Tuesday, September 29, 2009

I want to Bake It Pretty, too!






That's right... I too have fallen in love with Bake It Pretty. I just HAD to order myself a few things, which I rarely do online with stuff like this, because I don't want to allow myself to go crazy!

But I've been wanting some for so long, I DID IT! Some big piping tips and colorful, solid cupcake liners: my favorite!

Plus, I haven't had the time to bake anything lately, so I am pretty excited to have these coming my way :)

Go see their stuff for yourself, they have so much to choose from!

Have a good one,
Ash

Friday, September 25, 2009

SPOTLIGHT: Marj at "The Icing on the Cake"

I am going to start randomly spotlighting people I come across who I find to be amazingly talented and creative! I'm excited to share my finds with you as they come, and I hope you will enjoy it and look forward to checking them out!


First and foremost, a lady that I admire for her AWESOME cake decorating skills: Marj Jenkins! I found her blog, The Icing on the Cake, a while back and was immediately taken with her work (let me just tell you, I search and look at TONS of cakes on a regular basis to get ideas, and not many strike me as her's did... many cakes you see seem to be ALL fondant-covered and decorated these days, which I do not care for. Accents with fondant, and sometimes covered in it are okay, but it gets old seeing fondant-covered cakes!)

Anyway, Miss Marj ices almost all of her cakes smooth in a layer of fresh buttercream- just wait till you see them all, they are SMOOTH! And then she does either intricate gumpaste/fondant decorations or pipes on them beautifully, OR both. After my realization of how much work and time goes into making a cake, I have come to appreciate any cake decorator. But Marj isn't just any cake decorator, she has got this DOWN!

Trust me, go see why I have spotlighted her... you have to look through her galleries, clicking on the pictures until they enlarge so you can check out the smoothness and detail of her work! (Look closely, her buttercream looks like it could be fondant, IT IS NOT!)

Pure talent.


One last thing that makes her great: She is so kind and will respond if you have any questions or comments. And she puts up new posts frequently! (Which is something I think we can all appreciate :)

Great job Marj! Thanks for letting me show off your wonderful work!!

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Giveaway: PaPaYa Art!


So I was checking out a blog update (of one of my favorite blogs: The TomKat Studio) and GUESS what I found! Kim has handpicked a selection of items from PaPaYa Art for a giveaway! (One is the wall hanging pictured above! See Kim's blog to view more of the items selected- You can check out her amazing work while you're there :)
She was contacted by them and asked to host a giveaway for her readers... I am pretty excited, their work is beautiful!
There are several ways to enter to win, FIVE to be exact. Good Luck!!!

Here are the 5 ways to enter! (Enter up to 5 times by doing the following):
1. Hop over to the PAPAYA WEBSITE. Afterward, go to the TomKat Studio's blog & leave a comment with your favorite item!
2. Visit PaPaYa's NEW BLOG and leave them a comment on a post that grabs your attention. Comment on Kim's blog to let her know you did!
3. Post about this giveaway on Facebook, comment with the link!
4. Tweet about this giveaway, comment with the link!
5. Post about this giveaway on your own Blog, and comment with the link! (Basically just let Kim know what you did to enter)

Winner will be chosen on Wednesday, September 30th at 11:00pm (MST). Any entries received after this time, will not be considered. Open to US residents. Retail Value of prize: $75.00.
Winner will be chosen using random.org

Here's another picture from PaPaYa Art that Kim posted to show off the cool stuff they have:

Monday, September 21, 2009

Every girl needs a man...


The kind that will treat you right. The kind that searches for you with all his heart. The kind that respects you and adores you.

Every girl needs a man who won’t cheat on her. One who can be trusted in a room full of beautiful girls. Because he’s smart enough to know that he already has a girl who has everything that he wants, needs and more.

The right guy will never leave you lonely and wondering. You will always know where you stand with him. He will be your best friend and lover. He’ll call you early in the morning just to say good morning or late at night to say good night and maybe even tell you a bedtime story to make you laugh or talk to you until you fall asleep.

This guy will be the kind that’ll do anything for you, even if it’s just to go to the store to buy you your favorite ice cream. He’ll buy you flowers just because it’s a Wednesday and will notice your hair when you’ve gotten it cut or have gotten all gussied up specifically for him.

You deserve a guy who will cherish you. He’d never be afraid to smile to his friends when you’re around and tell them, “She’s the one”. He’d appreciate you for the things you do for him, even if they’re little… like the little love notes you leave him.

He’ll be chivalrous. He’ll wait for you when you’re falling behind, open doors for you and will walk you to the door to make sure you get in safely. He would defend and fight for you and never bail on you when you needed him most.

The right guy will call you beautiful instead of hot, he’ll kiss your forehead when you’re down and he’ll be the one who will love you for everything you are.

He will be "the one."


tumblr

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Chicken Vino Bianco


This is my favorite thing to get at Olive Garden! Actually, in order to get it, I have to ask the waiter to ask the cook if he will make it for me, haha. They took it off the menu for some reason, but every time I have asked, they have made it! (My boyfriend just loves when I am "difficult" like this :)

But it is so worth it, the white wine sauce is delicious. I found the recipe online and I've made it twice so far. You have to try it! (Or you could just go to Olive Garden and ask them to do it for you! :)


Chicken Vino Bianco
Recipezaar.com

Ingredients

4 pieces boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 ounces olive oil
2 tablespoons chopped green onions
1/2 cup small diced tomato
1/2 cup red onion, sliced
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 tablespoon chopped fresh garlic
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, divided
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup dry white wine (I used Bella Sera Pino Grigio)
1 lb uncooked linguine
seasoned flour (for dusting)

FOR SEASONED FLOUR
1 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

1 Heat oil in large saute' pan.
2 Dust chicken in seasoned flour.
3 Cook chicken on both sides until golden brown and internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.
4 Remove chicken from pan and set aside.
5 Add 2 Tbsp butter to pan.
6 Add green onion, diced tomato, red onion, mushrooms, garlic, chopped parsley, crushed red pepper, black pepper and salt to pan.
7 Let saute' for three minutes, stirring constantly.
8 Add chicken back to pan.
9 Add white wine, lemon juice and the remainder of the butter. (Not too much lemon! And I put about 3/4 cup more wine to make more of the sauce- it will thicken eventually)
10 Allow to come to a boil.
11 Cook pasta according to directions.
12 Add drained cook pasta to the pan and toss together and serve.

*Note: The 2nd time I made this, I cut the chicken into pieces before flouring and it tasted WAY too much like flour. It was much better when I butterflied the chicken breasts and cooked them. (Just cut each breast in half so it's thinner, or you could pound them)

Let me know if you try it! Or if you've had this before and like it... It's excellent!

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Chi Omega Cake


This cake was made for a friend who wanted to show her support during Chi O recruitment.
It's a 3 layer butter recipe cake filled and iced with vanilla buttercream. The letters are thinly rolled fondant and the cake was finished off with fun red & yellow sprinkles around the edges (although they're a little hard to see here :)

Thank ya Nicole for taking a picture for me! (Do you see the trend here lately..? I keep forgetting to take pictures myself)

Anyway, hope they loved it!

xox Ash