Tasting Sprinkles

I'm sure most of you Arizona natives have been to Sprinkles. It was all the rave when it first arrived. For those who haven't tried it or have never heard of it, this one's for you. Specifically, this one's for my Aunt Bonita (shout-out! <3).
It's my last full day with Grandma. She heads back to the bitter cold Nebraska tomorrow. We've been constantly discussing baking and how my aunt has taken up the hobby of baking cupcakes for parties. I was telling her about Sprinkles and how you can make bank selling cupcakes if you charge enough and have a tempting recipe, of course.
My mom and I decided to take her down there so she can see what the cupcake business is all about. Then she can go back to small town Nebraska to tell my aunt how she should run things.
I had only been to Sprinkles a couple times. Once to see if I wanted to work there when they first opened. The other time was when the Cardinals were playing the Super Bowl and they were handing out free Red Velvet cupcakes to anyone who wore Cardinal attire.
Deciding on which cupcakes to get was a pretty difficult decision. Luckily Grandma and Mom were there to help, otherwise it would be up to Lolo's difficulty status.
We eventually decided on four cupcakes that we could all cut up and sample. They were Red Velvet, their most popular, Chocolate Marshmallow, Pumpkin, and Peanut Butter Chocolate.

 I can't afford nice jeans since I buy $3.50 cupcakes.

Look how adorable!

 Top left: Chocolate Marshmallow. Top right: Red Velvet. 

Bottom Left: Pumpkin. Bottom Right: Peanut Butter Chocolate. 

And the results are in:

1st place: Peanut Butter with four votes.

2nd place: Pumpkin (my mom's favorite and everyone else's second favorite.)

3rd place: Red Velvet and Chocolate Marshmallow tied.

Surprisingly no one was impressed with their world famous Red Velvet. It didn't have much flavor at all. Both the Chocolate Peanut Butter and the Pumpkin had rich flavors. I think the reason Peanut Butter won is because my family is filled with peanut butter lovers. The Pumpkin's cream cheese frosting complemented the spiced cupcake very well. The Chocolate Marshmallow was cute, but the flavor was lacking.

I grabbed a copy of their baking schedule on the way out and I'm definitely going to have to go back on Friday, they have a Chai Latte cupcake. Yum! So many flavors, so little time (and money...and calories.)

Cinnamon Rolls and Biscuits & Gravy with Grandma Bonnie

I stayed the night at my parents' house since Grandma's in town and she told me we'd bake cinnamon rolls today. She gets my room whenever she stays over, so I always end up crashing on the couch if I'm not staying at the apartment. Once I woke up, I rolled off the couch and went to brush my teeth. When I walked out, Grandma was already in the kitchen and said, "Your mom said she had some sausage. Why don't we make biscuits and gravy this morning?"
Ohmygoodness. I LOVE Grandma. Andrea and I had just discussed the previous day at Lolo's how we loved biscuits & gravy. I hadn't had it in years, and had never actually made it.
Still in my p.j.'s and sporting my bed head, I started pulling out the ingredients as Grandma listed them off the top of her head. I didn't even realize it was on my Bake-it List until tonight, otherwise I would have lovely pictures for you all.
One note about cooking with Grandma: nothing is an exact measurement. "Just throw some of that in...Knead it some more until it feels right." I can only dream to have that sort of sixth sense someday.
So I learned how to make homemade biscuits and a roux with sausage. We ended up using Trader Joe's sun dried tomato chicken sausage, which had great flavor, but we still had to season the sauce.
Fantastic breakfast. I wish I had proof for you all!
After a short jog, and some sunbathing for Grandma (she has to soak up as much as she can before she heads back to Nebraska) we started her world famous cinnamon rolls. How I had been waiting for this moment.
Warning: You must reserve a full day to make cinnamon rolls. You cannot rush the process; they are delicacies that should not be tampered with.

First you add the flour, sugar, oil, milk, water, salt, eggs, and yeast. It all needs to be room temperature so it can rise properly.

