A Year of Yum (Part 1).

I can't remember how this idea came about, but I'm going to attempt to dedicate my next few blog posts (which hopefully will be posted in a timely fashion) to revisiting some of my most beloved projects over this past year. The end of 2010 and into 2011 was a big year for me in the way of crafting and cooking, and much of that growth was due to the fact that I finally moved out of the dorms and into the 'Plex. I was forced to cook all of my meals and after eating a lot of the same things for the first few months I expanded my culinary wings and began to create original recipes, with the occasional input from Allrecipes.com or Martha Stewart (that gal knows a thing or two...). Now that I'm living at home at I've been blessed with my new best friend (aka my Pistachio KitchenAid mixer), I'm creating like I never have before!

I also discovered how little I eat meat and I've had SO much fun recently creating my own line of vegan breakfast cookies. One of my favorite things to do is to find a delicious recipe on the internet and then modify it to make it healthier. You can probably call me the Substitution Queen. I've learned a lot of little tricks and tips over this past year which have all served to make me more successful in the kitchen.

I should probably just shut up and starting posting pictures before I just keep going on and on about food...I could probably do that all day. So without further ado (drum roll please), I present to you a Year of Yum (and maybe a few crafty things here or there...)

Chocolate covered pretzels-a never fail party delight!

Nothing is more Christmasey than a pretty sugar cookie.

Chunky whole wheat bread. Great with natural peanut butter!

 

 

Strawberry-peach pie with a delicious whole wheat crust.

Chocolate peanut butter banana pie...3 of my very favorite things in life!

A heart shaped double layer lemon cake filled with a blueberry compote and topped with a sweet yogurt glaze!

There's a sugar cookie shape for every season

Homemade whole wheat buns topped with sunflower seeds-great with veggie burgers!

Strawberry peach crisp...can you tell I love this combination?

Homemade sushi-so much fun to make with friends!

The traditional Mother's Day breakfast-2011 featured whole wheat pancakes with a variety of toppings. I chose blueberries, bananas and honey. And ALWAYS coffee to drink.

Sorry for the bad quality picture, but this is raspberry ice box cake. So easy to make, yet SO yummy.

One of my most favorite (and popular) recipes-no bake Clif bars!

Burritos made with the besties!

Whole wheat blueberry almond bread. Perfect with coffee and a beautiful sunrise. 

French board for my mom's kitchen. A lot easier than I thought, and I was able to repurpose an old canvas frame to make it!

Black bean brownie, topped with plain yogurt-sounds odd, but it's SO good (and not bad for your waistline either!)

Veggie burger.

Veggie taco.

SUSHI (again...I just love it!)

And you can basically put whatever you want in it...mm-mmm.

Stay tune for part 2!

-xoxo