Trick or Treat for Halloween

I just could not let this day go by without posting SOMETHING! Sydni has been monopolizing nearly all my time on the computer watching the following clip.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skdVouumMk4
I know there is a way to get the actual little screen on your blog, I've seen lots of people do it, but unfortunately I am lacking in the computer skill department and/or desire to learn and figure out how to do computery things.
This little clip really holds wonderful memories for me. Halloween was always my favorite holiday, it's the only holiday I can remember that my family didn't fight. After we got home from Trick-or-treating, my mom would always have Caramel Popcorn for us and we would watch whatever Halloween shows were on that year, this one or "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" or "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow"- still one of my favorites. Anyway, Happy Hallowwen everyone!

Think of a Wonderful Thought

Just thought I'd let you know, I'm leaving for a little over a week. We are headed to "The Happiest Place on Earth"- Disneyland. I'm hoping for a great trip, it's been a while since we've had a real family vacation. Hopefully Sydni will do better away from home than she did on our last trip!!
I hope you all have a great week, and hopefully it won't take me too long to get caught up once we get back.

The "Other" Cakes & Roland Meisner

Here are some of the entries from the Ametuer and Semi-professional level cakes. Many of these cakes were just as good if not better than some of the cakes in the professional level. I didn't take pictures of them because I didn't want to waste my space, but some of the cakes were pretty sad.

My sister asked me to make a baby shower cake for December, I wonder how she will like this one? I thought it was really cute. They even made it look like there were diapers in the bag.

A frog prince

Pink and chocolate, one of my favorite color combos

This one was modeled after an Opera House, every side had little opera singers on it.

Check out this Yoda, he had to have been about 4 feet tall. The best part about these cakes was the little informative pictures that showed how they were made.

You can see the pictures next to Happy Feet penguin. Mambo.

Homer was maybe 18-24" tall.

This gingerbread house was so fun to look, it was so detailed and just perfect.

I really have a ton more photos of cakes, but I really want to move on to Roland Meisner. The first day he demonstrated we did not stay to watch because he spent the first part of his time literally screaming about the evils of Isomalt- a synthetic sugar that is resistent to humidity and easier to work with. After seeing the rose he made, I wish we had stuck it out! We did watch him make the orchid and it was unbelieveable to watch him work with the sugar. He just grabbed with his hands like it was Play Doh. And he was so funny! He had the best stories about working at the White House. He was selling 2 books and I went over to buy one after listening to his stories, but when I saw the book they had left I changed my mind. It didn't have very many pictures and it was just all recipes. I wish he would write a book where he shares his stories and photos of desserts he made at the White House.

Since he hasn't written that book, I'll share some of his stories. He was Executive Chef for the Carter's, the Reagan's and the Clinton's. The Carter's brought him over from a small town in France and he said he was terrified to suddenly find himself working in the White House. He did not have a green card or work visa when he came and when Mrs. Carter found out she told him she'd take care of it. One day he was working in the kitchen when two men came to him and told him he needed to come with them. So he dropped what he was doing and got in the car, no questions. He came to a building where the people asked him all kinds of questions and he didn't know any of the answers. Finally they asked him, "Do you even know who the President is?" and he replied, "Yes, I cook him dinner every night." So they told him fine, he could go. Next thing he knows he is at a courthouse and they tell him to put his hand on a Bible and repeat after them, so he did and then "I am a citizen, just like that!" He said he was grateful for Mrs. Carter's help. Then he said years later he was working at the White House and a group of school children came to visit and they sung the National Anthem and he said, "I put my hand on my heart, and I was filled with love for this country and I started to cry and you know who I thought of in that moment? Mrs. Carter" Gave me chills when he told the story.

