The Cake for Work!

So here it is. I know that this is kind of kiddie. However, that is what they are getting. I had thought of doing the company logo, but then I thought about all the colors I would have to do, and how much detail work it would be. I figured this would be easier, and I had, had leftover icing from Tuesday.

This cake went much easier than the Tuesday cake fiasco. This one iced smooth, and I used a couple of the techniques from the class, and I was impress that they actually worked, and worked well. So I think after I make another cake next Tuesday, I will feel a bit more confident about the wedding cake on Friday.

Finally we seem to be getting enough people at work. They all seem to be starting this month. Now, we just have to find seats for all of them.

We have six people that have started, or will start this month. Can you believe it? On July 1st, the accountant will be here and I can start training this guy. This is exciting. Now Lorin & I won't be the only ones trying to close all the books on time.

I know, I know, more cake stuff! When will I stop???

So I brought the cake into work that I made last night. I did have to try a piece because I wanted to see if it would be moist. I had followed most of the directions of the teacher of freezing it before it cools, and then icing it before it thaws. I have to say, it was really moist. I was actually surprised on how moist it was. This makes me happy to know that the cake I am going to make for the wedding will taste great. It may not look great, but it will taste great.

So last night after the class, I went through the isle at Michael's and picked up some more supplies to make my cake easier to make. I also picked up some clear vanilla, and clear butter flavoring. I like the combo of almond, vanilla, and butter in the icing. So when I made last nights cake, I used butter and Crisco instead of just Crisco. This, I know, gave the cake an off-white look to it. I didn't really care, because it looked pretty close to white-while I was at home. When I iced my cake and put it on the table next to the others, someone pointed at my cake and asked the teacher, "What is wrong with this cake?" The teacher responded that I had used butter and regular vanilla. Way to give me a complex. I will make the icing for this next week without butter, and with clear vanilla.

Tonight I baked another cake. Like I need another cake. However, work is having a potluck on Friday, and I know I need more practice on the decorating. I had thought of making another cake this week, but this now makes me have one by Friday. So I used some of the cool cake release stuff from Wilton. I have to say the cake came out of the pan really clean and hardly any crumbs. I had been putting Pam on the pan and then coating with flour, and that would give me a crumby mess. I think I will be using this method in the future. So tomorrow, I will be putting together the cake and seeing how it turns out. How exciting!!!

Class I

So tonight I had my first Wilton Cake Decorating class. So here it is. I have to say that in my history of making cakes, this one was the worst by far. Sure the pictures look okay, but it was horrible. I cooked this cake on Saturday and then froze it. I tried to follow the teachers instructions of after it comes out of the oven immediately take it out of the pan, and then put it into the freezer. That resulted in huge areas of the cake falling, on the bottom of the cake, not the crown. So the next cake I did this to, I waited 10 mins then took it out of the pan and then into the freezer. So that was the first problem.

The next problem was I used a combination of the teachers icing recipe and the Wilton icing recipe. What resulted was something I had never experienced before. I can't even begin to describe the consistency. She also wanted us to bring in two different consistencies of icing. One to ice the cake with, and the other to decorate with. When I brought mine in, she didn't like my consistencies, and so she wanted me to ice my cake with my more stiff icing. This resulted in a crumby mess with the cake. I kept tearing bits of the cake off, and it just wasn't working for me.

Then I was to add more sugar to my more watery icing to stiffen it up a bit. When I did this, it became too stiff, and I had a hard time working with it. Finally, I stopped listening to her, mixed more water into the icing until it was where I could work with it and then I finished decorating the cake.

She did have a few good pointers on icing the cake. She indicated that after icing the cake and letting a crust develop, there are a couple of different ways to get a pattern on the cake and it would look neat. The first one was to use a damp, clean sponge and sponge the cake. This would give it a stucco appearance. It thought it looked more like a snowball, but it was cute. The second was to take a patterned paper towel and use the cake spatula and rub the pattern into the crusty icing. Depending on the pattern, it would leave a cool impression. Then there were two ways to get the perfect smooth cake. The first involved parchment paper (not waxed paper) and after the crust forms, put the paper on the cake and use the cake spatula and smooth the icing through the paper. The second way is to run the cake spatula through really hot water, shake off the hot water, and then quickly smooth the cake sides. Clean off the spatula, run it under the hot water again to get it heated, shake off the water, and smooth the top. Repeat as necessary. However, that method makes me think there needs to be an excessive amount of icing on the cake.

Anyway, it is getting way to late for me, and it is soo past my bedtime. ;-0

Rocks in Your Shoes!

