My ultimate cupcake tip

Today Tracy and I were invited out to a friend's for supper, we were asked to bring dessert and immediately decided on cupcakes. Tracy had some peanut butter buttercream in the freezer (yes, we do have things like that in our freezer, along with pounds of homemade sausage and blocks of tofu) and I had the perfect chocolate cake recipe.

Now, I am very passionate about my cupcakes. I love them. I get very serious about the icing to cake proportion...and having it evenly distributed is another problem. So, here is the solution...not only top the cupcake with icing but fill it too! That means each bite will have icing and there will be extra to spare for the occasional 'icing only' bite!

Here's what you gotta do:

Take your baked cupcake and cut a cone out of the center.And cut the pointy side of the cone, so you have a flat circle.
Now fill it with anything you desire...icing, jam, lemon curd, etc.
And top it off with it's 'hat'!
Now, ice the top of the cupcake to hide the cut out, and then step back and admire...
If you want to get a little crazy and if you're like me, the kinda gal with an abundance of chocolate melts (anyone?), then you can jazz them up a bit with springy flowers...
Either way the important thing to remember is that it's not what's on the cupcake it's what's in it. Wise words. Now, go make cupcakes!

The weekend

This weekend was spent adjusting to the idea that school is over...and recovering from the last busy week!
I have been enjoying watching the flowers bloom and the grass turn green. I've never spent a spring in Charlottetown so I've never seen the magnolia's blossom. I never even knew there were magnolia trees here! They are so gorgeous...Tracy and I were driving around and spotted this:a bison in someones driveway!! We drove past it first and then reversed because neither of us believed that someone actually had a stuffed bison on wheels in their yard. Crazy Charlottetown!On Sunday, the most beautiful day of the week, we packed up a picnic and took a drive in the country. We stopped to admire the water but had to eat our picnic in the car, it still a little too brisk out to have an enjoyable meal outside.
Hope everyone is having a great Monday!

That's it! So long Friday!

Some pictures from the last day...

Waffles and blueberries this morning, you gotta have a special breakfast for a special day!

Rootbeer floats!

Saying goodbye to Ashley who left to go back home this afternoon. I grew quite fond of 'Smashley' as I came to call her over the past few weeks. Tracy smushed whip cream in her face moments before this picture was taken!

And my favorite Newfie! She'll be here for grad but we like to hug!

And Taszia, I went to Vancouver with her, she is so cute.
Now I am at home...exhausted. But not really feeling any different...it hasn't quite sunk in that I'm done! I'll give it a few days!

Adios Thursday!

Today was a busy day at school...I had a kitchen practical for meat/game/poultry class and one for baking class too. Oh, and a test!

For my meat/game/poultry black box I was given chicken legs, chicken livers, foie gras, and ox tails (yup, like from an ox's tail) and had to produce a main course. Somehow it magically(okay it was really from a build up of everything I've learned plus Tracy's constant 'just take a deep breath') became this...Chicken thigh stuffed with chicken liver and foie gras, blue cheese gnocchi with braised oxtail, and a spiced butternut squash puree. The flavors were there, but I wasn't overly happy with the plating, a little too messy. I was so happy when it was over! Black boxes make me nervous!

For my baking black box I had to make cream puffs. Ha! Easy pie! I filled them with a coffee pastry cream and they looked pretty cute! I don't have a picture, so you'll just have to imagine them!

And today I crossed the second last day off the schedule. One left!And in the midst of black boxes and tests I handed out these...Graduation hat cake pops! Because everything is better on a stick and because I have been waiting and waiting for the right opportunity to make these...I think I found it!

1 last, short, sweet, and delicious (can you say root beer floats and ribs at 8am?) day!

Au reviour, Wednesday

It is hump day. This is the day that is the peak of my exhaustion in a given week. Today I feel it, but even more then tired I feel sad. Today it really sunk in that I'm going to be leaving in 3 weeks. That I'll leave the friends I've made and the town I've grown used to. Of course I am beyond ecstatic to be going home...but I've had an awesome 2 years and saying goodbye sucks. I seem to be simultaneously pushing forward and digging my heels in...it can make a person very emotional, which is why I almost cried in Bulk Barn today. Two days left that's it. I'll be sure to soak it up.
Oh, the highlight of today was that it was sunny for the first time in a week. That's far too long to go without sunshine. I love the sun.

Bye-bye Tuesday!

Today at school we had a wild game tasting. Each person picked one piece of meat/poultry, things like pheasant, ostrich, alligator, bison, and even horse, and made a dish out of it. It was tons of fun and it's always exciting to see everyone's end product.

I picked bison and made empanadas with a chocolate mole sauce and cumin and lime crema. I was happy with it!

At the end of the morning I was joking around with one of the guys in my class. I wouldn't say that I like him or really enjoy spending time with him, but we do occasionally have fun. Like today when I practiced my 'Zoolander' look with him. I think it's safe to say he is way better at it then me. Listen at the beginning (and really all throughout) for the laugh of Robin, my favorite Newfie!

Did you make you laugh?

3 more days!

Last Monday

Today was a fun day in the kitchen...my morning class is awesome. We have one of the best instructors right now and each day is something new. Today we did some plating demos. Everyone cooked up a bunch of pieces (veg, starches, garnishes, etc) and then played around with plating them with proteins.

