Snow or storm day

This has to be one of the strangest winter's Colorado has had in a while; I think it has been snowing since Thursday 18 of February. Normally I love snow days, because Sydney and I can just go nuts with testing recipes and having fun, but the weather is starting to affect our mood. WE NEED SUNSHINE!

Now that I have vented baking/cooking shall go on, though with a little attitude. One of the best things about having a business with my daughter is one or both of us can be in a mood, but by the days' end we have forgotten our problems and generally the day turns from bad to good.

Yuzu

Sydney and finally created a unique dessert mousse recipe for the Yuzu fruit. The mousse is lighter than air with a delicate taste. This is one of those dishes that is hard to describe, because the fruit is not like anything found at normal grocery stores. I just love this fruit.

Perfectly Tart, Tangy, yet some what Sweet!

Valentine's Day

Valentine's "week" is on it's last stretch it seems every year there are some last minute stragglers who realize on February 12 "oh my I need to have some Valentine's plans for my sweetie." I of course have a hard time saying no, so I end up with at least 32 hours of extra work to keep everyone happy. My poor husband; I end up just throwing together what ever ingredients that are left for a special dinner. Don't feel to badly for him he has plenty of special goodies all year long.

It seems Colorado is having another snow day, which always puts Sydney and I in the mood to get our hands in the kitchen and cook. We are driving into our Yuzu Mousse recipe. Yuzu is that lovely TART fruit from Japan, and it has a flavor like no other.

Happy Valentine's Day

Bobbie and Sydney

Weekend Baking Day 11

What wonderful day, my nephew came over to test taste recipes (truth be told he really wanted to play X-Box with my husband more). Middle school teenagers are brutally honest about the food they eat, which makes him a prefect taster! He loved the Crazy Peanut Butter cookies and The Strawberry Marshmallows, he left before he The Cream Fraiche My Heart Tart had finished, however did love the homemade Cream Fraiche.

Sydney had some great ideas for Valentines' Dinners, she seems to know what couples would like for a special romantic meal!

Baking Weekend

Well with Valentine's Day just around the corner, Sydney and I started our candy and sweet doughs. We have orders from Monday through Sunday.

Anyway Strawberry Marshmallows were the first on the list, while we were letting the Brioche starter rested. My husband's face when he came in and saw Sydney and I playing with the soft marshmallow left overs that cling to side of the mixer. Literally we had a sticky shiny white rope being used like tug a war. Poor guy his first thought had to be my wife and daughter have lost their minds and next was the horrible realizations that he needed to clean the up. I have yet to find an easy way to clean-up after marshmallows.

The next sweet of the day started with brioche dough, which had been patiently waiting to be whirled around in a mixer. Everything went awesome, motor did fine even after 15 minutes of marshmallows ( different bowl) and 15 minutes of dough, plus another few for adding butter: I went to grab the hook and release it, to my surprise it was stuck... not just stuck, but welded in the opening. I have owned this standing mixer for 3.5 years, never encountering this issue.

Has anyone ever had this problem?

More baking on the schedule today; I will cross my fingers all equipment is agreeable today.

Bonding through the culinary arts

I have loved cooking and baking most of my life, it was a way to work any problems. When I was BLESSED with my daughter I brought her in the kitchen with me, I guess it would not be an exaggeration to say Sydney has been working with me from a baby carrier.

It is strange, because it feels like yesterday she was 24 months old peeling ginger with a grapefruit spoon, and now she is almost 18 and she has excellent knife skills.

Friends, teacher, and other parents always ask me how it is that Sydney is so untainted from all the bad stuff in the world. The only two answers I have is we share a love for the culinary world: shopping, cooking, baking, and of course eating food, and she was born with a good disposition.

Even now that she is a senior we cook and bake daily, we have a business together, we share tons of secrets and we have a mutual respect for one another. That being said it does not mean we always see eye to eye. Believe me when we are testing recipes food has been known to go flying.

Couture Catering and Artistic Pastry Notions was built out of love a mother's love for her child and a love of food.

I truly believe if a parent shares their passion with their child/children then they will have long and respectful relationship with each other. Cooking/Baking was my passion, but it really doesn't matter what the passion is as long as you share it with your child/children.