Chocolate plastic and buttercream

Mothers day was approaching and I was going to get my mother flowers.   I was then faced with the dilemma of how to keep the flowers alive before I was able to get them to her.  Unable to come up with a way to prevent my mother from receiving dead flowers, I decided instead to make her chocolate flowers; but I couldn't just make her chocolate flowers, they had to go on a cake.  So I went on a baking spree yesterday, making two cakes, four chocolate flowers, and two batches of buttercream frosting.

Bacon and chicken and cheese, oh my!

Last night I was home alone for the evening, reading terribly embarrassing stories which I shall not post about here, so I wanted to make something simple for dinner, but more advanced than mac and cheese (tonight might just be a mac an cheese night, though).  A baked potato sounded great and, luckily, we recently made a trip to Russo's where we bought potatoes and tons of other veggies, so I had some lovely potatoes just yearning to be baked and eaten.

 I have made a meal out of a baked potato in the past, but I wanted meat.  Or, rather, poultry.  And I had already started defrosting a breast in warm water.  I hurried online to see what could be made from chicken, cheese, and an oven set to 350.  I ended up finding this:  http://agriculturesociety.com/uncategorized/rustic-baked-chicken-with-cheese-and-bacon/

What could be better?  Bacon, mushrooms, cheese, chicken, garlic, onions, and a potato?

We already had all the ingredients in the house, so I pulled them together and made a tasty, tasty meal.  (I will get confirmation on said tastiness when I make it for the boy in a few days).

Broccoli, Cheese, and Potato Soup

For the past few days, I have been craving something hearty for dinner.  I had a wonderful dinner on palm Sunday with friends and family and there was pasta, lamb, potatoes, and a myriad of other things.  For days after that, I just wanted something simple and filling.

Yesterday at work I saw a coworker eating cream of broccoli soup and I realized it was just what I was looking for.  I perused the interwebs and found this recipe.

I adapted it and came up with the following:

1 cup of Chopped onion
4 Garlic cloves, minced
Butter
5 Medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
3 cups of Milk
1 cup of Boiling water
4 Chicken bouillon cubes
3 cups of Broccoli
1 1/2 - 2 cups of Shredded cheddar cheese
Ground black pepper

The quantities are assumed, not necessary - I pretty much used whatever I had leftover.  We had a bag of squishy, sprouting, not-quite-gone-bad potatoes, so I just threw them all in the soup.  I had a piece of a block of cheddar cheese left, so I shredded it all.

A Caribbean Adventure

I recently returned from a nine day long trip to St. Vincent and the Grenadines in the West Indies. I don’t love humidity and hot temperatures, but it was nice to escape the New England weather for a little while.

I was going to write a blog about everything that I did (accompanied by pictures, of course) and I would love to write about the people there, the life they live, the general attitude, before I forget, but I don’t know if I could do it justice. I’ll try, though. This first entry will simply be about where we went and what we saw.
 

I feel like I’m letting my blog (and myself) down by not writing once a week, but I want it to be something I want to do, not something I’m forcing myself to do. Like running. I love running and while I may have to convince myself that, yes, I really do want to go for a run today once I’ve started running I really do want to be there.

Proper Architects

I know I said this blog wasn't going to be all about me me me me, but I don't see how I could write about things that I've never had experience with. 

I had a faux job interview today at an architecture firm.  The firm was not hiring, but they offered to give me an interview so I could get the experience.  It was a small firm, only seven architects plus the owner/principal and the receptionist, and I got there twenty minutes early, which I suppose is better than twenty minutes late.

When I met with the owner, he asked about what I was looking to be as a designer, which is a common way to start off an interview.  We looked at my portfolio, and I told him about some of my projects - he hadn't heard of a parti and I wonder if it's actually a common thing in the architecture world or just school - and we talked about projects that his firm works on. 

He spoke about how the main difference between residential houses and commercial buildings is the attitude toward money.  They do a few car dealerships throughout the year, along with other corporate buildings, and only one or two residential houses.  When they build for corporations, they are asked to design less to keep the cost down.  When they are hired by home builders, they are expected to design everything down to the furniture and then are asked to pick out art and bath towels.  While residences are fun to design, he admits that there is little profit in it, which is why they stick mostly to commercial designs - they pay better although they aren't as rewarding.

He cautioned against speaking too much about college projects, as they are nothing like the real world, which I understand.   He said when he hires he needs someone with AutoCAD experience and would like to find someone who knows html, photography, and quick 3d rendering programs - all of which I have, so yay for me!

Overall, I feel that the interview went well, I didn't stumble too much on my words and I think I know what I would like to become as a designer - passively designing residential houses with an emphasis on structure.  Unfortunately only 5% of what I need to know will I be taught in school, the rest comes from experience. 

Cheesecake (part ii)

Fortunately the baking and decorating of the cheesecake went without a hitch.  Unfortunately, this is all there will be of this post.

Cheesecake (part i)

As I am not yet the owner of a kitchen aid stand mixer, I took the opportunity to use my boyfriend's mother's mixer while we were visiting for dinner.  I decided to make the cappuccino fudge cheesecake as I wasn't in the mood to make both brownies and a cheesecake, which the other recipe had called for. 

I had one heck of a time finding heavy or whipped cream, apparently the day after new years many stores aren't stocked well.  Both Trader Joe's and Whole Foods were out, but I was happily able to find it at Shaws.  The cheesecake called for four layers, the first of which is the crust, made from chocolate teddy grahms.  I used a food processor for the first time in my life to crumble them with the bittersweet chocolate (which, according to wikipedia, is only required to be 35% cacao), butter, and dark brown sugar (which smells heavenly).  I didn't have a spring-form pan, but I was able to get my hands on a bunt pan with a removable bottom, which I decided would have to suffice.  I guess I'll just have a cheesecake with a hole in it...