Kymmie's Cakes

White Cherry Blossom Cake

2011-01-31T18:55:00.001-08:00

Last month I made the wedding and groom's cakes for a couple of friends in my ward. They wanted an all white wedding cake but requested that I somehow incorporate a "Cherry Blossom" theme into their cake since the met during the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington DC.

I went through a couple of designs before I figured out what would look best.

I used a technique called "embroidery" to pipe the white cherry blossoms on the side of the cake and then used gum paste cherry blossoms with gold centers as an embellishment.

The bride and groom loved it...and that's all that matters (don't even ask about the groom's cake toppers...I have no idea what they mean!). :)

Dolphin Encounter

2011-01-31T18:50:00.000-08:00

B and I went to the National Aquarium on Friday. We had so much fun looking at the jellyfish, sharks, sting rays and hundres of other fish and aquatic animals. But the best part was the dolphins. The aquarium has a huge picture in which you can view the dolphins. We stood and watched them for a little while and then suddenly one of the dolphins came right up to the glass where I was standing and we started playing. It was one of the greatest experiences of my life!!!

I Love Gerbera Daisies!

2010-09-20T18:15:00.001-07:00

Aren't these flowers gorgeous! They are so fall. I love them!!!

Caramel Crunch Bars (warning...these are addicting!)

2010-09-20T17:43:00.001-07:00

This weekend my family came to visit so I made a special treat. They were soooo good!

Carmel Crunch Bars

Adapted from Dorie Greenspan

For the Base:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon espresso powder (I used Postum)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

2 sticks (8 oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1/2 cup (packed) light brown sugar

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

For the Topping:

6 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

3/4 cup Heath Toffee Bits

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly butter a 9 x 13 inch pan lined with foil.

Whisk together the flour, Postum, salt, and cinnamon.

Working with a stand mixer, beat the butter at medium speed until smooth, about 3 min. Add the sugars and beat for another 3 minutes, or until the mixture is light and creamy. Beat in the vanilla, then turn off the mixer. Add all the dry ingredients and mix on low speed just until the dry ingredients are almost incorporated. Add the chopped chocolate and mix only until the dry ingredients disappear. Scrape the dough into the butter pan and spread into a thin even layer.

Bake for 20-22 minutes or until the base is bubbly and puckery. Transfer the pan to a rack and turn off the oven.

Scatter the chopped chocolate evenly over the top of the hot base and pop them back in the oven for 2 to 3 minutes, until the chocolate is soft. Remove from the oven and immediately spread the chocolate over the bars, using an offset spatula or the back of a spoon. Sprinkle the toffee bits over the chocolate and press them down lightly with your fingertips. Place the baking pan on a rack to cool to room temperature. Refrigerate them to set the chocolate if necessary.

Serve with ice cream!!!

Classic: Vanilla and Chocolate

2010-06-14T18:32:00.000-07:00

I haven't done a ton of baking since I have been here in MD. I have a miniature oven and was quite discouraged when I baked my first batch of chocolate chip cookies and found that the bottoms were burnt and the tops raw.

It has taken a little experimenting but I have finally figured out my oven and it works really wonderfully.

For a work picnic, I made a classic Dark Chocolate cupcake and swirled on a "little" Vanilla Bean Swiss-Meringue Buttercream.

I usually don't eat the treats I make because I know how much butter goes into them. But these turned out amazing and were definitely worth the calories!!!

Memorial Day at Arlington

2010-06-14T18:02:00.000-07:00

While I missed being in Utah for the annual "Zumbrennen Bike and BBQ", it was a truly amazing experience to be in Arlington Cemetery for Memorial Day this year.

Every grave marker had a flag perfectly placed in honor of our fallen heroes.

The Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was just as fantastic as I remembered.

Love this picture with the flags.

I want the Washington Monument as my grave marker!

This is Senator Teddy Kennedy's cross. He lies very close John and Bobby.

May we always remember those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. Happy Memorial Day!

Finally...

2010-06-14T17:51:00.000-07:00

In February of this year, I was in a little accident. We had a sudden snow fall on a very very cold day. I was late for stake conference and was driving a little too fast. I suddenly found that I was sliding out of control and had two options: turn the wheel and run into the curb or head straight on into a busy road full of traffic. I opted for the first option but cracked my hubcap in half as a result.

With one thing and another, I didn't have the chance to replace the hubcap before moving to Utah. So I drove across the country in what my friends would refer to as a "ghetto car". When I arrived in MD, I ordered a hubcap online and quickly installed it.

Unfortunately, I didn't know that Honda hubcaps have to be bolted on with the lugnuts and not just clipped on like most other hubcaps. I therefore lost my new hubcap only a few miles.

6 months, 2200 miles, and 2 "new" hubcaps later, I finally have a car that my friends will no longer call "ghetto".

P.S. I also got Maryland plates so I am officially a resident!!!

A Date with the White House

2010-04-20T18:27:00.000-07:00

My friend Julie came to visit from Utah for the weekend. We had tons of fun.

Our main goal was to see the white house gardens. They are only open 4 days a year.

We got up super early so we could be downtown by 8am to get tickets. All of the websites said that there are thousands of people that go every year and if you don't get there early enough, you won't get a ticket. We got there at 8:30 am and guess how many tickets they had left? Thousands and thousands! We decided to get tickets for 3 pm and head back to Bethesda for breakfast and BED.

We ate at the cutest French bakery/cafe. It's called Le Madeleine and I think I am officially in love. I will definitely go back there again...and again...and again.

After our nap, we started our day all over and took the metro downtown. We waited for about a half an hour before we were let through the gate. And then...we waited in line again.

This time we had to get through the security line. Julie had a ton of food in her bag so we decided to "hide" it in the pockets of my jacket. Unfortunately security was very thorough and soon enough I heard the security guard say, "This jacket is chalk full of food!" I almost laughed out loud. One way or another we got through security with ALL of our belongings.

We were able to get super close to the white house.

There weren't very many flowers. Except around the children's garden...aren't the little chairs so cute!

This is Sasha and Malia's swing set. President Obama can watch his kids play from the Oval Office.

We saw Michelle Obama's infamous vegetable garden.

After schmoozing with the Obama's we walked to Ford's Theater and the "House Where Lincoln Died" (very descriptive name isn't it?). We finished our day with some super yummy drinks at Hard Rock Cafe. Thanks for coming Julie. I had a blast!

