wanna be a baker

Apple Orchard

Rob and I have been visiting this apple orchard (Nieman Orchards) for years. It’s become a tradition.

We always buy the largest sized bag to pick because I love baking apple pies and we both love making apple sauce, apple butter, and deyhdrating apples. Apple chips are awesome.

I’m finally able to move again after my back injury 2 months ago. So I’ve been trying to get out more, take it easy, but get out and move again. Since the weather was really perfect on Saturday, I recruited a friend and went for a walk.

Homemade blueberry pie.

I’ve made a number of pies over the years but I’ve never actually made my own crust. It was some added work but very worth it.

Rob’s been dealing with some acid reflux for awhile now and he’s been figuring out what works and doesn’t work for him. Instead of a cake, he requested a pie. Blueberry doesn’t seem to bother him so that’s what I made.

And it was amazing! He loved it and I loved it.

Sunday in Chicago: our last day.

To no surprise, I woke up to a hangover. We had made brunch plans with some other friends of mine in Chicago. Sliding into last night’s clothes, too difficult to find something else to wear, we set off for a nearby byob brunch place, Sunrise Cafe.

I ordered huevos mexicana (scrambled eggs with jalapenos, onions, peppers and a side of beans and rice) which were surprisingly dry but thanks to the 1/2 cup salsa I added, tolerable. They weren’t really that bad, but next time I’d order something different.

Back at the apartment, we lounged one last time together reliving the events of the weekend until Audra suggested all of us get tattoos. So we set out on one last walk to a tattoo shop though unforunately (or fortunately for me), they didn’t have time for all of us. We discussed getting them the next time we all get together, hopefully/probably in Milwaukee. So I have some time to mentally prepare myself for this first tattoo. I’m not against tattoos, I actually really like them but it’s the where and what that I can’t commit to. Sometimes I have a hard time pressing enter on booking a plane ticket or sending a text/email, committing to something you can’t take back. I overthink things, I guess.

Audra, Emily, and I departed Chicago around 4pm with 2 stops in mind. One was to the Golden Pyramid just north of Gurnee/Six Flags. It was closed by the time we got there, I’m not even sure what it is but it’s weird and kind of an eye-sore. Our last stop was in Racine for some kringle, yum.

This was by far one of the best weekends of the year. I can’t remember the last time I smiled so much. I’m so glad I have these girls in my life.

Saturday in Chicago.

Friday night’s dance off resulted in a lounge heavy Saturday. We took a break from it to grab some Chicago style pizza at Piasano’s a few blocks from my friends’ apartment. By the time we were done with lunch, the rain had settled so we walked around town stopping in an adorable paper goods shop where I picked up a birthday card for Rob, a cute box of long matches, and a “broccoli rob (kinda bitter)” pin that Audra so kindly bought me. Next, we strolled on over to a book, zine, magazine store.

Before heading out on Saturday night, we lounged a bit more and watched quite possibly the worst lifetime movie. We spent the majority of the night at Rainbo bar, which is conveniently located blocks from their apartment, playing the wink game which resulted in many new friends made. Half our group left for another bar and the rest of us remained at Rainbo.

Since Patty and I returned to the apartment first, we happily claimed our wink game prize of leftover pizza as well as a solid place to sleep.

Friday. My college buddies and I got together for the weekend in Chicago. We haven’t all been together in many years.

Once, Audi, Emily, and I arrived to Patty and Beth’s we got to drinking and hugging and so much dancing.

We danced so hard at Beauty Bar and grabbed tacos from a Mexican restaurant on the walk back. We ended the night crammed onto one bed with a lifetime movie playing.

Macarons!

For my birthday, my boyfriend gave me a gift card for a kitchen store. They offer classes and I finally was able to make it to a “mastering macarons” class.

Split into 3 groups of 5, we were responsible for one flavor. My group made cardamom with pistachio buttercream. Another group made espresso with chocolate ganache and the last group made cinnamon with apple cider buttercream. All three were delicious!

You can see how the meringue spread a little too far on some and they touched. It only mattered for looks.

This class was a lot of fun! It was really great being in a kitchen with so many people who love to bake. We traded tips and tricks with each other for other things like buttercream frostings and ganache, where to find certain ingredients, and kitchen utensils we can’t live without.

Afterwards, I took my time selecting new items for my kitchen because all the students were given a 10% discount and the gift card I wanted to finally use. I bought a pretty rose serving platter, a donut pan, spatula, funnel, cupcake liners, food scale (macaron ingredients are measured in weight), espresso powder, vanilla bean paste, and a flat sifter.