Archive for the ‘Bloom’ Category
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14
Dec
2010
Thank You- Over & out for now.
Dear Readers,
I am writing today to tell you, for now at least I will no longer be blogging on Bake & Bloom.
I am sure any Bride to be will tell you it is a big task to plan a wedding, and l have a lot of commitments to meet in my personal life at the moment including my veggie garden which is now huge! Changing jobs & finally getting really into floristry & trying to be more active in my family life which I have neglected for for quite a while now. Finding the time to commit to make this blog all it should be has become fairly difficult.
I would like to thank each & every person that has ever stopped by to say Hi or read a recipe, and especially my regular loyal readers & friends.
In particular I would like to thank my friends Mel (From Bread n’ Sniff It) & Christie (From Fig & Cherry) for making me really feel like a part of of the blogging family. You’re both a total inspiration to me!
Rest assured I will be back some time next year.
So for now my friends, goodbye. Keep cooking & know that I love you all. Thanks for making my life for the last year & a half a little sweeter & I am sure we will speak again soon!
xoxo Shannon Smyth
18
Oct
2010
What did you do this weekend? Me? Oh, I just made an awesome wedding cake.
Ok. so technically it actually took 3 days, not 2 but this weekend I made my step sister’s wedding cake & 3 wedding bouquets, 5 buttonholes & a table centerpiece. (and a lot of mess)
You may bow down in my awesomeness now.
It was my first real wedding & Rachael & Adrian put a lot of trust in me to leave some important elements of their big day in my trembling hands. Thanks for letting me be a part of it guys!
19
Aug
2010
How to make a pretty bunch of flowers – Flower arranging 101
Ever wondered how your florist gets their stems, you know..all swirly and pretty in a bouquet?
Before studying floral design I actually kind of assumed they did it much in the manner one might twist spaghetti before you put it in water, embarrassing huh? It is technically called stroussing & while it sounds easy in theory it is kind of tricky when you learn. Unless you find it easy, in which case you suck & I hate you!
I am going to tell you how anyway.
10
May
2010
Small Triumphs – Mothers Day & Macarons
No one has attempted as many bad batches of those perfect Parisian cookies as I have. My macarons have stuck to the paper & lost their bottoms, cracked at the top, failed to rise, had big awful air pockets…you name it, I have seen it.
I have tried the French meringue method, the Italian meringue method & the little known Swiss meringue method all with disappointing results. All in all I would say I have made over 35 batches of failed macarons in the last 2 years.
Much of the problem lay within my own patience. I have incorrectly read recipes more times than I care to mention.
6
Apr
2010
Easter crowd pleasin’ rich chocolate cake
Does festive baking transform you into a trembling, twitching nervous wreck?
Join the club
There’s something about baking for the holidays the renders me a complete kitchen mess. It must be the pressure, because without fail the moment I set my mind to preparing festive treats all my baking sense goes out the window.
I forget to warm eggs & butter to room temperature, I pour boiling milk over yeast & then rest dough in full sun. I even occasionally pull roasting pans from the oven without oven mitts (yes that has really happened in the heat of a holiday cooking tizz) I scream at loved ones & run around barefoot with knives.
