New Year, New Me, New Blog

Oh...what a weird and wonderful year 2012 was. I got married to the most amazing man and we started our lives together as husband and wife. Our puppy turned 2 and finally (thank god) calmed down enough be left alone in the house for more than 30 minutes without pooping somewhere. My kitten found a new home where she is free to frolic about and hunt those pesky rodents. I did a lot of baking, although not nearly as much as I wished. I discovered the WONDERS of the Kitchenaid stand mixer. Evan and I celebrated several weddings of our dear friends and family members and were so touched to be a part of Randi and Kristina's celebration! We really and truly feel like our world is changing and growing in only the best of ways!

New Years 2012-13
Amazing dinner, good friends and way too much champagne!

As amazing as last year was, I can only hope that 2013 has even more exciting things in store for us. That said, I have a few resolutions that I would like to share with you all:

Who wouldn't want to spend time with this face?! 

1. I will make more time for my husband. Working on the weekends and working almost an hour to an hour and a half away from home puts a strain on our relationship. Often I have come home exhausted and just wanting to curl up on the couch and fall asleep or bring work home with me. This year, I will come home and really be present with Evan. He deserves it and so do I. Since I cannot make more hours in the day, I will, instead, make sure that the time we spend together will be quality time.

2. I will bake more. I really enjoy baking. The act of taking common, plain ingredients and combining them, tweaking them, making them into something delicious and sweet...it makes me happy. I like refining my technique. I like trying new things. One day, maybe I can make a living doing these things I enjoy, but for now, I do it for me.

3. I will stop eating so many processed foods. Evan and I have talked about doing a juice fast since we saw the documentary "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead" over 2 years ago. We haven't done it. Obviously. But last night, when I could not find any crackers to go with our cheese, I decided to see if I could make my own. I did. They weren't perfect, but they did the job. The best part was that I knew exactly what went into them and I didn't spend any money on them. Water crackers are ridiculously expensive and I have no clue how many preservatives on them. I am making it my goal to find healthier, homemade alternatives to the costly, preservative-filled things you find on the grocery store shelves. If anyone has any tips, please send them my way.

4. I will get better at documenting my adventures, both in and out of the kitchen. I enjoy beautiful presentations and will start taking better pictures of the methods I use and the final products. Ideally, I would like a better camera, but the one I want isn't cheap. Before I get that camera, however, I will learn more about composition and editing. There is no reason to buy an expensive camera until you can use it properly, in my opinion.

5. I will focus myself. No more letting the laundry pile up or waiting until neither one of us has underwear left. No more starting projects until I know I have all the supplies I need. I have a tendency to get overzealous about things and peter out before they are completed. How many contraptions have I bought only to use them once? Countless...I have a screen printing machine, letterpress machine, needlefelting supplies and all this other crap that is junking up my life. I've enjoyed it all (ok, except the letterpress attempts..but they didn't work out the way I wanted them to) but didn't NEED to do it. The needlefelting, while my most recent hobby, has been the most fun. Perhaps I'll keep that. But the rest, I will cleanse our house of. Which brings me to...

6. I will cleanse our house of unnecessary clutter. If I ever hope to gain control over my guest room, I need to rid it of those things I never use. I will sell this crap on craigslist. And I will not buy any new supplies until I've gotten rid of those things I don't need. I will also do this with...SHOES. You don't know the pain it causes me to say this, but I have several pairs of shoes that I haven't worn in years or have only worn once. I have a shoe problem. An addiction, some would say. I'm like Imelda, Queen of shoes and everything. I will not buy another pair of shoes until I've gotten rid of every pair of shoes I haven't worn in over a year. Anyone who wears size 7-7.5...get ready for an exquisite ebay/craigslist shoe exodus. I might go through a minor depression once all is said and done, but I believe I'll feel much better, as well.

7. Lastly, I am challenging myself to try one new recipe a week! Be it baking, dinner, dog treats, etc...I will make it, bake it, blog it. Simple as that. Have a recipe you want me to try? Let me know. 52 recipes. 52 weeks. Bring it on!

That is all the resolutions I can make for now. They're not small ones, but they're ones I need to do for myself. Wish me luck. Keep me accountable. It's on the internet now. No escaping it, right? Unless, of course, the only people reading this are my mom and my husband...eh, they'll do their part!

I will start off this Make it, Bake it, Blog it challenge with an appropriate recipe, I believe!

Champagne Cupcakes with Candied Strawberries

I found this recipe on pinterest. Of course.

Again, I'm not going to go into a whole lot of detail on this recipe because it was a really long process. I'll tell you want I did wrong, though. Never use egg scramblers when a recipe calls for egg whites. These cupcakes were much too dense and chewy for my taste, but that was my fault. I should never answer the phone in the grocery store. I get distracted too easily as it is. I just grabbed the wrong thing. Also, I had to use frozen strawberries rather than fresh. This was good and bad. Good because they were much easier to slice and candy than fresh ones. Bad because I have no idea how many strawberries are in a pint and didn't find it necessary to look it up. Therefore, I don't have a clue if I measured correctly for the puree. They tasted good though. End of story.