 Then you add some more flour. "Just keep adding till it feels right. You don't need to measure it," says Grandma.

 "How long do you knead it for, Grandma?"

"Oh, forever."

After you knead it for forever, stick it in the microwave to rise. (Don't turn it on.) It's airtight in there & somewhat warm, which helps the process.

 Wait until it's double the size, if not more & knead it down again. Then stick it back in the microwave and do it all over. This takes about four hours. We both got a good amount of sunbathing in today.
Maybe a little shut-eye here and there.

 Now get the pan ready. Grandma said you have to use a metal pan. Glass gets too hot and that's why my mom's always burn.




First type of rolls, we put margarine, Karo syrup, and brown sugar in the bottom. These were the gooey rolls. Then you roll out the dough and sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on them.

 This is my favorite step. After we roll up the dough, we slice it with a piece of thread. It's a little trick my grandma taught me years ago. Slices dough like butter.

 Set them in the pan, like so.

 The next rolls we put margarine, brown sugar, cinnamon, sugar, and chopped walnuts inside. You can sub the walnuts for about anything you want...raisins, pecans, etc. If I recall correctly, we only grease the bottom of this pan. No fancy syrup or anything.

 Rising...again. Told you it was all day thing. Always "double the size."

 <Nutty ones we'll put frosting on.

Regular gooey ones.>

Can't I just eat them already??

 Finally, after six hours of hard labor and a golden tan to prove it, the masterpiece is complete.

Look at these babies. Crispy, sugary coating on top of a warm, fluffy dough. I had to hold everyone back so I could get a picture before they were annihilated.

 And the nutty ones with frosting. Didn't quite make it to the camera in time.

We just left these in the pan and frosted them with a margarine, vanilla, milk, and powdered sugar frosting.

Not gonna lie, might've had more than one.

Might take some back to the apartment, too...

96 Left!!!

Strawberry Romanoff

Here's a little glimpse into my legendary Summer in Estes. (I formatted it like that, because I feel like it should be a major motion picture.)
As I mentioned previously, Andrea and I set out the summer between our freshman and sophomore year at Arizona State to live in the beautiful tourist town of Estes Park, Colorado. We got jobs as waitresses up there and getting to work was the only responsibility we had all summer. Rough life, obviously.
Neither of us had worked in a restaurant before we moved out there, and we were pretty much thrown into it. My first day of training was with Ricardo. I hadn't met him, but I heard he was known for changing in the back room before his shift and would occasionally walk out in his pink undies. This made me a little nervous to go look for him. Luckily when we met, he was nearly fully clothed.
The entire night consisted of shadowing him for the most part, but he would push me out of my comfort zone once in a while and make me carry a tray or list off the salad dressings to a table.
Each night the restaurant would have a dessert special. That first night happened to be strawberry romanoff. I had no idea what it was, but once a table ordered it Ricky said, "Okay, you watch this time and next time you do it." He grabbed a cart from the side of the room and rolled it over to the table. There was a small gas burner on top, a dish of strawberries, ice cream, and a few other ingredients.
I wasn't aware the restaurant was also an ideal location to watch a fireworks display. Ricky had a pan full of flaming strawberries right in front of these people's faces and I was about to do this?! I could barely lift a skillet in the first place. I was convinced I was going to burn down the restaurant.
Well Ricky, the wonderful trainer he was, stood by me the whole time and made sure no one would be leaving with third degree burns. And more good news: the restaurant is still standing.
So Grandma's in town and Mom decided it was time to show off my flambéing skills acquired over the summer. She bought the good stuff this time, too! Go Mom!

Wash & slice strawberries. Mom says pesticides aren't good for you. I like to think they strengthen my immune system.

Happy Valentine's Day! I thought it looked like a heart :D

 And here's the lineup:

Butter, Cinnamon, Brown Sugar, Strawberries, and 151 Rum.

Told you she got the good stuff.

Oo! Almost forgot the ice cream!

Side note: my dad used to tell me when I was little he'd pay me $.50 for each one of these bowls I broke. For some reason he hated them when my mom bought them.

