money money money

well, i've realized that although cooking is extremely fun, it's also very expensive. it's only 3 weeks into school and i've already spent $50 on making food for people. not groceries, that bill is at least 5 times as much, this is just spur of the moment make someone a treat or dinner. it was really fun though! i have decided that the best way to cook is too have someone else buy the ingredients, like a generous older brother perhaps. (thanks noah!) i have figured out that bread is very cheap though. only about 36¢ per loaf without add-ins like garlic or cheese, and even that isn't too bad in small amounts. i think that'll be my generic thing to give people instead of cookies. it's kind of refreshing too, cuz everyone always brings cookies and brownies and cakes and stuff. i guess these are the kind of things i think about when i'm taking three econ classes :)

cooking in college

i don't know if i'll have a ton of time to cook, cuz i have a kind of intense schedule this year, but i'll do what i can, cuz it's so much fun! here's what i've made so far.

my roommate madison had a birthday, so i made her a cake.

i had a little bit of a disaster with the fondant, but i think it turned out okay.

my other roommate tegan randomly decided yesterday that she wanted to make something yummy, so we made peanut butter mousse

and chocolate ganache.

i had fun making them pretty.

dora

last friday was my niece's 2nd birthday, and she asked me for a dora cake. i had so much fun making it. this is pretty much the first time i've done anything like this. there was the bulldog, but all i really did was the teeth and nose, the rest was my mom. i did take a basic ceramics class in high school, and i think that helped a little.

here's the finished cake, i tried to make it kind of like the show—"across the river, over the mountain, to the house!"

my mom helped me make some flowers and plants out of royal icing

and dean and eden helped!

then i used fondant

to make all of the characters:

swiper the fox

boots the monkey

tico the squirrel, benny the bull, and isa the iguana

map and backpack

and the grumpy old troll

i also made the gooey geyser with moldable chocolate and lemonhead candies

and dora's house (my mom did the roof)

you may have noticed that there's something missing on this cake, after all, isn't it supposed to be a dora cake? well, i procrastinated and didn't have enough time or energy left to make a good dora, i did make her, but she just looked terrible. you can kind of see her in front of her house.

but at least the kids loved it!

cakes by roxy continued

a comment by lee reminded me that i forgot to post this part. to give credit where credit is due, i didn't make this up off the top of my head, i found this picture on google images. it's from "bake me i'm yours." i'm pretty good at making stuff, but not at coming up with ideas, i have to have something to copy. i'm not quite that amazing. and my mom helped A LOT, i couldn't have done it without her!

p.s. lee, i'd love to make eden a b-day cake! just give me a design :)

cakes by roxy

so, last week i took care of my friends' bulldog, and i randomly decided to make a cake that looked like her (the last person who dogsat for them made this scrapbook, so i just had to think of something cute to do too). so, here it is from start to finish...

i usually don't like to bake nearly as much as i like to cook...

...but it was actually a ton of fun.

my mom helped a lot, and i think it turned out really good.

i'm especially proud of the nose and teeth.

however, it made a huge mess!

and i learned that red food coloring stains like crazy, but for some reason the other colors don't at all, even brown.

as a finishing touch, i took a picture of roxy (the bulldog).

and here it is!

perfectly pasta

my mom and i made some pierogi, ravioli, and gyozas (actually, the way I folded and cooked them they're a little more like won tons) using her wonderful and versatile pasta recipe. we froze most of them, but she let me keep a few out to cook. my plating could still use some work, but they sure tasted good!

FOOD!!

so, lets get to the actual reason for this blog... food! it'll probably be mostly pictures, which is good, because i'm not that great of a writer. i'll start with some old stuff that i've done in the past.

some AMAZING lemon chicken that i made with my brother, noah

some random potatoes au gratin i made one day

cheesecake-factory-style cheesecakes...

i made them for my friend crystal's b-day...

... but to make one i had to make four...

... so i gave two others away to some lucky winners as well

my mom's b-day breakfast, i didn't actually make anything fancy, i just tried to practice making it look pretty

my inspiration

i've always loved cooking, but i was a "if it tastes good the looks don't matter" kinda girl. more recently (after watching the movie ratatouille) i got a little more into the look of things. i became interested in presentation of food, but i still didn't really do anything about it. this summer, i've really just been wanting to try to get better and making food not only delicious, but beautiful. so, one day, i was at ross, and i saw these ADORABLE plates and bowls.

i just had to have them. ever since then, i've been not only thinking of more and more things i can make, but actually doing it too. obsessed you say? well yes, yes i am. hooray for ross!

p.s.

i know my name is kelli, but i think my middle name sounds better. in fact i've considered going by kay.

a new start...

so, i tried the whole blogging thing, i really did, but it just didn't work out well. but... i found a new hobby that i LOVE, and i think it might help kick start my blogging again. i'm probably not gonna do much of the whole journal type thing, unless something really super exciting happens. instead i'm going to show off all of the beautimous cooking creations i come up with. i know most of you probably don't care (except maybe scott stewart) but i do, so there. and who knows, maybe one day i'll become famous... or not.