January Round-Up

Movies Watched
Baraka and Samsara -I'd call these two films documentaries, but then you might expect something narrated by David Attenborough. But these films don't have narration. They just show you the world. People, nature, technology, life. You might not make it through one if you're a bit ADD, but if you can sit back and just enjoy, you will be amazed. The world is a wonderful place. (It's also a horrible place, though. I couldn't bear to watch scenes from factory farms and the like. But, hey, it made me feel something. And in my book, that's a movie worth watching.)

Hugo - If I had known that this movie was so much about early surrealist film, I would have been eager to see it much sooner! It was a beautiful movie, a bit of mischief and mystery, and some really cool old films which gave me film school flashbacks.

The Secret of Kells - The illustration/animation style is just beautiful. You must see it. It's not a grand, epic film, it's really just a fairy tale. It's lovely. And Irish. Don't you just love listening to Irish people talk? It's so musical. Sigh. I just want to exist inside this movie.

Sleepy Hollow - This was intended for pre-Halloween viewing, but I didn't get around to it until now. I think my favorite part was Johnny Depp's hair. But I also liked that the headless horseman was very real, and there was a very interesting story behind it. I always thought the headless horseman was like a ghost people see, but they never have any proof. But this story has a lovely, gory ending.

Jack and Diane - I'm still not sure what the symbolic purpose of the "monster" side of things was... Nevertheless, it was still what I thought it would be; a story of two girls meeting and creating a very strong connection, and then going through some shit. I like character-driven movies like this.

Mirror Mirror - I'm always right when I have a gut-instinct about a movie. This movie was not well-received when it came out, but I thought it looked colorful and cheeky. I was right, of course. It's absolutely stunning visually and it makes me laugh out loud at the adorable dwarfs. I highly recommend it for any fairy tale lovers.

TV Watched
Friends - This was my 'background watching' show for the month. I just always need something playing on the TV. Friends is one of the very few laugh-track sitcoms that I can watch. I generally can't stand that filmed-in-front-of-a-live-studio-audience style of show.

Him & Her - I re-watched the third season and then watched the fourth, final, season. This British show makes me laugh out loud so much. It also taught me what being in a relationship in your twenties is like. I assume. The fourth season was a little different style, though. It gave me anxiety. I got very worked up. The hilariously awful characters that I never took seriously were suddenly in a very serious situation. But I still laughed a lot.

Books Read
Inferno by Dan Brown - I love Dan Brown's books. I have them all. I mean, they all pretty much do the same thing- there's a great mystery to be solved, the world is in danger, the stakes are high, etc. But that doesn't stop me from getting addicted to the story. I read most of this in one day. This one deals with the themes of Dante's Inferno and the problem of overpopulation- seriously, we need to do something about it and a character in this book makes a drastic, but effective, move to help the entire world. I couldn't wait to discuss the book and ideas with my friends.

Bossypants by Tina Fey - I've been reading non-fiction more than fiction lately. I thought I better read this one since I read and enjoyed others like it. It had it's humorous moments, but generally, I wasn't in love with it. It's a good read, but overall I felt like I didn't get anything out of it. I guess I'm just not that interested in Tina Fey's life story. (Also, she didn't mention a single thing about Mean Girls!)

Music Heard
Beyoncé - I finally bought BEYONCÉ early this month, watched the entirety, and have been obsessed ever since. I think I've had any/all of the songs stuck in my head everyday since. I came home and danced to it almost everyday for couple weeks. I really need to watch it again, too. Goddamnit, Beyoncé has out-Beyoncéd herself with this one. (And I haven't even had a Beyoncé album since Destiny's Child, just some singles.)

Chloë Howl - I'm anxiously waiting for her latest single, Rumour, to be available on iTunes. She just has a few singles out so far, but I am loving her Brit pop style and can't wait for more.

Cakes Made

(New Year's Eve)

(At work)

Videos Made

Fun Had 

We had a pretty mellow New Year's Eve at Kim's house this year. We were planning a masquerade party like we did last year, but no one could come. So, we just had fun playing my new game Catchphrase with Kim's family all night.

