Meringue Mistakes

Well I have found that after you caramelize the to of meringue, you need to let it "set." Okay, so here is my issue, I made a chocolate meringue tart

names after my daughter, "Burke's Chocolate Meringue Tart", and I did not allow enough time

for it to set. But the real issue was not the "setting" the real issue was that i didn't have my oven high enough to brown the meringue so instead when it finally was "brown," the meringue was hard and the filling, chocolate cream, melted through the crust! This was not my day! Speaking of, this was Christmas eve when I was putting on dinner for 10 people! That

On the up side, I made a wonderful cherry pie that was great for Christmas eve dessert. We did end up eating the chocolate meringue tart for dessert as well,, and although it was not the prettiest thing... the tart was quite good! My lesson in meringue today... get a small hand torch from ace hardware (since it is better than the one in the kitchen stores) and do meringue that way.

As for Christmas day, after learning my lesson about meringue, I decided to do a chocolate CREAM pie instead. That came out much better and much more appetizing. I love baking and can't wait to do more things, i just need to be more careful about my "creations."

I love to try new things with my style of baking. I am always up for new creations and love trying something different. Next on the agenda.... cake decorating class! I'm going to take that class in February and hope that I can do well.

Fashionista!

So first off it has been WAY too long since I have posted anything. Sometimes it truly is just hard to find the time, amazing to think that "blogging" would actually be a luxury. It is crazy to think that in just over a month I'm going to have a 1-year-old! It is surprising and shocking to me that my life has changed so much in this past year and she has become such a fantastic, beautiful edition to our family. Which brings me up to the fashions of tomorrow... that I'm afraid of what this world is coming to and what my daughter could potentially be a part of. I do not want to be a pill, I just need a set of blogging to "vent," after all, that is what blogging is right?

Now that it is getting cold I think a few things need to be set straight, in the way of fashion. I would never claim to be a "Fashionista" of any type. I mean come on, my uniform is basically jeans and a women's style t-shirt. I may sometimes include a sweatshirt or mix it up and do a sweater; but over all I do not make it a point to be up to date with fashion. My two best friends are fabulous when it comes to the newest trends and what is "hot," I am not one of those people; I wish I was, but the reality is, I'm not. Now that I have let you know that; let me get to my point. Something needs to be said for the train-wrecks that I'm seeing today. Anna (one of my best friends) and I were talking one day and found that there are a couple of basic rules when it comes to fashion. First off, "If you wore it the first time around, you CANNOT wear it again." What does that mean, you ask? If you wore the bubble skirt, the flannel (and you are not a lumberjack), the Band-dress or the jelly shoes... the first time around, you cannot wear them again.

I do not know what to do or what I should tell my daughter when she is 12 years old and her friends are wearing tiny mini-skirts and UGGs. First off, they are not cute; they are suppose to be "functional." Second, this is Southern California, it barely rains and never snows. Unless you are going to big bear or camping in the snow on a regular basis, you should not be wearing them. If you are like my sister-in-law and living in Canada; you should feel free to wear them or you are like my friend, autumn, who travels to the northeast on a regular basis; otherwise it is like wearing a fleece vest, "my arms are not cold, but my chest is." In other words, it makes "NO SENSE."

So, today I was with some friends hanging out in a sweatshirt and jeans (of course), and who should walk by me but a pack of women in the "should not" category that I'm talking about. It was just one right after the other. Another rule, if you are in your twenties you are not allowed to wear "odd numbers" on your clothes, 1,3,5,7,9... Those are clothes in the "junior" section and you are no longer a "junior," deal with it! So these women who were walking by could have been pretty, relaxed women emphasis on relaxed! One, was wearing the UGG/short-shorts combo that I am talking about, the other wearing the "junior" clothes, and finally the third was wearing a bright blue shirt that had word, "meercats" with pictures of them underneath. I do not want to seem judgemental, and I hope I am not coming off that way too much. It is just you could tell these women COULD help it. You could tell that they were actually trying to look good they had the intention, it was just poorly executed for one thing they were over the age limit of all three looks. In fact, I am over the age limit of all three looks.

Seriously, to everyone out there, (and the few that may read this) "Please buy a mirror and actually use it before you leave the house. If you do not have a mirror, get a friend, partner, spouse, mom or just SOMEONE who can give you the thumbs up or thumbs down on your ensemble." Good luck and happy shopping!