On the Way

As I’m sitting in the car on the near ten-hour drive from Greensburg, PA to Warwick, RI, I can’t help but notice how green everything is out here.  Back in St. Joe, you would cut the bottom of your feet just by walking in your yard, that’s how dry the grass was this summer.  In the preparation for my graduation party at the end of June, we called Mosquito Squad to spray our lawn.  They sprayed the trees; apparently even mosquitoes won’t live in our dead yard.  Now I see that all the rain went east. 

Everything’s so different out here.  I can’t wait to get all my belongings unpacked, but a part of me wants to turn around and run back home, back to everything I’ve known for the past 18 years.  Change, whether good or bad, is always hard.  The transition period is by far the worst as it comes with a sense of uncertainty.  Personally, I like to know what to expect and I have no idea what to expect this fall.  Well besides a lot of homework.  I mean it is college, right?

Eventually, I will find my niche in this new world, but I will never forget my roots.  St. Joe isn’t just my hometown, it’s a part of who I am and I have a lot of people to thank for helping me achieve my childhood dreams.  Which brings me to my biggest fear: Letting everyone down.  What if I fail?  I doubt I fail but college is a lot harder than high school so who knows?  I just want to be somebody, I want to make something of myself and but St. Joe on the map.  I’ll just take it one day at a time. 

And eat lots of pastries along the way

Anticipation

Sometimes life just keeps going and going and you don't get a chance to stop and smell the roses, or update your blog postings.  Not that I'm making excuses.... And don't worry, I'm fine, I just had to work a lot this summer because college just keeps getting more and more expensive, but thats another story.

Today I am in Greensburg, PA visiting my grandparents.  My parents and I departed from St. Joseph, MI yesterday around 4:30 pm and drove the seven hours to Pennsylvania.  I feel like I'm in the transition period between high school and college, being shuffled around until I'm finally dumped at my dorm room with a couple hundred dollars to my name, expected to make something of myself.  But at least I have some Chips Ahoy cookies to keep me sane.

I really don't normally indulge in pre-made baked goods, being the aspiring chef that I am, however there are certain things that just aren't the same homemade.  Crazy, I know, but the Chips Ahoy mini cookies are incredible, especially on long car rides.  And they are a little piece of home.

All of my belongings are currently sitting in the back half of our families Nissan Quest, weighing down the tires a little bit.  I thought that maybe I might have brought too much stuff, but the way I see it is that it's way better to have too much stuff than not enough.  Plus, I bought a lot of storage containers so I can organize and put away everything.  I just hope our room is as big and I'm anticipating.

Macaroons in the Morning

“A new idea is delicate. It can be killed by a sneer or a yawn; it can be stabbed to death by a quip and worried to death by a frown on the right man’s brow.” - Ovid 

Or it can flourish in a oven, baked to perfection.

This recipe is one that has been a long time in the making.  Kinda.  I'll start from the beginning.

A long long time ago, back in a time where macaroons were not yet discovered by my hands and the French had nothing on me, my mom made a purchase that changed all of this.  She bought a can of Almond Paste.  
To my mom, this was the best thing since sliced bread (which isn't that great if you ask me).  She tore off the paper label to see the '2 Recipes Inside This Label' and prodded me to create one of them.  I brought the can into class and was met with an idea from Mrs. Berry about creating something else that day, so we put it off.  
And you know how that goes.  
I just found it today because I had run out of new ideas.  So I returned to the beloved macaroons.  Let me just say this publicly, THANK YOU MRS. K!  This will now be the cookie I run to when unexpected guests come knocking, or I forget that there are only 24 hours in a day.  


Mrs. K's Famous Macaroons
Makes about 18-20 cookies

1 can of Solo Almond Paste
1 egg white (extra large)
1/2 cup sugar
Optional: 10 Maraschino Cherries

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Line a flat cookie sheet with parchment paper.  

Break almond paste into small pieces and place into your mixer with a paddle attachment.  Add sugar and mix well.  Note: There will still be small pieces and don't try to mix them out because you risk over-mixing.  They will dissipate when the egg white is added in.

Roll the dough into balls slightly larger than a quarter.

Bake at 325 degrees until edges are golden brown.

Break apart while their still warm, and 

Enjoy!

Mini Rainbow Cakes

A lot of my inspiration comes from the wonderful teacher, Mrs. Lauri Berry.  She's has been my teacher for a long time and I wouldn't be the person I am today with her guidance.  She finds these intriguing recipes and shows them to me in the hopes that I will try them.  She found this recipe from a blog dedicated to Jello Shots.  Not exactly school appropriate, but no worries, there's no alcohol in this recipe.

At first, I was astounded that the recipe used box mixes and canned frosting.  This is practically against my religion.  However, I haven't found a vanilla cake recipe that never fails yet, so I tried it with the box mixes and I am so glad I did!  This process is lengthy and requires 110 billion % of your focus.  Follow the instructions to the T and you will end up with adorable cakes.  I put my little spin of these cakes (I couldn't control myself) and added a couple tablespoons of almond to the frosting.  It definitely took these cakes to the next level.  The whole pan, even the scraps, was gone within the hour of pulling it out of the freezer.  I'm certain several people even ate it completely frozen!

(By the way, I took some of these

 pictures using my new Instagram app, 

check me out at mgarstecki23)

This recipe would be perfect for a child's birthday party or a shower.  The servings are small enough to give you a taste, but not overwhelming.  Also, it looks so pretty!  Next I'll try this process with chocolate cake and ombre-colored frosting, yum!

Here's a step-by-step How-to!

Prepare the two cake mixes according to the directions.

Split the batter evenly between 6 bowls.

Dye each batter a different color.

This is your time to shine! Experiment with rainbow, shades of your favorite color, or and color combination that suits your fancy.

Just don't get too crazy.

Like this.

I know, I know.

Please forgive me.

Then bake each layer in a 9 by 13 foil or parchment lined pan, separately.  

Then let cool.

Prepare the frosting however which way you want ( Like almond ) and equally divie it up in between each layer.  

Let it freeze overnight covered by foil.  

Use a biscuit cutter to cut out the cakes.

Isn't that so cool?

Enjoy!