Some of his funniest stories were about Pres. Clinton. He is allergic to chocolate, flour and a type of nut, so Chef Meisner always made a special cake for him that was a white cake with strawberries. One time Ted Danson came to the White House and requested a chocolate cake, so Chef made two cakes and when it came time to serve, the President wanted the chocolate cake, Chef Meisner told him he had made a special cake for him and Pres. Clinton said he was President and if he wanted chocolate cake, he'd eat chocolate cake. So he did. Chef Meisner said the next day Pres. Clinton was giving a press conference and his eyes and face were all puffy, "I could always tell when President Clinton had been a naughty boy because I could see it in his face." He also said, "Pres. Clinton spent a lot of time in the kitchen. He likes his sweets. Then there was a time when not even the dog would eat with him, I don't know why, but he would not so the President was in the kitchen."

The second day of his class he taught the "Swans in Love" you can barely see them on the top tier, and the sugar bows. He demonstrated three different styles of bows. You can see what humidity does to sugar work in this photo. The rose and the orchids were melting before our eyes. It was so sad!! They passed around a piece of the bow and it was so wet and sticky I have no idea how he was able to work at all.

The orchid right after it was made. You just can't get that with fondant or gumpaste. It is stunning. But it went from this, to the following picture.

Pulled sugar may be too heartbreaking for me to try. Angela is going to teach us in January though. I think we'll be using the Isomalt, don't tell Roland!!

More Cakes!


I just found out that this cake won the bronze. My friend, Narcy, is going to this lady's house to get private lessons on making a whimsical cake. I am green with envy!! This cake's theme was the Oscars. Each stair had the name of the film that won "Best Picture." The orchid sprays on this cake were phenomenal as well.

This cake was inspired by, "Lady Sings the Blues." I really loved the airbrushing and the drapes and overall color scheme.




There were a few cakes based on "Gone With the Wind" but this one was my favorite. The trees are a little sad, but the figures of Rhett and Scarlett are awesome! Scarlett even had these perfect tiny ringlets. Wish I knew how they did that.

I can't remember what the theme was for this cake, something Greecian! The little statues were just perfect.

I got to meet the gentlemen who created this cake. Mama Duck knew them ofcourse. They are designers from New York. If you look above the bottom tier you will see what appears to be a purple glass plate, it is actually poured sugar. They had to pour it in their hotel room. I have no idea how it survived the humidity! Amazing! Their theme was Lucille Ball.




Still with me? There's a lot to go!

This cake was called, "Hollywoodland" I just really loved how they wrapped this tier, it looked like fabric. The ladies I was with tell me they must have taken two strips of fondant and rolled them together to get the striped effect. The stripes were PERFECTLY straight.




This cake was inspired by "White Cristmas" and my photo does not do it justice. It sparkled just like real snow and was just so lovely. Their table was beautiful as well.




I don't think any of the ladies I was with liked this cake, but I thought the scroll work was amazing and the mask looked so real. It's theme was "The Devil Wears Fondant."




This cake was just so simply elegant. I think it was the Grace Kelly inspired cake, my memory is getting hazy though. I think it was called "Her Finest Hour" and they had a picture of her wedding gown.





This is the cake I will learn to make in January. Can you believe it? It is another "My Fair Lady" cake and Mama Duck met her in the classes she took following the competition. Why on earth that lady was taking a class is beyond me! Again my lack of photography skills is shameful, they had used Disco dust on the bottom tier and it really does shine like a disco ball. I bought some from one of the vendors. Kristie- I did turn my flash off, are you proud of me?

Would you believe there are still more cakes?? I'm done for today though.

Where the Wind Comes Rushing Through The Plain...

I had that song stuck in my head the entire trip. How can you not really?

So after wandering through the sea of cakes, we sat down to hear our first demonstration. Pam was using royal icing to paint flowers on a cake. I was so excited because the piping gel didn't exactly work all that great, but this was beautiful. I was not able to get a better picture of the cake itself, but this is what I did get:


She had covered her cake board in fabric and had painted the cake to match the fabric. She said she uses this a lot for cakes for men, fall leaves, fishing scenes, etc. I think the fall leaves would be stunning! She used small disposable triangles to put each color in, and I have got to track those things down because I HATE parchment triangles! She didn't know where we could get them in the States, but I'm on a mission.

