Cake is art. Every year I put a great deal of thought and creativity into my love's birthday cake. His favorite DJ is Bassnectar, thus I try to incorporate his symbol into his cake every year. This year I incorporated an album cover into it as well, bringing the elephant and hummingbird wings into the design. His trademark symbol was incorporated into the green "nectar flowers". The blue and brown whimsical "grasses" were the base to the "nectar flowers". But I made sure to make the focal piece the elephant and the symbolism behind.
The weather is finally warming-up, at least a little. April showers are trying to bring May flowers. And I am so very ready for it all. But I will admit that I cannot believe how quickly time is going, that it is already April, when it feels as if it were just New Year's and snowing. Though I sometimes become stuck in the monotony and habitual patterns of everyday life, I am trying to remind myself not to work against time, but work with it. Embracing each moment for what it is, right now. Living in the present moment. I sometimes forget this after a long day, but then I come back to reality and remind myself not to look at the big picture too much. Maybe I have not completed the vast majority of my New Year's goals, but that is okay. April will just bring more opportunities, especially with better weather and more daylight time.
Happy Spring! The sun is out and the weather is finally starting to warm-up. I think I can speak for everyone when I say that I am more than ready for Spring and everything that comes along with it. People are happier, the sun provides us with natural energy and that ever needed vitamin-D, and we have the ability to spend more time outside. We will once again be able to go for frequent walks, exercise outdoors, picnic, eat ice-cream cones and frozen yogurt, walk around my hometown and go to all of the cute shops without freezing our tails off, and eat outside on the adorable patios of the many near-by local restaurants. I am so truly excited I almost cannot contain myself. Just typing all of this statements has me giddy with excitement just at the idea of doing all of these activities.
As it was still quite windy and cold yesterday, we took part in some Sunday-Funday activities indoors. My love surprised me and treated me to a massage, while he was getting his hair cut. This was my first massage ever, so as silly as this sounds, I was a little nervous going in to it. Oh my goodness was it ever wonderful. I felt so zen and comfortable throughout the whole process, and when it was over, my muscles and sense of being felt so calm and relaxed. If you have never had a massage, I now strongly suggest it. It is such a calming experience. After this, we went to find some food, and ended up at Fuddruckers. I have not been to Fuddruckers in ages and had completely forgotten how good it is. As it was Sunday-Funday, we had blueberry mojitos with our meals. And then followed suit with a big bag of cookies to take home with us, which we snacked on while watching our rented movie. All in all it was such a wonderful day spent with my love and I feel so invigorated today. We all really need days like these.
Ahhh March is upon us, which means paczkis, Mardi Gras, leprechauns, green wine, corn beef and hash and so many more fabulous things. It also means the beginning of the Lenten Season. I for one, do not give anything up for lent and instead focus my attention on trying to be even more gracious, kind and giving to those around me. As far as no meat on Friday's, no big deal here. We eat very little meat in my house, and I for one am actually a Flexitarian (vegetarian most days, but eating meat on occasion). We do not eat a lot of fish in my house, I do, however, very much like it, as well as the many health benefits it provides. So we will be eating a lot of meatless rice dishes, vegetable soups and nutty pestos, which I very much look forward to.
As far as paczkis, you cannot beat homemade. I have yet to dig up and find my Polish Great Grandmother's recipe so I can make a batch myself. The paczkis at the supermarkets and bakeries around my house, just do not compare to a one hundred percent Polish Great Grandmother's recipe, and don't get me started on potato rolls. I actually started this blog off with a recipe of my Great Grandmother's and another one will be soon to come.
I have been a very busy bee in the recipe creation process; which is an obviously long, tedious process. As we all know, baking is chemistry and well lets just say, sometimes the chemistry process does not always work. I spent a couple of weeks working on new dessert ideas for work and formulating, so I apologize for the lack in posts. I will also admit, that with this winter weather I have not had my normal energy level. More or less, I have been reading and watching television shows here and there, quite more than I normally do. However, it has been quite lovely catching up on all of my reading and increasing my knowledge and improving my brain in the process. I will also admit, that my Christmas decorations are still up. I think Valentine's day is the official sign that those need to come down too. Regardless to say, I cannot wait for Spring. My energy will be back, evening walks will be more possible, and the sun will be shining for a longer period of each beautiful day.
Happy Monday to you! Well it's almost Tuesday now, but Happy Monday and Happy New Work/School week to you all! I for one had a lovely weekend and a lovely past two days off full of beautiful people and absolutely fabulous food and drinks. I enjoyed some lovely coffee and desserts and delightful conversation with my mom. Something we do weekly, as we both thoroughly enjoy it and it is truly wonderful mother daughter time. Chocolate and coffee are medicine to us both. Physical, mental and emotional medicine. Medicine for the body and soul. Happiness medicine. Stress relief medicine. Medicine medicine. Coffee and chocolate therapy. It was really nice time spent with my mom. We even did a little walking and light local shopping, taking advantage of the somewhat warmer weather before another cold front comes in.
Well firstly, Happy New Year!! 2014! I am so truly excited for this new year. New goals, new experiences, new memories, and new recipes. This year I did not make a New Year's resolution, but instead made a list of very achievable goals to complete throughout the year. Goals that I have been meaning to work on or complete for some time, and what better time than a New Year. One goal of course is more blog posts. And to enhance this blog further, another goal is to invest in a very nice quality camera. So expect some beautiful pictures very soon, wink wink. I want to use the camera for this blog, but also to invest some time into photography. Snapping photos of things that I find most beautiful, intriguing, inspiring and then using these photos as inspiration for my pastries and cake designs. This photo above was taken simply. A rustic photo of a rustic cake on a rustic table, no background scene, icing drizzles and pistachio crumbs on the cake board. But with this new year and a new camera, the photography will be so much more in depth. New backgrounds, new scenes, new inspiration.
