I mentioned last month on my Five Year Blogiversary post that I had quite a few things happening including some exciting news and purchasing my first house. Well, I’m ready to share my news and some house photos.
Over the last few months I’ve been busy with a big project. I had a hard time not talking about it, and while it wasn’t a secret, I just wanted to wait until I had more concrete things to share.
So are you ready for the news?
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I wrote a book! I was going to start off with some clues about it starting with a “b” and that it is four letters, but then I realized everyone was probably going to guess baby, which is not the right answer. Anyhow, I have a book coming out!
And it’s a book on mug cakes! Writing a book has always been a lifelong dream, so I am very excited.
The book contains 100 mug cake recipes. And it’s not just a regurgitation of recipes on the blog. I went back to the drawing board. There are about 10 mug cake recipes that I had already created that I kept. The other ones are all either brand new creations or complete re-workings of previous ones I made.
The book is already listed for pre-order on Amazon. I actually stumbled upon it yesterday without knowing it existed and was giddy all day. Then today, I got an email from my editor with the book cover!
I didn’t do any of the photos for the book– I just concentrated on creating and writing and let the professionals handle the photography, so this is the first preview I’ve seen of the photos as well.
I worked really hard on this project. I had about 2 months to create 100 recipes. It wasn’t a lot of time, especially since I was also trying to consistently update this blog, move to my new house, work, and do all the other life-related things. Every recipe went through rigorous testing, averaging about five variations each before I decided on the best version. That’s over 500 hundred mug cakes I had to try out. By the end, I was feeling a little sick (though that didn’t last long).
Over the next few months, I’ll try to share more details and previews as they become available. But for now I just wanted to share my news. And for those who have enjoyed my mug cake creations over the years, I hope you’ll consider ordering a copy when it is released or even pre-ordering now. I know it’s still a few months away from release and you can always buy it later, but pre-orders do help the book move up the rankings and generate some buzz.
Okay, now onto the next big thing in my life: my first house!
I have to say, moving and settling into a first house has taken me a lot longer than I expected. When I moved from condo to condo, I didn’t really care too much because the moves were temporary. But with the house, I really want to make it nice. So I set a bunch of goals to make sure this house gets fully furnished and finished. I scheduled dates for when I wanted to share some of my favorite parts of the house on the blog so that I would be forced to finish on time.
Mr. K and I were house searching since our engagement three years ago. We never found our ideal home. Mr. K said I was being too picky, and maybe I was, but my thought process was that I had basically been saving most of my life for this “big purchase” and I didn’t want to give my years of savings into something I didn’t love.
And then we toured this model home. And this was the first thing I saw. I fell in love. I adored the giant kitchen island. My mother-in-law and brother-in-law think it’s far too wide, but I love it. When I saw it, I immediately envisioned pot lucks with dishes filling the kitchen island, or weekend brunches with food being set out and everyone gathered around sitting on counter stools. I fell in love with the rest of the house as well. It met every single criteria I was looking for.
This is definitely my favorite room in the house and I’ve been working hard on furnishing it. I had conversations with friends about what to furnish first. Most of them suggested the living room, dining room, bedroom. But my mind was set on the kitchen. There were two things I really, really wanted: a French door refrigerator and containers organizing my most used baking materials with chalk labels. Yeah, my non-food friends thought I was weird.
I shopped a long time for the kitchen organizers. I tried out various brands, models, before choosing OXO Good Grips POP storage containers. I love how easy they are to use. You push the button and it seals. You push it again to unseal it. You can also stack the smaller ones on top of each other. My kitchen is absolutely full of OXO tools that I’ve bought or been gifted over the years, so it only seemed fitting that I got OXO containers.
I love my new containers and the chalk labels make them look extra fancy. I’ve set aside a small area of the kitchen island for baking and having the containers have made baking so much easier. Before, I was running constantly to the cupboards to grab stuff, but now I have almost everything right there and I can hide my ugly large bags of flour and sugar in the pantry.
I got the chalk labels on Amazon. The OXO containers were provided to me by OXO. I literally had them added to my Amazon shopping cart, when one of the people at OXO that I’ve worked with on past projects generously offered to provide me some when she heard about me moving into my dream home.
