Technology 10 Years Ago...

I am nearly 21 and recently been thinking about my childhood, its scary to think how much the world has changed since I was 10 years old.

Firstly I didn't have a computer, not even a shared house computer. The closest computer was at school or my local library and even then, it was pretty much a word processor and the art game 'dazzle' that I used it for. Im not sure if google was even around then, but I certainly had never used it, The internet was not a 'thing' I was fully aware of. There was no youtube, or facebook, no twitter or blog sites, social media was not a major factor in society.

Secondly There was no flat screen LCD 3D TV systems, no way, nor was there 3 or 4 TVs per household, I remember growing up we had 1 TV in the living room, a big black bulky box with video player underneath. No DVD player, Netflix, Skybox, Tivo none of these things even existed. We had a huge stack of Videos beside the TV which had to be rewinded before being played, no external hard drives to store movies on.

Thirdly I want to talk about mobile phones, which has made a huge if not one of the biggest changes in the past 10 years. I remember my first phone, ad it is probably the same phone every other 20 year old had as there first phone, it was a Nokia 3310, and my primary use for this phone was to play 'snake'. A simple black and white screen, no apps, music, camera, photos, videos, but it was all we knew, It was the iphone of the time. Then came flip phones with awful camera but nobody complained because they were the first phone and camera integrated which was a revolution at the time.

Next I want to talk about computer games, Now I will admit I wasn't the biggest fan of gaming, but was prone to playing Super Mario or Crash Bandicoot on the Playstation, and when I say playstation I mean the big old grey one, the first machine of there time. I had a little dance mat that plugged into the PS1 and would dance around to my hearts content. Now they have all these games and consoles I wouldn't know where to begin, live interaction with people from across the world on the xbox, and movement sensor games with the wii.

It's crazy to think that over the past 10 years which is not that long in reality the technological world has changed so drastically, and Its scary to thing where it will lead in the next 10 years.

DIY - Vinyl Record Cupcake Stand

I am constantly on the lookout for crazy new ideas when it comes to baking, decorating and showcasing my products, and found this amazingly unique way of displaying cupcakes using old vinyl records.

As always I recorded a youtube video to show you step by step how to make this, so give it a go and impress your friends and family at your next party.

Thanks for watching and don't forget to subscribe to my Youtube channel to see more videos like this one.

Rachel Ward

Rachel's Cake Company

The past couple of weeks I have been super busy setting up a little cake/cupcake business. I have always had a huge passion for baking and it seemed only right that my next step in life would be to use this passion and drive to do something in life that I enjoy and hopefully everyone will too.

I make specialty cakes for all occasions and have a very creative streak when it comes to design and flavours and am constantly praised for the work I do.

I will be setting up a stall at a Bowlers Market (near Trafford Centre in Manchester) next week, selling a selection of cupcakes, The four flavour combinations I have settled on will be the following:

• Salted Caramel & Pretzel 
• (Vanilla cupcake with caramel centre, topped with caramel buttercream and topped off with a pretzel)

• Extreme Double Chocolate
• (Chocolate cupcake with chocolate gnash centre, topped with chocolate buttercream and topped off with chocolate balls)

• Vanilla Confetti
• (Colourful vanilla cupcake with vanilla buttercream and rainbow sprinkles, topped with a chocolate slab)

• Mint Chocolate 
• (Peppermint chocolate cupcake, with a minty centre, topped with peppermint buttercream and a mint chocolate slap and finished with a drizzle of chocolate)

So feel free to pop down if you live in or around the area and try one out for yourself. 

I have set up a twitter account and email address dedicated to all things baking, so if you have a question, or want to order then you can contact me on either on. 

Twitter: 

https://twitter.com/RachelsCakeCo

Follow me on twitter for up to date info about where I will be, stall info, and photos of all my baking results. 

Email:

RachelsCakeCompany@gmail.com

Email me if you want to order a specialty cake or batch of cupcake for any event you have planned. 

I have a food hygiene certificate and my kitchen had been registered with the local council.

What is your favourite flavour of cupcake from my selection? 

 

Flu Camp - Stage 1

So I heard about Flu Camp on a local radio station, its basically a clinical trial testing new treatments for the common cold virus and participants receive up to £3700 for completing a trial. I though this sounded like a great way to help find new treatments plus receive quite a lot of money in doing so.

So I went online, and signed up filling in the usual name, address, contact, email stuff you get on every bog standard sign up site. Once I done that I forgot about it and got on with my day to day life, until I was at the gym and got a phone call from a lady who worked for flu camp, and asked me 101 different questions about my health, history and lifestyle, she then gave me an appointment to come into the clinic in Manchester to have a blood test and told me I would be compensated for my time, I though whats not to lose, I give blood and get £20, brilliant.

So I went down to the clinic which was actually fairly close to my university so I didn't have to walk far, I went in and was told by the receptionist to sign in and till out a form on the ipads they had available then to take a seat and wait to be called in.

