Chia Bust

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.

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....?

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

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

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

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

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!!!