Kim, Kelsey, and I finally made it to Alight at Night. Upper Canada Village is a tourist/school field trip kind of pioneer village. For the Christmas season, they cover all the buildings in lights and open up at night. There really isn't much to it other than seeing the lights, but we enjoyed the night out.

I got my Camp Takota t-shirt and friendship bracelet in the mail! But I haven't taken a photo in it yet, oh no.

I painted some things that have been sitting around waiting to be painted. 

Way back in August, I submitted a piece about being an introvert to Hello Giggles, which they posted. Very exciting. It was the first of three that they've accepted. Last week I got a few messages from people about the article, which I thought was an odd coincidence. Turns out Hello Giggles re-posted it on their Facebook feed, so new people were reading it. I love reading the comments and getting messages from people about pieces I write. The Hello Giggles community is great. :)

I made the decision to simplify my Internet life by deleting my The Bakestress Facebook page, moving The Bakestress videos to my main YouTube channel, and, finally, importing The Bakestress blog back into this blog. I haven't been baking much on my own since I got a job as a cake decorator and I'm no longer interested in making cakes for people as a side business. I still love baking, though! I'm just not ready to commit to The Bakestress brand right now. I'm having too much fun writing lately and, of course, I've been busy with The Unicorn Hunt.  

We wanted a calendar at work, so I printed off Mandy's Man Calendar. Unfortunately, no one at work seems to know and/or care about the gorgeous nerdy men featured, but at least I will enjoy it. :)

Kim and I went to Milestones to celebrate her milestone and I chose to have a grown-up drink, a Lipstick Martini (aka a raspberry martini). It tasted like Swedish Berries, which I loooove. Adding raspberry vodka and martini fixings to my liquor store list.

The Unicorn Hunt // DIY: Unicorn Horn Cupcakes

In episode 3 of The Unicorn Hunt, we made cupcakes to lure in the unicorns featuring fondant unicorn horns (so the unicorns would know the cupcakes were for them). Now, you can learn how to make your own fondant unicorn horns, so you can lure some unicorns over!

The Best Christmas Playlist Ever: Originals

Last year, my Christmas blogging plans were interrupted by the trauma induced by the sudden death of my beloved iMac of 6 years. It derailed a lot of my Christmas plans. Even though I was only without a computer for three days (I got a MacBook Pro as a replacement), it was such a weird adjustment period (I couldn't watch all my Christmas movies on my TV because my MacBook was too new to hook up with my old TV!) that I scrapped a lot of plans. Those plans included a lot more Christmas blogging and even some decorations DIYs. This year my Christmas blogging as been interrupted by working long hours, laziness, and just generally not blogging much all year.

Lucky for you, though, I'm finally here to post the second half of my Best Christmas Playlist Ever! This list is the best original songs I have. And maybe it's a good thing this list waited a year because I've added a few new songs to the list this year.

***Update: Grooveshark doesn't exist anymore, so there's no playlist here to listen to, but you can look up the songs on iTunes easily!

All I Want for Christmas - Joss Stone

"All I want for Christmas is you. Nothing old, nothing new, borrowed, or blue."

Shake Up Christmas - Train

"Shake it up! Shake up the happiness! Wake it up! Wake up the happiness! Come on, y'all, it's Christmastime."

All My Bells are Ringing - Lenka

"Take my heart this Christmas. I'll wrap in a ribbon and a bow. Take my heart this Christmas. Take it wherever you go."

More Than I Wished For - Schuyler Fisk

"You're the sugar and my spice. The naughty to my nice. You are the one. You're more than I wished for."

Christmas in the Sand - Colbie Caillat

 "I saw Santa in his bathing suit. Trying to catch a wave but he tried too soon. He laughed so hard that he could barely breathe. And washed up next to me."

The Christmas Song - The Raveonettes

 "All the lights are coming on now. How I wish that it would snow now. I don't feel like going home now. I wish that I could stay."

Christmas Tree - Lady Gaga

"Oh, oh, Christmas. My Christmas tree's delicious."

