The Adventures of Mr. and Mrs. Matthews

Soo.. surprise!! I got married. I guess it's not a secret to most people, but a lot haven't seen pictures or anything so... this post is dedicated to the wedding day and some of the things I would like to work on now that I'm unemployed!! WOOOOOooooooooo!!! SO PSYCHED to not be teaching anymore! In response to the most common question: do I miss my students? Yes, but.... I'm too excited about the future to be dwelling in the past. 😂

I left out the names of my friends because I'm not sure how much personal information I actually want to share on here... My main intention for this blog was to document my creations - but now that I have so many adventures coming up, I'll probably document some of that too. Today, my creations actually tie into some of the wedding stuff. 😊

Nolan and I had a lovely, weird and small COVID wedding in the desert with our closest friends in southern Utah just outside of St. George on December 5th, 2020. After visiting his family in Maryland for Thanksgiving, Nolan flew out to Tucson, AZ to observe at the telescopes at the F. L. Whipple Observatory. (where we currently are right now) Unfortunately this also meant he would be staying up all night every night for the week before our wedding. I took work off on Friday and picked Nolan up from the airport around 10am. We drove home, packed up the car, packed up our pup Moose, and left for St. George around 1pm. Moose and Nolan slept in the back of the car for the five hour drive it took us to get to our Airbnb.

After getting our much needed beauty sleep at the Airbnb, (Nolan especially, considering he had just gotten back from observing and getting zero sleep the night before) we talked with our friends with plans to meet at a pin sent to me by our roommate. While I was putting my bouquet together and getting ready, a couple of my girl friends went to the pin and found a freakin' awesome location close by that had cell service. Two of my roommates, our friend, Nolan, Moose and I packed up the Subaru and headed out around 1pm. Needless to say it was a pretty tight squeeze in the car. 😂

Make up done, awkwardly waiting for the ceremony...

This is the part where you get to hear about how freaking awesome all of my friends are. I had no idea what to expect when they sent us the location pin. We drove for about 45 minutes and arrived at this beautiful little canyon off of a dirt road in the middle of the desert. Somehow we got lucky with a beautiful sunny day in DECEMBER - I didn't even have to wear a cover over my dress! When we first got there, we will still waiting for some people to arrive so we had a bit of time to hang out and chill for a bit before everything got going.

The view from the ceremony location.

Once our minister arrived, things got wayyy more hectic than I expected. My friends had planned more than I could have imagined and got to work, setting up tents, tables, a freaking archway and aisle, flowers, a wedding cake, snacks, and of course - a full bar. It was beautiful! I honestly don't even know how all of this went down as smoothly as it seemed. (Or maybe it wasn't actually that smooth.... Everything was kind of a blur for me from this point up until the ceremony. I was having some pre wedding jitters and was unsure how to help... again, my friends are awesome!)

Freaking gorgeous arch!!! Still can't get over this.

After the wedding arch was set up, everyone got dressed, we hooked up a hair straightener to the power generator and I was lucky enough to get my hair done by one of my girl friends. I fixed up my make up and put my dress on in a tent and my friends fed me beverages while we waited on the go ahead to walk down the aisle. My friend managed to find a place with cell service and connected with our parents so they could watch the ceremony virtually.

A photo of the whole wedding crew after the ceremony.

We were married by one of our good friends around sunset. Our ceremony was short and sweet. We signed our wedding papers, ate cake, drank by the fire and danced the night away. It was amazing. My friends are AWESOME for putting everything together!! Of course Nolan and I wished our families could have been there, but we figured we can have a reception with everyone once COVID is less of a concern. I couldn't have imagined a better wedding given the circumstances.

The cake and the view!!! Beautiful :)

To everyone who helped out with the wedding - thank you SO much. I can't even tell you how much it means to me. I kind of went into it with zero expectations and ended up having a beautiful dream wedding.

Nolan and I are currently kind of... homeless. When I first started this web site, I had hoped to focus on baking, documenting my creations until I got to a point where I felt confident in creating my own recipes and maybe even selling some of my treats. Well... it's kind of difficult to be a baker when you don't really have a kitchen to work in. Plus, I've been wanting to get into graphic design and graphic art a little bit more, so that's what I've been working on lately. 😊

Something I was weirdly excited about for my wedding was making my own bouquet. I don't even know why, but I was SO proud of it and wanted it in almost all of my pictures. (Looking back at some of the pictures... I probably should have let it go for a while 😂) I guess I just enjoyed making something beautiful. Apparently I just really like creating things.

I liked it so much that I even re-created it in digital form.

I wanted to do something nice and personal for my friends, so I had the idea of sending them each thank you cards that I created with some pictures of them from the wedding.

Unfortunately, by the time I had finished the layout for these thank you cards, I was already in Houston with my family and we were facing a freaking ARCTIC FREEZE. So, I didn't end up getting to have these printed with a personal note in each in time, so I bought some cards from the store and received the pictures SO late - literally the day before we left for Tucson... Maybe it's the thought that counts?????

