Little Biscuit

In case you missed the tweets and the constant instagram updates, we welcomed Ms. Ella Jean Splawn into the world on January 8th. She weighed a healthy 7 pounds 15 ounces and measured 21 inches. She is far and away the very best thing I have ever baked.

I will be heading back to work full time this week, so I expect it will be some time before regular posting resumes. Thanks for your patience.

On Love and Cake

I had a panic attack on the first flight. "I should have packed my cake decorating stand," I thought. I ran down the list again, a suitcase already packed and checked: 3 sizes of cake pans (2 of each), a full size off-set spatula, same in mini, a box of pastry tips, piping bags, parchment paper, two jars of vanilla bean paste, and a jar of Duke's mayonnaise*. "When can I get into the kitchen? Will there be enough fridge space? Is there even a mixer?" The panic continued.

A Sweet Pop

Life has a wicked sense of humor.

When we try to make plans, life makes others. Just as we think we've figured out the new plan, life throws another curveball our way. This is both the brightly beautiful and the deeply troubling thing about life.

A Vanilla Bean Paste Haiku

I had to look up the rules for a haiku. Was 7th grade that long ago? Wait was it even 7th grade where we learned that?

Regardless - I wanted to profess my unabashed love of vanilla bean paste. You can use it in place of vanilla extract and it since it contains bits of the seeds it feels super fancy, but since you can also use it in place of real vanilla bean, it feels super frugal too. Without further ado - my vanilla bean paste haiku:

Fragrant but sticky

cheapness never so fancy

Seedy and smooth

Apologies if I got it all wrong - wikipedia is suppose to be a reliable source right?

Vanilla Bean Paste via the web: here, here, and here.

Ps. If you are in the greater Metro Atlanta area, Your Dekalb Farmers Market has got the best price around.