9 DAYS 'TIL HOME!

     I'm back! First of all, let me tell you about my obsession with Pinterest. For those of you who don't know what it is, it's this awesome website where you basically pin all sorts of various pictures onto your own bulletin board. It's hard to explain and sounds strange, but it's addicting. There are all KINDS of pictures, including pictures of foods with recipes, DIY projects, outfits, quotes, etc. Anyway, I've been on it every free moment I have, and I've been finding so many recipes that I can't wait to make. It's making me miss baking, so I decided to compile some of my favorite creations into a giant picture and devote a blog post to it...and college. So here it is. 

     I've officially completed my 8th day of college classes. They've been going really well, although I do have quite a bit of work to do. College classes are different that I thought they would be. I had always heard all you had to worry about in college was reading, studying, and cramming the night before the test. I guess I thought every other day could be considered a free day! I was wrong. I have a lot of random assignments and things to do each day...mostly for my journalism class. 

     Anyway, now onto talking about the fun part of college. I really have been meeting so many people, and I've been having such a good time getting involved in Christian ministries such as Wesley, BCM, and soon Sigma Alpha Omega, the Christian sorority at UGA. The food is FANTASTIC. I eat all the time. I hate living in a dorm. Although, if I had to live in one (which I do), my building is by far the best option. I'm very thankful to be living here. My roommate Marisa and I have a constant streaming of Friends on our TV. Literally EVERY time one of us is in the room, Friends is playing. It's pure bliss. It brings happiness to my day and reminds me of home :) Speaking of which, I do get homesick easily, and I've definitely experienced my fair share of it here. I'm just trying to push through it and get to the point where I can call this my home away from home. In the mean time, I'm simply counting down the days until Labor Day weekend when I get to go home. Tomorrow, I will change the number on my countdown from nine to eight and do a little dance. I'm so excited!

     Well, I'm off to eat a delicious dinner and have a wonderful time of worship with HUNDREDS of my closest Bulldog friends. I love lifting up my Savior on this campus. I'll be back in a couple of weeks with a post full of all the foods I'll be making during my stay at home! 

Reeses Galore

Well, here's my final post before I leave for Athens (I said it's great to be a Georgia Bulldog!). I'm leaving bright and early tomorrow morning. Because my dorm only has what they call a "kitchen" (meaning a stove and sink) on every other floor, it goes without saying that I won't be baking many cheesecakes, milky way cupcakes, or veggie pizzas for a while :) However, when I do come home, I'm sure I'll be baking like crazy. I'm going to have kitchen withdrawals! Anyway, here are a couple of Reeses projects I've worked on over the past couple of weeks.

First, this is a Reeses CAKE-- special chocolate cake with peanut butter buttercream and Reeses sprinkled on top.

Second, this is a Reeses CHEESECAKE. The batter even had crushed up Reeses in it. Mmm. If I had to pick one, the cheesecake would beat the cake. There's a sour cream and chocolate chip concoction on top of the cheesecake, so you can't exactly see its true colors. I'll just have to give you some insight. It was very pretty and peanut-buttery on the inside. Anyone who's as big of a peanut butter fan as I am knows what I mean!

Sadly, that's all I have for now. I'm really going to miss doing what I love for so long. Luckily the holidays will be an awesome opportunity for me to bake all the live long day. Ah, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Please get here faster. Until next month, happy baking!

Birthday Bonanzas

This is the last of what I've been baking recently. First up is a birthday cake I made for the office to celebrate Heather and Pastor Aaron's birthdays.

And next, here's a carrot cake I brought to Gramps and Nanny's this past weekend to celebrate Nanny and Dad's birthdays. Carrot Cake is Dad's favorite, and I do love it too :)

There wasn't much writing involved in this post, but I'm tired, I have to get up early, and this is about the fifth blog post in a week...so I'll keep it short and sweet!

Baked Oatmeal and French Bread

This post involves a random combination of foods. I've been baking a lot lately, and I have a lot to post, so I figured I would combine foods and not have to post quite as many times.  Anyway, the first food on this post is baked oatmeal. I found this recipe and decided to try it for breakfast. I love oatmeal, and this one looked really delicious. I chose to add blueberries in the mix. Then, once I scooped my portion into my bowl, I added some bananas, too. Both fruits were great in it! Next time, I'll definitely be adding some raisins and nuts before I cook it. Here's the recipe...

Baked Oatmeal

1/2 C melted butter

1/2 C honey

2 eggs, beaten

3 C old fashioned oats

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 C milk (I used almond)

1 C Fruit or nuts of choice

In a bowl mix together the butter, honey and eggs.  Add in the oats, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, vanilla and the milk.  Mix and then fold in fruit of choice.

Bake in a lightly greased 8 x 8 pan at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until golden brown.  May be served with milk and more fruit on top.

Next up...french bread. This was my first attempt at making bread, and it turned out REALLY good! I was so proud of it. Best of all, it didn't require nearly as much work as I thought it would. Also, it made a lot of bread, so I wrapped some up and put it in the freezer to eat another day. Here's the recipe for this one...

French Bread

5 1/2 – 6 cups all-purpose flour

2 packages of active dry yeast

1 ½ teaspoons salt

2 cups warm water

1 egg white, slightly beaten

1 tablespoon water

1. In a large mixing bowl stir together 2 cups of the flour, the yeast and the salt. Add the 2 cups warm water to the flour mixture. Beat with an electric mixer on low to medium speed for 30 seconds, scraping the bowl constantly. Beat on high speed for 3 minutes. Using a wooden spoon, stir in as much of the remaining flour as you can.

2. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead in enough remaining flour to make a stiff dough that is smooth and elastic (8-10 minutes) Shape dough into a ball. Place in a lightly greased bowl turning once to grease dough surface. Cover; let rise in a warm placeuntil double in size (about 1 hour).

3. Punch dough down. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide dough in half. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, lightly grease a baking sheet.

4. Roll each dough half into a 15x10 inch rectangle. Tightly roll up, starting from a long side; seal well. If desired, pinch and slightly pull ends to taper them. Place shaped dough, seam sides down, on prepared baking sheet. In a small bowl stir egg white and the 1 tablespoon water. Brush some of the egg white mixture over loaf tops. Let rise until nearly double in size (35-45 minutes).

5. Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Using a sharp knife, make three or four diagonal cuts about ¼ inch deep across each loaf top. Bake for 20 minutes. Brush again with some of the egg white mixture. Continue baking for 15-20 minutes more or until bread sounds hollow when lightly tapped. Immediately remove loaves from baking sheet. Cool on wire rack. Enjoy.

Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook...for the win!

My brother gave me a Better Homes and Gardens cookbook for my birthday last year, and it has DEFINITELY come in handy over the past couple of days.

Tonight's dinner menu: Vegetable Pizzas (recipe courtesy of the BH&G Cookbook) and fresh watermelon (orange watermelon...who would've known!?). These "pizzas" were AMAZING and pretty easy to make. They're just tortillas topped with a mixture of grilled yellow squash, zucchini, red bell pepper, tomato, and a special mixture of spices, pesto, and mayo. After all of that was assembled, I topped it with shredded cheese and put it back on the grill for a couple more minutes. These were seriously good...and healthy. One of my new favorite recipes.

Tonight's dessert menu: Chocolate Marble Cheesecake Supreme (recipe courtesy of the BH&G Cookbook). Now...I know what you're thinking. Marble? I don't see any marble. Well, the swirl effect didn't exactly go as planned. Nevertheless, the cheesecake had both chocolate AND vanilla in it. And it tasted pretty good if I do say so myself :)