So there is a new song by Emily West called Rocks in Your Shoes. I have it on my playlist. I like the song because it pretty much says to pick yourself up and keep on walking through whatever is in your path.

"I had a poor me trophy
Kept it on a shelf
Did the too proud,
Too cool to ask for any help
But when I gave in prayin’
I only got what answered back
And he said,I guess you gotta make a choice
When it hits the fan
You can get a little down or get a little mad
When there’s stones in the road only one thing to do
You gotta learn to walk with rocks in your shoes"

I like this song because it seems that you need to be grateful for the things we have been given and we should make the most experiences we have and incorporate them into our lives.

Talents

So our RS lesson touched on talents and the teacher told us to not compare ourselves against others. I know it is hard to not compare ourselves to others. We all do it. We all think to ourselves that my handwriting isn't as great as hers, or boy she can really do this or that, and I can't.

However, it is really weird on the other end. I have had the RS president tell me several times over the past year that she wishes she could do some of things I do and so forth. Last Wednesday, she asked me if there was something I didn't do. I told her I didn't draw and she said that made her feel better since she doesn't draw either. I don't really see myself as one of the people that someone would look to and compare themselves to. I would rather people wouldn't compare themselves to me. I know it is a compliment, but it makes me nervous to know people are watching me and thinking they wish they could do some of the things I do.

I don't consider myself anymore special than the next person, and I know we each have things we are good at. So it strange to hear someone wishing they could do the things I do. I know this girl has many talents and is good at the things she does. I know we each have potential and can do anything we put our minds to.

So well, I have a problem with gum chewers or other noisy eating people. If the gum chewer is quiet, or doesn't snap their gum, I don't have a problem. It is when they chew it with their mouth open, or when they snap and pop their gum. This is a small irritating thing I picked up from mom. Little noises like that drove her crazy, along with rattling plastic bags, humming, loud breathing or whistling when eating (Dad) or singing that wasn't accompanied by a piano. That really drove her up the wall. Anyway, I have picked up on some of that, and so loud gum chewers really bother me.

There are two loud gum chewers in my ward. They have a hard time breathing through their nose, and so they chew their gum with their mouths open. Worse still, they breath hard and and do the combo breath of mouth/nose/snore sound. I know this bothers me, and so I try hard to not sit by them in Sacrament. Since Sacrament is so quite, we would hear a pin drop if one was actually dropped. This Sunday, one of them sat right behind me. I had no idea until after the Sacrament was passed and he came from passing it and sat down behind me. I sat their for the next 30-40 mins trying to concentrate on the speakers, but couldn't. All I could think of was the breathing problems this person has, and how I wanted to turn around and take the gum away from him. I know this is a personal problem and that his breathing problems aren't his fault. This is an irritation I need to work on so it wouldn't bother me. However, it is really hard. About 10 mins before the end of the meeting, I found myself tapping my foot, and drumming my fingers on the pew. It was horrible. Instead of me being able to take the things out of the talk someone worked so hard on putting together, all I could think of was ripping the gum out of someones mouth. I became very aware of how many people were chewing gum around me. There were three people in front of me that started chewing gum after Sacrament. The two on my right started chewing gum shortly before the meeting was over, and the one on my left started chewing gum right after Sacrament. I was completely surrounded by gum chewers. However, they chewed it with their mouths closed, and didn't make snapping/popping, or weird breathing noises.


I guess I will need to be a bit more diligent on finding a seat for myself next week.

Mouse! OH MY!

I think I have a mouse in my house. Yikes!! I am not really sure what I am going to do about this. It seems to be in the walls in by bathroom. I heard some noises yesterday night, but didn't think too much of them. However, this morning, I was in the bathroom for a bit longer and realized it sounded like rodent teeth chewing on the wood/walls. Sam and Phil don't seem to care. I guess there isn't much they could do until the mouse comes out. However, it is a bit disconcerting to realize something is in the walls and I don't know how to get at it to get rid of it. I do think I can push some decon under the baseboards so it can eat the mouse poison.

I haven't actually seen the tell-tale signs of mice or rats, but I know the sound of rodent teeth chewing. I have had several hamsters growing up. So it is either a rodent in my walls, or a super-duper termite. Either way, I don't want it in my house. I hope that with sticky traps, decon, and a bit of expanding spray foam, I am able to kill the mouse, and plug up any hole it came into the house through. I hope I am able to take care of the problem before it becomes them.

Also, darn Phil and Sam. There is another cat that has been hanging out on my back porch, and I call him Ears. Stupid cat let a mouse get in my house. Sure Ears catches things. Ears likes bugs and has even left me a present of a blue bird, but what good are cats if they don't get my vermin?