After this class I snapped some more photos of the cakes, I have so many and I'm not sure you want to see all of them but here are some really spectacular ones.



This is one by Glenda Galvez, she's won before and is famous for her bows. It really looked like this cake was draped in fabric, not fondant. Her inspiration was Marilyn Monroe's "Diamond's Are a Girl's Best Friend."




This one is a bit much for my taste, but can you imagine all the work that went in to making this thing??? The theme for this particular cake was an actress I've never heard of whose name I don't recall.




A lot of people chose Audrey Hepburn as their inspiration, in particular "My Fair Lady", but this one was inspired by "Sabrina" and was one of my most favorite cakes. Those gloves, the mirror and the "paper" are all made from sugar. The string work was unbelievably beautiful and...


check out the back of the cake. Beautiful from every angle!




Here's another Audry-inspired cake. Again the hat and little umbrella are sugar.




Yet another Audry cake. This one you have to look at the dome on the top. They must have done royal icing on a balloon or something, it was amazing. And I was thrilled by my tiara! I love the drape on the bottom tier.




I promise this will be the last cake for this post. This one is obviously "The Wizard of Oz." I'm sure it didn't win anything, but I thought it was a lot of fun to look at.

Do you want to see more cakes? I have more. A lot more! I'm going to do one more post about Chef Meisner and his sugar work. Wait until you see it, you are going to die!!

Ooooook- lahoma! Part One

What a trip! And where to begin?? I am not what I would call and "adventurous" person by any stretch of the imagination. I lived in the same town, and even the same house in that town, for the first 18 years of my life, then moved a whopping 30 minutes away for the next three, then made the big move to Utah (ha ha!!) after that. I don't like driving in new cities because I have no sense of direction whatsover and always get lost, sometimes even in my own town! Oh the shame!! So what possessed me to fly across the country to meet complete strangers? I decided it's time for a change. So this trip was step one.
I flew from SLC to Dallas, TX in the first part of my flight. I get airsick and did not have a very enjoyable flight. No puking, but it came close. I was concerned I would not find my way to the connecting flight in Dallas and imagine my dismay when I get to the Dallas Airport and discovered my flight is 3 terminals away. But I made it, just barely!! I arrived in Tulsa without puking (hooray!!) and then it hits me, I know what flight my friend is arriving on, but I have only seen pictures of her. How am I going to find her?? I did track her down though and she was just as sweet in person as she is in her emails. We get to the car and she hands me the directions and says, "I hope you can read a map because I'm terrible with directions and I'm counting on you to get us to the hotel." I said, "Girl, we're in trouble!!" We did get lost a couple of times but we found the hotel in the end! Then I met Angela and her daughter, Maria. Later we picked up Robi from the airport. They are all Southerners and let me tell you, Southern hospitality really does exist. I have never been treated so kindly in all my life. People were just so respectful of others and kind while driving, I've never seen anything like it. I felt like I spent the weekend with the ladies from "Steel Magnolias."

From left to right, Angela (Mama Duck), Robi, and me getting ready to enter the fair.


I did not realize my trip to Tulsa would make me part of their cake group, but it did. I am thrilled because these ladies are amazingly talented decorators and the leader of the group, Angela, knows EVERYONE in cake decorating. I'm now well connected. :) What does being part of the group mean? I'm now invited to come to Angela's mansion in Kentucky every couple of months for a weekend packed with her teaching us all new cake decorating techniques. She houses and feeds us, all we have to do is get there. See what I mean by Southern Hospitality? Angela calls herself the Mama Duck and we are all her little ducklings, I'm Duck #4. :)

Can I just tell you the people of Oklahoma take their State Fair seriously? They have massive dedicated buildings for the fair. Massive!! The livestock building was unbelievable. I spent most of my time in the fine arts building though and it was just as impressive with two levels. The cakes took up a sizable corner of the building. The decorators were still setting up when we arrived. It was so great to watch them making last minuted adjustments. I could not believe how many cakes were there. I don't even know the final number. It was spectacular. They had set up two fully functioning kitchens at one end of the room for demonstrations. A lady from Australia, Pam Archibald, and the former executive chef of the White House, French Guy, were teaching. More on them in my next post. I'll track down his name too. :) Meisner is is last name!


