Holiday Hiatus

Hello friends!  Since my "real" job keeps me soooooo busy during this time of year, I've taken an extended hiatus from my adventures as JenTheBaker. I have every intention of starting back up mid-January, and I will start posting photos and progress on my biggest project for the year:  the cake for my dad's upcoming wedding in June! Until then, I thought I'd at least post something for you all so you know I'm still here...itching to fire up that oven again. For now, I'll participate in a fun game, blog tag if you will...Enjoy!

1. Post these rules.

2. You must post 11 random things about yourself.

3. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post.

4. Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer.

5. Go to their blog and tell them that you've tagged them.

6. No stuff in the tagging section about "you are tagged if you are reading this."  Legitimately tag 11 people!!

Eleven. Random. Jen. Things.

1. I hate flip-flops.

2. I could eat macaroni and cheese everyday. For the rest of my life. For reals.

3. Jr.Mints are my favorite candy followed closely by Chocolate Covered Gummy Bears. Try them. You're welcome.

4. I most likely have hairline fractures throughout every bone in both of my feet, but that doesn't stop me from wearing badass stilettos and wedges every day.

5. No matter what, if I see the scene from Backdraft when they are having the funeral, I will cry when they all salute Rebecca De Mornay's character and give her the flag.

6. I have a relationship with Michael Kors accessories that I've never had with any other designer. Buckle ring, what? Oh yes, I got one.

7. I know everyone says it, but I truly believe my daughter is the coolest almost 6 year old on the planet.

8. When I was twelve, I could make a perfect omelet. Not anymore.

9. I had my first fried egg at the age of 32.

10.I have a new found love of eggs.

11. (No more egg facts) It is not Christmas for me until I see the Hershey Kiss commercial where the kisses are bells playing "We wish you a merry Christmas" and that kiss that has the last note uses his little paper to wipe his "brow" and say "phew!"

Questions from Absolute Mommy

1. Best childhood memory

Going on motorcycle rides with my dad.

2.  Favorite book

That's tough......I've read Slaughter-House Five a MILLION times.

3. Why did you start blogging?

My first blog is a series of letters to my daughter. I started it because I was dealing with the grief of losing my mother at the beginning of last year...it's a way for me to leave my little girl a small piece of me.

4.  Your Starbucks order

Venti Americano

5.  Harry Potter or Twilight?

Nope

6.  Favorite 80s movie

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

7.  Do you own Toms? (Yeah I'm obsessed)

No. Gross.

8.  Favorite funny person

Mitch Hedburg

9.  Facebook or Twitter

Facebook

10.  Pick a Kardashian

For what? Public mockery? Which one is the dude married to Lamar Odem?

11.  What's on your tv right now?

Basketball. Clippers/Bulls.

Onze por vous!

1. Dream travel destination

2. cake or pie

3. are you where you expected you be ten years ago?

4.do you miss the x-files circa 1996 as much as I do?

5. Truly, honestly, can a girl have too much pink in her wardrobe?

6. I really don't like cats. (I know that's not a question.)

7. Refrigerator covered in magnets and drawings or clean surface?

8. ice: cubed or crushed

9. Maruchan or Top Ramen?

10. Which Hepburn: Audrey or Katherine

11. Do you sufer from Beiber-fever?

Tag! You're it! You're supposed to tag eleven...I have three. Loser.

Elizabeth at Flourish In Progress

Jani at Dear Taylor

Alanna at Alanna on the Move

Apple Pie Cookies....WHAT??

You read that right, friends. Apple. Pie. COOKIES.

Not only did I finally get a chance to fire up the oven again, I came out with a bang. I wish you could smell this picture.

You can bet your bottoms this will be added to my regular repertoire. 

Excuse me while I go eat them all......

Bon appetit!

End of my hiatus...

Hello friends and lovers of baked goods!

I have been quiet for awhile, lots of work for my real job along with a week long conference kept me out of my kitchen...but I'm back to a semi normal schedule and ready to fire up the oven again. 

So the question is:  what to bake?  I've been scouring the interet for ideas and today we had some crazy, gloomy, wet weather hit the area.  I thought of all those fall yummies that make sense on days like this, but instead....I think I'll whip up a batch of strawberry lemonade cookies....a blast of summer on this dreary day. 

As always, if you have any questions or requests....email me at jenthebaker28@gmail.com

Bon appetit!

Orders and such....

Happy Friday friends! 

I've received a few comments through my facebook page wondering how one would go about placing orders from JenTheBaker.....

While I'm working on getting a website up, I'm still taking orders on a custom basis....basically, if you would like some deliciousness sent to your home/work/school, email me with your requests, what you're thinking you'd like, when you need it, etc.  Remember, I'm doing this in addition to my full time (45 hr/week) career....so to have an order form to submit seems a bit scary as of yet.  Can you imagine if the orders came flooding in and I had a week full of inventories, floorsets, meetings, etc!  JenTheBaker would get NO sleep and you'd end up with salt in your cookies instead of sugar!

So, until the website/ordering is fine tuned, send me an email!  jenthebaker28@gmail.com.  We're always open! 

Thanks for your continued support!

Bon Appetit!

I've gone Digital!

Hello friends and Happy Monday!  JenTheBaker has a busy week or two of real work ahead, so my posts may be less frequent and my kitchen will be dark....

That is not to say that I'm unavailable!  If anyone is interested in treats, feel free to email me at jenthebaker28@gmail.com!

