Everyday Trish — Embracing this crazy life one day at a time

I is for…

January 3, 2017 by Tricia Adams 1 Comment

This post may contain affiliate links. When you make a purchase through one of my affiliate links I may make a small commission. I use this money to fund the blog and my cake addiction.

I swear I don’t know how to adult, like at all. I spent probably an hour looking for a calendar online. Then I ended up wasting an obscene amount of time searching all of Barnes & Noble for this particular calendar I really super duper want (their website lied, they don’t have the coveted calendar), and before I knew it, it was time to head to the movies. But my kid wasn’t even ready because why would I remember to do that? And after the movie of course I needed to go to Dollar Tree. And Target. Because I was on the other side of town and those stores might have different stuff than the ones on my side. And before you ask, yes I did need that $1 Hanukkah sign even though I’m not Jewish. I also needed those Reese’s Pieces stuffed Peanut Butter Cups. They’re chilling in the fridge. I’m waiting for the small child to go to bed so I don’t have to share. Mom of the year.

But do you think anywhere in there I remembered I might want to try to get a picture for today?

Nope. So once again, only 3 days into this challenge, I’m still scrambling. I have a feeling this is going to be a common theme.

When we got home I asked Wyatt if he thought we should get some pictures of his toys. He loves having photo shoots with his toys, so he was totally down. I took pictures of dinosaurs and the Millennium Falcon and trains and various super heroes. But my most favorite is him playing with the ice cream cones from this Melissa and Doug set (thanks aunt Jenn!).

Project 365 Day 3

He was coming over to let me have a lick. Because even though he’s definitely a “fournado” he’s still pretty sweet. As I’m writing this he’s behind me on the chair, his Spiderman umbrella open and perched over my head so I don’t get wet. I told you he was sweet.

Equipment used:

Canon Rebel T3i (discontinued, the T5i is the updated version)
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 lens (i luuuuurve my “nifty 50”)
Yongnuo YN560-III Speedlight (a very economical alternative to a Canon or Nikon branded speedlight)
Edited with PicMonkey Royale because it’s fast and easy!

Want to keep up with all my cake-fueled ramblings? You can subscribe to my newsletter or find me at one of these places:

View from my window

January 2, 2017 by Tricia Adams Leave a Comment

This post may contain affiliate links. When you shop through one of my affiliate links, I may make a small commission. I use this money to fund the blog and my cake addiction.

I knew I probably wasn’t going to have a ton of daylight to play with today, so I went ahead and got a quick view out my bedroom window just in case I couldn’t get to anything else. It turned out to be a smart idea. By the time I got back from my hair appointment and a little shopping (like I wasn’t going to show off my gray-less roots to Target) it was rainy and gloomy. Then I may or may not have fallen asleep in my dad’s recliner while the small child watched The Peanuts Movie. Proper parenting right here.

Project 365 Day 2

There it is in all it’s glory. My bedroom view. I have a great vantage point for watching the small child skirt death on the sports edifice (as our sweet neighbor calls it) in the backyard. And now that’s it’s winter I have a pretty good view inside the backyard neighbor’s windows. Which just made me realize they must have a pretty good view into mine. Excuse me while I try to figure out how much naked dancing I’ve done in here.

The answer is too much.

Equipment used:

Canon Rebel T3i (discontinued, the T5i is the updated version)
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 lens (i luuuuurve my “nifty 50”)
Edited with PicMonkey Royale because it’s fast and easy!

Want to keep up with all my cake-fueled ramblings? You can subscribe to my newsletter or find me at one of these places:

A memory

January 1, 2017 by Tricia Adams Leave a Comment

This post may contain affiliate links. When you make a purchase through my affiliate links, I may make a small commission. I use this money to fund the blog and my cake addiction.

I don’t really do resolutions, but I was awake in bed one night this week (shout out to my insomnia) and began thinking about some things I’d like to do differently in 2017. Be more positive. Get more active. Stop doubting myself. Stop letting other people’s problems affect me so much.

Take more pictures.

I really slacked off in the picture department last year. I just couldn’t find the motivation or the inspiration. I’m sure if I’d tried at all to look for it, I’d have found some. But I didn’t, and I want to do things differently this year. So I’m tasking myself with what I hope will be a simple project. One picture a day. It doesn’t have to be my best, it just has to tell part of my story in 2017.

And I’m sure this won’t be hard to believe, but I totally forgot that I needed to take a picture today. So I slapped the speedlight on my camera and went to find my child. He was about to be my model whether he liked it or not. I was not going to fail on day one, dammit!

He’d just woken up from a nap. He was grumpy and hangry. So I did what any responsible mother would do. Gave him an entire bag of donuts.

365 Project Day 1

When I’m old and gray I want to remember him just like this. Messy. Goofy. Happy.

