Andrea Giacomi's Blog: life, bodybuilding & my everyday rambles…

cake deco 2…

this past week i took cake decorating 2 at the institute of culinary education. i really learned alot in this class. we created a cake covered in fondant. applied the lace/stringwork at the bottom and made plenty of gumpaste flowers for the top. the bottom portion which is called the stringwork are the thinnest most delicate strands of icing that only connects on the top & bottom. talk about having patience & a steady hand. everything you see here is editable except for the thin wires that hold the arrangement together. oh and the styrofoam underneath the fondant. yeah its not a real cake actually. which is a blessing because for one i really dont want to destroy this beautiful cake & two my ass does not need this whole cake. as you can see….cake decorating builds big muscles

another busy week ahead…

this past week & weekend was a busy one. i worked and did alot of painting in the apartment. still have more to do but i did get alot done. ahhhh….now onto another week ahead. i will be busy but im looking forward to it. monday thru thursday from 9am – 3pm i have a class at the culinary school…cake decorating 2. ive been registered for this class since december 13 2009. yes they fill up fast so when you see them available you gotta buy it….$525 later haha! im excited about this class because we will be working with far more decorating techniques than cake deco

well it is 8pm here and im gonna make my lunch & get things ready for tomorrow. im beat & want to get to bed at a decent time. hope everyone had a nice weekend! XOX
ps…this pic was taken last year @ jr nationals. for some reason im loving the black & white

Cupcakes & Cookies….

this week i took two classes at the culinary school. advanced cookie design and upscale cupcakes. the cookie class was 5 hrs long and we made some amazing orange cream cookies then decorated them with white & dark molding chocolate, icing, fondant and some gold powder to paint onto the cookies. it was a very fun class. i see these kinds of cookies selling online or in bakeries for around $4-12 a piece. now i know why….they are very time consuming. the ultimate cupcake class was two days for 5 hrs each day. this class was amazing. the first day we made all the cupcakes, icing, molding chocolates, sugar flowers & marzipan. the second day (today) we got to decorate them . now this is the part i enjoy the most. just sitting down and taking my time to decorate so precise & beautifully. its a stress releiver for me believe it or not. then you have the cupcakes & cookies to eat when you get stressed LOL!

pizookie time!

today i decided to make a favorite of mine….PIZOOKIE! yes a huge cookie, usually warm with a huge scoop of ice cream on it BUT i didnt have any ice cream in the house believe it or not. i took some pre-maid toll house chocolate chip cookie dough & cut up some old carmel candies from halloween. haha yeah they were pretty hard and i was hoping they would melt since they were about 6 months old LOL. anyways…it came out perfect ♥

on another note…remember back when timothy & i went to times square for some drinks on that rainy day in january? well i finally got the video edited & uploaded….goodtimes!

horror movies & chocolate chip cookies…oh yeah!

wow its almost been a week since i have posted last. lets see what have i been doing since my day out drinking in times square & dancing out in the rain lol. believe me, i have been thinkin about those yummy frozen drinks lately and cannot wait to have another.

seems like this week horror movies have been on the agenda. i went to blockbuster & rented paranormal activity, halloween II by rob zombie and saw VI. all movies i have been wanting to see so i rented them all. im sure everyone has their opinions on these movies but here is mine…paranormal activity SUCKED! i wanted so bad to shut it off but timothy insisted we watch it to find out what happens at the end. halloween II kicked ass! if you like rob zombie’s style in movie making you will enjoy halloween. i loved both the devils rejects & house of 1000 corpses. saw VI was okay. ive seen 1 thru 5 so i had to see saw 6. i end up having to turn my head at some parts but all in all it was alright.

today i took a baking class at the culinary school. it was a chocolate chip cookie class. we made about 6 different style cookies & i got some good tips on making the perfect cookie. im glad i took this class because it just proved to me that i enjoy the decorating aspect of baking/pastry field vs. baking. i could sit down & decorate and pay attention to all the small detail so much longer than baking. after the cookie class today i was worn out haha. i wouldnt want to bake for 8hrs a day…no way! i ate alot of cookies today so i made sure i hit the gym tonight for some shoulders & cardio! 
peace my friends!!!

cookies anyone??