The Greatest Time of Year - Aly & AJ

 "It's the greatest time of year and it's here! Help me celebrate it!"

December - Norah Jones

 "December won't you come. Back with snow and sun. Don't say that it's done."

Best Christmas Ever - Wonder Girls

"I hope my Christmas wish comes true. Hey, Santa do you hear me? Then underneath the mistletoe I found you. It's a miracle! A Christmas miracle!"

December 25 - Francesca Battistelli

"It's like coming home knowing everything's right. Oh, December 25."

Always in Season - Pomplamoose

"Cause I thought Christmas was supposed to be more than lighting up the Christmas tree. More than filling up our socks with toys. More than all of this tremendous noise."

Calling to Say - Serena Ryder

"I just thought I'd call and ask Are you having fun? Are you seeing anyone? Ya, I've been busy, too. Hope I'm not keeping you."

Christmas - Leona Naess

"Cause I'm full of love. Ya, I'm full of the above."

Extraordinary Merry Christmas - Glee

"It's a very, very, merry, merry Christmas. Gonna party on 'til Santa grants my wishes."

Fairy Tale of New York - The Pogues

"You're a bum, you're a punk, you're an old slut on junk! You scumbag, you maggot, you cheap lousy faggot! Happy Christmas, your arse, I pray to God it's our last."

Where are You Christmas? - Faith Hill

"Where are you, Christmas? Why can't I find you? Why have you gone away?"

4 Carats - Kelly Clarkson

 "Like a diamond ring. Just a little something from Tiffany. Or a big ruby. You know red has always looked good on me."

Halloween Cakes: Dia De La Meurtos Sugar Skulls

For my birthday/Halloween (it's the same day!), I decided to make several small cakes, rather than one big cake. I had a lot of fun making and taking photos of my birthday/Halloween cakes last year. I thought this year my friends and I could have fun painting these sugar skull cakes.

To go along with my sugar skulls, I created a candy table. Lots of candy, lots of glass containers, plates, and stands with a few Halloween decorations thrown in.

I couldn't have a candy table without a plate of my famous candy sushi.

You can tell which two of the six my friend Kim painted because she is a perfectionist and I was just having fun.

The Unicorn Hunt // DIY: Unicorn Poop Cookies

Aren't they adorable?! Here's how you can make your own!

Here are some tips we left out of the video:

Chill your dough as often as possible. After you make the recipe, after you color it, and after you create your cookies. Cold dough is easier to work with and putting cold cookies into the oven stops them from spreading even more.

You may be tempted to flour your work surface when working with cookie dough, but in this case it will not help. Although the stickiness of the dough can seem to make rolling out thin logs tricky, using flour means that your strips of dough won't stick to each other when you try to roll them together into one cookie.

The long, thin strips of dough will break often. It's no big deal, just stick it back together and be careful as you roll.

You will find as you roll from one end there will be a point at which it seems like you're rolling the wrong way. You should start rolling from the other end, in the opposite direction. Your twisting will come together in the middle and your dough will be fully twisted.

You can try spraying water from a spray bottle onto your cookies to help small sprinkles stick. Larger sprinkles are easy enough to press into the cookie by hand.

The vegan sugar cookie recipe I used was from BettyCrocker.com.

Have fun and watch out for the next episode of The Unicorn Hunt on November 27th!

Do I Have Room in My Life (and Heart) for a Third Sherlock?

This is the question I asked myself recently when deciding if I wanted to watch the most recent Sherlock Holmes interpretation, the television series,

Elementary

. Being a big fan of BBC's

Sherlock

first, I felt like many

Sherlock

fans felt, that we didn't need another modern day Sherlock Holmes, we already have Steven Moffat's brilliant mind and Benedict Cumberbatch's brilliant depiction. I was on the hunt for new (to me) TV shows to get into, when the regular TV season had ended and I was down to only two airing shows for the Summer, so I decided to give

Elementary

a shot. Long story short; the answer is yes. And here's why. 

