You know when you're in high school and you have to study for the SAT and there are like a zillion of those analogy questions?

Stuff like:
Leaf is to tree as cloud is to _______?

Some of them are really tricky and some aren't. Well, I've come up with my own analogy:

Karyl is to cross-stitching as Michele is to ________?

If you guessed baking (or cooking), then DING DING DING DING!!! you win a prize: a big, gold star for the day! I know you're thrilled. Try to contain your excitement.

And while I think my precious sister could easily sell her "artwork" on eBay, I've been told that I should sell my goodies professionally. I dunno 'bout that but I know that everyone who tastes them seems to like them.

Whenever one of Ben's co-worker's has a birthday, I always make a special something for him/her. This week, it was Rick's turn. (However, I found out later that Ben had the date wrong and Rick's birthday is NEXT week! Better early than late, right?)

So, I asked Ben to find out what kind of cake would Rick like. As it turned out, he wanted a vanilla cake. I had never made a vanilla cake so I knew that would be a little challenging. Then I couldn't find a recipe for vanilla cake. Suddenly, like a cartoon anvil falling on my head, I realized that "vanilla" cake was merely the same as "white cake". Ok, easy enough! I found me a recipe got busy with the baking.

Once I had frosted it (I decided to go all out and make a double-layer square cake), it looked a little naked to me. {Note: I did cheat and used store-bought frosting. That's one thing I haven't mastered yet.} I realized that I had some chocolate shavings left from Sammy's cake and decided to use them.

Voila! Not only did it look so darned pretty, but it turned out that it was just the right balance of vanilla and chocolate. The flavor was delicate, not overpowering.

If you ask me, I think it looks like a bakery style cake!

So that was Wednesday's baking exursion. Yesterday, I spent 3 hours making cinnamon rolls. Except this time, I used a new recipe that I am now in love with. The previous recipe called for using a cake mix within the recipe (of course, I bought one from Whole Foods Market) but the new recipe does not.

Why did I spend 3 hours of my day making cinnamon rolls you ask? Well, see we have made it a habit for the last 2+ months to go to Johnny Carino's for dinner on Thursday nights. As a result, we've become friends with the staff. And, every Thursday, I bring them something sweet to eat. In fact, when I walked in yesterday holding my tray of cinnamon buns, 4 of the waitresses were gathered in the foyer and one said, "It must be Thursday!! Whatcha got this time?"

This was this week's treat:

And, I gotta tell you...they were sinfully delicious. I can definitely see myself making these time and time again. In fact, I think it'd be a neat thing to make for Christmas morning's breakfast especially when we have a kid.

I guess you can just call me Sara Lee/Betty Crocker/Martha Stewart!

Until next time...peace, love & HEALTH!!!