Home Sweet Home

2010-04-11T11:37:00.001-07:00

I have been wanting to post a video of my new apartment for a while but I had some major cleaning to do before I could really get moved in. I found this little family of dead potato bugs beneath my bed. Now I understand that this is a basement, so I should expect more bugs than usual, but I would prefer not to feel like I'm camping when I'm in my home.

So at long last here's a short video showing my new digs. You may want to take something to prevent sea-sickness before you watch it because it's a bit bouncy! :)

Cherry Blossom Fest

2010-03-30T19:30:00.001-07:00

Dad stayed with me a few days in Bethesda to help me get settled (THANKS DAD!!!) Before he took off for Utah, we decided to check out the Cherry Blossom Festival and some of the memorials downtown.

The cherry blossoms were beautiful!

I saw the Korean Memorial for the first time... It was very moving.

At the Vietnam memorial, we tried to find a Zumbrennen. The closest we could find at 24 W line 25 was "Zumbrun". (Can you see it?)

It was a beautiful but cold evening in DC. Hopefully some of you will come and visit me in DC!

Dad and Kymmies Big Adventure

2010-03-30T18:46:00.000-07:00

Well, it was finally time for the big trip. We had planned for 3 days to travel ~2100 miles to Bethesda.

I rented a trailer from U-Haul to pull behind my car. I know...it's hideous! Julie told me to make sure that I wear my sunglasses so no one would know that it was me pulling the ugly bomb shell! Thanks for the advice Julie. :)

We decided to take I-80 because there was a huge storm in Denver, CO which would make traveling on I-70 a little treacherous. We made good time for about 100 miles and then found out about a 100 car pile-up at Rock Springs, CO. We spent all afternoon in Rock Springs with 100s and 100s of semi-trucks!

After a few hours waiting in Rock Springs, we decided to take the long way around to get to Rawlins, WY. It was only supposed to take 2-3 hours but it took us 4. (My car could only go about 50 MPH when going uphill.) But we finally made it to the Hampton Inn in Laramie, WY.

Downtown Laramie is super exciting...not! But this was Dad's favorite hotel that we stayed in.

We saw lots of exciting things while we were traveling...

Trailer parks...

Windmills...Trains, Cows, Horses, Turkeys...

And lots of rest stops. This one had tiles showing different quilt patterns.

4 days and 2305 miles later we had finally made it. (This is a long exposure of the Washington DC Temple at night).

My cute landlords had cut fresh flowers for my apartment! How nice!

Frozen Falls

2010-03-30T18:39:00.000-07:00

Mom and I decided to go blading up to Bridal Veil Falls before Dad and I headed out for our road trip.

We couldn't make it all the way to the falls because there was still snow on the trail but we made it close enough to see the falls. It was beautiful!

Christmas Stripes

2010-03-01T15:25:00.000-08:00

I know it's been a while since Christmas but I wanted to make sure I posted these cute cookies. The recipe is from Martha Stewart's "Cookies" cookbook. There are hundreds of cookie recipes in the book including everything from simple chocolate chip to extravagent ginger with chocolate. I have been wanting to buy the book for months but decided to hold out to see if someone would give it to me for Christmas. Lucky for me (and everyone who gets to eat the treats when I make them) my Sister gave me the book on Christmas Day!

These cookies are a little challenging to make. You have to prepare the batter and then spread it into a thin layer in the shape of a rectangle. Red food coloring is added to some of the batter and then the rectangles are striped using a piping bag. After the cookies are baked they are rolled up while they are still hot.

I think the cookies are supposed to be crispy. Mine turned out a little chewy but they were super yummy! If you're up for an adventure these are fun to try. You could even stripe them with green for St. Patrick's Day or pink and purple for Easter!!!

Milano Cookies

2009-11-16T10:32:00.000-08:00

I have wanted to try this recipe for Milano Cookies for quite a while. I think I have procrastinated trying them because I thought they would take a long time to make. But when I made them last night they only took about 2 hours from start to finish (and this included breaks to watch The Amazing Race). They were also super yummy. I would definitely make them again.

Biscotti Milano

Cookie Dough:

6 Tablespoons cool unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 ¼ cups confectioners’ sugar
Scant ½ cup egg whites (from about 4 eggs)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon pure lemon extract
¾ cup all-purpose flour

Mint Glaze:

1 egg white
About 2 cups confectioners’ sugar
A few drops of mint extract

Chocolate Glaze:
4 ounces semisweet chocolate

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Make the cookie dough: Cream the butter until smooth in a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix in the sugar. A little at a time, mix in the egg whites, then add the vanilla and lemon extracts. Add the flour and mix just until incorporated. Transfer the dough to the pastry bag with a plain ¼ inch tip.

Prepare two cookies sheets with parchment paper. Pipe 1-inch long sections of dough onto the sheet pans, spacing them 2 inches apart (the will spread sideways). Bake until golden on top and brown around the edges, about 10 minutes. Let the cookies cool on the pan.

Make the mint glaze: Whisk the egg white with 1 ½ cups of the confectioners’ sugar until smooth. Whisk in more sugar a little at a time, just until you have a thick, smooth glaze. And mint extract to taste.

Make the chocolate glaze: Melt the chocolate. Spread the flat sides of half of the cookies with chocolate. Spread the flat sides of the remaining cookies with mint glaze. Sandwich together and set on a clean sheet pan. Let the cookies sit at room temperature until firm, at least 1 hour.

iPods?

2009-10-28T14:16:00.000-07:00

I wanted to do something a little different for Jenny and Katy's birthdays this year. I made them some individual cakes in their favorite colors.

I got the idea from Confetti Cakes for Kids book. I think they turned out pretty cute!

From Failure to Success

2009-07-03T08:58:00.000-07:00

One of the technician's in our lab recently had a birthday so I decided to make him a birthday cake at the last minute. I had a recipe for a filled genoise cake that looked super yummy so I started mixing and baking. A genoise cake has no leavener (baking soda or baking powder) so all of the volume comes from gently heating and then whipping your eggs until they are really fluffy. My batter turned out perfect and when I put my cake into the oven the batter was at the top of the pan. After 28 minutes in the oven I was so excited to see the results...

As you can see, the cake didn't do too well! This is the third time I have made a genoise and I have never had one work. If any one out there has advice for a genoise, please send your comments my way.

For my second try, I made a simple sour cream vanilla cake. I sliced off a little of the top and then hollowed out the middle.