Please excuse my ghetto backyard/grill. My mom isn't as encouraging as Ricky and makes me cook it outside.

First step: Melting the butter (or burning it, if your name is Callie.)

Next add the strawberries & cook a tad.

Then the rum!
Props to my sis for this awesome mid-pour shot!

Tell Grandma to back up, tilt the pan & set fire!
Also note that I'm tossing the cinnamon into the flames. It creates the "firework effect."

 Once the rum cooks out, add in the brown sugar.

Make sure brown sugar is well dissolved & pour over ice cream.

Finished product. I admit, I need to work on my displays. They aren't the prettiest.  Although, I promise you it tasted delicious.

Soul-food Saturday

Okay I'm a little obsessed with alliteration...I'll try to back off a bit. Haha
There's this place called Lolo's Chicken & Waffles in the valley. It's pretty popular...okay really popular. Every time I drive by it, there are people lined out the door. It's good 'ol southern cooking. Best known for their fried chicken and waffles (who would've guessed???) Andrea and I decided that we'd knock this restaurant off our list this Saturday. Our list has to be at least 20 pages long. It consists of various restaurants throughout the valley, all exotic tastes. In order to cross Lolo's off the list we said we'd hike Camelback in the morning and head there for lunch.
I'm not much of a hiker. It always sounds fun until I start, then I remember why I hate it. I don't really hate it, more like a love/hate. I love when it's over and actually feel like I did something advantageous.
Andrea and I set off to hike Cholla Trail, which is "the old ladies' trail" according to one of Andrea's classmates. It's more of winding switchbacks. Echo, the other trail, intimidates me. We tried it once before with two boys who practically ran up the thing. It consists of slick rock faces that are so steep they installed metal rails to help yourself along. I threw in the towel halfway up and have been too scared to return.
So as we were heading to Cholla, I got a little distracted chatting away with Andrea. Long story, short I ended up deciding to park behind a long line of cars and just follow people who were dressed in spandex and wearing camelbacks. Turns out we were following Echo hikers. Dun...dun...dun...the chiseled abs surrounding me should have been a tip off. I took a deep a breath and decided, 'I can do this.' Andrea won't leave me in the dust.

Would ya look at that! I made it alive! Andie even gave me a good pep talk on the way up. :)

Now time for Lolo's. Our appetites had well enough time to prepare.
Only one problem: way too much to choose from. They needed a sampler plate. I think it would've taken up the entire table, though. Biscuits & gravy, banana pudding, wings, mac & cheese, red velvet cake, every possible flavor of Kool-Aid imaginable, cornbread, collard greens, sweet tea...the list goes on and on.
I'm a huge mac & cheese lover. I used to go to Basha's and buy a 1/2 pound of it hot and just have that for dinner. Therefore it had to be one of the choices. I also felt that I would be going against the sole purpose of the trip if I didn't get chicken & waffles. I settled with a few side orders: mac & cheese, drumsticks, and a waffle. One of the hardest decisions of my life. (Next time I get asked in a job interview what the hardest decision I ever had to make was, ordering at Lolo's will be my answer.)

I already started to fix it up before I realized I should probably document this glorious moment. Otherwise there would have been no proof of its existence.

Here's Andrea's, with my heaping side of mac & cheese in the foreground. I believe she got the "Amadi's" with sweet tea. Note the mason jars, this place is the definition of soul-food. Good, greasy, home-cooked meals. I wasn't impressed with the waffle itself, because I'm spoiled with my mom's waffles, but the combination of the fried chicken and the waffle was heavenly...or should I say deadly? The mac & cheese was also a good choice. Made with real cheese, not too creamy, yet still warm and gooey.
Next time I think I'm going with either the chili or the biscuits & gravy and saving room for banana pudding...I can hardly wait!
Yay for Super Saturdays with Andrea! (Okay, I promise that was my last cheesy alliteration.)