We had to taste some of the food at the fair. I have not been to a state fair in probably a decade, so it was fun to see all the rides and vendors. My favorite fair food was the grilled corn and the lemonade, I have never ever ever had lemonade that good in my life and unless I go back to Tulsa I probably won't ever again. Yum!! From left to right it's my friend Narcy, me, and then Robi. These are the girls I shared a room with.


Just so you know I actually did see some cakes, here is one of my favoirtes. The theme was Hollywood Glitz and Glamour and this cake was based of Halle Berry's dress when she won the Oscar. If you see that burgundy lace looking stuff, for those non-decorators that is called string work, and you make it with size 000 (very very small diameter) round tip and it actually floats off the sides of the cake and looks like real lace. It's extremely difficult work. Those lines under the top tier are not actually touching cake, they are floating.

To Be Continued...

You Gotta See This!

Don't worry, my Oklahoma post is coming. I know you are all dying to hear about my trip. (Make sure you are reading this with sarcasm and self-doubt) I just had to share this clip, I was floored! As if I wasn't already feeling completely inadequate after seeing hundreds of amazing cakes at the show, then I tried to search to see what shows we had going on out here in the west and came across this clip from the UK. Not sure how it came up, but I'm glad it did. Enjoy!

Wedding Cake Photos Have Arrived!

I was so happy when I saw an email with these pictures in my inbox today. I was beginning to think they were angry with the way the cake turned out and thought it tasted awful or something. She said they were very impressed with how the cake turned out and she'd keep me in mind for future cake orders. Horray!!

So here is how the cake turned out. I wish you could see the rest of the reception center, they had it decorated so beautifully. I like the color combo of hot pink and green, but I never would have thought of them as wedding colors. Everything really was just so elegant and clean, just really stunning. I was pleasantly surprised. And really happy the cake turned out after all the trouble I had and even up to the last minute thinking there was no way this could come out nice enough for a wedding.

She also included pictures of herself and another of the bride and groom, but I thought I'd just share this last one of the bride and groom cutting in to the cake.

There were so many little kids running around all wanting to help with the cake, I was concerned it wouldn't make it through the night, but it looks like it did. Weddings really are just so much fun.

This weekend I will be traveling to Tulsa, Oklahoma for the Oklahoma State Sugar Art Show held at the Oklahoma State Fair (I think!). I'm meeting some people I met online that I've been emailing for about a year now. I'm excited to finally meet them in person and to see all the stunning cakes. They do little mini classes and my friends and I are going to try to teach each other some techniques at the hotel, so hopefully I will learn a lot as well as just having a great weekend away. I hope to take tons of pictures if I remember my camera! :)

"24"

Last weekend my brother, Matt (but we call him Matty), came to visit. He's married and has an 18-mo-old son named Logan who Sydni just adores. Logan has started talking more and went around the house calling, "oo-ahh" the whole time they were here, we kind of gathered that was his generic name for both of my girls. Almost as cute as Sydni calling my brother "Muincle Daddy." It's a nice change for him considering when Julia was Sydni's age, she burst into tears and wailed, "I want my Daddy, not Uncle Matty!! Go away!!" Anyway, they came in to town to celebrate his birthday by going to the BYU football game, football is so not my thing so we did not join them, but I made him a cake.

My brother loves the show "24" and I'd been thinking of a way to make a "24" cake for a while since my hubby loves it too. Unfortunately for Ja, his birthday (and my FILs!) fell during the time I was making the wedding cake and I didn't plan on the wedding cake giving me such a hard time, so both of them got the short end of the stick this year. Considering it's what Ja wanted and my in-laws are on a diet it worked out for the best anyway. My cakes are so not good for you! Not to mention I really needed Ja's help to make the cake. It's hard to surprise you family with a cake when I have no way to hide it from them. The surprise is half the fun! Ja really helped a lot with the planning and execution of this cake. If you watch "24" you know there are a few key elements to every season- some kind of kidnapping (usually a relative of Jack) and a bomb or two. I decided to make a bomb.

