recent baking adventures

So I've been trying my hand at baking ever since moving to DC. I think having people to bake for, who want to eat my experiments helps. haha, i.e. small group mostly :P Here's a few of the things I've made recently:

Pecan pie, of course. Made it for christmas, as part of a "gift" for my dad. I don't know what it

is about pecan pie, but its sooo good. I think i've made at least 4-5 in the past few months for multiple thanksgiving and christmas occasions. haha, i'd say i'm perfecting it, but somehow it

comes out a little bit different every time.

Lime custard tart. I don't remember why i wanted to try this. But it turned out really good. Tiffany and I made it, also during Christmas, but

for my dad's birthday (12/28). I think my mom liked it the most! because she loves tart/tangy flavors. But yes, it was really good. I would definitely make it again. Thank you epicurious!

(http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Lime-Custard-Tart-107435)

Christmas cookies! Of course we had to make them. We had a few creative ones going-- like

state of maryland, taiwan, treasure chest (or house), snake, creepy smiley face... they were all delicious. Man i ate so many cookies over christmas.... This shot features tiffany's super asian/cute happy face. yay.

some of my recent experiments for small group:

Yes this is exactly what it appears to be-- chocolate covered bacon.

It turned out... interesting, is the only word i could used to describe it. I think i overcooked the bacon; though my personal preference is for chewy rather than crispy bacon. It was sweet and salty. I'm not dying to eat it again, but it turned out a lot prettier than i thought. I'd like to give it another shot someday, tweak the recipe a little. I think it has the potential to be pretty mindblowing...

And last but not least, my most recent baking endeavor-- red velvet cake balls! (Inspired by: http://www.bakerella.com/red-velvet-cake-balls/)

So I have eaten these before. I don't remember where, or when. But I remember being with JK, and being soo surprised at how moist they were on the inside. So when I ran across this baking blog recently with the recipe so I had to try it!!

First a before pictures, the balls are neatly in a row, before being dipped in the messy chocolate!

and the finished product:

yum. (yes i did purposely take a bite just to take that picture...)

p.s. had an amazing weekend in killington over MLK weekend-- Sunday morning, there was just a breathtaking view from the peak of the mountain-- of just this ocean of clouds below us. For that moment alone, it was worth the trip. But besides that, we had a blast~ :D