Well....That took a loooong time to finish!

~

The past couple of weeks have been rather crazy around here.  I intended to have this post up at the end of last week....but it took me forever to finish it!  Another busy couple of weeks at the Atkerson home.  Shocking, I know.  So....let's back up to last week two weeks...whoops, wrong again....nearly three weeks ago and start there.  

The week of February 7th I made a cake for one of the Kindergarten teachers at Eisenhower Elementary School.  Brent was in her class....it seems like yesterday that it was his first day of Kindergarten.  For details of that exciting event, make sure you read clear to the bottom of today's post...I'll post that wonderful nugget down there.  It's rather lengthy and not for the faint-hearted.  hehe...If you know me very well you've heard that story and have howled in laughter with me over it.  It certainly was memorable!  Anyway, here's a picture of the cake that I made for her daughter's 11th birthday. 

Happy Birthday Lexi!

This cake is iced with buttercream and then decorated with fondant.  The giant pink bow on top is the first fondant bow that I've made like that.  I've done simple ribbon bows from fondant on the side of a cake before, but not a big package style bow.  I think it turned out pretty cute and I learned a lot about fondant bow making...including some things that I would do differently next time.  See those little purple ribbons that look like curling ribbon coming out of it?  Those are there to hide the imperfections.  I mean, I think they add some nice detail.

Fast forward to the weekend now.  Every year I head up the cooking part of our Valentine Banquet.  It's a fundraiser for our youth who are wanting to earn some money towards Church Camp in the summer.  The high school girls came out to my house to help prepare the food Sunday afternoon.  I didn't get too many pictures because I was pretty busy, but I tried to snap a few.

Here are the highlights. 

Regardless of what the pictures show, everybody that was there worked hard and was excellent help.  I had enough helpers that they had to take turns working!  There wasn't enough work to have everyone working all at once most of the time.  So, these pictures show the couple of times that I had a chance to pick up my camara...so it was break time for some.  :)

Making Dinner Rolls

Taking a quick break

Testing the scales before we weighed out the bread dough

Whipped Cream Icing!  YUM!

Ice those cakes girls!

Break time!

Darien really did help.  I even let her use a knife!  hehe

Zackary came in to make sure the girls were icing the cakes properly.

The menu for the evening was:

Oven Fried Chicken Breast

Baked Potato

Corn

Dinner Salad

Dinner Roll

and choice of:

Pineapple Upside-down Cake

or

Black Forrest Cake

After cooking everything, we loaded it all up and took it to the Senior Center.  Charlotte and the some of the Jr. High kids were there getting the tables and salad ready.  The kids did alot of the work from filling plates, waiting tables, and helping clean up.  It was a really nice evening and Mark and I even played the Newlywed Game....along with Randy and Brenda Ledbetter, and John and Melinda Shipley. 

While at the banquet my mom watched the boys for us at our house.  She even made cookies with them and they surprised us with a giant heart-shaped chocolate chip cookie when we got home. Aren't these the sweetest little boys you've ever seen??!!

Brent, Mikey, and Zackary

Mikey ended up running a fever that night and having a headache.  He stayed home on Monday and Tuesday.  I sent him back to school on Wednesday....but Brent stayed home that day with it.  I know he wasn't feeling good because I made noodles that day and he's usually under my feet begging for raw noodles; but he was completely uninterested in them that day.  He probably should have stayed home Thursday also, but was determined not to miss his first Science Fair.  Science is his favorite class.  So he "sucked it up" and went to school so he could do the Science Fair in the evening.  I however, did not "suck it up"...by Thursday morning the nasty headache virus had hit me.  So, I layed around on my heat-pad most of the morning...and did as little as possible the rest of the day.  By evening I was feeling a bit better and we all loaded up and went to the Science fair.  Here's some pictures of Brent and his partner Timothy and the project that they did.

Brent and Timothy with their project and Participation Certificates.

This is a close-up picture of what they made.  It's called a Bristle Bot. 

Bristle Bot

   

 It's the head of a toothbrush and a motor from a cell phone (the part that makes it vibrate).  They used 3 different toothbrushes with varying bristle types and recorded which bristle type made it go the furthest and why.  When you connect the battery, it "walks" all over the place.  Very cool.  It has to have angled bristles to work...straight bristles brushes just fall over.  They really had a good time with it and I'm glad he toughed it out and went to school that day because......

...he found out Friday that he and Timothy won the Parent's Choice Award.  Yea Brent!  Look at that big cheesy smile!  
I LOVE IT!  He was on Cloud 9!

Friday....yea, I love you.