Here is Chef Ted doing some plating...

And here is me with the plate I did!
Great day! 4 left! Stay tuned for more 'Lasts'!

The end is near...

Tomorrow is first day of the last week of school. Eek! That's right, 5 days left. It will go by quickly and everyday will be a little bittersweet. By Friday no one will be able to sit still and I'm sure that at the end of class when we all sit down for lunch we'll try and linger as long as possible. It's been a great 2 years!

Last week was lots of fun in the kitchen. We made tons of sausages and Tracy even made hot dogs! They were delicious, unlike any hot dog I've ever tasted!

I confited a pork belly...which means I covered a pork belly completely in duck fat and let it cook for hours and hours. The end product is unimaginably yummy. We made up a wicked platter of all of our work over the past couple of weeks. Amazing.We started the goodbyes. This is me and Joanne, one of the ladies that works in the cafeteria. Her last day was on Friday, I'll miss seeing her face for this last week.On Friday I went on my first, and probably last, pub crawl. Not many pictures from that as I spent most of the time dancing and the rest of it chasing after my little drunken Newfie. I had fun and at the same time was slightly disturbed by 'kids these days'. Here is me and one of the guys I went to Vancouver with...oh, and Tracy's fingers!
Our pub crawl name was "Hey Good Lookin', Whatcha Got Cooking". Appropriate, eh?

I'll keep you posted on the last week!

Weekends are fun...

When you have a 3 year-old to play with!!

Smiley faced pancakes....

Far to large glasses....Binoculars...or 'aukulors'...What a kid!

One of the perks of being up very, very early in the morning...

Zach & Stacey

Recognize these two?
It's Zach and Stacey!

Let's see, I have known Zach my entire life. Yup, almost twenty years! And Stacey, well, not as long, but that still makes her and my brother two of my favorite people on the planet. Lately I have seen them blossom (that's right, 'blossom'!) into great cooks. I remember teaching Zach how to make bread when he visited me in Charlottetown last year...He was hooked and then a little while later so was Stacey. It makes me so happy to hear about their adventures in the kitchen.

Lately I've been receiving emails with pictures of what they've been up to, from pizza making:
To bundt cakes and beautiful loaves of bread:
And even carrot garnishes from takeout meals:I love these guys!

My current favorite

I make a batch of granola every 2 weeks, that may seem like a lot since there is just two of us, but we LOVE granola. I usually experiment with a new recipe every time, although I have come back to the heavenly chocolate granola a couple times, until I found a recipe for peanut butter granola. It's not too sweet, it's just the perfect texture, and the subtle hint of peanut butter makes it rich and extra yummy. Convinced yet? You should make it. Eat it on your yogurt, or with some milk, or on your oatmeal, or just by the handful. I've done all these. You won't be disappointed!

Peanut butter Granola

Make approximately 7 cups

1/2 cup apple juice

1/3 cup smooth peanut butter

1/3 cup honey

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

4 cups large flake oats

1/3 cup sliced almonds

3/4 cup dried fruit, anything you fancy, if you choose things like apricots chop them up a bit

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Combine the apple juice, peanut butter, honey, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt in a saucepan. Heat until the peanut butter melts.

Combine the oats and almonds in a bowl. Pour peanut butter mixture over and mix till thoroughly combined. Spread the mixture out on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Bake for 15 minutes and then give it a good mix around. Bake for another 15 minutes and give it another stir. Then bake it for another 10-15 minutes till it gets a little drier. Keep in mind it will crunch up a bit more as it cools. Remove it from the oven and let it cool completely. Mix in the dried fruit.

Store in a container in the freezer.

Easter Sunday

Happy Easter to you all! I hope you all had family to sit around the table with and share delicious food...while I didn't have my family with me I had some pretty good stand ins! And of course, yummy food!

Saturday Drive

The forecast for today was sunny and plus 15...the perfect day to get out in the country for a drive. So, Tracy and I packed up some snacks and headed out of town. It was positively gorgeous out....we started off in the direction of the water. Until we saw this sign and I had to stop for a picture:It made me laugh!
Then I had to run around for a bit and giggle manically because I was SO happy to be in the country.We ate a little picnic lunch and then stopped for a walk near the water...Isn't that beauty?
It made my heart so happy to smell spring in the air, you know that dirt smell? And feel the sun on my legs as we drove...and when I got home I opened up my suitcase of summer clothes a picked an outfit out that I hadn't worn in months...these are the good days.

Good Friday

It's been awhile! Yup, I'm alive! And it's Easter...

A couple weeks ago I was at Bulk Barn and saw the cutest little chick cookie cutter. It was 79 cents so I picked it up and decided I would bake some Easter cookies up the class. They turned out better than I imagined:

So frigin' cute!

There was also an Easter egg hunt on Thursday at school. That was exciting! It reminded me of being a kid and running all over the yard looking for eggs!

We probably found the bulk of them...hey, the early bird gets the worm, right?I didn't eat all my candy...instead I repacked some of the eggs and left them in random places....like the pepper package container. Hee! When I checked back later it was gone...I hope finding it made someone smile!