A very happy birthday to you!

My little brother turns 17 on Saturday- 17! I can't even believe it. Somehow, within the last 2 years the kid has sprouted into a 6'3, thin as a rail, bright and talented, almost-young adult. I invited him and my dad for dinner on Saturday night and of course I've got to come up with a fitting dessert for the occaision. I started listing out some of his favorite things and focused on Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Inspiration quickly followed. I made a test batch this past Saturday.

I started with a simple cupcake batter and added a healthy helping of local raw honey from the Portland farmer's market.





As the cupcakes baked and the sweet honey smell started filling my kitchen, I pulled out my mixer and created a fluffy peanut butter icing. I don't have a ton of icing experience, so this next comment may not be saying much, but it is definitely the best icing I've ever created. It's light and airy and oh, so peanut buttery.





After the cupcakes cooled, I made a bowl of dark chocolate ganache. I piped the icing on top of the cupcakes and then dipped the tops in ganache.



Good idea- but it wasn't thought through. Of course, the icing did not keep it's pretty, evenly distributed shape. It melted and deflated a bit. I don't have photos of the finished product because I was sorley disappointed with their appearance. Apparently taste trumps appearance, though. The reactions I received have convinced me to make them again. One of my tasters told me it was an "orgasm" in her mouth, another placed an order for her and her boyfriend.

I will make them again this weekend, but I'm going to modify it a bit and hopefully it will be more visually appealing and I'll be able to get some pictures for you. Fingers crossed! Either way, I know my almost-17-year-old brother will devour them. Happy Birthday, Keith!

Go eat a muffin

Normally I start off my day with a small bowl of plain yogurt with some rainforest granola from Whole Foods, or just a cup of coffee if I'm running late, but occasionally I decide to treat myself to one of my favorite baked good morning treats: a muffin. I haven't done much muffin baking myself, to be honest. I've developed an amazing carrot cake cupcake with cream cheese frosting which could be re-invented into muffin form; I've dabbled in raspberry muffins here and there...

My favorite muffin locale in Maine is the Bohemian Coffeehouse (or Boho Cafe, as the locals call it) in Brunswick. I honestly hate going in there- I've only had one positive interaction with the staff who tend to be hipsters or overly-nonchalant-artists, but the muffins are worth the venture in. I have two favorites: the Cranberry-Walnut and the Morning Glory. You can't go wrong with Cranberry-Walnut. This over-sized muffin is packed with lucious, round cranberries that pop in your mouth and are off-set by the crunchy walnuts scattered throughout.

The Morning Glory muffin could be renamed the "Kitchen Sink" muffins. They include apples, carrots, coconut, raisins, whole-wheat, cinnamon...I'm sure I'm forgetting something. I order a muffin with a medium coffee and my morning is set.

I've tried several muffins at other local coffee shops, but they're always too dry and end up crumbling all over the place, or they're too wet and difficult to remove from the paper. Boho's are just right. Check it out next time you're in Brunswick :)

Keep yer chin up!

I was at the Portland Farmer's market a few weeks ago and noticed "keep yer chin up" carved into a bench. It was perfect; just what I needed to read- like when John Lennon attended Yoko's art exhibit for the first time and climbed a ladder to read "yes" written on the ceiling. A sparkle of positivity. A moment of encouragement.

Since then, I've had 5 orders come in for From Scratch and Sniff. Despite the fact that I can't seem to catch a break with these festivals and outdoor markets, I'm making some really great friends up here who are incredibly supportive and seem to really enjoy my baking. I also had my first out-of-state order which was pretty exciting (thanks Jane!) :)

Sometimes I'm down on myself for not having had the foresight to attend cooking school instead of going to college, but really I couldn't have known at that point that this is what I want to do. I think I've got enough raw talent and the smarts to figure out what I don't know to make it though. Only time will tell!

My most recent project was hand-painted sugar cookies. It was a tedious task, but, oh man did I love it! I created soccer themed cookies for one order and scuba themed cookies for another. I'm not as happy with the cookies done in color- perhaps it's the dye I used in the icing (Wilton Icing Colors) instead of plain old food coloring. I'll have to experiment. I just wasn't happy with how dull the colors came out. I was very happy with the ones done in black, however and I'm pretty sure I've got another order for soccer cookies coming up soon!



This weekend I have 2 orders to prepare: a lemony cheesecake with raspberry sauce and oreo truffles and a cookie plate. Sadly the festival I work for is starting this weekend and I'll be working 90 hour weeks for the next 6 weeks leaving little time for baking. I'm planning to have a cookie/dessert tasting party in late August, though. I'm going to bake samples of all of the products I currently offer and have people come (and encourage them to bring people!) and do taste testings and allow them to give me some feedback. I'm also going to have order forms available and discounts on orders placed right there. I'm hoping it will help to get my name out there a bit more. My biggest task at the moment is to create a damn logo so I can start cranking out some business cards!

Push on through

I ended up applying for a vendor table for the Building of Song Festival only to find out that they don't allow food vendors. This is the second failed attempt at getting a table at a fair (the other was the Portland Farmers Market where they apparently ONLY allow farmers). Trying to try, try again!

My first order ever is due on Tuesday- it's a gift basket for my boyfriend's roommate's friend's mentor. Phew, that's a mouthful. I'm looking forward to making it and have several ideas brewing. I know she wants Kelly's Oreo Truffles but I think the rest is up to me. I'll make a stop off at the Christmas Tree Store to find some supplies this weekend. Don't worry, pictures to follow!

I need some new ways/ideas to promote myself and to get people to start ordering. This is finally something giving me energy and excitement and I desperately want it to go well. My fingers are ever crossed.

It's a rainy day here in Portland...

The Portland Farmers Market is today but I'm feeling deterred by the rain so I'm going to stay home and do a little baking. I've been working on baking all the products I'm offering through From Scratch and Sniff so that my boyfriend, Justin Lewis of filmaperture Photography, can take professional photos for my website. My co-workers and friends have been showered with cookies because it is certainly dangerous to keep batches of cookies around the house! So far, Justin's been able to shoot the Ginger, Buzz Buzz, Mud Puddle, Linzer, Sugar, and Oatmeal cookies. He's planning to edit the shots this weekend so I should have them up on the website by Monday!

It's funny, you'd think it would start to feel like a chore, doing this much baking. But I find I'm at my happiest when I'm working away in the kitchen and I literally lose track of time. I just submitted an application to the Building Of Song Festival for a vendor table, so hopefully I'll be baking away to prepare for that in July. Though I must be crazy because my "real" job is in full swing by that time and I'll be putting in 90 hour weeks for the duration of the summer. Hopefully I won't regret this...

I think I'll bake a batch of Shorties today. They're delicious little crunchy shortbread cookies drizzled with milk and dark chocolate, YUM! Perfect for a rainy day :) I'll post pictures later.

For now, I'll leave you with this: I was at A.C. Moore doing some baking supply shopping and came across, perhaps, the most frightening cake topper I've ever seen. Creepy, right?