The reasons I've come to love the character of Sherlock (namely, as depicted in BBC's

Sherlock

, but to a lesser extent, the movies starring Robert Downey Jr.) are present in

Elementary

, as well. He is brilliant; I love to watch how his clever, clever mind makes his observations and connections. He's anti-social;

Sherlock

's viewers have gone so far as to suggest Sherlock has Aspergers. I wouldn't go that far. Like nerds who are happier to spend their days consumed by World of Warcraft than go out and meet girls, Sherlock has found something that challenges his mind and evokes his passions. I find him akin to Sookie of

True Blood

. She can read minds. Without choice. It's hard for her to get to know people because she learns too much about them just by being near them. Sherlock can just look at a person and know things about them that they might not want to share. Sherlock chooses the people to share his life with very carefully. As it is pointed out in

Elementary

, it is as if he has extremely heightened senses. He needs to choose what he is exposed to, lest he be overwhelmed with details that he deems useless. 

We love him, in all his forms, because he is very smart with an odd personality and lifestyle. He's fascinating to us mere mortals who could never come close to solving the mysteries he solves in minutes, and live ordinary lives surrounded by ordinary people. That's what TV, movies, and books are for- to escape our reality, into one much more interesting. 

The clues and cases of

Elementary

did not impress my feeble brain as much as

Sherlock

's. Although, to

Elementary

's credit, they are working with weekly 40-minute episodes. Their cases have to be wrapped up more quickly than Sherlock's 2-hour long episodes (three in a season). Some of the cases' conclusions in

Elementary

seemed a bit too obvious, even I made that connection. Whereas

Sherlock

kept me confused, but intrigued the entire time. (I once figured out a clue moments before Sherlock did. I've never felt smarter.) 

However, the difficulty of the cases is not the only point to judge our Sherlocks by. I quickly found myself falling for Jonny Lee Miller as Sherlock, just as I have fallen for Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock. British, eccentric, with rare moments of affection. I didn't find that

Elementary

borrowed too much from

Sherlock

. All three of our Sherlocks share the same personality traits that I mentioned, of course, but Jonny Lee Miller takes Sherlock in a different direction. (He also has the most adorable/hilarious Grumpy Cat Resting Face.) 

I now find myself just as excited for a second season of

Elementary

as I am for the third season of

Sherlock

. More eccentricities, more mysteries. And don't feel left out, RDJ. Your time as Sherlock may have passed, but you'll still get the occasional re-watches out of me.

Baked: Raspberry Lemon Cupcakes

For Mother's Day, I decided to try a new recipe; Raspberry Lemon Cupcakes. A lemon cupcake with some raspberries gently mixed in, topped with a lemon glaze and a fresh raspberry. The lemon taste was very light, so it was just a perfect compliment to the raspberries, my favorite. More importantly, my mom liked them. :)

Baked: Chocolate Ganache Birthday Cake

As you would expect, I always promise my friends a great birthday cake for their birthday. This year, Kelsey didn't have a specific theme request (last year it was Dexter), so I said I would make something fancy. She chose vanilla chocolate chip for her flavor, so I went with vanilla and chocolate for the decoration as well.

I wanted to try something different with the icing, other than just super smooth, so I tried a subtle stripe technique. I really wanted to try making my own chocolate ganache, and have it dripping down the sides in a very decadent way. Turns out chocolate ganache is as easy as melting some chocolate chips with some soy milk.

I also quickly whipped up some of our favorite Chocolate Crumblies for a last minute birthday dinner & bowling night, adding some sprinkles and a candle to make them birthday cookies.

Baked: Bake Sale Cupcakes

My friends and I had been planning all Winter to have a yard sale to get rid of all of our junk once Spring arrived. Kelsey had the brilliant idea that I should bake some cupcakes to sell at the yard sale. Well, my friends were a little eager and decided to have to have it at their house the first weekend of April, which happened to be two days after Ottawa got hit by a freak snowstorm. Needless to say, we didn't get much street traffic for our little yard sale. I didn't sell any of my junk, but I did sell one bag of cookies and two cupcakes.

I decided to try something new for the cupcakes. Or at least new variations on tried & true recipes. 

