Wild Animal Sanctuary

This is yet another post not about baking, but I don't care. Today was a really cool day. My family, (aunt and uncle, grandparents and my parents) and I went on a trip up the this Wild Animal Sanctuary. It is this place that rescues carnivores such as lions, tigers and bears. (most recently the Bolivian Lions. All of these animals were kept in different conditions and most had never lived in the wild. They were rescued and brought to this sanctuary. People can go pay $10 to walk on this platform and observe them from a height that does not put stress on them. It was pretty cool to see these animals that actually looked pretty happy.
There were a few different bears in different enclosures that liked playing in the tubs of water.

Twenty-One

Today is my 21st birthday. I have waited for this day to come since I moved from Germany back to the United States. It has been three long years since Germany.
I was excited to go out this morning to one of my favorite breakfast places. We got there and it was packed. I decided that I was too hungry to wait in line to be fed. We went to a different place.
I wanted to get a mimosa with breakfast. They would not give it to me since my drivers license it vertical instead of horizontal. Dumbest reason to refuse a customer. They aren't going to get my business ever again and I'm not going to recommend it to a friend.
Some of my friends tease me about my birthday cake because there were a few years where I made my one birthday cake. This year I requested a Dairy Queen ice cream cake and so I got a Strawberry Cheesequake one. 

After that my mom took me shopping for a present. I wanted to get a new bike because mine is pretty old and doesn't like to be functional. That is why she had to take me with her to get my present. I am short, thus making it difficult to find a bike that works. But we found one that I love! Its pretty and blue, see.

I then went to visit a friend and we went and got tattoos. Not matching ones. I got a whisk and a spoon because I love baking and its a part of who I am and now is a part that other people can see, sorta, I guess. My friend also bought me lunch/dinner at Sonic. It was delicious.
 

Now I'm ready for bed and its not even 8:30. I almost took a nap while A.J. was tattooing my leg.

Finals

This week is been not really hectic, but interesting. I've been jamming as much information into my brain as I possibly can, and I have had a headache all week, well since Sunday. I have four finals total, three that are on the same day and I'm a little worried about, but whatever happens happens and I won't be able to change the outcome. I've done my best at trying to prepare for them. My study break photograph is for this contest.

My cat Lexi feels that studying is a waste of time or that I need to pay attention to her more, I don't know I can't read her mind or speak cat language. Whatever her reason for interrupting my studying it was a nice break.

The Mess

Let me tell you that I make a mess every time I bake something at home, so it happens quite frequently. Tomorrow is the last day of clinicals for my mom, the teacher. I typically make her something to take to the nurses on the last day. Since I made the ultimate brownies, my mom wanted me to make them for the nurses, which brings me to the mess I made today. It has to be the mess of all messes.
For whatever reason I let my dad convince me that all the ingredients (I doubled the recipe so I could make four small pans), would fit into my 5 qt mixing bowl of my kitchen aide. He was really wrong with that. since I doubled the recipe it needed a dozen eggs and 8 cups of sugar, which I put into my bowl and allowed to mix which almost overflowed. I then took the largest mixing bowl that we have and put the flour and cocoa powder in it and filled that bowl up. I spill a bunch of cocoa powder in the process of trying to get it all mixed together. I eventually use the top off of a cake saver as a bowl and that was almost full of brownie mix. One thing that I have learned is how to mix things by hand with your hand, by this I mean sticking your hand into the batter and mixing it. The spatula I was using felt like it was going to break and its my favorite spatula, so I used something that is a lot harder to break.
After I am done actually making the brownies and putting them into the oven I start cleaning up. My mixing bowl (the one off my kitchen aide) was on the counter and got elbowed off. I tried to save it with my leg, since I didn't want to dent the bowl or the floor, it ended up getting some batter all over my leg and on the floor. Next I try to put away the ingredients. I have this habit of throwing my cocoa powder, it belongs on the top shelf of the cabinet, I'm too lazy to get the stool and put it away. Today the cover wasn't all the way on the container, so when I threw it and missed the cap came of. I spilled about half the container on my self, and everywhere else. Do you know how hard it is to clean up cocoa powder? It doesn't really like to be vacuumed up or mopped up. Its a bitch to clean up. I am pretty sure that this is the worst mess I've made in the kitchen, or in a long time at least.


Here is the recipe in case you want to make your own mess with it.
I got it from the website Like They Do. 

