And that's the end of that chapter

Well then, this was fun. As much as I enjoy pastry, I always had my doubts. Every night I felt that I hadn't worked hard enough, I hadn't made enough change in the world, I wasn't satisfied.

Not ever wanting to give up, I stuck it out. The classes at the start were very basic, maybe the advanced would get better. Now, having gone through some of the advanced curriculum I realized it's not the classes problem, it's mine.

I miss teaching. I miss interacting with students and educators. I miss turning on people to new ideas and watching people develop. There is still a need for really awesome teachers like myself and now I bring impressive baking skills to the mix.

Anyway. Next step? I'm thinking elementary. I am going to keep my k-12 art credential and teach art while working on my multiple subject credential. In a few years I want my own elementary class, teaching every subject with a little bit of an art twist. I also really need to figure out a master's at some point. In time, in time.

I'll bake, and I'll still post but it may be about the fun times volunteering in elementary schools, interviewing and subbing.

xoxo

Allegra

Cakes and cuppie cakes!

Let's start with some excitement...my first client work! Lily is a year older and Eric ordered 32 cupcakes! I made 12 mini green tea, 12 mini red velvet and the remainder chocolate with bright teal icing. All of these cupcakes are vegan and made with mostly organic ingredients. The best part is they are TASTY and Lily loved them. Hooray!

Carrot cake with cream cheese icing and marzipan carrots

Hooray we have started cakes! So many tasty treats, so many ways for disaster to strike, but ultimately so much cake. Everyone has had carrot cake at one point in thier life, and this one was pretty good. Not too sweet, no squishy raisins, just carrots, sugar, flour, oil, leaveners and flavors.

Pretty pink cherry cake!

Well, it's pink and has cherries on the top, but really the flavor is vanilla. I am becoming a fan of masking the sides in toasted nuts, it saves so much time with masking. Being the type A personality that I am, I still strive to ice each and every side to perfection.

Chocolate geniose with chocolate buttercream and transfers

This may have the name of Swedish chocolate cake, yeah it does. I think there is also pastry cream in a layer. Making a genoise is tricky and after making 3 I still need practice. Ultimatly, it is very light but also very crumbly and eggy. I much prefer a chiffon.

Diplomat Cake

I love this cake. I love that it looks like it belongs on the cover of a Sunset magazine from the 70's. I love that it is masked in pastry cream and then baked making it oh so moist. I love fruit on the top and while I am not a fan of glaze I like the shine it gives. All in all a success.

Lemon poppyseed cake with berries and cream filling

I threw in a little Grand Marnier for the soaking syrup and well I also soaked the fruit before making the filling. This is like a short cake, a little denser and the poppyseeds give a nice texture.

Chiffon and Chocolate chiffon with caramel mousse

More mouse cakes! Very fun and exciting to make. I like the pattern in this cake, it looks more complicated than it was to make.

Angel Food Cake

So light and fluffy! Can't mess with a classic. And hey, it's fat free!!! There is a ton of sugar, but hey no fat. It dissolves on your tongue and is as soft as a pillow.

The fun stuff

Strawberry sorbet

We're wrapping up plated desserts this week. It's been fun and I think we get to an advanced section of plating in a few more weeks. I am enjoying this enough to see myself happy working on a line in a restaurant or hotel. So much fun playing with space, color, texture and now taste!

Tiramisu

So I actually think my formula for tiramisu is better than what we made in class. First off, this one asked for gelatin to be used in the marscapone mixture which I omitted and the texture came out beautifully. Secondly, not enough coffee flavor (could have used espresso, not coffee) and there was no rum in the coffee. Other that that it's okay. It went without too much complaint and I feel good knowing I know how to do better. At least the plate looks good!

Creme Brule

Ah, this reminds me I need to hit up Home Depot for a torch. I'm fairly happy with this dessert and this plate. Everyone I know loves creme brule and I see myself working with making tasty flavor variations and well using the torch on many more creme brules to come.

Baked Alaska

So, I actually made baked alaska during summer camp. Okay it was a cooking class in the summer but it was still the same idea. This is a little fancier, home made sponge, ice cream and an Italian Meringue. Again we used the blow torch. It's cute and all but I didn't find too much inspiration with this particular dessert.

