2013 Wrap-up

In my eyes, this year has gone by so fast but has been such a journey at the same time (mostly school-related mind you). I feel that I would have liked to have done more projects this year, but I guess that’s something that you can look forward to in the upcoming year! Here is a recap on some of my favorite posts and projects from this past year:

Starting off with The Surprise Puck Cake (check it out here). To be honest, I’m still so proud of this cake, mostly because it was for a special occasion that was shared with many of C’s close friends. The whole event took a few weeks of secret planning and brainstorming, but I loved every minute of it.

The Rose Cake (check it out here). I made this for a DIY high tea potluck with my girlfriends. It was one of the prettiest, yet easiest cakes that I had ever made. Plus I love the fact that you’d never guess there was chocolate cake under all of those rosettes.

DIY High Tea at the grandparent’s house (check it out here). This was definitely a family favorite. It was so much fun to bring all the treats over to my grandparent’s place and set up an elaborate display of desserts and sandwiches. I think they were actually really surprised at how neat the three tiers looked with all the treats. Plus, I probably could have easily taken an hour or so just shooting and experimenting in different lighting (if my grandma hadn’t started yelling at me for taking so long / asking if we could start eating!)

I’ve made a few different types of cookies for C’s work now, but these RCMP Badge Cookies (check them out here) were probably the most tedious and challenging cookies ever! With that being said, I loved how they turned out and all the detail really added to the overall finished look. I remember this project vividly because it there was so much detail – in the moment I wanted to kick myself for attempting such a project, but in the end it was a huge sigh of relief.

Green Tea Macarons (check it out here). I think this recipe came along just after I had discovered where to buy matcha green tea powder. I haven’t done a green tea project in a while, I should get on that for 2014… As for macarons, these would probably have to be my all-time favorite flavor so far.

UBC Dentistry Cookies (check them out here). Two of my friends had graduated from dentistry this past year (and then decided to leave us for Alberta! pfftt!). That smiling tooth still puts a grin on my face – if you hadn’t already guessed, I’m a sucker for all things cute.

Kicking off the summer, I made a Summer Fruit Flan (check it out here). This flan was kind of a big deal to me (at the time)… haha you’re probably thinking… umm, its just a flan! But no, at the time this wasn’t just a regular flan, it was a flan that would be evaluated by Food Network Canada. haha I think I worked myself up way more than I should have because it was the first time I felt that I was actually going to be ‘judged’ on my work. From that, I discovered that I have some sort of competitive nature, especially when it comes to being judged on something that I’ve made.  Though it was all for fun, it was still so nerve-racking!

This Tiramisu Cake (check it out here) was amazeballs. Seriously, it was downright deliciousness shoved into a cake. If I were to pick an all-time favorite cake, this would most likely be my top pick. It’s got everything you could ever want in a cake – creamed cheese, whipping cream, chocolate, and coffee!

Our Spicy Mayo Salmon Poke dish (check it out here)  brought back memories of our vacation to Hawaii. Which reminds me, I’d love to go back soon. C and I both agreed that we could each devour a bucket of this stuff. We had made a large bowl of poke, thinking that everyone would have some, but my parents and brothers aren’t huge fans of spicy foods – they’ll try it, but that’s usually about it. After my family had declined our poke, we kind of cheered aloud… and then polished off the bowl…

And lastly, our first gingerbread house (check it out here), complete with roof-top gingerboys. Before this year, we hadn’t made a gingerbread house in a long time. I think the one other time we attempted was a half-fail because we ended up ‘decorating’ the house by just throwing candies onto the wet icing. I’m thinking I may want to make this a yearly tradition… maybe a two-story next year, then a mansion the next, then a city… haha that would actually be kind of amazing… a gingerbread city. Not sure how my parents would feel about that, but I guess we will just have to wait and see.

To conclude, I’d like to say thank you again for continuing to read this blog – it means so much to know that there are readers who take time out of their day to read and look through the content and pictures that I post.

Wishing each and every one of you all the best and I shall talk to you all in 2014!