Nectarine Pie

So I attempted my first pie of all time, from scratch!
I was really nervous just because of everything I'd heard about how annoying/difficult it is to make pie dough (and it really was pretty frustrating)... I've also never been a huge fan of cooked fruits and no one had ever requested a pie from me so I just didn't bother. But after the potluck, discussing pie with so many people, I figured this was the best time to give it a shot, and I'm glad I did.

Cherry Ice cream and Chocolate Macarons

This month's Mactweet challenge was to make ice cream and combine it with macarons. Since I didn't want to use store-bought ice cream and I don't have an ice cream maker, I thought of only one other option. Making mini macs as a topping!

A Canvas of Raspberries

I'd been thinking about getting a few canvas prints of my photographs for a while now, especially when I just moved in to my apartment, but I was unsure how they'd look... I didn't want it to look too pixelated or strange. My mom kept telling me to try it anyway but I held off. I'm kind of glad I did because a few weeks ago the nice people over at Easy Canvas Prints contacted me to see if I would be interested in having one of the photographs on my blog made into an 8x10-inch canvas print! 

It took me forever to choose a photo but eventually I settled on one of my favorite photos of one of my favorite fruits, raspberries! I think the canvas came out great. The online process was a little frustrating and I did have to refresh a few times but other than that, the canvas was made and delivered promptly.

I'm going to put it up in my future bakery someday, and possibly order a few more other photos for family members. It would make a really great gift, and there are a lot of non-food photos that I really want on canvas.

So thanks, Easy Canvas Prints! I'm finally over my fear of canvas photos and looking forward to making more!

Macarons, Macarons, Macarons and a Potluck

For the last week, I did nothing but bake macarons. I had three I was determined to make: lemon, raspberry, and chocolate. The raspberry macs were probably my best... I have the measurements memorized at this point and I effortlessly produced two sheets of pretty pink macarons. Then I went for the chocolate in the exact same manner, I swear, and half of them came out crumbly.

When I went for the lemon, nearly all of them were cracked in the oven. I couldn't possibly serve those! I debated just stopping right there, but I'm so glad I gave myself four days to work on them. The next day my resolve returned and I bravely attempted another batch of the lemon. I accidentally made them slightly bigger than the rest but at least they rose and didn't crack, success!

Banana Bread w/Caramel Glaze

This banana bread is, as Joe would call it, cray-cray!

Chocolate Chai Spice Cakes & Turning 24

This past weekend, I had a pretty great time with Joe and friends in St Louis, although I missed my family dearly.

I wasn't planning on making any dessert for my birthday but since Joe was making me an amazing feast and we were having friends over, I figured I should have something sweet for everyone at the end.

My Special Occasion Chocolate Mousse Cake

This post was originally on Honest Cooking, a new International cooking website, where I am a proud contributor! This is my post on my favorite special occasion cake, but be sure to check out the other great recipes and articles on food at HonestCooking!

This cake is an exquisite and luscious multi-layered cake that is near and dear to my boyfriend’s heart, as well as mine.

It's a simple devil’s food cake soaked (or sprinkled) with Chambord raspberry liqueur. It is then alternately layered with white chocolate, milk chocolate, and dark chocolate mousse, and topped with a rich espresso Mascarpone frosting.

A Red Velvet Kind of Independence Day

Happy American Independence Day, dear readers! Canada just had theirs so Happy Canada Day too! Apparently July 4th was the day the declaration was approved, not signed, as I originally had thought. Ya learn something new every day :)


We celebrated with an epic Asian themed dinner, followed by a showing of "Independence Day", one of my favorite classic movies about an alien invasion... This combined with reading "World War Z" (a novel about zombies taking over the world) it's given me some interesting nightmares...