Sweet Treat - Crave Bake Shop

My cousin's daughter owns and operates Crave Bake Shop. We were able to visit during our weekend trek to the family reunion. It was the highlight to our morning. It is fun to see this once Candle Lighter at our wedding in 1993 all grown up running a very successful private business.

She graduated from bakery school and started her own Gluten Free business as a result of a health condition that keeps her away from Gluten products. She began her dream-job from her kitchen, and then after her amazing success as a finalist in Food Networks Cupcake Wars last December, she was able to open up her first storefront two months ago in a very charming town. She has been nonstop since.

One of her secrets is that she has daily specials in flavors that may not necessarily repeat the following day or week. Keeping it fresh all the time, she is getting repeat customers right and left.

In addition, all of her products in the bakery (cinnamon rolls, mini cheesecakes, cookies, ice cream sandwiches, etc) are all made fresh daily. Starting as early as five in the morning, she gets a jump start in the bakery process before her store opens mid-morning. With a crew of six, she has help in the workflow, but all the recipes and flavorings are created by her. Amazing.

There is not a health need for our family to be Gluten Free, but I have had Gluten Free products before from other sources, and it does have a different flavoring and texture. But I can honestly say that nobody would know her products are free of Gluten. They are that perfected!!

One interesting Food Network fact: when asked if during the final round she really had only two hours to make 1,000 cupcakes she said YES!! No fancy editing or television magic, it really was just only two hours to complete the task. In addition, they pulled her away from the kitchen to do the snippet interviews that were edited into the show. She said the stress level, frenzy, and chaos was incredible. I can imagine.

Another issue during that two hours was that she had to put to use her bakery chemistry and math skills. Because you can't just multiply the recipe by the amount you need to yield, instead you must use science to figure out the ratio of all the ingredients, and how they react to each other to yield a larger quantity. For example, reactions of baking soda or baking powder work differently when produced outside of the normal yield. Fascinating.

Finally, not all cupcakes bake at the same oven temperature. Managing the kitchen machines, the workflow, and the provided baking crew proved to be another challenge during those two hours.

My hats are tipped to Food Network for keeping it real - with the inside scoop, I have more admiration for all the contestants in the food reality shows produced on Food Network.

We put in our vote to her about setting up multiple Crave Bake Shops with a big plug for one in our next of the country. However, I would have to up my workout routine - but it would be worth it!!

Become a fan on Facebook - she updates regularly ... Crave Bake Shop!!!

Extended Family

My brother and I were solo when it came to experiencing "cousins" while growing up. They were either ten years older, or ten years younger than both of us. Also, we were not raised in the same proximity. A days car ride for either side of the family was in order to visit. Caught with an age gap is not very accommodating to sharing the same interests or abilities with cousins you see on a infrequent traveling basis. 

But as we all grew up, the span of ages has grown smaller. Now, we have commonalities, experiences to share that we both "get", and appreciation for where we are in life. It feels good to reconnect and get a glimpse into our lives in person. This past weekend we were able to do just that. 

The uniqueness of this family is that "my generation" of cousins spur the Reunions. As a result of a tragic loss in losing both parents over a span of one Christmas week, my cousins have been the ones to rally over the ten years to keep our extended family together. Their parents were the ones who would connect the family yearly through my parents, but now the cousins have embraced this responsibility to honor their parent's absence to keep the gatherings happening. 

While the tears have subsided and life has moved on - we always bring up memories of their parents with laughter and love. I loved them dearly and they were my closest extended family. Seeing the cousins face to face brings back all the love that was started and maintained by their parents among the whole family. The feeling really can't be described. It just is ... 

My husband, unfortunately, was not able to make the trip due to an important work commitment. So, we hitched a ride with my parents who were making the trek to the Reunion Location: my cousins farm. I call it a farm, I think she would consider as such, as they have a small variety of animals and gardens, and live out in farm and crop country. 

I love the country. I love their piece of property. I love my cousins flair for presenting a large chunk of options for the kiddos to explore and get into while visiting their place. It was a day of relaxation and smiles. 

Pictures to tell the story: 

My cousin had designed a scavenger hunt around her property. My kiddos were on the same team. One of the items was to get a Pig Nose Print. The pigs were so curious, it did not take much to get their dirty snout on the paper. 

