New View

Here are some photos of the view from the end of my street. Our new place is just a little more than a block from the Mississippi River bluffs, so we're a short stroll from this beautiful view of the cathedral and downtown St. Paul. Pretty cool, right? We're also really close to Harriet Island which is neat because they have lots of festivals and events there (you can see the tents sent up for last weekend's Irish Festival in the pic at the bottom)

I haven't had much time to explore the area yet but can already tell that our part of St. Paul is WAY hillier (is that a word? more hilly?) than Minneapolis. I am hoping to have some time to poke around some of the local shops soon. There's also a regional park nearby and I hope to do some hiking there - probably this fall when the weather is cool.

What I've Been Up To Lately

It's been a really really long time since my last post. I've neglected my poor little blog. However, I have some really goods reasons - mainly that I've been moving (across the river to St. Paul), working, and going to school full time.

This dessert featured in the top photo is a fruit bavarian - Mango Raspberry. Here are some pics of other things we made in our last class (excuse some of the pics, they were hastily taken at the end of class):

Tiramisu

Frozen Chocolate Terrine

A slice of Charlotte Royale presented with Raspberry Coulis and Creme Anglaise

Similar to the Charlotte Royale but with hazelnut sponge and chocolate ganache on the outside and chocolate bavarian filling.

Three Chocolate Bavarois

Creme Brulee

Gateau St. Honore - choux pastry shell filled with vanilla and chocolate cream with caramel-dipped cream puffs and spun sugar