Emma's Adventure's in Baking and Travels

In my last blog article, I mentioned two ways of publishing books: self-publishing and traditional publishing. This blog article is going to focus on traditional publishing for the purpose of exploring which publishing companies are the most popular and how their websites attract writers of particular genres.  According to Olivia Smith in the article, "What are the 'Big Five' Publishing Houses?," there are five main traditional publishing houses (Smith):  Penguin/Random House, Hachette Book Group, Harper Collins,                           Simon and Schuster, and Macmillan Although these five publishing houses still hold plenty of hype in the publishing world, it is hard for writers to get published (Smith). Therefore, as I mentioned in the last article, self-publishing rates have skyrocketed in recent years. But still, the Big Five continue to bring in the majority of revenue from book sales.  Penguin R...

When is the last time you picked up a book? Yesterday? Today? A month ago? Maybe you're trying to come up with the last time you picked up a book. Some people might say that with all the other sources of entertainment in our world today, the amount of people reading has gone downhill. That would make perfect sense. After all, life is busy. Who has the time to read for leisure these days anyway? But fortunately, this is false. Books, both electronic and physical copies, are more popular now than ever. This is great news for the publishing industry. But you may be wondering, what is it that keeps the publishing industry alive? Over the years, certain genres have become more popular than others. Therefore, writers hoping to make it big (or at least keep the lights on) need to know what's "in" so that they can survive in the publishing world. The question for these writers is: which genres make the most revenue?  In the article “23 Gripping Book Industry Statistics [2023]...

Got another recipe for ya! And this original is even in the official Emma's Recipes cookbook! Perfect for breakfast/brunch, dessert, or literally anytime anywhere. Basically, there's three layers: the cake, the filling, and the streusel topping. Honestly, I could just eat the streusel by itself, but for obvious reasons involving butter, I will refrain for now. Here's a list of supplies you'll need: 9 x 13 glass or metal pan 1 large size bowl, for cake  3 medium size bowls, for filling, topping, and yogurt/milk mixture Electric whisk or handheld whisk Spatula Measuring cups/spoons Ingredients: Cake: 3/4 cup butter, softened 1 tsp salt 1 1/2 cup sugar 1/3 cup brown sugar 2 1/2 tsp baking powder 2 tsp vanilla extract 3 large eggs 3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt 1 1/4 cup milk 3 3/4 cup all-purpose flour Filling: 1 cup brown sugar 1 1/2 TBS cinnamon 1 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder Streusel Topping: 2/3 cups sugar pinch of salt 3/4 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 TBS cinnamon 4 TBS butt...

As of late, and for a while now really, I've been missing my once home of 8 years, halfway around the globe: Kampala, Uganda. I lived there from 2012-2019. I moved back when I was seventeen, right before COVID-19 happened, and I haven't been back since. Fortunately, travel restrictions have dialed down considerably, so I am planning on making a trip over there this July!  As Uganda has been on my mind a lot, I wanted to post some of my favorite memories from when I lived there. There are so many, but I want to share just a few from the last year I lived there... These pictures are from Sipi Falls, which is in the valleys of Mt Elgon, the mountain with the largest circumference in the world. My dad and I went here in April of 2019 to find some solitude from the big city to write a book together, which is currently being published. In a country that is known for its tropical climate, this spot required long sleeves and sweat pants, something I was not accustomed to! We hiked thro...

One thing you should know about me is I'm a chocoholic. There are particular times in my life that I've been in the recovery stages, that I've tried to avoid it, and other times like right now that I am full on embracing it. I was scrolling through some of my saved Pinterest recipes and I ran across this salted caramel brownie recipe that looked realllllly tempting. So, let's make some homemade brownies! Just to be clear, this is not my own recipe. Here's the link if you want a more detailed explanation of this recipe:  https://pin.it/LnZ0O7H I did everything pretty much according to the recipe. I usually tweak things to add my own twist, but honestly, this one didn't really need much adjusting. It's a very solid recipe. The only thing I added was more chocolate chips! One important thing about making homemade brownies is buying quality ingredients. The only ingredients you really have to worry about here are the semi-sweet chocolate, cocoa powder, and the c...

I absolutely love the beach. There is truly nothing else like staring out into the deep abyss that is the ocean and imagining just how far it goes. I got the opportunity to go to the Dominican Republic for two weeks over my winter break. I went with my boyfriend, his twin brother, and three of our friends. It was an amazing time to say the least. We stayed in Punta Cana, which is one of the more popular and safe areas in the DR.  We had a bit of a hurdle our first week, as the Airbnb we booked was not exactly what we thought. I will spare you the details, but I'm just happy there were no bed bugs. Fortunately, Airbnb upgraded us to a different place that really made it feel like a vacation. We spent the second week at a third-floor condo on resort property and, my favorite part...it was a five minute walk to the beach!  Most of our days were spent soaking up the sun on the beach and exploring all the amazing places to eat. I was quite content laying out on a beach chair gettin...

Hi there! My name is Emma! As you could probably tell by the name of my blog, I have a passion for baking and travel. A little bit about me... I am originally from Mt. Sterling, IL with ties to my birth town of Elgin in Chicago. In the fourth grade, I moved to Uganda, where my family and I founded a school for underprivileged children. I spent eight wonderful years there. When I was a senior in high school, I moved back so that I could get a job and save up for college. I ended up moving to Macomb, IL in 2020, as did the rest of my family, where I currently do life.  I am a junior at Western Illinois University majoring in Creative Writing and minoring in Professional Writing. I work part-time as the manager of The Study, a small locally-owned coffee shop on the square here in Macomb. I've worked there for over two and a half years and I absolutely love it. Coffee is another passion of mine. In my free time, I enjoy serving on the worship team at my church, spending time with my bo...