A couple of weird weeks around here with all the cooking and science and sickness.  Glad to be done with that! Friday did finally come, and with it, one last cake and a short babysitting job.  A friend of mine called to see if I could watch her 2 1/2 year old son for a couple of hours while she went to a meeting.  He was so cute and well behaved I hardly even noticed he was here.  In fact, I tried to trick her into taking Zackary instead when she came to pick Clay up, but unfortunately she did remember which child belonged to her.   While they played I worked on another cake.  This cake was for a 1st Birthday. 

Here's a picture of the napkin that it was supposed to coordinate with...

...and here's what I came up with.

Of course, every 1-year old needs their own smash cake:

And with that, I found that I had finished yet another week.  Where does the time go???  

Oh wait, one last thing....you're still wondering about Brent's first day of Kindergarten??  It was a day I will likely remember (in vivid detail) for the rest of my life....and snicker about whenever I think of it.   heh

Brent's First Day of Kindergarten

There we were on a sunny day in August of 2007...backing out of our driveway to go to our 15 minute appointment to meet the teacher.  And, there also, was a kitten (this doesn't turn out too good...if you're a sensitive type you might want to skip this section) who happened to be sleeping under the car.  Use your imagination here....I think you can figure out what happened next.  The poor thing didn't just go quickly either...it flopped all over the place traumatizing my son who was in the back seat  passed on quickly and peacefully, I'm sure.  Brent was in the back seat crying and yelling at me, "Why did you have to run over MY kitty?!!"  (suddenly that kitty was his...nevermind that he was too scared to even pick up any of the MANY cats that we had at the time...that one was HIS right then) I was very pregnant with Zackary at the time and just couldn't find the right words.  "I'm so sorry son."  We sat there for a few minutes trying to calm down and regain some composure...and off we go to the first day of school!  We really know how to get off to a good start!  By the time we got to town, he had calmed down about the whole situation and we walked into our 15 minute appointment a mere 7 minutes late.  We also know how to make GREAT first impressions!  By this time Brent was doing much better, and I was trying to act as cool and collected as possible so he would remain calm and try to enjoy his chance to see the classroom before his first full day of school.  So, I apologized for our tardiness quietly to the teacher and told her that we had a rough morning and I waited for an opportunity to explain when Brent was not within hearing range.  That opportunity came and I snagged it...I leaned in to tell her that "We ran over a kitty on the way out of the driveway" while Brent was busy checking out the room.  "Ooooohhh, I'm sorry.  Did everything turn out ok?" she replied.  At this point I am thinking, "Really, what kind of question is that? It's a 2 pound cat verses a 6,000 pound vehicle....do you really not know the answer to that?"  But I said, "uhhh......not really."  We talked about other things for a few minutes and then she said something at one point that made me realize that she had thought I said "KID" not "kitty"!!!!   WHAT??? No, no, no....kitten! not kid...it wasn't THAT bad of a morning! So, what must she have been thinking of me this whole time??  I ran over a kid on my way to kindergarten orientation, everything didn't turn out ok, and I'm still here (only 7 minutes late), acting all calm and cool??  Really?  "Oh, sorry kid, we gotta get to Kindergarten, but don't worry, I'll call 911 for you on the way."  Bwahahahaha!  It still cracks me up every time I think about it.  I can't imagine what she was thinking about us at that time....I also can't beleive that she still ordered a cake from me this week after that amazing introduction to our crazy family over 3 years ago.  It may have taken her those three years to get past it.  We tried to do better at making a first impression when Mikey started Kindergarten.  I'm not sure why, but they assigned him to the other teacher.  Hmmmm....probably just coincidence....

Fast Cars and Women....and a few other things

~

Ready for this week's adventures?

  I have five cakes to showcase this week.  It was a good week to celebrate...whatever the occasion happened to be.  I'll start with my favorite cake of the week.  Another cake for the Ryherd Family.....I love those people!  :-)  They keep me busy and always want something fun and unique.  What's more fun for a 1-year-old boy than a race car???  Not much.....unless it's that certain race car named:

LIGHTENING MCQUEEN!!!!

Happy Birthday Wyatt!

...and, of course, every 1-year-old needs their own smash cake to demolish...

Smash Cake



Both cakes are iced with buttercream and decorated with pieces that I made from fondant.  The blue and yellow balls, the black squares, and the road are all made from fondant.  The flags are made from red fondant on which I then painted the message with black food coloring.  Even Lightening McQueen was hand made by me and completely edible.  My 3-year-old son was a little curious about why I would want to borrow his toy McQueen...and was very watchful to make sure I wasn't going to give it away to someone else!  I had it sitting on the table to reference while forming the fondant into the right shape.  He was sure glad when I handed it back to him!

That covers the fast cars, now....on to the Ladies,

the Girls,

the Twins,

The Pointer Sisters......

I could go on, but I think you've got the picture.  Well, here's the picture:

Save the Ta~Tas!!!