Brownies

• 1 1/3 Cup All Purpose Flour
• 2 Cups Cocoa Powder
• 2 Teaspoons Salt
• 6 Eggs
• 4 Cups Sugar
• 1 Teaspoon Vanilla
• 1 Pound 8 Ounces Unsalted Butter, melted
• 12 Ounces Chocolate Chips

Ganache

• 4 Ounces Chocolate Chips
• 2/3 Cups Cream

Method

Brownies

Sift together the flour and cocoa powder. Add the salt. Reserve.

Whip the eggs and sugar to ribbon (light in color and thick). Add the vanilla.

Fold the flour mixture and butter alternately into the whipped egg. Add the chocolate chips.

Pour the batter into a parchment lined (or buttered and floured) 9×13 pan and bake at 350° for 35 minutes, less for a sheet pan.

Let cool.

Ganache

Place the chips in a bowl. Bring the cream just to a boil. Pour the cream over the chips and let sit for a couple minutes. Whisk the mixture together.

I use butter and flour on my pans since I pour the ganache onto the brownies in the pans.

Copper Man Run (or walk in my case)

There is this tumblr that makes may day. Its called Text From Dog and its iPhone conversations between a guy and his dog. It is pretty funny. I guarantee it will make you smile.(if it doesn't make you smile then you are a. heartless or b. not a fan of dogs or humor).

Today was the Copper Man race. It had sounded really fun online when they were talking about it.  We got to dress up as lumberjacks though. (I enjoyed that part the most. I got so many complements on the beard and outfit all together).

We were supposed to be "husband and wife"

 We got bags that had a cool beer mug, a t-shirt, a couple snacks and a cape. I wore mine as a bib, while others let their dog wear it.

When we got up to Copper Mountain we looked at the course and thought we would run through the trees first and continue on. We were wrong. The first part of the course you had to run up a hill, I'm talking a huge freaking hill. Imagine you went skiing or snowboarding and you dropped your glove or hat and it is your favorite glove or hat and you are done for the day. You can see your glove or hat a little ways up the slope you had just come down, so you decided to walk up the hill to get it. It was like that, but much steeper, maybe a little less hard since we did it in combat boots.

we had to run along the slide if you can tell where that is

Once you got up the hill you then slide down it on your ass.  (I got video of mom sliding down on her ass, but mom did not get me sliding down unfortunately...)

We then ran through a bamboo pole forest and crawled through a tube.

 

 Its not a very big bamboo forest, nor was the tube.

We didn't get any pictures that are usable of going in the tube, but people could ski over the tube as you can see.
After the tube we had a little ways with out any obstacles besides the slushy snow/ice of the trail. We then came around a corner and had to climb over hay.

Mom climbed over, I was lazy and didn't

After the hay was another area without obstacles until you get to the beach ball pit.

Which you got to run through and kick the balls and have fun. After that we had to go through a maze/ choose a side. I choose right and won the maze. Mom went the wrong way and then climbed under the fence. After that we had to run for a ways (or walk because my lungs hate me at 9500 feet above sea level). In the forest (the regular one) they had a bunch of string which you had to climb through.

There we are climbing through. Mom got stuck and fell down and hurt her hand a little bit with a few scrapes. I made it through unscathed besides the whole lung issue. After the ropes we then were headed to the finish line and the "giant pit of 'hot' chocolate". (It was neither giant nor hot, thus the quotation marks.)

Mom Crossing the pit

Me crossing the pit

After the pit of hot chocolate there was very little distance to the finish line.

All done with that insane idea. (It was a good idea to me, until I actually got there and started it).


P.S. Mom pointed out to me that I messed up on one thing and that I forget something. Apparently in my oxygen deprived state I mixed up where the maze was at, it was actually after the rope climbing through area. The thing I left out is that we were not in fact last. I think that is a great accomplishment on my part since I wanted to quit around the hay stacks. (We had three people that finished way after we did).
Another thing that I left out but Mom didn't point out to me is that I got hurt before the race even began.  You know those things that you lean your skis up against while you go inside to get some hot cocoa or just to pee? Well at Copper Mountain there are some of those inside in a hallway. I had seen them when we were walking to get a locker, but I got distracted by a guy in a penguin suit. I walked straight into one. Normal people might get away with hitting it at a fattier part of their body, but I'm short and clumsy. I hit it so hard that I felt like I was going to puke from the pain. I did not puke but I did get a nice bruise from it on my bicep/triceps area (upper arm near the shoulder). It actually made my whole arm go numb for awhile.

