Win a Cricut Cake!!

This is an AWESOME giveaway by Cuttlebug Challenge site. They are giving away a Cricut Cake! Check it out HERE.

Oooh I hope I win it! If I do, I think I will make my own wedding cake next May!!!!

Gnocchi

We made gnocchi today at school. I totally bombed. I over worked my dough so my gnocchis were doughy. :( I am bummed because I totally love them. I decided to make some tonight and I'll let you know how they turn out. I'll take a picture. Also going to make Ratatouille since I have a practical test tomorrow! We have to make rice pilaf, ratatouille, glazed carrots, Dauphinoise potatoes and green beans amendine! Wish me luck!
Also we had someone come in to talk to us about an externship in Sorrento, Italy. I decided I want to do my 6 weeks abroad somewhere. I would love to do it in Italy, Spain or France. Preferably in Italy. I think I will need some help with the financial part though, it can get pricey with some of these programs. The one they talked about today was $4500 for 3 months (does not include airfare). Also still saving for my wedding next May. Would it be rude to make a Paypal donation button?? :)

Paper Posies Sketch Challenge

I just love this sketch by Julie Bonner, of course. :) She designed this for Paper Posies Sketch Challenge. I really loved this one! Used some Sasafrass paper on this and a cute popscicle embellishment I've had forever! The stamp inside the popscicle is a Unity Stamp. I'm so into the Our Life, Our Stories stamp set I got from them on special. It's great for scrapbook pages!



Another picture down, 221 more to go! :) Is anyone out there reading this blog? lol
Hopefully someone is getting some enjoyment out of it.

I made Brown Stock tonight. Has to cook for 24 hours...so I'll drop it around 6pm tomorrow evening. (strain it) I can't wait to cook with it! Gonna make some demi-glace with it and some yummy sauces like Marchand de Vin and Sauce Chasseur! Anyone make their own brown stock out there??

Camping at Lake Beardsley Layout

I love this layout! Partially because I love this paper by Cosmo Cricket and finally got to use it, partially because I love this sketch by Julie Bonner.


She designed it for Magpie Club, love the kits, just haven't been able to get one yet! They sell out so fast. If I'm lucky, I might be able to get a credit crunch kit to try. :)


So, I counted my pictures and I have 222 more to go! After the Sharks game tonight I hope to scrap 1 if not 2 more pages tonight! :) Go Sharks!

Sketchy Thursdays 4.15 Challenge

I love the look of this page! I used the sketch challenge from Sketchy Thursdays. The bonus is from Who's That Girl, that challenge blog prompt is "Right Now." What are you into right now, at this point in your life? I am into working on scrapbook pages from my childhood. I have so many and I'm trying to finish them all this year! I loved finally getting to use this Basic Grey Nook & Pantry paper! I did a little Glimmer Mist to the bottom of it in a coppery brown color. The journaling stamp is by Unity Stamp Co. Gotta have thickers too by American Crafts!



Got to make risotto, basmati rice and rice pilaf at school today...I did not know that risotto was soooo good. It's also not that hard to make. If you have never had it, I highly recommend it!! :)It's medium grain rice cooked al dente in chicken stock. Finished with parmesan cheese and butter, which is called mantecare. You can even add a little white wine to it. I'd love to try it with Fontina cheese. MMmmmm

Dolly Parton Look

Yay, another layout done! This one is for the challenge on The Scrap Room Blog, Challenge Week #15. This is me when I was 8 or 9. We were having a water balloon fight in our backyard and I thought it would be funny to put a couple water balloons in my bathing suit. :) My brother and sister said I looked like Dolly Parton LOL. So that's what I think of whenever I look at this picture. Good times...


Oh, I made the MOST delicious cake I've ever ever had. It is a chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream frosting. So moist and delicious! I'm sad to say I cannot take credit for the recipe because I got it from Food Network.com. It is Ina Garten's recipe called Beatty's Chocolate Cake. I'm tellin ya, this is a 5-star recipe! I did use espresso instant powder for the instant coffee part in the frosting. :)So I guess I can modify it and say it's mine ;)
Here is the cake I made for my friend Mallory, and here is her "fake" pose for blowing out the candles that she already blew out!
Try the cake and tell me you don't LOVE it =)Life's too short...

My Scrapbook Challenge!

I have been procrastinating long enough and I have a small box of photos (these do not include several albums I have) that I would love to scrapbook. I would love to scrap these photos and incorporate several journaling pages (my diaries/journals)that I have kept over the years in one easy to follow story of my life. I am not writing a book, so it won't be overwhelming. This will be a compilation of my fondest memories, correlating with my fondest photos. I want to save these memories for my family and future children and their children, and so on. So...Here is my challenge to myself...

1 Box of photos from my childhood and early adulthood - approx 228 photos (maybe more)
+
1 Lifetime of Memories & experiences

8 months and 19 days (263 days) to scrap it

I am giving myself just until the end of this year because I know that starting in January I will be 1 busy gal. I will have my culinary externship to do - hopefully OUT of the country, plus I will be 5 months away from my wedding...and other things "ahem". ;)
So, I can't waste any more time! I will use scrapbook challenges when I can (so I have a chance to win goodies to replenish my stash!) I have a few favorites lined up:
Practical Scrappers
Scrapbook Challenges
The Scrap Room
Sketchy Thursdays

If anyone knows of other good scrapbook page challenges, please let me know! Maybe you can join along with me if you want to! I can't wait to get started, but I know that hard part will be staying focused.

I have sauce practicals (tests) tomorrow on Bechamel, Veloute, Espagnole and Hollandaise. Wish me luck!! :)

Scrap Room Lookout! I'm Baaaack!

I am back in the saddle, so to speak! Along with Culinary school I am going to be buckling down and doing some major scrappin this year. I know that with my wedding coming up next May and other things we have planned, I will need to catch up on my scrapping by the END of this year! I am making a challenge for myself and I'll post it up tomorrow. I am still figuring out the details, but it would be cool if you would like to follow along! I know it's great inspiration for me when I get some friends involved. :)
For my page today I used one of the last sketches from Triple the Sketch, and I used The Scrap Room Blog challenge Week #14 challenge which was to cut AROUND some of the fun patterns in your patterned papers. I also used the Practical Scrappers challenge which was to use glitter and bling! (love it!)
I used American Crafts paper, some half pearls and a pearl swirl, rhinestones, and a cute transperancy from Hambly Screen Prints(that I won from Studio Calico). I don't use transperancies much because I never know what to do with them, but I loved this one! It was much easier than I thought! I only did a little bit of distressing with some charcoal ink to add a little somin somin. :) I can't wait to start my challenge tomorrow!!!

2nd Term Culinary School - Foundations II

So today was my first day back to school, our 2nd term. Our chef is Chef Bruno...he's from Peru and has quite the heavy accent. So, in between his thick accent and talking pretty fast I will strain to keep up. Today we made brown stock and tomorrow we'll drop it (strain it out). When we were almost done with the stock, everyone combined all their ingredients into 2 stock pots. We cleaned up and he announced we had a pop quiz from our 1st term, YIKES! I hoped I remembered everything...
We came back from break and took the test. I felt like I might have missed 5 or 6 out of 20. I hope I didn't miss more than that. Then I suddenly remembered we didn't put in the sachet (or bouquet garni) of herbs into the stock. (He didn't mention it to us) I asked him about it. He said "Do you have it ready?" I said, "no". So he said "oh well, don't worry about it". LOL! Hope our stock will still taste superb anyway! :)
Like Chef Dellar said last term, "It's ON!".