Welcome to Heather Lynn's Bistro

Welcome to Heather Lynn's Bistro. I am your sever, Heather. This is also Heather, your personal Chef. And last but not least, your Personal pastry chef, Heather. All from the comfort of Heather Lynn's lovely studio apartment!

Phew, that sounds exhausting! But really, if all you foodies out there were to make a menu of the dishes and desserts that you loved to make in the comfort of your home what would they be?

I think I could round up a pretty fabulous menu myself. I've got tons of desserts up my sleeve and can make a mean pork chop (I didn't even cook or eat pork chops 3 months ago).

If you were to come eat at Heather Lynn's Bistro this is one of the decedent meals I would make for you --

Rosemary Garlic Pork Chops, Lemon Asparagus, and Sweet Mashed Potatoes



I made this tonight, and it was LEGEN -- wait for it -- DARY!

Stay tuned for more lovely menu items from Heather Lynn's Bistro (and maybe a recipe or too, but you will have to do some extra schmoozing for those)

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Great food is like great sex. The more you have the more you want. Gael Greene

Cake Decorating 101

Being an avid (cupcake) baker I figured it was about time I finally learned all the In's and Out's of cake decorating. Well, at least some of them.

Ive been looking for a Cake Decorating class here on Martha's Vineyard and it took my just about 2 years to find one. But I was very excited, ecstatic even to find it.

I know a little bit about the beginning aspects of cake decorating because I own all of the decorating tips, pastry bags, etc. I was never shown how to use them. But now I know the basics.


The class I took was a 2 hour class with 20 or so people participating. It was kind of crazy. But I learned a bunch and met some new people! I also got to share my love of cupcakes with people as well. People always get a kick out of my Cupcake Tattoo!

Here is the cake I decorated --

In the middle we have Rose -- Very hard to do, but the Teacher said it looked great!

Around the rose we have simple leaves -- pretty easy. You can make a lot of different size and shape leaves. Note the leaves in on the outer edge. Those are what I call Ferns! Not sure if it is a technical name for them, but that is what they look like to me.

Around the farthest outer edge, making a border are Stars -- Once again, very easy. I could do these even before the class.

And around the bottom you see a Scallop Shell -- Not as easy as it looks!


I hope to learn a lot more in the future either in another class on my own. I got a very fulfilling sense after the class and during, I dare to call it even a 'high'

If you want to learn some tips on cake decorating Wilton has is all from the tips to all of the items you need to make it all happen -- Wilton Cake Decorating

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Sleep 'til you're hungry, eat 'til you're sleepy. Author Unknown

I See Sea Glass

I am addicted to the ocean. The colors, the smell, the sounds - I could go on. But one thing I love is the treasures that the sea washes ashore. Shells, rocks -- but the best is the Sea Glass!

What is sea glass you say -- glass that has been weathered by sand, water and waves essentially smoothing out the edges and making a frosted little or big beautiful gem.



Just as there are alot of colors of glass there are a lot of colors of sea glass. Green, clear, purple, red, blue and every shade in between. Some of the rare colors are cobalt blue, purple, red. My favorite pieces to find very worn clear pieces. There is something about them, the simplicity, the perfection.

I live on Martha's Vineyard, an island off of Massachusetts. I am surrounded by wonderful, lovely, gorgeous OCEAN! I try to get out every weekend looking for sea glass. Looking for sea glass is something I enjoy doing alone, but I also enjoy going with others so we can see who got the best pick.


Bottom of bottles are always great to find as are bottle tops. I found one piece once that was the bottom of the bottle and it said WINE on the bottom. Fabulous!

The best time to go on a sea glass hunt is after a storm, it washes up all the goodies and also low tide where there will be more beach exposed.



So there it is -- one of my many loves sea glass. What is one of your loves?

