Apple Cranberry Crostata

Can you ever not figure out what to say because you have so much on your mind that you don't even know where to start? That's where I have been the past week. Trying to figure out what to say. Do I chat about the classes I started taking? How it's weird to be back in a classroom for a couple of classes and having to take quizzes. Or how last weekend we had homework where we actually had to make a PowerPoint and present it the next day. It's just so different since I haven't taken a class in...7 years!  That I am loving it because I am such an uber nerd and love learning.

Do I talk about how nervous I was about the actual execution of making my nephews birthday cake, decorating it with fondant and then having to carry it on the airplane. Crossing my fingers the entire time that first it would make it through security and then be "safe" in the overhead bin after takeoff and landing.

Brown Sugar White Chocolate Bundt Cake with Vanilla Bourbon Glaze & Caramel

This has been a long time coming...well you know a month.  But that is a long time when a LOT of baking has happened between now and then.  This is a dessert that I deconstructed and then reconstructed in a new form at the request of a good friend for his birthday.  James gave me the challenge for his birthday, in December, to take his favorite dessert from a restaurant and make it into a cake.  They called their dessert a bread pudding...I would call it a mini bundt cake...but to each their own.  I mean I just took the flavors and incorporated them into this brown sugar bundt cake.  To say the very least this was a very rich cake with layers of flavor.  The base is a brown sugar cake that has white chocolate pieces throughout that melted while baking.  The cake was then topped with a caramel sauce, then a vanilla bourbon glaze and raspberry sauce just for serving.  Since it was served for breakfast, because well James always wants his birthday dessert for breakfast, I left off the ice cream.  Give it a try and Enjoy!

Soft and Chewy Caramel Chocolate Chunk Cookies with Sea Salt

A day in the life of a meeting planner...

...just kidding I wouldn't do that to you.  Well in my real world, real job, 2015 has been officially kicked off with a week in Phoenix.  I had such high hopes going into this meeting that it would be a nice break from the cold; I was dreaming of mid-70's and sunny.  However, it was more like the mid-60's windy and chill...especially since I had only packed skirts to go with my work cardigans.  It really was actually beautiful, and great to kickoff the new year of meetings.  Overall only 20 more weeks of meetings to go now out of the 22 this year.  Granted I am thankfully only going to be at 9 of them since I have such an awesome team.  It really is fun though, even if we do work crazy hours sometimes.  

It's warm enough in Phoenix...most of the time...for the flowers to bloom and the oranges to grow.