Cake Decorating

Over the past year, or so, I have been increasingly interesting in decorating cakes. It might be due to working at Trefzger's Bakery on and off for 5 years. The girls there are AWESOME at decorating and I watched them carefully, picking up a few of their tricks.

For David's 20th birthday, I got Martha (owner of Trefzger's) to make him this cake. Each of the "sushi" pieces were not only edible, but delicious. The little dish of "soy" sauce was actually a mocha dipping sauce.:



For his 21st birthday, I wanted to try my hand at something creative. And, for the first time, I worked on a decorative cake. I labored over this cake for about 8 hours. The picture below is actually NOT the one I made. I searched everywhere and couldn't find the picture I took of my cake, BUT this is what I went off of and everyone told me my cake compared to this one looked exactly the same. All nerds out there should recognize it-- It's Link's Hylian shield from The Legend of Zelda:



For David's 22nd birthday, I went a whole lot more conservative. He's growing up, right? Plus, I got a new piping tip set and I wanted to try it out. He didn't want flowers or balloons, so I piped this blue shell boarder:



And, for my mother's birthday this past week, I made her a mandarin orange pineapple cake with pink roses and rose buds. I really wished I would have practiced making roses BEFORE the day we were celebrating her birthday. But, for only being my first time (and not having the patience or hand strength the make the roses over and over and over again until they looked perfect)--I think it looks pretty good:

Vegan Pumpkin Spice Muffins

Hey everyone! It's been awhile since I've posted anything! Life has me full to the brim this month. But, I managed to find time to make these easy vegan muffins. The taste is amazing! You won't even know it's vegan!

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease a muffin tin. I used a 6-muffin tin so these muffins would be more like a meal, not a snack.

T= tablespoon t= teaspoon

Start by sifting the follow dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl:
1 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
1 1/4 c. pure cane sugar
1 T. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
1 t. ground cinnamon
1/2 t. ground nutmeg
1/2 t. ground ginger
1/4 t. ground allspice
1/8 t. ground cloves



In a small bowl combine:
1 (15 oz.) can pureed pumpkin (NOT canned pumpkin pie mix)
1/2 c. almond milk (you can use rice, soy, or even coconut, I just had almond on hand)
1/2 c. vegatable oil
2 T. molasses



Whisk the wet ingredients together as best you can. The oil wanted to stay separated for me. If that happens to you, don't worry about it! At this time, you have the option of folding in nuts or dried fruit. I would suggest a cup of chopped walnuts. Doing this would enable a more proper protein/carb balance.



Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix until batter is smooth with no lumps.

Fill your muffin tins. Two-thirds full for the 12-muffin tin and three-fourths full for the 6-muffin tin. I baked mine at 400 degrees for about 18 minutes, then dropped it down to 375 for about 4 more minutes.



*A note you might want to know- vegan baked goods tend to have a doughy texture on the top even though they are done in the middle. To prevent this, I have learned to lower the baking temperature by 25-50 degrees. This ensures it doesn't burn and allows it to go longer to get fully baked.

Let the muffins cool and enjoy, or individually wrap for an easy, on-the-go breakfast grab!

Thoughts on Going Vegan/Raw

I have to admit- health and nutrition are my things. I can spend countless hours reading up on diets, meal plans, what's good to eat, and what's not good to eat. Over the course of my "self-teaching" I have realized a key ingredient that overlaps most successful life styles... eating a diet mainly of organic fruits and vegetables.

Vegetarianism is abstaining primarily from meat. But, some vegetarians don't eat eggs.

Veganism is abstaining from any animal products- including meat, eggs, and dairy.

And, the RAW diet is abstaining from all animal products and ANYTHING cooked. It consists of fruits, vegetables, and raw nuts and seeds.

What have I found from people who have followed these diets? Results. No only weight loss, but clearer skin, better memory, more energy, and an over all positive outlook.

I've heard countless stories of people who have experienced incurable diseases cured by going raw. Is it the ultimate diet? I don't know. But, I find myself constantly thinking about the idea of doing this for myself.

I was diagnosed with Poly-cystic Ovarian Syndrome when I was 13 years old (yes, 13!!). It is an "incurable" disease that is most of all, annoying. Beside some outward flaws it has graciously left me with, there is a battle going on inside of me every day. Unfortunately, I don't realize it. Constantly, my hormones are in a never-ending fight to balance themselves. The problem is- the only time I realize it's there is when I see the blood test results showing me that this hormone is too high and this one is too low. Lately, I have been wondering if I started to eat more strictly, I would be less controlled by this disease. Maybe I am showing symptoms all the time, but I've been blowing them off as "just-a-part-of-life happenings"?

I have had many conversations with a good friend of mine who has very similar issues. She cut out dairy and gluten. You can notice a world of difference in her personality. You can tell on the days she cheated on her "diet" and you can tell on the days when she's stuck to it strictly.

It makes me wonder if issues with anxiety, depression, mood swings, irritability, and even sleep disorders (to name a few) are results of food allergies.

I also have to admit- I love meat. And cheese. But, I am realizing as I think and write about this tonight- I don't think I love them enough to let them ruin my life. You could argue that if I give up "good tasting" food, I'm sacrificing "living". But, if I give up what is harming me*, wouldn't I THEN be living to my fullest?

I'm not sure if this post makes sense to any of you. But as a soon-to-be nutrition major, it's what I've been spending my thinking hours on. You might think I'm absolutely crazy, but I'm viewing it from the medical mindset as a possible allergy. A good example is diabetics not consuming sugar- no one thinks that is crazy!

So, with all this being said, I think I'm going to take a dive into a lifestyle that leans more towards veganism/raw.

*In this post, I am NOT saying these food are harming me. I do not know yet. I'm just saying, from the research I have done and the people I have talked to, it's a good possibility and I'm going to find out it this will help me with my illness.