Sour Cream Blueberry Crumb Cake

This week has been super crazy for me. I had a contract labor job on Thursday and made $80 for about seven hours of work so that was pretty awesome. My brother and his fiance drove in from Kansas City on Wednesday night and got here at about 2am on Thursday. Friday my marketing group had to film a commercial, it turned out better than I thought it would thanks to my brother, his fiance and his fiances sister, who helped us out. I'll post it after we present it to the class.

Since my brother and his fiance were here this weekend we of course had to have everyone over for a big family gathering. In addition to the typical people we also had my brother's fiance's dad here, it was cool to see him again, he's a pretty cool guy. We had a big dinner and celebrated Easter a day early. I made a dessert as usual. This time everybody loved it, normally my Uncle doesn't like cake or frosting, and typically won't eat dessert. He loves blueberries though, and so I was going through one of my many cookbooks I saw a recipe for a coffee cake that had blueberries in it. I instantly knew that he would love it if I put enough blueberries in it (which I did). My main complaint about this recipe is that it uses like five bowls.

I hadn't planned on doubling the recipe. I didn't realize until I had gotten ingredients out that this only made a 9 inch square pan, and we had like 10 people coming over, so I needed to make more than what I was planning. We had enough of everything except sour cream. I being a genius and what not looked up substitutions for sour cream. I choose the yogurt and baking soda combination, for a cup of yogurt you add a teaspoon of baking soda. Which apparently when you mix those two things together it doubles in size, like when you mix baking soda and vinegar, but much thicker.


My brother told me that this was the best dessert that I have ever made. (That he has tasted, because I made a pretty awesome one in plated desserts class that he didn't get to try)

This recipe is coming to you from The Cake Book by Tish Boyle.

Sour Cream-Blueberry Crumb Cake
 Topping
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt (or a pinch)
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Cake
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup fresh or thawed frozen blueberries
1 cup sour cream ( or yogurt with 1 tsp of baking soda)
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
10 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs

Instructions for the topping
In a medium bowl, stir the flour, sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt until the butter is absorbed and the dry ingredients are uniformly moistened. Set aside

Instructions for cake
Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter and flour the bottom and sides of a 9-inch square baking pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt until well blended.
In a medium bowl, toss the blueberries with 1 tbspof the flour mixture until the blueberries are coated; set aside. In a small bowl whisk together the sour cream and vanilla extract; set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and granulated sugar at medium speed until light and fluffy, 4 to 5 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scrapping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. At low speed, beat in the flour mixture in three additions, alternating it with the sour cream in two additions. Using a rubber spatula, fold in blueberries. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a spatula.

Sprinkle the crumb topping evenly over the batter, breaking un any large lumps with your fingers.

Bake cake until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Place the cake in the pan on a wire rack and let cool completely.

Cut the cake into squares and serve from the pan.

  I had doubled the whole recipe which includes the topping. Looking back it seems like a lot of crumb topping and I don't know if I should have doubled the crumb topping because it turned out to be like half topping and half cake. I don't know if that is how the dessert is supposed to be or not. The cake batter would break free of the topping while baking and it would bubble up like the picture shows. Overall a really good cake. It can be either a dessert or a breakfast food. But then again most desserts can be (or at least by my standards) but this one is a coffee cake so it can be better justified in the morning than a huge slice of red velvet with a bunch of cream cheese frosting.

Peaches and Cream

I have a filling that does not like to stay put.I was flossing my teeth like I'm supposed to last night, when all of a sudden one of my back molars really started to hurt. I knew this feeling from somewhere when I realized I somehow pulled the filling off with my floss. Since my dentist isn't open on weekends I have to wait until tomorrow morning at the earliest to find out when I can be seen to get it filled again. This is the second time that this filling as come off in about two months I think. Its been hard eating and drinking things. If it is cold it hurts even if it isn't on that side of my mouth. Even breathing hurts sometimes.
I made an awesome dessert today. It was peaches and cream cake? I don't really know what to call it besides peaches and cream.

Peaches and Cream Dessert
3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 (4 oz) package cook and serve vanilla pudding mix

3 tbsp butter, melted
1/4 cup milk
1 egg

 1 (16 oz) can peaches, drained reserving 1/3 cup, chopped

1 8 oz package cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup reserved peach juice

Take some flour add vanilla cook and serve pudding mix and some baking powder. Mix those together add some melted butter, eggs and milk. Pour into a pan and sprinkle with peaches. Pour cream cheese mixture over top and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Enjoy warm or cold.