Yoli made a top notch chocolate cake for our eighth anniversary. It had layers of hazelnut creme between chocolate crepes, and was covered with a chocolate glaze. To top it off, she made candied hazelnuts.
Wow!
When cakes don’t come out right
Yoli wants everyone to know that her cakes don’t always come out right. Usually it’s because she forgets to add a key ingredient. Such was the case last night as she was baking a special cake for Valentine’s Day.
Yoli forgot to add sugar, but didn’t realize it until after she pulled the cake out of the oven and saw it had not risen very much. So she had to bake another one, this time with all the ingredients.
You can see a comparison of the good cake (left) and the messed-up one (right) in the photo above.
Fortunately, we have girls whose palates are not particularly discerning, especially when it comes to pastries.
Yoli offered them some of her “bread” and they have been happily chowing down on it ever since.
Yoli’s culinary creations
Here’s a little photo gallery of various — mostly baked — foodstuffs Yoli has made over the years. (Truth be told, this really only scratches the surface Yoli’s culinary adventures. Usually we forget to take photos!)
This cheddar bread has no fats/oils other than the cheese. But it does have ale. Yoli says the “Z” is for “Zorro,” which is a family joke. She also says her dad would say the “Z” was for “Zegarra,” his last name.
Some delicious tiny loaves of bread with cranberries, nuts, and other dried fruits
We bought pita bread from the store the other day and the girls enjoyed making sandwiches with it. Yoli wanted to see how hard it would be to make her own pitas.
Yoli had some mashed potatoes, asparagus and pork for the girls. But those stubborn creatures have recently decided they don’t like potatoes. She turned them into a face and put some leftover cranberry sauce on the pork and they ate it all.
Yoli made a sort-of asiago bread that used cheddar cheese. It was very tasty, turned out better than other “cheddar bread” recipes she has tried in the past.
Eaten in Sweden on Dec. 13 each year. Jadzia read about this in one of her “Kirsten” books.
Yoli saw one of these for sale at the farmer’s market and decided to make her own.
Yoli made this for our anniversary. Very tasty.
I handled the grilling, but Yoli did almost everything else.
Who needs the Pillsbury Dough Boy?
Was designed to fit with the party theme decorations.
It looks like a chick!
For Jadzia’s 5th birthday
Pecan shortbread crust, a moscarpone cream, and strawberries in a sauce
A cake made for Yoli’s class
For Josie’s birthday
It was a pre-baked kit that Yoli and the girls decorated.
Bells shape
Nutcracker shape
Jadzia requested a monster cake for her fourth birthday.
Jadzia requested a monster cake for her fourth birthday.
Made for Ludi’s birthday in San Antonio
With peaches and blackberries
Entered in the 2009 Ferguson Farmer’s Market pie contest.
This cake looks like the “Weighted Companion Cube” from the video game Portal. Yoli made it for our friends Eric and Nancy.
Pretty tasty-looking loaves of bread
This is a airy bread with dried fruit that is popular to eat at Christmastime in South America. In the past we have bought them from Walgreen’s, Aldi’s, and even Volpi on the Hill. Finally Yoli decided to learn how to make her own. And her own have always turned out awesome.
Made for my mom’s birthday
This is from an English recipe. It’s more like a pudding than what we would think of as a “cake.”
Another cake Yoli made for her niece’s 15th birthday.
A cake Yoli made for her niece Leya’s 15th birthday.
Yoli made this for Jadzia’s third birthday, in Bolivia. It’s a 3-dimensional teddy bear cake.
Took this for the Renaud Family Picnic one year, but people seemed to not want to mar its beauty by cutting it up and eating it.
The flowers and wreaths were especially pretty.
This is a pixel-for-pixel representation of Donkey Kong. Yoli made this to serve at the “Kong Night” movie event where we invited friends to watch the “King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters” documentary.
This is a Bolivian delicacy eaten for breakfast. It’s sort of like funnel cake, but with anise.
Yoli made this for me to take to work in the Post-Dispatch sports department after the Cardinals won the World Series in 2006.
For a kid’s birthday
Made for Yoli’s cake class
Chocolate buttercream icing woven basket-style
Made with fondant
Yoli made this for Jadzia’s second birthday.
Three-day, seven-year anniversary celebration
Some of you may not know that Yoli and I sort of have two anniversaries.
Being from two different countries, it was necessary for us to obtain a visa so that Yoli could join me here in the U.S. After we got engaged the question we faced was which visa? Marriage visa or fianceé visa?
Continue reading “Three-day, seven-year anniversary celebration”