Nick and Rachel

aprons

// February 5th, 2010 // 2 Comments » // Rachel, baking

almost a week has passed since the first baking disaster you read about in the previous post. we are slowly nibbling at the bits and pieces of cupcakes, but it could take awhile. i did bring a few to work on monday to share with co-workers, but only had a few takers. maybe i’ve had one too many (cupcakes, not drinks people), but now i don’t think they taste good. is that something that happens when you eat too many or is it that they’re kind of old?

anyway, moving on.

i thought maybe what kept me from baking well was the fact that i didn’t use an apron. logical right? so i hopped onto etsy remembering i had saved some cute aprons to my favorites. i think i would be a much better baker if i was wearing one of these?

these are from {city girl aprons}. she has tons of fabrics to choose from, but i’m a big fan of this one. it’s like wearing a dress while baking. fantastic!

how adorable are these matching mother daughter aprons from {creative chics}?

wouldn’t mariah and i look fantastic in them? i mean hers might be a little big now, but she’s grow into it soon right?

a few others i like:

1. Felicity Hostess by {Bella Style}

2. Urban Green by {Dianne Designer Aprons}

3.  Full Cotton Purple with Flounce {FeedMe Fabric}

4. Apron with Frills – Lemon {wonderlandavenue}

the death of chocolate

// January 31st, 2010 // 2 Comments » // Motherhood, Rachel, baking

as you might remember from {this post}, i set a goal to bake once a month. i set this goal because i’m NOT a baker. AT ALL. i want to improve my baking skills, and being a mother now i feel its imperative that i learn.

so on friday afternoon… don’t judge me for waiting until the 29th to bake decide what to bake… as i read {the pioneer woman}’s latest cooking entry {life by chocolate} i knew that’s what i needed to bake first. dark chocolate cupcakes. i’ve baked cakes before, so no problem. that’s what i thought.

i was supposed to make these:

look how delicious!

so, i got everything i needed and got to work this afternoon. i decided to photograph along the way in the same fashion as pioneer woman.

my lighting isn’t nearly as good, so i had to resort to flash. the cupcakes have a single hershey’s kiss in the center of each one which is supposed to make an ooey gooey center.

the batter tasted delicious, and i couldn’t wait for them to come out of the oven. but i waited. and they came out looking good (but my picture was blurry). i let them cool for 5 minuets as instructed, and then went to take them out.

disaster:

tops came off; bottoms got stuck. a dozen cupcakes now ruined. i figured i’d not sprayed the PAM all over each cup. no worries, i could fix it with the next batch. oh wait, the next batch had been prepped while the first batch was in the oven. too late.

they ended up the same way, although a little more in tact. the final batch i was careful to grease every corner.

still no luck.

disaster.

and the worse part is that i doubled the recipe so i could share with friends and co-workers. now all i have is a mess of ugly, but yummy, cake parts that i can’t frost. you can’t share that with friends. or can you? i just might. because nick and i should NOT be eating the remnants of 36 cupcakes.

the only thing i guess i should have done was flour the pan. but the directions did not instruct me to do so. now i’ve got beef with pioneer woman. i’ll be sharing this with her.

any suggestions for next month’s baking project? my only requirement is that  it has to be completely from scratch. maybe i’ll try something in the bread category. i’ll be sick of chocolate by next month.