Caramelized bananas, chocolate ganche and filo

Okay, here is a winner. I love Filo! I love it with melted ganache and torched bananas even more! Torching bananas is really a neat trick. Cover the slices with sugar and then torch. They caramelize and form a little crunch just like a brule. It's like mini banana brules! And it's my current favorite trick.

Chocolate brownie with dark chocolate crisps, banana caramel mouse, caramelized bananas and banana caramel rum

That's quite a mouth full, but it's mine all mine. I should actually come up with a better title. We were told in class that we had to use a brownie to make a dessert. Sold on the caramelized banana from the day before I came up with this guy. If you ever see banana caramel anywhere, buy it. Immediately. Do not pass go, do not collect 200 dollars just buy the damn banana caramel. It's a real pain to make, but a real delight to eat. And no, I'm not sharing my formula.

Inside the robot is a hazeulnut praline!

Cute isn't it? Too bad about the smudges. I am starting to play around more and find a way to show my own personal taste with the plates. I mean, we've all seen swooshes but robots? I think robots and pastry belong together and here is the proof!

Dessertzilla

Marbled Cheesecake

Something about this dessert stops people in their tracks. I hotel wrapped this sucker and walked home my normal half mile route to quickly change and go out for a drink with a friend. On my way, people would not look at me rather they looked at the cheesecake. Later that night I brought a few slices out to the bar to give my pal and the guys could not stop looking at our cheesecake. Nice guy, we chatted for a bit. I guess what I learned is that the only thing you really need to pick up guys in San Francisco is a slice of cheesecake.

Chocolate Mousse in a Florentine cup with Vanilla Tuile

Fancy! This was created in the above photo. We are working with multiple products that have to be shaped immediately out of the oven. My fingers are getting tough! Soon I will be able to pick up pans with my bare hands!

Bread Pudding with Hard Sauce

Hard sauce may be my new favorite sauce. Butter, confectioners sugar, and booze. It melts down hot desserts and creates a wonderful aroma, not to mention taste. I see this sauce being made a good deal in my future. Also what is nice about is that I can easily veganize it! So many things we make are pains to veganize. Actually, now that I think about it, I could veganize the bread pudding thanks to soy milk, creamer, and nutritional yeast. Hmm. . . .

Chocolate and Passion fruit Mousse wrapped in a Ribbon Sponge

For some reason, Blogger makes it incredibly difficult to organize the order of photos in the posts. I usually spend 20 mins re arranging photos and 10 typing about them. Today, I did not organize photos because I realized chronological order matters to only myself. This was made a pretty long time ago but really if I hadn't said anything you would not have known. I got to use a ring mold and strips of acetate which appealed to my former art student self. Fun stuff here!

Porcupines...

So I think these guys look more like a Moose than a porcupine. It's up for debate. Inside are rum balls with almonds stuck in and then dipped in coating compound. Pretty cute and I liked playing with the detail.

Rustic Plum and Berry Tart

This is something I will make again, again, and again. Incredible! Easy! Tasty! And look, fruit so it's healthy! I won't tell you what went into the crust.

Goat Cheese Cheesecake

We used a very mild cheese so you really only get the flavor as you are swallowing the creamy goodness. Why I was instructed to plate the piece of cheesecake standing on end . . . well because it is nonsense. Whimsical yes, but I fear it would fall over while being brought to a table. Still, tasty and I could see this being made again.

More cream puff fun!

Ah yes, it has been awhile. Things have been a little insane but the main reason I have not been posting is....I lost my card reader. Oh, that brings me back to the teaching days. We also got a new desk and rearranged the whole computer area so it's not surprising. Just lame!

So things have also been busy in the culinary school world. We wrapped up breads and have been making individual tartlettes, pastries, and big tarts. Some have been tasty! Some have been strange. Way to many have had almond paste but I digress. Above you see a few variations of what can be done with cream puffs! Old school? Yes. But awesome and I have a freezer full of swans just waiting to debut at my next cocktail party. Spicy swans! Yummy.

Sarah Bernhardts

We actually made these the other day. Why, Allegra? Don't those little sweet morsels look a little like, uhm well how to put this delicately...ta tas? Why yes dear reader they do! And we can thank the dirty old man that is hidden inside every pastry chef with the magical, delicious, the almond based cookie topped with mocha buttercream and dipped in chocolate...the Sarah Berhnardt. *Originally these were topped with a marzipan coffee bean...we opted for the more subtle gold leaf.

