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Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Cookies and more...

It's the Holiday Season now, and as usual I'm busy baking cookies for friends and teachers. I decided to make Snow Flake Sugar cookies, Oatmeal Cranberry cookies, Chocolate Mint Sandwiches cookie, and Snicker doodles.  I went to Michael Store and saw this box from Martha Stewart that I loved .. it was beautiful and so elegant. It was perfect for the Christmas present. As a finishing touch, I put a small Nutcracker in there ...Perfect!. Here are pictures of my cookies..


Cute Nutcracker
My friend, Dewi was in town to visit me. She came to San Francisco from Indonesia with her husband Aswin and her daughter Tiffany. We went to the same school from elementary until High School and have been friends ever since.. I was so happy that she came. We decided to take a French Macaroon class. We took the class at Bonbini baking located at 542 Brannan St. It was a private class, so we were the only ones there so we could spend more time with our teacher Thip Nam. She was a very nice lady who was very patient with us. She taught us how to make Italian Macaroons and French Macaroons. The difference between French Macaroons and Italian Macaroons is the end result and the amount of work too. Italian Macaroons are more complicated than French Macaroons, but you will have a nice and smooth finish. We had so much fun at the class, and I hope to do it again someday soon. Thanks to Thip...You should check out her blog and facebook for class info, just look for Bonbini..



Happy Holidays...and Happy New Year 2011..Enjoy the rest of 2010....






Friday, December 3, 2010

Ginger Bread house

Hello there..., it's December already. Currently in San Francisco the weather is cold and rain has also been increasingly frequent. The atmosphere of Christmas is already being felt, some homes have started putting Christmas decorations in their yard. If we look into the windows of their house, you will see colorful Christmas trees. As usual, when entering the Christmas season, I make cookies to give to school teachers. Usually I make oatmeal raisin cookies, snickerdoodles, and gingerbread men. But now, I want to make something else, I will make sugar cookies decorated with royal icing.
So, today, I made Snowflake sugar cookies with royal icing. This is the first time I made this cookie and the first time decorating with royal icing.I'm quite happy with the outcome.
Here are the pictures of my snowflakes cookies ...


blue and white snowflakes cookies


Last year, I also made a gingerbread house. I made the house filled with colorful candies. I also made a decoration for the front of the house, such as a snowman, then there were several small children that made up a choir.
However, this year I do not plan to make a gingerbread house, maybe next year I want to make a gingerbread house like Amelia's House.

Here is the pictures of my gingerbread house... Enjoy....
This is my gingerbread house, full of sweets

Kids choir , make the house more fun

Mr. Snowman look so handsome.







Monday, August 23, 2010

Around San Francisco Part II

It was Sunday, and we decided to go the Exploratorium, the museum of science ,art, and human perception. What I liked about the exploratorium was that the building was so unique.. and also romantic. There is a lake full of ducks. It was very beautiful.

Exploratorium, beautiful place...
If your kids love science, this place is a heaven, a lot of fun stuff to do and experiment. They will stay here all day trying all the exciting experiment.




 
Next stop was the Golden Gate Bridge, the icon of San Francisco. It would be like not staying in San Francisco if you didn't make a stop at Golden Gate Bridge. As always, the weather was so cold and windy...

Golden Gate Bridge

Patsy & family

Patsy wanted to show her kids the apartment that she shared with my husband, it was on Haight Street, near Alamo Park. While they were checking the apartment, I was taking pictures of this Victorian houses. A row of Victorian houses facing the park on Steiner Street, known as the "Painted Ladies", are often shown in the foreground of panoramic pictures of the city's downtown area. A number of movies, television shows and commercials have been filmed in or around Alamo Square. The opening sequence of the American sitcom Full House (1987–1995) features a romp in Alamo Square Park with the famous row of Victorians in the background.

Painted Lady
We end the trip with dinner at Vintecello restaurant... really good food. We were too excited and I forgot to take a picture of the food.. Again, it was fun to see the Herzfeld's family and hope to see you again soon..
.

Sunday, August 22, 2010

Around San Francisco Part I

Before we got married,   about twenty five years ago, my  husband had a  room mate named Patsy. They used to live on a street called Haight Street, and then Patsy moved  and  lived in Washington DC. Patsy came and visited us  with her husband, Pete and their teenaged kids (Charlotte, and the twins,  Holly and Henry). This trip showed their kids all the places she lived in San Francisco, they also saw where she used to work and where her husband went to school which bringing back their memories. First we went to Fisherman's Wharf, and made a stop at Musee Mecanique, where Pete used to spend time and fall in love with this place. This place is pretty cool, a lot of antique coin operated games such as the "player piano" where you put a coin in and pick a song. The old piano will play that song for you..,here is a picture of a coin-operated old lady laughing so loud. She was very funny


In front of the Musee Mecanique
The laughing lady..

After Musee Mechanique, we went to Ghiradelli Square to have ice cream and chocolate milk shakes.. really good, very rich chocolate flavours.


 Ghiradelli Square
The next stop was the Academy of Science, if you've never been there, you should go there. It's like the whole universe in one roof , an aquarium, a planetarium, a natural history museum and more. My kids love this place, we took a couple trips to this place.


At the Academy of Science San Francisco
The next day, we went to The San Francisco Art Institue where Pete took his Master's Degree. He show us the campus, pretty cool. The campus is located at 800 Chestnut St, and has a beautiful view. While we were there, they had an exhibition too.