Here’s to a great 2017.

Equipment used:

Canon Rebel T3i (discontinued, the T5i is the updated version)
Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 lens (i luuuuurve my “nifty 50”)
Yongnuo YN560-III Speedlight (a very economical alternative to a Canon or Nikon branded speedlight)
Edited with PicMonkey Royale because it’s fast and easy!

Want to keep up with all my cake-fueled ramblings? You can subscribe to my newsletter or find me at one of these places:

Simple planner essentials

September 8, 2016 by Tricia Adams 7 Comments

This post contains affiliate links. When you shop through my affiliate links it doesn’t cost you anything, but I might make a small commission. I use this money to fund the blog and my cake addiction.

In high school and college paper planners were my life. It’s how I kept everything organized. There was no Gmail or Google Calendar. My cell phone flipped opened. I’m old. After college though, things changed. Maybe it’s because I had less to keep track of, but the planner didn’t seem so important anymore. Then so much stuff went digital.

Fast forward a few years though, throw a kid and a dog and cats into the mix and I was really starting to miss those planners for keeping track of important stuff and appointment. I tried going all digital with Google Calendar (which I do love for keeping track of some things) but it wasn’t quite enough. I needed something I could physically flip through. I came to this realization at around 10pm one night last year, and decided I needed a planner like yesterday. So, impulse control lost that round, and I found myself checking out the planner section at Walmart that same night. Given it was the middle of the year, the selection was slim, but I found one I liked and took it home. I mean, I paid for it first. I’m not a thief.

I don’t get super elaborate with my planner like some people. Not that I’m not totally impressed by some of these planner layouts they cook up (seriously, look up planner decoration on YouTube, it’s crazy), but it’s just not for me. I like to keep it simple with a few essentials.

6-simple-planner-essentials

Paper Planner – This one from Blue Sky is what I use and I am really happy with it. I wanted something that was very basic, but had lots of room to write if I wanted to make notes about the day. And at only $10, it’s a bargain compared to some other planners out there. I’ve also noticed some fun planners at Dollar Tree the last few times I’ve gone in that were super tempting.

Fun Pens – I’m so in love with my Sharpie pens. They write smoothly and don’t smudge. I haven’t had them bleed through paper, but if your planner paper is thin you might get some shadowing with these.

Binder Clips – I use small binder clips to keep my place in the calendar so I can close it up and open it right back to the current week. It’s a small thing, but it’s so nice to not have to flip through the whole planner to find the right week.

Stickers – Full disclosure: I don’t have any awesome planner stickers like this yet. But I have been eyeing them and I think I’m going to need some for next year’s planner. It would be cool to make my planner a little more festive.

Highlighters – I like to go through and highlight important dates or appointments. My planner has certain holidays already penciled in, so I like to highlight those too to make them standout more.

Post-it Notes – I will pretty much use any excuse to utilize a Post-it, and I use difference sizes on my planner but the small page-marker ones get used the most. If there are things I need to do but haven’t set a definite day and time, I usually put it on the post-it and assign it tentatively to a certain day, then if it doesn’t work out I can just move it to a new day. It works really well.

Do you have a planner? I’d love to hear how you keep it fun and organized.

Want to keep up with all my cake-fueled ramblings? You can subscribe to my newsletter or find me at one of these places:

22 tools every baker needs in their kitchen

September 6, 2016 by Tricia Adams 5 Comments

I was going through some old posts and deleting ones that were just terrible and not really relevant anymore, and I came across one I did for a blog hop years ago where I had to talk about my favorite Christmas gift. The gift I chose? My beloved KitchenAid Mixer. And I still love that thing! I’ve come a long way in my baking endeavors since then though, and I’ve got a lot more kitchen favorites. So I thought I’d share them!

Some of these will seem a little obvious for those that work in the kitchen a lot, but I decided to include them to make the list inclusive, and therefore perfect for someone who is new to baking and needs to start building their arsenal of kitchen tools without missing anything important. Most of the items listed are the ones I actually use and love.

Here’s my list of essentials:

22 tools every baker needs in their kitchen

Cake Pan with a Lid – Having a cake pan with its own lid is super helpful, and I highly recommend having one. It’s so convenient to just throw the lid on batch of brownies to keep them fresh and not have to fumble with foil or cling wrap.

Cookie Scoop – Scooping cookies is so easy with one of these babies. They come out the perfect size and shape, so your cookies bake up nice and even. Keeps your hands from getting super messy too, which I appreciate!

Cookie Spatula – This cookie spatula is amazing. It’s nice and big so you don’t have to worry about larger cookies not making it over to the cooling rack. It’s also good for flipping grilled cheese sandwiches. And Quesadillas. Basically anything with cheese in it.

