Trial baking for an up coming party

Can't tell you what type of party or who it's for but super excited. Tried 2 recipes; one sweet and one savory, both from Farmgirl Fare.

First was the savoury feta cheese and scallions scones. These came out really good. I was worried they would be tough cause I was working them like bread before I scrolled down to her hint. "Handle the dough with a light touch and as little as possible". Oops. But they still worked out. Not sure if I really like the feta cheese. I like feta but it's quite salty and every now and then, I get a bite of super salty taste. I didn't add egg wash glaze cause I like it when you eat bread and your hands don't look like you've been in the chip bag. There is already enough fat in the recipe that I am sure it won't make that much of a difference.


The second recipe was the chocolate chip and toffee shortbread cookies. I like toffee, shortbread and chocolate and thought what a great combo, especially for this type of party. But the recipe calls for 350 degrees (F) and 12-15 minutes. Followed everything as per recipe but when I peeked in at 12 minutes, the edges weren't brown. Just following the recipe. Another few minutes and still the same. I gave up after all the toffee has bubbled out and finally was somewhat tan colored. I guess shortbread is also not usually as "golden brown" looking like other cookies so I probably could have brought it out after 15 minutes. Doesn't matter anyways. I got my helper to make cookies for the party.


And no I did not finish all the baking. I brought them to a friend's workplace so I can get some feedback and clean the counter of bad temptations.

Identical Twins

I was pleasantly surprised of how beautiful the flowers came together for these 2 arrangements. All the flowers were from my parent's backyard. They have a huge lot but it is not a gardener's paradise by any means. I just found some flowers in bloom and I went crazy with the shears. These beauties where for 2 special people. One was a hostess that offered her lovely home for an afternoon bbq. And the other was for the guest of honour at the bbq.







I had cut some foliage from a plant called gout weed but they didn't last. I think I have to dunk them in some cold water next time I cut them down. Thanks goodness the peonies aren't as fussy and still display a spectacular show.

Wedding #2

I was watching the weather closely yesterday as the sky couldn't seem to make up it's mind. Should there be sun or rain, but there was definitely wind. There were lots of flowers but thank goodness majority of them were shorter arrangements and bouquets so they all fit in my car.

Simple, clean and elegant were to used to describe this wedding. So we went with orchids and calla lillies for the bride's bouquet. The colors were hot pink, lime green, black and white. The grooms only request was not to make the wedding look like Easter colors. It's funny how I didn't immediately think the colors were Easter colors but those are common colors of spring.

I was panicking when I went to get the flowers on Thursday. The large cymbidium orchids were much lighter pink then what I had asked for when I ordered them. Thankfully the bride was so easy going; she didn't mind it and actually liked it better then what we decided earlier. *Phew*. I honestly didn't know what I would do. I hate spraying them with a flower safe paint and it was going to be so much more expensive if I had to run around the city looking for a brighter pink orchids. SO thank you, thank you, thank you to the wonderful bride.

No Need To Knead Bread

Start


Hour: 1


Hour: 12


Hour: 14


Hour: 14 and 35 mins


Hour: 14 and 37 minutes


Yes, somebody could not wait. He assures me that he didn't burn his mouth but I have my doubts. My significant other also doesn't like jam or peanut butter on his toast. He like sweetened condensed milk. It's not bad but I can never open the jar. It's always stuck.

Singing the Blues

As promised, the blue wedding of the season. Colors of the the peacock feathers are popping up occasionally this season. I would have loved to add other blue flowers but they are all out of season. Muscari would have added a touch of delicateness but I am still happy with how the bouquets turned out. The bride wanted simplicity and not too much "frills" so I hope I created what she had envisioned.

Lets start with the 4 bridesmaid's bouquets. They were round bouquets so I had lots of left over delphiniums. I saved them all at first but then I ended up throwing them all way. *sigh, sniff*. They don't like sitting in water for too long.


These were the 2 of the 4 flowergirl bouquets. I hope the little ladies like the ribbon tassels. I always wonder how the flowers for the little people look like after the wedding. Did mom and dad remove or "confiscated" them before they turned into a toy? I remember making a gerber daisy flower ball and it looked like a battered pinata at the end of the night.


Close-up of the stem wrap. The lace/tulle ruffles was inspired by her dress. She had similar type of ruffled on her dress.


The guys boutonnieres. Of course the one with the white ribbon was for the groom. I wish I could get the actual picture of the boutonniere on the groom as we found the pheasant feathers really pop when it was placed against black fabric.


This was actually the trial bouquet for the bride but I didn't have a better picture of the actual one. They look exactly the same except there were blue crisscross ribbons on the stem wrap. I convinced this bride to have a hand held bouquet to differentiate from her maids. She had the height and her a-line dress compliments the style.


Lastly, the corsages for the mommies. Delicate and simple.

I Heart Delphinium

Blue weddings are challenging but how can you get frustrated when the flowers gives back in 10 folds of happiness?! They aren't the best to make a round bouquet just cause you have to strip majority of the flowers on the stalk. Not a whole lot to do with them as the stems are much more delicate and break half the time you stick it in foam. But I still love you delphinium. Do you love me too?




Oh yeah, I am also favoring flowers in the hat box. You will probably see different variations of the hat box arrangement for awhile.

Thanks M!

I got a little present today. A friend is mentoring me on baking bread. Lately I have been making a no-knead bread. For some odd reason, my bread comes out salty despite trying the same recipe 3 different times. So I made some adjustments and it comes out perfectly. I will have to share some photos the next time a make bread again.

This same friend has given me one of her bread recipe book and can't wait to get into it. I'm not as excited about the kneading but there are so many recipes to try out. At least there are breads that don't need kneading like banana bread. YUM!!!!!

Let the Wedding Season Begin

Just finished a wedding yesterday. *sigh*. You get excited about a wedding but there is a part of you that can't wait till it is over. Weddings are a make and break moment. One day to do it all and one day to make sure it is done right. Anyways, some left over delphiniums and gladiolus.

Happy Mother's Day (I wasn't late with flowers, just blogging)

Happy Mother's Day!

The Making of "Surprise!"

Late but some pics of all the flowers in my dining room.








Each bundle of roses were a dozen. Guess how many dozen roses was used in the surprise retirement party??????

22 dozen roses

Yup. 22 dozen which means 264 stems. You would think after handling a few roses I would get the hang of it but I still manage to cut myself. For you florists that are thinking of a different career path, try being a sale person for a band-aid company. Not kidding. ok.maybe a little.

When I went to one of the stores that day, you should have seen the look in the sales person's face. She was shocked that I wanted 22 dozen and NOW! But she pulled through for me. At first I wasn't sure if I ruined her day cause I bought possibility one half of her stock for the week or if I had made her day. Thank goodness it turned out to the be the latter. She told me that they got an extra shipment of roses that week and though they were going to throw out half cause they don't usually sell so many dozens in a week. Maybe I should have bought a lottery ticket that day. Since it seems our city has been on a winning streak. I hope I just didn't jinx our city. Anyways, in the end, I was happy, she was happy.