Pastry Girl

Cakes...

2008-10-02T10:11:00.020-05:00

Here are some great pics of cakes i have done recently. i know some of you have seen them on facebook already but, these are for people who are interested in acquiring my services for their parties and such. so here are some "recent pictures"

this blue and white one was my best friends wedding cake back in may. it was a moist yellow cake with fresh strawberried and vanilla mousse inside. it was iced and decorated with cream cheese frosting.

This wedding cake was the first one i did at the hotel i used to work at. i don't remember the flavors inside, but it was iced with an italian buttercream frosting and decorated swiss dots and real yellow roses.

This one i also did at the hotel. it was for a friend. i think it was chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting and large swirls.

This one is by far my favorite that i have done. it was for a friend in austin. i baked the cake at my apartment in san antonio, filled it and iced it and even put on the fondant also at my apt. then, i loaded it up, separately, in my truck, and drove 1.5 hrs to austin and put it in a hotel cooler. it was undecorated at the time. the hotel wouldn't let me use their kitchen for liability purposes, SO....i decorated the whole thing in my hotel room, right next to my bed. it was very fun. i had the bride, mothers, bridesmaids, all trooping through to look at the cake in process. this cake was a yellow cake, also with strawberries and vanilla mousse. it had a very thin layer of cream cheese frosting, then it was covered with fondant. the pink and green ribbon are real curling ribbon that i "wove" in and out of the cake and the flowers are real! i love this cake!

i did this cake for a friend of a friend las fall. it was the first wedding cake i had ever done out of my apartment. i don't remember all the flavors of this one.

I did this one back at the hotel. this was the brides 2nd marriage and she wanted a "fun" wedding cake that still looked like a wedding cake. it was a yellow cake with white chocolate mousse and raspberries. and iced with italian buttercream frosting which tasted AWFUL because of all the pink food coloring in it. and i tried everything to make it taste better and no matter what i did, it still tasted weird!! so, moral, if you want your cake to taste good, don't ask for pink or red icing...

i don't remember anything about this cake, at all...sorry, well, besides the fact that i made it :)

I made this cake for my dad's 50th suprise party last year. i baked the cakes down here in texas then carried them on the plane with me to st louis. and made the frosting at my aunts house and iced and decorated it there and took it to my parents house. the gun on top is a replica of my 9mm made out of cake and decorated with ganache and dark chocolate. the rest of the cake is a dark chocolate cake with ganache frosting.

This cake was the first cake i made with fondant over it. it also had gumpaste flowers on top.

This cake was also covered with fondant. this was an elaborate, very froo-froo cake. it had "lace" and bows and ribbon and flowers. it was really fun to make, and very pretty when it was done.

Those are some of my best and favorite cakes that i have done. If you would like to order a cake or have any questions just comment and leave contact info and i will get back to you. if you have read the redeemer classified, then you have my contact info and can just get right in touch with me. Thank you and hope you enjoyed!

Hi Y'all!!

2008-09-04T08:01:00.007-05:00

k, so obviously i suck i blogging! sorry. i am officially on facebook for those of ya'll who don't know. and i do a MUCH better job of keeping up with that. although lately i've kinda felt like i may have stuff to say. so i may still blog occasionaly. i am nowhere as good or as intersting at april phillips who has the best blog EVER!!!! so funny and fun to read! i am just boring.
san antonio is good. hot as h*ll!! seriously we are still in the upper 90's on a daily basis into the evenings. it is not fun. i LOVE my new job. for those who don't know i am the pastry chef of a new restaurant in SA called COCO Chocolate Lounge and Bistro and we just got a review and an article in Texas Monthly Magazine, you should read it. i am mentioned in it.
i am still making wedding cakes, just not thru work anymore. just on my own on the side. i LOVE it!! it is probably my favorite thing to do!! dunno what else to say. i miss all y'all st louis-ians!!

pray pray pray!!!!

