tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-89759025588979298492024-02-20T04:04:18.716-08:00Night Baking<i>More fun than root canals.</i>Jamihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01404333659115840964noreply@blogger.comBlogger510125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975902558897929849.post-13975073219686138192023-05-17T00:14:00.003-07:002023-05-17T00:14:31.071-07:00stuff i haven't posted yet: valentine's day cookies<p>My friend Uttara, who is the mom of the silly face cookie fans, asked me to make cookies for her teacher friends at school. Same brownie rollout cookie recipe, also decorated with royal icing, but this time valentine-themed. Again, because I am a nut, I decided no two could look alike. (As far as the teachers were concerned, they were getting cookies, and I can't imagine they would have cared, but I wanted them to be unique.) Here's how they came out!</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho-AeUmJ_8WSp-VkRxDH4V6a_6dN_QoOCaWtzJAR4fL9K9S0aQZMW2xoY1ZERVH-XXyJ6cOyOWWcWr9-X70RQuq0KpD9C60vARFyFH4i7uswZXehQ3rpL3enl9eKwfqsZTUyJLH64ut-jqdbgT0mcAzydMsCrocYC6tbA9g7owS87vyowhvJvsJovSSg/s4032/valentines%202022_0227.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho-AeUmJ_8WSp-VkRxDH4V6a_6dN_QoOCaWtzJAR4fL9K9S0aQZMW2xoY1ZERVH-XXyJ6cOyOWWcWr9-X70RQuq0KpD9C60vARFyFH4i7uswZXehQ3rpL3enl9eKwfqsZTUyJLH64ut-jqdbgT0mcAzydMsCrocYC6tbA9g7owS87vyowhvJvsJovSSg/w640-h480/valentines%202022_0227.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBeVDoVeBfYTI0OsL8kR21Cy0VjOvrfoPgucPio4F_2rpcCmqEWJtpDtann9AyBFWYO3__zA8xsnUcsdbQDXKftse8y-q6M2a9VP5Ug-QqYlOP2tr0iTSrrBPMtXOGGBUZ2DMXiwIiB7gqe316HShdaSLMj0fZTLImF0x180LD_xTriCxnuY5CHfW2UA/s3946/valentines%202022_0222.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2960" data-original-width="3946" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBeVDoVeBfYTI0OsL8kR21Cy0VjOvrfoPgucPio4F_2rpcCmqEWJtpDtann9AyBFWYO3__zA8xsnUcsdbQDXKftse8y-q6M2a9VP5Ug-QqYlOP2tr0iTSrrBPMtXOGGBUZ2DMXiwIiB7gqe316HShdaSLMj0fZTLImF0x180LD_xTriCxnuY5CHfW2UA/w640-h480/valentines%202022_0222.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSY6-ojy0wj1nv2mxTynCTSXgrinOUGtt8x9MQ4EFaTCsYMEZ5FyIsxsjysytk5l_bnJ5pe-oYcQbxGKfurNSHFlmcA86ymzNB_nDcNVr0dBY2xx4TaAZPIDCbMt15VUxd9yho3m0maCRECNQxYdJU2QWMZnpc87u5an-1uMpZKBOKb64q3xxKTXTXgg/s4032/valentines%202022_0224.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSY6-ojy0wj1nv2mxTynCTSXgrinOUGtt8x9MQ4EFaTCsYMEZ5FyIsxsjysytk5l_bnJ5pe-oYcQbxGKfurNSHFlmcA86ymzNB_nDcNVr0dBY2xx4TaAZPIDCbMt15VUxd9yho3m0maCRECNQxYdJU2QWMZnpc87u5an-1uMpZKBOKb64q3xxKTXTXgg/w480-h640/valentines%202022_0224.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2914" data-original-width="2186" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8sz07J7a6kGUlHlw5Z1f3WHOplk7NcdPsjCdjp7hG6qawLVPuPgCWCObPn9CI6VI8aGW3veHPyHc8BgkA0PNtpsluLKKN_n9vucywKCbyROa7jkFdvlPBmqs6tuo2qDOui0jTPcxAtLdizpmq_SYokynWq-i-NW-3gWDdNytmXdRGljP3vpO7OKt7sA/w480-h640/valentines%202022_0217.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheOv9viaTYYCRVMyDZT_z2lweJJI-kBrmQTgWNTD5D-amdjuYG377jqDhtfqsMJBXPBWKbNm-NojFiCvQxKof_jqdP6yXDFwIU6YS4FtogcZRZO-Tk4jks2qwzT72viUA3soxe40a1AmIa03JpvybkxQ3jf53zj4A9094IoSFLogXwaCCf8Uh75qfHEw/s4032/valentines%202022_0221.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheOv9viaTYYCRVMyDZT_z2lweJJI-kBrmQTgWNTD5D-amdjuYG377jqDhtfqsMJBXPBWKbNm-NojFiCvQxKof_jqdP6yXDFwIU6YS4FtogcZRZO-Tk4jks2qwzT72viUA3soxe40a1AmIa03JpvybkxQ3jf53zj4A9094IoSFLogXwaCCf8Uh75qfHEw/w640-h480/valentines%202022_0221.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy7nDI2Np6MKz_wf232QY1uQ7KM6me5Zgar5p6_cozhgQbEbfSx444nXE_1EvLJHxbE5QSuWLPV-xW9Zs9apI4SxgMPux6w4bwMFOYp17cT9plNr9P50raSJt2py6gh6SUyr_hgCc0t--LloR4wuK1g8WNy6IKQe4DpdWKph9caA65ASZnH94JMsICaA/s4032/valentines%202022_0229.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy7nDI2Np6MKz_wf232QY1uQ7KM6me5Zgar5p6_cozhgQbEbfSx444nXE_1EvLJHxbE5QSuWLPV-xW9Zs9apI4SxgMPux6w4bwMFOYp17cT9plNr9P50raSJt2py6gh6SUyr_hgCc0t--LloR4wuK1g8WNy6IKQe4DpdWKph9caA65ASZnH94JMsICaA/w640-h480/valentines%202022_0229.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />I packaged them in plastic baggies because - COVID. Plus, it looks cute and the bags have little adhesive strips that makes them easy to seal!<p></p>Jamihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01404333659115840964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975902558897929849.post-67671672187293713042023-05-16T23:59:00.007-07:002023-05-16T23:59:58.279-07:00mr. lyal turns 80<p>My dad turned 80 last month, and so did my best friend's mom, and several other friends' parents, too. I guess 1943 was a big year! Our friends' father, Lyal, also turned 80, and after a short postponement, they hosted a family birthday party for him with decorations in black and gold. Mr. Lyal likes vanilla cake and vanilla frosting, and that is what I made for him. After all, you don't turn 80 every day! I love these gold sequin sprinkles - they look so festive! (And also sort of like lentils. But still festive!)</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqAc-5JydQ27LP0bgB422lz0S2T6bmo3bYvV7uGUqWvkPErj0mF4r15eLCLPhTGAeCJesfWlXg8oQVrLAoxzIX5-7HLCo6WbmApV0lJz6OZawFO4u9ykh4AvtZXbIX3KI1BhRu0pDf7XqSBrVPJbtZ9KhTh91qdQaWFpdul0DDhrcGYiaReiYoP773qg/s4032/lyal%2080_3089.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqAc-5JydQ27LP0bgB422lz0S2T6bmo3bYvV7uGUqWvkPErj0mF4r15eLCLPhTGAeCJesfWlXg8oQVrLAoxzIX5-7HLCo6WbmApV0lJz6OZawFO4u9ykh4AvtZXbIX3KI1BhRu0pDf7XqSBrVPJbtZ9KhTh91qdQaWFpdul0DDhrcGYiaReiYoP773qg/w480-h640/lyal%2080_3089.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtZwHF11gCBaNVX9J4njfMJOSMKXZuQmi_d33GIxdRHDqukzoeIUM9PI-QkVZa1Z3i6T-343wsW6TO_Nxr9cRJyxdap5EcvByUeY3Qeo8zWT24mFLhoFqyeFI8ZJQiwmaNBtuEih0OBmHDpM0wk_TkWuUK7EYzUrRKiwQ4RUv0FgMvtsRJSQ1R4YIVjw/s4032/lyal%2080_3088.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtZwHF11gCBaNVX9J4njfMJOSMKXZuQmi_d33GIxdRHDqukzoeIUM9PI-QkVZa1Z3i6T-343wsW6TO_Nxr9cRJyxdap5EcvByUeY3Qeo8zWT24mFLhoFqyeFI8ZJQiwmaNBtuEih0OBmHDpM0wk_TkWuUK7EYzUrRKiwQ4RUv0FgMvtsRJSQ1R4YIVjw/w480-h640/lyal%2080_3088.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip-BZTiIAKLHK-hy2VT4NoZFCxd3crvI8Lb_cXjOtC4WWhX8AJdSS4cPW0f_W7S4IixhDzM0g91gJeLSbjx0klUf74Mu9x7aZEkzjc3LuNxpvYLu_Jx8rRyvJjvNdY5v7giRqs9ItZovda439WR8iJ46rdb6DjucXFhVtBjte0cTOLpfaJnBtzKdohTg/s4032/lyal%2080_3085.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip-BZTiIAKLHK-hy2VT4NoZFCxd3crvI8Lb_cXjOtC4WWhX8AJdSS4cPW0f_W7S4IixhDzM0g91gJeLSbjx0klUf74Mu9x7aZEkzjc3LuNxpvYLu_Jx8rRyvJjvNdY5v7giRqs9ItZovda439WR8iJ46rdb6DjucXFhVtBjte0cTOLpfaJnBtzKdohTg/w480-h640/lyal%2080_3085.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>Jamihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01404333659115840964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975902558897929849.post-91310266226422318932023-05-16T21:03:00.011-07:002023-05-17T00:16:24.816-07:00new silly face cookies - now with tie-dye swirl!<p>I love that our friends love silly face cookies. It is so sweet to be asked to make them for these two (grown-up-ish) kids. This year, I even mailed some to college for the first time! Typically, I challenge myself never to make two in the same batch identical, and yet I still am always looking for new ideas... so this time, I decided to dip the cookies instead of pipe them, and I tie-dyed the royal icing so no two were exactly alike! (And then I still made silly faces on top.) They were SO MUCH FASTER to make! And they still came out really cute. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBVxST8oP2IkeSqKtXxvvuOQAeCr6CJ_V3Z5ER_b9xyHE8ooN25AHkAhk9NuuXaLEyELkRtP3MuQT1Qsno-lNuU2Ugfmnp6WPUt_uMEWdC3tQmPkcW1WfmEjLyLCyymbffvvpNP-_Ch1eCrPilNV9XLvfg46xEEQCCYXzE8liGYvieNVg2RZisTlFlWA/s3101/silly%20swirl_3556.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3101" data-original-width="2326" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBVxST8oP2IkeSqKtXxvvuOQAeCr6CJ_V3Z5ER_b9xyHE8ooN25AHkAhk9NuuXaLEyELkRtP3MuQT1Qsno-lNuU2Ugfmnp6WPUt_uMEWdC3tQmPkcW1WfmEjLyLCyymbffvvpNP-_Ch1eCrPilNV9XLvfg46xEEQCCYXzE8liGYvieNVg2RZisTlFlWA/w480-h640/silly%20swirl_3556.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWb8WmRa26SFqjsWlYU7x8iYmS4o8lJ65MKWYqwStMILHJb5v53HMQu7Ci-8LxnlZ1i-zPEM7IXf_k93np4B6rVfsk9__Cq7ZnAjUXNJTEW7NcbECn56OXTJjy5T7MGuf5mcMy_Wch42SQ2QJeI9GCwrsrVRhBAYLXC9mu1EO-vW64SybVwKOL33_LQQ/s3125/silly%20swirl_3555.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3125" data-original-width="2343" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWb8WmRa26SFqjsWlYU7x8iYmS4o8lJ65MKWYqwStMILHJb5v53HMQu7Ci-8LxnlZ1i-zPEM7IXf_k93np4B6rVfsk9__Cq7ZnAjUXNJTEW7NcbECn56OXTJjy5T7MGuf5mcMy_Wch42SQ2QJeI9GCwrsrVRhBAYLXC9mu1EO-vW64SybVwKOL33_LQQ/w480-h640/silly%20swirl_3555.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div>How cool are these patterns?<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIdlt45-ftfQX6QLsg6IrtXdo3UQcXeyipykR3wNkzTy20ru2eNnrUbs9aEojBgKNF_bZP3InbzoIsMqS4iqNHBWe8s2ekjBCE20GtHCCDYAmRGrSSAKTuqIpLcFTK4Crgcak5emX3kmHXxVGAUBqLdeDFbLHPWKgD8MEgr5f0Tl4lD7OCUIoRFtXQ1w/s3368/silly%20swirl_3557.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3368" data-original-width="2526" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIdlt45-ftfQX6QLsg6IrtXdo3UQcXeyipykR3wNkzTy20ru2eNnrUbs9aEojBgKNF_bZP3InbzoIsMqS4iqNHBWe8s2ekjBCE20GtHCCDYAmRGrSSAKTuqIpLcFTK4Crgcak5emX3kmHXxVGAUBqLdeDFbLHPWKgD8MEgr5f0Tl4lD7OCUIoRFtXQ1w/w480-h640/silly%20swirl_3557.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjliyrRhkoihCxUn2VDae_yYuYsQi2W_AXWPTsRx-EG0d13bnEEdqH5RaIIarm9FT9iJ7aU1keZ670xo7X_ZjG4i2TQ6tFhFPmOY60mDLtBgft9NHFEjiUopEQweNdDOFc1YQDTh6qBPEafd6I7SOHKZmQQGgNNSq2RekbUaJnsQ3kMJbwYV6UKJmdxuw/s4032/silly%20swirl_3558.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjliyrRhkoihCxUn2VDae_yYuYsQi2W_AXWPTsRx-EG0d13bnEEdqH5RaIIarm9FT9iJ7aU1keZ670xo7X_ZjG4i2TQ6tFhFPmOY60mDLtBgft9NHFEjiUopEQweNdDOFc1YQDTh6qBPEafd6I7SOHKZmQQGgNNSq2RekbUaJnsQ3kMJbwYV6UKJmdxuw/w480-h640/silly%20swirl_3558.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6H7qybu7qbghxYa5LpipM0KwOO9pGqXsrfu12lwq2rdKgIv28-bR5ZfS3tfeYninldwGi6dkYMh8KmmRq_hxgkxQkMvzevKQDlsujTLeaL5nWNqOOVtuXw70qlhiHN_OC2dhr-UPoao2AOOEGm75FmGjSwhInY0kWSpqllcFBSa2X9U-d7CEDnOUZqg/s3728/silly%20swirl_3559.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3728" data-original-width="2796" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6H7qybu7qbghxYa5LpipM0KwOO9pGqXsrfu12lwq2rdKgIv28-bR5ZfS3tfeYninldwGi6dkYMh8KmmRq_hxgkxQkMvzevKQDlsujTLeaL5nWNqOOVtuXw70qlhiHN_OC2dhr-UPoao2AOOEGm75FmGjSwhInY0kWSpqllcFBSa2X9U-d7CEDnOUZqg/w480-h640/silly%20swirl_3559.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div>The colors were really gorgeous. And the little spots were where I popped air bubbles with a toothpick.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidi75m-wVMGPsP1ybEeEW-BjQtGSp5Qm7mhi8uGz5c2E27ZXzwWToVV1CLsDB3FqQDORSn4KHdkYovI5L4LbL7vrVCHiH3wABwbqsihRC19zuCYNaNDgFR5t1UaHHuQxiQB_jjSh3G-i2m0oMT5FC5H6BIpsYFXKngp_BLYA3eOvJlV3YpLSt3BhEL8A/s3418/silly%20swirl_3560.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3418" data-original-width="2730" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidi75m-wVMGPsP1ybEeEW-BjQtGSp5Qm7mhi8uGz5c2E27ZXzwWToVV1CLsDB3FqQDORSn4KHdkYovI5L4LbL7vrVCHiH3wABwbqsihRC19zuCYNaNDgFR5t1UaHHuQxiQB_jjSh3G-i2m0oMT5FC5H6BIpsYFXKngp_BLYA3eOvJlV3YpLSt3BhEL8A/w512-h640/silly%20swirl_3560.jpg" width="512" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKv39UUb9-fCS7U9y441_AYqmexB1p2ZeVymRkV78exlKHGNJRBs-Bb7Do5FCZKWXykbhbBMCGv842GnTLYy187bOBzST1wa8tmMDQyBMtjvjY_kjFeCA0jCg6Uxn_Y04s97-b4zZsuiQt-Nn9VtL3Zoxh7YUVtMt0FztTDRNpYAP2aGf9L8bvzwlRgQ/s4032/silly%20swirl_3561.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKv39UUb9-fCS7U9y441_AYqmexB1p2ZeVymRkV78exlKHGNJRBs-Bb7Do5FCZKWXykbhbBMCGv842GnTLYy187bOBzST1wa8tmMDQyBMtjvjY_kjFeCA0jCg6Uxn_Y04s97-b4zZsuiQt-Nn9VtL3Zoxh7YUVtMt0FztTDRNpYAP2aGf9L8bvzwlRgQ/w480-h640/silly%20swirl_3561.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqAgfclosJdVde7LGZB-q5UMqFEKbBWdfLkuqBcjn3T__Lnvz2XbNz2g_DUCG_11mdV6srUR-SNTg_oWO9zYtQUz2_UxYtNi_J00jaGxa4pc3vIYPcj3_zPlx5rFCFzKHNV2F3CqNFHapQee8GvsyN_fW7jpxO5ubUH_0DoNPTGRNWNIGUTRwTwpwSkw/s4032/silly%20swirl_3554.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2766" data-original-width="4032" height="440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqAgfclosJdVde7LGZB-q5UMqFEKbBWdfLkuqBcjn3T__Lnvz2XbNz2g_DUCG_11mdV6srUR-SNTg_oWO9zYtQUz2_UxYtNi_J00jaGxa4pc3vIYPcj3_zPlx5rFCFzKHNV2F3CqNFHapQee8GvsyN_fW7jpxO5ubUH_0DoNPTGRNWNIGUTRwTwpwSkw/w640-h440/silly%20swirl_3554.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZDY80BMgs0Up5zU2jXm37eLFVzQeX8xwitf1q00jXKiJvL2LHQ9LrWJACC3-cZAUWHqrCNxhXKaw8LgpuDcnhKet468pdDQIE9qBTAwXvliGIOU3CqgtkMp7KzRvpzuCXK7VyR1r70ZY-bSn7iE4KLUqe8rwc7wkLv54AUwbRu6AnyTiUro9XyZ277w/s4032/silly%20swirl_3564.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZDY80BMgs0Up5zU2jXm37eLFVzQeX8xwitf1q00jXKiJvL2LHQ9LrWJACC3-cZAUWHqrCNxhXKaw8LgpuDcnhKet468pdDQIE9qBTAwXvliGIOU3CqgtkMp7KzRvpzuCXK7VyR1r70ZY-bSn7iE4KLUqe8rwc7wkLv54AUwbRu6AnyTiUro9XyZ277w/w480-h640/silly%20swirl_3564.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaI03au30ejQ4axGeG4GO0BbEZACrPAoNl6Lx7x8qXgs_e0Ej4C8_xLqh5f_SPQz4akgqOc3BQLJTbuEnznURBwSCRGMO6zwdAXVM4K1kr0ij8ngkGkKeL4C25awyx7zid_Px70OA_AnBF2hrSRN_bYt8p14_AtvMe5-56oHLikBgfdnmWErUU93JjsA/s4032/sillly%20swirl_3562.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaI03au30ejQ4axGeG4GO0BbEZACrPAoNl6Lx7x8qXgs_e0Ej4C8_xLqh5f_SPQz4akgqOc3BQLJTbuEnznURBwSCRGMO6zwdAXVM4K1kr0ij8ngkGkKeL4C25awyx7zid_Px70OA_AnBF2hrSRN_bYt8p14_AtvMe5-56oHLikBgfdnmWErUU93JjsA/w480-h640/sillly%20swirl_3562.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div>And there have been more silly face cookies and girl graduation cookies along the way:<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI2BNQiVwepbdjmXAgj5DCfyCXsUY5XGEeLlKSMLqgnVSviYer7Fhofh2g413XNGxWeR4qpXadbpNFRJ77S-HZklgcc4BJtJrhrr8r88w3xqBedzWcf6JBs6HpI0AYkLT81tB37RQMtrjaddZJvQ0-HcudPHqP4g-pl1wcvDvsuBVsOc5T7pbmIMh3fQ/s4032/maya%20grad_1298.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI2BNQiVwepbdjmXAgj5DCfyCXsUY5XGEeLlKSMLqgnVSviYer7Fhofh2g413XNGxWeR4qpXadbpNFRJ77S-HZklgcc4BJtJrhrr8r88w3xqBedzWcf6JBs6HpI0AYkLT81tB37RQMtrjaddZJvQ0-HcudPHqP4g-pl1wcvDvsuBVsOc5T7pbmIMh3fQ/w480-h640/maya%20grad_1298.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3786" data-original-width="2840" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipdr13m151vdGV71bPIkyb9GU8WoE83NnWEn0d5VRWNiX4fLFxQYuVUuU-yCCsaxdA5mP98hNPy3BcA6IIe6qfi84ZUiXN_8_uqRwDGfaLOXRyZ34MHGTfn2HTbwkLoTDB-a8zRiAFt9EvWcVwKhUlCypVd14uC2-lxZg7zKhkB0nyMuG8wnhOHyNV_A/w480-h640/maya%20grad_1310.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha40RbuUWZ1SAK2S0eRKrTbw1zj8OmqY4c9KqzIdg-qneK5IJ0TclQEulAAAyWAqb73ajOYZE7AdnacGvSi_m7VnDr2bY1-DdhGwO110BSh9TAhnG4Qxx_fFMhNba7pIOBqwMEVoHBsFgCm5u-nTiKLdkHAHwDyegHQW41Zd9zFp-w2muD_IbeqezE5A/s4032/maya%20grad_1312.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEha40RbuUWZ1SAK2S0eRKrTbw1zj8OmqY4c9KqzIdg-qneK5IJ0TclQEulAAAyWAqb73ajOYZE7AdnacGvSi_m7VnDr2bY1-DdhGwO110BSh9TAhnG4Qxx_fFMhNba7pIOBqwMEVoHBsFgCm5u-nTiKLdkHAHwDyegHQW41Zd9zFp-w2muD_IbeqezE5A/w480-h640/maya%20grad_1312.