Access, 2007, the Final Frontier... well, not really

I'm taking an Access 2007 course at the local community college.  I'm rather impressed with the book, though I did NOT pay the $150 new book price.  I purchased an electronic copy for only $53 smack-a-roos.  The book is well written:  clear, easy to follow, great examples, and lots of pictures of "how to...",  who knew Microsoft had it in em?  The same appears to be true of the Excel 2007 book (which I also purchased an e-copy of).

Both Access and Excel have new features that the previous models do not.  Great features that I really like and are easy to use.  Of course, my employer still has 2003 for all Microsoft programs so these fabulous things I'm learning won't be of much use to me at work... yet.  I'm ever hopeful they'll upgrade.  If not, hopefully potential future employers have the newer programs.

My Saturday mornings are now all about homework.  And, I'm enjoying it?!  I guess that's a good thin.  I'm hoping by the end of the semester to know enough to create a Fantasy Football thingy for the hubby.  He's really into that stuff, and I figure, "hey, why not let Access do all the heavy lifting?  Import some data, run a few queries, and presto:  it'll spit out the names of who should be played that weekend."  And next year, hopefully this little database will assist him in drafting his team.  I don't pretend to understand all the ins and outs of this Fantasy Football stuff, but luckily I don't have to, that's they hubby's passion, I just want to put my schooling to good use.

Baking... just not posting

I have made a few items over the last few weeks, mainly banana nut bread and brownies.  I did manage to remember to take a few photos, but haven't loaded them yet.

Then, horrors of all horrors, I ran out of baking soda?!  I don't know what's happening to me, last time I ran out of Bourbon.  At least with Bourbon I can easily swap Brandy or Rum or whatever... but baking soda, nope, no sub for that.  The banana bread was very pale and somewhat dense, but fortunately it tastes fine.

The previous batch of brownies were coffee toffee, but heck if I could taste either of those flavors.  I need to kick that up several notches. 

The most recent batch: peanut butter brownies.  Mmmm, the peanut butter taste is present and good. 

However, the hubby's and Kelly's favorite are still the orange brownies.  I have nothing against orange, but I'd rather not have that mixed in with my brownies, hence the attempts with other flavors.  Next I want to try something with marshmallow and/or caramel.  Wish me luck, seems I need it these days.

Homework

Homework is consuming more of my time than I imagined. Fortunately, so far, I'm enjoying the course work, but the idea that it's cutting into my baking time is a bit saddening. I'm taking Access 2007 and Excel 2007 courses at the local community college. These classes will be good for work, but mainly I'm doing it for me. I've always liked Excel and once I started dabbling in Access I just knew I had to learn it in more depth. Up until now I've been self-taught in both these areas, but realized that the programs have so much more to offer and I goofing off on my own wasn't the answer if I really wanted to have a full understanding of what each program truly has to offer. So, until the classes end, in December?!, I'll probably not be baking as much. On the one hand that's probably good for my waistline, however, sitting in front of a computer for hours and hours on end isn't.

Orange Brownies

The hubby made me fresh squeezed OJ for breakfast, along with French Toast and sausage. It was wonderful. He also zested the oranges, so I used that zest in brownies along with Grand Marnier. The brownies are soooooooooooo good, the hubby LOVED them (said they were the best brownies he has ever had), as did our friends. I love this particular brownie recipe, so far every variation of it has turned out great. Of course, most recipes that call for 1 cup of butter, 2 1/4 cups of sugar and 4 eggs, 1 cup of cocoa, etc. etc. tends to be pretty darn good! I'm looking forward to trying marshmallows, caramel, peanut butter, or mint next time, not sure which one, but eventually I'll each of those flavors.

Out of Bourbon?!

Somehow I ran out of Bourbon?! Not sure how such a thing could happen, but no worries, I used Brandy instead. Note to self, buy more Bourbon. Anyway, we had some bread that was past its prime, the solution - bread pudding cupcakes! Brandy, bread, and white chocolate chips came together to create a rich, moist, and slightly crunchy topped cupcake - doesn't even need frosting.


I also made two loaves of zucchini bread... sans booze, but I'm sure it'll still taste good. These I made for a friend of ours who loves zucchini bread.

Out with the old

Eww! What's that ugly range doing in my kitchen?

It must go, it must!

Ahhhh, much better. I like, I love, I'm oh so happy!

Pretty, but wait, there's more! It works and I can actually see through the window. Life is grand.

Eventually we'll replace that HUGE eyesore of a white microwave. I can hardly wait.

Yummy Summer Dinner

Spinach salad with fresh black berries, strawberries, pear, and pistachios. The hubby made a wonderful dressing for it.

Cold cucumber and avocado soup. Fabulous on a hot summer night. Very refreshing.

The hubby's awesome quiche, so good!

Muffin Medley & Cherry Overload

I was hungry for something small and sweet for breakfast and couldn't decide which type of muffin to make, so I made three, from left to right: apricot white chocolate, blueberry almond, and banana walnut. I like all three and it's just as easy to make 72 muffins as it is 24, so why not? Of course, after that I realized I had a ton of fresh cherries I needed to use before they went bad, so I pitted them (staining my hands a bloody red, looked like I had just committed murder!) and cut them into little pieces. These I added to corn muffins:


and the rest of the cherries I added to devil's food cake cupcakes:


The frosting is a chocolate cream cheese, sour cream. Very rich and creamy, quite delicious.

Bourbon White Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding Cupcakes

I made Martha Stewart's 7-minute frosting for these cupcakes. WOW! It's good stuff, tastes like marshmallow. It's kinda a high-maintenance frosting as it requires boiling sugar, water, and light corn syrup to 230 degrees and whipping 6 egg whites into a frenzy, then adding the boiling mixture without scaling yourself, and finally whipping all that for about 7 minutes... but it's so worth it. Melts in the mouth. Mmm mmm YUM!

The hubby likes bread pudding, me, not so much. But, hey, it's the 4th of July so why not give it a shot. I figure with enough booze even bread pudding can be good - right? I found your typical bread pudding recipe online, however, I greatly modified it to make them into cupcakes. I didn't use any milk, just a cup of Bourbon! Anyway, I added the white chocolate chips simply because I had them. For the bread we had two loaves of sandwich bread: French and Sourdough. I used about equal amounts of both torn into little pieces and mixed thoroughly into the wet batter. I wasn't really sure if these would turn out or not, but they did. Yeah! I doubled lined the paper cups to be on the safe side and that worked nicely. The flavor of these bad boys is wonderful.... the bourbon is present, but not overwhelming. The white chocolate chips impart a nice sweetness, and the over consistency is fabulous: not dry, not mushy, but just right. A success if I do say so myself! Can't wait to hear what our friends think about them. I'll be bringing these to the 4th of July cookout, along with the Raspberry/blueberry corn muffins.

Raspberry & Blueberry Corn Muffins

Happy 4th of July! For the cook out we'll be attending later I made raspberry/blueberry corn muffins. Very simple recipe the hubby found online. And, quite tasty! Hope our friends like them.