A few cancelled cakes...it's all good!

So I'm getting close to being finished with school...and apparently cakes!! My spring has just been insane with orders of 3-4 every week and I've actually had to turn people away! WOW!! But now that the summer is here, and I might actually have spare time to make custom-cakes, and I only have a handful of orders for July & August. That's ok though! I hope to play play play with my kiddies and enjoy the time off!!

I'll get a few pics up here in a bit of last week's cakes - but also wanted to peak your interest in my latest cake...an ode to Tim Burton for a young teenage girl who is a big fan of his work! Specifically, the Mad Hatter, Jack of NBC and Edward Scissorhands. I'm quite pleased with the outcome and I really hope she will be too!!

The other cake on the table (literally) for today/tonight is an end-of-the-year cake for our staff party tomorrow afternoon...and I'm still puzzled. In the past there has been a retirement to honour so the cake instantly had a theme. This year, there's nothing but the satisfaction that the end of June brings to teachers! I guess I should have made a big smiley face!! However, I'm working on a giant hamburger instead...who doesn't enjoy a good burger?

Check back in for pics and thanks as always for your continued interest & support!

Cheers!

OMG!!

That's an Oh My Goodness for those who don't know me! My youngest of 3 (Mylana who is turning 4 in July) is a little parrot so I really try to do my best at not using God in that statement. She picks it up from all places though - which might explain her use of the "f" word a few times. I asked her why she said it and her response was "my shoe wouldn't go on". Goodness, I'm in trouble!!

Anyways, my OMG subject is relating to my life right now! It's a whirlwind to say the very least. So I haven't had a moment really to sit and write an enteraining blog entry or post new pics of recent cakes! Don't look for an update here today either as I begin final exams with 3 classes of Science kids!! However, I did want to check in and thank everyone for their interest in my caking passion!

I managed to put out 3 cakes last weekend although (as per usual critical me) I wasn't entirely pleased with any of them. I'll post pics here when I get a chance and update you on my coming orders. However, I have also turned down orders for 3 cakes in the last week. My JUNE is FULL!!!! As was my May and most of April. Yay!! I'm planning on enjoying my July & August with the kids & husband so if you are considering a custom-cake for any summer occasion, please call or message me TODAY. I hate that I have to say no to custom cakes, especially really super fun ones that I would LOVE to do otherwise....but my sanity & stability in my family requires this!

Thanks again and Happy Summer Solstice!!

Facing my custom-caking mortality!

To say it's been a painful week would be like saying our recent storm here in Hamilton was a bit windy. Gee whiz!! I'm not sure how much of my current condition can be blamed on stubborness, but no doubt, all of it!! It started a week or so ago during a workout - I felt "something"...not a new feeling but since I was super busy doing cakes, marking, being a Mom and all that jazz, I ignored that little pesky "something" and ploughed through my workout! Then the same wee tinge shouted at me a bit louder on Monday of this week and I ignored again! Wednesday during my very first exercise in Boot Camp, the shout was more like a smack upside the head (though it wasn't my head but rather the left side of my upper back - in therapy world where I used to live & work, this would be called subluxation of multiple rib heads from the Thoracic spine vertebrae!).

You can pretty much guess what happened next! I ignored the smack, really because I had no choice! I had a custom-cake to do for Thursday morning that hadn't even started yet! Grease Lightning car for a 15 yr old boy! So I sat at my table in agony for about 4 hours that night, worked through the pain and got er done! When I went to bed, I couldn't move. Literally. My husband had to physically roll me over so I could assume my side-lying sleeping position.

The next day things got progressively worse and the chiropractor not only confirmed my self-diagnosis of 2 rib subluxations (3 and 4) but also said my pelvis was "off" and my cervical spine (neck) had 3 facet joints that were locked & inflamed. Basically she asked "WTF were you doing?" though in a much more professional manner!!

I don't know what I did. I guess it's what I didn't do. I didn't slow down. I didn't stop. I couldn't. I can't!! So I took the day off on Friday and really did very little - though it's hard to keep a stubborn woman down so truthfully, I did dishes, laundry and some mild cake-creation prep work. Once the school day was over, I started work on a cake for today (because I felt guilty about being home and spending time on cake when I was clearly supposed to be resting my poor aching neck/back!). Anyways, I got through things last night with a little help from some friends (named Amaretto, Melon & Vodka with a splash of Cran) and Robax Platinum. The cake got finished and I must say, I really love it!

