What's Cooking for Easter Weekend

I have a friend and cooking for her is a challenge. Her relationship with food is the polar opposite of mine. She eats to live, I live to eat. She doesn't eat much meat and loves her vegetables. I wanted to cook her something hearty but healthy. 

Roast Root Vegetables with Rosemary and Garlic

 She also doesn't eat sugar. That made dessert a challenge. I decided to bake some fruit with no added sugar or synthetic sweeteners.

Baked apples with cranberries, walnuts, ginger and spices

Yesterday, my mom also met with a nutritionist who put her on a high-protein, high-veggie diet. She requested an "egg casserole" which I took to mean crustless-quiche. 

Zucchini and Cheddar Crustless Quiche

Tomorrow is Easter and I have no plans to cook. I'm not sure that will last long.

Welcome

I've been baking since I was a small child. I was a picky eater and my mother decided if I wanted special food, I would have to make it myself. Then, at age 9, I met my mentor. My grandma Katy adopted me and taught me to love food. The most important thing about food is serving others. I love to feed people.

Recently, my baking has become a business of sorts. I feel that God has opened a door and I should walk through it. I started baking for my friends and close co-workers. Then other coworkers started asking if they could place orders. That has led me to develop a pricing guide. Today, I also started some paperwork to take on "Stilettos & an Apron" as the name of my business.

My next steps:

• Order business cards from vistaprint.com because they have crazy sales
• Take orders and bake my heart out
• Link up with a photographer for a business photo for the blog and Facebook
• Link up with a blog designer and trick this place out!

I use real, simple, whole ingredients. I don't use imitation. I don't like fondant. As my friend always says, "pretty is as pretty does." Fondant might be pretty, but it doesn't have the taste of rich, creamy, buttery frosting.

Next week, I may have 2 orders for carrot cake cupcakes. I'm also developing a cupcake for a book club. We read "Smitten" so I wanted to create a romance themed cupcake to go with the book. I'm going to do a Big Hunk cupcake inspired by the candy bar with flavors of honey, peanuts, and nougat.

Let's get started! I hope you'll follow me on this sweet adventure.