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4_NlmzB6-ZtXJgd8YUyXA6XBx4J2TuoWfjqlmTIeS2ynhXKWrYwqFFZHl_1UZ0V0b8ccS1OuqcY530U7tHsUmsjFi9mv_d4b4cK-oRqyozwtSsnWCAtX8WcrFzboAXvT2cF0JZ-eByFjT_sHKjFKN-n7Pltibv5jfjWoVApfN891OGtHabMKgXgXpQQ/s4032/maya%2019%20silly_3400.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4_NlmzB6-ZtXJgd8YUyXA6XBx4J2TuoWfjqlmTIeS2ynhXKWrYwqFFZHl_1UZ0V0b8ccS1OuqcY530U7tHsUmsjFi9mv_d4b4cK-oRqyozwtSsnWCAtX8WcrFzboAXvT2cF0JZ-eByFjT_sHKjFKN-n7Pltibv5jfjWoVApfN891OGtHabMKgXgXpQQ/w480-h640/maya%2019%20silly_3400.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhma0iSYHRzX3KiUEfyFFOdjQ1m7tHmrmDq6hGz9zUVay_U1ayjUovf11ruT8QA0SXIFB5Rzwbqp_AEfxJkXskKYoQuqvE4BrlABeXI5C4uhgX67OMFQM9lBSfVXkYKFRCCIwcG3e_b5K8cRh8YOvbwZRb1C8XOmn5hj6mUt3SntdxPI5qzS-NeRPqz-w/s4032/IMG_0166.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhma0iSYHRzX3KiUEfyFFOdjQ1m7tHmrmDq6hGz9zUVay_U1ayjUovf11ruT8QA0SXIFB5Rzwbqp_AEfxJkXskKYoQuqvE4BrlABeXI5C4uhgX67OMFQM9lBSfVXkYKFRCCIwcG3e_b5K8cRh8YOvbwZRb1C8XOmn5hj6mUt3SntdxPI5qzS-NeRPqz-w/w640-h480/IMG_0166.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div><br /><p><br /></p></div>Jamihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01404333659115840964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975902558897929849.post-63492992194239855942023-02-09T11:11:00.006-08:002023-02-09T11:11:59.493-08:00little blue truck cake<p>When our family friends' daughter turned 2, she loved the Little Blue Truck books. For her special birthday cake, I made her a Little Blue Truck carrot cake, complete with the truck, the frog, and the duck made out of fondant. Just this week, her dad posted a recent picture of her, surrounded by Little Blue Truck books, and I was happy to see she still loves them. </p><p> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXgyOXy-xmClDugS2xsfsRaL1d5miY_GrtaZRnTLjyXQd_dIzr41GjpOSgiEwnIiu9auknE5tUrNM1UxndwPCyr7taUE8vQureLkuzF9qeTZl1q1L-S5oxSsITAkfPqveN97iKlD7ZCfmQFOWRidjCgWXvB2fSMUu7xpoqaOpThlx3sk8atF1J9LwdNA/s3595/roz2_6288.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2696" data-original-width="3595" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXgyOXy-xmClDugS2xsfsRaL1d5miY_GrtaZRnTLjyXQd_dIzr41GjpOSgiEwnIiu9auknE5tUrNM1UxndwPCyr7taUE8vQureLkuzF9qeTZl1q1L-S5oxSsITAkfPqveN97iKlD7ZCfmQFOWRidjCgWXvB2fSMUu7xpoqaOpThlx3sk8atF1J9LwdNA/w640-h480/roz2_6288.jpg" width="640" /></a></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8dDe_6zCtaj9AVfVo067pRa46ZnqlFaNr-M6JMalcJ6PQweY_oerC6leSwvmjoVNORJyhNY3A6OYsZD7mUJsk9NtRKKtEWrpamiuhXAT7p5zEggfD7LycMkWAMwYJHO72NGaaCRn3ISwxKVcbjFsknKMNn9nZ8Zbji_5x-fz-7rMx1BfMdNVZhUQ_FQ/s3024/roz2nd_6294.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="2709" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8dDe_6zCtaj9AVfVo067pRa46ZnqlFaNr-M6JMalcJ6PQweY_oerC6leSwvmjoVNORJyhNY3A6OYsZD7mUJsk9NtRKKtEWrpamiuhXAT7p5zEggfD7LycMkWAMwYJHO72NGaaCRn3ISwxKVcbjFsknKMNn9nZ8Zbji_5x-fz-7rMx1BfMdNVZhUQ_FQ/w574-h640/roz2nd_6294.jpg" width="574" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglKKNdqKVPXsCeDmoDtj8YlV_CBJsDw3y6aiYOuf_CQI6EOwVWtSN667fnhRdZF0TfZr0_ovXWgEV-Gj44raxT_2utY57zePyrtEUcyQ6D6BbXrRrtFl7FwhmwD0xghNoK9r5W46f5kvjPStcXmqLm8MR_IqgRDnTu8WW-OXe5yfgEDBNNnrvuZUTYrQ/s4032/roz2_6240.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglKKNdqKVPXsCeDmoDtj8YlV_CBJsDw3y6aiYOuf_CQI6EOwVWtSN667fnhRdZF0TfZr0_ovXWgEV-Gj44raxT_2utY57zePyrtEUcyQ6D6BbXrRrtFl7FwhmwD0xghNoK9r5W46f5kvjPStcXmqLm8MR_IqgRDnTu8WW-OXe5yfgEDBNNnrvuZUTYrQ/w640-h480/roz2_6240.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p></p>Jamihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01404333659115840964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975902558897929849.post-18663255662805612762023-02-09T10:09:00.001-08:002023-02-09T10:09:21.739-08:00grownup birthday roundup<p>Kids aren't the only ones having birthdays... our grownup friends enjoy celebrating, too!</p><p>Covid precluded Melissa and Derek's big bash for their 50th, so they went with a super fun 52nd joint party with a taco truck (yum). We had churro cake, in keeping with the Mexican theme, as well as individual mini strawberry shortcakes. The churro cake featured layers of yellow cake with a cinnamon sugar swirl and dulce de leche frosting.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEiR3jQ7_nfaDwsCWbw_8oJ20chTLl00CICejoa9m3-yqD3LaIszabMWfYK3kEgN2_4DvHIzPYGiSXJEZb6yMfNgHStzoKhYuFn4V1atiUZdl-p09lhnRiAlzGp1JmN5rLcyobkDzaN2aatFVrEUYkXo8qBQleUK5f6jqb7MQCcuvbSz-MYIWVyKWlXA/s1800/lane52-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="1440" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEiR3jQ7_nfaDwsCWbw_8oJ20chTLl00CICejoa9m3-yqD3LaIszabMWfYK3kEgN2_4DvHIzPYGiSXJEZb6yMfNgHStzoKhYuFn4V1atiUZdl-p09lhnRiAlzGp1JmN5rLcyobkDzaN2aatFVrEUYkXo8qBQleUK5f6jqb7MQCcuvbSz-MYIWVyKWlXA/w512-h640/lane52-1.jpg" width="512" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRHxinVse_2N6DVhAH302oSDOeYj3O4mElR0Twx5-VHCdmWUmFQaYfBMNQyMoTC-2uNxvJ3L7EhA-kKpOk1Hz1fMt_E2YryGavEUmHemEaaliNlhnclSEYiZe9H3e5_dXYbsTb5LnzrTkN4IZWcZPgo-KjQ0wmOquB9kCbAeYRanOc_YUQhDerjqbD0w/s1799/lane52-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1799" data-original-width="1440" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRHxinVse_2N6DVhAH302oSDOeYj3O4mElR0Twx5-VHCdmWUmFQaYfBMNQyMoTC-2uNxvJ3L7EhA-kKpOk1Hz1fMt_E2YryGavEUmHemEaaliNlhnclSEYiZe9H3e5_dXYbsTb5LnzrTkN4IZWcZPgo-KjQ0wmOquB9kCbAeYRanOc_YUQhDerjqbD0w/w512-h640/lane52-2.jpg" width="512" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGa2Rzolz65cO_QRuKHAJIK-IDG8pd68GmUSfGCyFUqkdGaN79wQiLBa83gZhwXZSGhP78POWQwmNCWw3VCiYRKBMV1XvWOAZHztOsr3SxWOcE4rS8KIErgdjBV6J-MjQbkHwsZJAm6ZyRxdEzDqDXIwGCHBCewS-Yej6OC2UKhC58mVc5xTysnWYJiQ/s4032/lane52_0852.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGa2Rzolz65cO_QRuKHAJIK-IDG8pd68GmUSfGCyFUqkdGaN79wQiLBa83gZhwXZSGhP78POWQwmNCWw3VCiYRKBMV1XvWOAZHztOsr3SxWOcE4rS8KIErgdjBV6J-MjQbkHwsZJAm6ZyRxdEzDqDXIwGCHBCewS-Yej6OC2UKhC58mVc5xTysnWYJiQ/w480-h640/lane52_0852.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXElaSRBTQC_J2YuwLKXxi23k1rkYt1W7fMVHR5cfierkLnvsNzH6DQqakv96gACO5dmjx1FOe3mPelwFoKLZmbm55fynfgnz6XbCQoMxwvOBOxu-20LoDbAM_DbT5FYJkCvmUObkxjg8GRzCFdDaaiJiDKXT_OyWWm5sMp3Wvbgwf0KCgDpNmpmpFFg/s4032/lane52_0853.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXElaSRBTQC_J2YuwLKXxi23k1rkYt1W7fMVHR5cfierkLnvsNzH6DQqakv96gACO5dmjx1FOe3mPelwFoKLZmbm55fynfgnz6XbCQoMxwvOBOxu-20LoDbAM_DbT5FYJkCvmUObkxjg8GRzCFdDaaiJiDKXT_OyWWm5sMp3Wvbgwf0KCgDpNmpmpFFg/w640-h480/lane52_0853.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>Matt's favorite is carrot cake. I've made it Pesadicah (kosher for Passover) and regular, since Matt's early April birthday sometimes crosses paths with Passover. This time, I was able to make my regular recipe.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizZyuJO75jIOBLDq3tTWjAOT5WKKtrLhrcj72Ipla5rWHyz2gtrcgma5gkl9pCNNFasOoPrNN-DLhjOcvdGNSyF5L4tTOKVSRds2grAdh3keTdLMmWi4sK9n0nADjJaO4kSe5dczRdP3EpSY7X34RjaKchKOxQx-Jyrk3jsUDvWviZhxP-y4LiEojqPA/s4032/matt%20bday_0719.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizZyuJO75jIOBLDq3tTWjAOT5WKKtrLhrcj72Ipla5rWHyz2gtrcgma5gkl9pCNNFasOoPrNN-DLhjOcvdGNSyF5L4tTOKVSRds2grAdh3keTdLMmWi4sK9n0nADjJaO4kSe5dczRdP3EpSY7X34RjaKchKOxQx-Jyrk3jsUDvWviZhxP-y4LiEojqPA/w640-h480/matt%20bday_0719.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>My parents' friend, Nancy, turned 75 and also celebrated with carrot cake!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhANCCjyipy3k-JdtustTZxyizsJBFU_WzrDmlWRfRWs2G2LlCNwOUuN5sUmYlgc7CdnhRWb_U4Db979ykd0QBLWo2h6B_TxoOz05zgNMnbdJ8fT0EGJ_Eisik4I01sKmCLpKr1nBNPOdZbNbV5gnd4XYGPUkXHGt97VPT01P74UtoW6RhGc6JNjuMWOg/s4032/nancy75_0866.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhANCCjyipy3k-JdtustTZxyizsJBFU_WzrDmlWRfRWs2G2LlCNwOUuN5sUmYlgc7CdnhRWb_U4Db979ykd0QBLWo2h6B_TxoOz05zgNMnbdJ8fT0EGJ_Eisik4I01sKmCLpKr1nBNPOdZbNbV5gnd4XYGPUkXHGt97VPT01P74UtoW6RhGc6JNjuMWOg/w480-h640/nancy75_0866.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU4JyWsDS53vXOlQzzihtSxRc7nvBPjksHt7tMx2R5JA46H4r60olotVLInPR5bybV2RPbr6wFTjEXCZ7xnWDBPj8ruDc4zYHcLK528v2exp90c8KzJOjbIr8TvMQGCOF2gRBlitJwI_1r2omFGN51LHa7bjkxg5oJsma2lQui-NMQpU5pFTPudVjybw/s4032/nancy75_0870.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU4JyWsDS53vXOlQzzihtSxRc7nvBPjksHt7tMx2R5JA46H4r60olotVLInPR5bybV2RPbr6wFTjEXCZ7xnWDBPj8ruDc4zYHcLK528v2exp90c8KzJOjbIr8TvMQGCOF2gRBlitJwI_1r2omFGN51LHa7bjkxg5oJsma2lQui-NMQpU5pFTPudVjybw/w480-h640/nancy75_0870.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhegULi8VCoeO58_EiihWJPE__i0bpn8PHukK4sMfKBsfi9ymskWcMcGy6e1ySe5HuSuNKPGfakTelr_QG65w4iX5ptB7RmqPLTw1Unih5Hvy_FkqwKu4RH17cZdw14hE0rstDC9aPrHaHbq7p24L24fhQOI9Dk7Jpa2Rv3lUQszMpE2GDZxz7MEt2Aig/s4032/nancy75_0874.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhegULi8VCoeO58_EiihWJPE__i0bpn8PHukK4sMfKBsfi9ymskWcMcGy6e1ySe5HuSuNKPGfakTelr_QG65w4iX5ptB7RmqPLTw1Unih5Hvy_FkqwKu4RH17cZdw14hE0rstDC9aPrHaHbq7p24L24fhQOI9Dk7Jpa2Rv3lUQszMpE2GDZxz7MEt2Aig/w480-h640/nancy75_0874.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br />And last, but never least, my lovely father-in-law turned 75 (this is waaay overdue as he turns 77 this year). His favorite is the simplest, grocery store-like, vanilla/vanilla cake. I jazzed it up with tinted frosting and sprinkles.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeTnWoictD8JAEtbYeLEDYS_bRd4tpYqrQxPuSFPSGyJrAvJc8aiu2BMf-TL0fg0pSNqTBCJKpe7fd4CpqRSKssM5-rLs9kahd_aMxLYk6eG8fpG0Tj_3FtZpdEdCPxlGKZtryrvZr27zE26LfUkTR2FwTOXRbuGhxLr4rcxudp-IS-wM_SPTbJF7LdA/s3922/jay75_6334.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3922" data-original-width="2942" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeTnWoictD8JAEtbYeLEDYS_bRd4tpYqrQxPuSFPSGyJrAvJc8aiu2BMf-TL0fg0pSNqTBCJKpe7fd4CpqRSKssM5-rLs9kahd_aMxLYk6eG8fpG0Tj_3FtZpdEdCPxlGKZtryrvZr27zE26LfUkTR2FwTOXRbuGhxLr4rcxudp-IS-wM_SPTbJF7LdA/w480-h640/jay75_6334.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh73l0wJChu_QiQc374JtnpLeOt2fERveoSBdpi4uXzaH36cgMEba1KwFFDuT0ijtmaPAP-JnKknA4NQEIqmTmmmlIJu8p1icMK2rH4QqB6vLdQ5UAwa1gnj5lf_umkWPYmrKsCRiR9fbFhreL6TfVruQxRsZtFNa9yh9v5rthww8CkhtoIHVaZn-vn7A/s4032/jay75_6340.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh73l0wJChu_QiQc374JtnpLeOt2fERveoSBdpi4uXzaH36cgMEba1KwFFDuT0ijtmaPAP-JnKknA4NQEIqmTmmmlIJu8p1icMK2rH4QqB6vLdQ5UAwa1gnj5lf_umkWPYmrKsCRiR9fbFhreL6TfVruQxRsZtFNa9yh9v5rthww8CkhtoIHVaZn-vn7A/w640-h480/jay75_6340.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div>Then he turned 76, and I made a stained glass cake with shards of candy (melted Jolly Ranchers). I've done this before, and I remind myself every time and still don't always follow my own advice: you can't do a cake with candy shards ahead of time. You have to put the candy on immediately before serving the cake, or else it absorbs moisture from the frosting, the candy softens and starts to melt, and the sharpness of the broken pieces dissolves. Yuck. Also, Jolly Ranchers have a really strong taste. Even though I like them as a Halloween candy, I did not find the fake fruit taste appealing when combined with cake.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho-KxUxXrfCZDOg3GwY4OV3hORelhg1xlxAwNRW2-RMR31pa71-lGF1bQtCE-UdjOBC0a5wehjK1RaLeNrtt6bV4sWe2u1hgEgVBQn4YLZb03FwyXTzNGhAWX-Sq4G_zJujBB28Ub6iUTV4Q0klI1ApztgsY-F18R8MFG_OhRWyy35iF1cGa45U89_4Q/s4032/IMG_2530.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho-KxUxXrfCZDOg3GwY4OV3hORelhg1xlxAwNRW2-RMR31pa71-lGF1bQtCE-UdjOBC0a5wehjK1RaLeNrtt6bV4sWe2u1hgEgVBQn4YLZb03FwyXTzNGhAWX-Sq4G_zJujBB28Ub6iUTV4Q0klI1ApztgsY-F18R8MFG_OhRWyy35iF1cGa45U89_4Q/w640-h480/IMG_2530.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwlWeTU8jnRSc4X6Bpu7LrEj-9IPGIHMlzwilpIvvivoJUr42kQCyqc0Ej4R6JHc1qWbZKn6pzIH5-b977SHy8SHM3nrOENRxkP4uSkhT6tRODznFEisw5l9FaRdQj7D9O87OBm6IuhoW5-UmgV8PbTcbrnY09XUWybrJwwj8z088PgSsIHmtG0FaE9A/s4032/IMG_2529.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwlWeTU8jnRSc4X6Bpu7LrEj-9IPGIHMlzwilpIvvivoJUr42kQCyqc0Ej4R6JHc1qWbZKn6pzIH5-b977SHy8SHM3nrOENRxkP4uSkhT6tRODznFEisw5l9FaRdQj7D9O87OBm6IuhoW5-UmgV8PbTcbrnY09XUWybrJwwj8z088PgSsIHmtG0FaE9A/w480-h640/IMG_2529.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div><br /><p><br /></p></div>Jamihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01404333659115840964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975902558897929849.post-83255085332623777342023-02-09T09:17:00.002-08:002023-02-09T09:17:18.246-08:00hallie and jess turn 18!<p>Hallie and Jess shared their 16th birthdays and then decided to have an 18th birthday party together as well. It was a dressy, black-and-white-themed affair. (For me, the most memorable part was that on the way home, with a car full of kids, Hallie announced that she had decided where she was going to college!)</p><p>I made a cake to go with the black-and-white concept, and I think it came out super cute. I love the silver sequins that complement the jimmies. I can't remember for sure, but I think the inside was confetti cake. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiAKhwIV_YUQONC2j0j3ON_7_-F2-kqYVPbbSs-f8uOZfeMwMk2pXeANwdABTGLyt3O7GhLgu40cWDiAdzBDZmlepnuItPwznA8MxDl5rhx6OM02m-EWWoGGeSFe9oEyl9DaL1cvaftOOYLyCxg0bES3W3CSRYxnGFS-xljApgcoifGDeLNLdCEqatWA/s4032/jess%20hallie18_0645.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiAKhwIV_YUQONC2j0j3ON_7_-F2-kqYVPbbSs-f8uOZfeMwMk2pXeANwdABTGLyt3O7GhLgu40cWDiAdzBDZmlepnuItPwznA8MxDl5rhx6OM02m-EWWoGGeSFe9oEyl9DaL1cvaftOOYLyCxg0bES3W3CSRYxnGFS-xljApgcoifGDeLNLdCEqatWA/w480-h640/jess%20hallie18_0645.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOFKst76NSRcCpKiMVFakzF804xqFZBX6zIH2hN0Yy2F9f-iPlyioG38wjtH1y8Hjrl_hbeAmDOtDjDzUJoT8hewkEEvfZeG4lKxc4pl6zA6scWNNgaXK_tdCdQY26Eu1lalCc1UOYIvqe5AqmMMxlt4ILR9-qFCZ7zUVskHTnt-v92Ez6xy1ti_7ERw/s4032/jess%20hallie18_0649.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOFKst76NSRcCpKiMVFakzF804xqFZBX6zIH2hN0Yy2F9f-iPlyioG38wjtH1y8Hjrl_hbeAmDOtDjDzUJoT8hewkEEvfZeG4lKxc4pl6zA6scWNNgaXK_tdCdQY26Eu1lalCc1UOYIvqe5AqmMMxlt4ILR9-qFCZ7zUVskHTnt-v92Ez6xy1ti_7ERw/w480-h640/jess%20hallie18_0649.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisMYPk73bD11PTsVvRibLDSSWtO9QgZ2CDy4epZ5GydBdeVu6cLzDYTxklDJBlXaTW7VC6_o3KvKFruMNuf93-tv_fn8AxZOw7Op5Iw9R-IN2Yx_nqmLNYq79bo8BWiFXOuUSGxqowMlmnOwOdS9Er-tzkBOkD_KvGsZwvlkeu7U5rf5Gi9tRSv4OhUw/s3761/jess%20hallie18_0653.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2853" data-original-width="3761" height="486" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisMYPk73bD11PTsVvRibLDSSWtO9QgZ2CDy4epZ5GydBdeVu6cLzDYTxklDJBlXaTW7VC6_o3KvKFruMNuf93-tv_fn8AxZOw7Op5Iw9R-IN2Yx_nqmLNYq79bo8BWiFXOuUSGxqowMlmnOwOdS9Er-tzkBOkD_KvGsZwvlkeu7U5rf5Gi9tRSv4OhUw/w640-h486/jess%20hallie18_0653.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>Jamihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01404333659115840964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975902558897929849.post-8411876586597641732023-02-09T09:06:00.002-08:002023-02-09T09:11:01.527-08:00belated kids' birthday roundup<p>So many birthdays have come and gone, and I have been behind in posting. Here's a glimpse into some of our friends' birthdays!</p><p>Keira turned 16 and is most of the way to 17 by now. It was great fun to surprise her!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqpCKSdc7EueixerFYin5xMqBWh0sSZYHUsEyz7EemZD8fjB3XbP3r7L8Igryj7hZjO-6B4kM4azmQT5_vMV_rYcT8L2Y10tdjJ-eUuGmRtxZv4wnTU0ukGgx8Ofs9_moPVlLK6vxbxN0LfmoxOFXDcI2Y_cJuRPMeuwzKXHq4UxnMvxq2S9q4ldv64g/s4032/Keira16_0537.