I was joined in the waiting area by on other student and we were both called together to fill out a consent form and to show our IDs, once we had filled out the required forms we were sent into a room with about 20 seats and a tv screen and were asked to watch a short video about who the company were and what there aims we, what they have done and what they are planning to do and what our role as volunteers entailed. After the video which was about 10 minutes we were brought into separate rooms and I was then interviewed by a lady, well when I say interview it was really me just answering yes or no to a list of questions she had about my heath and if I had any problems etc.

So once that was done I was brought into another room which resembled a typical doctors office, I was then asked to sit on the bed and it was then when she took a small sample of blood from my arm, I am not squeamish so this didn't bother me, after this I was free to go, so she walked me to the exit where I signed out and left the building.

This leads me up to now, the blood test was a couple of days ago and I was told it will take a few weeks for my results to come back and to see if I am eligible for any trials they have available. I will keep you updated on my progress through this little journey, so stay tuned.

Thanks for reading,
Rachel Ward

It Feels Like Forever Ago...

I know, I been neglecting my blog for since what seems like forever, but I've bitten the bullet and I am adamant with myself that I will keep it up this time and not do a couple of posts and leave it for weeks with nothing.

Even though my blog has become some what of a tumble weed area my youtube  channel is constantly on the go with new stuff posted regularly in the form of DIY, food recipes, tutorials, tips and tricks and videos off all sorts that will you will hopefully find interesting. So if you haven't already go over there and check it out, if you like what you see feel free to subscribe for weekly videos ...

CLICK HERE TO ENTER MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL

So whats new with me?
Well since I last posted, I was on my way to America to take a road trip across the southern boarder, which I don't think I told you how I got on.
If I had a penny for every person that asked me how it was I would have enough money to well probably buy...well a bottle of water. Seriously though I never know what to say or more so where to begin with a question like that. I had an amazing time though and thats the main thing, it was defiantly the summer of a lifetime and will probably be the best summer of my life EVER. I learnt so much about myself and felt like I grew up, became more confidant as a person and embraced life to the fullest, not to mention I made loads of great new friends who I shared all these experiences with. I think I did actually tell you about it. Im not sure I will have to go back and look at my previous posts to see what I wrote (see if I was here more often I wouldn't forget what I write).

Anyway I also started back at uni (booooo) but I'm now in my final year (yayyyyy), which means the countdown to graduation has already begun, but with that comes a heap of thinking and planning to do with my future. I am at the stage in my life that I am still not sure where my future will lead me and Im not 100% sure what I want to do. It was a lot easier when I was five and I wanted to be 101 different things. But now its reality and not make pretend, I cant just sit and waste my life away. I have to go out there, do things and make something of my life. Not be scared by other people and don't take no for a answer. My true passion lies in baking. I love it, every aspect of it from baking to decorating to displaying and photographing my work. I guess thats why I love youtube so much because I can share with you my passion which is a great feeling. A dream would be to open my own bakery, maybe somewhere in America or maybe Australia, settle down, have 3 kids a husband and a dog, live the postcard lifestyle. But I know thats a long shot but Its good to have aspirations, something to work for and aim for. I guess in a way I have already begun that process, I am in the 'early' stages of setting up my own little cupcake business which if all goes to plan I can start selling a local markets and make a name for myself (I will keep you updated with the progress as this goes along), I have however set up a dedicated twitter and Facebook page for my little business which I have named:

Rachel's Cake Company

Twitter:
https://twitter.com/RachelsCakeCo

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/RachelsCakeCompany

So if you want you can have a look around and follow my progress through twitter and facebook, bearing in mind its still early stages so theres not that much up on them, but once my stall gets up and running it will be go, go, go!

Keeping in line with my future, My plans for Australia are still in the pipeline, Once I graduate I will if everything goes as it should be jetting of with a friend of mine to the land down under to spend a year traveling, working, and having a great time. Of course thats not till next year so I will give you more info on that when I have more to tell.

Oh, I also have a trial at a local bakery this coming saturday to work a few days a week as a cake decorator which if I am successful will be a great opportunity for me to improve my decorating skills and make me better at what I love to do. Did I mention that I enrolled on a evening cake decorating course at a local college in september so I have been attending that as-well, which has been a lot of fun and I continue to gain knowledge and experience that I so desperately need.

I guess I have my immediate future sorted out and I guess you cannot plan your whole life to the book, sometimes you just have to see where the world takes you. I guess Im just a bit of a control freak and like to know exactly what I am doing and when I am doing it or I get really anxious and feel sick. Thats something I have to work on and deal with and just let go of all those worries.

Any way enough of me blathering on, I am sure you have had enough, I will speak to you tomorrow with some exiting news I have to tell you :)

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to follow my youtube & twitter account:
Youtube
Twitter
Twitter - Rachel's Cake Company

Thanks again,
Rachel Ward