More Snow

Sometimes I wonder if the weather people here in Denver actually have an education in forecasting. Yesterday was BEAUTIFUL! The sky was so blue and, even though there was a cool wind, it was warm. All the snow from the previous storm was practically gone. They said that it wasn't going to snow again even though a week ago they said it would. Well.....

...it is snowing, AGAIN! Don't get me wrong, I love the snow. It is so peaceful and makes everything so beautiful. The thing that gets me is the weather people. This isn't the first time that they have been wrong, like REALLY wrong. I think I will take what they say and expect the opposite. Weather here is crazy. What they should say is, "We have no idea what it is going to be like tomorrow, so be prepared!"

Last Week of School

Well, this quarter is OVER!! Happy Happy Joy Joy! The only class I will miss is my Patisserie class. I really wish that class was a year long, I loved it. Here is the last project that we completed in that class:
The flowers are made of gum paste. I absolutely LOVED working with the gum paste. My chef commented on how nice my roses were. They turned out so much nicer than the chocolate roses off of the last cake I posted. I haven't gotten my grades yet, but I'll post those as soon as I get them.

This last week of school was quite interesting. We had a big snow storm come in and it dumped quite a bit of snow on us. So much that CJ's school was canceled for 2 days and I didn't make it to my last day of class on Thursday. It was a lecture class and the school was open, but I didn't go because I didn't want to get stuck in the snow. My mom was going to fly to Utah on Thursday and her flight was canceled to a later one that ended up getting canceled too. She was finally able to fly out Friday afternoon. Here are a few pictures that I took Friday morning:

Jersey got brave enough that she just plowed her way through the snow drifts that the wind created in our back yard so she could get to the grow box, her new found favorite place to be. We are going to have to trade in our netting for chicken wire because she is tearing the netting apart. Of course today the snow is all gone in the front and almost gone in the back. Crazy weather.

I am really looking forward to spending this little break I have with my family. CJ is on Spring Break too, so we are going to try to have some fun while we can.

Latest Projects From School

Last week I was bed bound with a sinus infection and I missed a whole week of school because of it. I have had to play "catch up" in my Patisserie class, but have had fun doing it. The project that I was supposed to finish last week was a three tier wedding cake. It was a specific design that all of us had to mimic. Since I had been gone a week, I had to go off of a 2 week old memory, which isn't that reliable. Needless to say, I finished the cake and here it is:



The roses are made out of modeling chocolate and the drapes on the cake are made out of chocolate fondant. It was really fun doing this cake. I was really pleased with the way it turned out and so was my Chef. The only complaint he had was about the placement of my roses, but other than that, it was good. He even complimented me on my piping and my fondant work. Oh, happy is me!!!!

In Artisan Breads this week, we have had to practice for our final practical. We were given choices of bread to make. This is a picture of one of the breads I have chosen to make:

This particular "make up" of bread is called an Epi. I don't know why, but it is. It is supposed to look like a stalk of wheat. How did I do? It tastes really yummy. Now that I know how to make all this cool and yummy bread, I think I will be doing it more often. Oh, happy is Spencer!

Soccer

The girls started soccer this week. I'm starting to feel like our lives are getting complicated. Aside from my school we also have CJ's school, ballet, swimming, and now soccer. The girls are really excited though. They seem to really enjoy it out there on the field. CJ kicks the ball and then chases the kid around that has the ball while giggling her little head off. She doesn't try to steal the ball, she just chases the kid. It is quite amuzing. Avary, on the other hand, kicks the ball and then just stands there. Avary also likes to "kick" the ball with her elbow. We told her not to use her hands so she uses the next closest thing. Spencer says I'm already turning into a crazy soccer mom. I scream and yell, "GET THE BALL! GET THE BALL!" the whole time. They look so cute in their uniforms. The weather is still a little chilly so we have them bundled up pretty good. CJ has practices on Thursdays and yesterday at her practice it was FREEZING! My hands were so frozen it was hard to take pictures. Avary has practices on Fridays and today was better. I was so prepared and brought the lining to my coat to stay warm, but I ended up not wearing my coat at all.






This is going to be a fun spring.

Returning Customer

Remember the cupcakes I did in October? Well, the lady that I did those cupcakes for called me on Tuesday wanting me to do a birthday cake for her grandson. I HAVE MY FIRST RETURN CUSTOMER!!!!! I was really excited. She was throwing her grandson a birthday party and the theme was "Lego's". Since it was a simple cake I told her I could do it. It turned out alright. Take a look...

I used a buttercream recipe I got from my chef at school. It is totally amazing, I can't stop eating it. She chose a cherry chocolate cake. The buttercream is cherry flavor and the cake is chocolate. If you can't tell, those colorful things on the cake are supposed to be my attempt at drawing the giant "Lego's". I used a different cherry flavoring than I have used before and it turned out SO good. I hardly used any flavoring, maybe 1/4 tsp as opposed to 2 tsp, AND it didn't color the icing pink! I did a cherry chocolate cake for my brother-in-law when he left on his mission and the cherry flavoring turned the icing pink. So, my brother-in-law had a pink farewell cake, I was so embarrassed. Anyway, when I delivered the cake she said she really liked it. I hope she calls me again.