Almond hazelnut and toffee tart

This was basically a giant chunk of candy. Nice and crisp. Great for braces, especially if you wanted to remove them yourself. Originally, the entire tart was glazed in ganache making it look beautiful, yet deceiving. When I see glazed tarts or cakes I think soft, moist, maybe some mousse. Not difficult, hard ass toffee. I opted for a drizzle and a ganche filled raspberry to give a more honest presentation.

Pear and almond tart

Ah, that looks so pretty. A nice traditional French winter pastry. I have seen photographs of this in a few books, and the frangipane is much darker. Maybe it is a different formula? Everything set up nicely in this tart and it's quite tasty.

Close up - Pear and almond tart

Mmm. The only thing I may do differently next time is blind bake the short dough. With so much creamy texture on the inside, it really needs a contrasting crunch.

Pithiver

This may make a reappearance the next brunch pot luck I attend or as part of Christmas brunch. Very tasty and very easy to make. Roll out puff pastry, chop it into an 8" circle. Fill with goodies! This originally called for more almond paste based filling but the class was verging mutiny so our wonderful chef gave up savory fillings. This guy has broccoli, mushrooms and cheese. It's delish! Yum yum yum.

Pithiver - inside shot

So this guy collapsed a bit after it came out of the oven. It could have used a few more rounds in the oven but it was baked all the way through and very good. I had to get rid of it because it was so good and I could not be trusted.

Braided white bread - basic

This is going back in time, I realized I did not get the bread section much coverage so here is a braided loaf I made. We made tons of these and it reminded me of lanyards. Pretty neat, pretty easy and kept us busy.

Breaded white bread - advanced

And because Chef Doug can't resist showing off, he made this awesome star creation. I did help by braiding the little star arms, but it was with supervision. This had 12 different strands that were looped, braided and twisted. Then it was filled with more braided strands...we called it the brain. Fun to look at and still on display at the school.

Citron and lemon berry meringue tartlette

Oh piping citron 25 times with chocolate was fun . . . actually I got pretty good at it by the end. This is an okay shot, I was a little rushed to get out on this day and could have gotten a better shot. Oh well. Short dough filled with frangipane, topped with lemon buttercream, dipped in chocolate and then a marzipan flag with citron on top. Very labor intensive but also received well.

The meringue tartlette is tasty lemon curd covered in meringue and it has a secret berry inside. I then got to use a blow torch. I love using the blow torch.

Assorted berry tartlettes

Blueberry lemon curd tartlette

Yes, we have made fruit tarts before. They are so pretty! So practical! Something I will make again, again, and again. These have always been one of my favorite treats and I love making variations.

Lamination is not just for handouts

Ah, laminated doughs. So flaky, so crunchy, so well, butter laden. Part of section 102 covers laminated doughs, croissants, puff pastry, and danish. All of these have incredible amounts of butter folded in multiple times. We call these "turns" in the bakeshop and they are essential if you want to ever have any layers in your dough.puff pastry

mmm....see the layers? Those are all created by a turn. This batch of puff pastry had 4 double turns. Each double turn creates about 7 layers so as you can see, there are plenty to crisp in your mouth.

and some croissants...

These guys actually aren't very good. While they are spirally and there are layers, the layers are still too tight. This happened because I rolled out my dough too thin for my turns. I have to make these again on Monday for my final and hopefully I did not roll out the dough too thin this time.

Ugh, the final. I'm making croissants, a rolled wheat bread, a braided bread, and a basque cake. It will be okay, just busy. Then there's the written part that I have to study for. The test is standard throughout the department and it is tricky. Oh well, I always like a challenge!

Sticky!

One of the most interesting parts about baking bread is learning how to tell when the dough has had enough kneading. Different doughs have different textures but they all need to have proper glutten development. Take the bagels, they kneaded for about 8 mins. A bagel is a fairly lean dough, as there is not coupious amounts of butter, sugar and eggs to make it a rich dough. Lean doughs tend to need more time in the mixer than rich doughs.

Rich doughs tend to be stickier than lean doughs. One of the richest doughs that we have made so far is a brioche dough. Brioche is interesting because even though it is a rich dough, it has one of the longest kneading times ever, about 15 mins. No fooling!

As if eggs, sugar and butter are not tempting enough, we took our brioche dough and made some tasty hazelnut crunch spirals and sticky buns. They were also, very sticky.

