Kitchenaid stand mixer

I would love to own one of these: 

My employer has one at work and I have used it on a regular basis.  And I LOVE it!!  It is brilliant to have if you are doing any baking.  The down side is the obvious cost, they are very expensive but worth every penny.  I would love to start doing more baking at the weekend for me and my friends and this would help out alot.  Plus if I had this mixer in MY kitchen it would make me want to bake more often :)  
So I think I am going to start saving.  But in the mean time I am going to enter as many giveaways that I can.  So I did a google search for giveaways and there are alot! Apart from hoping I win, my only other thought is how do all these people get a FREE MIXER to giveaway??  Do they e-mail Kitchenaid about how much they love their mixer and that they would love to share this love with a giveaway?  Or do Kitchenaid have a team of people reading blogs and whoever gives a fantastic review gets a free mixer?  If I get lots of followers on this blog then will I get one?  Maybe there is a secret mixer society and one day you just wake up and there is a mixer at your doorstep?
Who knows, all I know is that I would really, REALLY, REALLY like one...............a green one (they are fab Kitchenaid people........if you are listening) 

bake sale

Little J had a Halloween bash at school yesterday and they had a bake sale.  I decided to sign up to bake something as I love to bake/cook.  I made cupcakes and an 8" vanilla cake.  I wish I had taken some photos of the cake, but was a little rushed in getting it finished.  I recently bought two professional 8' cake pans and used them for the first time.  Loved the way my finished cake looked nice and tall, like you would see in a shop! Here is a link to the cake I made:

http://obsessedwithfabric.blogspot.com/2011/08/vanilla-cake.html

I am sure I will make it again and I promise to take photos then :)  Was a little worried that no one would buy my cake as I was the only one who make a whole cake!  In Scotland when you have a bake sale most people make a cake, a pie, a tart or a loaf!? Anyway little J's dad got there early and saw that my cake was on sale for $10.  When he went back a little later it was gone hurrah :)  He also said someone got a deal with paying only $10 for my cake,  good to know that someone thinks my cakes are worth more!! 

Here are the cupcakes I made.  I found a photo of monster cupcakes online and thought these would be perfect for Halloween.  I also already had the piping tip needed to make these and I bought the candy eyes in the states a few weeks ago.  I don't know how much these were going for, less than $10 tho as J's dad said my cake was the most expensive thing there!  Another deal for the parents of Toronto!!  

Feel free to contact me if you would like me to make you something!!

ghosties are done!!!

My Halloween ceramic is finally done!!  I actually finished it last Saturday, I got up early to go to ceramics class so I could have the tree stump ready for Halloween.  I thought that the tree stump would take a few classes to finish but I had it done in two hours.  The ghosts took three weeks to complete.  Here are a few shots:

This is the stump before Saturday, first you paint it all black and then,

you dry-brush on some colour and hey presto you have a realistic looking tree stump :)  I also made a sign that says "Happy Halloween" and hangs on one of the broken branches (photo of that another time)

And here is the reason I went back to ceramics.  This was the piece that got "lost".  When I was at ceramics this week I was looking at some of her photos and I saw this.  This is the actual piece I painted.  I had taken a photo and given it to Cathy.  She says it is still available to get, so next year this is what I will be making or maybe I should just get it now!  Would HATE to see it go and not be able to get it next year.  Don't you LOVE it tho?  I do

So now I am working on something for a special friend for Christmas:

I have until November 28th to get it done.  That's 4 weeks.  Will post a photo when it's all done.

ceramic update

It is week three at my ceramics class and here is what my ghosts look like.  It might not look like much after the third class, but I only have two hours to paint and the time really does fly!  Last week all I did was dry brush them white, this week their waistcoats and ties were painted.  Next week I should get them finished :)  I just have to paint their eyes, nose buttons, add some sparkles (I love sparkles!!) and maybe add some dry brushing to the waistcoat for more depth.  But that will depend on the time.  Then I have to finish the tree stump they stand on.  Fingers crossed I get that done before Halloween.  

Look what I'm making

When I first came to Canada I took ceramic classes.  I find it quite relaxing, just concentrating on painting and nothing else.  I have made quite a lot of pieces, most I have given away to people and a few pieces are in Scotland.  I did keep one for myself (will post photos of it once I get it out of storage for Christmas) but I wanted to make a few Halloween items to replace ones that I had lost during a move with a family I used to work for.  These will be for me :)  So on Tuesday I went back to Cooksville Ceramics.  Cathy, the owner, is lovely.  She remembered me after nearly 3 years being away!  She asked me what I was looking to paint and this is what I chose:

I know it doesn't look like much right now but in a few weeks it should look like this:

I can't wait to get it done!!  After this piece maybe some more Halloween and then it's on to Christmas. Hurrah :)  Will keep you updated on my progress in the coming weeks.

Thunderstorm

Last week we had a major thunderstorm in Toronto.  It was amazing!!  The lightning was just bolt after bolt after bolt it was continuous.  One crazy lightning show.  There wasn't much thunder but when there was they were quite long rumbles.  There was even a tornado warning in the burbs (so glad I live in Toronto now!)
I am fascinated with lightning, I don't know why I just am.   I was babysitting that night and was eager to get back to my apartment on the 23rd floor to get a perfect view of the light show.  But as usual by the time I got back home the lightning had subsided.  I really wanted to get a photo of some lightning, I have tried in the past but either got bored waiting or the lightning had passed.  I tried for 30 mins to get some good photos, alot of them were just of black sky, but i did manage to get these:

Every single time it hit the CN tower.  I am very proud with the photos and all taken with my basic camera.  Just think what I could have taken if i had a professional camera!

Vanilla cake

All week I have been craving cake. Every now and then I love to have a slice of cake, just a slice. I can't justify making a whole cake for myself as then I would have to eat it all and that just ain't happening!! However my employers do love some cake :) And today was my 2 year anniversary with the them so a cake was in order.

A while ago someone on facebook posted a link to this cake, a rainbow doodle cake. The website is http://sweetapolita.com/

Would love to make this for little J's birthday next year.

I had read some of the posts and remembered that Rosie had some lovely cakes. I looked this morning and found a vanilla cake with vanilla frosting. I checked to see if we had all the ingredients and we did :) So little J and I got to work and made the cake. My employer doesn't bake so I didn't have two 8" cake pans but I did find two pans that i could use and I hoped for the best. She does however have a kitchen aid mixer, an integral part to this recipe.

So here it is, my cake.

I always worry when I try something new as a few times I have tried a new recipe and it tastes yucky. But this was delicious!! It was fluffy, light and not too sweet. I will defo be making this again. It wasn't too hard and Rosie gives very good instructions on every post. Here is the link if you would like to make one. I highly recommend you do.

http://sweetapolita.com/2011/07/fluffy-vanilla-cake-with-whipped-vanilla-bean-frosting/