earth to victoria

Nothing fancy, but this was a last minute request for the not for profit I volunteer for, Birthday Cakes 4 Free, Middlesex County, Connecticut .  I got this request from a girl's mom who said her daughter wanted a white cake with blue frosting and something nautical themed.  I only had four days, but I think they came out kind of cute. I got almost all my supplies off Amazon Prime.  Everything but the ingredients for the cake and frosting, but Amazon Prime saved me so much time and money and stress because all I had to do was go to my local grocery store instead of also going out of my way looking for craft store supplies, which probably would have left me checking multiple stores, while Amazon had everything in one place with free two day shipping. Anyway, I delivered the cupcakes this morning and the mother who sent in the request was so nice and extremely grateful.  She sent me the sweetest email I just had to screenshot it.  Hope everyone is hav...

A couple weeks ago the volunteer service I run in my area delivered a Thomas the Train cake to a two year old boy in need of a cake for his birthday. I wish I could say I made this beautiful cake myself, but it was one of our volunteers, Gaye.  She did an incredible job decorating this cake, and the family told me it was perfect, tasted delicious! Jayden, pictured above, absolutely loved his birthday cake. His mom sent me this picture along with the sweetest note telling me how appreciative her family is.  I will definitely be using Gaye again as a volunteer for she did such an excellent job. I can't wait for our next adventure, this Saturday I'll be making some nautical themed cupcakes for a teenager's birthday.  I'll be sure to post pictures to show how they come out!

Today I made one of my yummiest masterpieces yet; a raspberry, brie cheese, and mango habanero pizza!   I was kind of lazy, just decided to use a store bought pizza dough instead of making my own, but once I laid out the dough and created a good crust, using my brand new pizza pan from the pampered chef, I laid out some of Sidehill Farms' special mango habanero jam.  This is what the jam looks like. I first bought it at my local grocery store, but then decided to place an order with the Vermont store itself on their webpage. The jam is spectacular! The flavor is excellent and its unlike anything I've ever tried before. After spreading the jam to the uncooked pizza dough I added some brie cheese, fresh raspberries, candied walnuts, and some Rosemary. Next I cooked it in the oven at 425 degrees for ten minutes and then broiled it for one minute before it was cooked to perfection.  The mango habanero jam is quite spicy, but the brie cheese, raspberries,...

Okay I eat this multiple times a week because it's literally so good!  I use Justin's Peanut Butter (vanilla or honey or whatever flavor you want, I've even tried almond butter which works great too), organic Stonyfield plain yogurt, and just a touch of honey!  Than I mix it all up and dip apples in it, and sometimes eat it just with a spoon because that's how good it is.  It's simple, healthy, and taste great!  Literally my go to snack whenever I'm home. I'm trying to make a lifestyle change, the cliche trying to 'get healthier' and be healthier.  I'm not looking so much for weight loss, even though that's an added plus, but what I really want is to finally tone up.  My entire life I've always killed myself with cardio and would wonder why I never looked that great.  Well now I know why, so that's my goal, get healthier and leaner. 

Last Tuesday I went to a local salon in Connecticut and changed my hair, after about four years of having the exact same hairstyle, long blonde layered haircut with blunt bangs.   I had my hair done by Andrea at Mia's Hair Salon in Cromwell, Connecticut.   It came out better than I could have imagined.  I absolutely love it and I get nonstop compliments on it. Here's some before and after pictures from their Instagram. I'm not sure how long all keep my hair this color, most likely not another four years, but I'm so happy I finally changed my hair and tried something fun.   This was something I had on my bucket list to do before I turn twenty five. Next time I'm planning on doing blue! 

This past Thanksgiving I made a new appetizer that everyone went crazy for, cranberry walnut brie crostinis with a maple sugar glaze.  Ingredients: 1 cup homemade cranberry sauce (I did this with one bag of whole cranberries, about 4T orange juice, and 1/4 cup of sugar. I made this on the stove and had a lot extra that we used for Thanksgiving dinner.)  1 loaf of baguette bread, thinly sliced 1/2 pound wedge of brie cheese, warmed 1/2 cup chopped walnuts 1/4 cup brown sugar, for sprinkling  Maple Sugar Glaze 3T pure Canadian maple syrup (leftover from my recent Canadian vacation!) 3T brown sugar Directions: First thinly chop a loaf of baguette bread and arrange it on a sheet pan.  Toast bread in oven for about ten minutes on 350F just until crispy. While bread is in the oven, start the maple sugar glaze. Over a stove top on low heat cream the maple syrup and the brown sugar together until smooth. Set aside. Next take bread out of...

My boyfriend and I decided to make a savory pie out of some leftover pie dough we had in the freezer.  Basically we made a pizza in a pie crust.  First we cut up fresh tomatoes and tried to dry them off as much as possible, because we didn't want a soggy pie bottom.  We laid the semi dry tomato pieces on the bottom of the pre-made pie crust and then added a pinch of sea salt and onions, green peppers, orange peppers, yellow peppers, garlic, and jalapeños, but honestly you can added whatever your heart desires.   After we mixed Munster cheese and mozzarella with a 1/3 of a cup of mayo so all the cheese would stick and stay together.  Next we smoothed the cheese and mayo mixture over the pie as even as possible and sprinkled Parmesan cheese on top and baked for 30 minutes at 350F. The pie came out excellent.  The only advice we got was to next time maybe add some chicken or turkey or some kind of meat to make it more filling and more of a meal. ...