so today i took another class at the institute of culinary education…basic cookie design. now nothing seems basic about these cookies we got to decorate. the chef taught us many techniques to making beautiful decorated cookies that look like art. we made a basic butter cookie and then some glacé icing which we made many colors. the great part about the icing was what ever color we made we got to mix with a flavor. the color orange was made with an orange liquor, brown with godiva chocolate liqour, red with a rasberry liqour, yellow was with lemon extract and so on…just something to add that special touch to when someone has one of these delicious cookies. i enjoyed the class so much that i am going to be taking the advance cookie design class in february.  HAPPY FRIDAY EVERYONE!

dont think about it….GO FOR IT!

as some of you know who read my blog know that i have been looking into culinary school. mainly the baking/pastry program. when i took a tour of the Institute of Culinary Education i fell in love with the programs that they had to offer. BUT…commiting myself to a $28+ loan was just not realistic as of now. i tend to like change…get bored and want to try many many things. so i then decided to take some of the recreational courses they offer which are exceptionaly amazing. you learn so much and they range from $95-$600 and can be anywhere from a 5 hour class to 25 hours a week. so far i have enjoyed each & every class that i have taken. so i ask myself….”is this the direction i want to go with a career or maybe just a part time thing i do for extra money?” all i know is that i find myself preoccupied with thoughts of making this a part of my everyday life.

they just put out the new schedule of classes tonight and of course i was looking for cake deco 2 since i just finished cake deco 1. now these classes only have 10 students per class so they fill up FAST! i saw cake deco 2 but the next open class isnt until the end of april.  the BIG plan for 2010 is to move back to california, sometime in the spring. so now i have to make a decision. do i sign up for the class just in case we are still here or do i not sign up with the hopes that we will already be west coast bound? i have learned not to put something off if you truely want to do something…just go for it. whats the worst that could happen…i pay the $525 for the class and if we are not here in nyc i get my money back minus $50. sometimes you cant sit around and wait til the time is right to do something that you want to do…because there really is not a right time for anything. you will go back & fourth in your head trying to rationalize why you shouldnt do something. SO….with that all being said i enrolled in the class. ; )
Wherever your dreams are pointing you today, take a step. Take action and manifest your inner urges and soul whisperings…

the best kind of rose….

is definately a chocolate one. today in class we worked with molding chocolate. we made a rose, leaves & a bow to place on top of our cake, all out of hand. im kinda bummed that today was the last day of class. but im excited & motivated to take more.
took today off from the gym. no cardio or training. just didnt feel like going. if i could pick any day of the week to miss the gym it would be friday night. when i had a 8-5 job fridays were hard for me to get motivated, especially in the winter. the gym was always dead too on friday nights.
well the weekend is here!!! hope everyone has a nice weekend. bundle up…its getting cold!!

Mmm Marzipan!!!

today was my fourth day in the cake decorating 1 class ive been taking this week. we worked with marzipan for most of the class time. this was my first time working with this wonderful stuff. marzipan is a confection made of almonds reduced to a paste with sugar and often molded into various forms, usually diminutive fruits and vegetables. it tastes pretty good too…thats always a bonus. tomorrow is my lastday for this class & ive enjoyed it so much im looking into taking cake decorating 2. just have to wait til the new schedule comes out because they fill up FAST. only 10 students to a class.

here is my fruit that i made today…in case you cant make out what it all is LOL….we made a banana, peach, apple, strawberry, rasberries, carrot, orange, pear and a pumpkin!

cake decorating 1

this week has been good so far. monday i started my class at the institute of culinary education….cake decorating 1. we are learning everything from how to make borders, roses, working with chocolate molding, marzipan, piping techniques, etc. the class is Mon – Fri 10-3pm. 5 hours goes by fast when your having fun thats for sure. im not looking forward to the end of class since i really enjoy going every morning.

ive been hitting the gym with cardio & training faithfully and im enjoying it. i have alot of good energy.
tongiht after the gym i went to whole foods to get some brocolli & peanut butter. just a couple things i needed. $53 later i am walking home with two bags full of stuff. going to the food store after the gym starving is NOT a good idea. its all stuff that will get eaten but most of it i didnt need….I WANTED haha!
hope everyone is having a great week!!! ♥