2008-04-16T14:41:00.001-05:00

i know i don't blog as often as i should, but i need y'alls help!! i have a HUGE decision in front of me. a job opportunity came up and i have to decide by tomorrow. so if anyone still looks at my blog, please pray for me. i am very confused and have no idea what to do. God dropped this job offer in my lap without me even looking for it. i have had a very rough last couple weeks at work and was thinking about looking for a new job and this appeared out of nowhere. it could be great and a way to get my name out there and so many other things. but i am having a very hard time weighing all the options. so please think of me while you are praying. i appreciate it all and miss everyone who i never get to see or talk to. THANKS TONS!!!!!

sorry

2007-09-16T19:29:00.000-05:00

this is a REALLY short update. i am still here and alive. the problem is that i have no internet access at my apartment currently so it is a really long process to blog. i am sorry i miss you all and am thinking about you and know you are thinking about me. i am very stressed right now so if y'all could keep me in you prayers i would greatly appreciate it!! love everyone! miss you even more than you guys know. bye for now, i will try to be better, but no promises. :)

kenny chesney!!

2007-07-05T14:37:00.000-05:00

a couple of weeks ago i went to a concert here in texas. Kenny Chesney is one of my all time favorite country singers!! the concert was such a blast, we went to the verizon amphitheater in san antonio. it was supposed to pour rain that night, but it didn't. it was nice and cool and a beautiful night. we sat out on the lawn, but at the front of the lawn. I LOVE all of Kenny's songs. i took some fun pictures and i will put them up here.
I saw Live Free or DIe Hard last week.....twice. It was SO fun!! Bruce Willis is still as hot as ever!! he is the action heroe to beat up all other action heroes!! Yippee Kiyay!! :)
I also saw Transformers yesterday. that was just as much fun. i wasn't really sure what to expect, but it was awesome. i want to see it again already. Next week is all HARRY POTTER!!!!!!! i am hopefully going to a midnight showing tuesday evening. i can't wait!!!

guns and shooting!!

2007-06-12T21:19:00.000-05:00

so i went home a couple weekends ago for dad's surprise birthday party. it was so much fun, and he had no idea!! his face turned bright red when he walked in the door and about 60 people yelled SUPRISE!!! so i came home to make a big cake for him and this is what i made. it is chocolate, chocolate, chocolate with a gun made out of cake on top. yes, you read this correct, i made that gun out of cake and decorated it to look like a gun. it was so cool and tasted great. so, as some of you know, i LOVE to go shooting. the gun range i go to down here in texas has ladies night...pause for laughter...i think it is great. on tuesday nights i can go and shoot my gun with some of the other girls from my bible study completely for free!! i LOVE it. i have actually gotten a lot better. the range master tonght showed me a different way to hold and grip my gun, and i got SO much better.

my kitty

2007-04-18T23:50:00.000-05:00

ok, so this is a weird post. elisa, one of the girls i work with, and i started talking one day about stuffed animals. and it came up that we both had stuffed animals that are over 20yrs old. so, i told her i would take a picture of my kitty now, and steal a pic from my dads smugmug acount of before. so the first picture i think i was about 7-10yrs old. the kitty in my arms is already at least 5 years old, you can see that he is missing an ear and a tail. well the second picture is from the other day. seriously he is about 23 years old, at least. he is all patched up and sewn up, he never got a real name, he has and will always just be kitty, but i love him. =)

harry potter!!

2007-04-11T22:31:00.000-05:00

this summer is gonna be awesome!! i can't wait. first the new movie, "order of the phoenix" the previews look so cool. all actiony and stuff! then even better, the new book comes out a week later, july is gonna be so fun!! see, i even have a counter at the top of my blog.

back to the artic blast

2007-04-03T22:37:00.000-05:00

the other day they were handing out these t-shirts to everyone who worked during the "ice-storm". i just thought y'all would get a kick out of it =)

also just another picture of a cake i did this past weekend.
also, i am getting a new computer, hopefully tomorrow. i dropped this laptop and the screen cracked and it is so annoying to have to look at the screen with big black blotches on it. i am very excited to get a new laptop!!! yeah!!

randomness

2007-03-11T19:07:00.000-05:00

so i have beeen told that i don't talk enough about just stuff. so i will talk about stuff.. =) so i am watching the amazing race allstars. and let me tell you that I LOVE Rob and Amber. "Boston Rob" was first seen in Survivor, i don't remember what season. i fell in love with him right away, even though he is a jerk and lies and everything, but i think he played one of the best games of survivor I have ever seen. he got kicked off pretty early, but everyone hated him so much he came back for Survovor Allstars, there he played the same kind of game, but got really ahead. he also fell in love with amber. at the end, he came in second place and she won survivor allstars. they got married and then they were on amazing race. where i was still in love with him. i know i know, annie and april and grandma laugh at me and they hate him. but they won the show, so now they are back and so far they are winning, so that is what i am doing right now. WAIT.....now rob and amber are all of a sudden losing...AAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!! i am gonna be so upset if they lose!!! you have NO idea. OH MY GOODNESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOO i can't believe it....i am completely awestruck.
so has anyone been watching american idol?? who does everyone like?? i like the beatboxing guy
i am trying to go to Houston in a couple weeks to see Wicked. that is the closest place that it is coming, that i can get to. I am also planning on going to HOuston in a couple months to see my CARDINALS beat the astros...=)
so i know you are all wondering about the picture. haa ha they guys in the kitchen all came in this morning with fake mustaches. it was hilarious. they had handlebar, hitler, caterpillar, a long grey one. they were so fun. the picture is of jose, he is the banquet sous chef and his mustache is totally fake. he wore it ALL day!! then he found the cowboy hat in the office and decided to wear that also. it wasa fun day in the main kitchen. k. miss you all

another wedding cake

2007-02-21T13:32:00.000-06:00

hey everyone. I have been extremely busy lately. my boss gave his two weeks notice a month ago and quit. so now i am running the pastry shop for two hotels. they are in the process of looking for a new executive pastry chef, but until then it is very stressful. i have been working 6 days a week 12-14 hours a day. i am TIRED!!
so i did this wedding cake last week. the lady is russian and she wanted a hot pink wedding cake. so i gave her a pink wedding cake, and i think it turned out pretty well.
i keep hearing how cold it is in st louis, well, i am tan down here in texas cause it is cold at night but warm and sunny during the day, so when i have time i have been sitting on my back porch in the sun. it is so nice =) hee hee hee
i miss you all!!!

San Antonio's "Artic Blast 2007"

2007-01-18T13:09:00.000-06:00

this is hilarious!! ok, so San Antonions are a little scared of ice. it had been raining for days, and then the cold front that hit the rest of the country hit texas and all heck broke loose. they closed down schools over just the idea of ice. entire highways were completely shut down. and i mean SHUT DOWN. you could not get on hwy 281 for 2 days. highway 10 from houston to san antonio was closed. roads were closed, stores were closed. employees were even asked to stay over at work for the night, just so they would be at work the next morning. this was monday. today is thursday and there are still some schools that are starting late or not even having school. people down here are CRAZY!!! i saw a little, very little bit of ice on the road. the trees got ice, but that is about it. so, everyone freaks out over nothing. there is sand everywhere. as far as i know, they don't even have salt trucks. the funniest thing i saw was at work. out in fron of the lobby on tues morning tthere was salt on the steps. there is nothing wrong with that, right? well, its really strange when it is table salt... i know, crazy texans don't even have rock salt. they could have at least used kosher salt, but whatever. now it is 42 degrees outside and things are getting back to normal, i think.

a long time coming =)

2006-12-28T19:07:00.000-06:00

Hi everyone!!
I know, I know, it has been FOREVER!! and a TON has happened since my last post!
So, as a lot of you already know, i did not make it to Las Vegas like i had hoped. i did however make it to San Antonio, Texas. Yeah! i love texas. so i am working at the Omni La Mansion Del Rio hotel in downtown. I am the Pastry Sous Chef of two properties both Omni and right across the river from each other. it is a ton of work, but it is very fun. I love everyone i work with. they are fun and outgoing and very nice.
one of the big things that i don't like is that i have to work on Sundays so i don't get to attend a church down here. i did go christmas eve and the service at Redeemer Pres is much like ours at home and they are all very nice. i thnk that people in texas are just nice.
the first picture is of the hotel i work at. the second is of the wedding cake i just made for. it is not the first wedding cake i have ever made, but it is the first one i have ever made that is actually for someone. so i was really nervous while making it.
I miss st louis and chicago. SA is completely different than sstl or chi-town. but it is growing on me.
so, i PROMISE to start blogging more!!! ttfn

las vegas...