Cooling Rack – You gotta have a place to cool your baked goods! I prefer the stacking racks, especially if you’re making a lot of cookies at once. But a single baking rack works too.

Cupcake Liners – Pretty cupcake liners aren’t a must, I guess, but you won’t catch me without them. I am a big fan of these from Wilton that don’t fade when you bake. I mean, cupcakes still taste good even when the papers are greasy and faded, but it sure is nice when they look pretty.

Food scale – I was really resistant to the food scale at first, but the thing sure is handy. Some things you just need to weigh ingredients for. It’s also good for weighing other small things, like packages and gerbils and things. I recommend washing it off after weighing gerbils. DISCLAIMER: I do not weigh small rodents on my food scale.

KitchenAid Hand Mixer – If you’re not into a stand mixer taking up counter space, this hand mixer is a great alternative. I have both actually, and I use this one for really quick jobs like preparing cake mixes.

KitchenAid Stand Mixer – How many times can I sing the praises of the KitchenAid Stand Mixer? It makes baking a breeze, and looks super sweet up on your counter. I don’t want to go as far to say that everyone needs one, but you probably do.

Lemon Squeezer – I really hate juicing fruit. I always seem to have a small cut on my finger that the juice gets into and then I’m cursing under my breath about it. This lemon squeezer is pretty great. Just cut the fruit in half, stick it in, and push down. No mess. No seeds. No problem.

Loaf Pan – These longer, skinnier loaf pans are amazing. The one I have is actually from IKEA, but these are very similar. I’ve had some mishaps with things not cooking well in regular loaf pans, but these haven’t failed me yet.

Measuring Cups and Spoons – These are obviously an absolute must-have. Unless you’re some kind of crazy genius (true story, i just spelled it “jenius” and had to correct it. me so smart.) I don’t think you can eyeball a cup of flour (i also spelled this “flower” and had to correct it. me learn real good.) or a teaspoon of vanilla.

Mixing Bowls – I like these mixing bowls in particular because they have lids, so they can do double duty as storage containers when you’re not mixing stuff up in them. Or sometimes you need to let things sit in the fridge before continuing on with the recipe, so these are perfect.

Muffin Tin – There’s really no substitute for a good muffin tin. There are alternatives, like silicone baking cups, but I am not a super big fan of those. If you want to go really crazy, you can get a mini muffin tin as well. Then you’ve got all your muffin/cupcake bases covered. And don’t even get me started on the mini cheesecakes you can make in them.

Pie Dish – Confession: I’m a fan of frozen pie crusts. They’re easy and they taste pretty good. But sometimes you just need to make your own crust, and that means you need a pie dish.

Piping Tips – You don’t have to go crazy here, just get a basic set to have on hand. You don’t have to be a decorating pro to use them for simple things, like frosting a cupcake. But using them gives your baked goods a much more professional look without a lot of extra effort. Oh, and don’t forget the piping bags.

Rolling Pin – I am a big fan of this french rolling pin. I find it much easier to use than a traditional rolling pin. It’s a lot easier to clean too.

Scraping Beater Blade – If you have a stand mixer but not one of these scraping beater blades, get yourself one pronto! It scrapes the bottom and the sides of the mixing bowl so you don’t have to bother with it. It completely replaced my regular beater blade.

Scraping Spatulas – You gotta have a couple of these bad boys in your arsenal too. I like this set because it comes with differences sizes. I use the little one all the time to get at the inside of jars or cans. I don’t like to leave any food behind.

Sheet Pans – Please get good, sturdy baking sheets for your kitchen. The cheaper ones warp in the oven, don’t distribute heat well, and are just overall not worth the headache. I prefer the style with the higher rim so they can do double duty for things like roasting vegetables.

Silpat Baking Mat – I really don’t even remember life before my silicone baking mat. How did I even bake things before they entered my life? I once made these caramel-stuffed cookies that basically exploded all over my cookie sheet. I can’t even imagine the cleanup if they hadn’t been on the baking mat. The caramel just wiped right off. This stuff is magic. You need at least one of these, but two is even better so when you’re making cookies you can alternate between baking sheets.

Square Baking Dish – This baking dish hasn’t let me down so far. It’s sturdy, has a lid, and words for baking, making layered desserts, or for food storage.

Whisk – This KitchenAid whisk is nice and sturdy, but the one I had inexplicably broke one day. It shouldn’t have, so I sent a message to the company just to let them know (not expecting anything from them) and they asked for my address and sent me a new one free of charge. The new one has been going strong for a while!

Whew! That was a long list, but really fun to put together. Did I miss anything though? Do you have any must-haves for your kitchen?

Want to keep up with all my cake-fueled ramblings? You can subscribe to my newsletter or find me at one of these places: