Whimsical Sweets

Busy Worker Bee's!!!

2009-04-20T15:37:00.010-05:00

Hey!!! We have nearly been home for a month and it has been crazy to say the very least! I have had several orders out of the house and have loved every minute of it!

Being home has been wonderful and it is so nice to be able to see everyone! We were able to have friends and family over several nights last week and that was loads of fun. Tony Horton will also be a regular guest in our house and I think I can say safely that I hate him. For those of you that don't know who Tony Horton is, he is the creator of P90X. You will want to punch him in the face, but then you will ruin your tv- so it really isn't worth it!

Here is some of the yummy stuff that I have made in the last few weeks. It has been so busy that I really haven't had time to blog about all of it. My first order was for over 400 cupcakes. That is not a typo, it really was 400 cupcakes!It was so much hard work, but so much fun! Tabor (my brother) came over and helped several days! Thanks Tabe! The order was right before Easter and I went with some "Springy" colors! I thought they turned out super cute! Easter grass was also put in the box!As you can tell, my roommate, husband, and sweet precious took this picture- since it looks like it was taken from the ceiling!Here is the final product. They were vanilla cupcakes with a buttercream frosting! They were YUMMY!!!!

Chelsea (Chad's sister) wanted a cake for her birthday and told me to do whatever, so I did! Her cake was a strawberry cake, with a buttercream frosting and then covered in fondant! We went to Chad's grandparents house for Easter and to celebrate Chelsea's birthday! I think Chels enjoyed her cake!It has pink fondant with black polka dots! This cake also included a nervous breakdown that you are unable to see, but Chad was there to witness!Hope that you have enjoyed yourself! I need to upload some more pictures and then I will post some more! I have to get ready for my time with Tony! Yaywho!

Peace kiddos!

E-mail

2009-04-01T15:11:00.002-05:00

We have a new e-mail for all you kiddos out there. If you are interested in any of our yummy treats, or are curious as to whether or not we would make something for you- just e-mail us. The address is whimsicalsweets@hotmail.com. We are also in the process of making some brochures with cool pictures and it will also have a scratch and sniff! Not really the scratch and sniff, that would be pretty ridiculous! We will also be getting a website set up too.

I hope all is well and that everyone is enjoying their day. If not, it's not my fault!

Peace!

Welcome to the 806

2009-03-27T11:35:00.002-05:00

Well we are officially Lubbockites once again! Yay! We are all moved in and have had a great week getting to see family and friends! Chad started his job and really loves it and I will start my job next week and get things rolling on making yummy things out of the house.

The weather in Lubbock has been pretty rockin if I do say so myself. We were welcomed Monday with a lovely dirt storm, then it was 65 or 70....then today Lubbock decided that it would be really awesome to snow! Yea, snow. So now it is about 25 degrees and SOOOO cold! So long Houston weather, so long! So I am glad that we moved in on Monday with the dirt rather than today with the snow! Being in Houston for nearly 2 years will make you an absolute SISSY when cold weather hits. It was 58 the other night when we were leaving Target and I told Chad "Man it is so cold here." Ridiculous, I already know.

Thanks to all our friends and family that have helped with our move. Your prayers have been felt, especially when Chad was driving a 17 ft. U-haul. I think that was a bit of a nerve wracking experience for him!

That is about all for now, I realize this post has nothing at all to do with baking, but oh well! You will get over it I am sure. I just knew that all of you were dying to know how the Sales family was doing!!! Have a wonderful day!

Graduation

2009-03-17T14:09:00.016-05:00

Well, it has nearly been a month since I graduated from Culinary School! YAY!!! I had graduation on the 20th of February. I was so excited because not only did Chad get to come, but my grandparents, my mom and Suzanne (my mother-in-law). I really hate saying "Mother-in-law", because I almost feel like you have to have a bad relationship with your mother-in-law to say that. And I don't, I really like her, like I love her!!!

