You Ain't Seen Muffin Yet

Let's rewind to what got me into this whole mess.

I wish I had some heartfelt story about childhood memories in the kitchen, covered in flour and dough that sparked my lifelong interest in baking.. but let's get real. I was probably outside somewhere covered in dirt and being a freak.

Scene: Enter Summer 2009.

I had moved back home for the summer after my first year away at college. Naturally, I learned a lot about myself and really grew as an individual.This included being proactive about doing things I really wanted to do. By this time in my life I had been introduced to the idea of a "Bucket List" and had started thinking about making it happen! I couldn't tell you now what made me want to do this then, but one thing I had really wanted to do was take a cake decorating class that I had seen advertised at the craft store in town. I looked into it a little more and found out it was once a week for a month and it was at night so I could attend after my summer day time job. Now, I know this might sound silly now, especially looking back at everything I have accomplished on my own since... but I was SCARED to sign up for this class by MYSELF (gasps), especially doing something I had never done before. Anyway... I took the class, loved it, and have invested quite a few more dollars into equipment and resources since.

-FAST FORWARD-

Scene: Enter Summer 2011

Since the Summer of 2009 I had practiced my cake decorating skills on a lot of my friends and family (not in the literal sense, although that sounds interesting and weird..) and started focusing more attention on different recipes, flavors, and mediums besides decorated cake. I started trying out flavored cupcakes, muffins, cookies, and bars throughout the 11'-12' school year. I graduated in May of 2012 from UNI with a B.A. in Interior Design.

I think that might help explain why I fell in love with cake decorating in the first place. I like to be artistic and creative and if you haven't realized it quite yet, FOOD is an amazing medium that can be used to express your creativity! It's like a science project and a work of art...that you can EAT. Other than the artsy-fartsy side of it, I loved how happy it made other people. It's like when a kitty gets the rare gift of catnip..

..except every time someone eats/sees a pretty cupcake or treat.

Scene: Enter Mid-Summer 2012 

During my internship I had to complete over the summer, I mulled over a lot of questions about my life. What would I do after my internship? Where would I work? Where would I live? Why isn't my life laid out in an exact plan like everyone expects it to be? Why isn't my career/personal life/future laid out to be perfect like many of my fellow graduates? Am I failing already?


...I'm willing to admit that this is when I also started 'using' coffee heavily so my mind (and heart beat) traveled at a slightly faster speed than the average thinker.

**Spoiler Alert! A lot of those questions still aren't answered, or the answers to them change periodically.**

If you know me, you know I am not patient which goes hand in hand with a slight case of impulsiveness. The silver lining in this is that it also provides me with a deep sense of motivation to GET. IT. DONE. If my mind or heart is set on something, I want it and I want it now. One of those fleeting thoughts fueled by a hot cup of java was to go back to school for baking. So, naturally, I spent an afternoon of my internship (shh, don't tell..) feverishly researching culinary/baking schools.

Yep, pretty much.

So of course I was getting all inspired and travel-y and I thought, "Let's go to a big city!" "Colorado!" "Yeah!"

And then it was all like "The Art Institute of Colorado!" "$24,000 a year!" "No."

So, eventually, I looked for schools that were a lot less expensive that still had good programs and I decided on Kirkwood Community College in central Iowa because it not only has a great culinary program, but also has a specific program JUST FOR ME! It was called the Baking and Pastry Arts Diploma and it's a one year program focusing solely on Baking and Pastry Arts (Who would've thought?) So I went through the (surprisingly) MANY steps it took to finally get where I am now (apply, visit, transfer transcripts, attend a program conference, attend registration, attend orientation, order uniforms and tools, find a place to live, look for jobs, etc.)

Scene: Enter late January, 2013

Here I am, a doe-eyed, nearly 23 year old (..or 17-18 year old, depending who you ask)  young woman working towards a goal and here to tell/ show you ALL about it!

STAY TUNED for my next post: First week of classes and what's coming up next this semester!

-BB