Phoenyx? What's a Phoenyx?

Today I thought I'd share with you the story behind my name.  Where did the term "Phoenyx Jewels" come from?  Why don't I spell phoenix correctly?  It's actually a very personal journey and, to be fair, really starts in 2004 when I decided to change my religion from Christianity to Wicca (to the horror of my parents).

Question of the Day: What's the difference between innocence and ignorance?

Let's start with the textbook definitions.  Innocence is a freedom from guilt or sin through being unacquainted with evil.  Ignorance is the state or fact of being ignorant, a lack of knowledge, education, or awareness.  Unfortunately our court of justice doesn't differ between the two at all, whether you are aware you broke the law or not, you are still getting in trouble for it.  Truly it's a case of human moral.

Coronation Cake - Vanilla, Blueberries, and White Chocolate

This past weekend was dedicated to baking a cake.  I've been having a really strong urge to bake a vanilla cake with blueberry filling ever since I saw this picture floating around the internet.  So I decided to bake one in honor of Dragon's Hollow Coronation this weekend.

Banana Graham Muffins

Lesson of the night: If you want the icing to harden, don't scald the milk.  I know, you're probably wondering how I managed to make that mistake.  I decided to replace the powdered sugar in a recipe for maple sugar, which I knew wouldn't dissolve in the milk as well.  I remember seeing my mom scald milk when making buttercream frosting so the sugar would completely melt so I decided that would be my solution to the gritty maple sugar.  What I forgot was that scalding milk changes it so the combined sugar and milk caramelized and therefore isn't hardening.  Urg.....though now my cookies have a nice dipping sauce.  Right....so muffins....

Question of the Day: Who or what do you think of when you think of love?

When I think about love I think about people. I'm really a people-pleaser at heart.