Call Me Amaesing A Niche of Tasks and Inspiration

First ever personal website. I hope it's gonna be worth the money I paid for a domain and hosting.

www.dianamaes.com

Got really bored tonight, the night before classes start. Me and a staff member decided to use the kitchenette downstairs to make food. So I HAD all the ingredients to make cupcakes and frosting..

So while my awesome vacation in Hawaii, I decided to bring some piping tips, coupler, and flower nail and make some cupcakes for my friends....

Ingredients to make buttercream frosting was easier than I thought..

My first attempt at buttercream roses...






guess who now has a stash of cupcake mix and frosting ingredients in her dorm closet...
.. and guess what program I'm going to host next in the building... :)

I used my leftover black patterned paper to make holiday/Xmas/greeting cards...

So I can finally reveal my creations for Christmas presents! I made a lamp out of "Krafy Box".. a glass block that I purchased at Hobby Lobby..

So while I'm on a blogging streak, I mindas well share some of my cookie creations made over the past few months..


Chocolate cookies w/ caramel center topped with a roasted pecan

The ones below were shot from my phone so that's why the picture quality was kinda crappy.




Peanut butter cookies with Hershey's center


Gingerbread cookies..[the recipe was kinda shitty so we brought them to our cousins for Christmas and all the little kids had a good time decorating them when we were waiting for dinner]


Chocolate cookies with white chocolate chips and walnuts



This gingerbread [graham craker] house was made during our "Allen Hall-iday" events in the dorms one weekend. Nothing better than using University money for mindless entertainment]

This winter break has been going pretty sweet. Aside from waking up past noon on several occasions, watching the entire season 1 of MadMen, binge drinking, visiting the city, learning how to use Adobe Flash, building a personal website, most importantly- I have been using my stove to its maximum, pumping out a variety of cookies, brownies, and cakes [thanks to my $6 purchase of BHG's special edition of "Best 100 cookies" magazine]. I've also been on youtube watching videos on how to pipe buttercream/royal frosting on cupcakes and cookies. Right now, I probably know more about Magnolia bakery and how they make their perfect swirl with buttercream frosting like no other. When I go to NYC in a month for AAF's Most Promising visiting Magnolia is definitely part of my to-do list.


Magnolia's famous swirl -- all in the clean 11' flat spatula, tilted angle, and quick wrist movement

Now I am officially obsessed with cupcake decorating, which closely bleeded into my cake decorating obsession. So obsessed that I went to the store and bought 3 piping tips, flower nail, coupler, and an 8-inch piping bag. One day later, I decided to buy a 56-piece master piping set that also includes 2 flower nails, and 2 couplers. Impulse purchases are so awesome.



comes in a easy storing case!


So in addition to this new obsession, I am a follower to several blogs/websites/youtube channels who make cakes and cupcakes for a living, and even looked into taking cake decorating classes at my local Michael's/Joann Fabrics store. One of my favorite websites below:

www.pinkcakebox.com















Something interesting about the founder of PinkCakeBox: Anne "Khoobiar" Heap was a Boston College graduate-- Major in ADVERTISING. She left her profession to do what she loved the most- baking. She then went to France and went to the Pastry Arts Institute and now has a very successful career in her deepest passion. Many bakers and cake decorators get their inspiration from her designs, and she's featured in many different magazines and websites. Maybe she's trying to get through to me.. hmm. Follow the same road? We'll see I guess.


...... off the topic of baking now..

I've been doing lots of other crafts right now, which includes a lot of paper crafting, canvas buying [canvas buying is key word, not 'painting' just yet], and hot glue gunning. I'll show you what I've been creating in the next blog, after my friends open their Christmas presents (tomorrow)... then I can share my gift to the rest of my readers.. :)

New Year Resolutions:

- don't be so bitter about past events - leads to a less stressful life
- make CRCE part of a daily routine
- become more viral- which means I should probably start blogging more again