Gingerbread / Pain d'épices

Depuis que je suis une toute petite fille que je rêve de faire une maison en pain d'épice... et aujourd'hui, mon rêve s'est réalisé ! J'ai eu tellement de plaisir à la décorer... quel beau projet de fin de session! Ca me mets dans l'esprit des fêtes!

Avant et côté / Front and side
Glaçage royal, bonbons divers et pain d'épice / Royal icing, various candies and gingerbread!

 Ever since I was a little girl, I've been impressed by the intricate designs of gingerbread houses and have always wanted to make one myself. Well, today was that day. I had so much fun! What a great way to get into the Holiday spirit!

Arrière et côté / Back and side

Joyeuses fêtes / Happy Holidays

Des bûches de Noël...

Bûche Cotillon (bananes, caramel et meringue)

Bûche 3 chocolats (mousse choco blanc, au lait et noir, glaçage miroir)

Bûche traditionnelle (gâteau roulé, confiture, crème au beurre)

Royal Chocolat (Biscuit amandes, mousse chocolat, mousse praliné, ganache)

D'autres produits à venir bientôt...

Joyeuses fêtes / Happy Holidays

Decorated Cakes and pastries

Here are a few decorated cakes I've done in the past few weeks.

Halloween Themed Cake 

Birthday cake with Marzipan flowers

Kid's theme with Marzipan elements

Christmas theme with marzipan and buttercream decorations
This was an exam and I got 100% !!!

Alhambra: hazelnut biscuit and mirror glaze... really yummy!

Napoleon: basically a Milles-feuilles cake

More to come soon!

Pâtisseries de la semaine

Voici quelques photos de ma production de la semaine !

Gâteau Rougemont (Pâte sucrée, 6 étages de pommes et garniture de type gâteau) yummy

Tarte aux pacanes

Choux à la crème Chantilly

Éclairs aux chocolats (crème pâtissière aux chocolat)

Gâteau Moka (mon premier gâteau masqué et décoré)

Quelques photos de tartes / A few pies

Tarte aux poires Bourdaloue

Amandine

Tartelettes aux fruits

Whats up with me?

Well, quite a lot actually. I'm now officially on vacation for... (drum roll please) 6 months! Yep, I did it and am on sabbatical from work to focus on other creative and fun ventures. So it's been 1 week now and let's just say it's been interesting. I've had the time to relax, enjoy the country life and plan some of my projects. And I must say that I don't miss the daily commute to the city, no I really don't.
So here are a few photo updates of my country life. My little garden is flourishing and we've already had the joy of eating some home-grown tomatoes, cucumbers and radishes. Now it's time for string beans and hopefully peppers. Once again, carrots were NOT a success... maybe next year.

Back row: green beans, cucumber, zucchini, tomatoes
Middle: radishes, beets, green and red peppers, hot chili peppers
Front: onions, herbs, green onions and more herbs

Here we have a few pics from some flowers in full bloom around the house. Such a joy to see them grow.

Hemerocalle

Poppies grown from seeds, so beautiful and delicate petals 

Hello Sunshine - one of the many 6' tall sunflowers by the side of the house. Can't help but smile when you see these tall beauties.

So during the past week, I had the pleasure of going on a field trip with my lovely Mama, to visit the Clef des Champs gardens in Val-David. They specialize in herbs and medicinal plants, it was a beautiful and quite warm day and I truly enjoyed the visit and the company.

Mama looks like a Southern Belle

Thanks for the hat Mama. (Yes I know, we really look alike)

A glimpse at the mountainous gardens at Clef des champs

In case you're wondering, Mika is doing great, she's a really happy dog, resting in the shade.

Photo updates - flowers and garden

Garden in July

First harvest herbs (basil, oregano, cilantro, rosemary)

First harvest radishes (yummy and spicy)

New rose bush

Clematis & Capucines