I filled the cake with strawberry and cream cheese/whipping cream.

I put the top back on to hide the yummy filling!

And then topped it with more of the cream cheese/whipping cream mixture. I sprinkled on some of the cake I hollowed out from the middle and topped it with a strawberry. The result...a deliciously light and refreshing summer cake!

Brownie Cookies

2009-06-24T17:13:00.000-07:00

I made some super yummy cookies this weekend. They were very easy to make and everyone loved them. They taste a lot like a bite-size brownies...give 'em a try.

Chocolate Drop Cookies
Adapted from "The Essence of Chocolate"

Beat together with a paddle attachment at medium high speed 2 eggs, 1 1/3 cups sugar, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla for 10-12 minutes. You want the egg mixture to be light in color and very fluffy (don't skimp on the mixing time). Meanwhile melt together 4 oz of unsalted butter and 6 oz 99% chocolate (unsweetened chocolate). Also, sift together 1/4 teaspoon of baking powder and 1/3 cup all-purpose flour. When you egg mixture is whipped turn the mixer to low and slowly drizzle in the chocolate mixture. Mix for 2-3 minutes on low and scrape the sides of the bowl as needed. Then fold in the flour mixture by hand. I also added 1/2 cup of peanut butter chips but you could add more chopped chocolate or nuts or nothing at all. Drop tablespoon size balls onto a parchment lined baking sheet and cook for 10-12 minutes or until the tops are just starting to crack and cookies have lost their shine. The cookies will be really soft when done (don't over cook them or they will be hard). Let cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheet and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. And then...enjoy!!!!

Clogging Fun

2009-06-17T11:25:00.000-07:00

Last fall I participated with a few of my friends in the ward talent show. We put together a "production number" to the song The Devil Went Down to Georgia. We had two girls fiddling, two girls lip sinking, a few more playing random instruments, and then Amy and I did a bit 'o clogging. We had soooooo much fun!

I was going through some of my pictures last night and remembered that my dad recorded it for me. (The camera accidently stopped in the middle so it is in two parts.) So here it is. I hope you enjoy it!

Pink Lady

2009-05-11T09:31:00.000-07:00

This cute cake was made for my friend Heidi. Her colors were pink, pink, and more pink.

I love the Gerbera Daisies. They are one of my favorite flowers!

But probably the best part of this cake is what was on the inside. The top and bottom layers were dark chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and the middle layer was a tangy lemon cake with vanilla-bean frosting. The chocolate cake uses four different kinds of chocolate. I loved seeing all of these chocolate bars lined up in my cupboard before I started baking. It just made me happy to look at them!

Straberries, strawberries, and a little bit o' chocolate

2009-05-04T13:59:00.000-07:00

I think all of the practicing paid off. The cake turned out great. Most importantly, the bride and groom loved it.

One of the bride's friends made the strawberries.

Yes, it was super tricky to get the ganache to drip...but not drip, drip, drip too far. The ganache had to be just the perfect termperature.

I loved the table-scape with all the strawberries around the cake...soooooo cute!

Practice, Practice, Practice

2009-05-04T13:34:00.000-07:00

My old roommate and good friend asked me to make her wedding cake. She wanted to have a strawberry theme so her idea was to make a little twist on a Boston creme pie. This would include (from bottom to top): vanilla cake, strawberry filling, vanilla cake, Bavarian creme, vanilla cake, strawberry filling, vanilla cake. Then the outside would be covered with a layer of buttercream frosting, royal frosting and ganache. Yummy!

But with a cake this complicated I needed to make a couple of practice cakes to make sure it would all work out. The first practice cake I made wasn't too good. The cake was too crumbly, the frosting tasted like marshmallows, and the ganache was way too thin (depicted in top picture). I took it to a party and everyone said it was way too sweet. So I tried a second cake (depicted above). I used a different cake recipe with sour cream and an Italian buttercream. This cake was perfect. I love to decorate with the Italian buttercream (I think the flowers are sooooooo cute in this pic) but it is very very very gross to eat. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to make another practice cake so...I just had to hope everything would work out during crunch time.

Just Dinkin' Around

2009-03-06T11:43:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I went down to Provo to hang out with my sister's kids. Jenny and I ran to Wally-world to get a few things and decided to try on some glasses while we were there. I took a few pictures on my phone but it has taken me forever to figure out how to get them off my phone and onto the blog. I FINALLY figured it out...and here we are...

These are my dorky glasses...or are they?

Just a little too "buggy"Jen.

These are a little better...maybe?

Jen looks great in these ones. They even match her jacket!

Maybe we should just stick with a la naturale...much better!

Another year gone.

2009-02-27T13:22:00.001-08:00

My boss's birthday was last week so I decided to make her a cake. She absolutely loves dense chocolate cakes but doesn't like all the fluffy frosting. So I decided something with chocolate would be in order. Unfortunately, we only have 4 people working in the lab now so I didn't want to make a 9" cake and have half of it uneaten. So I decided to try Dorie Greenspan's "Chocolate Raspberry Loaf Cake with Tangy Chocolate Frosting".

The batter for this cake is extremely dense and bakes up just like banana or zuchini bread. I split it into three layers and then smothered each layer with raspberry jam. The frosting is a satiny, sour cream chocolate frosting. Very smooth and very tangy.

Although the frosting was very shiny, I thought it was a little boring for a birthday cake. So I used some of my cake dust and made it sparkle. It was pretty cute (although it's hard to see in the picture). Most importantly, it was dense and chocolaty. My boss loved it.

Chia Bust

2009-02-27T10:37:00.000-08:00

For Christmas I got a Chia Herb garden. I was so excited to grow my own garden. It came with 6 different kinds of seeds: Basil, Cilantro, Parsley, Marjoram, Chives, and Thyme. I decided to try the Basil and Cilantro first.

I very carefully "planted" the seeds in the Chia soil mixture.

I put them on my stove to keep them warm. And even gave them plastic bag hats to give them a little green house affect.

The basil was the first to sprout.

But the cilantro wasn't too far behind.

The basil also started to grow first.

But once the cilantro got started it grew like a weed.

I was so careful to water them regularly.

I moved them to the kitchen in the mornings so they could get sunlight during the day. And then moved them into my bedroom at night so they wouldn't freeze.

But they stopped growing. This was as tall as they got.

The basil was the first to die but the cilantro wasn't far behind. Personally I think they froze to death because my house is so cold!!! I am so sad! Maybe I will have to try again in the Spring when things get a bit warmer.