In doing this, I learned that I enjoy drawing on my iPad as well.. so while I am in transition in moving to France and am unable to bake what I want when I want - I will continue to create digitally.

Here's the latest from a picture of my friend from the wedding. 😊

Not too bad for my first time dabbling with drawing and ProCreate!

We leave Tucson on Tuesday, will be in Maryland for about two weeks, and are hoping to leave for France by mid March. Since I won't have my own kitchen to work in until then... stay tuned for more digital creations. Thanks for reading, if you made it this far!!

Custard Peach Pie... and Creations

Wow - it has been too long since I have gotten back into this blog thing! Truth be told - teaching this year has been INSANELY difficult. I've been tempted to quit multiple times throughout this first semester. And now... I've done it.

It's official.

I have sent in my letter of resignation and I will stop teaching high school photography and yearbook after January 15th, 2021. CRAZY.

I've been teaching for 6 years now. I started teaching classes like computer technology, web design, advertising, marketing, freshmen success (my least favorite) and eventually worked my way up to only teaching two subjects: photography and yearbook. I was getting REAL close to where I wanted to be as a teacher... and then... I got MARRIED! And my (now) husband and I will be moving to France in March of 2021.

I've been wanting to take a break from teaching for a while now. It is SO hard. The kids don't give a shit about anything. ESPECIALLY this year, during COVID. I can honestly say more than 50% of my students (between both in person and online) are failing my class. Even my yearbook staff has been struggling significantly this year.

The students who do show up to class are sitting their on their phones the majority of the class period, and I just haven't had the energy or motivation to get them to actually pay attention to me. It's exhausting and makes me feel like a failure: an incompetent teacher. I know this is NOT true. And I know I could be a better teacher but, really? I do not want to teach right now. I need a break. I want to move on to other things!

A big reason I became a teacher is because I love to LEARN! I loved that part of being a teacher includes forever continuing your education. If I had the money, I would go back to college and get a second major in graphic design. Or photography. Or animation. Or all of the above. But now that I understand how to teach myself... I can't logically convince myself to pay so much money on continuing my education when I haven't even paid off my student loans from my first go around.

ANYWHO... My husband (whoa!) accepted a post doc job in Nice, France, and I will be moving over there with him. The question everyone asks as soon as they learn I'm moving to France with him: what am I going to do while I'm there?

Basically the answer to that question ^^^ "no idea" (cue Snape voice).

JK. Actually - I have a lot of ideas - too many ideas. I figured one way to start is by working on this blog and teaching myself a lot of the things I've felt like I just haven't had the time to do. And of course - I want to learn how to speak French!

Alright alright alright..... BACK to the peach custard pie, the intended purpose of this post in the first place.

Part of the reason I've been delaying posting and "releasing" my blog to the public, is because I can't decide on a final purpose. Yes, the web site is called "Twitterbee BAKERY" but is that all I want to do? Just bake and bake and bake? Meh - not really. Like I said - I want to continue my education and learn more about graphic design, photography, web design, etc. For whatever reason, I have this passion for creativity in the digital world, the same way I have a passion for baking. I want to challenge myself by not only baking, but by learning more about graphic design in the process. This peach custard pie was my first attempt of this process.

Attempt number 1 - digital art!

While this is not the best, I am improving! I have never taken an art class as an adult, so drawing/painting is not something that feels natural to me. After practicing a bit with my iPad and Apple Pencil, I can honestly say I've been getting a bit better! This was just one short lived attempt from a few months ago.

The idea is this: not only do I do the baking, but I can also create personalized greeting cards or art to be delivered with the treat.

This time, I baked a peach custard pie. I was already feeling relatively down (thanks, COVID and teaching) and I thought of that sarcastic response people say to "how are you doing?"

"I'm just peachy."

I thought they were cute! So my plan was to bake the pie, cut slices and deliver them to my friends. Unfortunately, pie is not the easiest to transport and I didn't have enough tupperware to give away, so my roommates got to taste the pie and no one but my boyfriend got to see the greeting card ideas.

On another note - the pie was delicious and so easy!

Not my best pictures, to be honest. It's annoying - I have taught photography for years, and I just want to master taking photos of the treats I bake. The fact that I live in a basement and don't get a ton of natural light makes it difficult - I have to time my baking perfectly, or split it into sections to get the pictures that I want to get.

To make the pie, make the pie crust ahead of time so it is ready to bake with the pie.

Blanch, peel and slice five or six fresh peaches and set them aside. You can also use canned peaches if they are not in season, but make sure to drain the syrup. Roll out your pie dough and carefully place it in a 9 inch pie pan. Layer your sliced peaches in the pie pan and set aside.

Make a traditional vanilla custard and pour the custard over the peaches.