Funny exhibition at the San Francisco Art Institue

The view from San Francisco Art Institue

Then Pete told us that he wanted to make a stop at a Pizza place called Golden Boy Pizza. He said that he always went to this place after school. Guess what... the pizza was really good, the best pizza I've ever had.
Golden Boy Pizza

Look at the line to get the pizza.
Yummy Pizza...
Since we were close to Chinatown, we decided to make a stop at the fortune cookie factory. It was a small factory, and very crowded. If you want to take a picture of the woman who made the fortune cookie, you had to pay 50 cents. She won't let you take the picture unless you put 50 cent on the coin box.. So, I put 50 cent, and here is the picture


At the fortune cookie factory
It was a fun day..., kids really had fun and enjoyed the time we had with the Herzfeld's family!

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Homemade Oreo and searching for free tutorial

I saw a recipe about this Oreo cookie at mybakingaddiction.com. I decided to try and make it for my son's class party. I put green frosting in the middle and it was so yummy... You should get the recipe and try it. The cookie itself was very soft, I think it's better than the original Oreo cookie.
These are my homemade Oreo cookies...yum!
If you are a big fan of youtube, you can actually learn a lot from this site. If you search for something, they will have the answer. Some people have been very nice giving free tutorials. Some people try to make money by selling the tutorials. Anyway, there is a woman named Mayen and she has been very nice giving free tutorials to people who want to learn how to decorate cakes,it's especially for beginners. You should check out her tutorials on youtube, they can really help you improve your skill. Here is one of her free tutorials, I made a set of baby Elmo, baby Cookie Monster and baby Big Bird. I love them all, they are so cute...

Aren't they cute ???  All made out of gumpaste.
And this one is also from one of Mayen's tutorial..., a pair of baby converse. I made a blue pair and a pink. I used one pair for a baby shower cake.
A Pair of Baby Converse
If you want to learn how to make sugar flowers, you should check this blog : Sweetpetal. Jacqueline Butler has been very nice to share her knowledge on how to make Hydrangeas, Ranunculus, Peonies, and so much more. I really want to try to make Hydrangeas for my niece's wedding. I have ordered the cutter and venier, can't wait to make one. Here is a picture of my roses that I made for practice.

My Roses
I really appreciate those people who are willing to share their knowledge, skill and talent for free. I learnt a lot from those people... Again, Thank you..

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Cupcake

Before I started making fancy cakes, I loved to make and decorate cupcakes. I can do anything with these small cakes. Sometimes I just pipe frosting to make it look like grass and put a flower on top, or if I have time, I will place a bumble bee on top. If I don't want to pipe my frosting, I will use fondant and play with it to create flip flops or the faces of all the kids in my son's class. I made the face on the  cupcake and tried to  represent the kids in my son's class including their teacher too. Here are the pictures of my cupcakes. Enjoy...



I piped green frosting, made it look like a grass and put bumble bees on top

Daisy cupcakes

Swirl cupcakes
I made the faces of all the kids in my son's class
I made these tiny flip flop cupcakes to go with a Flip Flop cake.

Spongebob and Patrick

Monday, August 9, 2010

Vacation

My sister in law owns a cabin in Bear Valley, located between Lake Tahoe and Yosemite. She let us stay at her cabin for couple days.  Great place for camping, hiking, kayaking and swimming at lakes and reservoirs. During Winter, this place is great for skiing, snowboarding, snowmobiling and dog sledding.

In front of the Gate, you will see this big Bear



My kids love this place, they spent all day at the reservoir near the cabin, swimming or playing in the sand. One family at the beach were very nice to them and let them play with their paddle board.

My son trys the paddle board
If you drive about 1/2 hour from the cabin, you will see a big reservoir called Union Reservoir. We saw a nice camping near that reservoir.


If you see this beautiful place, you would want a good camera..., for now, I'm happy with the result of my pocket camera.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Busy weekend

I had a cake order, another Jimmy Choo Shoe Cake(yes)!!,another...I was so happy because I did it before, and my client saw pictures of my first shoe .She wanted the same cake. I made it a little bit different by putting make up and lipstick.  I think this time, the wrapping paper looks very natural and perfect...I liked the way it turned out..
The cake was Vanilla Cake with french Vanilla buttercream, I hope they like the cake. Here are the pictures of the second Jimmy Choo Shoe cake.



Actually, besides the Jimmy Choo, she wanted a baby shower cake too. The mother would be having a baby boy, so I put a lot of blue , green and yellow color. I made a pacifier, a  small baby bottle, a cute little bear, duckies and small pair of baby converse. I'm so happy with this cake because the cake was so flawless, no cracking at all...



My niece, Jessica will get married in July of 2011. She and her fiancee Bret have a website http://allthingszillal.wordpress.com, very funny blog. It's about their wedding, you should check it out.
Anyway, Jess told me that she wanted me to make a wedding cake for her. I'm so scared to make a wedding cake especially for a family member. I told her that I will practice first until I feel comfortable to make one for her. I will tell you more about Jess' cake later. Right now, I have to say good bye and will write again tomorrow...


Wednesday, July 14, 2010

More pictures

Hi.., what a lazy day, I can't focus and do what I have to do..., I have so many things to do and so little time. Anyway, I have a cake order for this coming friday, another Jimmy Choo Shoe. I will try to make it a little bit different even though my client wants the same cake.
The next picture is the cake that I made from one of Debbie Brown's books called Easy Party Cakes, I love Debbie Brown and I have almost all of her books.  To have the books from a good cake decorator is really helpful for you to improve your skills.

Easy Party Cakes: 30 Original and Fun Designs for Every Occasion

In the book she called this cake " Baking Day" , I like this cake, everything is so cute.


The next cake is the Pony Cake, and was my first cake order. I was so nervous to do this cake and I was trying so hard to be perfect to impress my client. I want to thank her for trusting me to make this cake for her daughter. It really built my confidence.




I think I have to go back to doing my cake for friday. I will write again tomorrow. Ta..ta...for now

 
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