Catching Up

I haven't posted in over two months. I feel like I've been sick for most of that time. At the end of February I had a stomach flu. The first couple weeks of March, I had a bad cold and laryngitis. By the time I got over that, it was time for my wrist surgery. About a week after the surgery, I came down with a sinus infection. I then got pink eye and bronchitis. So, after all of this sick time, I'm finally on the mend and trying to get caught up with life, baking and blogging included. Here is what I need to cover:

#1: For Valentine's Day, I asked my husband for new canisters for my baking supplies. I got a bunch of Oxo containers with pop-top airtight lids. Love, love, love them! I also got a label maker and have been able to organize and label my baking cabinet. Since taking this picture, I actually moved all of my baking stuff to a larger cabinet and also got some clear, plastic shoe boxes to hold all of the extraneous baking stuff: sprinkles, candies, chocolate chips, nuts, piping bags and tips, etc. I just love how much easier baking is with a well-organized cabinet!

#2: March Cake Slice Bakers
The March cake for CSB was a chocolate pound cake. I thought this was one of the better cakes from the book Cake Keeper Cakes. The cake had a nice crust, was moist and had a great chocolate flavor without being too sweet.

#3: My mom came for dinner in March. I made Beef Bourguignon and homemade bread. For dessert, I made a chocolate sour cream bundt cake. It's a recipe I saw on one of my favorite blogs, Lick the Bowl Good. The cake was a bit of work - chocolate to chop, ganache to make - but it was well worth the effort. I took the leftovers into work, and my co-workers raved about it. This is definitely a rich cake, and I strongly recommend serving it a la mode or with a glass of milk.
#4: We're getting a puppy! After years of begging and persuading, I have finally gotten my husband to agree on getting a dog. After a lot of research, we decided on a bichpoo (Bichon Frise/Toy Poodle mix). They are very smart and great family dogs because they love people, kids, and other animals. They don't shed and only grow to about 12 pounds at the most. Our puppy, Dewey, was born on March 30th. We'll be able to get him at the end of May. Here's a picture of our little baby! You can't tell in this picture, but he has white on his paws, belly, chest, and chin.
#5: In February, I applied for the doctoral program in Adult Education at Penn State. I found out last week that I was accepted! I will be taking my first class this summer and will be in the full swing of the program in the fall. I'm really excited to have this opportunity, and I'm sure I'll be even more excited in four years when I get to walk across the stage as a doctor!
I think that about covers it...the last two months in a nutshell. With the school year winding down, I'm hoping to have a little more free time to do some baking and blogging.