The Little Things

I was originally going to write about coffee today. My alarm didn't go off this morning and I woke up 30 minutes before class started. I didn't have time to make coffee and I was going to inform you all of how I could barely survive without it, but more important issues have surfaced.
Not issues, I guess, but things that make me think.
Today is the last day at the 'ol cubicle job. How I loathed it; going for nearly five hours some days not interacting with any other life form. I live for communication. I used to cry when I'd forget my phone charger at home and my family would decide to go up to the cabin for the weekend. Pathetic, I know. (I've gotten better, I promise!)
This job was not cutting it for me, especially since I want to go into hospitality. I need to interact with people on a daily basis, so as I told you all earlier I got a new job at Oregano's.
I was thrilled when he walked back into the interview and told me I had gotten the job. I thought he was joking originally; I had worked so long and hard for it. Being a full time student and working two jobs is not wise. I know there are plenty of individuals out there who can do it and have to do it in order to support themselves, but I was blessed with supportive parents who insist that school is first priority. So I handed in my letter of resignation to my sweetheart of a boss two weeks ago. I was so nervous; I hated letting them down knowing that they've been so lenient with me.
I've probably talked to my employees more in the past two weeks than I have in the entire year that I've worked here and what I came to realize is that they are all good people. So many of them have walked over to congratulate me and wish me success. And here I was scared that I'd be getting the stink eye this whole time, because I'm deserting them.
What I'm trying to get at is whenever you have the opportunity to get to know people, don't pass it up.
I realized I'm actually going to miss these people. They've been nothing but nice to me (the lazy student worker wearing jeans and a t-shirt who just shows up whenever she can.)
I brought in brownies for my last day and the head of the department walked over and said, "These are delicious brownies. You'll make a good wife someday if you decide you want to get married." This probably sounds ridiculous to all of you, but it was one of the best compliments I could ever receive. One of those statements that "hits home." One that will stay in my memory bank and I'll occasionally think back and smile...just like the man in Estes.

Bierstadt Lake in Estes- Andrea and I went on this hike.

One day I was serving an older couple in Estes and they asked me where I was from. I told them how I wanted to "be on my own" for a bit and just escape the heat. I informed them about my sweet hookup, living in my grandparents' guest house with a roommate and just working full time. The man replied, "Boy, you must be doing something right to be that blessed."
I almost broke down in tears (emotional girly garbage, I know.) It was definitely one of those moments, though. You realize, 'Wow, I am blessed. Life couldn't possibly be any better for me.' I will never forget that moment: small, but inspiring.
Enough of this mushy stuff. I was in the moment and had to share it all with you, I apologize.
But coming up I'll tell you more about Estes (I have some GREAT stories), and I'll eventually get to my post dedicated to the appreciation of coffee. :)

Mixing It Up

So last post I told you all about Pioneer Woman.
Well my love for her has grown exponentially. I can't seem to put her book down and while I was "surfing the web" (that phrase always sounds cheesy to me) I read one of her posts called Ten Important Things I've Learned About Blogging. I decided to take her advice, in more ways than one.
The first was exercise. Haha
This was only due to the fact that I have three exams I need to be studying for, but I prefer to read her book instead. I told myself that I could read her book at the gym; all other spare time would be reserved for studying. Yay for time management!...I'm getting better.
She also stated that you should blog often and about different things. I've been slacking on both of those, so it's time to step up my game.
This one is going to pay tribute to my favorite ladies (not to sound feminist, I'll do men later ;) .)
1) Audrey Hepburn

I always like her best in Sabrina.

She radiates elegance. I love her fashion sense and she was a very caring woman. If I could be anyone else, it would be her.

"I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles." -Audrey Hepburn

2) Taylor Swift

Classy, Talented, Smart, I could go on and on about this girl. Haters gonna hate on her, but she'll always hold herself high. She knows how to stay a positive influence, which many younger artists struggle with. Love her.