Sticky Buns!

Hazelnut Crunch Spirals!

Mmm...pools of delicious caramel syrup. I actually am not a huge sticky bun fan as I much prefer the better tasting cinnamon roll but it was one of the better ones I have had.

We're still making breads... I am so not a baker. Sure, it comes out okay and yes I am learning however I want to be creating pastries! Cakes! Plated desserts! The artistic side of things! It will be here soon and the next thing you'll know I'll be in a cake studio learning even more to get nearer to starting my own studio! Hooray!

Keep the eye on the prize. . .

Bageliscious!

Oh man, Purist Jewish Bagels! These are one of the best bagels I have ever eaten (and yes I *have* eaten them in NY :P ) I think these are better simply because they were the freshest I have ever eaten. So basically I have learned that if you really want the best bagel ever, with the delicious outside and chewy center you gotta roll up your sleeves and make them yourself.

This recipe was found online! Chef Stephany said it is the best although prolific...It's worth reading. I will include it at the end of this post so everyone can make these tasty treats at home!

You can make these guys much smaller than the 15 called for in the recipe. They also freeze really nicely but make sure they are completely cool and sealed air tight. They thaw in an hour or so and toast up just fine!

A couple of hints for anyone cool enough to try this out...

1. I did not use my hands but a mixer... A big ass commercial mixer with the dough hook attachment. No, your kitchen aid will not be able to handle it. Either half the recipe or do it by hand.

2. The hot water to proof the yeast should be between 105 - 110 degrees F.

3. They try to sneak honey and egg in everything! I made mine with sugar and the flavor was not compromised. The vegan bagels were plain as I did not egg wash them with eggs. Need all the stuff on your vegan bagel? I would try a little water mixed with soy milk, or olive oil.

4. The recipe says that the bagels will sink to the bottom of the boiling pot and then rise up when they are done...They do not sink. It is okay, you didn't screw anything up, the directions are just incorrect. About 3 mins on each side will do and yes you must flip them lazy bones.

5. Don't over crowd the boiling pot! I have what I used to think was a big pot for making pasta and it probably would have only boiled about 3 at a time. They poof up tremendously in the water and you don't want to crowd them as it will get annoying... or you know, so I hear.

Anyway, not many posts happening right now because we are in quick breads and breakfast pastry and I keep forgetting my camera! I will post the sticky buns tomorrow and the danishes as they are pretty.

I may do a whole laminated dough post although it may scare everyone away from eating a laminated dough product ever again. Reader beware!

And the Purist Jewish Bagels...courtesy of Johanne Blank

6-8 cups bread (high-gluten) flour
4 tablespoons dry baking yeast
6 tablespoons granulated white sugar or light honey (clover honey is good)
2 teaspoons salt
3 cups hot water
a bit of vegetable oil
1 gallon water
3-5 tablespoons malt syrup or sugar
a few handfuls of cornmeal

Equipment:
large mixing bowl
wire whisk
measuring cups and spoons
wooden mixing spoon
butter knife or baker's dough blade
clean, dry surface for kneading
3 clean, dry kitchen towels
warm, but not hot, place to set dough to rise
large stockpot
slotted spoon
2 baking sheets

How You Do It:
Step 1- Proof Yeast: Pour three cups of hot water into the mixing bowl. The water should be hot, but not so hot that you can't bear to put your fingers in it for several seconds at a time. Add the sugar or honey and stir it with your fingers (a good way to make sure the water is not too hot) or with a wire whisk to dissolve. Sprinkle the yeast over the surface of the water, and stir to dissolve.

Wait about ten minutes for the yeast to begin to revive and grow. Skipping this step could result in your trying to make bagels with dead yeast, which results in bagels so hard and potentially dangerous that they are banned under the terms of the Geneva Convention. You will know that the yeast is okay if it begins to foam and exude a sweetish, slightly beery smell.

Step 2- Make Dough: At this point, add about three cups of flour as well as the 2 tsp of salt to the water and yeast and begin mixing it in. Some people subscribe to the theory that it is easier to tell what's going on with the dough if you use your hands rather than a spoon to mix things into the dough, but others prefer the less physically direct spoon. As an advocate of the bare-knuckles school of baking, I proffer the following advice: clip your fingernails, take off your rings and wristwatch, and wash your hands thoroughly to the elbows, like a surgeon. Then you may dive into the dough with impunity. I generally use my right hand to mix, so that my left is free to add flour and other ingredients and to hold the bowl steady. Left-handed people might find that the reverse works better for them. Having one hand clean and free to perform various tasks works best.