Anywho, all the 'rents came in to town the Thursday night before and we went and grabbed some dinner at the oh so delicious Black Walnut Cafe. It was yummy as usual and then we came back and got plastered. All of us, it was awesome. Not really, we had some cake that I had made and sat and visited! It was loads of fun!

Friday was my last day of school and we still had things to finish. It was the completion of Z final cake (said in a French accent) and had to complete little things before we were officially done. I walked in and noticed that my underwater sea creation made of sugar had become the DEAD sea overnight and I was so bummed. I thought "Oh man, Chef is really gonna grill me on this one. Way to go, Bri." He saw it and shockingly said, "Brianna, we all have days like that, I think that your thermometer was just off, but it would have been a really great piece." Whew! Thank you Lord!

Chad and the rest of the fam showed up a while before graduation and got to meet the chefs and see my projects before going in for graduation. It was so fun for them to get to be there and see what I had done the last 5 months and meet the instructors that pushed me beyond what I thought I could do!

Thanks so much to everyone for their prayers and support. I truly appreciate them! This was truly the hardest thing I have ever done and don't know how I could have done it without everybody!!

Chad,
Thanks for being more than I could have ever imagined and for being so supportive. You are the best and thanks for letting me live my dream! You will never know how much I love you! Thanks buddy!

Here are some pictures from G-day!!! Hope you enjoy!

Here lies the DEAD sea. It has some coral, bubbles, rock, seaweed, a jellyfish and a regular fish. So sad....

This is Z final cake. It was a mousse cake that consisted of delicious things that I can't really remember, but I do know that it was YUMMY! Those are macaroons on the outside, which are also delicious!

This is my chocolate box. This was very difficult. I made 24 of the standing fruit baskets in order to get 4 that would stand! Made me crazy!!!

Here is the wedding cake that I did. I was pretty pleased with it!

Papa and Mammy with the graduate! They were close to being on a sugar high, I am pretty sure!! We all got to eat some yummy desserts and have no doubt that we all did!!Our moms!!!! How sweet is that? Pretty sweet, I know!

This is Chef Philippe. One of the most, if not the most INTENSE Frenchmen of all time. He really could be a jerk, but luckily I never caught his wrath. Maybe it was because I was awesome, or maybe because I was a girl and he was European. I will go with option 2. Either way, I didn't care! He was so great and pushed me harder than I ever thought possible!

This is Chef Sebastian. He was my instructor the first 10 weeks and then was learning to teach levels 2 and 3 under Philippe while I was in levels 2 and 3. He wasn't near as intense, but was very funny, sarcastic and loved to make fun of everyone!

If you have made it this far in this forever long blog, Thanks!! If not, then you are a loser and we are done being friends!

Peace out kiddos!!!

I know....

2009-03-11T16:16:00.000-05:00

Well....I know that it has been a while since my last entry and I am so berry sorry! It has been a crazy 6 weeks or so!

There has been a LOT going on in the Sales household since the last time I blogged that is for sure. I have graduated from Culinary School, PRAISE THE LORD! I got pluerisy and costochondritis right after graduation. Boo.... Chad and I have both gotten really good job offers, which means.....We are moving HOME!! We are really excited!

Chad will be working for the City of Lubbock as a Financial Analyst aka Hottie with a body at the City! Oh man...That made me laugh! He is really excited and the job is very "Chad."

The Lord has been so good to us and has opened every door and opened doors we didn't know needed opening.

I will be working at Market Street on 98th and Quaker as a cake decorator. I am really excited and looking forward to the opportunities there. I will also be helping to bring the pastries up to "another level."

We will also be doing baking out of the house and are PUMPED about that! So if you need a birthday cake, cinnamon rolls, or whatever I am the one to call! Of course these delectables are not free, are you crazy?!

