Kitchen ventures - cinnamon bun pudding

So I found myself heading home from work today with a large plastic bag full of semi stale raisin cinnamon buns.  When they were fresh they were the most delicious cinnamon buns; warm, gooey, sticky, sweet....yum!  It was suggested to me that I should try to make bread pudding with them.  Sounded like a delicious idea, why not?  So I googled bread pudding and came up with a few recipes, some of which didn't sound that tasty.  Then I found this one:

How To Make Bread Pudding

Seemed straight forward.  So what did I decide to do, double the recipe of course.  Thanks to my new mixer the custard part was ready in no time (I left out the nutmeg and raisins - there was enough flavour and raisins in the cinnamon buns).  I soaked it then shoved it in my oven, 45-60 minutes later...ta-done! Cinnamon bun pudding.

On to the next venture.....

I Need Direction

It's been about a week since I decided to create a blog.  I still have no idea what I'm doing and I really don't feel like I've found my groove.  What exactly should I blog about?  It's funny, before I set up this thing ideas were alive in my head. I was generating them at an incredible rate.  This no longer seems to be the case.  I'll eventually figure out what direction I want this blog to take but for now I'll just continue to write random snippets about this, that and varied other things.

I need to have my "AH HA" moment.  It's coming...I can feel it...lurking in the dark shadows....

Giant Spider

Eeeek!  This thing is living on a massive web constructed over 3/4 of my deck.  I'm too afraid to kill it.  Not sure how to take a good picture of it either. Thoughts?  On how to take the photo...not how to kill the spider.  Well, actually I'd welcome advice on both matters.

Info: 1517 x 2408, ISO 200, 55 mm, 0 EV, f/5.6, 1/500

The 4th post

IN THE BEFORE TIME:


• Sleeping in on weekends was habitual (now there is no such thing as sleeping in)
• Staying up 'till well past midnight was typical (it is now a fight to keep my eyes open much past 10 pm)
• 
Going out for dinner whenever & for whatever was common (now a biannual treat)
• Entertainment meant a movie, concert or play (now it is more fun to watch my child grow, learn & develop)
• 
I actually styled my hair in the morning (now throwing it in a quick ponytail will suffice)
• I put some make-up on to pretty myself up (make-up doesn't help anymore)

• I took regular, lengthy showers and/or baths (now 5 minutes is lengthy, regular means during nap time)

• Dinner parties & hosting social events was normal (dinner parties are all but extinct, social events are kiddie play dates)
• Cooking elaborate meals & desserts was no problem (cooking means mac 'n' cheese, dessert..okay, I still bake elaborate desserts)
• 
I never went out in public with stained clothing (now I don't care if there is a food stain or booger smear on my shirt or pants)
• I could laugh, cough and jump without incident (I must now exercise extreme caution when increasing my intra-abdominal pressure)
• I didn't have giant bags under my eyes (I now cover the bags under my eyes with sunglasses)

• My currency and bargaining unit was dollars (sleep hours & number of poopy diapers hold more value now)

• My vocabulary was expansive and rich (now my I'm reduced to one and two syllable words)
• My life was uncomplicated and carefree (now disorganized, complicated, and chaotic)

Would I ever like to return to the before time? 

Never. Not even for a brief moment.

The 3rd Post

I think I am a pretty decent cook, possibly a better baker.  Don’t ask my husband because he's obligated to fully enjoy everything I cook for him and he hates sweets so he never tries my baking (unless it's carrot cake).  I am pretty sure his picture of me in the kitchen looks something like the Tasmanian Devil wielding a hand held mixer and a spatula in a cloud of flour and sugar.

This week I thought I would make caramel corn.  Simple right? Wrong! The first attempt went well and tasted pretty good (probably because I followed the recipe exactly).  Two days later I thought (at 10:30 pm) “hey, I should make some more…but this time I should triple the recipe” which was not so smart.   I eyeballed the volume of butter, added extra sugar (the bag was almost empty…what’s another ¼ c?) and blobbed in what I thought was sufficient corn syrup.  Being lazy, I popped the popcorn in a cheap air popper, problem is I thought this thing could handle a high capacity of kernels; apparently not!  The thing overheated and died half way through popping.  So….I whipped out a pot and tried to pop fresh kernels on the stove; bad idea because I burned them all.  As the smoke was clearing the air popper decided to come back from the dead and finish popping the corn (all the while my syrup is over boiling on the stove). Great! I added the vanilla and baking soda (eyeballing volumes again) and coated the popcorn.  I was suppose to bake it which was fine except that I had a 12" mountain of caramel corn piled up on my cookie sheet.  It almost touched the ceiling of my oven.  When it cooled I was able to break some of it apart, next time I will break it up in a bag because my kitchen was covered in tiny shards and sticky globs of caramel.  The end product was tasty, I took it to work for my coffee break where I discovered that the caramel was like super glue when chewed.  Good thing I don’t have fillings because I would have lost a few.  It felt like I had temporary lockjaw.

At least this escapade was better than the time I grated a portion of my hand into the shredded carrots for a carrot cake.

I live to bake another day.

The 2nd Post

My friend was a wonderful person. She was beautiful, charismatic, thoughtful, kind hearted, spunky and spontaneous. I miss her.

Today I thought I saw her. The "smart" part of my brain realized this is not possible, the "emotional" side of my brain caused my heart to flutter. In this person I saw her hair, similar style and color; her physique, similar gait and height; her face, similar profile and make-up. For a fleeting moment I wanted to yell her name, hoping this person would turn around and be my friend. This will never happen.

A part of my heart will be forever ache. I will continue to miss her, think of her and see parts of her wherever I go. Memories triggered by this smallest of things; huskys (she had three), churches (she thought they were “pretty”), turkey innards (she thought they were “yummy”), any Blue Rodeo song, all things paranormal (hauntings and such), Jeeps (she drove a cool one), fondue, francais, Winnipeg (we lived there), architecture (she had a knack for it), Harry Potter (she was an avid reader), drive-ins, junk food and many more.

Regret is painful. Stay in touch with those you care deeply for. Life is finite.

The First Post

So here it is, my first post.

Post.

Well now, that wasn't too difficult.  In fact, I think I will post again tomorrow.