The Llama's were in a section of the fenced property that was not easily accessible. The last time we visited, we were there to celebrate my cousin's son's graduation from high school, and to witness him receive his Eagle Scout award. They had planned a huge bash on their property with family and friends. The Llama's were in a different section of the property at that visit which afforded guests a chance to pet them over the fence line. If you dared - because these beauties Spit. That was a memorable experience, but this time they were pushed off farther away from curious guests. Probably best. 

The kiddos were asked to feed the chickens. My cousin purchases ready to expire bread from a local bread distributor for all of her animals. Supplementing with feed too, all of her animals are well cared for and appreciated. 

The availability of swinging from the tree, playing croquet, and multiple games of a lawn dice, kept my son in farm play haven. My cousin's boys also shared the barn attic, which is decked out in boy-stuff ... videos game consoles,  Foosball table, sofas, weight machines, Taekwondo bags, you name a guy-sport-activity and it is apparently available in the barn attic. My cousins are outdoors-men by nature, her husband well versed in anything adventurous - my cousin is supportive and takes part in her fair share of kayaking, camping, hiking, hunting, fishing ... I know the list continues. A neat family. 

My girl was more comfortable hanging out with this sweet pup and taking in the viewing of all the action going on around her. Around our neck of the woods, there are far more girl cousins, than boy cousins. She got a little taste of being outnumbered. Not that that is a bad thing, or that they can't hang out as a group, but it was just a wee bit different. My son seemed to eat it up and enjoy the guy-time. 

Crawdads. I could not get myself to try one - because remember, my son got to bring one home from school in June. They had studied Crawdads as part of the 4th grade curriculum and when the unit was over, my son offered to bring home one of the remaining survivors. Had I not seen a Crawdad hanging out in a tank in my son's bedroom, I might have actually tried one of these that were caught in the river behind my cousin's house.

My son, surprisingly, had no issue enjoying some freshly barbecued Crawdad. Had God Himself shared with me five years ago that my son would grow out of  his younger days of "save the animals" obsession to a more appropriate level, I don't even think that I would have believed Him!! My son has come a (healthy) long ways. 

Better than any reality television show, the four piggies on the property were a big hit!! I didn't know how dirty, filthy, and okay, let's be honest - disgusting - these animals are ... yet at the same time highly entertaining!! Lucky for me, I am not a fan of pork to begin with, so seeing the nature of pigs didn't change anything in that regard for me. When my son scratched their backs with a stick, the pigs snorted and closed their eyes - an obvious sign they enjoyed the free scratch. 

A random shot of my kiddos and me after our enjoyment on the farm with wonderful family. 

Tomorrow's post will be about the sweet treat we got while on our weekend adventure. 

Gettin' Outta Town

Will return with more photos ....

One of the neat things about my husband is that he does not slouch while on vacation. He is a get-up with the sun-kinda-guy. He does not expect, nor want actually, tag-alongs. He'd welcome us, but the main point is for some quiet time with the outdoors and his camera.

We love hearing the adventures upon his return, and flipping through the back of the camera body to see all that was captured. He is a professional photographer by hobby ~ perhaps one day he will focus on it full time when his other jobs of life are in retirement phase. For now, we get the benefit of amazing photographs to use however, and as often as, we'd like.

Next week I will post some of his photos ~ but for now, I am repacking our duffle bags to head outta town. Looking forward to more sunshine as we reconnect with extended family out on a small farm setting with Crawdads, Salmon, and lots of salads. Crossing my fingers for an extra sweet treat ... more later!

Foods on vacation

I think the element of trying something new is enticing when you are on vacation and are planning to find your next meal. When we escape to our mountain get-away, we have a half-kitchen unit with stove top, microwave, full fridge and dishwasher to cook all our breakfasts and lunches. We treat ourselves to exploring the Bavarian town for dinners.

We have a favorite, nestled in a basement cellar style of location. The walls are all wooden, the ceiling is low, the  tables are built into cubbies, and a live musician is always found playing the accordion during the dinner hours. It is a fun treat in the winter to bundle up and head down the slippery, ice filled staircase to the front door of the restaurant. The heat is blaring from with in and you find yourself stripping down to a single layer in no time. 

We had to return in the summer. Different feeling as the layers are already down to one as you still enjoy the warmth of its atmosphere. The kids and I tend to order the same meal - Spaetzle with a side of warm Sauerkraut to mix in with a House Salad with homemade Dill Dressing. My husband is the adventurous one in our group - rotating throughout the offers of good, authentic German foods. 

