Peanut Butter Kiss Cookies

Mike requested I make one of his favorite cookies - peanut butter Kiss cookies, with dark chocolate Hershey Kisses.

Of all the interesting desserts I have made and brought home from school, Mike still loves the cookies I've been able to make since middle school.

The homey, sweet smell of peanut butter cookies baking in the oven weaved its way through the apartment this beautiful Saturday evening. The chocolate began melting, giving off a beautiful sheen as soon as it was submerged in the warm cookies.

And I took comfort in the fact that even the most basic recipe, a recipe that requires no fancy ingredients or the most expensive chocolate, was enough.

Enough to be requested over all the recipes I could prepare, enough to provide a moment when, with that first bite, we both let out a collective, "Mmmmmmmmm."

Lilies & Pearls Birthday Cake

While I wasn't working my day job or night job this week, I busy at work in my little kitchen, creating a custom birthday cake.

This cake was designed and created for a co-worker, and close friend, who is celebrating the birthday of her younger brother's girlfriend.

A large, but delicate bouquet of calla lilies adorned the top of the baby blue cake. A quilting effect was used on the sides, embellished with pearl dragees.


The cake was finished with large pearls enrobed around the bottom. The requested flavor of the cake was chocolate with chocolate-hazelnut buttercream.

Banana Bread

The coffee is brewing as I slice into a fresh loaf of banana bread.

The weekend is over tomorrow, which makes me sullen. I feel trapped in my job. Sometimes I don’t think I will ever see the day when I can leave it for good.

Keeping up this schedule each week is exhausting and I can see the toll it is taking in the dark circles under my eyes, visible through my fair skin.

My mind races with my never-ending “To Do” list. So many things I have to put off for another day, another week.

I want to take an hour-long bubble bath, extra bubbly, with Michael Buble serenading me. I want to revisit the lingering lunch Mike and I shared, way back in January, in a cozy restaurant with good food, good beer and snow falling outside. I want to sit on the porch in Virginia with a big glass of wine and my family around me.

Breathe.

I sit and take a sip of coffee, a bite of banana bread. Mike joins me. For five minutes, all of my worries are forgotten.

Slacking, Somewhat

I know I have been slacking on updating my blog, but I like to think this is with good reason.

If life was not already hectic enough, between work, my externship and still trying to have some semblance of a normal, 20-something year old life in Manhattan - I've launched my own website.

Why did I do this, you might ask? Well, as soon as I finished the classroom portion of the ICE pastry program, I was asked to design and produce several custom cakes by co-workers. I loved designing and making cakes during the program - and I was more than happy to fulfill these requests.

But I decided I wanted a place where I could start showcasing my work and direct to-be customers towards in the future.

Thus was born "Dolcetto Confections". "Dolcetto" is my favorite Italian word, which is actually a type of grape, meaning "little sweet one".

It is still very much under construction, but I wanted to introduce you:

http://www.dolcettoconfections.com

Prosciutto & Cheddar Biscuits

Arriving home much earlier than anticipated, due to the date mix-up at Gramercy, I faced a question I had avoided for the last half year - what's for dinner?

I was feeling pretty worn-out from my cold and a little homesick. So it was time for some serious comfort food. I picked-up the ingredients for chicken noodle soup and biscuits on my way home.

As I opened up the refrigerator, I discovered a bit of cheddar cheese and prosciutto left over from dinners the previous week. Hmmmmm.

I shredded up the remainder of the cheese and chopped the prosciutto, adding them to the biscuits just before adding the milk.

They were a yummy variation on an already solid recipe. Cheesy, salty deliciousness.