2006-05-02T18:13:00.000-05:00

please pray for me. i am in the process of looking for a job for when i am finished being an intern. i am thinking very seriously about a prominent resort in Las Vegas decorating wedding cakes. it is totally up in the air with many big steps still, but you never know. love you all

i am an awful blogger =)

2006-04-23T17:13:00.000-05:00

i have been horrible, sorry guys. i have been so busy at work that i just have no time to acutally blog. i know people are wondering what is going on with me. well...i am working A LOT!!!!!!! my internet is down...again. and i just don't have time to come to the apple store all the time and update my blog. =( i know i have been a bad friend and everything else. i really don't have all that much interesting going on in my life right now.

dad and jeffrey came up to visit me over their spring break. they went to museums and stuff. we went to the top of the john hancock building to take pics and stuff. i HATE elevators. this one went 20 mph and flew up 96 stories in 40 seconds. your ears pop like crazy. we took some great pictures and stuff. this is one of the better ones. it was a cloudy day and you couldn't see too far, but it was fun. mom came up the week after for a whole week. that was really fun. she was taking a gemology class and she had fun. we went out to eat and we also went to the top of the hancock...but we didn't have to pay. we went and had drinks in the signature room/lounge. it was a nice clear day and you could see forever. i took the train home with mom for easter weekend. it was a nice weekend, pretty relaxing. then i had an AWFUL flight back. first of all, i hate to fly, more than i hate elevators. and it was stormy and really bad weather in chicago. my flight was supposed to leave stl at 920pm. it was delayed till 1110pm. then we got on the plane and we were still waiting on the pilot who was flying in on another flight. our flight itself was bumpy and horrible. i was almost in tears. i seriously do not like planes. we finally landed at a little past midnight. i would normally then take the orange line el into the city. i walked out of the airport towards the el, and...they close it at midnight. i started sobbing and i just couldn't stop. it was bad. i walked back into the airport, still crying. and i thought ok, i will take a shuttle, they are much cheaper than cabs. but no, the shuttles don't run that late at night. so i had to take a cab. it cost almost $40. more crying on the cab ride home. by the time i got home it was 1am. i had to get up for work at about 430am. i got no sleep and had to work all day. it was not a good night or day for me... =)

ok, so that is about all that is going on in my life right now. well, i never want to fly again, but..i have to in july. i have to fly to phoenix for the world pastry forum. the forum will be awesome, but the flight is 3.5hrs long, i haven't had to fly for that long since i was 12 and came to visit grandma...oh well. that is still a while away, so i won't think about it now. =)
love you all!!!!!!

green river and guest chefs

2006-03-18T14:12:00.000-06:00

ok guys...here are the pics of the green river i promised you... it is neon green. i only have a sec. i know i keep promising you a longer post but i never seem to have time. i worked a lot this week. i did a guest chef class which means that i was the intern for a visiting chef as he taught a class to a group of professionals. it was interesting because he didn't speak english and i only speak a teeny tiny bit of french. we had a translator, a girl who graduated with my last december. so it went ok. she was great. it was hard to get my point across whenever the translator was gone though. but my french definitely got better those three days i was with him. by the end i was able to carry on a conversation with him in half french half english. i also found out that he can speak as much english as i can french. =) it was fun and exhausting. i met some great people in the class. on wednseday night i went out with some of them. they are from new york, and they are itatlian and only 21 so very young and hyper. we went to italian for dinner and then we went to a couple clubs and i got home at 4am. aaaaaahhhhh luckily i didn't have to be at work til 10. still i only got about 4 hrs sleep. then the next night i was at work till 11pm cleaning the kitchen and trying to get the dishwasher to hurry up. and i had to be at work at 545 the next morning. needless to say i was exhausted thurs and fri. but it was SSOOOOOO much fun. one of the girls is going to email me all the pics from the class and i will post them. ok, i gotta go. =)

i miss you all!!