I had a hard time figuring out what kind of bomb to make and all the details, Ja helped me figure out the final design. My brother had requested Apple Crisp instead of cake, so I didn't have to worry about making a suitcase cake or anything like that. I made the sticks of dynamite from Rice Krispy treats and covered them in fondant. The electrical tape is also fondant and the timer is actually this great little scrapbooking gadget a friend gave me. It's a little recording device much like those found in cards or picture frames and with my wonderful hubby's help (again!!) he was able to record the countdown noise they play between commercial breaks. The wires are actual wires I painted with food coloring. I was going to do something edible, but why?

He loved it and I was very happy to be able to do something special for his birthday.

His little guy Logan was terrified by everything, but I'm told he likes the sound card now. Sydni loves blowing out candles and kept making us relight them all night. She should be lots of fun next month!

In other news, I thought I'd share a few quick pictures. This first one is of Julia on her first day of school. She started at a new elementary this year and couldn't be happier. I'm happy too, the classes are smaller and they have excellent music and reading programs that most elementaries in the area don't.

This is Sydni's best friend, Hannah. I recently started babysitting Hannah and her baby sister, Rachel. So three days a week I have three children under the age of three. And for those of you who are currently or who have lived through this my hat is off to you. It's doable for me only because I know it will end at 4 pm! If it were my actual life my house would never be clean and we'd be eating a lot of take out!!

A few more quick notes, I picked up my knitting needles again for the first time in quite a while. I've picked some scarf patterns and yarn for the "Red Scarf Project" but I'm starting out with a dishcloth or two so I make sure I didn't forget anything. Also, I'm currently reading "Eclipse" and wondering what I got myself into. I'm not a very patient person so I typically wait until all the books in a series are written before I start them and then just madly read them one after the other. I had been told the Twilight series was a trilogy and thought I was safe to start them. Then I heard that's not the case, imagine my horror when I visited her website. Now I have to wait with the rest of you!!

No!

Ahhh the joys of having a 2-yr-old in the home, how I missed them! Tantrums at the slightest disappointments, waking during the middle of the night, and the late late night, and the so very early morning, and 30 min before the alarm goes off, refusing to eat, refusing to dress, suddenly developing "hearing loss," the ability to make any room in the house look like a tornado has blown through in a mere 10 seconds, and my absolute favorite- when they answer every question with "NO!!"


I did not forget about potty training, this is the topic Sydni says "no!" to the most. I have waffled on which potty training technique to use and settled with the "no technique at all let them do it themselves" technique. I know a few people who have done it this way and had great success. The appeal is overwhelming- no sticker charts, no constant trips to the bathroom, no need to have goodies around the house all the time, you just wait until they are ready and they just suddenly start doing it one day. I introduced the whole potty scene when Sydni was a little over 2-yr-old. Just showed her the seat gave her the basics, no pressure. We read "No More Diapers" practically every night and Sydni tells me she wants to say good-bye to her diapers in the morning, but every morning when I ask if she's ready the reply is the same, "NO!!!" I just kept telling myself, no big deal! She's young, she'll show interest when she's ready. Sydni will be 3 in October, and she still has absolutely no desire to go potty. I'm not even sure she is truly aware of what goes on down there. She was excited about wearing panties and even went all day (twice) wearing them without an accident. She has never gone potty anywhere but in her diaper. She's hopped up on the toilet all excited about going, but then hops right off to wash her hands. I've really tried my best not to pressure her in to this because I didn't want a battle of wills, but am I being too relaxed? Where am I going wrong? I really didn't think it was possible to fail at this non-technique, but some how I have managed it. Maybe it's just the environment here, I started babysitting for my friend recently. She has two little girls one is 6 mo younger than Sydni and the other is 2 months old. The 2-yr-old Hannah, is potty trained, but won't go potty for me, even with the special Dora seat and chocolate rewards. Maybe it's me! I don't know. Potty training was a nightmare with Julia too. She wanted to at 17-mo though, so I thought this time around if the child were older it would be easier. Any potty experts out there? Any help at all??? I'm open to all advice/encouragement!