"When I was a little girl I used to read fairy tales. In fairy tales you meet Prince Charming and he's everything you ever wanted. In fairy tales the bad guy is very easy to spot. The bad guy is always wearing a black cape so you always know who he is. Then you grow up and you realize that Prince Charming is not as easy to find as you thought. You realize the bad guy is not wearing a black cape and he's not easy to spot; he's really funny, and he makes you laugh, and he has perfect hair." -Taylor Swift

3) Marilyn Monroe

To be honest I haven't fully seen any of her movies and I don't know much about her. I just love how she is portrayed. She was the definition of a sex symbol and was fully aware of it. I once spent almost an entire day reading quotes of hers and I was in shock with how intelligent she was. She always seemed like a bimbo, but she knew exactly how to work the crowd.

"I believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go, things go wrong so that you appreciate them when they're right, you believe lies so you eventually learn to trust no one but yourself, and sometimes good things fall apart so better things can fall together."  -Marilyn Monroe

It's somewhat of a short list. Trust me, there are a lot more women out there that have influenced me (Mom, for example! Oo and Ree Drummond, The Pioneer Woman of course!), but I didn't want to bore you all with an extensive list. Who influenced you?

M.I.A.

Sorry everyone, it's been a hectic week.
So...I got a new job. One that I have been working towards for quite a while now. I am now a host/cashier at Oregano's. They jumped me into training that very week I was hired and it's been "go-go-go" ever since.
Unfortunately I haven't been able to work on my Bake It list as much as I would have liked to, but Grandma Bonnie got in town last night, so we're definitely going to knock a ton of those out while she's here!
Saturday I had a lovely lunch with two of my girl friends I haven't seen in quite a while. We ended up going to Wildflower Bread Company. I know what you Arizona natives are thinking, Cool, how exotic. Like we haven't all been THERE before...I know it's nothing spectacular, but I still love this place. There's too much to try; therefore going there is like going to a new restaurant every time. This time I forced myself to try something completely out of the ordinary for me: the Roasted Sweet Potato Sandwich.

The reason why this is such a shocker for me is I used to despise sweet potatoes, but have recently grown to like them, which makes it still a rarity to pay for a sweet potato dish. Another thing is I NEVER order vegetarian options...EVER. Not that I'm a total carnivore, but I want to be full when I'm finished with my meal  if I'm paying for it, and meat seems more promising.
As you can see this baby is stuffed with roasted sweet potato (obviously), caramelized onions, arugula, mozzarella, and what looks like some sort of marmalade or jam all between freshly baked focaccia. Definitely glad I expanded my horizons. Also, if you haven't been to Wildflower they have a large assortment of pastries, too. It's the perfect spot for a brunch date, because they have something for everyone.
Before I had to go into work on Saturday, I told my mom I'd help her figure out what appetizer she should to take to a party that evening. I took a look at my list and decided that baked brie could work. Unfortunately I was so pressed for time, I couldn't take picture of the experiment (which turned out to be a good thing, because it wasn't a pretty sight.)
Although I love her dearly, I shouldn't leave her in charge of buying the groceries for my projects. She ended up buying wedges of brie. Since I was so short on time, luckily I was able to find a recipe that only required cutting off the rinds, spreading raspberry jam on the top, and wrapping it in Pillsbury Crescent dough. Super simple, but it didn't turn out too pretty. I didn't make sure all the edges were sealed, so the cheese and jam oozed out the corners. Plus the shape was just unappealing. Mom was fortunate and got to learn from my mistakes. After she took the rinds off, she shaped it into a wheel and twisted the top of the dough, so it all stayed intact. I would post a picture of hers, but she could only figure out how to take a video of it on her phone. :/ We need to work on that lady.
So the verdict is baked brie needs a redo...I'll only half cross it off for now.
Oh another thing! Once I came home from work on Friday my wonderful mother walks up and says, "I got you something." It was Pioneer Woman's Black Heels to Tractor Wheels! I don't know if you all have heard of her yet, but if you haven't, you must check her out. Her story is amazing and her recipes are to die for. Needless to say I'm nearly halfway through the book and that's saying a lot coming from someone who never reads.
That's all for now. Hopefully you'll hear from me soon, if life slows down at all.