My recent pics will be as follows: Police cruiser with front-end damage for an accident-prone officer, Grease Lightning for 15 yr old Greg who was just in a high school production of Grease as Greaser #1, a Crossfit-inspired Bridal shower cake for Natalie (and her fiance Billy who own a Crossfit gym), and the custom-cake for a 40 yr old Chris (all things that he loves are highlighted in the cake design).

Hope you like them! Hope those who ordered them liked them. Despite the pain & suffering, I LOVE doing my cakes. I only hope that this little "something" doesn't decide to fire up again and take me away from my passion. How long can I do this before my body breaks down, I don't know. But I promise from now on to stretch & listen more attentively to the little naggy voices. I hope you can all learn from my mistakes too!

Take care of you!!

I really need a break!! or a kitchen babysitter!!

Ok so I pulled off a no-cake Friday & Saturday and really had a good time with my kids (well, aside from screaming like a banchee every few mintues because that's the only time they listen!) so Sunday was super busy! I made a custom Police cruiser cake with front end damage just like the client requested (it's for one of his work buddy's who apparently rear-ended someone while driving a brand new cruiser - oops!). I would do a few things differently like crank my AC!! It was hot in the kitchen and towards the end of the day, the car really did look like it had been in a crash. I guess that was the point, but I'm particular about my work so hopefully it made it to the party in the shape that it was supposed to be in!! THANK YOU Mirko! I hope your friend appreciated the joke!

And now I'm in the kitchen frantically baking for this week's cakes - one of which needs to be done for Tuesday! Yikes! I'm using my super-fabulous french vanilla pound cake recipe and thought I had everything going smoothly. Kitchen Aid doing it's thing, butter in microwave melting, pans prepped with parchment and oven pre-heated. Next thing I know, the 3 cakes are in the oven and I'm cleaning up when I notice the microwave scrolling banner that says "Enjoy your meal..." Huh? OH NO!! The melted butter!! I made this mistake once before, but prior to putting the pans in the oven so I was able to incorporate the butter into the batter. Not this time!! Here's hoping that the whipping cream and eggs in the cake will somehow provide it with enough fat that it will bind and turn out as a "light" french vanilla sponge. ????? Guess we'll see!!

So this week ahead: Tuesday is a bridal shower cake for a bride (& her fiance) who are into Crossfit (I think they might actually own a Crossfit gym) so I'm thinking kettle bells instead of wedding bells!! Thursday is a Grease Lightning car cake for Greaser #1!! Saturday is a special 40th birthday custom-made to suit the birthday boy's love of cooking, reading, fishing, Boston Bruins, Bobby Orr, WWII, hockey card collecting and being a super dad & husband! Still waiting for the vision on that one!!

If I can pull off all of this, I'd love to still make cake pops for my school's Athletic Banquet which is on Tuesday night. Here's hoping!  But first I must rest!

Good night y'all!! I'll let you know how the butter-free pound cakes turn out! Geesh!!

Lots to do and not much time left!!

This post is about my life in cake land as well as my life as a fulltime Highschool science teacher! Wow! Can you believe that it's June already?  Where did the time go? I've had such a busy spring doing cakes (2-4 per week for the past 6-7 weeks) that I am truly shocked that the end is near. I think that the crummy weather we have had during April and May really contributed to my disbelief that it's June! At any rate, this is it! Crunch time in teacher/marking/reporting land and no end in sight for cake orders!

So instead of marking, here I am procrastinating with a blog post. Why not? I am excited about my upcoming cakes and thought I'd share with you!!

Buzzlight year cake for a 2 yr old boy
Police cruiser (with front-end damage) cake for a police officer's farewell celebration
Sport cupcakes for SWC Athletic banquet (may make these cake pops - not sure yet!)
Crossfit-inspired bridal shower cake
Grease Lightning car birthday cake for teenage boy
40th birthday cake for a great dad/hubby (not mine but Julie's)
Retirement cake for a super school office secretary
Jungle theme baby shower cake
Father Curtin's Blue Jays Baseball inspired Retirement cake
Birthday cake for a teenage boy who LOVES to bake (thinking of making a Kitchen Aid stand mixer as the cake)
Birthday cake for a Tim Burton loving teenage girl
SWC Year-end staff party cake (theme to be determined!)
Highschool graduation cake(s) for my 2 nieces
30th Anniversary/Retirement cake for a PE teacher (& her hubby)

Seriously, all of those are between now and June 27th! Holy moly! If anyone wants a little side-job, contact me. I am pretty sure I have some work for you!!

Cheers!