The Hills are alive...

I'm a freak. It's true.

Sometimes I hide it well.

Sometimes it comes spilling out all over anyone standing within arm's reach.

But I embrace it.

I acknowledge it.

And then I try to analyze it.

Take this for instance...

This weekend I watched Julie & Julia AND an episode (or two) of The Hills.

Now before you leave this blog and never return, solely based on the premise that you cannot associate yourself with someone who watches The Hills, know this: I don't care what you think.

Ha! Ok, that's not entirely true. But when it comes to 'reality tv' I am shameless. I love it! The more ridiculous, the better. That way I have someone to yell at.

And it makes me feel better about myself. :) Seriously, who ARE these people???

Anyways, let's get back to the story at hand. Geez, shiny objects everywhere. Focus!

After watching Meryl Streep's portrayal of Julia Child's I was determined to focus more on the positive, not let others' opinions of me deter my ambitions, and find the fun in life. I was feeling self-confident, ready to take on new challenges, and convinced that I needed to wear pearls!

And then I watched The Hills and determined that I immediately needed to get to they gym, make an appointment to get my hair highlighted, buy a whole new wardrobe, and finally schedule that much needed manicure! I looked at myself in the mirror and declared the vision a mess and vowed to do something about it.

Self-confidence gone, replaced by self-criticism.

What happened there?!?!?!

How can one show inspire me to greatness and another inspire a leg wax?

It doesn't seem right.

And yet, it's exactly how I think.

Just thought I'd share. :)

Oh, and don't think I'm not using my Blockbuster coupon to rent The Hills seasons, because I so am! And I don't apologize for it.

I simply have to know what happened between Heidi and Lauren!

Kate's BakeShop

Those who know me know that I love to bake.

I bake what I love.

I love to bake what I love.

You get the idea.

Me and baking...we are friends.

And in honor of that love I've started a little, tiny, new-born-baby, side business.

It's called Kate's BakeShop.

Cute, no?

I'm doing cupcake catering and loving absolutely every single crumbly moment of it!

And one day I'm hoping my tiny, baby business will grow into a full blown grown up business for me. Cupcakes every day!!

To that end I've started a blog, solely dedicated to baking. I'll still probably use this blog for Leonard Life updates, but all my baking stuff will be here:

CUPCAKES AWAIT YOU!

Read on readers!

Dear Santa,

It's here, it's here, get the door!

Christmas is just around the corner.

As a matter of fact, I just checked.

It's exactly 38 days from today!

A combination of horror and excitement just shot through me.

How about you?

So I thought it might be fun to whip out a little Christmas list.

A wish list if you will of all the fun products that are just waiting on the store shelves for Santa to pick out, wrap up and place under the tree for me.

That's assuming that our tree is still standing at that point and two naughty cats haven't leaped into it sending it crashing to the floor.

Let's assume.

And because I really am 85 years old and would love nothing more than to hang around my house in my pearls and apron all the live long day, I want this beauty!



Look how shiny and vintage!! Love, love, LOVE!

Makes me want a smoothie right now.

And then because there might be a few molecules of my DNA that are girlie and adore anything feminine and delicate, with just a hint of weird or edge...I love this shop:

Peaches4me's on etsy.

Go there and look at this lovely item (and others of course!) Don't steal my necklace...get your own!



Of course, all those vintage-inspired modern pieces made me think of my favorite-can't-afford-always-covet-never-actually-buy store.

One word.

Anthropologie.

Some day, after I've won the lottery I don't play, I'm going to shop at this store at will. I'm going to buy something in season, not on final clearance, and not feel bad about it. And still pay my mortgage.

Some day.

But until that day, let's just gaze together at the beauty that is that store. Shall we?

Because I'm a freeze baby who itches like a mad-woman in wool. Only cashmere and cotton in this beauty. Love-er-ly!