We only had two dinners on our mini-vacation. The second night we opted for outdoor seating at a restaurant  at the end of Main Street. It has a corner lot, so depending on where you are seated, offers a view of the village, or the highway that runs through town. We were seated on the village side, and it was fun to watch the folks below walking the street in and out of shops with their dogs on leash, and ice cream cones in hand.  

Something unique and special to a quiet dinner out while on vacation. Showering up from the days heat and outdoor activities before finding that unique setting to complete the day. 

The Sound of Music

One of the highlights of our recent vacation was seeing The Sound of Music at the Bavarian town's outdoor Amphitheater. The setting was gorgeous with the real mountains as the backdrop.

The Nuns in the picture are singing a cute little tune about turning off your cell phones and no photography allowed before the show began. This was the only photo I took of the production. I wish non-flash photography was allowed, because it was just that awesome with continuous set changes of the three movable pieces.

The actors used the entire setting; the small meadow towards the back of the seating for a solo by Maria, and the trails in the woods as the von Trapp family reunited to enter for the wedding ceremony, and when they ran from the Nazi soldiers. It was just so perfect.

The actors seated the guests, the concession stand was staffed by local theater supporters, and the ambiance was a relaxing, family-perfect setting.

Knowing ahead of time to bring blankets to wrap up when the sun went down, we surprisingly stayed fairly warm during the two and half hour production in the hills of the mountains.

The Sandlot Pool

One of my all-time favorite summer movies is the original The Sandlot. We saw it in the theater when we were engaged, and I have enjoyed watching it every summer since. I love the classic Americana feel to this movie, from the small town backyard baseball gang, to the 4th of July celebration depicted in the movie; where the kids are running free down the block party headed to the Sandlot to play baseball under the Fireworks night sky. The icing to the movie is The Sandlot public swimming pool scene.

I grew up without an outdoor public pool. I also grew up in a neighborhood that contained the kids pretty well, not enticed by a small city to walk to, or things to attract kiddos on their own. So to see the movie played out with the freedom of the kids wandering about by themselves is fun.

When we were on our mini-vacation this past weekend, we headed to our first outdoor Public Swimming Pool. It reminded me of The Sandlot. I wish I had taken a picture of the Lifeguards. Classic attire, sporting no smiles to urge jokesters, with whistles prepped ready to blow rule breakers.

We went twice. The first day was less crowded than the second. We enjoyed just hanging out, swimming, and goofing off under the blazing sun. Don't get me wrong, we've been to outdoor pools at hotels and resorts, but this was our first public pool. It wasn't all that different, I know, but just the fact that we got to walk down Main Street to and from the pool with Lifeguards under umbrella's felt unique enough.

My son didn't pull a Michael "Squints" Palledorous on any Wendy Peffercorn lifeguard, but it sure felt like The Sandlot with the volume of attendees, and mass happy, chaos under the sun. 

Putt Putt

Every winter we travel just two hours to a little town nestled in a valley of our state's mountain range. The small, walk-about-city has been transformed into a Bavarian town with cute shops, music, and festivals happening at the Main Street park just about every weekend of the year.

My husband owns his own marketing business and one of his clients owns a Condo/Inn on Main Street of this town. It is a fantastic four-unit complex above a bakery in the heart of the Bavarian atmosphere. My husband and the Inn keeper have an agreement to trade services. A win-win for both.  Our home away from home.

We booked a mini-vacation this past weekend to take advantage of the warm temps and sunshine that this town offers in the summer. In the winter it is all about the snow - snowball fights, cross-country skiing, and sledding. In the summer it is all about the sun - Putt-Putt golf, outdoor swimming, fishing, and exploring.

In the mid-80's, we enjoyed a round of Putt Putt Golf as a family. Our kiddos are golfers in the sense that they've swung clubs at driving ranges many times in the past, my son has been on a golf course numerous times to play with his dad, and we are in the process of getting private golf lessons scheduled on our summer calendar.

However, when it comes to Putt Putt ... we found that luck of the game is really what it's all about. A rocky start to get all of our groove on to how this old course was designed, it was fun to laugh at the comedy of the balls not making the hole in very obvious chances.

We did have a Hole In One - twice. Father and Daughter.

A warm summer day playing Putt Putt - with Bavarian music playing softly through the outdoor speakers hidden in the trees - was a great relaxing moment on our mini-vacation.