My first wedding cake!

The wedding cake is finished. Right now it is hopefully being eaten and enjoyed by all the wedding guests. The cake was massive, just massive. To me anyway. I'm sure professional bakers would not think anything of it, but it was massive to me. It was three tiers, 16"-12"-8", the largest cake I had made to date was a 10" diameter. I knew 16" was going to be a big cake, but honestly I did not appreciate how large that actually is. I was petrified when the pan came in the mail. My cake decorating friend in Texas reassured me that all would be just fine, it wasn't going to be as bad as I was anticipating. Oh how I wish that had been the case! Let just say I had a very difficult time with this one. In the end it all turned out and they were very happy with the cake. I was in such a hurry trying to get it there that I left my camera (and the spatula I use to transfer tiers yikes!! one of the many difficulties) at home. I am going to ask the bride if I can possibly get a picture from her. I hope they took one!

Two cakes down, one wedding to go!



I have been busy making more cakes this month. And I'm not even close to being finished for the month! I still have hubby's cake on Sunday, my FIL on the 22nd and then the the wedding cake on the 24th. Good thing I don't live close to my Mom or I'd be doing another for her on the the 23rd. Actually there is a good chance hubby is just going to get a pie (which he'd prefer anyway), but I do want to make my FIL's because I have the perfect idea!! And it's simple to make. I hope...

Anyway, on to the cakes. First up is the cake I made for a baby boy's 1st birthday. I really think these may be my favorite cakes to make! The client wanted a bath time theme, maybe something to do with rubber duckies. She wanted a 10" and an 8" tiered cake. One layer with chocolate cake and chocolate mousse filling and the other to be chocolate cake with bavarian creme filling. Yum yum! This is the finished product.



I also took close up pictures of the little duck and bubbles. Everything you see is edible.

This baby is made of Rice Krispy treats covered in modeling chocolate. He is so tasty! The ducks are made of gumpaste with chocolate bills. The bubbles are gumpaste as well.


This second cake is a cake I have been wanting to make for a very long time now. I actually made the royal icing tiara back in April, but my neighbor never had a party for her daughter. I ended up not really having the time I would have liked to spend on this cake, but it still turned out pretty cute. It is 8" and 6" tiers, one is lemon with lemon curd filling and the top is chocolate with chocolate mousse. Not the best of photos, but I was in a huge hurry!! Better luck next time.

Today I am off to Costco to get the ingredients to start baking the wedding cake. School starts Tuesday here, so I also have some school shopping left to do. Not to mention hubby's birthday. I don't think I will be posting or reading much of anything for at least a week, so I hope you all have a good one!

Good Mail Girls

I joined Melissa's "Good Mail Girls" group thinking it would be a great way to get over my hang up about actually putting something in the mail. I am seriously post0ffice impaired. It's really not that far from my house, the lines have never been too unbearably long, but for some reason unless I am under a major deadline I just can't seem to make it there. I purchased little goodies and have them sitting in envelopes all ready to go, well, they were until Julia ate the candy out of them. If I had mailed them right away it would not have been a problem. This obviously is not going to cure my problem, so after I send things off, I am going to ask Melissa to remove me from the group!

I thought I'd share pictures of goodies I have received:

First off, Jessica sent my yummy treats.



Then Melissa sent beautiful beaded earrings and a bracelet.



Then Andrea sent her fun summer picks.



Much to my shock Jessica, who obviously has no problem getting to the post office, sent ANOTHER cute set of goodies.



They sent fun things! I'm really hoping to get mine off in the mail by the end of the week before things get too crazy. Frankly, it's amazing I'm posting again so soon! I figured I could at least do this!!! Wish me luck!