Are the buyers for this store stealing in to my dreams and nabbing all the beautiful things I wish for?? This couldn't be any more perfect for me if it had my name written across the front. Ooh, and incidentally I'm not a fan of things with my name inscribed across the front, so maybe don't put that on the list! :)

It's an apron...as lovely as any dress I've ever owned. An apron. Sigh.




Making my home look like Anthropologie?

Yes, I will have some of that. Just about the most adorable tea towels ever.

I'm not wiping up cupcake batter with these birdies!





And last, but certainly not least.

This list wouldn't be complete without a nod to cupcakes. The love of my life, behind my husband, dog, cats, and family members...oh, and my Kitchen Aid stand mixer.

Ok, so ONE of the loves of my life.

Ah, little cupcake.

Have I got a treat for you.

Your very own pedestal.



A queen on her throne.

Happy Shopping!

Back at it!

Hello friends!

It's been too long.

And I've been a bad blogger girl.

I'm sorry for the delinquency. So...very...sorry.

I will not bore you with the silly reasons why I've been too busy to blog.

I will simply implore you to read the above apology as many times as it's necessary to forgive me and then simply move on.

I'm going to.

Come with me!

First, let me say THANK YOU to Ben for fixing my sad, broke-down, pathetic excuse for a blogger layout!

I Thank you Ben!

My 3 followers Thank You Ben!

And Scene.

Chapter Two.

Guess what?

I've been baking. Oh, have I been baking!

My latest yumscrumptiousness was a double layer pumpkin cheesecake with a gingersnap crust and a homemade caramel topping.

Yes, dear ones, you want some of that. Believe me. Even those of you on a diet NEED some of that.

I am proud of that little creation.

More so because I managed to conquer homemade salted caramel with nary a tear or blood stain. Remember the post about Salted Caramel Frosting? It wasn't pretty!

But I went. I swirled. I conquered.

It was truly a Christmas miracle come early.

And now that I am confident in my caramel-making skills I will be playing with that sweet little recipe every chance I get!

Sadly there are no pictures of my beautiful cheesecakey creation. And the reasons are three-fold.

1. Our camera hasn't really been the same since we dropped it in Mexico. RIP trusty camera.

2. My hubby's male co-workers dug in, devoured it and cleaned it up in a span of less than 20 minutes.

3. Ok, so maybe the reasons were two-fold. But that just didn't seem right!

Anywho,

I'll be baking a lot in the coming weeks (parties, and holidays, and catering events galore!!) and I promise to snap a few pictures of some of what I throw together.

Until then, I think my next post might be on Christmas gifts. Is it too early to start talking about Christmas?

If so, maybe don't stop back for another few weeks. I have a feeling it's going to jolly, and merry and bright around here for a while!

Cheers!

Food Fight!

Salted Caramel Frosting is not the boss of me.

At least, not anymore.

You see, SCF (as I like to call him) and I had a little fight.

There were some words exchanged.

And a bitter smell was emitted (the fault of SCF, not mine, thank you very much).

And a burned pan of salted caramel disgustingness (it's a word!) was washed down the sink with what I'm sure was an overload of hot water and dish soap.

But I've calmed down now.

I've made peace with the gooey, charred disaster.

And I'm ready for a re-match.

It's sad, because it all started out so nicely.

There was this Skippy-tastic pan of peanut butter batter. I definitely licked the spoon...twice.

And then they emerged from the oven. Ahh, peanut butter goodness, with a domed top!

There are a few smells in life that make me truly happy. Peanut butter baking in my oven is one of them.

Then (and I don't have a picture of this), Ms. Martha Stewart provided me with the most divine marshmallow filling recipe that didn't include the words 'marshmallow fluff' and thus made me exquisitely happy!

I added ingredients, I stirred, and stirred, and stirred. And Voila! Fluffy, ooey, gooey, marshmallow goodness with just the right hint of vanilla. Mmmmmm.