Here’s a little peek at my French door fridge. I love the way the double doors open. I feel like it’s saying “Welcome,” everytime I open the doors. It’s quite spacious too, much more than my previous side by side door fridge. Whereas my old fridge was always stuffed full, this one is usually half empty. The one thing I don’t like though is that the freezer space is much smaller, which is a big problem for my ice cream addiction.
Mr. K thinks we should get a chalkboard to put on the fridge that says “Kirbie’s Kitchen.” I’m still looking for the perfect chalkboard to add to it. So far, I’ve put up my favorite magnets. The top ones are Tokidoki characters. The bottom ones are the Din Tai Fung dumpling mascots I’m absolutely obsessed with. The ones with the clips were souvenirs I bought from one of the restaurants. The bottom two were a gift from Jinxi when she went to Taiwan earlier this year.
I am also really loving the stove. This is my first gas stove and I was initially afraid of turning it on, but now I realize just how much more powerful the gas stove is as opposed to the electric ones I was previously using. I also love that the back splash matches the island, though I’m constantly afraid of getting it dirty so I barely use the back burners.
I don’t have too much counter space outside of the kitchen island, so I only have my essentials laid out: my Keurig machine, Blendtec and k-cups on one side. My very nice and super sharp Wusthof knife set (wedding gift), toaster oven, pyramid grater, kitchen scale, and George Foreman grill on the other side.
So that’s it for now. I’ll be showing more progress (hopefully) in the coming months including my other favorite rooms and my garden. Happy Friday and I hope everyone has a great weekend!
Congratulations on the book and new house! I really like the island. Very spacious.
thanks!
Kirbie
Unfortunately, somebody already beat you to it:
https://www.amazon.com/Mug-Cakes-Speedy-Microwave-Satisfy/dp/125002658X/bakingsheet-20
there’s nothing wrong with more than one book on the same subject! and I am aware of the other book. the recipes are quite different. Her recipes are for 2 cakes.
CONGRATS on all fronts! Can’t wait to pick up a copy of your book 🙂 So much to be excited about!
thank you! one of these days I need to get my copy of your book signed =)
Congratulations on the book!! And i love that its on mug cakes 🙂 Those are some of the recipes I find most unique about the blog and that I most enjoy as someone who lives by themselves and has a dessert-hating boyfriend. When I want dessert its hard to coerce myself into making a whole cake and then having to find people to gift most of it too so I don’t eat it all by myself. Have tried your microwave cheesecake and one of the chocolate cake based mug cakes and both turned out great.
The house looks like its coming together nicely too, I too am prone to falling in love with kitchens over other rooms in the house…
Lastly, saw your reply to Soo’s post that you have some Jeni’s ice cream in your freezer and have to say I love Jeni’s ice creams (randomly won a Serious Eats contest and got gifted a bunch of them) but sometime you should also try the Steve’s ice creams. Bought them at Whole Foods because they were cheaper than Jeni’s ($7.99 vs. $12.99) and the Brooklyn Blackout (chocolate based with a stout and chocolate cake) and this one that had pieces of donuts in it were amazing.
Ooh, I really need to try Steve’s ice cream. your descriptions sound delicious. Lucky you in winning the Serious Eats contest! i fell in love with Jeni’s after visiting them in Ohio. The packed ones available at Bristol Farms doesnt have quite the same effect but it’s still good. btw, Jeni’s a little cheaper at bristol farms compared to whole foods. Usually 10.99 and sometimes it’s on sale.
p.s. One junkie to another. What’s in your freezer? I have:
B&J’s Cherry Garcia, Salted Caramel
Alden’s Vanilla, Blackberry, Orange Sherbet
Thrifty’s Rainbow Sherbet
Three Twins Lemon Cookie
I currently have the new Breyer’s caramel gelato; BJ’s new core collection: the hazelnut one and the salted caramel; a few Jeni’s flavors , milk tea ice cream bars (from ranch 99), haagen dazs ice cream bars, and Nestle drumsticks
Wow! I don’t know which is cooler… First book… Lovely kitchen… First book… Can’t decide… I’m so conflicted…
lol!
Congrats on everything! Can’t wait to check out the book.
thank you so much!!