I made this cake for a lady with breast cancer.  Some of her friends and co-workers ordered it to have at a Girls Night Out for her before her upcoming surgery for the cancer.  Her son also has cancer.....makes my crazy, hectic life seem pretty easy.  Reminds me of just how much I have to be thankful for.

It is iced with a thin layer of buttercream and then covered with fondant.  I then piped the buttercream trim onto it.  It was actually easier than I expected it to be....although, I have to say felt a little weird as I was smoothing out the fondant.  I was thinking, "I hope no one walks in as I'm cupping the breasts on this cake to get the fondant smooth!"  That would be awkward! Ha! 

Anyway, I think it turned out quite nice...actually, I might be a little jealous. 

Maybe she's just extra perky because of the COLD weather we've been having:

Brrrrrr!!!!!

Do you see that???? It says "BLIZZARD" on my weather center in my kitchen window!!!  We didn't get too much accumulation out here, about 4 inches or so.  My road was better than the streets in town.....maybe it was because the wind was blowing 9 million miles an hour!  OK, maybe not quite that hard, but out here in the wide open spaces, the snow didn't stick much...it just blew on past!  I also want to point out the -5 degree low temp....who ordered that?  Through another log on the fire!

Oh, look....here's the upcoming forecast:

See that fluffy, cute little pink cloud that says 5-6"???  Hopefully, I can make it up to Wichita for Brent's appointment with the Orthopedic Specialist (maybe he'll get to wear a tennis shoe out of there instead of that big ol' boot--I hope, for his sake), get groceries for the Valentine Banquet, and go to Cake Stuff before most of that hits the ground.  I'm pretty confident in my driving abilities...but some people see a snowflake and suddenly they are so completely incompetent that they shouldn't even sit behind a steering wheel, let alone start the car and drive it.

OK...done ranting about the weather...it is winter, after all, right?  Come on Spring, the groundhog says you're not far away...I hope he's right!

OK, Back to Kakeland...

My next cake was a baby shower cake for a Mommy who likes K-State.  Baby is a girl. 

So...Pink and Purple, of course!

The baby quilt is made from fondant and the purple details are hand painted with food coloring.  It says "K-State" on the middle square.  I also used my fondant/gumpaste tools to make seam lines and ruffled edges on the quilt.

The other two cakes that I made this week were both birthday cakes.  One was Dora the Explorer.  I found a picture I liked and piped it onto the cake using buttercream icing.  Some of the sprinkles around the edges are shaped like ABCs and 123s.  Fun!

And finally,we have Toy Story!  I love that series of movies.  I think Zackary could possibly quote the entire Toy Story 3 movie and always insists on acting it out as we watch it.  Why did we pay so much to see it in 3D at the Warren when it came out??? It's like 3D every time we watch it with Zack!

So, here's the cake:

I started this cake with no real idea of how I was going to decorate it.  I had the two characters to go on it, but no real direction.  So I decided to "write" the Happy Birthday message like the Toy Story Logo with the 4 dangling off the end like the 2 is on Toy Story 2.  I used fondant and my alphabet cutters to do the lettering .  I did the piping around the yellow letters with blue buttercream.  I think it all resulted in a fun design.

One last delicious picture:

Homemade Pizza!

Well, it's not a cake...but it turned out looking so yummolicious that I had to take a picture of it!  It tasted just as good as it looked, by the way.  :-)  We love homemade pizza at this house!

Until next time, remember:

"Vegetables are a must on a diet.  I suggest Carrot Cake, Zucchini Bread, and Pumpkin Pie."

                        --Jim Davis

February 8, 2011

Zebras are HOT!.....and Tinkerbell's pretty awesome too.

This week's adventures:

It seems like the theme that I've had requested the most during the past several months is....HOT PINK & ZEBRA!  Girls are lovin' them some zebra this year, and if you pair it up with hot pink it is really H.O.T!  I made 4 cakes and 3 dozen cupcakes this week.  Of the 4 cakes, 3 of them had Zebra stripes. 

Another thing that is really popular right now is a pearl sheen that can be sprayed on with using an airbrush.  It's a fun way to jazz up a cake.  This cake is the one of the cakes that I made this week with Zebra stripes.  It was for a girl that Brent goes to school with.  The first picture shows the cake before the pearl sheen has been applied.

This picture was taken after I sprayed the cake with a pearl sheen using an airbrush.  The effects of the sheen are most notable on the black fondant pieces (like the number 9).  Just a little added sparkle....what girl doesn't like that???

Another Zebra cake that I made this week was for a close friend's daughter.  Happy 18th Birthday Onyx!!!

Hmmmm....does that make me old?  A dear friend has an 18-year-old kid?!  What?

Anyway, it turned out really cute.  Zebra stripes paired with polka dots.  How fun is that!

