This is a story I should've written down a few years ago, because it is one that I never want to forget. It is my favorite Christmas miracle. My first ever clinical experience in grad school was at our in-house preschool autism therapy program. Each group had 5 grad student clinicians and 5 kids, so we would each be assigned to one. The supervisor...
Having dinner with my previous manager and co-worker this week made me realize how much I miss all my old clients! I was so thankful they could update me on how they're doing. I especially miss my little ones, and of course the nonstop bubbles, Play-Doh and Candyland. It's been a definite adjustment working at a high school. Everyone thinks I am one...
I had the honor of standing by my dear sister Helen on her wedding day, as well as making her wedding cake and favors. It was truly a joy to show them my love & support through baking. Congratulations Helen & Daniel! For favors, Helen wanted to give her guests red velvet cookies. It was my most large-scale baking project, but it was...
When my friends asked if I would bake their wedding cake, I was so excited that I could bless them in my favorite way! They began dating freshmen year of college, and they were both in my small group. They both taught, encouraged, and inspired me greatly with the maturity of their faith and their genuine love for Christ. After hastily agreeing to...
adapted from smittenkitchen makes ~28 cupcakes I have wanted to make these peach cupcakes for years and finally tried them out! They were baked for an annual church BBQ back in September. I was going to bake something pumpkin-y but wanted to hold onto summer for one last weekend. They turned out to be perfectly light and not too sweet. Ingredients: 3 c...
adapted from My Baking Addiction makes 24 cupcakes Ingredients: 1 c cake flour 1/4 c unsweetened cocoa powder 1/2 t salt 2/3 c vegetable oil 3/4 c sugar 1 egg 1 t vanilla extract 2 T red food coloring 1/2 c buttermilk 1/2 t baking soda 3/4 t white vinegar Steps: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 12 cupcake wells with paper liners...
adapted from annie's eats makes 24 large squares I have an obsession with rice krispies treats. I made these twice within a few days--first pink/original ones for my friend Helen's bridal shower and then cocoa/original for her birthday! Ingredients: 4 T butter, divided 1 ½ oz. dark chocolate, finely chopped 1 T cocoa powder 4 c mini marshmallows (or 40 regular marshmallows), divided 6...
adapted from smittenkitchen makes 1 10" tart The past few months have been filled with wedding baking, which is extra joyful! This was a fruit tart for my friend Cass's engagement! Ingredients: 37 gingersnap cookies, coarsely broken (about 9 oz./3 1/4 c plus 2 T) 6 T unsalted butter, melted 8 oz. mascarpone cheese 6 oz. cream cheese, room temperature 1/4 c sour...
adapted from melskitchencafe makes 9x13 pan Lemon bars are a lot more work than they seem, but they are the perfect summer dessert. It took a whole dozen eggs and juicing a lotttt of lemons. But it was all worth it, because these were made for my dear friends' wedding day! With the excitement of the day, I forgot to take a picture...
I've been catching up on a lot of blog posts, because I quit my job a week and a half ago! It has truly been a blessing to have the time to do all my faves! ...simple things like spending quality time with God and friends, hosting people, learning Spanish, reading, mailing packages, cooking and baking to the max. A friend joked that...
I wanted to experiment a little with fondant before making a wedding cake (so inspired when my friend Janny said she made her own fondant!), but didn't want to waste the fondant, so I made toppers for these cupcakes that were for our church's brothers appreciation. After making Mario themed decorations, all those cute stars and clouds and my favorite! Toad!! was stuck...
I've never cared much about how desserts looked, as long as they tasted good. But baking for Cake4Kids makes me want to learn how to decorate, because the design of the cake is the first thing the child sees and likely remembers. It can really make a child feel special, excited, and loved, even if just for a moment, and that is worth...
adapted from I Am Baker makes a 9" (diameter) x 3" cheesecake For my best friend's birthday, I made her favorite--blueberry cheesecake! (Sorry for the poor picture quality! That does not look delicious at all.) We've had to maintain our friendship cross-country for the past 2 & 1/2 years (thank God for synched google calendars and our psychic link!), and I've missed her last...
An update to a previous post: If you asked me a year ago, I would've said, "I'm never going to work with someone who stutters. It's not my thing." I don't know why. I just thought stuttering was so rare and so difficult to treat. No one even knows the definite cause of it! I would just do my best to steer clear...
Fact: I have the best brother in the world. On this Easter morning, I decided to finally put our new Kitchen Aid stand mixer to use! I have been dreaming of this mixer for the past 6 years (right). Pictured on the left is my brother pretending to bake and our mixer from the 70's. I wanted to make something that couldn't be...
Last fall, I stumbled upon an organization called Cake4Kids that gathers volunteers in the Bay Area to deliver homemade birthday cakes to youth in the foster care system. Their goal is to never miss a child's birthday, to make their day special, and to ultimately to remind each child of his or her worth. It's been an interesting experience so far. The first...
adapted from Flour Bakery Cookbook 8x8" pan or loaf pan Flour Bakery was one of my favorite places in Boston. It's such a cute cafe, with its chalkboard menu, the cutest bathroom (no joke), and delish sticky buns. Reading through the cookbook made me so nostalgic. I can't wait to make the sticky buns and bring a little bit of Boston to the Bay,...
adapted from Lovin' From the Oven makes an 8x8" cake This is the healthiest baked good ever. Whole wheat, oil-free, low in sugar, high in fiber. And it tastes freakin' gooood. Wanting to use up the leftover canned pumpkin from the pumpkin cheesecake, I made this pumpkin bread for my brother and I for breakfast. Since it was just for us, it was...
adapted from Kicked Up Cookie Recipes makes 9x13" cheesecake This is my favorite cheesecake of all time. One of my patients mentioned that she had never eaten cheesecake before and wasn't sure if she'd like it, so I promised to make it for her. And not just any cheesecake, pumpkin cheesecake. Not playin' around here. It was originally for Thanksgiving, which was delayed until...
adapted from Baked Perfection makes ~36 cookies These are possibly my favorite cookies, right after the classic chocolate chip. I'm obsessed with everything about this cookie: the chewiness, the toasted marshmallows, the graham crackers incorporated in the dough. Ingredients: 1 3/4 c all purpose flour 1 c graham cracker crumbs 1 t baking soda 1 t salt 1 c (2 sticks) butter, softened...
adapted from Lovin' From the Oven makes ~2 dozen It is always such a blessing to get together with college friends. We celebrated one of my closest girls' birthday yesterday! As we reminisced a little, we remembered that 4 of the 5 of us there last night had been in the same small group in our freshman year of college. I still remember...
Today is the 3-month mark of my Clinical Fellowship (9 months in total), as well as the FIRST weekend that I have not been drowning in work! I didn't even bring my work laptop home this weekend which is miraculous. And so...I celebrated by BAKING, of course! It's been forever, so I went a little overboard. After a few hours, the kitchen was...
