Picture of the Day: Column Capitals at the Roman Forum

Roman Forum
Athens, Greece
11.15.2009

Michigan vs. Ohio State Tailgate Cake

Since moving to Ann Arbor I've adopted the Michigan Wolverines as the football team I root for.  Neither my undergraduate or graduate alma mater have a very strong college football program and the way everyone in town backs the team and tailgates made following the team inevitable.

As part of the tailgate that I participate in I make a themed cake each week. Yesterday was not just any game, it was the game, Michigan vs. Ohio State, so for this week's cake I made a chocolate buttermilk cake and iced it with green tinted buttercream icing to make it look like a football field.  I made the field markings, school initials and football on the cake using fondant.  To make the intials stand up I inserted skewers inside them that extended into the cake. 

Watching the game was a lot of fun, albeit quite stressful, especially during the last few minutes when the fate of the game was held in the balance.  In the end Michigan pulled out the win with a 40-34 final score and ended the 7-year winless drought against Ohio State.  Is the next stop a BCS Bowl Game?  I sure hope so!

Picture of the Day: Torii at Miyajima

Itsukushima Shrine (厳島神社)
Hiroshima-ken, Japan
08.20.2010 

Picture of the Day: Rooftops of Santa Cruz la Laguna

Lake Atitlan
Santa Cruz la Laguna, Guatemala
07.05.2010 

Making Pumpkin Puree

With Thanksgiving over the plentiful supply of sugar pumpkins in my local grocery is coming to an end so I decided to take some time to make and freeze some pumpkin puree for use over the winter.  The process is pretty simple and it tastes so much better than using pumpkin puree from a can in recipes.

To start I scrubbed the outside of my sugar pumpkins, sliced them in half, and then scooped out the seeds to save for toasting later.  For cleaning out the membrane I usually use a melon baller which makes the scraping easier.  After prepping the pumpkins I placed them cut side down in a greased baking dish and put them in a 350 degree oven.

After baking the pumpkins until the flesh was soft (about an hour) I took them out of the oven and then scooped out the flesh when the pumpkins were cool enough to handle.  Using a potato masher I pureed the pumpkin until it had a smooth consistency.  Since the puree is a little watery I lined a colander with some cheesecloth and let the puree drain for a bit before packing it.  Since most of my recipes call for two cups of pumpkin puree I measured out two cup portions into freezer bags and stored them in the freezer.  Now I am all set for a winter of making pumpkin pie, pumpkin bread and pumpkin soup.        

Picture of the Day: View Overlooking the Southeast Peninsula

Southeast Peninsula
St. Kitts, St Kitts & Nevis
07.03.2011 

Thanksgiving Flowers

Happy Thanksgiving! Today I thought I'd share an easy flower arrangement I made for Thanksgiving using a pumpkin as a vase.  To start I bought a sugar pumpkin and some zinnias at the grocery store. To hold the water I used a half pint jelly jar that I already had, but any glass or plastic jar smaller than the pumpkin would work.  I traced the rim of the jar onto the pumpkin and using a knife cut out the opening.  After scooping out the seeds (and saving them for toasting) I inserted the jar into the pumpkin.  To finish it off I added some water to the jar and then arranged the zinnias for a simple and festive arrangement.    

Picture of the Day: Figures at the Grand Palace

The Grand Palace (พระบรมมหาราชวัง)
Bangkok, Thailand
08.20.2011 

A Wedding Cake for Tammy and Drue

Earlier this month I had the honor of making a wedding cake for my friends, Tammy and Drue.  At their request the cake is a yellow cake with buttercream icing.  

Tammy's only guidance about the cake design was that she wanted to use the Willow Tree Promise Cake Topper since she collects Willow Tree figures to commemorate important events in her life.  Using the cake topper as inspiration I made fondant roses to match the base of the topper and paired them with ribbon wrapped around the base of each layer.  

This was my first time using ribbon on a cake and I found that even though the ribbon was double-sided, grease from the icing was bleeding through the ribbon.  I removed the ribbon and started again by ironing freezer paper onto the back of a new piece of ribbon before putting it on the cake.  The freezer paper provided a barrier that seemed to work well and kept the ribbon looking fresh and pretty.

I feel lucky that I had a small part in Tammy and Drue's special day and I wish them all the best as they embark on married life together.

Welcome

After falling away from blogging five years ago I thought it was time to start again. Welcome!