Anniversary

November 28th was our wedding anniversary. Hard to believe its been 22 years! Needless to say I had a wedding cake delivery that day (Princess Cake below). I just did not have time to make us an anniversary cake. Our friends Dawn & Neal (dawnbakescakes.com) took us out to dinner and told us dessert was waiting at Starbucks.

Dawn surprised us with this adorable cake with the bee on top. Why a bee? Back in May we were hit by a car and my van was totalled (her name was Gabrielle. Yes, we name our cars.) Rob bought me a yellow Scion and I named it Honeybee, not to be confused with Bumblebee from the Transformers movie.

It was such a nice surprise to get a cake. No, I did not eat the bee, it's sitting on my baker's rack keeping watch on the honey.

Princess Cake

Although this design is simple, I think it is very elegant. The bride wanted a white cake with the pearl dots to match the pearls the bridal party would be wearing. The women, not the men :-).

Her wedding color was turquoise and the accent color silver, so she requested the silver *brooch* on the bow (which matched the one on her dressed). She wanted it shiny and sparkly.

I airbrushed it with pearl dust shimmer then added disco dust for extra sparkle.

This is one of my favorite cakes so far.

Hobbies

Cake decorating used to be a hobby of mine that turned into a business. I have always loved baking (not cooking) and making things. My sister who is about 4 years younger taught me to crochet when we were in grade school. The funny thing is that we are both left handed, but she crochets with her right and I crochet with my left. We still love crocheting. I tried teaching my daughters (both right-handed),but that didn't turn out so well, although the younger one can do a chain stitch, single and double crochet. I can hand her the item I am working on and say 'please finish the row in double crochet' and she whizzes right through it.

Cake decorating as a business can sometimes get very hectic so to have some down time I decided I was going to crochet. I made myself a pretty granny square afghan a couple months back. I then found a simple crochet hat pattern. I made one for myself, then my daughters each wanted one, then my sister wanted one, then my daughters' friends wanted one. (I'm still working on their hats.) The hat patterns I have (one for a beanie hat and one for a slouchie hate) each take less than two hours to make. So I get instant gratification and unlike my cake creations, gratification lasts long after the item has found a new home.

Bugatti Veyron Car Cake

Tada! Rob was so nervous creating this cake. I think it turned out great! This is the fourth cake he's done. Yep, he's in charge of the *guy* cakes (helmets, cars, golf bags, etc).

It was sculpted out of three sheetcakes, covered in fondant, airbrushed, painted, details added on, and nerves shattered delivering this cake. A part of the side panel came down (about 4 inches long). Fortunately, I had buttercream with me. Unfortunately, it needed to be black, so we made a stop at Walmart to get black food coloring. A few minutes later good as new!

The client opened the door and her eyes got really wide and she said it was beautiful before we even had a chance to set it down.

It is very nerve wracking, but very gratifying when a customer oohs and aahs over their edible creation!

Maria

GA ICES DOS

What is GA ICES DOS? It's the Georgia ICES Day of Sharing. ICES is short for International Cake Exploration Societee. Each state has its own chapter (there are chapters in other countries as well). Each state holds meetings at least 4 times a year.

Our meeting on Sunday, November 8 was in Savannah, GA. I LOVE Savannah! It's always a lot of fun. I guess it reminds me a little of Park Slope in Brooklyn.

I was walking passed this structure (don't know what it's called), but I thought it was striking and had to take a picture of it. Usually, I'm more into nature stuff or old buildings, but this just shouted out to me, "Take a picture of me!"

So there you have it!

Wedding Cupcakes

The bride's wedding colors were orange, brown and gold. The friend who ordered the bride's cake and cupcakes wanted brown and gold on them so I suggested this design. The cake was a 6" cake with a diamond patterns and sugar pearls with a larger heart as a topper with a gold *B* on it.

She was very pleased with the design!

Butternut Squash Risotto

I am still on the *pumpkin* kick. I found a recipe for Butternut Squash Risotto with Mushrooms. I added some chicken breast to it and it was yummy! My yo ungest daughter is a pasta freak and just ate a spoonful. She only ate the spoonful after I promised I'd make her spaghetti and meatballs next week.

I am definitely not a pasta person!

I don't like cooking....

but I do get in the mood during the Fall and Winter...on occasion! On Saturday I made fried chicken, mac n cheese, green beans and corn bread. Yes, my family was shocked and delighted! My daughter said, "I didn't know you knew how to make fried chicken."

The next day my husband asked, "Are we having more fried chicken today?" Poor guy. No, we didn't have any the next night, but it was a meal to remember.