Raw food and Paleo?

Any raw foodies out there?

Caveman eaters?

I've been eating paleolithic foods for the past 3 weeks with great success--- I feel so energized and focused. I've lost excess weight and have broken the bonds I've made with food! Funny isn't it, coming from a person who loves to bake sugary sweets?!

Paleolithic eating is fruits, veggies, lean meats, and some nuts. No grains, no dairy, very few eggs. I realize this is the version I am doing and there are lots of variations. I've found that dairy and grains are my problem.

Life is about connections. I'm tired of connecting only with food. I would eat when I was happy. Eat when I was sad. Eat all the time. Enough! I've been able to make so many more connections and attachments with my emotions by breaking away from food and what I had tied to it.

Give raw food or paleolithic foods a try!

Online Cheesecake Business

I love to bake cheesecake.

I love to watch people eat my cheesecake.

I love to hear people sigh and moan after eating my cheesecake.

There are a few things in life that I'm good at. There are some things I won't ever be good at (whistling and enjoying intense roller coasters). One of the things I know I enjoy and am good at is baking. Specifically, baking cheesecakes is a favorite past time of mine.

Starting a brick and mortar business really isn't a good idea for me right now. With Sam in the military, it's hard to set my roots down in one place. Who knows when we'll be off to another duty location?!

An online business seems viable. An online cheesecake business seems possible.

It is a lot harder than I thought to find the right shipping containers for cheesecakes. I have to find ones that are insulated and contain cool packs or ice packs to keep it from getting all sorts of grody and melted. I am not excited about the prospect of having to pay upwards of $40 for the box alone. I'd have to pass that cost to the customer and on top of shipping and the initial cost of the cheesecake, we're look at a $80 cheesecake. No bueno.

So. I'm in the very early stages of preparing for an online cheesecake business. I very much look forward to seeing where this takes me!

Cookie Oreo Brownie Monster Bar

Honestly, I don't know what to call this thing. It's a bird...it's a plane...NO! It's cookie-oreo-brownie-monster bar! This thing is a heart attack that goes down like sugar. Just a spoonful of sugar wouldn't help the medicine go down after you fall ill from sugar shock.

This is a creation I first found on pinterest.com and had to recreate it. It starts off with a cookie crust, then oreos layered on top of that, and finally covered with brownie. I had to make it all from scratch--I refused to use box mixes or that frozen dough! Oreos I could have made from scratch but it would have called for a box mix to make them so I just used the cookies from the store.

This monster bar tasted great! Next time I think I'm going to add a cheesecake layer on top. Perhaps I'll make my famous oreo balls and layer them over THAT! Whew. That, my friend, is one heck of a dessert.

Music!

http://soundcloud.com/laece/downpour

Check out my music! I've been busy recording the past 6 hours. Fun!

On top of baking, I love to create music. I play the piano, the cello, guitar, and I sing. I'd love to learn the drums one day!

Enjoy!

Rainbow Cake

A rainbow cake is the epitome of joy and culinary delight. It's the merging of unicorn tears and Santa Claus. A wonderful and fantastic treat.

A rainbow cake is a great project for kids and adults alike! Thanks to Martha Stewart and this lovely site for encouraging me!

Simple Rainbow Cake

3 cups all-purpose flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature

2 1/3 cups sugar

5 large egg whites, room temperature

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups milk, room temperature

Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple gel food coloring

Preheat oven to 350

Spray 6 nine inch pans with pam or grease with shortening.

Whip butter and sugar til fluffy.

Add egg whites and vanilla.

Mix together flour, baking powder and salt.

Add flour mixture and milk to butter mixture alternately.

Separate batter into 6 different cups or bowls.

Add gel coloring to each one--whatever colors you'd like.

mix and stir until fully incorporated.

Pour each separate color into a pan.

Bake for about 10-15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Stack and layer with frosting between. If you want it to be nice and even, level the cakes and make sure all the layers are nice and even when you frost.

ENJOY!

Yes!

If you notice, the cake layers are quite thin. This was made by following the recipe and not doubling it. I highly recommend that you double the recipe! To make the cake layers a little more defined, try putting a little more frosting between the layers.

I totally forgot baking powder when I baked this cake.... I won't be doing that again! ENJOY!

Homemade Caramel

Friend! Where have I been, you ask? I reply "Baking furiously for the king."

It sure feels like I've been locked away. Been busy with so many things it's hard to get out anymore!

I haven't shared any baking adventures with you lately, so time to update! I'm caked out. I'd like to perfect peach and apple crisps. However, today it was time to tackle caramel sauce. I have yet to make caramel candies but I imagine it wouldn't be to crazy hard. This caramel is certainly saucy. It thickens as it cools but won't give you a hard candy apple shell. It'll just be saucy caramel-ly (unless you know something I don't about caramel and make it thicker and stickier).

I found the caramel recipe from Simply Recipes.

Homemade Caramel Sauce

1 cup sugar

6 tbsp butter (I used mine cold and didn't have a problem)

1/2 cup heavy cream

(optional: 3 tbsp vanilla extract)

Use a large pan. When you are working with the sugar and also with mixing in the cream and butter, it will bubble up and you don't want a spillover or burns! Be extra careful while whisking this. It needs almost constant whisking. Don't let it spill up onto you or you might scream in terror!!

Assemble ingredients. Put butter in a bowl and cream in a cup. You want it all ready to go because when you need to add them, you need to add them right away and won't have time to go get them from the fridge.

Pour sugar in pan. Use medium to medium high heat. Stir sugar. The whole process to make caramel took about 10 minutes and 8 minutes of it is waiting for the sugar to melt.

Keep stirring. I used both a wooden spoon and a whisk. Once sugar is melted and it's nice and creamy smooth and rich amber color, remove from heat. Immediately whisk in butter and cream by adding them alternately. Whisk like mad. I mean it! Don't let it sit. Whisk whisk. If it looks like it's starting to clump, whisk it even harder. Keep whisking until it's nice and smooth and creamy.

Let it sit until room temp. You could cool it or use it hot. You might have to microwave it if you refrigerate it.

Skewered slices of apples and dipped them in caramel!

Yummy Caramel Apple!

Stir in some peanuts or pecans! Go crazy and sprinkle it with marshmallows or M&M candies! It's quick and yummy. It tastes like a Werther's Original Hard Candy. I highly recommend this recipe. Just be sure to stir and stir and don't let it burn.

Best of luck!

Pax and Ash demolishing a moth

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjWfDa0odAQ

My dumb dogs!