2006-03-11T17:09:00.000-06:00

just a really quick note. my internet is still down at home. i will write a longer post later. i worked today and missed the st pattys day parade. not that i care all that much but they actually dye the river green here. it is REALLY GREEN. i took a picture on my way home, but i havent' downloaded it yet...when i do i will post it. it is gorgeous here in chicago. 65+ degrees. i walked home today...2 miles. i am very proud of myself. ok, well i am not on my own computer so i promise i will write more later. see ya
becky =)

stupid internet!!

2006-02-23T17:01:00.000-06:00

my internet has been down at my apt for a week now. it sucks!! i have to go to the Mac store on michigan ave to use internet. so i am so sorry that i have been absent for a while. i have been working hard but this week has FLOWN by!! it was the first exam for the students and i thought it would be a little easier for me. boy was i wrong. they are running around like crazy and expect me to have everything ready for them. i have been getting to work earlier so i can set stuff up for them. i have never been asked so many questions in my life! it is insane. some of the most basic things, either common sense or stuff they learned the first week, they seemed to have forgotten EVERYTHING!!! i really do like the students in my class, but i will be happy tomorrow afternoon when i can go home and sleep.

I love my grandma!!! i was talking to her during survivor last week, which by the way is pretty good this season! i was saying how tired and sore i was and that i really needed a massage. she, wonderful grandma that she is, sent me a little money to get a massage. hopefully i will do that this weekend!!

i am excited because on monday and tuesday is a new season of the apprentice and of amazing race!! yeah!

k guys, i gotta go. btw i am just putting up a random picture that i took at a hot dog restaurant in town. kinda fun =)

too long with no sleep

2006-02-11T22:34:00.000-06:00

I am so sorry that i haven't been blogging lately. my internet has been off and on these past weeks, sorry. I have had a few phone calls from my mother saying that certain people, you know who you are, have been complaining. =) I have been working very long hours with not a lot of rest. two weeks ago i worked 6 days and over 70 hours. This past week it has been 63 hours in 5 days and i have to work all day tomorrow. don't get me wrong, I LOVE THIS! I am jsut very tired and exhausted. i haven't even been cooking dinner, just ramen noodles =( and anything else fast. I am looking foward to next weekend and i will sleep all day saturday and all day sunday. i am sorry that i have no pictures to put up, i haven't done anyuthing that exciting lately. i made my own recipe for a lemon sorbet and i get to try it out this week at school. i am excited about that. i have been watching a lot of 24 lately. i have seen them all already but am watching them again. i just finished season 4 and am halfway through season 3 and 2. i am going to bed soon because i have to be at school tomorrow morning at 8. so i will talk to all of you later. you can always email me, i will try to return them. i miss all of you.
ps this is a great picture of the chicago skyline from navy pier.

Red Meat!!

2006-01-06T18:55:00.000-06:00

I have never been able to cook a decent steak. Dad is the steak cooker in the family. so, I was starving cause i haven't eaten a normal meal since i came back to chicago. i was craving steak and mashed potatoes. i went to the neighborhood "grocery store"...yeah right. =) i got a steak and came home to cook it. it was the BEST steak i have ever cooked. it was garlicy (sp?) =) and salty and a little lemony. i heated the pan REALLY hot till it was smoking. a very little butter and then throw the steak on with salt pepper and crushed garlic cook it till dark and crispy on both sides and it will be med rare. then squeeze a little bit of lemon on it. WOW, so mouthwateringly yummy.

this week has been so tiring. we worked our butts off at school, us interns and the chefs. the new batch of students come in on monday. we had to redo kitchens and clean and put SO much stuff in order. I will be so happy to do absolutely nothing this weekend. i am sleeping as late as i possibly can tomorrow. ok, i think i will get started on that now. talk to you guys later.

