Staci & Brandon Cut the cake

Told ya Staci wanted it decorated very simply. But it made her happy, so I'm happy too. Congratulations to the new Mr and Mrs!

We're getting somewhere now!

Yup. All iced. There's not much left to do. (The design is v simple.) The most interesting thing left is structural. She wants all thee cakes stacked instead of separated by pillars and plates which is easier. I have to put wooden dowel rods in the larger two cakes to help support the weight of the smaller two. :) Who knew cake decorators were a little bit like architects? Kewl.

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Three very tall cakes leveled, filled, trimmed and ready for icing. My fabulous red Kitchaid mixer made this job a (wait for it!) piece of cake. (Oh, stop groaning!)

Off to ice the cakes...

What I've been working on

Sorry, it's not my novel--though that will come soon!--it's my cousin's wedding cake. For the last couple of weeks, I've been obsessed with buying ingredients, supplies, and baking cake layers. Oh, and what I'm going to wear too, of course!

The bride, Staci, was a flower girl in my wedding! Now, we do tend to get married v young in my family, but it still makes me feel a teeny weeny bit old. Her sister, Kristin, two years her senior (and another of my flower girls) is getting married in July as well. So, we'll do wedding cake, take II then.

Anyway, here's all 7 layers of the cake as they looked this morning (above). The layer that was batter in the pan is now ready to come out of the oven. I'll work on leveling and filling the other sizes while that one cools--hopefully v quickly since it's too big to fit in my fridge which would help speed up the cooling process!

For those of you wondering why there are 7 cake layers, it's because I couldn't get a thicker cake pan for the bottom layer. Both the 8" & 12" cakes were baked in 3" depth pans, but my 16" pan is only 2".

And the photo below is how they looked all trimmed and with two of them stacked. Cake's gonna be tall!

Me & Elise

The cutest child in all the world. I'm not biased. No sirree!

Meme

This is the laziest way to get back into posting, but oh well. I found this meme on Barb Ferrer's Blog and I decided to consider myself tagged. Do the same if you wish.

You’re feeling: Tired

To your left: Stack of RWR & Bark mags, a photo of my protagonist, assorted gifts I'm wondering where to return or re-gift, post its, sun glasses, conference notes, notes on the WIP...

On your mind: I really need to get back to writing. I'm really sad that I'm not writing daily. I need to pay the bills tonight. I'm in the mood for ice cream and I wish we had a flavor other than my husband's favorite rocky road, which I think is boring.

Last meal included: Spaghetti with meat sauce (made with ground turkey), a crisp green salad with Wishbone Salad Spritzers and a piece of "garlic bread" (toast with a couple of sprays of I can't Believe It's Not Butter, garlic powder and Italian herbs) Yeah, I'm on a diet. It was quite good.

You sometimes find it hard to: Clean the house. I have no interest in it. And when it's gets too dirty, I don't know where to start and it stresses me out.

The weather: Dark, about 65 degrees.

Something you have a collection of: Cherry items, writing books, Native American Wedding Vases...

A smell that cheers you up: Choc Chip cookies baking, cinnamon, bread baking... baking smells in general...

A smell that can ruin your mood: Something burning, the smell of old grease, greasy food cooking in the morning nauseates me.

How long since you last shaved: 24 hours ago

The current state of your hair: it's down, the top held back by sunglasses

The largest item on your desk/workspace (not computer): All in one Printer/Fax/Scanner/Copier

Your skill with chopsticks: Non-existent

Which sections you head for first in a bookstore: Romance, Fantasy, New Releases, Bargain Books

Something you’re craving: Chocolate cake with cream cheese icing, nachos

Your general thoughts on the presidential race: I wish the super delegates would nominate Gore/Edwards. I think everyone is sick of Obama and Clinton.

How many times have you been hospitalized this year: None.

Favorite place to go for a quiet moment: My home. It's my refuge.

You’ve always secretly thought you’d be a good: Teacher- High school or Junior College.

Something that freaks you out a little: the thought of dying without finishing my novels.

Something you’ve eaten too much of lately: Easter candy that's still lingering around the office.

You have never: learned to drive a stick shift.

You never want to: stop being true to myself.

Tag! You're it if you want to be...