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqpCKSdc7EueixerFYin5xMqBWh0sSZYHUsEyz7EemZD8fjB3XbP3r7L8Igryj7hZjO-6B4kM4azmQT5_vMV_rYcT8L2Y10tdjJ-eUuGmRtxZv4wnTU0ukGgx8Ofs9_moPVlLK6vxbxN0LfmoxOFXDcI2Y_cJuRPMeuwzKXHq4UxnMvxq2S9q4ldv64g/w480-h640/Keira16_0537.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyUPJNv9eWBTLRhVtFX8TO70OdZB2NACLBzx9mg5QHmB8qLX1P4byyEWCYYcf7GrpyPh0vm0IQd8b-ELTgByZkVqg7kXvKr_iSyWuV26j4l6HfgAnTH9sA5ImydywnBRWcr2tFF_tmFkm8cUjVF6tP6XH5y1BFUE8nBWzYHHW3cgPV351OBpVCap1JFA/s4032/keira16_0541.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyUPJNv9eWBTLRhVtFX8TO70OdZB2NACLBzx9mg5QHmB8qLX1P4byyEWCYYcf7GrpyPh0vm0IQd8b-ELTgByZkVqg7kXvKr_iSyWuV26j4l6HfgAnTH9sA5ImydywnBRWcr2tFF_tmFkm8cUjVF6tP6XH5y1BFUE8nBWzYHHW3cgPV351OBpVCap1JFA/w480-h640/keira16_0541.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p style="text-align: right;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIngwBz_NOcxuzAvh1pLGL4Nvth9fdUD3_ZN28WKW4jfLrpN7TtHXVJJRGhL2MYviUnN5s49efaVEkthVuxL6vU4PVe5z-Z6lja739GHv0JkJiIWbs2NmQ5BaCU3Af9pX8dz66RCiN0jlQLVkf_-DG6Tjf77HJc1lFHexlBfUnkQvBu0cTlVd7Fax6Rg/s4032/Keira%2016_0542.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIngwBz_NOcxuzAvh1pLGL4Nvth9fdUD3_ZN28WKW4jfLrpN7TtHXVJJRGhL2MYviUnN5s49efaVEkthVuxL6vU4PVe5z-Z6lja739GHv0JkJiIWbs2NmQ5BaCU3Af9pX8dz66RCiN0jlQLVkf_-DG6Tjf77HJc1lFHexlBfUnkQvBu0cTlVd7Fax6Rg/w480-h640/Keira%2016_0542.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqfq8XqzDonoEp_HTW6YvVgvN8vXhjCPERGQRch0DoQaZycq21QQS9algy830JwqS1Fuh_mL4D5uS8yNEvjuFmGMt-rlIN3V-r18jlwaUHSgXtV-e3PQNwDOpxDL_2TSKCbznY_5krwKXfnyLtDavPDbPwlO8XUuUJuThHxJcO_fdkn6uFHOL9rYI1Jw/s4032/Keira%2016_0536.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqfq8XqzDonoEp_HTW6YvVgvN8vXhjCPERGQRch0DoQaZycq21QQS9algy830JwqS1Fuh_mL4D5uS8yNEvjuFmGMt-rlIN3V-r18jlwaUHSgXtV-e3PQNwDOpxDL_2TSKCbznY_5krwKXfnyLtDavPDbPwlO8XUuUJuThHxJcO_fdkn6uFHOL9rYI1Jw/w480-h640/Keira%2016_0536.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p>Daphne turned 12 (and then 13). She's a chocolate lover. I piped some flowers, but I wasn't thrilled with how they turned out. It all still tasted good though!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgay4EhhbCqPa6QCNOAO_brDTJJPAyE0EWawlKRfGOPf3npEl5iugOTQ0hybPbQmzP6PV-pdCBz_YRJOraAMAM7oMVvDqAHWN0d8uqNaADUCR8ssRfW-dkQ7SZ-w6h0s0lvY2YYeS8-jd9HylcVtHmdLqUH81nlqspHi6wULKLPUdCAtsWBDy14IOgoGg/s3974/daphne12_6058.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3974" data-original-width="2981" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgay4EhhbCqPa6QCNOAO_brDTJJPAyE0EWawlKRfGOPf3npEl5iugOTQ0hybPbQmzP6PV-pdCBz_YRJOraAMAM7oMVvDqAHWN0d8uqNaADUCR8ssRfW-dkQ7SZ-w6h0s0lvY2YYeS8-jd9HylcVtHmdLqUH81nlqspHi6wULKLPUdCAtsWBDy14IOgoGg/w480-h640/daphne12_6058.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3_iZlfl9NgqKQosjlYpXya6wUETBPqwtde5aVmsdxwL-vtX3WmbLMOQ3uuByb1rUxumFwEdvXrhe1BcDOiZQBDOvEZ-FVE1DodiWQOiCiQAmIFeHekGGTCl4rxbyFlvKXi1L9xatFlLo6NXobvpfNE5dmUOw5mY0yE6SSHyeYiN5sNig3pxIEoRK5zA/s4032/daphne12_6059.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3_iZlfl9NgqKQosjlYpXya6wUETBPqwtde5aVmsdxwL-vtX3WmbLMOQ3uuByb1rUxumFwEdvXrhe1BcDOiZQBDOvEZ-FVE1DodiWQOiCiQAmIFeHekGGTCl4rxbyFlvKXi1L9xatFlLo6NXobvpfNE5dmUOw5mY0yE6SSHyeYiN5sNig3pxIEoRK5zA/w640-h480/daphne12_6059.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div>And Maya turned 18, now nearly 19. Her family is the original silly face cookie family, so we made her some silly face cookies in addition to the cake. For the first time, her besties (Hallie, Ella, and Hannah) decorated them! I think I like sprinkleface the best. <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBUhUxOMa_tKZoxZVd-aLrSCMWzdGE64SI5ere2uaYda4ywov8UwRvi2SQxW_mB06CYNeldNuEHdFSfdSeEpzhsPR1uxWiNQU2baype5nrzGZQUju4AeiT730VdpIAh9sC4-oO4RUWRo0T4OvcgvDgc2egI3U3Tq6R8gPYe_cLONQ9PHt1YoMKahQWHQ/s4032/Maya18_0591.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBUhUxOMa_tKZoxZVd-aLrSCMWzdGE64SI5ere2uaYda4ywov8UwRvi2SQxW_mB06CYNeldNuEHdFSfdSeEpzhsPR1uxWiNQU2baype5nrzGZQUju4AeiT730VdpIAh9sC4-oO4RUWRo0T4OvcgvDgc2egI3U3Tq6R8gPYe_cLONQ9PHt1YoMKahQWHQ/w640-h480/Maya18_0591.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjZpfx4-dSbi6N4WYYRLl-Q3eGJJQCqObzvQXFhlfpk1rNq8eh6qzEYCCCuEuEkDXWzhLbs8twnx4rWkMIgmgybmux_pcuSruCnxxJflXXoMBCcTqBt8IOoq3Idx3TGMj5qnjw-AMsB0_myxDlgKgdofG5ufO0DsS_uSN2otPMYoPyNTJfVbH4ki3Yaw/s4032/Maya18_0592.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjZpfx4-dSbi6N4WYYRLl-Q3eGJJQCqObzvQXFhlfpk1rNq8eh6qzEYCCCuEuEkDXWzhLbs8twnx4rWkMIgmgybmux_pcuSruCnxxJflXXoMBCcTqBt8IOoq3Idx3TGMj5qnjw-AMsB0_myxDlgKgdofG5ufO0DsS_uSN2otPMYoPyNTJfVbH4ki3Yaw/w480-h640/Maya18_0592.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2pBPnJ2YS-xpM3bx2NvEBdHlrpBvN4S6xcEnQoHLjKbsGDHcizSP2VsdsedhoFodGBwJrv7kqpSuLLNeG6i_krHZCQwGZjG8Mz2_kTqjDx4lffKlpWsr3EgM9B13-2ZACgHXHoiqUahZHppqvFFX26syW4WC6FtbhXa4NCAUKEtFiNcMTjqKQI2FnTQ/s4032/Maya18_0593.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2pBPnJ2YS-xpM3bx2NvEBdHlrpBvN4S6xcEnQoHLjKbsGDHcizSP2VsdsedhoFodGBwJrv7kqpSuLLNeG6i_krHZCQwGZjG8Mz2_kTqjDx4lffKlpWsr3EgM9B13-2ZACgHXHoiqUahZHppqvFFX26syW4WC6FtbhXa4NCAUKEtFiNcMTjqKQI2FnTQ/w480-h640/Maya18_0593.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>Maya loves chocolate with raspberry, so I glazed some raspberries and piled them on top of the cake. I wanted them to look beautiful and indulgent.</div><div><br /></div><div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpqft9JaQoHOSGvvWej7tN4GneKHVCfcwtdBpkRoX1kRhNnrrNQ4YJMrC8hnln1OSmVN2u4cJffo41S-WrQ8fi0BEvPyvBwd4dwledLmjT4qPhu6Q-oRo4_yzW54KPRQlHISpTX5C7nJoBsJh4duyGrAMbhTypX-_bvb7VRIKxuL7imP8I-fIHg_c4_Q/s4032/Keira18_0595.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpqft9JaQoHOSGvvWej7tN4GneKHVCfcwtdBpkRoX1kRhNnrrNQ4YJMrC8hnln1OSmVN2u4cJffo41S-WrQ8fi0BEvPyvBwd4dwledLmjT4qPhu6Q-oRo4_yzW54KPRQlHISpTX5C7nJoBsJh4duyGrAMbhTypX-_bvb7VRIKxuL7imP8I-fIHg_c4_Q/w480-h640/Keira18_0595.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD2GqKU4RQE7AWI0-7gVBfn7TMsZhCnOha49RWjIWdMcMOf1hVTWqRZgv6gz4O_BZDOuEXl6Y9-iHb7rVnopsa1H9yjjJiUHFURFWEmPijwB7b07CjsHuVp2ltuwYXYSQahiwoX742FrfAGxe5RtQ9DSIytVd8XlsX3iKZ12Ftyntub6fCjp_ujvr_kQ/s4032/Maya18_0603.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjD2GqKU4RQE7AWI0-7gVBfn7TMsZhCnOha49RWjIWdMcMOf1hVTWqRZgv6gz4O_BZDOuEXl6Y9-iHb7rVnopsa1H9yjjJiUHFURFWEmPijwB7b07CjsHuVp2ltuwYXYSQahiwoX742FrfAGxe5RtQ9DSIytVd8XlsX3iKZ12Ftyntub6fCjp_ujvr_kQ/w480-h640/Maya18_0603.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJknpapE83qQH46ZxyVFvdoxioQUfq-ffniyxd_JohsIApcHBhPSvpTE5M2_RHvYvKUQG3LFMXbcuHk8oDb3XeekSMdHg4aHhMckZY4Cr4F-am7DvjJ25YjkbLDNvu65Q-cwNbXpemZrqZPFDWbTxRfI1hCb-AcFZGqR00A87ZlpCedBuRuxRRahL25w/s3966/Maya18_0610.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3966" data-original-width="2975" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJknpapE83qQH46ZxyVFvdoxioQUfq-ffniyxd_JohsIApcHBhPSvpTE5M2_RHvYvKUQG3LFMXbcuHk8oDb3XeekSMdHg4aHhMckZY4Cr4F-am7DvjJ25YjkbLDNvu65Q-cwNbXpemZrqZPFDWbTxRfI1hCb-AcFZGqR00A87ZlpCedBuRuxRRahL25w/w480-h640/Maya18_0610.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div><br /><p><br /></p></div>Jamihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01404333659115840964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975902558897929849.post-42722654154182536202022-06-10T13:22:00.003-07:002022-06-10T13:22:18.290-07:00teacher appreciation<p>I am part of the religious school parent association at my temple, and our group is responsible for celebrating and lauding our teachers and teaching assistants (called rishonim) each year. At the end of the school year, we throw a party in their honor. This year, we had a lunch party after Sunday School for the teens, complete with a taco truck and a candy bar. We hosted a dinner party on a weeknight for the teachers featuring an illusionist who was super engaging and entertaining. Sadly, more than half of us ended up with COVID after that party (not the illusionist's fault!), which I did not so much appreciate. However, our teachers and rishonim work very hard, and we want to show them how much we value them; these parties helped us say thank you.</p><p>I made a cake for each event. For the rishonim, it was a confetti cake with vanilla icing and the words, "todah rabah, rishonim!" written in Hebrew, which means, "thank you, rishonim!" It was my first opportunity to write in Hebrew on a cake, so that was fun, and impressively, the kids were able to read what it said!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz4rZr0hHEQoJv46nO5edTinlvYsq7fFgOeuzD3wSX7GzMPxPYjDwpOlQmaN9IjtNllT8RNe9Z-Mf0RKWwn0TW2rG-9UeqtKGz7llClF8p_NU-7RoydpDI_zmR25_PEGdD8HaYtsOqV1uV2zUz-ir7FSM59KGLdJIJb1FuW7wd9ZIE5XUJTpoZ5TiPaA/s4032/IMG_0998.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgz4rZr0hHEQoJv46nO5edTinlvYsq7fFgOeuzD3wSX7GzMPxPYjDwpOlQmaN9IjtNllT8RNe9Z-Mf0RKWwn0TW2rG-9UeqtKGz7llClF8p_NU-7RoydpDI_zmR25_PEGdD8HaYtsOqV1uV2zUz-ir7FSM59KGLdJIJb1FuW7wd9ZIE5XUJTpoZ5TiPaA/w640-h480/IMG_0998.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1SnsFz0CvWcGfQUAedMpohsdgOHYipKpNQgiRPVejCAmO4W8tWbQ4cums9RBGpV0lVv8YCirPbTehZBLYRW1zTRBq3ZB7YIaSNUGenvAvIBhNrZ-uRImgI7VjJJ_AjKhQVnhgT-7Z0FTsqxS6OUEF_5oFUwkzKCaIgy51Cmbduz9SyO-L1VQE3cBuyg/s4032/IMG_1001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1SnsFz0CvWcGfQUAedMpohsdgOHYipKpNQgiRPVejCAmO4W8tWbQ4cums9RBGpV0lVv8YCirPbTehZBLYRW1zTRBq3ZB7YIaSNUGenvAvIBhNrZ-uRImgI7VjJJ_AjKhQVnhgT-7Z0FTsqxS6OUEF_5oFUwkzKCaIgy51Cmbduz9SyO-L1VQE3cBuyg/w640-h480/IMG_1001.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div>For the teachers, it was an illusion cake to go with the illusionist theme (suggested by my friend Melissa - and who am I to shy away from trying something new?). I made a chocolate cake with a cascade of M&M's. Much as I'd like to claim they are held up by magic, there's actually a dowel in the cake, which I painted with chocolate and painstakingly adhered each M&M individually. Kind of a pain, if I'm being honest. I actually did all the M&M's on the cake itself individually, too. The cake was already frosted, and the frosting had firmed up, so I needed them to stay put where I wanted them. I also piled them up on top of each other to look more realistic and let a few spill over the side. The other thing that made this cake a little tricky was that you cannot refrigerate it after the M&M's are on or their candy shell will lose its sheen. So I had the cake all ready to go, and I assembled the decoration the morning of the party. It looked super cool, and I really enjoyed making it, despite the aforementioned annoyances!<div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrZ2S36ccQf9OPLSy5GJREcosrrmJCiljeKce9W-Cav-F8kHZK07hUZ09KFWWi2m-qHQ1dQkqWohBEzIzCOK7ebrh5lu_WWaMO7I5KVgptQRA9l3FY4hdtBO6KBCXD3oVDMYpf4TZR_f85wzmfyQxuwtApEue4oq0IVJvFrqRAuFy3-7xhfZL20z0cJQ/s4032/IMG_1010.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrZ2S36ccQf9OPLSy5GJREcosrrmJCiljeKce9W-Cav-F8kHZK07hUZ09KFWWi2m-qHQ1dQkqWohBEzIzCOK7ebrh5lu_WWaMO7I5KVgptQRA9l3FY4hdtBO6KBCXD3oVDMYpf4TZR_f85wzmfyQxuwtApEue4oq0IVJvFrqRAuFy3-7xhfZL20z0cJQ/w480-h640/IMG_1010.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs0aLW0rvq-bh-Iu9u23r57dW-snVoYxZ94C9LhHlK7xgUyiOjI1qyaXo2qG1yMv4lrUwxNMQ0DHVJBqIqjjxEg1lVxi-w4ruT6pd-qCVI5zpEpt5D0f4oG2nAeFgwWiM_rEgnC0bYhCFpD29X6Wquy2Qt984IXH5Fp0feUf_qRQtppqZsExRrhoUDmA/s3801/IMG_1013.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3801" data-original-width="2851" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs0aLW0rvq-bh-Iu9u23r57dW-snVoYxZ94C9LhHlK7xgUyiOjI1qyaXo2qG1yMv4lrUwxNMQ0DHVJBqIqjjxEg1lVxi-w4ruT6pd-qCVI5zpEpt5D0f4oG2nAeFgwWiM_rEgnC0bYhCFpD29X6Wquy2Qt984IXH5Fp0feUf_qRQtppqZsExRrhoUDmA/w480-h640/IMG_1013.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p><br /></p></div>Jamihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01404333659115840964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975902558897929849.post-71244618957391460702022-06-10T13:04:00.005-07:002022-06-10T13:04:33.593-07:00silly graduation face cookies<p>My friend Uttara's kids are the ones who dearly love <a href="http://nightbaking.blogspot.com/2021/04/maya-is-16-and-then-17-chocolate-cake.html" target="_blank">silly</a> <a href="http://nightbaking.blogspot.com/2011/06/silly-face-cookies-part-deux.html" target="_blank">face</a> <a href="http://nightbaking.blogspot.com/2021/11/silly-face-cookies-again.html" target="_blank">cookies</a> - chocolate brownie roll out cookies frosted by royal icing. When her nephew graduated from college last month, Uttara asked me to make the same cookies, but shaped like a graduate. I did <i>not</i> think I was up to the task, but once I found a cookie cutter and a good <a href="https://www.lilaloa.com/2017/04/how-to-make-decorated-boy-graduation.html" target="_blank">tutorial</a>, it turned out I was able to do it! I won't go as far as to say they actually resemble her nephew in any way, but they were really quite sweet and fun to make.</p><p>It's actually a different challenge making these, which are all supposed to look identical, rather than the silly face cookies (or valentine's cookies, or baby shower cookies), where I specifically challenge myself to have no two look quite the same. I think the extra touches, like the white glint in the eyes and button nose, are super cute! (More graduation cookies, this time for Uttara's oldest, coming soon!)</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSaO2wxed84i7QVhjSkznLvNr_gtj_6gfJc0BKmcWxQRxLhOaeEUBOssZqZZYXOw4f_5cm1NLgxe42pD__1gAUNPZdh4qzZZ12uN4GW51qbLu5ZVSIryC_vsAMKb69CuBa4A_7g5525Gz3RaYbUjSatfvwRkBhZJT6RZcM6f8VH85Z_4KACk4IirUXjQ/s4032/IMG_0983.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSaO2wxed84i7QVhjSkznLvNr_gtj_6gfJc0BKmcWxQRxLhOaeEUBOssZqZZYXOw4f_5cm1NLgxe42pD__1gAUNPZdh4qzZZ12uN4GW51qbLu5ZVSIryC_vsAMKb69CuBa4A_7g5525Gz3RaYbUjSatfvwRkBhZJT6RZcM6f8VH85Z_4KACk4IirUXjQ/w480-h640/IMG_0983.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilnXhX2ZCvIYGCwn5f-fBKo7EVicRj-tr9lZYWRk4EPze-eJfGjB4cy9aWYtIoy8rKcKnDGynj1G1IOmyPGZNOk2GE5aar_Cm_zxOax9Ca_Aq8aEOb5umeczQRPZk8RFkku1Ni9b4pc5AxBwQ5tmEPVCpErN8MUTed90j-ZZkNMW9zE-bF_enkfOjhSQ/s4032/IMG_0985.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilnXhX2ZCvIYGCwn5f-fBKo7EVicRj-tr9lZYWRk4EPze-eJfGjB4cy9aWYtIoy8rKcKnDGynj1G1IOmyPGZNOk2GE5aar_Cm_zxOax9Ca_Aq8aEOb5umeczQRPZk8RFkku1Ni9b4pc5AxBwQ5tmEPVCpErN8MUTed90j-ZZkNMW9zE-bF_enkfOjhSQ/w480-h640/IMG_0985.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcCGhPGNVeDnK6SlINk30WSaGytuXF9zkkIdyPRAXF_oOTqHxe20BkxUDh5AYgKAdQrM-3zkyfKiUNppMNA3bEQosfVCT-FYjINoQL8XXS5-Riz4aIruGLRNdlXDW1Nj-9b43LzI1-44OrLlq1MEwzDsNFZXFntwKKZLldViN9vKVnVoOAbCA-YSxjAw/s4032/IMG_0988.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcCGhPGNVeDnK6SlINk30WSaGytuXF9zkkIdyPRAXF_oOTqHxe20BkxUDh5AYgKAdQrM-3zkyfKiUNppMNA3bEQosfVCT-FYjINoQL8XXS5-Riz4aIruGLRNdlXDW1Nj-9b43LzI1-44OrLlq1MEwzDsNFZXFntwKKZLldViN9vKVnVoOAbCA-YSxjAw/w480-h640/IMG_0988.