A bit o' baking.

2009-02-27T10:11:00.000-08:00

I haven't done a ton of baking in the last few months. Just a few things here and there. This is a Banana-Chocolate Chip loaf cake. It was very moist!

I had a craving to make a coffee cake with crumb topping and filling last month. In my never ending search for good recipes I found a recipe in Baking Illustrated for Coffeecake Muffins! The recipe was supposed to make 12 regular sized muffins but I decided to make mini-muffins and take them to church. I figured it would make about 24 minis but boy was I wrong. These muffins just kept coming and coming. I think I ended up with at least 40! Luckily, they were super yummy and so they were easily devoured by all of the starving college student at church.

Last year (2007) around Christmas time, my Dad and I were at Costco and I saw a beautiful bundt pan for sale. I saw the design for this "Norwegian" style pan a few years ago and have wanted it ever since! Well, evidently my Dad bought the pan for me as a Christmas gift a few days later but forgot to give it to me (hope it's not Alzheimer's setting in!)

A few months ago (December 2008), my Dad called and said that he had a Christmas present from last year that he had forgotten to give me. He told me to remind him for this Christmas (2008) so he didn't forget again! How funny! Well here it is. After years and years of waiting I finally have my own Norwegian Bundt. Isn't the design beautiful?!

To test it out, I used a simple vanilla box cake. I reserved about 1 cup of the batter and added a few tablespoons of unsweetened chocolate powder. After pouring the vanilla batter into the pan, I dolloped the chocolate better on top and then swirled up and down with a knife. The pattern turned out so cool! Thanks Dad!

Tortillas and....?

2009-02-27T10:04:00.000-08:00

I just remembered that I took this picture when I was in the midst of writing my thesis. I was so busy that I had very little time to do the anything other than read and write. At one point I had essentially no food. So what did I eat? See the yellow package on the second shelf? Those are tortillas. I lived on tortillas with peanut butter for a few days! Yummy!

Kymmie Z PhD

2009-01-08T13:13:00.001-08:00

I finally finished my degree! I know, it's a complete miracle. After my thesis defense we all went to dinner at Thaifoon! Yummy! Don't I have a cute family!

Seussism

2009-01-07T13:16:00.001-08:00

Mom and I.
Mom and I.
We went shopping. Mom and I.

Do you like the hats we found?
Would you like them on the ground?

We think that they are of great use.
So we could be in a book by Suess!

Mom and I.
Mom and I.
We went shopping Mom and I!

My Favorite Things

2008-10-24T14:48:00.001-07:00

I will defend my thesis one week from today!!! Unfortunately, that means I have been way too busy writing my thesis. But it's officially done (well, until my committee asks me to make changes.). It's 115 pages of...scientific nonsense!

A few weeks ago my cute niece Jenny, at Jenny's Spot, tagged me to list 5 of my favorite things. So here they are...

1 - Cereal!!! Ok...let's be honest. I don't just "like" cereal, I am absolutely addicted to it. I have no food in my house right now but I don't feel a need to go to the store because I have cereal and milk. What are my favorites? Frosted Mini-Spooners (Original, Vanilla and Strawberry) and Life (Cinnamon and Honey-Graham). Mmmmm!

2 - Music! I love listening to my iPOD. What are my favorite songs? I really like Vive la Vida by Cold Play right now. But I'll be honest and make a huge confession...I have been listening to Christmas music on KOSY 106.5 since it started on Nov. 1. (I know...I'm pathetic!)

3 - My blue and red blankets from Bed, Bath, and Beyond. I can't remember what they are made of but they are the softest blankets in the whole entire world. I love them. My favorite thing is when my room is cold in the mornings but I am nice and toasty inside my sandwich of yummy blankets!

4 - Twilight. I love when the sun sets in the fall and winter. The light shines from the west and fills the room with a yellow light that makes everything look like it's been painted with gold.

5 - Color (as you can tell by this post). When I was little I had a huge collection of crayons. They always had to be in "rainbow" order. I think that's one of the reasons I love cake decorating and painting so much. You get to use lots and lots of fun colors!

These are just a few of my favorite things but there are many many more. Thanks for the fun tag Jenny. We will have to play again.

I tag Maria at Two Peas and their Pod.

Basket O' Strawberries

2008-09-10T13:12:00.000-07:00

One of my colleagues (M) is getting married on Saturday so we decided to throw a little surprise party for her at the last minute.

I was asked to make a cake for the party at the last minutes so I knew it had to be quick and easy. M likes chocolate so I used Dorie Greenspan's infamous Devil's Food Cake smothered in a chocolate buttercream. The outside is decorated with Pirouette cookies.

M is getting married in the Grand Tetons National Park so I thought the rustic decorations were perfect! Congratulations M!!!

Wedding Cake???

2008-08-08T13:16:00.000-07:00

My friend Lisa D. called a few months ago and asked me to make her wedding cake. There was only one catch...she wanted it to be made of Rice Krispie Treats.

She wasn't too particular about the design. Her colors were navy blue and yellow (go Orem Tigers!!!). She wanted fresh flowers and multiple tiers. So I drew up a little sketch and she approved.

The next step was to try to visualize how it would all look. I couldn't decide how tall to make the layers but finally decided on about 3.5" each.

My tower fell down very soon after i took that last picture!!!

I figured it would take about 4 batches of RK Treats for the whole cake...boy, was I wrong!!!

It took 7 batches! That's 7 lbs. of marshmallows, 1 lb of butter, and 49 cups of Rice Krispies. (I had to run to the store at 9pm just to get a couple more bags of marshmallows!)

Here are the RK Treat "cakes" all finished. My cake pans are only 2" high so I had to use cardboard collars to get the cakes as tall as I wanted.

Gratefully, the flowers arrived on time at the flower store. I could barely fit them in my tiny fridge for their overnight stay!

It's amazing what a little ribbon and a few flowers can do to make RK Treats look quite elegant!

Congratulations Lisa and Spencer!!!

Maria's Wedding

2008-07-09T15:14:00.000-07:00

I have a few more picture from Maria's wedding. The reception was so perfect. I loved her Damask pattern and the food...delicious!!!

Maria had lemon tarts and chocolate tarts...they were both yummy but the lemon was my favorite.

Check out Maria's blog for the recipe...http://lichtyfamilyblog.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2008-06-27T07%3A58%3A00-07%3A00

I loved all of her platters!

