Christmas 2014

It seems a bit silly to be rehashing Christmas when it's finally blue skies outside, but it was a pretty good Christmas so it seems a shame to skip it.

After graduation, I still had a few weeks left before I was LA bound for the holidays. I had a ton of last minute shopping and baking to do for all of our peeps here in London, and I got to work!

I baked, while Casper wrapped the gifts.

J also had a poker game at work, and I agreed to make a bunch of treats for him and his crew. It went down a storm so I was pretty pleased even if a bit disappointed that there weren't any leftovers.

Pretty soon, it was time to fly back home to LA and get to work on Christmas dinner. On my first morning back in LA, I headed straight to Whole Foods and picked up our goose!

I think it's so much better than a turkey or a ham, and I got to work on that along with all the fixings. I think it's safe to say I spent all of this year's holiday in the kitchen.

But it was totally worth it, since I was also cooking for my soon-to-be-born niece!

I always bitch and moan about the long flights and especially during the hectic Christmas season, but there's so few things as good as spending the holidays with your family. As always, we had a great time opening all the gifts, and I bought a bunch of patisserie books for myself.

We weren't there long before it was time to head back home! But I made sure to leave lots of treats behind for my future niece, who was due to be born in March.

And I didn't stop baking once I got back home either!

I was so happy to see my little rascals again, and I swear Casper gets bigger and bigger every time I go away! J thinks he's a stress eater.

Anyway, I started experimenting more with stuff I'm not familiar with - standard cake baking and decorating. We learn all the fancy techniques and styles of classic and modern patisserie, but we only have a class or two on cake decorating in school. I've been trying to teach myself as I go along with the help of some books, and I think I'm doing as well as can be expected.

I'm pretty lucky, since I actually ended up going back to Le Cordon Bleu for a few weeks to assist for chef Matthew for the cake decorating course, so I could ask him any lingering questions I had. And it was a treat seeing him and all the other chefs again! I missed them!

New and Old Loves

I have a niece! And I'm beyond in love. Babies are generally very cute, but this is the first time I'm actually interested in something that does little more than eat, cry, and poop.

She was born in March, and she's just about the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. She's got my brother's nose, and the wavy hair must come from our side of the family.

My parents finally have the grandchild they've been waiting for. I definitely owe my little brother one for taking the heat off me for a while! 

I flew back to Orange County for the big event and hung around for a week, cooking and freezing things for my brother and SIL. Most of the time, I was just in disbelief that my baby brother has a baby! When I look at him holding her, I can't wrap my head around the fact that he's a father now. I kept having to remind myself that they weren't just babysitting. 

My sister in law is great about sending me pics, so I get to see how she changes every day. I can't wait to see how she grows up, but I want her to slow down at the same time so I don't miss too much while I'm away. Current opinion is that she looks like her dad, but I just know her face will change so much by the time I see her again!

I also got the chance to spend some time with Kitty on this trip. She was diagnosed with cancer on Christmas 2013, and the vet said that she would last three months at most after the operation to remove the tumors. Her cancer would continue to spread, and I had been living under the shadow that she was living on borrowed time. Every trip back home, I would wonder if this was my last time with her. I was wrong every time until now.

When I arrived, she was still up and about, anxious for her meals and to get petted. I could see that some of her tumours were weeping, but she didn't seem like she was in pain and my parents were seeing to her every need. I had been stressed about how I would know when it was time to put her to sleep. It didn't feel like it was time. She still wanted food and love - she wasn't ready to go and I wasn't ready to let her. 

A few weeks after I left, my mom told me that Kitty had stopped eating her food and had trouble getting to her litterbox. But then she would perk up and lick up some gravy and walk around again. I agonised over whether the time had come or not. It was so hard, being far away, when I just wanted to be with her.

I decided it was better to do it too soon rather than too late, and I arranged for a vet to visit the house. I knew it was the right decision when my baby, who's terrified of everything, didn't move when he approached her, and I stayed on the phone with the vet while he talked me through the whole process. It was as easy for her as I could make it - I just wish I could've been there with her at the end. Rest well, my sweetheart, and I'll bring you back home to me again.