I made Oreo/Cookies & Cream cupcakes by adding Oreo chunks to the chocolate cupcake batter, Oreo crumbs to the vanilla buttercream, and plopping a whole Oreo on top. (Fun fact: Oreos (and Fudgeeos, which I prefer) are vegan!)

I added chocolate chips to vanilla cupcakes for one of my favorite flavors, added some chopped up chocolate chips to the vanilla buttercream (if I had had tiny chocolate chips, I would have used those), and placed a chocolate chip Teddy Graham cookie on top. (Fun Fact: Teddy Grahams are not strictly vegan, as they contain honey, but I happen to be a vegan who is okay with eating honey. Thanks, bees!)

My final cupcake flavor is one of my favorites, that I've only made a handful of times, Margarita. I skip the tequila in the recipe, as I'm not a fan, but I love the colored sugar rim. (Fun Fact: This is the same lime cupcake recipe I used in the Easter Cupcakes video. But not the same icing.)

Quickie: Swirl Rose

Here's my first "Quickie" video! There are so many icing techniques floating around out there on Pinterest and cake blogs, but not many videos that quickly and easily explain and show how to do them. So, here you go! This is a really easy icing technique, but seeing it done really helps you master it quickly.

To help demonstrate the technique, I put swirl roses covering a whole cake and topping cupcakes, so you can see how you can use this technique yourself. Remember, when you're covering a cake with these roses, you still need to ice your cake first, just enough so that any gaps between roses won't show cake. (Looking at these photos, though, it looks like I forgot to do that!) Someday I may have to create a DIY blog post how to make the adorable bunting for cakes.

Easter Cupcakes

I'm very excited to have my first Bakestress tutorial video complete! It was quite a learning process making this video. Even after a week of planning the cupcakes step-by-step and how I was going to shoot it, when it came to 'practice day' I found that some of the techniques I was going to try just did not work. I was a little disappointed, but in the end it was for the best as it meant less steps and an easier tutorial, which meant easier to film.

After my 'practice day' of trying out the techniques and making a bunch of cupcakes for the display, it was easier to plan the video shot-by-shot, step-by-step. Shooting in my tiny apartment is always tricky, but I tried my best to make a nice set-up. I included some gum paste flowers that I've made during my time teaching Wilton classes, and some display cake pops that I saved from last Easter, to create a nice Easter/Spring display on the table.

I've already filmed another video (a "Quickie"), that will be out next month and I'm already thinking of plans for the video after that, something a little more advanced. I hope you'll subscribe to my channel to see new videos as soon as they're posted, and follow this blog to see all my baking creations!

The recipes for the delicious lime cupcakes and icing are below the photos. If you have any questions about this project, leave a comment below, on the video, or message me on my Facebook page! Happy Easter!

Margaritaville Cupcakes (adapted from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World)

Ingredients
1/4 cup lime juice
1 1/2 tsp finely grated lime zest
1 cup soy milk
1/4 canola oil
2 tbsp tequila (or more lime juice)
1/2 vanilla extract (clear, if possible)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350*F and line muffin pan with cupcake liners.
2. In a bowl, mix together lime juice, zest, soy milk, canola oil, tequila, vanilla, and sugar.
3. In another bowl, sift in flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix together.
4. Mix dry ingredients into wet. Mix until batter is smooth.
5. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full. Bake for 20-22 mins or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool.


Lime Buttercream (adapted from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World)

Ingredients
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup margarine
3 1/2 cups icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract (clear, if possible)
1/4 cup lime juice
1 tsp lime zest

Directions
1. Beat shortening and margarine together.
2. Beat in icing sugar in 2 or 3 parts, alternating with the liquids, to avoid a mixer mess.
For stiff icing good for piping with small tips: Mix with beater attachment until smooth.
For fluffy icing good for spreading on a cake: Mix with whisk attachment for 5-7 minutes.
* Omit the lime zest if you are piping with the Wilton #233 (grass tip), because the zest will clog the tiny holes.
*Use gel icing colors (not liquid food coloring!) to color most of your icing green, and a smaller amount brown. You may have to add cocoa powder to the brown icing to get it dark enough.