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>Jamihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01404333659115840964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975902558897929849.post-75853898276711737052022-06-10T12:49:00.005-07:002022-06-10T12:49:45.842-07:00stuff i haven't posted yet: gayle and shelley<p>I'm always running super far behind on posting, but this one takes the cake (hahaha). It's from six years ago! I ran across it today because Gayle's birthday was this week, and it came up in Timehop. (Happy birthday, Gayle and Shelley!) Anyway, I'm posting it because I really always liked the way it came out. I was asked to match the look of the cake to the watercolor paint look of the invitation, as well as to match the font on the invitation. Since my cake writing always looks pretty much the same, I was excited to try to produce a specific font. And I love the schmeary icing with beautiful colors. The shades on the cake were a little more muted than the invitation, but it still captured the look and feel.</p><p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2aAAWOFnJC4Cjg2TbseQXkjfia-kyq6TYSzX-hyIexjzzxSU7JY2tnPbsN36Z3fqJ_oGQvux8RVOPhQ4FkITzNYzmBoIvqIdIgn5Rsx0-a6x4H-syxbP0hGbbWRfdp5KMWvSIDMOixozv02NPxeqosR0Vr_UH1rJuBxC1AXJx0qv34D8sauYkOM-f0Q/s4032/IMG_1402.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2aAAWOFnJC4Cjg2TbseQXkjfia-kyq6TYSzX-hyIexjzzxSU7JY2tnPbsN36Z3fqJ_oGQvux8RVOPhQ4FkITzNYzmBoIvqIdIgn5Rsx0-a6x4H-syxbP0hGbbWRfdp5KMWvSIDMOixozv02NPxeqosR0Vr_UH1rJuBxC1AXJx0qv34D8sauYkOM-f0Q/w640-h480/IMG_1402.JPG" width="640" /></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7PIenrF_zxkFDvRpVD_qVBfHWPU-1l4QY3Iv8Nb71ApkAffZJ7c5FJhqNqTI4Jv_cChaNwK76wGrQtGs5G2Q4IuzmJ1DVrW0SG7lOpa-R_TafLszIbUjtHYQXfiw0AIOUZFELtGpkTRHG0vcekhDl4XyBhJYWLStT3EXXFZTbFSq3z0FHQKAZbWdoEg/s1080/Image-1.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1074" data-original-width="1080" height="636" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7PIenrF_zxkFDvRpVD_qVBfHWPU-1l4QY3Iv8Nb71ApkAffZJ7c5FJhqNqTI4Jv_cChaNwK76wGrQtGs5G2Q4IuzmJ1DVrW0SG7lOpa-R_TafLszIbUjtHYQXfiw0AIOUZFELtGpkTRHG0vcekhDl4XyBhJYWLStT3EXXFZTbFSq3z0FHQKAZbWdoEg/w640-h636/Image-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2KihUILr6rvc_N_RqdZERUmR5x6WUNEamxr4c0jMMG3aYhNllKYEySImTCkxNT8KH6H8Klb7GnjUXJN1LqPx1xbAdUUTPOrjurqvX-wy6vwaecii1RJAIwK1RbUIJtABHDiOHISQPFDldEYmSh8i4dXOP14ZKclChlpJSeMN1eG3pp8gdx5hp8WR3cA/s3360/IMG_1406.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2895" data-original-width="3360" height="552" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2KihUILr6rvc_N_RqdZERUmR5x6WUNEamxr4c0jMMG3aYhNllKYEySImTCkxNT8KH6H8Klb7GnjUXJN1LqPx1xbAdUUTPOrjurqvX-wy6vwaecii1RJAIwK1RbUIJtABHDiOHISQPFDldEYmSh8i4dXOP14ZKclChlpJSeMN1eG3pp8gdx5hp8WR3cA/w640-h552/IMG_1406.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><p><br /></p>Jamihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01404333659115840964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975902558897929849.post-67075982310259053502022-03-08T11:53:00.001-08:002022-03-08T11:53:15.819-08:00vhs girls' volleyball senior night cupcakes<p>My girl is a senior this year (!), and she was part of VHS's winningest girls' volleyball team in the history of the school. It was such an exciting season with a lot of fun games. They eventually lost on the road to CIF championships, but not without giving it a lot of hard work, effort, and heart! It was a huge thrill to have a regular season where we could sit in the gym and cheer them on, and I'm so happy her senior year season went out with a bang. I made cupcakes (individually boxed to be COVID-safe, of course!) to celebrate senior night, and the JV and frosh/soph team put together terrific gifts including special leis/lanyards, treats, pictures, and signed memorabilia. This week, the girls received their rings.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh97bszKKWoB1Na6P6HYmOx7Bj72tEpW-gN9XnnjLOnq7x4FYoBj10zL37MD7tz4ZKwHqPqOV7k56rlpYueMaR6C7RXyzttXYGDtbFZ4mGnVdjnklBG9yYcFNbKcZyMRQLAK0fC6V360WWoYWCrBNGoEM-t6cJ_MTkfm3CdiqLCDMQnotxdd5GY8G7C9A=s3088" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3088" data-original-width="2316" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh97bszKKWoB1Na6P6HYmOx7Bj72tEpW-gN9XnnjLOnq7x4FYoBj10zL37MD7tz4ZKwHqPqOV7k56rlpYueMaR6C7RXyzttXYGDtbFZ4mGnVdjnklBG9yYcFNbKcZyMRQLAK0fC6V360WWoYWCrBNGoEM-t6cJ_MTkfm3CdiqLCDMQnotxdd5GY8G7C9A=w480-h640" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">See how they're cute little volleyballs? I worked hard to get the pattern just right!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiMB9XTbM_DcYJrplx89q_hlLNEX9wH522HGDe5FtzTYdbztYYVvWSJpbd55eHHGMg_dGk0GW0s-9Cp2iNipJNcd_aLT8nzIx0wf3OS__pDYvcHKO5LQgnM46CGb9Piu5dg_90BxKfSFWN6sdo5SEuYUS5sHNzVYD6ofq0eZfgDrhFDr3jeO4SHzmz4aQ=s4032" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiMB9XTbM_DcYJrplx89q_hlLNEX9wH522HGDe5FtzTYdbztYYVvWSJpbd55eHHGMg_dGk0GW0s-9Cp2iNipJNcd_aLT8nzIx0wf3OS__pDYvcHKO5LQgnM46CGb9Piu5dg_90BxKfSFWN6sdo5SEuYUS5sHNzVYD6ofq0eZfgDrhFDr3jeO4SHzmz4aQ=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEixBN0zk3e6RB1HNBb_f1Zp8YyGtsa3ud0yWn-C2LuC4xvp-rWq1GLaKZ4esnnNHFu4YeYIMY2gJZ4TbfSWXQfwvR8Pt4MH0vJJur968KD88wL2dnJ4Njp9XNXBrA6gHdRMK0jfe4QWefDEFl9Rqxb4xBn3TWyfE6ejQzckAosF1LzA46suNDscHcIpew=s3544" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2658" data-original-width="3544" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEixBN0zk3e6RB1HNBb_f1Zp8YyGtsa3ud0yWn-C2LuC4xvp-rWq1GLaKZ4esnnNHFu4YeYIMY2gJZ4TbfSWXQfwvR8Pt4MH0vJJur968KD88wL2dnJ4Njp9XNXBrA6gHdRMK0jfe4QWefDEFl9Rqxb4xBn3TWyfE6ejQzckAosF1LzA46suNDscHcIpew=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh6h-m70ZBifcwFTF4M2qq6nu3qC4t4rE14OFHyeEBVM1NMPkjdMGgoxCcxMjqic_QHx9HmiZaf5s0zAbKQuxldDc9UNkOH4GqLJgIsEzJQ4XEV7p5oFj3PRzQ_QqSexgv_vFBD4Ekzy3ZtjH5yEhBUfHlVVM1CsY5MC6uhcD3QN-ZlQuqsFEv158Fwrg=s4032" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh6h-m70ZBifcwFTF4M2qq6nu3qC4t4rE14OFHyeEBVM1NMPkjdMGgoxCcxMjqic_QHx9HmiZaf5s0zAbKQuxldDc9UNkOH4GqLJgIsEzJQ4XEV7p5oFj3PRzQ_QqSexgv_vFBD4Ekzy3ZtjH5yEhBUfHlVVM1CsY5MC6uhcD3QN-ZlQuqsFEv158Fwrg=w480-h640" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg9DTs8Gn88ctIxhjNBitjDjNy5WcJd3xxtQXNYS55rRSuBfS8J8mCN7AlpLnermx9IP5LWohvcSMw4vwFAtFu0pHFla4-V0cGajgXRF8c1MDF9cNAgdQAgDEyuHqd2wKPF-2qL_MPYRESk7PeduXPuvjvPsYynk5pMZ1gHLnw312bKvCRM1p21fUdPWA=s1622" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1622" data-original-width="1615" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg9DTs8Gn88ctIxhjNBitjDjNy5WcJd3xxtQXNYS55rRSuBfS8J8mCN7AlpLnermx9IP5LWohvcSMw4vwFAtFu0pHFla4-V0cGajgXRF8c1MDF9cNAgdQAgDEyuHqd2wKPF-2qL_MPYRESk7PeduXPuvjvPsYynk5pMZ1gHLnw312bKvCRM1p21fUdPWA=w638-h640" width="638" /></a></div><p>Go Gondos! Rowing, not drifting!</p>Jamihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01404333659115840964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975902558897929849.post-18783510676287400242022-03-08T11:28:00.004-08:002022-06-10T13:05:30.839-07:00stuff i haven't posted yet: graduation cake<p>A friend of ours graduated from high school and won a tennis scholarship to Whittier College, whose colors are purple and gold. I had the best time making a cake for him to celebrate! </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgCqjE7PdH49S6xW3D_CjHt5n3sWr53Msl702pboR61H0AQUV2t05IrdoxQpFChP76YqxjOXmqFgBn4XJAJhsUcuu6EPqZ09Kixk_TFrPSbN1QN3M5w-vrrCZhlZ90z66D_BnKEyAf_IxmPgyAHGGTKi8GqPd2HCY8iEv54nZTAnfap7ZiaIWRNDWCRww=s3818" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2863" data-original-width="3818" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgCqjE7PdH49S6xW3D_CjHt5n3sWr53Msl702pboR61H0AQUV2t05IrdoxQpFChP76YqxjOXmqFgBn4XJAJhsUcuu6EPqZ09Kixk_TFrPSbN1QN3M5w-vrrCZhlZ90z66D_BnKEyAf_IxmPgyAHGGTKi8GqPd2HCY8iEv54nZTAnfap7ZiaIWRNDWCRww=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj0xtuF0EI0EJv2BarB4edsFT5D3WwCUGTI-vceH4poB0_96Z3IZRpdyXXs2MJXc7OSl9kqhYffFMwop648LULhqSWnjse668hLELVPB4h22iJ3V7UNXKpcK-wR4PoH4XPOslrr0qaFR4f9LtZ1d7HOAL3ostL31m2692UPql-7BlDajhRiLoqmG3RhZQ=s4032" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj0xtuF0EI0EJv2BarB4edsFT5D3WwCUGTI-vceH4poB0_96Z3IZRpdyXXs2MJXc7OSl9kqhYffFMwop648LULhqSWnjse668hLELVPB4h22iJ3V7UNXKpcK-wR4PoH4XPOslrr0qaFR4f9LtZ1d7HOAL3ostL31m2692UPql-7BlDajhRiLoqmG3RhZQ=w480-h640" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjcb9H-o2H3bI9FO4siQPInNT2aZNbOMwTrlWOoa4DZUw87PqRNuCsy2c-1IBVvpq9VE6qrtuKYf_NR3U6L_pXj-7mq6XyI2k3vU4R_HOKEap4yKAnhiDrLLJsH63ciPkW_LhHUpjzRzXvmo-OeTdo90VdGpnfv8E1g5bYmmLmHDLF8CHeQZeuF1lJ0iA=s3608" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2707" data-original-width="3608" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjcb9H-o2H3bI9FO4siQPInNT2aZNbOMwTrlWOoa4DZUw87PqRNuCsy2c-1IBVvpq9VE6qrtuKYf_NR3U6L_pXj-7mq6XyI2k3vU4R_HOKEap4yKAnhiDrLLJsH63ciPkW_LhHUpjzRzXvmo-OeTdo90VdGpnfv8E1g5bYmmLmHDLF8CHeQZeuF1lJ0iA=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div>It was hard to figure out how to do the strings of the tennis racket. Ideally, I wanted to roll out super tiny strands and make actual strings, but they were so thin, they fell apart. I hit on the idea of using a food-safe marker to draw strings onto a thin piece of white fondant. Not as authentic, but given the size of the racket, which was only about 4" long, it was the best bet.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh4mtqeVp9BYkmXUwR__LOVzK4STGTkKTDjCnxfFXQBz-3U4QC6ltYNHJnvbE8IlwHuyBeWH7-IwlKP53xV7VfjVHAxJE4S0xYFC0ANjBhv_r53RwNVy1QxVUfWaHXo-pXUeH9PpU6n-tsYZrHTOdcgwCGs-qIDGAHWUo8X7qhmS2E1cYS-3D6s_mSI6w=s3650" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2737" data-original-width="3650" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh4mtqeVp9BYkmXUwR__LOVzK4STGTkKTDjCnxfFXQBz-3U4QC6ltYNHJnvbE8IlwHuyBeWH7-IwlKP53xV7VfjVHAxJE4S0xYFC0ANjBhv_r53RwNVy1QxVUfWaHXo-pXUeH9PpU6n-tsYZrHTOdcgwCGs-qIDGAHWUo8X7qhmS2E1cYS-3D6s_mSI6w=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div>One of my favorite personal baking challenges is to get the fondant colors just right, and I loved how these tennis balls came out. <div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjlGgWbjdkg3-brK38F5qebY1dMd4QXYz-J1NRB9gzpd8cR2bflo2vnQsSfNx3WAQA6ivtNSg7s9_ouNGeQCBmQsjeMz3Jt184u-ijUGcUrlflovCSV8FLeChBDrzZmoh7FnwdhqO6IKJauRNNwud-tMaZHLsuJ7Vk41xLMmaFkGy8iqFnDwPswai-H5g=s4032" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjlGgWbjdkg3-brK38F5qebY1dMd4QXYz-J1NRB9gzpd8cR2bflo2vnQsSfNx3WAQA6ivtNSg7s9_ouNGeQCBmQsjeMz3Jt184u-ijUGcUrlflovCSV8FLeChBDrzZmoh7FnwdhqO6IKJauRNNwud-tMaZHLsuJ7Vk41xLMmaFkGy8iqFnDwPswai-H5g=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div>I used the fondant extruder to make the tassel. It's much easier to achieve even, well-shaped strands - especially skinny ones! - using an extruder. For the mortarboard, I made the square and the circle shapes separately and let them stiffen and dry before assembling them. It's necessary to give yourself a couple of days when you are doing fondant work so that everything has time to dry. The larger and thicker a piece is, the more time it needs. Kneading in some tylose powder, or using gumpaste, can speed up the process; those dry more quickly. <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg0FDJJKHY1x2eaWtuFYBnW8uq1cWh12fbeEvN19U5qT9psk3plQVS5kkdtao_oTmDR02eTeYnStHrwKQyZK8i7vQXVUNd0vwK515ZSAuFD4DGWjSFnJjguE17wawOoBOgb8klq7B8M9xazbVIhOpI7Bd18YpgixAJPDODcKTnjxIc55H29Ayti-4A8rA=s4032" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg0FDJJKHY1x2eaWtuFYBnW8uq1cWh12fbeEvN19U5qT9psk3plQVS5kkdtao_oTmDR02eTeYnStHrwKQyZK8i7vQXVUNd0vwK515ZSAuFD4DGWjSFnJjguE17wawOoBOgb8klq7B8M9xazbVIhOpI7Bd18YpgixAJPDODcKTnjxIc55H29Ayti-4A8rA=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Best of luck in college, Caden!<br /><p> </p></div>Jamihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01404333659115840964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975902558897929849.post-66054469790101035202022-03-08T09:47:00.007-08:002022-06-10T13:08:04.056-07:00stuff i haven't posted: giant lemon roll<p>For any citrus fans out there, this was a delicious and special breakfast treat: a giant lemon roll in the spirit of a cinnamon roll cake!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhsCHrZwiDB7nUlMXqJZjENqYwIdejJ8GoZj5MskO0pFGbO08nxobsrNl6ky8Enba4uTsT3XQEgfSVMsXnCIyySkps0dIDza0yozQuB5XjlQGrbmkPUkS6ZFmfAhE6QX-2z4fN-M6vCizPERMAtkkjuH2n_uIe3fMKv3bWzy0sQWg0kagz8coyTc9pTGw=s3834" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2876" data-original-width="3834" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhsCHrZwiDB7nUlMXqJZjENqYwIdejJ8GoZj5MskO0pFGbO08nxobsrNl6ky8Enba4uTsT3XQEgfSVMsXnCIyySkps0dIDza0yozQuB5XjlQGrbmkPUkS6ZFmfAhE6QX-2z4fN-M6vCizPERMAtkkjuH2n_uIe3fMKv3bWzy0sQWg0kagz8coyTc9pTGw=w640-h480" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>I made this for a friend's birthday, and it was pillowy, and really brightly lemon flavored, with soft dough. Don't tell Paul Hollwood, but I actually prefer when cinnamon rolls are a little underbaked. However, I made sure to bake this one all the way through, and it was still very tender. We cut it in triangles like a pie, which was a little disappointing; I would rather have unrolled it like a cinnamon roll. Maybe that's a little less appropriate in polite company? I was still able to pull my slice apart and eat it layer by layer.</p><p>The giant lemon roll was actually quite fun to assemble! Here's how: you make a yeasted dough, let it rise for 30 minutes, roll it into a rectangle, and spread the filling over it. So far, it's like making cinnamon rolls, but here's where it diverges: cut the dough into strips, roll up one strip, and place it cut-side up in the center of the pie plate. Continue to wrap strips of dough around that initial base, making the circle larger and larger, until it nearly fills the pie plate. Let it rest for 90 minutes to two hours before baking for 30 minutes.</p><p>If you start early enough, you can make the whole thing before breakfast... but here's an easier option: the night before, make the dough and form the roll. Cover it and let it rise overnight in the fridge. In the morning, give it an hour and a half to come back to room temperature (you can go back to bed), then bake, and then spread the glaze over the top of the warm pastry and let it melt in just a bit. </p><p>This pastry is perfect for a brunch or afternoon tea. It was really delicious and I would absolutely make it again!</p><p><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RiuzqNqHFj4ZhcHm23jN42YyuNTXesyCXaYcgmyLDIw/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Here's the recipe.</a></p>Jamihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01404333659115840964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975902558897929849.post-74364298904891031102021-11-19T13:29:00.003-08:002021-11-19T13:29:08.990-08:00silly face cookies, again!<p>I made more silly face cookies for our friend who loves them. I'm pretty sure they didn't even share!</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2th1zf2_3jBWfnTJ-YVXQjukF4yChX80t6c9dF869jVx1EmoCcnHnZQL3VR5zYMf2TJQba7cGxzOGGURn3WUf_XqhrcGcCiCKEiePWoMo-jtzrOpK-RXOe95NqQ5Wg2ZJzq_AqtY1Pp3T/s2048/IMG_6101.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2th1zf2_3jBWfnTJ-YVXQjukF4yChX80t6c9dF869jVx1EmoCcnHnZQL3VR5zYMf2TJQba7cGxzOGGURn3WUf_XqhrcGcCiCKEiePWoMo-jtzrOpK-RXOe95NqQ5Wg2ZJzq_AqtY1Pp3T/w480-h640/IMG_6101.