A sign from Julia

I just finished reading The Julie/Julia Project about this girl named Julie that decides to cook all the recipes in Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" book in one year. It is a true story. While I was reading this, I started thinking about how I should do something like this. A couple weeks ago, while I was at my parents house I found a stack of old cookbooks that my mom didn't want anymore. Cookbooks that were so close to my heart as a young child because of the magnificent pictures of perfect set meals. You know what I'm talking about...The Better Homes and Gardens cookbooks that woman of the 70's/80's all possessed. It just so happened that on the top of the pile was a small, old, slightly yellowing paperback book called, "The French Chef Cookbook" by Julia Child. Holy Moly! It was like a sign from Julia herself urging me to go for it! There are so many sweets and desserts that I would love to make and try out but there never seems to be enough time. The truth of the matter is that I just DON'T make enough time. So after realizing this fundamental truth about myself (that I can be somewhat lazy), I am challenging myself to bake one new recipe a week. No ifs, ands or buts. This will equal 52 recipes for the year. I will post the recipes in case any of you out there would like to go on this baking adventure with me, which I hope you will. So to kick it all off, I am going to start with Le Marquis au Chocolat from Julia Child's, "The French Chef Cookbook".

Stay tuned...

The Incredible Reeces Cupcake

One day I got to thinking, "Hmm, I wonder if I could bake a Reece's peanut butter cup in the middle of a cupcake?" During the same week that I had this thought, my sister's boyfriend, Jason sent me a text asking, "Can you make cupcakes for me with Reece's peanut butter cups inside?" For some strange reason we both had the same brilliant idea! Jason's birthday was a couple weeks later so I decided to make these cupcakes not knowing if and how they would turn out. The cupcake was a fudge cake with peanut butter frosting and a Reece's baked in the middle. Lo and behold they turned out so yummy and were a complete hit, especially if you are a chocolate and peanut butter lover!

Candies and Colors

Last week I made cupcakes for my friend Kait's daughter's birthday. Her little one LOVES candies! So we thought it would be fun to do a sort of Willy Wonka theme for all the cupcakes. Bright colors and of course...Candy!






































































The best part...eating them!

Black & White

This June I worked on cupcakes for a wedding. It was a pretty big project, 5 different flavors and I had to create a tier for the cupcakes to be displayed on. The Bride's wedding theme was black and white which I always think is classy and elegant.

So, 240 cupcakes later, here's the final results.

A Birthday Surprise

My birthday was last week and my husband decided that he would take on my birthday cake since I am usually the one who is making the cakes. Little did I know how amazing it would turn out. I picked out the flavors that I wanted: Honey butter cake with peanut butter frosting. (I LOVE Peanut Butter!) This was the only detail he let me know about the cake and the rest of the details were all done in secrecy. We went out to dinner with some friends and family and the cake came along. It was such a hit, that the sous chef at Nopa even took a picture of it. So without further ado, I'd like to introduce the most fabulous cake that I have ever had on my birthday...

















PB& Jelly Sandwich Cake! With jumbo cupcakes that look like cups of milk and ants on a log to boot!















































Even oozed out like a true sandwich!

Shubert's Ice Cream

Shubert's
178 East 7th Street
Chico, CA




























There is nothing more satisfying as a summertime treat than ice cream. In downtown Chico there is an ice cream & candy shop called Shubert's which has been there for a really long time. It's as cute as can be with jars of candy lining the walls along with their own line of chocolates and truffles. But of course, the best part about Shubert's is their ice cream. I dived into a waffle cone consisting of one scoop Strawberry Cheesecake and another scoop of Pistachio ice cream. It was heaven! The ice cream was so creamy and fresh. The Pistachio ice cream was amazing and I'm sure my grandma was looking down from heaven enjoying it along with me. My husband, Steve had the most wonderful scoop of Rocky Road ice cream. The marshmallows were plump and soft and not freeze dried and shrunken like most Rocky Roads. I'd have to say, both our bellies were very content after devouring all the ice cream.

So, if you happen to be in Chico, don't forget to stop by Shubert's for a scoop or two.

May Cakes

Here are some cakes that I worked on from the last couple weeks of this month.