This week’s pastry classes were extremely frustrating and stressful, but I made it through. We made a ton of stuff, which worked out great, as it was my brother’s birthday this week. We made a cheesecake that I haven’t tried yet, but it looks quite good, except for the crack on top. I’m going to go ahead and take a lucky guess about the crack– just after we put our cheesecake in the oven, my partner and I noticed a certain measuring cup full of cream sitting on the tabletop. …

I love eating salad….what could be better than a big pile of vegetables in a delicious dressing. A few weeks ago I made a roasted beet salad and it was absolutely divine. The roasted beets are matched up with aspargus and blue cheese and amazing candied walnuts, all tied together in a super citrus-y orange vinaigrette. This is one of the best salads I’ve had in a long time…I definitely went back for seconds! This would be great to make for company, instead of a boring ceasar salad or green …

For my dad’s birthday this year, I decided to try something new- instead of a traditional birthday cake, I made a Baked Lemon Cheesecake. The cheesecake was different, in that there was no sour cream or cream cheese in the recipe. The “cheese” part came from ricotta and greek-style yogurt. The finished product was wonderful and actually ended up tasting like a lemon meringue pie! My family loved it, and I’m sure your family will too- recipe coming soon!