The Bakestress' First Video

I'm very excited to finally be making Bakestress videos! This first one is just a fun little teaser trailer. But, just today I filmed my second instructional video! Although filming step-by-step instructions is tricky, I love coming up with new project ideas and techniques I want to teach you! Below are the photos of the cake and cupcakes I made for this first video. Be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel to see when I post new videos!

Camel Toe Cake

 

Let me just tell you- trying to find reference photos of a camel's foot is not easy because you know what comes up when you search "camel toe" into Google Images...

This cake was ordered from my friend's dad for his girlfriend. Her daughter had the idea for a camel toe cake. An inside joke, I guess. I didn't ask for details. Obviously, the cake doesn't look exactly like a camel's foot, but I had to make it a little taller in order to have enough cake servings.

I think it's safe to say that this is the oddest cake order I've had to make, but it was a fun challenge.

Movie & TV Inventions I Wish Were Real

The TARDIS from

Doctor Who

Not a

Doctor Who

fan? (How dare you?!) The TARDIS is The Doctor's, for lack of a sufficient term, space ship/time machine. Time And Relative Dimensions In Space. Basically, you can go anywhere, anywhen. And if that wasn't amazing enough, the TARDIS comes with The Doctor. Trust me, there's no one you would rather travel all of space and time with. Also- it's bigger on the inside...

Tru Blood from

True Blood

Tru Blood is the reasons vampires "come out of the coffin". It's a synthetic blood which means vampires no longer have to feed on humans to survive. But, within the show, they never discuss the other uses of the Japanese-invented synthetic blood. Vampires aside, imagine what synthetic blood would mean for the world! That would be the biggest medical discovery in history! No one would ever have to die from blood loss (in a fully stocked hospital, at least). I'm not a medical professional (unless watching seven seasons of

Grey's Anatomy

at least five times is the equivalent to the MCATs or something), but there must be some blood diseases and problems that would be made more manageable, if not curable, with readily available, clean, perfectly suited to you synthetic blood! Come on, Japanese scientists- get on that!

The Wizard (and more) from

Phil of the Future

This Disney show about a 22nd century family stuck in 2003 features all sorts of fun future gadgets that would make our lives easier. The main gadget is their Wizard. A portable gadget they keep with them that can change your appearance, change your voice, create things, disappear things, communicate via 3D hologram, and a million other things. I'm pretty sure it does something new in every episode.

Virtu-Goggles take you on a fully interactive visual, audio, full body experience. Phil and Keely just go to a circa 22nd century mall and then to a tiki bar, but imagine the possibilities!

The Giggle contains every piece of information about every single thing in the whole history of time. It replaced the thing that replaced the thing that replaced the Internet. If you think it's easy wasting a day on the Internet, imagine the time you would spend with this voice activated little screen 5 inches from your face.

Also, Pim has a stick that she just waves over her hair and it goes perfectly straight, food sprayed from a can, a Skyak, hologram alarm clock, a hoop you drop over yourself to instantly change clothes, and, of course, their time machine (if they ever fix it). 

Jumanji Board Game from

Jumanji

If this was a real board game, either no one would know about it because the first people to play it got killed or disappeared, or it would become a reality show. Sure, it's potentially dangerous- but fun!

Tony Stark's Computer from

Iron Man

We can't be too far from this being a reality, right? I mean, imagine trying to explain a touch-screen to someone 50 years ago. Sometimes I look at my iPhone and it still blows my mind because I have no idea how it works. (Especially why some gloves won't work, but some do.) And with technology increasing at an exponential rate, this kind of thing must be only a few years away, right? I think my favorite is when he puts his arm in the computer hologram (is that the correct term? I mean, that applies to Princess Leia's message in Star Wars, so it seems a little out of date.) and, like,

wears

a hologram. Or, when he's looking at an engine hologram (3D screen? Is that what we can call it?) and can just move his arms and it explodes, but in a controlled manner where every little piece is there. 

Also- Jarvis. I want a house/computer/butler/answering service/life coach/calender/assistant/robot to talk to and run my life for me.