On a random note, I know that some of my blog viewers aka FANS have mentioned that they don't know how to comment on the blog. There are several things I have to say, "Are you a mental midget?" No, just kidding! I believe that when you finish reading the best blog ever you can go and press on comment. Type your comment (in the box) which will probably be a divine word from the Lord, then it will say underneath Comment as: and then you can scroll down to name and type your name or a made up name. It doesn't really matter to me!

I will put up some pictures from graduation and all that jazz in a later post! Until then, I will be packing and being awesome! Peace out kiddos!

Baby Shower Cake

2009-01-20T20:11:00.000-06:00

This weekend Chad and I worked on a baby shower cake for a girl in our small group at church! I was pretty excited to work on it and pleased with the outcome. Chad helped out so much and I am so thankful for such a wonderful husband!!The cake is a strawberry cake with a buttercream frosting and then covered with fondant.
Here are some sweet little baby booties that were just to precious to me not to put on here!

Valentine's Day Baskets

2009-01-20T19:53:00.000-06:00

Valentine’s Day Baskets

Basket includes:
· LOVE sugar cookies
· 2 Red Velvet Cake Cupcakes
· 3 Chocolate Truffles
$25.00

To order please leave a comment with your e-mail address or phone number. Orders taken until Feb. 10th and delivery is free of charge to North Houston.

I am selling these sweet little things for love day! Let me know if you want to order one!

French Wedding Cake

2009-01-20T19:18:00.000-06:00

Last Friday we had our final for level 2 which was a Croque en Bouche. It is a French wedding cake and is NOTHING like an American wedding cake. It is made of nougatine, which is a peanut brittle type consistency, puffs or choux with caramel and royal icing. Typically, on the top of one of these they put a mousse cake. They eat the mousse cake, then have at the nougatine and choux. This is very fragile and had to be turned over in order to do the piping that was draped.

The piping enjoyed falling to the ground and so that was enjoyable! It really wasn't too bad though, I showed that Croque who was boss...Guess who the boss was? Yep, your right...it was me!

Winner! Winner! Chicken Dinner!

2009-01-20T18:21:00.000-06:00

Yes, my friends you read that right. I WON!!! I won for being most awesome....not really! I really did win bronze for my pastillage! I was so excited and my acceptance speech was really touching. I thanked the academy, my managers, family, friends, and my smokin' hot husband! The competition that we attended was a ton of fun though, and it was nice to have a no brainer day after the work that we put in on our pastillage.

Here are some pictures from the competition and my bronze medal! Take that Michael Phelps!

The Beatles Yellow Submarine!

This is my chef's sugar showpiece which won first place!!

Cinderella Cake which I LOVED!!!

This is my class minus Edith! From left to right is me, Brianna, Tatianne, Liza, Robin, Jennifer, Patti, Julie and Nancy!

My certificate and bling!

Bamboo

2009-01-20T18:13:00.000-06:00

Well here is my original pastillage which was difficult, but not as bad a little Miss Alicia and her entourage...

This was just a practice showpiece before we got started on our final. Enjoy!!!

Thanks to all of you that prayed for me the days that I had my final for pastillage. I really appreciate it and don't know how I would have done it without prayers, friends, family, my sweet precious husband and my Lord. It was so much more difficult than I could have imagined and I am so thankful that I am surrounded by such wonderful, wonderful people!

Pastillage

2009-01-13T18:56:00.000-06:00

Well I have finally finished one of several finals for school! It is all very exciting and nerve racking all at the same time!

My first final was for pastillage which consists of powdered sugar, cornstarch, white vinegar and gelatin. It also consists of a pain in my neck and screaming.....

Here is the final product from Alicia in Wonderland. She really didn't look like Alice, so it is Alicia in Wonderland. What you may not be able to see is that the pieces are very thin and also very fragile. I made 3 and 4 times what you see just in case of emergencies!

We have a competition tomorrow for this fun stuff and I will be able to take more pictures of different pieces from there also! Hopefully I will win first, or maybe not....I think I should win Most Awesome, though!

Peace out kiddos!

Tech Wrecked It!