btw, leave me some comments!!! i like to hear from and talk to you guys!!! miss you all =)

graduation

2005-12-29T17:08:00.000-06:00

i know it has been a while. i have been busy. i promised my aunt that i would update this blog. this is a picture of me graduating. i was very excited cause i graduated with honors, which is very hard to do at FPS. in order from left to right is...chef Jacquy Pfeiffer, me, chef Sebastien Canonne, and then chef John Kraus. i have to go back in a couple days to start my internship. i am in st louis right now so happy cause i don't have to work or anything. it is nice to be lazy. =)

don't know what to say

2005-12-04T13:03:00.000-06:00

so, i feel bad that i haven't written in a while. but i have no idea what to write. i was up babysitting for 13 hrs yesterday till this morning at 230 am. i am so tired.
I graduate in less than two weeks then i get to go home for two weeks. i found out friday what my schedule for next term is. i get to intern for my favorite chef first. but i am a little nervous cause he said that he is very hard to intern for. he asked me if i want to make some money and he told me that a cleaning lady at school is getting married in march. he asked me if i might possibly want to do the wedding cake for her wedding. i said i would love to and i will be able to use the school's equipment so i am excited.

sugar showpiece

2005-11-23T13:13:00.000-06:00

ok guys, i love actually putting the showpieces together. it is fun to see how it turns out. my partner and i laughed nonstop while putting everything on this showpiece. we love it. it is swans swimming on water, with rocsk and roses and flowers and ribbons all made of sugar. i promised her i would get this up today so she could show her family how cool it looks. happy thanksgiving!

2005-11-22T16:54:00.000-06:00

ok guys, here are some updated images. these are the sugar roses that i made today. they turned out so much better today than yesterday. sugar is really hard to work with. i know i sound whiney, but this is seriously hot stuff. you have to hold it in your hands and pull it. it makes you hands raw and red. the sugar is still above 120 degrees celcius. that is really hot!! the seashells are not real, i made them. they are made out of chocolate. someone emailed me and said they couldn't see them on the sculpture, which makes sense cause i couldn't see them either, the angle was wrong. so i decided to just put a pic of them up. and the sculpture, again, is the final finished product. with the rose and and everything. it is just part of the sculpture, the part with the grapes and rose.
ok, i am taking the train home tomorrow!! yea!! i am so excited to be coming home...ok, well gotta go. i have to make tart dough to bring home for thanksgiving dinner dessert...yummy.

sugar class

2005-11-21T13:56:00.000-06:00

I have decided that i really don't like sugar showpiece class. it hurts to pull sugar. and if the hot sugar gets on you, you have a blister the size of a pea, literally, sticking out from your finger or hand. it is gross and hurts a ton!! we made sugar roses today and it is really hard. the sugar is maleable while hot, but then all of a sudden it will be cold and break. in one hour, i made only 2 roses, and neither of them are very pretty, i forgot to take a picture to show you, but believe me, they are not good.

I have already had requests for samples, sorry but i cannot email samples... =( i have decided that i need smellovision. then you can at least smell all the stuff. although, that would probably be worse. sorry guys, i don't know what to tell you besides, when i open my own shop (way in the future) you all have to come and buy stuff all the time.

First Posting

2005-11-20T22:05:00.000-06:00

HI guys,
This is the first time I have done this so we will see what happens...

My First Chocolate Showpieces

2005-11-20T20:09:00.000-06:00

Hi everyone
These are the first items i am putting on my blog. We just finished our Chocolate Showpiece class. The Red one is supposed to be a Sailboat on the water. it has birds and coral and the seashells look so real but they are made of chocolate also. It is much easier than previously thought to be. it only took a day (six hours). The really large one is supposed to be a celebration of fall. It is very abstract. There are grapes and flowers and random curly cues. That one took 3 days. It is very large. Next week we start on Sugar showpieces. Then i get to go back to St. Louis for Thtanksgiving!! yeah!! By the way, I was asked to come back to The French Pastry School as an intern for the next session starting in January, so i will be in Chicago for at least another 6 months. This is fun, i will try to blog every couple of days.