All the food was so amazing!

Mmmm! Shrimp Cocktail!

The candy jars were so cute!

Check out Maria's cute shoes...they are Damask!

Maria and friends!

B-day Apron

2008-07-09T14:55:00.000-07:00

Rosie (Sister Aston) sent me an apron from my Birthday!

It is bright and colorful! And I love it!!!

Thanks Rosie!!!

Damask Dejour

2008-06-23T12:09:00.000-07:00

Maria's wedding had a black and white theme with a damask pattern.

I tried and tried and tried to figure out how to get a damask pattern on her cake.

I finally decided the best way would be to paint it on. So this is a dark german-chocolate cake with chocolate chips. It had chocolate filling and was covered in fondant. I hand painted the design with a special food coloring.

It took 14 hours plus one catastrophe at 1:30 am in the morning...but it was so worth it! Maria loved it and that's all that mattered.

L...L...L...L...L...L...L...L

2008-06-23T11:55:00.000-07:00

Maria's wedding has come and gone so I thought I would catch up on some of the fun baking I got to do for her wedding.

Three batches of Soft-Chocolate Sugar Cookies (a Dorie Greenspan recipe, of course) made ~105 cookies.

They first had to be outlined.

Then they got a Royal Frosting coat. I had a minor catastrophe and so about 10 of them had to be sacrificed (not that it was a big sacrifice since that meant we got to eat them!)

I added the specialized L for Lichty!

And finally, Maria put them in individual bags with ribbons.

It took three days to make all of them...but it was definitely worth it! How cute!!!

Ebony and Ivory

2008-05-28T07:49:00.000-07:00

I have been working on Maria's wedding cake. Maria has a favorite baker named Dorie Greenspan who is the author of numerous cook books including Maria's favorite, Baking: From My Home to Yours. Maria wants her wedding cake to be from Dorie's book so we have tried a few different chocolate cake recipes to find the perfect one.

We first tried a milk chocolate cake with Vanilla Swiss Meringue frosting. The cake was not quite chocolaty enough and frosting (though fun to work with) was like eating raw butter (not too tasty!)

Next up: we tried a devils food cake with chocolate frosting. This cake has four different kinds of chocolate (cocoa, bittersweet, semisweet, and unsweetened). It has a dark, fudgey, moist interior spotted with chocolate chips which is perfectly contrasted by the fluffy chocolate frosting. (I took this cake to a ward party...hence the decorations.)

It was perfect! If you read my previous post (I'm in Love!) you'll know that I am not a big cake fan but this was absolutely delicious. Yea!

Sticking with the black and white theme. I made some chocolate crinkle cookies with chocolate chips and a dollop of raspberry jam in the middle. They were very rich...but absolutely delicious!

Little Cuties but Big Flops

2008-05-28T07:25:00.000-07:00

I have made a bunch of cute little treats here and there but haven't posted them...all of them turned out super cute but were not very tasty!

Maria and I are always trying to perfect our French Macaroon Recipe. I tried to make Martha Stewart's Macaroon frosting for these ones...it was disgusting! But they looked oh so cute!

If you haven't hear, I am helping with my friend Maria's wedding. She is having a black and white theme so we thought these Black and White Stripe cookies might be good.

The dough was a chocolate/vanilla shortbread that was pressed together and then accurately sliced (this was pretty fun such I'm such a scientist at heart!).

The cookies looked oh so cute when they were finished...but the taste was very...blah!

These little appetizers were made for the cooking contest we had for FHE. The choux pastry was filled with a mixture of eggs, mayo, bacon bits, and Dijon mustard. They looked so cute when they were plated...but they were absolutely disgusting!!!

I'm in Love!

2008-05-28T07:03:00.000-07:00

Holy cow! I didn't realize that it had been so long since I posted something on my blog. I have been so busy with finals and presentations and etc. etc. etc. Hallelujah that summer has finally arrived!

So I have titled this post "I'm in Love!" and it's totally true! I have finally found what I have been looking for for the past 15+ years...the perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe.

It may be surprising for people to learn that Chocolate Chip Cookies are my favorite dessert. You might think that cake is my favorite since I make so many of them but I don't really like to eat cake...I just think they are fun to decorate.

Chocolate Chip Cookies are the most perfect dessert. A little bit of chocolate mixed with a buttery soft cookie...what could be greater? The dough is yummy before it's cooked and the cookies are yummy when they are warm and gooey right out of the oven but I think they are even yummiest when they are frozen and dunked in ice cold milk!

There's only one problem...the post-oven fall. Don't tell me you haven't experienced it. You put your delicious balls of dough in the oven and then watch as they spread and rise. They look so perfect and golden and then you take them out of the oven and...splat...they go flat. How depressing!

But recently I found a recipe that is perfect. It is chocolaty and buttery and crisp and soft. But best of all the cookies stay poofey when they come out of the oven...I think my life is complete! Sigh...

One Pot Chocolate Chip Cookies
By Abigail Johnson Dodge in The Weekend Baker

Makes 26 cookies

8 tablespoons (4 ounces/113 grams) unsalted butter, cut in 4 pieces
½ cup (4 ounces/113 grams) firmly packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup (2 ½ ounces/71 grams) granulated sugar
1 ½ cups (6 ¾ ounces/191 grams) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 large egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup (6 ounces/170 grams) semisweet chocolate chips (feel free to substitute white chocolate or bittersweet chocolate chips)
½ cup (2 ounces/57 grams) coarsely chopped nuts (walnuts are my favorite – no need to toast), optional

1 – Position an oven rack on the middle rung. Heat the oven to 350 degrees (180 C). Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment or nonstick baking liners (I like the Silpat).

2 – Put the butter in a medium saucepan and set over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the butter is melted. Slide the pan from the heat and add the brown sugar and granulated sugar. Whisk until no lumps remain. Set aside to let cool, about 5 minutes.

3 – In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk until well blended. Once the butter mixture has cooled, add the egg and vanilla and whisk until blended. Pour in the flour mixture and stir with a rubber spatula until blended. Stir in the chocolate chips and the nuts, if using.

