Ta da!!!

Well, I finally did it!  Tonight I entered my recipe in the Signature Dessert Recipe contest as well as the Spectacular Strawberry Desserts contest.  Really, it should have been a no brainer after taking the finished product into work today for the office to sample and having it devoured in no time flat, but I still was a bit nervous.

So for your viewing enjoyment (sorry I couldn't save you a piece!), I give you the Strawberry Milkshake Cake:

Feel free to vote for my recipe in either (or both) contests -- you can vote once a day through the end of the contests too.

For the Signature Dessert contest go here: Signature Dessert

For the Spectacular Strawberry Dessert contest go here: Spectacular Strawberry

It's actually kind of funny that I brought this into work today since over the weekend one of our better drivers quit to pursue a culinary career.  My co-workers wanted to know if I'm taking this so seriously that I would give up my Accounting position and some of them even joked that I better not leave without training someone else how to do payroll.  I ensured them that this was just a fun hobby and while I am available for hire (for the right price), I'm not taking off for the Culinary Institute of America anytime soon.

What a week! Hold on!!!

A lot of miscellaneous things happening here, nothing too bad, ugly or too crazy to handle, just enough to keep me on my toes and really busy.

- My boss left for Italy on Tuesday morning for a 2.5 week vacation.  While this is on much better terms than the last time he planned a big "out of the county family vacation" (1 short week after I started my position there nearly 5 years ago), we still had so much to take care before he left.  Didn't help that I had to leave early for my doctor's appointment on Friday and that he's a major procrastinator because Monday turned into one whirlwind of a day.  It's not been quiet since he's left, but I haven't gone completely insane, yet!

- Created a 30th wedding anniversary party invitation for Coco and she was so thoroughly impressed by my mad skills that she thinks I have a knack for party planning.  I did offer to make her cake/cupcakes as well, just to stay creative with my baking.

- Heading out to my Dad's tomorrow after work to celebrate Father's Day with him a bit early.  Rather than taking him out to dinner, I'm going to impress him with my new found love for creating healthy, yet flavorful recipes.  I hope my little experiment works!  I also hope that he likes the Father's Day gifts I picked out!

- Renewing my apartment lease for another year this week.  Hard to believe that I moved in here 5 years ago already.  It's nice to know that after shuffling around growing up and then moving around numerous times in college, I'm somewhat grounded for the time being.  Sure, I know I'm renting a 700 sq. foot apartment, but it's cute and right now, I don't think I could handle much more than this amount of space.

- MO is having the work crowd over for a BBQ on Saturday afternoon and I intend to let loose and have some fun.  It's been awhile since we've all gotten together and it's a great way to spend a hot Saturday in June.  And since I RSVP'ed to this event, the pool table jokes have been in high demand too.  I just may have to take a break and lay down on it again if I deem it necessary.

- Sunday I'm finally working on my signature dessert recipe.  I've got it all planned out and now I just need to execute it.  I'm feeling really confident and I'm already thinking ahead for another dessert contest using strawberries.  I'll post more info and maybe even a picture of my creation once its all finished.

The best news of the week is that tomorrow is Friday and we're heading into summer!  Woo hoo!!

Bruce!!!

BRUCE!!!  

If you were an outsider visiting the Edward Jones Dome for a Rams game from the time they moved to St. Louis until 2008, you probably thought we were all booing our team.  Yet, any die hard Rams fan would disagree with you, we were just cheering on our beloved wide receiver who lead our team through the winning seasons and even the losing ones.

On Wednesday, Issac Bruce retired as a player of the team that drafted him back in 1994 after San Francisco graciously traded him back to his "home" team.  As a franchise leader in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns, Bruce can be considered one of the all time greatest players for the St. Louis Rams.

Congratulations on an outstanding football career Issac Bruce and good luck in all future endeavors!  There are not many athletes of your caliber and with your great character!

Have spatula, will travel

Besides being passionate about keeping fit and staying healthy, I'm also somewhat of a foodie.  I love to cook and create or tweak recipes and often times think about a career as a personal chef if I ever got tired of being an Accountant. 
I found a contest online to create an original signature dessert recipe earlier today and I'm really thinking about taking a shot at it.  My baking skills are fairly strong and I think I could put together something I would be proud of.  This afternoon while trying to finish up my last few projects for the week, I started throwing ideas around and got a few nods from my co-workers.  I'm going to give it serious thought this weekend and see if I can nail down a good recipe and start testing it out.  Thank goodness I also have co-workers and friends that will try my masterpieces and give me their honest yet supportive opinions.

I've got one month to perfect my signature dessert...wish me luck!

Ready for a challenge

With the season finale of The Biggest Loser last week and now NBC premiering Losing It With Jillian last night, I know there are a lot of people that are jumping on the health and fitness bandwagon.  I might be considered one of those individuals since I get even more pumped about being healthy and staying in shape while watching these shows.  Heck, I'd even go so far to say that even while watching the hell that some of these people face while trying to reach there fitness and weight loss goals, I would still love to spend an hour being trained by the one and only Jillian Michaels.

Sure, she's rough and seems unsympathetic at times but it's all about mind over matter.  Determination and hard work are two principles that spread in all aspects of life, not just weight loss.  You push yourself to work harder and success will follow.

Plus, I want the secret to her stellar abs!