When you have incorporated the first three cups of flour, the dough should begin to become thick-ish. Add more flour, a half-cup or so at a time, and mix each addition thoroughly before adding more flour. As the dough gets thicker, add less and less flour at a time.

Step 3- Knead Dough: Soon you will begin to knead it by hand (if you're using your hands to mix the dough in the first place, this segue is hardly noticeable). If you have a big enough and shallow enough bowl, use it as the kneading bowl, otherwise use that clean, dry, flat counter top or tabletop mentioned in the "Equipment" list above. Sprinkle your work surface or bowl with a handful of flour, put your dough on top, and start kneading. Add bits of flour if necessary to keep the dough from sticking (to your hands, to the bowl or counter top, etc....). Soon you should have a nice stiff dough. It will be quite elastic, but heavy and stiffer than a normal bread dough. Do not make it too dry, however... it should still give easily and stretch easily without tearing.

Step 4- Let Dough Rise: Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, and cover with one of your clean kitchen towels, dampened somewhat by getting it wet and then wringing it out thoroughly. If you swish the dough around in the bowl, you can get the whole ball of dough covered with a very thin film of oil, which will keep it from drying out.

Place the bowl with the dough in it in a dry, warm (but not hot) place, free from drafts. Allow it to rise until doubled in volume. Some people try to accelerate rising by putting the dough in the oven, where the pilot lights keep the temperature slightly elevated. If it's cold in your kitchen, you can try this, but remember to leave the oven door open or it may become too hot and begin to kill the yeast and cook the dough. An ambient temperature of about 80 degrees Fahrenheit (25 Centigrade) is ideal for rising dough.

Step 5- Prepare Water for Bagels: While the dough is rising, fill your stockpot with about a gallon of water and set it on the fire to boil. When it reaches a boil, add the malt syrup or sugar and reduce the heat so that the water just barely simmers; the surface of the water should hardly move.

Step 6- Form Bagels: Once the dough has risen, turn it onto your work surface, punch it down, and divide immediately into as many hunks as you want to make bagels. For this recipe, you will probably end up with about 15 bagels, so you will divide the dough into 15 roughly even-sized hunks.

Begin forming the bagels. There are two schools of thought on this. One method of bagel formation involves shaping the dough into a rough sphere, then poking a hole through the middle with a finger and then pulling at the dough around the hole to make the bagel. This is the hole-centric method. The dough-centric method involves making a long cylindrical "snake" of dough and wrapping it around your hand into a loop and mashing the ends together. Whatever you like to do is fine. DO NOT, however, give in to the temptation of using a doughnut or cookie cutter to shape your bagels. This will push them out of the realm of Jewish Bagel Authenticity and give them a distinctly Protestant air. The bagels will not be perfectly shaped. They will not be symmetrical. This is normal. This is okay. Enjoy the diversity. Just like snowflakes, no two genuine bagels are exactly alike.

Step 7- Pre-heat Oven: Begin to preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Step 8- Half Proof and Boil Bagels: Once the bagels are formed, let them sit for about 10 minutes. They will begin to rise slightly. Ideally, they will rise by about one-fourth volume... a technique called "half-proofing" the dough. At the end of the half-proofing, drop the bagels into the simmering water one by one. You don't want to crowd them, and so there should only be two or three bagels simmering at any given time. The bagels should sink first, then gracefully float to the top of the simmering water. If they float, it's not a big deal, but it does mean that you'll have a somewhat more bready (and less bagely) texture. Let the bagel simmer for about three minutes, then turn them over with a skimmer or a slotted spoon. Simmer another three minutes, and then lift the bagels out of the water and set them on a clean kitchen towel that has been spread on the counter top for this purpose. The bagels should be pretty and shiny, thanks to the malt syrup or sugar in the boiling water.

Step 9- Bake Bagels: Once all the bagels have been boiled, prepare your baking sheets by sprinkling them with cornmeal. Then arrange the bagels on the prepared baking sheets and put them in the oven. Let them bake for about 25 minutes, then remove from the oven, turn them over and put them back in the oven to finish baking for about ten minutes more. This will help to prevent flat-bottomed bagels.

