Sophisticated Tastes

Little Guy is quickly approaching the big 5! And while he is still my littlest in size, his taste is growing up quite nicely. He loves Transformers so that became the obvious theme. Then came choosing a cake. Little Guy is much more sure of my talents in the decorating area then I am. Some of the cake designs he was looking at were so over the top, they made me want to curl up in the corner and cry just thinking about how to get a cake to look like that. We finally agreed on an Optimus Prime cake, and thankfully its not one of him standing up! The colors are fairly basic, blue and red, and some silver and black detailing. We went and picked up all the needed fondant, and accessories, ok, I admit I probably went overboard in that area! So last night I was looking at the photo again and realized we had never decided on what the cake flavor would be! It used to be that when I would ask Little Guy a specific question, I would get a very random answer. "Little Guy, what would you like to eat?" and his answer would be "TOASTER!" No, he didn't want toast, he just loved to say random silly things. So yesterday when I asked him what kind of cake did he want, as in taste, I was very surprised when he thought for a minute and then said Chocolate Peanut Butter!
Then came a much harder question, what did he want for his birthday dinner? Of course I eliminated the obvious choice of pizza because it feels like we have eaten that quite a bit lately. I was waiting for Peanut Butter and Jelly because thats what he wants to eat all day long! Instead he shouted MEAT! Ok, well that encompasses a lot of territory. What KIND of MEAT?! Roast. Little Guy wants a Roast, with baby carrots and potatoes, corn on the cob, rolls, and a Chocolate Peanut Butter cake.
Ah, almost 5, and my Little Guy is becoming a Gourmand!

More Then Meets The Eye....

So far, I have spent this morning cleaning. And you would think that as much time as I spend picking up, and cleaning, this house would be spotless! But I guess when you have 3 kiddos who are still learning the fine art of cleaning up after themselves, thats not going to happen anytime soon!
This week I have been pretty busy, and its only Tuesday. Posh is finally starting to get noticed again. Its hard work getting it back on its feet. I have had a few emails of people looking for quotes as well as my first international intern applicant! This sweet girl from France wants to intern with Posh Celebrations and learn how to be a Wedding Planner. Which I have to say kind of cracks me up. From the very beginning, I have always seemed to attract a wealth of job applicants! Or girls calling to be my intern. When we lived in Jacksonville, it was a weekly thing. Resumes coming in the mail, big thick ones that these girls had put time and effort and money into. Now if only I had that many clients pounding down my door! I just have to find the trick to flip that.
My Little Guys birthday party is Saturday, he has requested a Transformers one. A few weeks ago him and I sat down and looked up cakes online. I tried to only show him ones I thought I could manage. And yet I am STILL scared! Hopefully it will at least look passably like the picture! I wasn't planning on doing much decoration wise, a big helium Transformer Balloon, maybe a few streamers, and if we came across one, a Pinata. But when I was looking the other day around online, I came across this site that went into great detail of this Transformers Party a girl had thrown for her boyfriend (I bet he was VERY grateful!) It had some great ideas! So now, there will be red and blue balloons all over the basement floor, a pinata, streamers, and I think I might make a collage on one of the walls of lots of pictures of Transformers. Now if I can only find someone to take the kiddos out of the house so all that can happen....

The Best Thing I Ever Ate

Which is saying quite a bit, because I eat a lot! If I was going to be on Food Network, and someday I will be! I would be talking about this dish....

Smoked Mozzerella and Sundried Tomato Risotto, with Panseared Flank Steak. This was AMAZING! Seriously. The flavor was right on. I didn't have any shallots on hand, so I used red onion. It was still delicious but I think next time I will use shallots and caramelize them. Make sure that you also get a good quality smoked mozzerella, it really rounds out the risotto. Is it wrong I want to warm up my leftovers already and eat them now?

For the steak, I heated up about 2 tblsp of butter on high heat, so that it bubbled up and started to brown a bit before I tossed the Flank Steak on the pan. And seared it quick! And then let it rest for like 10 minutes. Oh it was SO good!! Definitely will be making this again in the very near future...

Why do I feel like I suddenly have nothing good to say?! This morning, I randomly went to my email because I need to get in contact with someone about an image for my new business cards. And saw to my great surprise that I had 2 NEW comments!! Woo hoo! There are new (are you new?) readers!
I was so excited to come and post something for you all to read! So far, I have written and deleted 2 times. Oh the pressure....
This week I put all my effort into working on new plans for the Bakery, which of course made everything else I do fall to the wayside. The house managed to remain standing inspite of my best efforts to ignore the mess. Truly, I can't let it go, I have a supergirl complex. I SHOULD be able to clean, do laundry, take care of my kiddos, cook delicious meals and desserts, and fullfill every other obligation I may have for that week. As well as find time to workout, find better ways to market both my businesses, network, and meet with clients! Doesn't mean it all happens though....
Right now I am super blessed because a good friend of mine, who is in school at the moment for a business degree is helping me with marketing ideas, and has really given me some FANTASTIC! stuff. Honestly, I can't wait to see how it all plays out, get some new clients and finally be able to offer my workshops I have planned.
Cooking wise, I jumped in feet first and made Bouef Bourguinon. What a process that was! Really, if you should decide to make this dish, its super time consuming. Since the Pearl Onions (I used shallots!) and mushrooms can be made ahead of time, I started those around lunchtime. The entire dish wasn't ready to eat until about 8pm! Of course, by that time, I was so hungry, I decided to eat a piece of leftover pizza beforehand. Along with it, you can prepare potatoes or buttered noodles. The whole process was so exhausting it just didn't happen that night. I did try a little of it, but wasn't too terribly impressed. It was pretty good, but not spectacular. The next night I decided to try it again, this time with the noodles. OH I am SO glad I did! I guess letting it sit overnight in the fridge let all the flavors really come together. It was SO YUMMY!! And the shallots I used in place of the Pearl Onions were amazing. I had cooked them in some butter very quickly over high heat, then braised them in some white wine. So worth it!! If any of you are interested in the recipe, I would be happy to put it in another post.
Oh,I believe I promised you all a link to my baking with Pillsbury adventure! Its called Little Miss Bakes A Lot! I think today I am going to make something out of the Chocolate one. Purely for testing purposes of course...
The other place I blog is here Look out for a name change there though. The name Little Miss Bakes A Lot has recieved a ton of good comments, so I am going to change the name of the Bakery to it!
I can't wait to hear what you all think!