Monday, February 14, 2011

Love Ya Back ~ Happy Valentine’s Day ~ 2/14/11

LOVE is a beautiful expression of life.

LOVE…at the end of the day, is all that matters.

“Love is the emotion of strong affection and personal attachment. In philosophical context, love is a virtue representing all of human kindness, compassion, and affection. In some religious contexts, love is not just a virtue, but the basis for all being, as in the Christian phrase, "God is love" or Agape in the Canonical gospels. Love may also be described as actions towards others (or oneself) based on compassion. Or as actions towards others based on affection.”

As a flickr member, I compiled photo mosaics using other flickr friends' photos and my own.

The subject: Twosome; namely, any photo with ‘two’ subjects in the photos.

I want to say THANK YOU FLICKR FRIENDS for sharing your photos and being a part of this project. Love you! J

Name and Flickr AccountName

Carl

Carl Loves Somerset

Dorothy

D Cunningham

Eduardo

Eduardo Amorim

George

ghholt

Guylaine

PhotosNature-Guylaine

Jay

JayCaps

Joe

Joe Bodner

Keith

Pheanix

Les

Leswag

Marc

broadcastmarc

Maria

©EpicureanPiranha

Mike

buttons77

Patti & Mike

canikon 1998

Priya

Sugar Pot

Stephania

micettes

Suwandi

pvcpvc

Vivi

Miss Vivi Gold

Carmen (this is me)

Baking is my Zen, LLC

Six Mosaics as seen in Flickr:

Valentine’s Day baking…I made heart-shaped pocket pies and filled them with strawberry and raspberry filling using a heart-shaped mold by Williams-Sonoma.

These heart-shaped pocket pies are fun to make and fun to eat! You can pace yourself by making the dough ahead of time and using store bought jam to fill the pocket pies. Dough recipe is on the back of the box.

Williams-Sonoma also has other molds (apple and lattice).

The dough recipe can be found in my post, here.

Just a note…make sure you place the heart opening on the right side, not the left, as I did.

Oh well, live and learn, right?

Have fun baking these sweet treats…most of all,

Have a loving Valentine’s Day!

Peace in baking,

Carmen

Baking is my Zen…sweet nibbles for the soul

Monday, January 31, 2011

Happy 2nd Blog Birthday Baking is my Zen!

Two years young today, January 11, 2011.

Baking is my Zen’s blog celebrates another year of sharing recipes and a story or two. In the past year, recipes with photo tutorials were introducted and have encouraged others to bake. The visuals made some of the recipes not seem so daunting. My blog is one of enjoyment for me. So, I follow my creative flow and post recipes when I desire. I started this as a hobby, and that is where I want it to remain…a FUN hobby.

In celebration of the second year, two birthday cupcakes were purchased from Crumbs Bake Shop in Westfield, New Jersey. There are other Crumbs Bake shop locations, which can be found on their website.

About Crumbs Bake Shop

“Crumbs Bake Shop first opened its doors in March of 2003 on the Upper West Side of Manhattan by Mia & Jason Bauer. The menu is an irresistible blend of comfort-oriented classics and elegant baked goods, but the specialty of the house is the Crumbs Signature size cupcakes! With our more than 50 varieties baked fresh daily and a new cupcake of the week every Monday, each Crumbs Bake Shop is an oasis of wall to wall deliciousness. And now you can enjoy your favorite Crumbs treats in the comfort of your own home - just like Mom used to bake. Delivered straight to your front door, perfect for any occasion, without needing an occasion at all.”

Crumbs Bake Shop

130 East Broad St
Westfield, NJ 07090
T 908-232-5527

Sunday: 8am - 9pm
Monday: 8am - 9pm
Tuesday: 8am - 9pm
Wednesday: 8am - 9pm
Thursday: 8am - 9pm
Friday: 8am - 10pm
Saturday: 8am - 10pm

Happy 2nd Blog Birthday Baking is my Zen!

Blow out the candles…make a wish!

Candles are blown out, and Crumbs Bake Shop cupcakes are enjoyed. Delish!

Crumbs Cupcakes flavors: Baba Booey and Samoa Cupcakes

Baba Booey

The Baba Booey was created in 2008 by Gary Dell'Abate a.k.a. Baba Booey of the Howard Stern Show. Gary absolutely loves peanut butter and chocolate, so it's only fitting that his cupcake has both! Chocolate cake filled with peanut butter frosting, topped with peanut butter and chocolate cream cheese frosting and rimmed with peanut butter chips. A portion of the proceeds from the Baba Booey cupcake is donated to LIFEBEAT.

Samoa Cupcake

Ingredients in this delicious cupcake: Vanilla cake, caramel, chocolate and coconut.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

On my travels in Westfield, I came upon a great store called Savory Spice Shop.