IS THIS WHAT THEY CALL SUMMER?

At least it feels like it is here today. Our

thermometer says it is 71 outside and up

here that is really warm. The town is sure

getting geared up now with tourists galore

downtown. Unfortunately I saw a lady I

know getting a ticket today for parking

too close to a tourist bus.

Look at this cool thing! It is a rolling kitchen cart with

stainless steel tops with one side that folds down. My

husband removed it from a house he was remodeling.

The renters just left it behind when they moved and

the out of state owners wanted it gone. It fits perfect

in this spot and I have designated it my "cake station"

Everything in or on this will be for making cakes.

The Artesian well is open again so we went and

filled up our water jugs. I love this area--it is so

pretty and you are pretty much guaranteed to

see something neat when you visit here.

The boardwalks are great for walking on and this is

the area where the bears like to hang out once the

grass gets longer later in the summer.

There are a few of these benches to sit and relax:

What are they looking at?

What the heck is "Bear Etiquette? I picture

a bear wearing a fancy hat with it's pinky in

the air while it eats you.

Sheesh, how about Grizzly Bear Danger?

Or even--Using Your Head Around Bears 101.

This looks like it fell from outer space to me.

Cute cabin--someone was using this so I didn't go closer.

$50.00 a night and the cabin was brand new last year.

There is even a bench built down by the river.

More aliens...

Trilliums. I remember these from growing up.

Our woods were full of them.

The bird/bear/deer viewing shelter. We were

in there last year watching a sow pull salmon

out of the river in there.

A couple of cakes:

This was a Stout cake, as in Stout ale. My customer

sent me the recipe and had me deliver it as a surprise

for her boyfriend since she lives out of state. I have

never made this cake before, but the cut-offs from

it were very good. The alcohol bakes out but leaves

behind a nice rich taste with the chocolate. The

glass on top was made from modeling chocolate.

A wedding cake to celebrate a reception in a wood

fired hot tub. How do you like the Xtra Tuffs at the

bottom? 2 pairs now instead of 1? :-)

Well tonight is our older daughter's birthday so I

better run and get the Chicken Caeser salad finished

that she requested. Tomorrow is her party!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY A LITTLE LATE

I SHOULD BE IN THE KITCHEN

I have so much to do today that I am finding ALL

sorts of things to distract me from getting started.

There is probably a video on You Tube poking

fun at that.

I just went and dropped a treat by for my husband

on the job site--Oatmeal Raspberry Chocolate Bars.

I am trying several new recipes out to decide what

to sell at the up and coming Farmer's Markets. I

am also going to make hand held Apple Pie

pockets--I think they will be very popular.

Some days I feel like this spider...

Then I do this to people and feel better:

Nah--just kidding. This is our older daughter testing for

her high red belt. She has another test coming in May,

then it's on to Black Belt. May is a big month for her...she

gets her braces off, turns 19 and heads out for a month

long vacation to WA state.

The bakery has been very busy with lots of diverse

orders rolling in. It's amazing to me what people

come up with! I even had to make Baklava this month

for a presentation on Turkey at the library:

If you ever feel like you don't have enough stress

in your life, just open a box of Phyllo dough and

try to make it behave (shudder)

I ended up asking for help from my husband (his

nickname should be The Problem Solver) and

we came up with a pretty good system for getting

it into the pan in one piece without wearing

it and tearing it.

I think I have figured out a solution for the time

being to start providing people with standing

order bread. I am asking for payment a month

in advance and for right now my delivery day

is Tuesday. So for $24.00 I deliver a freshly

made loaf of bread at around 3:30 every

week on Tuesday for a month.

If they are not home we agree on a safe spot

for me to put the bread and away I go to the

next customer. So far it is working fantastic

and my goal is to get 20 steady standing

order customers.

It has been a busy few weeks, hence the lack

of blog posts. I don't even take pictures of

every cake anymore, I just get busy and

forget! Here are some of the projects

that I remembered to take pictures of:

This was for a small wedding here in town. Now

this is my kind of cake! Chocolate cake, chocolate

buttercream, chocolate ganache & chocolate roses.

I had a lot of fun making this one--I love heart

shaped cakes.

That was a lot of cookies! 600 total for a barn dance

put on by the school.

Another fun one for a 2 year old. The dinosaur

is from the birthday boy's favorite book.

This was made to match a baby shower invitation.

For a 10 year old motorcycle-loving birthday boy.

A special cake for my niece turning 18. She

goes to school out of state and was on home

leave, so we celebrated a little late. She is

an Alaska girl through and through, so her

cake was all about living life up here:

Another Alaska cake for a 90 year old

that lives at the Pioneer Home. This

was also a fun one! They had me write

Keep On Reeling Em In on the cake.

Motorcycle cookies for the birthday boy's

classmates at school:

Check out some of those names--Quinlyn?

It seems like when I was a kid everybody was

named Tim and Rhonda and Bill--you know,

just regular old names. The little boy sitting

ahead of us in church on Sunday was named Riot.

Or maybe they said Wyatt?