Next, mix some softened butter, oats, light brown sugar and granulated sugar in a bowl. (I just used my hands for this part!) sprinkle the oat mixture on top of the prepared pie.

Cover the pie crust with aluminum foil. Bake the pie in a preheated oven (I believe the temperature was 375 degrees?) for about 30 minutes removing the aluminum foil for the last 10 minutes.

Use a blender to create homemade whipped cream with heavy whipping cream, vanilla and sugar. Slice the pie, top with whipped cream, and serve! 😊 This pie is tasty hot OR cold.

If I could figure out where I got the recipe and share it, I would! But I made this a while ago and I don't know where the recipe came from. I don't feel like searching for it again.

Well - if you made it this far in reading, congratulations! You've made it through my last trial post on the blog! 😂🤣 I have MANY updates and announcements that I will be telling you about in my next post. I am so excited!! 😄 Also - I got a new laptop and just found out I can use emojis very easily while I'm typing. Awesome!

Talk to ya'll soon! 😉

King Cupcakes

Alright... truth be told, I created my first post with no problems: it is SO easy to talk about yourself! But even though I've had this second post planned (practically for years) I have been hesitant because I realized... if I am going to become a "blogger" and share my cooking and baking accomplishments... I have to be a bit of a writer as well

HA! Just kidding - that burning meme is NOT how I feel about blogging... anymore. At first I was scared because, well, I'm not the greatest writer. But it's part of the journey, and I've decided I don't really give a f*** if whoever reads this (if anyone) doesn't like my writing. The purpose of this is for me! And to enjoy this whole writing experience, I'm just going to be myself. :)

That meme however, COMPLETELY sums up my first month back at teaching during COVID 19 (thanks for the laugh, Sally). I'm teaching nearly 150 students, both online and in person, and I'm not getting paid any amount extra for yet another job added on to my "teacher" label. Do people even know how much sh** teachers have to do, truly? It's getting a bit ridiculous.

Everyone is expected to wear masks in the building at all times, unless you as a teacher are alone in your room. Which for me, is basically my lunch. High school teachers are supposed to have at least one "prep" period per day that they can use to plan and grade. I teach extended, and the one prep period I have on the other day (I teach on an A B block schedule) my room is usually occupied by students recording the video for the school's broadcasting show/class in the back of the classroom. So I'm basically in a mask all day, which is whatever, but having to project your voice for nearly 8 hours straight in a mask is quite difficult!!

ANYWHO.... Enough venting. Let's get to the point of this post....

Mardi Gras!

Yep, I know that I am way off for the time during the year it should be to make King Cupcakes. However, when I first began working on my "interactive project" in an attempt to get a new teaching endorsement, I only planned on creating one post featuring the King Cupcakes- not an entire web site. I didn't want to just leave my work from that day in some old folders on my computer so... I'm sharing it out of season. Whatever!

For those of you that don't know, a "king cake" is a dessert traditionally made in Louisiana for the Christian holiday "Fat Tuesday"- also known as Mardi Gras. People would celebrate their last day of eating "fatty foods" before giving it up for lent, or the fasting season. If you're living in Utah like me, you probably haven't seen or noticed this holiday being celebrated as often, considering the religious make up of the state is mostly LDS members. But- I'm a Houston native, which is real close to Louisiana - famous for their Mardi Gras celebrations.

The fun part about the traditional Louisiana king cake is there is usually a plastic baby hidden somewhere inside the cake. The person who finds the baby inside of their cake becomes the king or queen of the evening, symbolizing luck and prosperity.

Now, I grew up in an LDS family, so we didn't traditionally celebrate Mardi Gras at all. There was no king cake or muffuletta or hidden baby doll, it was just something that I had heard of growing up in Houston so close to Louisiana. It wasn't until college that I actually began celebrating the holiday one way or another - this time with lots of beads and of course, alcohol.

Back in the day, my friend Sami knew I loved baking and bought me the cutest little cupcake recipe book, 500 Cupcakes. I'm not sure why, but I went for a long time mainly using Pinterest for the recipes I was using. I think I had looked in the book and noticed that there weren't as many traditional cupcakes- you know, cupcakes with big piles of buttercream frosting on top. But eventually I got around to making quite a few of the recipes from the 500 cupcakes book. When I was thinking about what I would do for my interactive project, I knew it was going to have something to do with baking. I chose the King Cupcake recipe because Mardi Gras was coming up, but also because I liked the idea of creating holiday themed graphics in Illustrator - masks, beads, etc.

These tasty things were vanilla buttermilk cupcakes topped with a lemon glaze and sugar sprinkles. Definitely would make again... maybe with a baby hidden in it somewhere this time ;)

And that's it. That's all I've got for now! I've procrastinated actually sharing this blog and web site long enough. I think it's time to just... fully jump in and see how it goes!

Want to make these cupcakes too? Here's a link to buy the book!

See y'all soon!

-Whitney