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For tons more GREAT information about anything and everything sea glass check out this website Sea Glass Odyssey
A great book to check out is Pure Sea Glass

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“The cure for anything is salt water - sweat, tears, or the sea.” Isak Dinesen

Honey, I'm Home

You heard it here first, I'm Home! And by home I mean BACK!

I took a little bit of an unintentional hiatus for a bit. But I am back in full swing!

I have been saying for the past few weeks that I need something more creative to do, and it just so happened that getting back to this blog will be exactly the creativity boost I need. I am very creative at my job, but I need to be creative in my own home and do things own my own that are creative. And viola, this fell back into my lap.

Moving forward I have a few posts in mind and am getting on them right away. I shall have a new post by the end of the weekend.

Please share this blog with your friends and family. I want to share my world with others.

Thanks loves!

Apple Bacon Burger

I am currently trying to become master of the grill, well at least in my own world. With this title in mind I was flipping through a magazine looking for a new recipe, and viola! I found the recipe of I've been waiting for.

Apple Bacon Burger

• 1/2 lb hamburger
• 1/2 lb sweet sausage
• 3 green apples
  
• Bacon
• Mayo
  
• Dijon mustard
• Cheddar Cheese (or one of your liking)
• Hamburger Buns

Mix together hamburger and sausage - core and dice one apple and mix in with the the meat mixture (use your hands to mix it in, its more fun!) make into patties and cook on a medium/high grill until cooked through and don't forget the cheese - while the burgers are cooking cook your bacon, I used pre-cooked bacon and just put it on the grill for a few minutes - slice up the rest of the apple (almost like you would tomato slices) to finish off your burger mix mayo and mustard together for a tangy dressing - build your burger to your liking and here you have it! Apple Bacon Burger! Yum!

The Journey to the Best Corn Muffin

So corn muffins and me are best of friends, no really. One week a few years ago I ate a corn muffin everyday for 5 days, the only reason I stopped was for fear of turning into a corn muffin myself. I am still not a corn muffin but am in search of the perfect corn muffin recipe.

You may wonder why I say recipe and not the 'perfect corn muffin' ... Well me and my taste buds agree I have found the worlds best tasting corn muffin. Okay ... that's a lie, we have a tie! The winners are the Maine Diner in Wells Maine and Mocha Mott's located on lovely Martha's Vineyard, where I currently call home. Both are just so full of flavor, just the right amount of corn meal and so moist! My Gosh, someone PLEASE give me either of their recipes. I am tempted to walk right into Mocha Mott's and steal their recipe!

You can buy a Corn Muffin Mix from Maine Diner, but that's no fun! I want to make it from start to finish ... not just add water!

So I have tried two recipes; one off of the corn meal box and this one, Sweet Corn Bread. Both were good, but not top notch. I need to try out more recipes so I can find the perfect one. So this is where my journey begins. I will keep trying recipes until I find the perfect one, or until I manipulate one to be the best.

So follow me in my journey. And feel free to follow along , let me know what you find!

Let the JOURNEY begin ...

to be continued

Blogaphobia

The other day my mother was playing Family Feud on FaceBook, she needed help with a question, Name a word that has Phobia at the end of it. Arachnophobia(fear of spiders) and Agoraphobia(fear of crowds) were the only two that we could get. Being the geek that I am I immediately Googled Phobias ... but I was too late to help her with her game, she had already had 3 strikes. But I got to looking at some of these phobias and I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

There has to be a fear for just about every situation and every object out there so on and so forth. But there isn't a phobia for fear of blogging, I checked .

I know that there is a reason for these Phobias, some people out there must have them for them to be named but some of them are pretty funny. You are like, how can any one have an intense fear of THAT! But someone out there does, so this is not me making fun of those people, just me noting some of the ones that I find more interesting.

Alektorophobia- Fear of chickens.