Congrats on the book!! So happy for you! Totally am going to pre-order. Autograph my copy at the US Open, please! Congrats on the new kitchen too. Coincidentally, I am on the hunt for new kitchen canisters. I was mortified when my powdered sugar tasted like the plastic canister it was in, and I couldn’t stand the smell of the plastic in general. Nothing I tried could remove the plastic smell. Do you not have this problem with the oxo ones? What are they made of?
hmm I havent had any issues with a plastic smell. I washed them beforehand and they dont seem to have any odor.
I cannot believe how far you’ve come (sniff sniff) – so proud of ya!
aw, thanks. it’s definitely crazy!
A big congrats to you for the book! I will definitely be pre-ordering it as well as gifts for my friends. Congrats also on your beautiful new home! That island is AWESOME!!! Very nice indeed. I can totally see you as the hostess with the mostess. When you book comes out, you should have a book release/book signing! 🙂
Heh, I hope to have lots of food parties in the new kitchen!
Congratulations on everything! With all that work you have already put into mug cake posts, it is perfect for your own book! I am thinking it would be a great present for my foodie friends.
The kitchen looks wonderful too! When we upgrade to a newer house (many years from now), I am definitely going to focus on the kitchen! For me, I notice its a hangout spot in my home as well as when we visit other friends (especially if food is involved). So happy for you!
a kitchen is a great spot to focus on, especially for food bloggers and food enthusiasts!
Congratulations on all this wonderful news!! Love your new kitchen, it is a beaut!
thank u!
congrads kirbie!
bottom draw freezers I find make it hard to find food.
in pic 6, what is the thing next t the wooden kcup holder?
it’s a k-cup drawer! I have a lot of k-cups..haha
your kitchen looks like a celeb’s, which is fitting since you have your own book coming out! the cover is so cute!
aw thanks!
Oh my goodness – congrats on your book!! That is so exciting! It must be so fun to say “Hey… my cookbook is coming out” haha! Can’t wait to see your book out in all it’s glory!
I’m totally jealous of your kitchen and wonderfully large island. I have similar containers for my flours/sugars and I just want to get a few more to hold my other stuff (but there’s no more room, boohoo). I love the chalk labels – so cute! I might have to get some of those…
I want to organize everything into containers with chalk labels now! I think next I’m going to put grains and cereals in some other ones. I can’t wait to see the finished print of the book too!
Congratulations on both book and new house! I’m definitely looking forward to the book release, your mug cakes are awesome!
thank you so much!
Congrats! Looking forward to the book.
thanks Kirk! None of this would have been possible if you hadn’t started me on the blog track!
Congrats!! I’m so happy for you – SO looking forward to the book and definitely pre-ordering it! The cover is gorgeous (and I love the font, hehe). I also already have a few friends in mind who would love the book, too 😀
And your kitchen is so lovely! And YAY for the Din Tai Fung magnets! Hahaha I feel so special 😛
Thank you! I like the font too. hehe. The DTF magnets are my favorite! You honestly couldn’t have brought back a more perfect gift for me.
KIRBIE!!!! What wonderful news about your book!! How awesome to say that you have an editor, haha! I’m definitely pre-ordering your book, I am soooo excited for you! 🙂 Yay! And your kitchen… so beautiful. Okay, back to your book (hehe), I’m proud of you, Kirbie. Many congrats!
aw, thanks!! yeah it’s pretty exciting to have an editor. When I told one of my best friends that I had a book deal and she was like “you mean, like a real book deal? with an editor and where I can actually buy it on Amazon?” hehee
Congratulations!! On the house AND the book! I don’t think you can ever have too large of an island. You’ll find it’s the best place to set out appetizers for parties, or really any food-centric gathering. Can’t wait to see your book!
thanks! I knew my food-loving friends would understand why a giant kitchen island is totally great! hehe.
Congratulation on your new book. I love the cover.
thank you!
I am SO excited for you!!!!!! Cannot believe I’m blog friends with a real life author 🙂 Definitely gonna buy the book! And I’m unbelievably jealous of your new house/kitchen! That island is fabulous!
thank you!!!
Congratulations on the book and the house. So exciting!!! And your kitchen is beautiful 🙂 I am envious of all that space!
I am so in love with the space! So much room for cooking and baking prep! I’ve been trying to keep it de-cluttered, but slowly buying little pieces to add to it.
Congratulations on the book! And the new house looks beautiful!!
aw thanks! I’ll try to share more photos soon!