2009-01-02T17:47:00.000-06:00

Well I thought I would make some "Good luck" cookies for the Red Raiders....obviously they needed a LOT more than my little cookies!

They sure didn't GO, FIGHT, or WIN! So much for those cookies. Oh well, they were delicious anyway.

I guess it is back to school come Monday and I am mighty afraid that it may feel like I have been run over by a train. I am pretty excited though! My brain is ready for the Frenchies challenge called pastry!

Love and kisses to all! Well not really kisses to all, maybe kisses on the cheek not on the mouth though! That would be weird!

Back in H-Town

2008-12-29T09:47:00.000-06:00

We had a wonderful Christmas, even though Chad decided to puke his guts out! Well he really didn't choose that, but it did sound good.

It was so great to get to see everyone, even if it wasn't for very long. We got to enjoy cold weather, eat good food, open awesome gifts and play with a sweet, sweet baby!

Told you she was sweet!

Thanks for the fun times had by all. We love all of you and miss you like crazy!

And to all the die hard fans of whimsical sweets....you can now add comments! Peace out kiddos!

Chocolate Week

2008-12-15T19:42:00.000-06:00

Chocolate...Well last week was chocolate week and "Wow" is what I have to say about that. I have such a love/hate relationship with this stuff it isn't even funny! Love to eat it, hate to work with it! It is a booger for sure (not in the green slimy sense that you're thinking)! Above is a chocolate tart with a chocolate macaroon. If you have never had a macaroon, it may be the most delicious thing you will ever taste.

Here is my chocolate mousse cake, topped with a chocolate bow. It was so difficult to make and Chef Phillipe (my instructor) kept saying "Brianna, just be creative." So this is how my chocolate creative juices came to life.

These are some delicious chocolate candies! They are filled with a chocolate ganache! Yum...

Enjoy and remember that your computer is not scratch and sniff...

Welcome to the Culinary Corner!

2008-12-14T17:37:00.000-06:00

I guess we have decided to cave in and start a blog! I want to keep everyone up to date with all my culinary adventures and be able to share pictures. We also wanted a way for others to see my work, so that we can make some sweet cash!

I have always really enjoyed baking and even looked into it back in high school, however the school that I looked at was a little too pricey and too far from my sweet little brothers and home. When we moved to Houston though, Chad asked if I would want to pursue that dream and I am so so blessed to have such a supportive husband that will cheer me on the way he does! So I enrolled with the Culinary Institute in Houston and started back in September! Our goal as a couple is to have a bakery/dessert gallery one day. So I hope that you enjoy, and if you don't you don't have to visit the blog. It won't hurt my feelings!

Here is a little recap of my culinary experience so far!

Well....I have been in school since September and have had an absolute blast. There are 3 different levels and the first level was 10 weeks. We had to start a week late due to stupid Hurricane Ike. Thanks buddy! However, the 10 weeks flew by! We learned to make croissants, breads, danishes, tarts, ice cream and tons of delicious goodies. The school is a French school, which means French instructors. It was a little overwhelming at first, due to the fact that their English is awful, but they were nice anyway and even asked several times if I was married. They really are so thoughtful!

The first week we went through 27 recipes. Yes, you read that right, 27 recipes! It made my brain hurt! We had our final right before Thanksgiving and had to make 7 different things. We also had a written final also. I am sure that no one knew eggs, sugar and flour could be so complex! Here are some pictures from the final! I showed them who was boss that's for sure!

This is the chocolate that I had to "Temper." Exciting, I know. I bet it is the best tempering you've ever seen though, huh? Watch out Mister Easter Bunny...

Here is my Mocha Genoise cake. It looks way more delicious than it tastes that is for sure...

This is brioche bread, which is yummy, delicious and not so nutritious in your tummy!

We also got to decorate bread right before the Thanksgiving holiday which was a lot of fun.

I know, I know pretty awesome!

Hope this gives you guys some more perspective on what has been keeping me busy lately! Peace out kiddos!