Romantic Saccharine

Any man reading this post right now – grab a pen and take notes.

When you want to impress a woman, you don’t need to buy her fancy, expensive gifts.

You don’t need to plan an extravagant weekend getaway to be spontaneous.

You don’t need to spend $500 on a dinner to prove your love for her. 

I mean yes, those things are NICE. And we won’t say no. Noooo we definitely won’t say no.. but thoughtfulness goes further.

A LOT further.

Here is some advice.. We love chocolate. We love cake. We love flowers and roses. We love gifts that are thoughtful. We love unique things made ONLY for us. A single creation. A single copy.  Only one made in the whole world, made with only one person in mind.

So to all you gentlemen out there who are looking for a way into that special lady’s heart, get there the way my coworker recently did, with a custom, romantic cake.

I swear, I wouldn't lead you in the wrong direction.  I am not sure of a single woman in this world who would hate this gift of luscious chocolate cake iced in French vanilla butter cream roses.

So just show up after work, with this pale pink cake a pretty little box, and let it speak for itself.  Maybe include a card too..

It’s a win. This one certainly was. It’s guaranteed. I promise :)

-Elena 

A Tasty 2013 Recap

Ah here we are, the last day of 2013.  It was quite the year, filled with some ups and downs but in general I can’t really complain.  There were aspects of the year I could have done without, but I am healthy, my family is healthy and everyone is doing well. 

 

I really see 2013 as a stepping stone for me—through the not so good cards I was dealt this year, I powered through and really set the stage for myself in the new year.  I grew professionally through my new job which I enjoy and have learned so much in;  I baked all year long for so many different events which has helped my skills improve greatly while teaching myself new techniques;  I became much more comfortable in the kitchen cooking meals (can’t always eat desserts!!) and worked hard to learn to cook many types of vegetables and meats in order to stay on a healthy eating track; I discovered yoga in May which has completely changed my life by helping me grow as a person, as well as helping me to deal with my anxiety that I’ve struggled with for over 10 years;  Louis and I have continued to nurture our relationship together and are both very happy; I was able to travel a bit throughout the Northeast and also to visit Nick in Miami which was such a blast and I can’t wait to go back;  I started this blog! Which I have come to really enjoy writing;  I closed the year with signing the lease to my new apartment which I am so insanely excited for—it was the perfect ending to 2013 and will be the perfect beginning to the new year.

 

So to finish the year off, I completed an order last night for New Years cake pops for a friend of mine!  The glitzy “Happy New Years” was done with my new alphabet cookie cutters and fondant then sprayed with a pretty silver edible paint to really stand out against the deep blue chocolate. 

 

Fun sprinkles and white candy sugar pearls add that “party” effect that I think everyone will enjoy!

 

And with that, I want to say thank you to my readers who have supported me in my effort to share sweetness with the world!  I am so grateful for everything my family and friends have done for me in the past year, especially for spreading the word and helping me gain momentum with my desserts! Without you all, I would not be here, recapping all of the delicious things we’ve all consumed in 2013!

With the new year approaching, take a moment to reflect on what was good this year, and harvest those memories to create new ones in 2014. I have this eerie feeling 2014 is going to bring a ton of changes and some big moments for me and my family and friends.. and I can’t remember the last time I was this excited to ring in a new year!

 

-Elena