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeMHmaT5J34tBbfYIEDIDj0UDau5EgCc2mqMhwNPcQxFkCrJEZoOphKFmrymvErvjETkWZC-lZaX37q9pu338p3XXDdl3F7nhEJhuxy2tKFyi2hIHS-FZYPPkDpyJVUMylwHH8-rKvnsqg/s2048/IMG_6100.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeMHmaT5J34tBbfYIEDIDj0UDau5EgCc2mqMhwNPcQxFkCrJEZoOphKFmrymvErvjETkWZC-lZaX37q9pu338p3XXDdl3F7nhEJhuxy2tKFyi2hIHS-FZYPPkDpyJVUMylwHH8-rKvnsqg/w480-h640/IMG_6100.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p></p>Jamihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01404333659115840964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975902558897929849.post-7925628605216439182021-11-19T13:26:00.001-08:002023-05-17T00:19:49.106-07:00two harry potter spell book cakesMy nephew came to visit for his 10th birthday this summer, and what a fun chance to make a cake for him! He is super into Harry Potter (among other things - like guitar and Lego and lots of other books and climbing every tree in sight), and I set to work sculpting bits out of fondant to make his HP birthday cake. Like <a href="http://nightbaking.blogspot.com/2012/08/powerful-potions-spell-book-cake.html" target="_blank">others</a> <a href="http://nightbaking.blogspot.com/2021/04/things-i-havent-posted-yet-domis-book.html" target="_blank">before</a>, I made him a spell book, but I customized the decorative elements for my nephew. It was just the immediate family, so I made a 9x13" cake and cut it in half and stacked it to make the book - that was the perfect size for us with plenty of leftovers, and it made a nice, tall cake that looked like a giant tome of a spell book.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOyHaY6_vNUGgpBg_zEiskgoDQzH-eVhQ_5yETm8oCgtpza1asTWJxCzx3jJGPMyKExdWV0BXBc1E9Fjzi461tbFg-8CRJ5MXNL16SlfgqweSgonexYZeszcX1gyvVsjzrxd15rDetN9YY/s2048/jujy_hp_5637.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOyHaY6_vNUGgpBg_zEiskgoDQzH-eVhQ_5yETm8oCgtpza1asTWJxCzx3jJGPMyKExdWV0BXBc1E9Fjzi461tbFg-8CRJ5MXNL16SlfgqweSgonexYZeszcX1gyvVsjzrxd15rDetN9YY/w480-h640/jujy_hp_5637.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCDZYZULAM6WZtYgjDsZQjAp8ZtgeuAi1mRo2-ED-F4RHk7zQSdoK7CQYhULVzXT449gVwfWUCanUDD2oMrjxMQUZs7r1oWPM8bfseRlUIQzUIeqzb0EuJdB5n4-dZZBOD42whyQGt50QP/s2048/jujy_hp_5638.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1618" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCDZYZULAM6WZtYgjDsZQjAp8ZtgeuAi1mRo2-ED-F4RHk7zQSdoK7CQYhULVzXT449gVwfWUCanUDD2oMrjxMQUZs7r1oWPM8bfseRlUIQzUIeqzb0EuJdB5n4-dZZBOD42whyQGt50QP/w506-h640/jujy_hp_5638.jpg" width="506" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Ooh, it was fun making the snitch! It's a big (ping-pong ball-sized) glob of fondant, adorned with very skinny strings of fondant making the decorative parts, which I allowed to dry and then painted with a mix of vodka and gold luster dust. But the wings were the best part! They are rice paper! I cut out a front and a back for each wing piece, laid in a strip of very fine floral wire to give them structure and allow them to bend, and glued the front and back together with piping gel. Then I used scissors to cut strips in the paper to give it a fringe appearance. The rice paper cuts easily with a knife or scissors and is actually pretty easy to work with. I left about 3/4" of wire exposed and that's how I stuck each wing into the snitch. <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRppU_92g5MaZ-66FsjNjLxhKbvsvBYA2Q6f1CyK702vKmjXLAz0cgwfUYWN4pUC5DsHu3UYLMW38kxybkxNW_ko5L_ICBKhCG_Vf-tD6W0yD2VxzF_GXvOB-G9Ynsk8iQZueixT2u8tP8/s2048/jujy_hp_5640.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRppU_92g5MaZ-66FsjNjLxhKbvsvBYA2Q6f1CyK702vKmjXLAz0cgwfUYWN4pUC5DsHu3UYLMW38kxybkxNW_ko5L_ICBKhCG_Vf-tD6W0yD2VxzF_GXvOB-G9Ynsk8iQZueixT2u8tP8/w640-h480/jujy_hp_5640.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Here are the wand and scarf. I couldn't think of an easy way to make the scarf alternating colors. I ended up cutting strips of maroon and gold and sort of gently smushing them together. It was pretty delicate, so I'd probably try to figure out a better way for next time.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiHLvXidCccA3m6QEVjXU8A7Pwae4yf6S7ntluPDpEXHqwhFoM3fmkkI3BIJ3jhrj_NPOmzqeyttSdv7TUhNaRUm8QnqVFO_1-y-iuuTV0XszESk84Kxv-z8d8HgpE9wVcXIFzgKeF-Dm0/s2048/jujy_hp_5641.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiHLvXidCccA3m6QEVjXU8A7Pwae4yf6S7ntluPDpEXHqwhFoM3fmkkI3BIJ3jhrj_NPOmzqeyttSdv7TUhNaRUm8QnqVFO_1-y-iuuTV0XszESk84Kxv-z8d8HgpE9wVcXIFzgKeF-Dm0/w640-h480/jujy_hp_5641.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Hedwig.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCs-5vOWc6ATfQvkhcqbQ6rXsTqY3cuJFiCB_baWgq1nIKzvqEB8LC0nnI6VZod9DN-SQPTtUkr1o0yiFJsGOx7rE5LNESIiLbCuuVYbP6svbdVODnatx8qWNer8bW0SjlvRkvpXmOWl7H/s2048/jujy_hp_5642.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCs-5vOWc6ATfQvkhcqbQ6rXsTqY3cuJFiCB_baWgq1nIKzvqEB8LC0nnI6VZod9DN-SQPTtUkr1o0yiFJsGOx7rE5LNESIiLbCuuVYbP6svbdVODnatx8qWNer8bW0SjlvRkvpXmOWl7H/w640-h480/jujy_hp_5642.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div>I brushed bronze luster dust onto the sides of the cake to "age" the pages, but I was a little heavier handed than I would have liked to be. Since the cake was a little cold, it didn't brush on smoothly. I would have been better off waiting until the cake was totally at room temp - or using a lighter touch.<div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5hDSzWaWhMlPkVCYFw-SZ0QJKcmoczXhJ5fecqjAPNAC1alhy7xGLQz-I8tt31F0cbtuwQ4Nmh_QS5svrkrsk14hkRfsvqM1OHMc2HPPSrry0cXiHRbv2yKe12VNdeyObgymV5CI1wPWF00lNhf-0qI7ZeHxGNSZQOB28sWCL4g5-oLpqoJLH49zS2A/s3911/jujy_hp_5649.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2934" data-original-width="3911" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5hDSzWaWhMlPkVCYFw-SZ0QJKcmoczXhJ5fecqjAPNAC1alhy7xGLQz-I8tt31F0cbtuwQ4Nmh_QS5svrkrsk14hkRfsvqM1OHMc2HPPSrry0cXiHRbv2yKe12VNdeyObgymV5CI1wPWF00lNhf-0qI7ZeHxGNSZQOB28sWCL4g5-oLpqoJLH49zS2A/w640-h480/jujy_hp_5649.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>When our rabbi saw pictures of my nephew's cake, she mentioned that her twin girls, turning 6 in November, are huge Harry Potter fans and would love an HP cake. So, come November, I made a pink and purple Harry Potter cake for them! I wasn't sure how the colors would fly: would they be delighted to see their favorite shades, or would they complain that those weren't the house colors for Ravenclaw, Slytherin, Hufflepuff, or Gryffindor? No matter, they loved the cake, and I followed a very similar design - but times two and with some lightning bolts for oomph!</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiInaedJzf8PAiwLNoBVN8sJJ4nP0imvdcerf7eK1jWMTOGEyebXaSy3qYFJbSNP0P1a8o8HOE4V911vRH089M2Tx7hmauJ96wf9rUZSRnnWIzZndVYy_uXpuhn_hSyv1c6L1kOF3QxSpu/s2048/frimmer_hp_6389.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiInaedJzf8PAiwLNoBVN8sJJ4nP0imvdcerf7eK1jWMTOGEyebXaSy3qYFJbSNP0P1a8o8HOE4V911vRH089M2Tx7hmauJ96wf9rUZSRnnWIzZndVYy_uXpuhn_hSyv1c6L1kOF3QxSpu/w480-h640/frimmer_hp_6389.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXGY-RJoYSJxtnerj2Jn7xfhQ4xfoPozY40dW3PXLkswyQFcqZoG75NogtJlgKPpQtQVBZKKCGwWrA28EAp4RIHRkXmoHwnDdCIjJ6dSG1Dw2cr5q_QMP-a_DucXJqYcBdAPoE5b8_9lco/s2048/frimmer_hp_6392.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXGY-RJoYSJxtnerj2Jn7xfhQ4xfoPozY40dW3PXLkswyQFcqZoG75NogtJlgKPpQtQVBZKKCGwWrA28EAp4RIHRkXmoHwnDdCIjJ6dSG1Dw2cr5q_QMP-a_DucXJqYcBdAPoE5b8_9lco/w640-h480/frimmer_hp_6392.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div></div>Jamihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01404333659115840964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975902558897929849.post-28561141109713775422021-11-19T13:00:00.003-08:002021-11-19T13:00:37.459-08:00musical 90th birthday celebration<p>A friend of my dad's recently turned 90 (!) and their group of guys decided to host a special celebration. As he is a huge music fan, they hired some chamber music players to entertain, and my dad asked me to make a music-themed lemon cake. He gave me a lot of latitude on the design, and I thought it would be fun to do piano keys around the side of the cake. I thought the look would be really clean and elegant. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAJZ64Qk4Lh6Bh2pkJGjZzq3AomKg18ef3SCLNBtQdiZeKKpGv-s6yW9vW7Rs-e0WQVLO_LOXo8uuSJLo8byUHmZBrsGEijsL21XNi2GV_KKWxFSqebsL3sil6yaz_jPsvi41YK2Ycv2wO/s2048/gordon90_5613.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAJZ64Qk4Lh6Bh2pkJGjZzq3AomKg18ef3SCLNBtQdiZeKKpGv-s6yW9vW7Rs-e0WQVLO_LOXo8uuSJLo8byUHmZBrsGEijsL21XNi2GV_KKWxFSqebsL3sil6yaz_jPsvi41YK2Ycv2wO/w640-h480/gordon90_5613.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">Little did I ever envision how often I would need to use the area and circumference of certain shapes in baking. I calculated the circumference and height of the cake to determine what size to cut the strips of fondant for the piano keys. I wanted to keep the black and white keys proportionate, but I didn't want them to stick up too far over the top of the cake (in case they started to curve), so I actually measured the keys on my piano and scaled the measurements down to fit the size of the cake. Geeky! I also tried not to worry that the keys weren't perfectly snug against each other - there needs to be enough space between them to depress them. (Striving for perfection - ain't gonna happen - it's sugar!)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip-hpfknTfpqnv_eX1rdMiT12rlCP9odlpdlAoL-LL9thVl0HwKjKP26Zny_S8MNayuvS-VOz_FrYHVA9bYaU32kVo10Zp1xdOAo3vHyICCjhWMNmxEYPS_XouKTwEkDpn0nGm7EsPmYMj/s2048/gordon90_5600.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip-hpfknTfpqnv_eX1rdMiT12rlCP9odlpdlAoL-LL9thVl0HwKjKP26Zny_S8MNayuvS-VOz_FrYHVA9bYaU32kVo10Zp1xdOAo3vHyICCjhWMNmxEYPS_XouKTwEkDpn0nGm7EsPmYMj/w640-h480/gordon90_5600.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj2ZubjKTx8b9i7XwEey08xwBiFFvmSxo0sVda_bujBLMuBunv9Ms5rlv3YuH7lUlKKm9YeU4ipfQKMLkKW4bQKX2rFoGGKKPTzc_h5DptM5QLpcde7DEBRTPu-D4L2QUzWCtbSPtITPiP/s2048/gordon90_5601.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj2ZubjKTx8b9i7XwEey08xwBiFFvmSxo0sVda_bujBLMuBunv9Ms5rlv3YuH7lUlKKm9YeU4ipfQKMLkKW4bQKX2rFoGGKKPTzc_h5DptM5QLpcde7DEBRTPu-D4L2QUzWCtbSPtITPiP/w640-h480/gordon90_5601.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div>The cake was lemon, filled with <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jbKFwe8oPJeGjro7C4aQzoWSnhZNSbW8UBmOX7nQO0A/edit" target="_blank">homemade lemon curd</a>, and decorated with vanilla frosting.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiJpHoEU5273IVEpXiI4fIMph7Isre1AgfUSbMPavLzR76nEYR_8IXbks2h0p5f-E75r2njMZ5OIKmfawjLEJax0V2BwWIj2TOOe4cx7xU-xFTEk1HFjlQwj79Gt-sfudhDEHRhN_llQoG/s2048/gordon90_5605.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiJpHoEU5273IVEpXiI4fIMph7Isre1AgfUSbMPavLzR76nEYR_8IXbks2h0p5f-E75r2njMZ5OIKmfawjLEJax0V2BwWIj2TOOe4cx7xU-xFTEk1HFjlQwj79Gt-sfudhDEHRhN_llQoG/w640-h480/gordon90_5605.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div>I couldn't figure out how to do the treble clef exactly, so I eyeballed it and did it freehand. The fondant piece underneath made it easier to lay it on the cake. <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT3WKA9L3W7H2Lx4LLTee5UCJn1gQDoz-vnef_duSAe-vZo-HnU1uIKHIRi8AOx7zsccqx6lOFAGZ3sJN5b1AILUtE_42QAOfh3roB_aO98Wm_btcuNiy4-kEAZhyphenhyphenvrfZmM9mLWgUU1nLO/s2048/gordon90_5609.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjT3WKA9L3W7H2Lx4LLTee5UCJn1gQDoz-vnef_duSAe-vZo-HnU1uIKHIRi8AOx7zsccqx6lOFAGZ3sJN5b1AILUtE_42QAOfh3roB_aO98Wm_btcuNiy4-kEAZhyphenhyphenvrfZmM9mLWgUU1nLO/w480-h640/gordon90_5609.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO6ct56UTMxhSeRB1VIIwF6DZTYgOGA9OtbzrVfFnsqB1Unt4huJ9rOaiKlxYX3gLKzQZQuAi_iwxI-CYk37WWVsp0x9_5zt4g9vw_2MDacu9u4FuyKL4iIpaIkOJNk80rSrd0yoUjIdsL/s2048/gordon90_5610.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO6ct56UTMxhSeRB1VIIwF6DZTYgOGA9OtbzrVfFnsqB1Unt4huJ9rOaiKlxYX3gLKzQZQuAi_iwxI-CYk37WWVsp0x9_5zt4g9vw_2MDacu9u4FuyKL4iIpaIkOJNk80rSrd0yoUjIdsL/w480-h640/gordon90_5610.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Happy 90th birthday, Gordon!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><p><br /></p>Jamihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01404333659115840964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975902558897929849.post-69595553675046398812021-11-18T18:04:00.006-08:002023-05-17T00:22:36.514-07:00bat mitzvah cake with fresh flowers<p>Not only did I make a <i>bar </i>mitzvah cake earlier this year, I was asked to make a <i>bat</i> mitzvah cake as well! The bat mitzvah girl knew <b>exactly</b> what she wanted: she asked if I could make it look like a wedding cake. White, decorated with flowers to complement the pink party decorations. The vanilla frosting, however, concealed a rich chocolate cake filled with both frosting and raspberry jam. Yum.</p><p>First of all, how gorgeous are these flowers?</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4uWIw7uVDp6bv-pVXd_j2UhcokxPipZJ9HTKik6HdAV9WckOFE2Op7sjsXvl6naVIkvigoQmxg38j9Lm-lOPwvpm0HqU7C6jqUEvcG5GRFoEKvTGuqUawN6UPMJ2qWu7oIRcJNiFpdK-D/s2048/wendybatmitz_5411.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4uWIw7uVDp6bv-pVXd_j2UhcokxPipZJ9HTKik6HdAV9WckOFE2Op7sjsXvl6naVIkvigoQmxg38j9Lm-lOPwvpm0HqU7C6jqUEvcG5GRFoEKvTGuqUawN6UPMJ2qWu7oIRcJNiFpdK-D/w640-h480/wendybatmitz_5411.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimxMleJMkx1_G4A3hNQNss1Q3guppPDBCPgzNKpjW2or8DclmHl0goTSHE5qt3QaIthEqF2QF9cuG5_cayrpouw_Yc-3tdnruTo3GJzd2AVLRJ9-44cyGny62gkOhE5TMUsAtl5aXIy_je/s2048/wendybatmitz_5414.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimxMleJMkx1_G4A3hNQNss1Q3guppPDBCPgzNKpjW2or8DclmHl0goTSHE5qt3QaIthEqF2QF9cuG5_cayrpouw_Yc-3tdnruTo3GJzd2AVLRJ9-44cyGny62gkOhE5TMUsAtl5aXIy_je/w640-h480/wendybatmitz_5414.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div>My friend, Jasmine, is a decorator extraordinaire. She sets the most beautiful tables, makes parties look so festive, and she arranges flowers gorgeously. She selected and purchased them from the flower mart in downtown LA and got extras for me to use on the cake. It's hard to go wrong when you are working with such delicate and beautiful stems.<div><br /></div><div>I wanted the cake to be sweet and girly and rustic-looking and to let the flowers be the centerpiece. The family was hosting a lunch and then a small party with the bat mitzvah girl's besties that night, so they planned to save the top tier for the girls and eat the larger cake with the family in the afternoon. I made sure both tiers were nice and tall - that way, you can cut small slices and everyone still has a good-sized piece of cake.</div><div><br /></div><div>Because I didn't want to poison anyone by sticking the stems directly into the cake, I used these great <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Wilton-Flower-Spikes-3-Inch-12-Pack/dp/B004QIMLC2/" target="_blank">plastic flower spike</a>s for each individual flower. I cut the stems down to a couple of inches, wrapped them in a tiny bit of wet paper towel to keep fresh, shoved each wrapped stem into a flower spike, and pushed the spikes into the cake. I have also done this before with regular width or boba tea straws (helpful for flowers with particularly fat stems). You really don't want anything inedible to come into contact with the cake people will be eating. You just need to angle each spike to fit so they don't bump into each other inside the cake - or, worse yet, pop out through the side! I sort of nestled the little decorative white flowers and leaves behind and between the flowers without actually needing to insert them into the cake, and they stayed put just fine.