I scooped all that white fluffy goodness into a piping bag, used the 'coning' method to remove the centers of my cupcakes (look it up, you'll thank me!), and piped it right there into the center of my pb cuppies!

And this is where the tragedy happened.

My amber colored sugar that was supposed to turn into caramel quickly turned to more of a cherrywood, and then, straight to black. And the smell!

Oh people!

May I suggest that you NEVER burn caramel in your house! Take my word on this one.

Anyways, one more failed attempt at my own, never-fail caramel recipe had me saying goodnight to my kitchen (dirty dishes and all) and waiting for the new day to provide a new solution.

And did it ever!

A quick peek into my fridge at 5:30 am told me I had some peanut butter cream frosting left over from my last baking adventure. And my cupboards produced some salted peanuts and caramel candies.

I cheated by melting the caramels in the micro with a bit of milk, smashed the heck out of the peanuts with a butcher's knife, and threw the whole mess on top of the pb frosting.

Perfection!

Now, I didn't actually get a taste of these lovelies, but I've heard from reliable sources (boys!) that they were yum-my.

To you, Salted Caramel Frosting, I say: Well played, but we shall meet again! I declare a food fight!

Just a quick one...

I am writing out of pure desperation.

And a little bit of peer pressure.

I haven't posted a blog in almost a month.

A MONTH! And I've heard from several of you that you've been checking.

I'm sorry. Truly I am.

September ran away from me.

But not before smacking me in the face and giving me the finger.

I feel like I've accomplished nothing! And with October less than 12 hours away I will be glad to say a hearty good riddance to September.

Now, September brought our first wedding anniversary and an absolutely FANTASTIC (with a capital F!) honeymoon/anniversary vacation in Mexcio. And for that I feel truly blessed and am VERY thankful.

However, the old "To Do" list is laughing at me and sneering at the number of things unchecked.

Dirty little "To Do" list!

Life changes, transitions, and 3 jobs seem to be getting in the way of writing...and baking.

But don't worry, I promise to be back at it soon.

Wanna' know when? Tonight!

I am making individual Cookies N Cream Cheesecakes for a little girly get-together at my place tomorrow.

Mmmmm...smooth, creamy cheesecake, wrapped around chocolatey sandwich cookie bits. And there will probably be a chocolate ganache drizzle. Because why wouldn't there be?

How is that ever bad??

It's not I tell you. It's cream-tastic!

And I'm thrilled to be baking again...and blogging again!

Welcome back!

Exciting Transitions!

I simply cannot believe that it's the first Thursday of September!

That's fall people.

Fall.

As in, apple picking, and pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, and spice cookies, and apple turnovers.

Why am I not in the kitchen right now!?!?!

Anyways, September is a month of transitions in the Leonard home.

Exciting, scary, life-changing transitions.

NOT baby transitions. Don't even go there!

More on that later.

But for now know this.

Fact: My blog template is still black.
Fact: Several of you have very nicely suggested that it's an easy fix.
Fact: Several of you are WRONG.
Fact: The layout tab on my blogger account is missing. Yep, missing. I somehow deleted it.
Fact: I am creating a new template, from scratch as we speak, er...type...and read.

Those are the facts.

Soon, very soon this blog will be no more and you will be directed to a fancy new blog with updated photos (already taken!) and a streamlined layout.

All about cupcakey goodness!

And other baking goodness, of course!

And you and others will have a sneak peak inside my tiny-cake world...and even the chance to sample some of my new creations.

The latest test?

Chocolate cupcakes with ripe raspberry filling, dipped in dark chocolate ganache and topped with vanilla buttercream frosting.

I'm not gonna lie. They were pretty stinkin' fantastic.

Like, lick my plate clean fantastic.

Like, have a cupcake for breakfast a mere 9 hours after the last cupcake fantastic.

And here's just a teaser.

My next creation is based on the Pearson's Salted Nut Roll.

Seriously, just go on a diet now.

Keep watching. I'll post again soon.

Right after I figure out how to work Photoshop!