4 – Using a small ice-cream scoop (about 1 2/3 inches/4.25 cm in diameter) or 2 tablespoons, drop scant 2-tablespoon mounds of the dough onto the prepared cookie sheets, arranging them about 1 1/2 inches (4cm) apart. (At this point, the loaded cookie sheets can be slipped into the freezer until the cookies are frozen, about 1 hour. Then transfer the cookies to heavy-duty freezer bags and freeze for up to 3 months. To bake, remove from the freezer, arrange on lined cookie sheets, and leave on the counter to thaw slightly while the oven heats.)

5 – Bake 1 sheet at a time (make sure to use a cooled sheet for the second batch until the cookies are light golden around the edges and puffed, about 12 minutes. If these cookies are over baked, the won’t come out chewy. Transfer the cookie sheet to a rack to cool for about 10 minutes. Using a spatula, lift the cookies from the sheet onto a rack and let cool completely.

Storage: Layer the baked and cooled cookies between parchment or waxed paper in an airtight container. They can be stored at room temperature for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. You don’t even need to thaw them completely. They’re just as delicious cold.

BIG Cookie Variation: Scoop 1/4 – cup portions and arrange 3 inches (7.75 cm) apart on prepared cookie sheets. Flatten the mounds slightly with lightly floured fingertips. Bake 1 sheet at a time until the cookies are light golden around the edges and puffed, about 13 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool as directed for the regular sized cookies. Makes 10 cookies.

Kymmie's Fun Cakes

2008-03-13T16:09:00.001-07:00

Here's a few more of the fun cakes that I have done!

For Maria's Christmas work party!

My first try with fondant for the 4th of July!

Just for fun...at Christmas! Looks like a music box!

For Betty's birthday!

Just because petite fores!

Easter fun!

The rest of the cakes below were for a stake enrichment that Maria and I helped with when I was serving in the stake. We served over 200 women!!! How fun!!!

Vanilla-Almond Cake with Raspberry Filling!

Chocolate and Vanilla cake with Raspberry filling!

Dark chocolate cake with Silky-Fudge Frosting!

This was definitely the favorite!

Lemon cake with vanilla-cream filling!

That's a lot of yummy food!

Kymmie's Wedding Cakes

2008-03-13T15:53:00.000-07:00

Kymmie's Cakes!!!

I realized the other day that although my blog is called "Kymmie's Cakes" I have never posted any of my decorated cakes so...here we go.

The picture above is my first wedding cake I did for Allie. She's been married for over 3 years now. Crazy!

This cake was done for John and Katie. It reminds me of a temple from the Aztec period...but they loved it!

Nikki and I made this one together for her boss's niece. I love the Gerber Daisies!!!

This is Adrienne's cake. She loves orange. I was a bit skeptical of the design at first but I think it turned out gorgeous!

Julia's daughter Rachel wanted a very simple cake. I think it is gorgeous! I love the Calla Lillies!

I love this cake! It fit Kenzie's personality so well.

L is for Lichty

2008-02-26T11:14:00.000-08:00

It's official. Josh and Maria are getting married on June 14, 2008. What started as a friendship has blossomed into a perfect romance. How exciting!

I found some really cute cookies on the Internet and thought they might be fun for the wedding. I used a chocolate soft sugar cookie recipe from Dorie Greenspan (who is Maria's favorite cookbook author) and then covered the cookies with a mint royal frosting.

I played around with lots of different designs.

But I think the very simple cursive Ls are my favorite.

Last Minute Requests

2008-02-26T10:59:00.000-08:00

Two weekends ago I found myself thoroughly bored! Then suddenly I had a number of last minute baking requests. Yippee!

My RS President called Friday evening and asked me to bring some treats to a baptism the next morning. I made these Black-bottom Brownie cups. The cream cheese mixture with Mini-Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips and brownie batter are pretty easy to mix up. But it took some time to layer them in the mini-cupcake tins. I didn't get to try them but they look cute!

On Sunday I found out that the person who had signed-up for Ward Prayer cancelled. Someone volunteered to host but didn't have time to make treats...so I volunteered. I made these Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip cookies. I like how they look but preferred them on the third day after they had gotten really soft.

I also whipped up a batch of cupcakes and added some crazy frosting! They are cute!!!

What would we do without friends?

2008-02-25T12:42:00.000-08:00

Rosie (Sister Ashton) came to visit from California during New Years. She is as cute and fun as ever.

I made some Banana Chocolate Chip Bread and (in typical Rosie fashion) in a matter of seconds...Rosie had turned herself into a pirate! ISH!!!

Chandra, Hazel, and I got all dressed up to go to the Cinderella Ball (ie Ward Activity). Chandra let me borrow her dress!

If you look closely, you can see we are missing one shoe. When we arrived we put one of our shoes in a bag. All the girls were escorted to the RS room, the guys then picked one shoe from the bag and came to the RS room to find the girl who's shoe they were holding. Don't worry...it was the typical Mormon scene...not enough guys for girls. Chandra and I were partners for the evening!

Winter...

2008-02-25T12:11:00.000-08:00

My goal this winter was to find one thing I like about snow...I actually found three.
1 - When it snows it is very very quite.
2 - It makes everything look like it has been dusted in powdered sugar.
3 - It's a great excuse to stay home and bake!

Crazy ice-cycles everywhere!

Notice the ice covering the side walk!...it was a nightmare just to get into my apartment. I used to chip it away with a hammer and flat-edge screwdriver. It's a great way to release tension!

Ice-cycles on the house across the street.

Yummy soft pretzels!

Lemon cheesecake with lemon curd topping. This is one of my favorites! It's smooth and creamy and tangy and sweet!

My first attempt at orange rolls. They were a little dry but not too bad for a first!

My first attempt at scones. This was a Dorie Greenspan recipe recommended by Maria. Turned out pretty good.

Some Holiday Cheer

2008-02-25T11:55:00.000-08:00

I know. I know. It's way past the holidays...but it's never to late for some cheer. So here's a few pics.

Shawn's just hanging out...waitin' for Santa to come.

Jenny and Katy just being a little crazy!

I think this was my favorite treat of the holiday season. This is called a jello poke cake! It's light and colorful and oh so yummy!

Christmas Jello Poke Cake:

1 white cake baked in two 8 or 9" rounds cake pans, cooled to room temperature, and placed back in cake pan

1 package raspberry or strawberry Jello made with half of the required volume of boiling water

1 package lime Jello made as above

1 tub cool whip mixed with one carton lime yogurt

Use a fork to poke the cooled cakes and pour in a little jello. (Red jello for one layer and green jello for the other). Let refrigerate overnight then frost with the cool whip yogurt mixture.