</div><div><br /></div><div>Cakes with fresh flowers are best assembled the day of the event and kept chilled. I decorated the cake the night before, but then I got up early on the morning of to put the flowers on. They were able to store the cake in the fridge until everyone got home from temple, which worked out perfectly!</div><div><br /></div><div>I took pictures of the cake at nearly every angle partly because it was pretty and partly so I could remember how I arranged the flowers. I'll admit I didn't go in with much of a plan - I knew what flowers I had to work with, and I wanted the clusters to be balanced both in terms of color and amount, so I just winged it!<br /><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcKqqAtskOhUQeX9TPoKhM5sVbznOgYKiwMannLyaRc_ZV5eHQAB0aUDMSIsIfJUX-4jPyawElHXN5ki3rrEzuuNgo1uA1DJjMgC9rKUxKBdmP7Vktt6w961Y23lLuZZnES064N-rA7gNW/s2048/wendybatmitz_5428.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcKqqAtskOhUQeX9TPoKhM5sVbznOgYKiwMannLyaRc_ZV5eHQAB0aUDMSIsIfJUX-4jPyawElHXN5ki3rrEzuuNgo1uA1DJjMgC9rKUxKBdmP7Vktt6w961Y23lLuZZnES064N-rA7gNW/w480-h640/wendybatmitz_5428.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtf7kwquQ3OhXXhC1IxVqgtToBES-HDIbf7kvp6JGXH046Eiw-7Lo3lSRIWTbxfuI7MwFY_zKj5BLv2s_COwHpbb2od9fqbAqjnqxZXQ6e9tt_j1dKwP-ZeHlzDQvdYPfrkI-jOepXzrmgUaKpEdZOzMc_o022Af_vMM4sHkdLAUKRDa2m8nFQ-DsbEw/s4032/wendybatmitz_5417.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtf7kwquQ3OhXXhC1IxVqgtToBES-HDIbf7kvp6JGXH046Eiw-7Lo3lSRIWTbxfuI7MwFY_zKj5BLv2s_COwHpbb2od9fqbAqjnqxZXQ6e9tt_j1dKwP-ZeHlzDQvdYPfrkI-jOepXzrmgUaKpEdZOzMc_o022Af_vMM4sHkdLAUKRDa2m8nFQ-DsbEw/w480-h640/wendybatmitz_5417.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyT-f3M3g9QDg9NvCXhrzPqpslu_fyS8-bCoPofQFZoIEqYq73kdWKgAZYwvS9_WN1sbkMa301L4uA2fddrx0HUYZFc518n6J1iUZLWg1rVMe9NxU6uKDZyTHFq8i8a_ELFb7evEk1XrcL/s2048/wendybatmitz_5422.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyT-f3M3g9QDg9NvCXhrzPqpslu_fyS8-bCoPofQFZoIEqYq73kdWKgAZYwvS9_WN1sbkMa301L4uA2fddrx0HUYZFc518n6J1iUZLWg1rVMe9NxU6uKDZyTHFq8i8a_ELFb7evEk1XrcL/w480-h640/wendybatmitz_5422.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht77crhmlsN0eoeqakiy0oOGCccifAs1shGnYINQmYyn4G9HSXRBvoglThQx1zuWBWwCvMiYX87qfm2MTgDEwPoWJnneXeZFQGZOh3bTFr2EG7qXj_061Cww3rr-ffE4WuaZOpQdOd5tWG/s2048/wendybatmitz_5423.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEht77crhmlsN0eoeqakiy0oOGCccifAs1shGnYINQmYyn4G9HSXRBvoglThQx1zuWBWwCvMiYX87qfm2MTgDEwPoWJnneXeZFQGZOh3bTFr2EG7qXj_061Cww3rr-ffE4WuaZOpQdOd5tWG/w480-h640/wendybatmitz_5423.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdXGyPnUhOleHvOWu983kLDeTtC9xzAhg9Ub5nqEcspfU1zHmpxN4zJrhmojUHLSnEuHCcyNzJFuEaet-BknM8JeB1bXtMxdsVWgqosbP9xHEDtprdq5GIwgdO4OMn4keysMBDOdTauegU/s2048/wendybatmitz_5425.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdXGyPnUhOleHvOWu983kLDeTtC9xzAhg9Ub5nqEcspfU1zHmpxN4zJrhmojUHLSnEuHCcyNzJFuEaet-BknM8JeB1bXtMxdsVWgqosbP9xHEDtprdq5GIwgdO4OMn4keysMBDOdTauegU/w480-h640/wendybatmitz_5425.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzVxJeCiteq3t4YCNSZhi2LxMlZUeYo_ezwqFy2PvHPcM-CFcY67jIXt7WrA-4F4iAbQ8HmtgD1LKz5IOzqnXhlFWQrGM6dklW9oo6hmzShhjhEf_BIgigiUO83KQ77csaDLizDhczMSvD/s2048/wendybatmitz_5426.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzVxJeCiteq3t4YCNSZhi2LxMlZUeYo_ezwqFy2PvHPcM-CFcY67jIXt7WrA-4F4iAbQ8HmtgD1LKz5IOzqnXhlFWQrGM6dklW9oo6hmzShhjhEf_BIgigiUO83KQ77csaDLizDhczMSvD/w480-h640/wendybatmitz_5426.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Mazel tov to the bat mitzvah girl and her family!<br /><p><br /></p></div></div>Jamihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01404333659115840964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975902558897929849.post-66944660677313475692021-11-18T16:58:00.002-08:002021-11-18T16:58:56.878-08:00battle of the red velvet cakesI was recently asked to bake a red velvet cake for my friend's son's bar mitzvah. I've been underwhelmed with my standard recipe the last couple of times I made it, so I started to wonder: is red velvet cake just not that good? Or is this recipe lacking? I did some research and came up with a couple of contenders to pit against each other: my usual recipe, the recipe from the bakery I used to work at, and two others, one from Food Network and the other from Divas Can Cook. I made six-inch cakes of each and colored them different colors so I could remember which was which. <div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWjewZw-d6NNOmFRz2OdqvL-k2lG1sH8u53XP8CwCp0DsvthJwj3Wfm_w9ex51v7eLj7GwgacLXo-QsyGsgd-yy-OFXrGayiMAvxo2IoeeCxuaRL3mFsUD8LSla1vARBWyouzPRDfrCX35/s2048/simon+red+velvet_5431.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWjewZw-d6NNOmFRz2OdqvL-k2lG1sH8u53XP8CwCp0DsvthJwj3Wfm_w9ex51v7eLj7GwgacLXo-QsyGsgd-yy-OFXrGayiMAvxo2IoeeCxuaRL3mFsUD8LSla1vARBWyouzPRDfrCX35/w480-h640/simon+red+velvet_5431.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Top left, <a href="https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/southern-red-velvet-cake-recipe-2011892" target="_blank">Food Network</a>; top right, <a href="https://divascancook.com/the-best-red-velvet-cake-recipe-easy-homemade-moist-with-southern-flair/" target="_blank">Divas</a>; bottom left, <a href="http://nightbaking.blogspot.com/2009/11/red-velvet-cupcakes-with-cream-cheese.html" target="_blank">old recipe</a> (which is from <a href="https://pinchmysalt.com/red-velvet-cake-recipe/" target="_blank">Pinch My Salt</a>); bottom right, Hotcakes. Surprisingly, I found my old recipe and the Food Network recipe bland, tasteless, and dry. The best two by far were Divas and Hotcakes - and I enjoyed Hotcakes's recipe the most! Red velvet doesn't have that deep a taste - it only uses a couple of tablespoons of cocoa powder, so it's not really a chocolate cake - but the right recipe can taste light and fresh. I paired it with my <a href="http://nightbaking.blogspot.com/2009/07/miracle-of-cream-cheese-frosting-or-why.html" target="_blank">regular cream cheese frosting recipe</a> (more on cream cheese frosting with fondant in a future post!).<div><br /></div><div>On to the main event. Due to COVID, many bar and bat mitzvah celebrations have been drastically reduced in size and scope. For this one, the immediate family was going to eat lunch back at their house, and they just needed a simple cake for 20 or so people. I wasn't asked to do any special kind of decoration, but I wanted to add some kind of festive element, so I made a little bunting with duct tape, paper straws and ribbon, and I jazzed up the edges with rainbow sprinkles. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNablY7vzeRtWtHRAc-_jixPhLpXRumWn87UTa5gq4T8JcOaHsyS4fE0WerZG51lBVLsvDohDGh0k9P1Hx8tfKgXCjJ_K2-KG8nCacFxYbhEMqpeSR5LBv4vyVT9zbMP5tXkyyUN3saoSh/s2048/simon+red+velvet_5445.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNablY7vzeRtWtHRAc-_jixPhLpXRumWn87UTa5gq4T8JcOaHsyS4fE0WerZG51lBVLsvDohDGh0k9P1Hx8tfKgXCjJ_K2-KG8nCacFxYbhEMqpeSR5LBv4vyVT9zbMP5tXkyyUN3saoSh/w640-h480/simon+red+velvet_5445.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVCTIpWnuVa4A3jOE0HQM_BX0pINPFHsWe_ApTVRO4ot7OCQ6ZT1NxWMZzWSHcTUjX6UvQMODJp04GkjI4DfcesWZmhk40e2k54wlIg6Q4-oZAclurCnHeh8_6OaWwoizCkGfTw_VNm_sd/s2048/simon+red+velvet_5452.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1953" data-original-width="2048" height="610" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVCTIpWnuVa4A3jOE0HQM_BX0pINPFHsWe_ApTVRO4ot7OCQ6ZT1NxWMZzWSHcTUjX6UvQMODJp04GkjI4DfcesWZmhk40e2k54wlIg6Q4-oZAclurCnHeh8_6OaWwoizCkGfTw_VNm_sd/w640-h610/simon+red+velvet_5452.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIprH6CftPV8RTLUM4uhJ9m5fwE13X9fCdio2AbjUTW5UTAwct0mYNLo36S5v5m19fLD51w8veFm0MttAqumt0Puhiv0Pa-WvvFfCt2Q9WHkFA1Tq0COOmZ3FRp_73OgJQCB1z-5WagQUT/s2048/simon+red+velvet_5443.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIprH6CftPV8RTLUM4uhJ9m5fwE13X9fCdio2AbjUTW5UTAwct0mYNLo36S5v5m19fLD51w8veFm0MttAqumt0Puhiv0Pa-WvvFfCt2Q9WHkFA1Tq0COOmZ3FRp_73OgJQCB1z-5WagQUT/w640-h480/simon+red+velvet_5443.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF2Un_qpwU9Es0IH9nKfSXoh_Fwy8V-Vya81P5ZoPY-OmF4BaORH9-nqYYtxWFO-v-LS3c0sag4rgQispkFe_zMVEnb4a5arjnuUir488khLhq7IUdeHP3hrwkxCgTNz1GjooWGt_3yRCP/s2048/simon+red+velvet_5444.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgF2Un_qpwU9Es0IH9nKfSXoh_Fwy8V-Vya81P5ZoPY-OmF4BaORH9-nqYYtxWFO-v-LS3c0sag4rgQispkFe_zMVEnb4a5arjnuUir488khLhq7IUdeHP3hrwkxCgTNz1GjooWGt_3yRCP/w640-h480/simon+red+velvet_5444.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>Mazel tov, Simon and family! Thanks for letting me be part of your day!</div></div>Jamihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01404333659115840964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975902558897929849.post-81151962741146643792021-09-15T16:20:00.002-07:002021-09-15T16:20:14.452-07:0017!<p>How did my kiddo become 17? As they say, it happens in the blink of an eye. Her birthday fell during Passover this year, so I made her a KFP chocolate roll cake (chocolate sponge rolled with whipped cream). More on that below. But then after Passover, when we celebrated with family, I made her a regular cake as well. This was her second COVID birthday celebration. Hard to believe!</p><p>Here's her actual (with flour) birthday cake. I had fun piping the little purple flowers. I actually piped them on parchment and chilled them, then transferred them to the cake. That's one of my favorite ways to do flowers since I am not an expert flower-piper. I can't even remember what flavor the cake was, but most likely either confetti or chocolate.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJH6D8M-6bTml3oxOvtkECLkkcUhDd14_X9-npq0bCCa-PPeKtmqhJ8PQgFAafX3u_9ZGNInW2VFvQra4k7w9MIhUDysvgRx-nh6oQMtEx_nOtG_39CwdXwENtS7gQ7sPyH-N7oKwliP-p/s2048/hallie+17_5216.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJH6D8M-6bTml3oxOvtkECLkkcUhDd14_X9-npq0bCCa-PPeKtmqhJ8PQgFAafX3u_9ZGNInW2VFvQra4k7w9MIhUDysvgRx-nh6oQMtEx_nOtG_39CwdXwENtS7gQ7sPyH-N7oKwliP-p/w480-h640/hallie+17_5216.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p style="text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVE5hl3UU1WPR7G6uBc6guJspSMu8sq8xqt742E2M8NsPQZ7Kr-B6iIEc31Hl5ekBINhFKtl2kmJGfIwlyh-01a_eIHteooDmxJp3RYgKPLcdwQiNgU7RTm75j2M9WI9m3z427xTrVli4m/s2048/hallie+17_5215.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVE5hl3UU1WPR7G6uBc6guJspSMu8sq8xqt742E2M8NsPQZ7Kr-B6iIEc31Hl5ekBINhFKtl2kmJGfIwlyh-01a_eIHteooDmxJp3RYgKPLcdwQiNgU7RTm75j2M9WI9m3z427xTrVli4m/w640-h480/hallie+17_5215.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO-HzN4UK4_7cPzsiYCZL1OJPVuHXS7nYs60OxbnvRLDfcFXU6mNGc1Cpu3YHO6WyNbu-OM72GpN1I_BxIWLNKMA11_pFVJq5gugYSep1TlI1zVuvAn4LqJjOmllIyAV1jPNamnugARK_s/s2048/hallie+17_5217.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO-HzN4UK4_7cPzsiYCZL1OJPVuHXS7nYs60OxbnvRLDfcFXU6mNGc1Cpu3YHO6WyNbu-OM72GpN1I_BxIWLNKMA11_pFVJq5gugYSep1TlI1zVuvAn4LqJjOmllIyAV1jPNamnugARK_s/w640-h480/hallie+17_5217.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">Back to Passover. <a href="http://nightbaking.blogspot.com/2009/04/cake-will-crack-doesnt-even-begin-to.html" target="_blank">I've made this cake before</a>, but this time I decided to document the steps with pictures. First, line the sheet pan with parchment and sprinkle it well with cocoa powder. You'll see that my sheet pan is too big, and I don't own a jelly roll pan, so I created my own with heavy duty tinfoil folded to the right size.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr1ogBD70BkVTDLM-AYDhyphenhyphenL41zxHzWcrZi_HJlG6ro7KjR3nke0agNRJk5jlLtBGhT46t11Woq-dGCLdqJfBSwXwsStd8yP4B2YjMfMuYFHAoZXi30TD7f4LzqKgDb4TWdwx4_eRtDeija/s2048/IMG_5166.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr1ogBD70BkVTDLM-AYDhyphenhyphenL41zxHzWcrZi_HJlG6ro7KjR3nke0agNRJk5jlLtBGhT46t11Woq-dGCLdqJfBSwXwsStd8yP4B2YjMfMuYFHAoZXi30TD7f4LzqKgDb4TWdwx4_eRtDeija/w480-h640/IMG_5166.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Batter in the pan.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFy-UlVh6Ov6n6znRpycEkGy-u__agt7i0JgPjlFx1zcRqf4j58lzOP2mpTkOGZXWnzuzE1TzqCQ9dQeGeo_zhn-gy53aR4HHWdeDJR_avbvxT4gY8SF0BdSolWl7Mbt-lf54XZuiLDrMy/s2048/IMG_5167.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFy-UlVh6Ov6n6znRpycEkGy-u__agt7i0JgPjlFx1zcRqf4j58lzOP2mpTkOGZXWnzuzE1TzqCQ9dQeGeo_zhn-gy53aR4HHWdeDJR_avbvxT4gY8SF0BdSolWl7Mbt-lf54XZuiLDrMy/w480-h640/IMG_5167.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Baked.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR50onemQMDyzPXOKakyz5wjiOGF1iT8LKxLV2yyhgqCWX9zfK1dMIQYc8nySiD3CvPHLAiJzUSd-BEXVt4twYeUbiUd23Z-Fs8so-qq9u8QrZVwte9uPnz7XG0a0jIhsUAtaYsbozC3va/s2048/IMG_5168.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR50onemQMDyzPXOKakyz5wjiOGF1iT8LKxLV2yyhgqCWX9zfK1dMIQYc8nySiD3CvPHLAiJzUSd-BEXVt4twYeUbiUd23Z-Fs8so-qq9u8QrZVwte9uPnz7XG0a0jIhsUAtaYsbozC3va/w640-h480/IMG_5168.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div>As soon as it comes out of the oven, you lay damp paper towels over it for a little bit.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbGNcbCPH6w276YnrA3yjgIu2VKGhgcgFfBMVQ-5LH7zXZrS5Fv7BBStQ1U4b4E6Ap3sFzQ9mfId1yLBYiDDFDPjXwOC6fLrs2soM71ZfggiwDOXJzAP6OMTnmTLXU9WNuxWijcR-7dsWh/s2048/IMG_5170.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbGNcbCPH6w276YnrA3yjgIu2VKGhgcgFfBMVQ-5LH7zXZrS5Fv7BBStQ1U4b4E6Ap3sFzQ9mfId1yLBYiDDFDPjXwOC6fLrs2soM71ZfggiwDOXJzAP6OMTnmTLXU9WNuxWijcR-7dsWh/w640-h480/IMG_5170.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Here's that it looks like when you peel them off - it's weird and pretty.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0zUjfwIRZUoarsgzP_U6w5hJ4SCSqqGJSjiyKGMl_zJzb2t-_KG2Bn849PZQisRcBWlXL6gg03MhMfDjeytLQSa_NALuwQ0LwyLYfyUkY_KI3vA_1miPlJlq-iqYH5ENDv5v5bc3GsfGj/s2048/IMG_5171.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0zUjfwIRZUoarsgzP_U6w5hJ4SCSqqGJSjiyKGMl_zJzb2t-_KG2Bn849PZQisRcBWlXL6gg03MhMfDjeytLQSa_NALuwQ0LwyLYfyUkY_KI3vA_1miPlJlq-iqYH5ENDv5v5bc3GsfGj/w640-h480/IMG_5171.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoy-NbxWO5Bf3pfKNO09v0QoJQhSPpt1E5HWQv5XivyK7KsEbsgMryKk_x_h4cBTgtDbx3N8-W9FnrNB1Ont34nYFmdGfpBTmJ7FcotPwsn9FU1ZnRCnjOgd3a2oEqs4yo5JA0Pp_u8Fs9/s2048/IMG_5172.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoy-NbxWO5Bf3pfKNO09v0QoJQhSPpt1E5HWQv5XivyK7KsEbsgMryKk_x_h4cBTgtDbx3N8-W9FnrNB1Ont34nYFmdGfpBTmJ7FcotPwsn9FU1ZnRCnjOgd3a2oEqs4yo5JA0Pp_u8Fs9/w640-h480/IMG_5172.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div>You invert the cake onto a clean kitchen towel and roll it up tightly and leave it to cool. This is supposed to make it possible to unroll without it cracking, but...<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4-Uhyy0oNkL5ubK9Rl_PhFr1PsizEqrMTaIgo6nVtMrqbx5omEC129H380eaENWjob_ipX8I1j77J-aDQ6pCCMtxJbZ4cPC6yOoJkYhQfCSEvrEEQ6AcF4vx6wTRH5n1aggFpq-SY9JzW/s2048/IMG_5173.