Arachibutyrophobia- Fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth.
Autodysomophobia- Fear of one that has a vile odor.
Caligynephobia- Fear of beautiful women.
Chromophobia or Chromatophobia- Fear of colors.
Coprastasophobia- Fear of constipation.
Genuphobia- Fear of knees.
Hexakosioihexekontahexaphobia- Fear of the number 666.
Ithyphallophobia- Fear of seeing, thinking about or having an erect penis.
Leukophobia- Fear of the color white
Nebulaphobia- Fear of fog. (Homichlophobia)
Politicophobia- Fear or abnormal dislike of politicians.
Proctophobia- Fear of rectums.
Xyrophobia-Fear of razors.


This is my most favorite one of all;

Panophobia or Pantophobia- Fear of everything.


Here is a little more information about Phobias -- Phobia - Wikipedia

you can find the full list of these phobias, also where i took them from @ The Phobia List

What holds you together?

One of my favorite movies of all time is In Her Shoes with Cameron Diaz, Maggie & Toni Collette, Rose. Originally a book written by Jennifer Weiner the movie follows two sisters each on their own journey to find the right path in life.




There is a part in the movies where Rose's boyfriend Simon, played by Mark Feuerstein asks her, "What holds you together?"

Rose couldnt answer, but Simon could ... "For me, it's the law, politics, the Sixers, and good food."

So my question to all of you is ... What holds you together?

For me it is ...

• Family & Friends
• Photography
  
• Music
  
• Cooking/Baking
  
• the Ocean
  
• Sleep

Peach & Blueberry Muffins

For the past couple months I have been on this muffin kick! I enjoy baking them and coming up with what kind of muffins I want to make. Also they are cheaper then buying breakfast stuff because you mostly use ingredients you already have in your kitchen. Also, I don't leave myself enough time in AM to make breakfast so this is nice to just grab and go.

Last weekend I made Peach and Blueberry Muffins! I adapted the recipe from AllRecipes.com

Peach and Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
  
• 1.5 cups canned peaches (drained and chop, save juice)
• 1/2 cup blueberries

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F . Lightly grease 6 BIG muffin tins. (also known as texas muffin pans)
   
2. In a large bowl, mix the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, mix the oil, eggs, and sugar. Stir the oil mixture into the flour mixture just until moist. Fold in the peaches and blueberries. Mix may be thick, if so stir in peach juice reserve until it thins out a bit. Spoon into the prepared muffin tins.
   
3. Bake 45 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes before turning out onto wire racks to cool completely.(half way through baking I sprinkled a cinnamon and sugar mix to and a crunch to the top)
   

Heather's Tips!
The one thing i cant live without while making this or any other muffin recipe is my Texas Muffin Tin! Here is one that you can purchase from Amazon! Nonstick 6-Cup Texas Muffin Pan

Obsession

For as long as I can remember I have had an obsession with Quotes. I have no idea where the this love/obsession/passion for quotes began, but it has followed me around for the longest time. I've gone as far as to tattoo 4 quotes on my body (we will get to those at a later date) and to incorporate quotes into my photography.

Whenever I am going through a change in my life good or bad I always like to find a quote that goes along with how I am feeling. Not just at those time but anytime I need help expressing how I feel. Here are some quotes that are close to my heart and a few newbies thrown in there ...

Some days even my rocket ship underwear wont work! Calvin and Hobbes

I believe in pink. I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner. I believe in kissing, kissing a lot. I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles. Audrey Hepburn

We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will.Chuck Palahniuk

Lead me not into temptation; I can find the way myself. Rita Mae Brown

Be yourself; everyone else is already taken. Oscar Wilde

Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself. George Bernard Shaw

Anyone can give up, it's the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that's true strength. Anonymous


I just don't want to die without a few scars. Chuck Palahniuk


We all take different paths in life, but no matter where we go, we take a little of each other everywhere. Anonymous


For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream. Vincent van Gogh


Never allow someone to be your priority while allowing yourself to be their option. Anonymous

A guy and a girl can be just friends, but at one point or another, they will fall for each other...Maybe temporarily, maybe at the wrong time, maybe too late, or maybe forever. Dave Matthews