This cake would be fun at any season. (ie blue raspberry and strawberry would be fun for 4th of July!)

I also made some vanilla macaroons with chocolate ganche and "Not Quite Neiman Marcus Chocolate Chip cookies"

I was a little disappointed with how the macaroons looked... but they tasted great!

Lot's o' baking

2007-12-18T12:41:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I have updated the blog. I have been a bit busy preparing for Germany and travelling. Here's a little update on my baking for the last few months.

Dad's Chocolate Pecan Pie he made for Thanksgiving. It was...rich. :)

These are Cranberry Poppers. They sort-of pop in your mouth when you bite into them. I don't recommend these unless you love cranberries.

I made these cookies for a ward activity. They are called Marguerite's.

You first make a shortbread cookie and then spread on a thin layer of raspberry jam.

Then you add a layer of Meringue frosting a bake for a few more minutes.

I thought they were really yummy. A mixture of buttery crunchy cookie with sweet meringue and a moist tart raspberry interior. The only downfall is that they were quite time consuming to make.

I bought some acorn squash at the store and tried a great recipe from Williams Sonoma.

Honey-Mustard Acorn Squash

Cut acorn squash in half and remove seeds. Place 1 Tablespoon butter, 1 teaspoon (or more) Dijon mustard, and 1 Tablespoon honey into each cavity. Bake at 375 F for 1-1.5 hours or until soft. Baste acorn occasionally with honey-mustard sauce. Enjoy!

These are low-fat Lemon-Raspberry Muffins with Streusal Topping.

They look better than they tasted. My analysis: they needed more fat! :)

Spanish Rice: A first.

2007-11-15T13:59:00.001-08:00

It's not that I have never experimented with recipes before or that I have never made Spanish Rice before. It's just that I have never experimented with a recipe and had it actually turn out edible. But for the first time ever, I modified a recipe and it turned out delicious!!! You'll have to try it.

Kymmie's Spanish Rice:

Adapted from the Pulham Family Cookbook

1 medium onion diced

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup long grain rice

1 16 oz. can stewed/diced tomatoes (I used the lime/cilantro style tomatoes from Western Family)

1 4 oz. can diced green chilies

2 cups water

Saute onion in olive oil until transparent (~5 min). Add rice and saute until browned (~10 min). Add the remaining ingredients. Bring to boil and simmer until the rice is cooked and all the juices are absorbed but the rice is still moist. Enjoy!!!

Apple Streusel Coffee Cake

2007-10-23T15:50:00.000-07:00

Well, I just couldn't keep out of the kitchen for long. I went to the library on Saturday and I found this fantastic book from the Pillsbury company called "Muffins and Quick Breads." It had so many yummy recipes that I sat in the parking lot at Harmon's for almost 20 minutes just trying to decide which one to make (you know how good I am at making decisions :) ). Suddenly I realized that I had only 30 minutes to get my grocery shopping done, get home, unload my goods, and get to the church for a service project! I made a mad dash through the store for apples, plain yogurt, and few things to eat the rest of the week. Luckily I had everything else for the cake. Miraculously I made it to the church in time to go help serve at the soup kitchen.

This is what it looked like before I baked it and without the streusel topping. Gorgeous!

It was a fantastically simple cake to make and it looks so gorgeous! I really like this book because most of the recipes are low fat (substituting yogurt or applesauce for butter/oil/eggs). Because of the yogurt, the cake was amazingly moist. The streusel topping was sweet and crunchy. The apples were vibrant and soft-crisp. It was a contrast of textures and flavors that was a perfect for fall.

Surprisingly everyone in the lab loved it. Even Michelle (who is my hardest critic) said that this was one of her favorites. It's definitely a "do-over" recipe.

Apple Streusel Coffee Cake

Coffee Cake:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon Baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
¼ cup margarine or butter, softened
½ cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 tablespoons nonfat plain yogurt
2 cups thinly sliced, unpeeled apples

Toppings:

¼ cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons brown sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons margarine or butter

Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray an 8- or 9- inch round spring-form or 8-inch square pan with non-stick spray.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, mix well. Beat margarine and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla, blend well. Alternately add flour mixture and yogurt to margarine, beat well after each addition. Spread batter in pan and arrange apple slices over batter.

In a small bowl, combine all topping ingredients except margarine. With pastry blender or fork, cut in margarine/butter until crumbly. Sprinkle topping evenly over apples.

Bake at 350 F for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. If desired, remove from pan.

Finally...

2007-10-18T12:06:00.000-07:00

Well it took me a few days but here is some of the great food from Conference weekend.

We met Cindy, Larry, Leslie, Chad, Rorie, and Kerry at Spaghetti Factory. The food was…Spaghetti Factory food. I get the same thing every time I eat Italian…Three Cheese Ravioli. I did like the Spumoni though. But it was most fun just to catch up with everyone.

On Saturday, Dad, decided to make Cinnamon Rolls. These rolls are from the famous Williams Sonoma baking book. They looked fantastic and tasted pretty good. Dad is definitely up for the monthly Daring Bakers Challenge.

We had a fun quesadilla dinner on Sunday with Nic and Bret and the kids. I think everyone had fun and liked the food (a miracle when you are trying to feed 4 adults, three and a half kids, Grandma and me (I haven’t figured out which category I fall in yet!)).

I also made a Tivoli Torte from the Junior League of Colorado cookbook. Each layer was made with ½ cup of batter and then broiled for 1 minute. The cake was not sweet enough and the frosting was too sweet. It was not my favorite but it looked pretty cool. Definitely a “been there done that” recipe. I am definitely ready for some more baking though…we’ll see what comes next.

You Win Some You Lose Some

2007-10-17T10:59:00.000-07:00

I have been a little delinquent in updating my blog. I have some fun pictures of the Tivoli Torte I made conference weekend but I just haven't downloaded them yet.

Instead I thought I would highlight some culinary concoctions by Peter. So Dad decided to make some Crab Bisque last Sunday. He got the recipe from the Lion House Classics cookbook so you would think it would be good. But...it was a disaster. Here is a quote from Peter, "It wasn't the best, and mom didn't like it. She only ate 2 bites. We through [sic] the rest of the 12 servings away." Maybe it was the fact that the recipe had four different kinds of soup combined...tomato, cream of celery, cream of mushroom and split pea soup (Dad actually used Split Pea with Ham...bleh!!!).

