A lovely Xmas brunch

Ham and onion sconewich
Originally uploaded by marcusg58

Had these delicious ham and caramelized onion sconewiches with friends and family this morning. They were delicious!

Happy holidays everyone, and see you in 2009.

Baby's first birthday

So pleased! A picture's worth a thousand words... and this special occasion cake, the way it turned out, is worth almost as much.

There's nothing about this food porn video that's sexy...

... but it is kind of funny. My special fruit basket closes the video (before it goes to neon goop, that is!)
I'm also shown at 0:03, 0:05, 0:07, 0:09, 0:18, 1:15, 1:17, 1:18, 1:23, 1:46, 1:52... uh, I'm in this a lot. Perhaps not recommended that you consume this all in one sitting.

Know the one where a girl jumps out of the cake?

Woah, this one took me a while to perfect. It was a unique design for a unique request. But if you must know, the doll still has all her limbs intact under there and so acts not only as a cake decoration but as a gift too!

I was excited to be able to figure out how orchestrate everything just so. I think learning how to walk on high heels like Barbies must've paid off for me. Even the doll's gown is edible. I made it myself. Does it look as good as it tastes? I hope so.

When I find successes like this one in the kitchen, I like to tape it to the wall above my oven for inspiration and guidance.

Doktor Weingolb: "De la terre"

My day job is making pastry, cookies, muffins, squares and other special orders. Here's are some reviews of the place I bake at:

• Doktor Weingolb: "De la terre"
• The Spec: Keeping it all local
• ChefMoz Dining Guide

AND SO IT BEGINS: Kristen's kitchen gets big gig

I guess you could say that all began with a Weingolb report:

My sister Kristen, who does pastries for the fantastic bakery De la terre Café in Fonthill, catered the desserts at my brother's wedding this weekend. Check out the incredible results.

She did it all -- from tiered wedding cake to amazing spelt brownies -- from her own little kitchen.

It took her about a week to do and she did it all entirely by herself. Each handmade iced cupcake and every lime cream-filled coconut cookie! (Sometimes I watched, offering moral support and graciously accepting scraps that came my way.)