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4-Uhyy0oNkL5ubK9Rl_PhFr1PsizEqrMTaIgo6nVtMrqbx5omEC129H380eaENWjob_ipX8I1j77J-aDQ6pCCMtxJbZ4cPC6yOoJkYhQfCSEvrEEQ6AcF4vx6wTRH5n1aggFpq-SY9JzW/w480-h640/IMG_5173.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div>No dice.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKNgLBrMWOFhuhC3Mt9bAiSJH_7AY0pd3Z2brno6AJTJX3HMsfqGVLvPDScyJmvWZXGPAAAj9l2PahZb9sIh6-ekNUGmDeyDmuMU19x00Ax4kOja1EDwxoiHuw6S6iOZ0kUJS6QiuWuL5t/s2048/IMG_5178.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKNgLBrMWOFhuhC3Mt9bAiSJH_7AY0pd3Z2brno6AJTJX3HMsfqGVLvPDScyJmvWZXGPAAAj9l2PahZb9sIh6-ekNUGmDeyDmuMU19x00Ax4kOja1EDwxoiHuw6S6iOZ0kUJS6QiuWuL5t/w640-h480/IMG_5178.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div>However, since I am not <i>actually</i> on The Great British Baking Show (only in my dreams), you cover up the sins with whipped cream and chocolate shavings and no one cares. <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5AEwiFj29ci6JtBdcAvfjBVt8L6_a2iC0sOqmOtdTvg_9gw3ayBgQ_ZDg1Zc32wKoajV9Wo2VAbhQ8EHzIUmXPjYcE5KsM18LYXA4ERLrOFHR_GW1HKayOLT-4a8rL_JGAaq01cEV2jy_/s2048/IMG_5181.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5AEwiFj29ci6JtBdcAvfjBVt8L6_a2iC0sOqmOtdTvg_9gw3ayBgQ_ZDg1Zc32wKoajV9Wo2VAbhQ8EHzIUmXPjYcE5KsM18LYXA4ERLrOFHR_GW1HKayOLT-4a8rL_JGAaq01cEV2jy_/w480-h640/IMG_5181.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Then you imagine Paul Hollywood just looking at you with his hands in his pockets, shaking his head just a little, and not saying anything, when he sees the tragedy that is the inside of the cake and is decidedly <i>not</i> a perfect Swiss roll. But it tastes good and everyone is happy it's a decent-tasting Passover dessert. <i>(end fantasy baking scene)</i><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmHrF5Ubdjfrej7jlXFKIC0BZQsPuheeWa8Kz8mtC1F6yjJw8qTibWTS-ZNmH_w77w6Jh_4MBEzHHuYOx1loIMDK3kNHPlBXEgV5lVOmLVT9yKCgPWXsD68OLQduRtPjHzdG5VsO_PYyYU/s2048/IMG_5184.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmHrF5Ubdjfrej7jlXFKIC0BZQsPuheeWa8Kz8mtC1F6yjJw8qTibWTS-ZNmH_w77w6Jh_4MBEzHHuYOx1loIMDK3kNHPlBXEgV5lVOmLVT9yKCgPWXsD68OLQduRtPjHzdG5VsO_PYyYU/w640-h480/IMG_5184.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Happy birthday to my best girl!<br /><p><br /></p>Jamihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01404333659115840964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975902558897929849.post-46886413650847930142021-09-15T16:00:00.000-07:002021-09-15T16:00:00.512-07:00more fun with (challah) braids<p>I've stopped baking challah weekly because I just can't eat that much challah. Or shouldn't, at least. I'm part of the FB group Holla for Challah, and I am constantly in awe of the gorgeous braids some of the bakers produce. They instantly make me want to bake more challah. You can see the conundrum. I guess the best bet would be to bake it as often as I want and find friends to give it to, and then I can practice all the braids I want. </p><p>Here are some fun braids I was playing around with. The first are hearts, and those were pretty successful. The second was inspired by someone from Holla for Challah, who made a gorgeous round sheaf of tiny braids. I made ten or so skinny braids and tried wrapping them around each other, but it did not come out nearly as pretty as hers did. Not quite a fail - it was totally edible! - but just not as pretty as I hoped. The baker actually shared with me a hand-drawn diagram of how she laid out her braids, which was not quite what I had imagined, so I might try it again soon.</p><p>The hearts are simply two six-strand braids, tapered at one end, bent toward each other to form a heart.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisCDbj0ij4PJrwGVMMdAV6N-38UtyFgeKu7Mx6rGZbXTKdrB3_cvEN_S9GJZmbSke_tW52ld5_3G32CxBhevdzNp3W9r_PyeYV8KFpCvECZ7e72j_LiUHIP65up_e1jDRqTn90uB0hzOdG/s2048/heart+challah_4800.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisCDbj0ij4PJrwGVMMdAV6N-38UtyFgeKu7Mx6rGZbXTKdrB3_cvEN_S9GJZmbSke_tW52ld5_3G32CxBhevdzNp3W9r_PyeYV8KFpCvECZ7e72j_LiUHIP65up_e1jDRqTn90uB0hzOdG/w640-h480/heart+challah_4800.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZI4fvEWejqgKtTn4dWy2ntZppQr_OL7H8Vjal8nQidqVAfW_NIRxW-uULG8qIYNjWmA7s0YpUvG8hrb66Ucqv3HcoDYGFABQu1KxLpwrFyLL1IL8XGNThl60nmKa5n0Ruba3aURW39Rao/s2048/heart+challah_4803.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZI4fvEWejqgKtTn4dWy2ntZppQr_OL7H8Vjal8nQidqVAfW_NIRxW-uULG8qIYNjWmA7s0YpUvG8hrb66Ucqv3HcoDYGFABQu1KxLpwrFyLL1IL8XGNThl60nmKa5n0Ruba3aURW39Rao/w640-h480/heart+challah_4803.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirlBb5Ghki7V9QC6aTZcdny1S-tq_nEkpXPdD2z8GRblkh2LWu9q5p1HMbYB90_QZ7QtyIxR213blnHLrutVeu3OWF1Yobe-sFH4EaVN7dZw2Nr4FkZDFRpQU37D-q93FnSmYBxMrzPAwZ/s2048/heart+challah_4809.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirlBb5Ghki7V9QC6aTZcdny1S-tq_nEkpXPdD2z8GRblkh2LWu9q5p1HMbYB90_QZ7QtyIxR213blnHLrutVeu3OWF1Yobe-sFH4EaVN7dZw2Nr4FkZDFRpQU37D-q93FnSmYBxMrzPAwZ/w640-h480/heart+challah_4809.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>Here are all my little braids. I did a few different twists and sizes purposely. I think longer, skinnier braids and twists probably work best here.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLuAjt3sv16dWzi4Kw1P4ubc0EhsIIzp2zb8Fq4x8GPFb9deSnGoTttmPc_sPJaOROFE5hvW7tk8Es3KIW7SKhdigOFnsTITWMEsIHhLspyyTam40n8CagmluOk7E348zVPp83RPXWGg4B/s2048/IMG_5998.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLuAjt3sv16dWzi4Kw1P4ubc0EhsIIzp2zb8Fq4x8GPFb9deSnGoTttmPc_sPJaOROFE5hvW7tk8Es3KIW7SKhdigOFnsTITWMEsIHhLspyyTam40n8CagmluOk7E348zVPp83RPXWGg4B/w480-h640/IMG_5998.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>First attempt.<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_1z7EFCGfj4eGusThnPIVmiriIGUZNsAc2zMwREqsqacYAhz1srxWbtNqI8o95GYPfBkpUB_nXP4D0iz9eWhGRh3bi65jOAIMcTUUDPpK4fidsNyOerJI2-w3BpfchsmU_bKazKntAq9G/s2048/IMG_5999.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_1z7EFCGfj4eGusThnPIVmiriIGUZNsAc2zMwREqsqacYAhz1srxWbtNqI8o95GYPfBkpUB_nXP4D0iz9eWhGRh3bi65jOAIMcTUUDPpK4fidsNyOerJI2-w3BpfchsmU_bKazKntAq9G/w480-h640/IMG_5999.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>Then I rearranged the braids a little to have the effect where they were sticking out a bit. Pro tip: don't play with your proofing bread too much; it will definitely affect the rise!<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrFN07sA_Oeb2MWvcIQon4yeX2qfjTOxGw-Hj_bHEr2fXI7Qe90kWA23w6tXcZzuHCa_GFt5Dli113g0R2ABJbknbulbaNnsuGei7lFMcWzGn2GcnrGZUIvuR9_qZdzD911qKQNMGhEq3v/s2048/IMG_6001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrFN07sA_Oeb2MWvcIQon4yeX2qfjTOxGw-Hj_bHEr2fXI7Qe90kWA23w6tXcZzuHCa_GFt5Dli113g0R2ABJbknbulbaNnsuGei7lFMcWzGn2GcnrGZUIvuR9_qZdzD911qKQNMGhEq3v/w480-h640/IMG_6001.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>Tweaked a little more.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1xoCwhnb14lOvTili1hrXhPO-S4e11jhvywa8fYstiPe7cF2CxJyCWhBIotcxf6vkvtWPUQG1_RjNsYRli67Ut13Bikd8BqxBhY8ksXaSqs4MF4j6sd04UizLdFD60iBx9jH38uAu1YW9/s2048/IMG_6002.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1xoCwhnb14lOvTili1hrXhPO-S4e11jhvywa8fYstiPe7cF2CxJyCWhBIotcxf6vkvtWPUQG1_RjNsYRli67Ut13Bikd8BqxBhY8ksXaSqs4MF4j6sd04UizLdFD60iBx9jH38uAu1YW9/w480-h640/IMG_6002.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>Final tweaking.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj27XBM22uuN8h-ViCRVHZ0FICB_9p7Dh8xalguKYyqDRoeSY71bSzlmgkrjK3vNzTedt6e0FRVLByVCUk5G3jPLnraWQrnUs1HZmH6yTpnwsPo5MrvuPf4-qdnKg3Lbhcx3G522gLpvbaR/s2048/IMG_6003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj27XBM22uuN8h-ViCRVHZ0FICB_9p7Dh8xalguKYyqDRoeSY71bSzlmgkrjK3vNzTedt6e0FRVLByVCUk5G3jPLnraWQrnUs1HZmH6yTpnwsPo5MrvuPf4-qdnKg3Lbhcx3G522gLpvbaR/w480-h640/IMG_6003.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Meh - it came out fine, but not as distinct as I'd imagined, and the braids look a little haphazard. Still tasted good at least! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglSRISVCRQwmjG9eyuMT_Ok-Ps0Yoa16lss7_7zmzjCYDec1_mHwzWol5nhPJjZiE-oMnQhFz8hunUbKYkfsghiFWmITLKl5Dlo3cN9AHbBOhHngyeA0ZMpdrj3Fl83VpS9YUTMkiRAalh/s2048/IMG_6008.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglSRISVCRQwmjG9eyuMT_Ok-Ps0Yoa16lss7_7zmzjCYDec1_mHwzWol5nhPJjZiE-oMnQhFz8hunUbKYkfsghiFWmITLKl5Dlo3cN9AHbBOhHngyeA0ZMpdrj3Fl83VpS9YUTMkiRAalh/w640-h480/IMG_6008.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>The instructions she shared with me, which I will try next time!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsb5FvZiPcMLJ9CTTEVgva19NvY73saC__jE7sOTHG2tI-HLVPexMR2aNlXO3zmYckV578NtPPr8q60pv_ETofm0y7p_W0iyogrGOooIM6guMO2upm2GEPaHTs-Ho7pxgSN-Q2zGuFv_FA/s1334/IMG_6006.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1334" data-original-width="750" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsb5FvZiPcMLJ9CTTEVgva19NvY73saC__jE7sOTHG2tI-HLVPexMR2aNlXO3zmYckV578NtPPr8q60pv_ETofm0y7p_W0iyogrGOooIM6guMO2upm2GEPaHTs-Ho7pxgSN-Q2zGuFv_FA/w360-h640/IMG_6006.PNG" width="360" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_-H1xmLkDbUMjfOr82ZGNGtrgWRj2M4hAW9Vmx5ohKhQ86GXhpSdx-NsS_uAZtSCtNFHIVOSZUNURdCTqhUQSRh02MSpuBG3oHKRff4ezXrLc7mPxNhJhKl0NvhP0IGPTwBZfxw673hAw/s1334/IMG_6007.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1334" data-original-width="750" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_-H1xmLkDbUMjfOr82ZGNGtrgWRj2M4hAW9Vmx5ohKhQ86GXhpSdx-NsS_uAZtSCtNFHIVOSZUNURdCTqhUQSRh02MSpuBG3oHKRff4ezXrLc7mPxNhJhKl0NvhP0IGPTwBZfxw673hAw/w360-h640/IMG_6007.PNG" width="360" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /> <p></p>Jamihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01404333659115840964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975902558897929849.post-27603155856773379962021-09-15T15:44:00.002-07:002021-09-15T15:44:19.126-07:00babka<p>In the past year, I made babka several times. Babka is something I grew up eating only occasionally, but it has been all the rage online. The recipes I made were <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/17zd6yyswngjoIi4n1Hwl2nmekMMd9eMj4AAntUP5TgM/edit" target="_blank">Shimi Aaron's chocolate babka</a> (he is an Israeli-born, LA-based baker, and I've never actually eaten his creations, but boy are they gorgeous!) and <a href="https://www.kveller.com/recipe-birthday-cake-babka/" target="_blank">Shannon Sarna's birthday cake babka</a> (she is a cookbook author whom I came to know listening to the Call Your Mother podcast. I also watched a video of her participating in a brisket competition once, and she was so kind and generous in her judgments of the competitors' briskets; I was really impressed.). </p><p>The chocolate babka was gorgeous. It is an enriched dough, rolled up with chocolate, sliced, twisted, and baked, and then drizzled with sugar syrup that ensures it is moist and heavy and delicious. The birthday cake babka was also good, but that is not my favorite flavor (it is my daughter's go-to and I made it with her in mind). I found it overly sweet. It's also possible I'm just traditional and babka with sprinkles doesn't seem right to me. I can't accept blueberry bagels, either. Anyway, both were fun to make. I am still mastering the technique: I need to decide whether to bake the babkas in loaf pans or to commit to an open bake on a cookie sheet. The ones destined for the loaf pans were too long, and I ended up twisting them in half to fit. Shimi Aaron bakes his on a cookie sheet and they come out beautifully. Frankly, when you cut into the babka and see the many layers, it looks lovely no matter what!</p><p>The one on the left oozed and had a lot of chocolate on the top. While some would argue that's not a problem, it does destroy the elegance of the visible layers.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIBOwB2oYA2p5wnCihg_QOLHxFMyY0byWVoyDqWOfZ1PAm3MIz3TcoMx8j-HY0AMWdm_XS-_RItZYpk11rVsIagfgWXeOsXBG1oX6X30JmBfbRJpP_cNkvWzRlHIAdkbp38ctacwIIeG-e/s2048/shimi+aaron+babka_4781.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIBOwB2oYA2p5wnCihg_QOLHxFMyY0byWVoyDqWOfZ1PAm3MIz3TcoMx8j-HY0AMWdm_XS-_RItZYpk11rVsIagfgWXeOsXBG1oX6X30JmBfbRJpP_cNkvWzRlHIAdkbp38ctacwIIeG-e/w640-h480/shimi+aaron+babka_4781.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEginY7E90X5HSkUYOKZgWN_9x_n0nxK1MSOy93bNILXY5r3C2YzCgUEBjjFcU3J19Fk-lNXq_Tl8gjjOh2h8Jvm6jOXV6XQaDsWJIMinndr0MyLBQyzvRzH_L5k9jr_WZTqnrw5RB2kq6Sz/s2048/shimi+aaron+babka_4782.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEginY7E90X5HSkUYOKZgWN_9x_n0nxK1MSOy93bNILXY5r3C2YzCgUEBjjFcU3J19Fk-lNXq_Tl8gjjOh2h8Jvm6jOXV6XQaDsWJIMinndr0MyLBQyzvRzH_L5k9jr_WZTqnrw5RB2kq6Sz/w640-h480/shimi+aaron+babka_4782.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp0jN1wTSMX5YH9voR22WLkxsFmWENJHcieZWd4SkqCeco6aE3jn3yFFE74GOJV1wWosKmP8nLkAN0vTDG2B097Ko6pFMPzHBtUHawEIMt6EQHuRFgZYGxBXo2g0MH4jAHB5Cx_6rBTVB_/s2048/shimi+aaron+babka_4815.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp0jN1wTSMX5YH9voR22WLkxsFmWENJHcieZWd4SkqCeco6aE3jn3yFFE74GOJV1wWosKmP8nLkAN0vTDG2B097Ko6pFMPzHBtUHawEIMt6EQHuRFgZYGxBXo2g0MH4jAHB5Cx_6rBTVB_/w480-h640/shimi+aaron+babka_4815.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p>Just look at those layers! All that chocolate! So good.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimYyilbLL1ROsedqmArTQPQFlchgzWKmJco1FZY1hZ6jqRDQVHfpBDVUktG7dsyGFCg5dUWWopqXavS7KA-3rCa0D2kVb02vEQvyJ5wAJeAMoILtjoYo8jdwGK-SwIutzgYuitqUjhWXqv/s2048/shimi+aaron+babka_4799.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimYyilbLL1ROsedqmArTQPQFlchgzWKmJco1FZY1hZ6jqRDQVHfpBDVUktG7dsyGFCg5dUWWopqXavS7KA-3rCa0D2kVb02vEQvyJ5wAJeAMoILtjoYo8jdwGK-SwIutzgYuitqUjhWXqv/w640-h480/shimi+aaron+babka_4799.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhD4yECPIoyP2GAr7xIdLuIhnix0v6Ej3h9W8-sx9Mh0dSnVZu_EBzT-oPM5xkFrSOhyphenhyphenizeU_HrMo9_JPRcbweYuyacZcQvenV9h7t8bbtu2lNieQlVaf-L_8UB1Qn4RufNPIrEmExEvxQ/s2048/shannon+sarna+babka_5024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhD4yECPIoyP2GAr7xIdLuIhnix0v6Ej3h9W8-sx9Mh0dSnVZu_EBzT-oPM5xkFrSOhyphenhyphenizeU_HrMo9_JPRcbweYuyacZcQvenV9h7t8bbtu2lNieQlVaf-L_8UB1Qn4RufNPIrEmExEvxQ/w480-h640/shannon+sarna+babka_5024.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUUVcNRGucnKfbs4nkApQL1tcZltSsVKDlgia49DOfWd8k2uB2rfVopnnIYnjyZQd5LGSq7XRssE6L5p6ZBSB34GUxTVcScyKq5SrMLFD59Fy7U0qsG7gbmEkoY6Q-i0oerfIGv9ws6i2D/s2048/shannon+sarna+babka_5025.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUUVcNRGucnKfbs4nkApQL1tcZltSsVKDlgia49DOfWd8k2uB2rfVopnnIYnjyZQd5LGSq7XRssE6L5p6ZBSB34GUxTVcScyKq5SrMLFD59Fy7U0qsG7gbmEkoY6Q-i0oerfIGv9ws6i2D/w480-h640/shannon+sarna+babka_5025.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2oJFgRDdOPYmtg-pzgC4NZLeKeSfVJ6RkUwdPrXO2d-G0i0LtogJduwnyt5cikCCIyZRJ0D0cf7ORdChcnRSssTHJpOHNfppiFUXphyphenhyphenlfPyE0gWSpgWPYG9HgDMjJRusqh7TovKP2WwDj/s2048/shannon+sarna+babka_5029.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2oJFgRDdOPYmtg-pzgC4NZLeKeSfVJ6RkUwdPrXO2d-G0i0LtogJduwnyt5cikCCIyZRJ0D0cf7ORdChcnRSssTHJpOHNfppiFUXphyphenhyphenlfPyE0gWSpgWPYG9HgDMjJRusqh7TovKP2WwDj/w480-h640/shannon+sarna+babka_5029.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIFMeAC3HwpXN66ih4udM98miMMcfL90olb_qHMRmI6NwIYZ7-Tih0e66ETj9cEFSQ_lSM2Dyk4uCXM1fMFvvqVqtO4_symlkdNPoS4t9Rf9-jzvyqn7fXYWsu8jSxevfNFdMTWprfTV-X/s2048/shannon+sarna+babka_2505.