Doesn't even sound good. Mom, it's a good thing you didn't invite Grandma!!! You might have killed her!!! :)

Well, you can't win them all Dad. Keep trying!

A Weekend Bake Off

2007-10-01T13:53:00.000-07:00

Well I still don't know exactly how it happened but suddenly I became the ward caterer. I signed up to bring a dessert to the Bishop's Fireside on Sunday. Then they needed someone to bring a cake to the General RS Broadcast at the Stake . Then I found out that the RS was helping with the dinner at the Fireside on Sunday so I asked if I could help and was told to bring two 7-layer bean dips.

When I woke up on Saturday to a cold and rainy day I thought, "Mmmm…A perfect day for baking." I ran to the store and got all I needed and started with "That Chocolate Cake" from The Essence of Chocolate. While I was making it I realized that it's the same recipe that is on the back of the Hershey's Cocoa Powder. I have made that cake before and it is delicious. So I was excited that I would have a good cake to take to the RS Broadcast.

You can imagine my shock when I found that in the middle of the baking the cake centers fell. At first I thought I could still use them but once they cooled it got even worse!!! How sad! They got tossed in the garbage.

So I ended up making a Duncan Hines Chocolate Bundt Cake. I was so embarrassed that it wasn't "homemade" that I used my extra cream to make a caramel sauce for the top. It was my first time ever to make caramel and it turned out pretty good. I ended up putting the leftovers on the pumpkin cheesecake.

Despite the chocolate cake mishap (which I think was due to too much baking powder at high altitudes). The Pumpkin Cheesecake turned out perfectly. The spiced graham cracker crust was delicious (although it stuck to the pan???). And I had 5 people ask for the recipe!

The 7-layer beans dips were also a hit. But to be honest after all that baking...I need at least a few days off before I try anything else. (But I'll probably be ready to try something new for conference weekend!!!)

Maria was a big help with the picture taking and carrying stuff into the church!!! Thanks Maria!

New Arrival

2007-09-25T10:46:00.000-07:00

Guess what? My new cookie book arrived in the mail. It's called "The All-American Cookie Book" by Nanci Baggett. It has been on my Amazon Wish List for a few months but I keep telling myself that "I don't really need it." But after I finished my R.I.P. (Research In Progress) presentation last week I decided I deserved a treat...so I ordered it. Only $10 on Amazon. Yea!!!

I checked this book out of the library a few months ago and I fell in love with it. It is filled with recipes that originated in the early colonial period but have been modernized for current ingredients, ovens, etc. I am so excited to try the recipes!!! I'm sure I'll be taking lots of pictures to post on my new blog.

(The picture is of Dad's Cocodrillo bread that he made this weekend. I decided to post it to encourage him to start his own blog!!! I have not yet embarked into the world of bread making (I don't have the patience to wait for it to rise!) but yours looks fabulous Dad!)

My First Blog

2007-09-24T09:22:00.000-07:00

Well, it's official! I have my own blog. I know it won't be as funny/creative as Bret's Blurps or as cute as The Clarks but I think it will be fun to be able to keep up with each other. I'm trying to get Dad to start his own blog. Do it Dad!

Thanks so much for all the phone calls of support for my talk yesterday. It was terrifying to speak in front of 6000 people with Elder Holland, Elaine S. Dalton (General YW Presidency), four Stake President's, two Mission President's and their wives but what a phenomenal opportunity.

If you want to read the talk, check it out below (But remember...DON'T GO OVER 4 MINUTES!!!):

In his final testimony, Elder Bruce R. McConkie stated, “I feel and the Spirit seems to accord that the most important doctrine I can declare and the most powerful testimony I can bear is of the atoning sacrifice of the Lord, Jesus Christ.”

It is on this same topic, the atonement of Jesus Christ, that I wish to briefly speak today. In doing so, I wish to use the example of Peter from the New Testament.

Peter was one of the first to whom the Lord issued the call “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matt. 4:19). And Peter straightway forsook his net (or the cares of the world), and followed him who is the creator of worlds without end. (Mark 1:18). Although the Lord knew that Peter was not perfect, He also knew what Peter had the potential to become and thus he was “called Cephas, which is by interpretation, A stone.” (John 1:43).

It is Peter who shows his courage and faith as he steps out of the boat carrying his fellow apostles and walks on the sea of Galilee towards the Savior. And although his faith wavered at the onslaught of wind and waves, Peter knew to whom he should cry for help. “Lord, save me,” Peter cried. And immediately Jesus reached out and caught him by the hand.

Near the end of the Saviors life, during that final sacred supper, we find Peter promising is complete devotion to the Lord as he declares, “I will lay down my life for thy sake.” It must have been with great sorrow and perhaps confusion that Peter heard the gentle rebuke of the Savior, “Wilt thou lay down thy life for my sake? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied me thrice.” And we know that this prophecy was fulfilled. For shortly thereafter, even while Christ was in the midst of his sufferings and that illegal trial in the palace of the high priest, that thrice Peter denied even knowing His master. And when the cock crew for the second time, as Luke records, “…the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter.”

I can scarcely imagine what that moment must have been like as Peter’s eyes met the piercing gaze of the Savior. For without a word, the Master teacher, gave a rebuke so powerful that “Peter went out and wept bitterly.” But, I also think that is was in this moment that the power of the atonement became real for Peter. For it was the atonement of Christ the gave Peter the power to repent, the power to change, and the power to eventually became that stone that would fearlessly defend the Savior even to his own death.

I think that many of us and I know that I myself am much like Peter. We have such good desires and intentions to follow and serve the Lord. We leave the behind the cares and influences of the world to answer the call of the Master.
But despite our best intentions sometimes the winds and waves of the world seem overwhelming. Or perhaps because of our carelessness or disobedience we do that which is not right in the sight of God and feel the disapproving gaze of the almighty penetrating our soul.

It is during these times that I hope that we will look to the example of Peter and use the power of the atonement in our own lives. For it is in the midst of the storms of life that we can cry out to him who has suffered pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind to find understanding, peace, and a helping hand. And when, despite our best intentions, we falter in our discipleships it is back to the stretched our arms of our Savior that we should run just as Peter ran to witness the miracle of the empty tomb.
Although we must always remember that the pathway to perfection requires patience. Let us never lose hope. For it is in the sacred sufferings of the atonement that we find the power to repent, the power to change, the power to find peace, and the power to eventually become what our Savior knows that each of us can individually become.