Christmas Bazaar and Bannock

It is finally the Christmas Season and I am so excited! We all know what that means- more cooking and baking :D! Yesterday was a jam packed day for me (but it also included some awesome food!)

Ultimate Caesar Salad

The other day I was craving Caesar Salad, no idea why. Although I LOVE Caesar, I didn't want the usual one we got from the grocery store- I'm starting to find it very bland. In fact, I'm starting to find a lot of store bought things bland... I completely blame this on my Fine Cooking subscription, my addiction to Foodnetwork Magazine (and TV) and my unemployment (now I have time to search for recipes!). Anyways, I wanted Caesar salad and so decided to search for the best Caesar salad dressing I could find. My search resulted in a HUGE success. I found not only an amazing dressing, but also a recipe for amazing croutons! Unfortunately I wasn't able to snap a picture because I gobbled up the salad within minutes of making it.

"Homemade Sodas", Beef Wellington, and Champagne Chocolates

As I mentioned in my last post, this past weekend was quite exciting with all of the things I made. I'm so sorry I haven't kept up with my blogs, things have been so hectic that I just haven't had time. I'm hoping to "plan" my blog posts better and actually post on a more regular basis. I really want to get back into reviewing cookbooks because I really enjoyed that. I also want to participate in the cooking and baking challenges by Chatelaine and Food Network. I just have to discipline myself better and get better organized. Organization was always a strong suit of mine until I graduate from my Masters program. Now that I'm at home and am just searching for a job, I don't plan my days and so I don't get a lot accomplished.

Recently I've been so busy I haven't been able to cook any new recipes. I'm hoping that this weekend I'll be able to bake something or try out some of the other cookbooks I received on netgalley. It gets so tough to cook meals when you are coming home late every day. This week was sort of a mish-mash of dinners- spaghetti, chicken and salad, a muffin.

French Onion Soup

Every Thursday my family has soup for dinner. Recently I've been trying out new soup recipes and have found some amazing ones. Last week, we decided that we wanted to try to make French Onion Soup. I went online and found this soup by Michael Smith. It sounded really good.

365 Guide New York City

Pumpkin Pie Challenge

My Entry:

Individual Pumpkin Pies with Rum Whipped Cream and
Individual Pecan Tarts

Soup and Bread Cookbook

Seared Scallops with Herb-Butter Pan Sauce

My husband and I have been watching Hell's Kitchen and MasterChef a lot lately and we started to crave scallops and Chef Ramsey's Beef Wellington. I eventually gave in and decided to make scallops. I have yet to get the courage to make the beef wellington, soon I will though... I mean if the kids on MasterChef Junior can do it then so can I, right? Let's hope so!

Finally back in the game

I am feeling much better and now that thanksgiving is over, I'm finally ready to get back in the game. This week I will try to review 3-4 cookbooks, some recipes and maybe some restaurants. I have a lot planned so hopefully I'll be able to do It! Sorry I've been away for so long, being sick and trying to cook and taste food is no fun. Then there was thanksgiving and that was a feat all it's own! 

My brother is getting married in August 2014 and asked me to make his wedding cake/cupcakes. I'm honored but scared s***less! That's a big weight- the wedding cake is like THE thing at the reception!!!!!! This means I am going to have to learn how to make amazing cupcakes (I have awesome tasting cupcake recipes, but I can never get them to all be the same size) and also how to decorate properly. I guess its a good thing I am currently unemployed- I have tons of time to bake! This blog will be the perfect place to post my progress! If anyone has some helpful suggestions please let me know!