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIFMeAC3HwpXN66ih4udM98miMMcfL90olb_qHMRmI6NwIYZ7-Tih0e66ETj9cEFSQ_lSM2Dyk4uCXM1fMFvvqVqtO4_symlkdNPoS4t9Rf9-jzvyqn7fXYWsu8jSxevfNFdMTWprfTV-X/w640-h480/shannon+sarna+babka_2505.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p>Babka takes a pretty decent time commitment. It is not <i>hard</i> per se, but it does require some specific skill to make the yeasted dough (which does not require kneading, so easy-peasy), roll it out, and shape the babka. After making it a few more times, I should feel a little more comfortable handling the dough. I think I most enjoyed feeling like I was making a very traditional Jewish (eastern European Ashkenazi) food that I don't eat very often, so that alone was worth it! </p> <p></p>Jamihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01404333659115840964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975902558897929849.post-1366066301804409192021-05-29T11:59:00.001-07:002021-05-29T11:59:10.404-07:00roblox 10th birthday cake<p>I just got to make a birthday cake for a very cute and on-her-way-to-tweendom 10-year-old... and I realized the last cake I made for her was for her <a href="http://nightbaking.blogspot.com/2012/03/first-birthday-ombre-cake.html" target="_blank">first birthday</a>! Sophia is now into Roblox, although try as I might, I could not figure out how to adapt the particular games she likes into a cute cake. I settled for making her name in fondant in the Roblox font, and her mom was going to buy some fun cake toppers to add. To my mind, this was a perfect opportunity for sprinkles and multi-colored squeezes of frosting galore! It's chocolate cake with vanilla frosting.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXbuikG00DIXPhG-OaWF9PazzSCXzBlkPjRNAezHUnyf8I9IlXIJN6iVv2LSDXgYQ9rfY47yuPHaKpAqTsMdkhMkwfmj5iK0350LRwE4GAYG17ej-2n0Ap0NHJV2uSlk1M3gX-5EUcBht7/s2048/sophia+roblox_5011.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXbuikG00DIXPhG-OaWF9PazzSCXzBlkPjRNAezHUnyf8I9IlXIJN6iVv2LSDXgYQ9rfY47yuPHaKpAqTsMdkhMkwfmj5iK0350LRwE4GAYG17ej-2n0Ap0NHJV2uSlk1M3gX-5EUcBht7/w640-h480/sophia+roblox_5011.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div>To make the letters, I printed out a Roblox font and enlarged it, then cut the white fondant slightly larger as a base. I actually really loved these frosting colors. I frosted the whole cake white (crumb coated it, really) and then did the spackle-and-smooth technique on the sides to apply the color. I kept the top white so the dollops of frosting would stand out.<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1IgfVY4AuTPUnE658BwJQlh-PrfJUuDI5coceP1CRC9wJ5Il8sPLstwDzUp9nuuMb3G-i5TW5GXBy0sWzjMETx7e4QKlYY3uZxUF5MNqKnoYtzKKEIc8GSm98lxHszbuSfnW4xhk1YbaT/s2048/sophia+roblox_5006.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1IgfVY4AuTPUnE658BwJQlh-PrfJUuDI5coceP1CRC9wJ5Il8sPLstwDzUp9nuuMb3G-i5TW5GXBy0sWzjMETx7e4QKlYY3uZxUF5MNqKnoYtzKKEIc8GSm98lxHszbuSfnW4xhk1YbaT/w480-h640/sophia+roblox_5006.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div>You can see each squeeze of frosting is a different color depending on which way I was holding the piping bag and where we were in the color distribution. I used a big French star tip and squeezed one dollop with a second, smaller kiss on top.<div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsKBEo7CESwe_9wocuaR_BgQjMdNKgfeeiaXxYaUOqyWuwj8BB8Xc3VwnEPTzt1HjHPXMpNbL3KQbD9ysX4_lRe_MQgTPHQgvcUBiCgEo1BUeWQUpp_NEsLVXZItE0M5A0iAQS1f42Mef7/s2048/sophia+roblox_5007.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsKBEo7CESwe_9wocuaR_BgQjMdNKgfeeiaXxYaUOqyWuwj8BB8Xc3VwnEPTzt1HjHPXMpNbL3KQbD9ysX4_lRe_MQgTPHQgvcUBiCgEo1BUeWQUpp_NEsLVXZItE0M5A0iAQS1f42Mef7/w480-h640/sophia+roblox_5007.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div>I bought this sprinkle mixture and I love how it has a mess of different shapes and colors!</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJJfN4UgUg7oRAi3IjgLc1HtNNJ-kCElXzAjuEunJv8x5paLt8M5IGIvbX_077GVQDjsXoO19Ad9plrbuENoTnANw_FZHtvOqCJwFtXj7sfB7rtff1CK8qf-nAzgsL118E1UfZqNCnPj2f/s2048/sophia+roblox_5008.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJJfN4UgUg7oRAi3IjgLc1HtNNJ-kCElXzAjuEunJv8x5paLt8M5IGIvbX_077GVQDjsXoO19Ad9plrbuENoTnANw_FZHtvOqCJwFtXj7sfB7rtff1CK8qf-nAzgsL118E1UfZqNCnPj2f/w480-h640/sophia+roblox_5008.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>OK, tutorial time. Recently, my niece has been enjoying baking. While I was out on a walk recently, she facetimed me to ask how to do rainbow frosting on cupcakes. I talked her through the method below, but then I thought it would be helpful to document with pictures. First, divide vanilla frosting into bowls and tint each one with food coloring. Next, pipe or spoon a stripe of each color frosting next to each other on a large sheet of plastic wrap. If you care what order the colors are going to come out in, make the stripes in the order you prefer. Here, I didn't care. These stripes are about 6-7" long. I wanted a pretty large amount of frosting so I could decorate the cake all in one go. Once you use up all the frosting, you can't just refill; you have to start this process again with a new piece of plastic wrap, so try to judge accordingly. </div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY1QHd8M1gLBHKdbI3KF8zrkp2JhGfpmXv3yFicgBd8g1apeuxi2nfiJKVxD5jUIjp04iDkqNx2_4wHM2vFk-i6twu4AcwkW2n8JLC0wId17O0fnwz738SFLXNkCekGuZJ53Rc6k9OZQRy/s2048/sophia+roblox_4994.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY1QHd8M1gLBHKdbI3KF8zrkp2JhGfpmXv3yFicgBd8g1apeuxi2nfiJKVxD5jUIjp04iDkqNx2_4wHM2vFk-i6twu4AcwkW2n8JLC0wId17O0fnwz738SFLXNkCekGuZJ53Rc6k9OZQRy/w480-h640/sophia+roblox_4994.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Roll the plastic wrap into a log. The different colors will touch, and that's what we're looking for.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI2yNN4iwDO_5sn5hx2vaxxi1wVChUQLLWSePdnPLdKfV28y8-r5TzcCjqx5Mtj2TdgeMlo6Zb-4t9nlgURB0kyIqVnlVLyvY2uF3BEH6DbMeNU-S7hE05wWpDt15a5dklVgJXw_aUIOX-/s2048/sophia+roblox_4995.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI2yNN4iwDO_5sn5hx2vaxxi1wVChUQLLWSePdnPLdKfV28y8-r5TzcCjqx5Mtj2TdgeMlo6Zb-4t9nlgURB0kyIqVnlVLyvY2uF3BEH6DbMeNU-S7hE05wWpDt15a5dklVgJXw_aUIOX-/w480-h640/sophia+roblox_4995.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Twist the ends tightly like a Tootsie Roll. Then use scissors to snip off one end, close to the frosting.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2OLUlgoELoHOLWGt3rAk0r-FUF8AxCuKlF9P_w82NgUjbKvn-WcWTwvG7jnOwCZejSKtEXBne4g_NFiqaFNIllNHFNDf6-QNd_0dwr2yhU2lGUDP2OlXYr6FXCBFzNADZ54skKsl2TCY2/s2048/sophia+roblox_4996.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2OLUlgoELoHOLWGt3rAk0r-FUF8AxCuKlF9P_w82NgUjbKvn-WcWTwvG7jnOwCZejSKtEXBne4g_NFiqaFNIllNHFNDf6-QNd_0dwr2yhU2lGUDP2OlXYr6FXCBFzNADZ54skKsl2TCY2/w640-h480/sophia+roblox_4996.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Drop the whole sausage of frosting into a piping bag, pre-fitted with a piping tip of your choice. The side with the snipped off plastic wrap should be placed down into the piping bag. Then twist the piping bag closed and begin to squeeze. The colors may not all come through evenly at first, but keep applying pressure and they will all get there! Also, the color variance looks nice; it doesn't have to be perfect!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZw_YZWncIwpeqa_VC4Z3YbFTrzHmCwfCOBJSYwXXhY87_hxmN25Nh-bUYQ75KJI8JmFr8gbkXPFy4Refu6GFuMj90Kh3L8R9EKXwNxuNw8VzNucIhv-9mVjo4N4s3p3o52dXw-FdFFug8/s2048/sophia+roblox_4997.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZw_YZWncIwpeqa_VC4Z3YbFTrzHmCwfCOBJSYwXXhY87_hxmN25Nh-bUYQ75KJI8JmFr8gbkXPFy4Refu6GFuMj90Kh3L8R9EKXwNxuNw8VzNucIhv-9mVjo4N4s3p3o52dXw-FdFFug8/w640-h480/sophia+roblox_4997.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p></p></div>Jamihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01404333659115840964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975902558897929849.post-34204204146566985352021-05-29T11:33:00.001-07:002021-11-19T12:41:38.340-08:00stuff i haven't posted yet: pop-pop's birthday<p>Our beloved Pop-Pop likes plain ol' cake - the closer to grocery store vanilla with vanilla frosting, the better. Here's what I made to celebrate him (ok, ok, it was in October). </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWaRxRbpEadqTfVfX0zBuKWMn9lfLa_FZVr0vV4oNc_NJ0_7FS6kAWHtolFnIRuRDk6iw7Cg4FZTFcvZnBsKIY5kIAT2YQwQ2nCQcxPo7q44IB6bISB2NLXoi25i3ey-PmM8w1M7oeTiwH/s2048/pop-pop+bday_4153.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWaRxRbpEadqTfVfX0zBuKWMn9lfLa_FZVr0vV4oNc_NJ0_7FS6kAWHtolFnIRuRDk6iw7Cg4FZTFcvZnBsKIY5kIAT2YQwQ2nCQcxPo7q44IB6bISB2NLXoi25i3ey-PmM8w1M7oeTiwH/w640-h480/pop-pop+bday_4153.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMLWDD4U5Cky2GceNK5cdLkvumnQJ6O6zbRjk-BRnRvF7p-i6ksv8xJ4ubfC9lc9TBYlhHd018r5y7FIthFgni0EXPaDSe58uXxD-IoAOFQVfXbXlghszCPRQQVkFEkTB-AKZ8E4eOAb3D/s2048/pop-pop+bday_4160.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMLWDD4U5Cky2GceNK5cdLkvumnQJ6O6zbRjk-BRnRvF7p-i6ksv8xJ4ubfC9lc9TBYlhHd018r5y7FIthFgni0EXPaDSe58uXxD-IoAOFQVfXbXlghszCPRQQVkFEkTB-AKZ8E4eOAb3D/w480-h640/pop-pop+bday_4160.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p><i><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KgSqMPbQLXltdC6yU0eG0shFRudJsRggR0V9JTdzZwQ/edit" target="_blank">Current favorite vanilla cake from King Arthur Flour.</a><br /><a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Se3kcO6V3_xqlJ__nUHrbboXhr50ZxXkmYVBQjY0zcY/edit" target="_blank">Tried and true vanilla bakery frosting.</a></i></p>Jamihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01404333659115840964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975902558897929849.post-76995695087938554982021-05-29T11:11:00.002-07:002021-05-29T11:11:18.944-07:00fat frosting frogsHallie asked me to make a cake for the 17th birthday of one of her besties, Ella. With a mid-February birthday, Ella was probably one of the last ones who hadn't celebrated a COVID birthday yet. Her sweet 16 squeaked in under the wire before quarantine last year. Hallie said Ella had a very specific design request: fat, frosting frogs hanging out on the edge of the cake. To be honest, I don't even remember what flavor the cake was (I think funfetti?); the frogs were the key. It's possible this is a TikTok trend I am too old to know about. But I did a little research, and this is what I ultimately came up with.<div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZw79jwIFoHtujO_Us0N2MH_dyyoiB1PRSbymKTYyQeq3Drb_pu1BNkMMibWtdRH5QaWOvuEnxlQczQ5tWEZo7wXmOquSiRF2bPmDQSAEslvyloBEkE7-6arxLEZStvOR9hSYasofkfibP/s2048/ella+frog_4868.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZw79jwIFoHtujO_Us0N2MH_dyyoiB1PRSbymKTYyQeq3Drb_pu1BNkMMibWtdRH5QaWOvuEnxlQczQ5tWEZo7wXmOquSiRF2bPmDQSAEslvyloBEkE7-6arxLEZStvOR9hSYasofkfibP/w640-h480/ella+frog_4868.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div>It was harder than I thought to make the blobs of frosting as big and round as I would have liked. Ultimately, I used a cookie scoop, and a smaller cookie scoop for their heads! They are silly but fun. They looked lonely, though, so I added a few fondant flying friends. Ella adores bees, so I made a 3-D one and a flat one, and I included a dragonfly and some cute mushrooms and flowers. (Never mind that the real-life equivalent of those mushrooms are deadly poisonous.)</div><div><br /></div><div>Ella's favorite color is yellow, so I did an ombre tint on the frosting on the sides of the cake culminating in a flower-like swirl on the top that was just barely yellow.</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8-NwOHDnzqyIE8gsxzog29r9Tv7BSUN3VBdIcln0GvoV_mRWSu7Aa2ycE3kx3MJrfuV_FcJ04Ra1CksvCLY-oW_ltszb5MTuOJoO3WCseqbSX3uqqICsq45Wr5C6WJKh2xwJjOopSaICL/s2048/ella+frog_4864.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8-NwOHDnzqyIE8gsxzog29r9Tv7BSUN3VBdIcln0GvoV_mRWSu7Aa2ycE3kx3MJrfuV_FcJ04Ra1CksvCLY-oW_ltszb5MTuOJoO3WCseqbSX3uqqICsq45Wr5C6WJKh2xwJjOopSaICL/w480-h640/ella+frog_4864.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-wXv1ZsHY5Ab-dxlH-ZndpFs17WjjWZsYq-U0-1F5rSsRbDXC9YcUyCm4aFoXh08fCHTAEwvlgVKFoUsff4xOLjnnEPlly3xa9hfJKxCcoHImskS5gAQv9CuM0OAho_urWw_wOQHih2cE/s2048/ella+frog_4869.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-wXv1ZsHY5Ab-dxlH-ZndpFs17WjjWZsYq-U0-1F5rSsRbDXC9YcUyCm4aFoXh08fCHTAEwvlgVKFoUsff4xOLjnnEPlly3xa9hfJKxCcoHImskS5gAQv9CuM0OAho_urWw_wOQHih2cE/w640-h480/ella+frog_4869.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQRRuRAj0_sGAkaELcWjswC6G0QFsRawyTGJyOd3FZmmWS-BJZZEyNFVDukTG2gqbySgc3-LbTWoUkuEc7hwU2DmTIiqn9oT6wziDIrY5Ya3AbKLvFVSHdnETNidwXPbrJispQqw3h7u4S/s2048/ella+frog_4870.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQRRuRAj0_sGAkaELcWjswC6G0QFsRawyTGJyOd3FZmmWS-BJZZEyNFVDukTG2gqbySgc3-LbTWoUkuEc7hwU2DmTIiqn9oT6wziDIrY5Ya3AbKLvFVSHdnETNidwXPbrJispQqw3h7u4S/w640-h480/ella+frog_4870.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Happy 17th Ella! I can't believe all of you are turning 17... it is just too much!<br /> </div>Jamihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01404333659115840964noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8975902558897929849.post-46816093609263026452021-05-29T10:58:00.002-07:002021-05-29T10:58:16.090-07:00tiny wedding cake<p>COVID has made for some big changes in the types of events we can currently host and participate in, but it hasn't completely put a damper on birthdays, bar mitzvahs, and weddings. It's those celebrations that pervade even in difficult times, and we are better humans for continuing to find joy wherever we can. Friends of the family got married a few months ago with just an officiant and his mom present. I'm not sure what kind of shindig they would have thrown in normal times, and maybe they'll have a big party for their one-year anniversary, but we still wanted to mark the day and make it special. Ellen asked me to make a tiny wedding cake for Adam and his lovely bride, so I made a 6", 3-tier chocolate cake topped with flowers. (Actually, Adam would probably have preferred pie, but it's just not as festive in my mind!) I purposely stuck to a white and pale pink palette to seem wedding-y. I love how gorgeous these simple Trader Joe's blooms make the cake look! </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoayB38nPjmdtZnMUC-Puap8EpykztBjUKvAcpTqMK54-14tzX7zWBWB6J1dXyFYrZ4c0pZL6DpwDUcbUQYcdIUqVidOrD1NrsYdSyd3a81-MAc2nW36lDzmEP_bJiQVSrNddGiow-lycw/s2048/schmalholz_4833.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoayB38nPjmdtZnMUC-Puap8EpykztBjUKvAcpTqMK54-14tzX7zWBWB6J1dXyFYrZ4c0pZL6DpwDUcbUQYcdIUqVidOrD1NrsYdSyd3a81-MAc2nW36lDzmEP_bJiQVSrNddGiow-lycw/w480-h640/schmalholz_4833.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy9qbvu9pWtRm3vO0a8VOxL3QZaA1zR99kfYc_0xgg2P7y8ibbYVi9suLPGLNfh3Y7zNEbAwd5OtFqNqL-LdTXAp8KrgMJCxooJzTspkmCjdnCW8vS_71yOO1kDKeklKOGgZsWxK2hmnMx/s2048/schmalholz_4834.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy9qbvu9pWtRm3vO0a8VOxL3QZaA1zR99kfYc_0xgg2P7y8ibbYVi9suLPGLNfh3Y7zNEbAwd5OtFqNqL-LdTXAp8KrgMJCxooJzTspkmCjdnCW8vS_71yOO1kDKeklKOGgZsWxK2hmnMx/w480-h640/schmalholz_4834.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>Jamihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01404333659115840964noreply@blogger.com1