In the meantime, I received an AMAZING gift in the mail today!  My Aunt Elaine spoiled me with a brand new digital scale!  This means the world to me, as it should cut back on the mess in the kitchen (imagine using ONE bowl for ALL your ingredients!!) and more accurate recipes! 

Many many thanks to you, Aunt Elaine.  You inspired my love of the kitchen in ways I don't think you know!  Bon appetit!

Double Chocolate Chip Espresso Cookies....and a chocolate cake

Hello friends!  Today I played around with the best cookie recipe EVER.  After baking about 3 dozen or so of these morsels from heaven, I sampled one...two....okay, three.  I almost died.  They were amazing.  I knew I needed to get rid of them as soon as possible, so I decided to do a giveaway on my Facebook page.

What a response I got!  I announced that the first 6 people to like my post would get a free deluxe sample and BAM!, within 20 minutes I had nearly 20 people "like" my post!  Man, people love free cookies.  Thanks for all the love and support, friends!  Cookies will be in the mail tomorrow!

Oh, and pictures of the world's best cookies will be uploaded tomorrow.  It's time for me to rest up after a day of baking!

Bon appetit!

Finally added a photo!

Basket of Treats!

Hello friends!  I feel like I haven't posted in forever, and then I realize, it's because I have a full time job outside of my baking adventure.  Now that I've hit my two days off, I can update! 

So my first official order was delivered yesterday morning!  A basket of morning treats for a friend's management meeting...yummy yummy treats.

Individually wrapped scones, muffins and coffee cake: a night of baking that nearly killed me....  Note to self: Do not commit to a delivery day if I do not have a day off from my regular job to complete the baking.

But, the result was quite delicious, and I'll be sure to fatten Ron up by the end of the year!  (For those that don't know, Ron is my love of 5 years that, by genetics, is a slender man that hasn't gained a pound since he was 15.)  Ron is my official taste-tester and quality control agent.  I feel confident in his judgement.

First, came the coffee cake::

Thank you to smittenkitchen.com for awesome, easy to follow, easier to eat recipes.  You are a genius.

Then, out came the scones::



Cranberry-lemon....yum.  (These, by the way, were the favorite of the evening)

The muffins required two attempts....I overfilled my muffin tins and, well, rookie mistake.....They stuck to the pan.  Second try was MUCH better::

The first tags I made were very blingy....and a little more expensive than my start up home business budget can allow for now.....second version here::



The best part of all this baking, according to my associates anyway, is the fact that all the extra goodies end up on the break table at my store! 

I suppose I'll wrap up here....my next project will be something with chocolate and espresso...until then, Bon appetit!

Treat Basket...

I'm so excited to get pictures up of my most recent adventures in baking!  Cranberry-Lemon Scones, Chocolate Chip Sour Cream Coffee Cake and Blueberry Muffins.  Too tired to post photos tonight...stay tuned!

Exciting News!

Hello Friends!

Today has been a good day.  I have my first client!!!  Granted, it is a family friend of mine, but it's a real job and I just can't wait to get the order filled and get my name out there.  I've been spending the day researching domain name pricing to get an actual website set up and trying to come up with a logo for my brand.  Having a great time!  I'm so motivated.

Thanks again for all the support!

Bon Appetit!

Carrot Cake Cookie Sandwiches

This was the second recipe I played with today.  My friend Matt has a birthday coming up, and I thought these treats would make a great gift!

The cookies came out a little thicker than I wanted them to...I need to play around a little more. 

The cream cheese filling was definitely a success.  The perfect amount of sweetness to compliment the carrot cake cookies. 

All boxed up and ready to go!  Now I just have to research the best way to ship items that need to stay refrigerated.

For more information on these cookies or anything else on my blog, please email me @ jenthebaker28@gmail.com

Bon Appetit!



Strawberry Lemonade Cookies with Pink Lemonade Icing

I had a busy day today!  I tried out two new recipes to add to my offerings.  Both tasted yummy and I'm quite pleased with the final outcome.

I started with the Strawberry Lemonade cookies:



One of my favorite things in the world is Strawberry Lemonade at Red Robin.  It's all at once sweet and refreshing.  These cookies are pretty much the same idea.  Great for Valentine's Day or summer parties, they are highly addicting.

This batch is going to work with me tomorrow...a thank you to all my associates for their hard work the past few weeks.

Email me with any questions or information: jenthebaker28@gmail.com

Bon Appetit!



Next Project...

My next adventure will be Carrot Cake Cookie Sandwiches....

One of my oldest and dearest friends has a birthday coming up and I thought I'd send him a box of cookies....Look for pictures SOON!!! 

This picture is from a really great blog that I just started following....hopefully mine turn out half as good as these!

Thanks again for reading/following.  You can email me directly at jenthebaker28@gmail.com for information on obtaining any sweets and/or treats. 

Itty Bitty Melty Chocolate Cakes

For my first post, I played around with an old stand-by from my coffee shop days.  Ganache is DIVINE!!!  You can do so many things with it and I have yet to find a soul on this earth that doesn't love it.



These yummy bites can be served a number of ways:  you can plate them with a drizzle of raspberry sauce; top them with a nonpareil and box them up; change the filling for any occasion; the possibilities are endless! 

Bon appetit!



Coming Soon...

Thank you all for visiting...getting things underway so stay tuned for more information/photos/style.