The last Zebra cake that I made this week was blue and green instead of pink.  Still lots of fun!  Throw in some leopard print and a little pearl sheen and you're ready for a b-day party.   This cake was also for a student in Brent's class.

...and a matching sheetcake in purple.

Here are some other Zebra cakes that I've made in the past.

As you can see, everybody loves Zebra!

And if Zebra isn't for you, then it seems that Tinkerbell might be.

I did another Tinkerbell cake last week.  As the mother of three young boys, I'm not too into the whole girly-girl scene.....but, I have to say, for froo-froo girly stuff, it sure is cute!

Here's a view from the top, looking down.  This cake also has the pearl sheen airbrushed onto it.  I love the way it looks on fondant!

This cake was fashioned after a cake that I made for my Great-Niece.  Wow!  That title makes me feel really old!  I thought you had to be an old lady to be a Great-Aunt.  Hmmmmm...I guess if the shoe fits, I should wear it.  I can't possibly be old enough for that!

Here it is, along with a few other Tinkerbell cakes that I have made in the last couple of years.

 Happy 4th Birthday to my Great-Niece, Savannah!

This cake was for my cousin's daughter, Zainah.

I made these two cakes for a family in my church.  They have FIVE daughters!  I cannot possibly imagine that....I don't think I could even attemp to wrap my brain around it.  Between all the weddings, showers, and birthdays, I believe they could singlehandedly keep me in business.  Sometime soon I'll do a post that is all cakes that I have done for this family alone.  Yeah for the Ryherds!  :)

Smash cake to match the larger sheetcake.  

This week, I also made a birthday cake for an apparent chocolate lover.....chocolate cake, chocolate frosting, chocolate curls on top....and some peanut butter filling in the middle.  YUMMM--My kind of cake!

Here's how it went:

Chocolate cake with yummy peanut butter filling.

I could eat that filling with a spoon....very yummy!

Here it is with the chocolate frosting added......even more "Yummmm".

Chocolate curls.....definitely "Yummmmmm!"

The finished product:

Happy Birthday Alisha!

The other order that I did this week was for a K-State themed party.  My customer wanted some simple cupcakes that would go with the K-State color theme.  So, this is what I came up with.

The next couple of weeks look to be busy also, so, more to come soon. 

 Until then, "Have your cake and eat it too!"





Cowgirls, trains, and surfers.....Oh my!

This past weekend provided me with a fair amount of creative opportunity.  One baby shower cake with matching cupcakes, and two birthday cakes.....all very different from each other in style and theme. 

Here's a picture of the Thomas cake that I made for my neighbor who lives a couple of miles away.  Funny, we didn't even realize how close we live to each other until she ordered this cake and I gave her directions to my house!
 

 I also made a Phineas and Ferb birthday cake for one of Brent's classmate's younger siblings.  I also made a K-State cake for his sister a few weeks ago.  I really enjoyed doing both of these cakes.  This type of cake is something I get a lot of satisfaction out of.  I love it when I finish all of the separate components and it all pulls together into a fun and exciting cake that makes the recipients eyes light up.  Here are pictures of both of those cakes. 




Both cakes are iced with buttercream and then decorated with fondant pieces.  The only item on the Phineas and Ferb cake that is not edible is the surf board with the two of them on it. All of the pieces on the K-State cake are edible.  I made all of the decorations for these cakes out of fondant.  It's a relaxing medium to use...as long as it's doing what I want it too!  Kind of like playing with playdough.  :) 

That leaves the baby shower cake.  This was probably my favorite baby shower cake that I've ever made.  It very different than the usual pastels associated with most baby showers.  Maybe I just like it because I have a soft spot for the "Toy Story" movies. 

The original design called for Jessie to be sitting on the cupcake on the top.  My client provided the Jessie doll and it turned out that she wouldn't bend into a seated position as originally planned.....so we had to be flexible since Jessie was rufusing to be!  The cupcake came off and she was placed on the top of the cake on her stand.  Turned out really cute anyway!  I also made some matching cupcakes to go with this cake.  This was such a fun cake to make!

This is a picture of the cake when I finished it......before we knew Jessie wouldn't bend.  She was supposed to be sitting on the cupcake.  (Note the circle of black dots around the base of the cupcake.)





This picture shows how the finished product looked.....cupcake removed and Jessie standing inside the circle of dots.  I found it amazing that the stand for the Jessie doll fit perfectly inside the dots that I had put around the base of the cupcake!



These are the cupcakes that I made to match the "Jessie Cake".  This was a last minute design idea that sprang into my head.  I was trying to figure out how to decorate them so that they would coordinate with the main cake.  I thought of this idea when I realized that I had a small amount of red and black fondant left over from the big cake.   I think they turned out pretty cute!



That's the sum of my adventures for the past weekend.  With a calendar booked full of cakes for the coming weekend, I'm sure there will be no time for bordom any time soon!