Remove from the oven and cool on wire racks, or on a dry clean towels if you have no racks. Do not attempt to cut them until they are cool... hot bagels slice abominably and you'll end up with a wadded mass of bagel pulp. Don't do it.

How To Customize Outside of Bagels: After boiling but before baking, brush the bagels with a wash made of 1 egg white and 3 tablespoons ice water beaten together. Sprinkle with the topping of your choice: poppy, sesame, or caraway seeds, toasted onion or raw garlic bits, salt or whatever you like. Just remember that bagels are essentially a savory baked good, not a sweet one, and so things like fruit and sweet spices are really rather out of place.

Pretty! - First plated dessert and fruit tarts

Bavarian Cream with Rapberry sauce and caramel decoration

Oh I love to play! I love to play with sauces, with fruit, with color, with making things look good. It is one of the main reasons I decided to get into pastry professionally. As a child I was infamous for spouting off the famous "it's all in the presentation"

Words that I still live by.

I put my caramel decorations on a dessert! A nice Bavarian cream with a very pretty deep red raspberry sauce. I was thinking of all the fun sculpture I have done in my life and am so happy that now it is in food form!

and another...

I just love color. Always have. Today we made fruit tartlettes which gave us another chance to work with color. We also got to work with knives which is always fun. I went a little overboard posting photos today...they are that pretty.



Tomorrow is the final for the fundamental section. Hooray!

"the first birth is always the most difficult"

Or so says Chef Doug. I should start off by saying that I really like my chef instructors...incredibly talented, knowledgeable and to top it off...stellar personalities. Chef Doug has a very dry, quirky sense of humor and as he guided my class through our first layer cake it became apparant that you need to be able to not take yourself too seriously in this industry.

Almond sponge cake with Swiss meringue buttercream and short dough cookies

Basically, this cake was designed as practice. It was an exercise in slicing layers, preparing sponges, making buttercream and assembly. I will not lie, I shed a few tears. It was difficult, emotional, and took FOREVER! Worth documenting because in a few months this will be child's play.

Speaking of play...
Caramelized sugar globe

More caramel decorations

We got to play with molten hot lava caramel! This was so much fun! For some reason, I have wanted to make a globe since I got my fancy pastry book and saw all the sculptural decorations. The chocolate globe will be better, and oh yeah my second attempt at this will be better but for a first time at this stuff I think it turned out well.

I really cannot wait to make beautiful items that are also tasty. These are all pretty good but I know that more exciting things are up ahead.

Baking 101 - formulas, leveners, tenderizers...oh my!

More three sister cookies and a variation using almond paste.

It is a much slower pace...although I hear it picks up. To be fair we've only been in the lab for 4 days. Still learning the ropes and well, the formulas. One thing that I am finding the most interesting about professional baking is using bakers percentages and weighing out ingredients. It is safe to say that volumetric measuring is out. Gone. Goodbye. Well okay I still have many treasured recipes that use cups and I am not converting them all but in the bakeshop, we weigh it out. Surprisingly enough we use imperial measures but whatever.

A baker's percentage works on the idea that the amount of flour in a recipe is 100% and you base the rest of your measurements from this set amount. For example, the above cookies were made from a short dough that is 100% flour, 66% butter and about 24% sugar. There are also eggs and a touch of salt and yes I know, this adds up to over 100. That does not matter! What does matter is that you have a quick and easy way to scale up and scale down formulas.

Cream Puffs!

These babies were made in class on Friday and I made a few with a Bavarian cream to feed the culinary students however I took most of mine home so I could make a tasty savory appetizer for guests on Saturday. They were very crisp and tender and surprisingly easy. I see more cream puff based dishes in my future of entertainment. I am wondering if I can use a tofu instead of an egg . . . As long as there is moisture it should rise it just may not have the right structure or tenderness. Nonetheless I am going to try. The world needs vegan creme puffs damnit!

New kitten - Regina.

And no, I do not plan on eating the new kitten but I had to share with the world that our adopted kitten is here! She hates sleeping at night but loves to nibble on faces so it all works out! If I sound cranky it is the sleep deprivation typing. She's worth it though, incredibly sweet, playful and fun. I am really looking forward to watching her grow up and teaching her how to do all sorts of kitty tricks.

I get to finally make a cake in class tomorrow! Hooray!