Leasons Learned

Make rice krispie treats the day before you need to dip them in candy melts. Make sure you have enough baking pans to make a full batch of brownie pops at one time. Do as much prep work ahead of time as you can so that you have plenty of time to get everything done. This past weekend was very busy for me. I am still in complete shock at how many hours it took me to do 225 cake pops. It just didn't seem like it would take that long & yet it did. I baked all the cakes Friday night and one set of rice krispie treats. I also formed all the cake balls and had them in the fridge. I thought it would take an hour or so to do all the dipping & then I'd have the rest of Saturday to just relax.

7 hours later!!! I've never seen so many cake pops crack, fall off the stick, or just take forever to dip. I had one brownie pop pan, but it took me 4 times of cooking in it to finish baking the batch of brownies. And I made a batch of rice krispie treats Saturday morning & they didn't set as hard as the ones I made the night before.

So after all the time wasted on learning lessons, I finally got all the pops delivered & set up. They looked good. I wish I would've put some sprinkles or something cute on them, but she wanted just the basic, cheapest pop.

I grabbed a rice krispie treat for breakfast, a banana for lunch & then finally got to eat a regular dinner. I have never seen time fly by so fast in all my life. Vince even helped me melt some candy and put some boxes together for me. I think he could tell I was starting to panic. I hope he ate - I never stopped to notice if he did.

The next time I have a huge order to fill, I'm going to get a big head start & recruit some help!

Meetings & Baking

This week has been a packed week for me. I love it! I definitely need an admin assistant and a maid. But I'm having a lot of fun while I'm doing it.

Sunday:
Lunch: Baked black walnut cake & German chocolate cake

Monday:
Lunch: Girls' Home board meeting
Dinner: Father-in-law's birthday dinner at Renato Restaurante (YUM!)

Tuesday:
Dinner: ZTA sorority meeting

Wednesday:
Dinner: Baked & decorated 250 mini cupcakes, baked 3 sheet cakes, baked 36 mini cupcakes

Thursday:
Dinner: Decorated 2 sheet cakes, decorated 36 mini cupcakes

Friday:
Lunch: Young Leaders Society lunch & learn
Dinner: Bake 3 sheet cakes, make rice krispie treats

Saturday:
Breakfast: Decorate 225 cake pops
Lunch: Deliver and set up candy wall that holds cake pops

So in case any of you are wondering how I get it all in during the day & still work a full time job, that's how I do it! And I managed to watch the DVR versions of American Idol this week as well.

Baking Baking Baking

This weekend is going to be one of my busiest ever for baking. I got several big orders this week including:

250 mini cupcakes - for a Yoga studio grand opening party
Ben 10 cake - cartoon birthday cake for a 5 year old boy
Tiara cake - birthday cake for a 4 year old girl
36 mini cupcakes - for a 12 year old's pre-bat mitzvah party
225 cake pops - for the same 12 year old's bat mitzvah
6 large miscellaneous cupcakes - for a tasting for a lady that wants to order 500 cupcakes for her son's bar mitzvah

I can't bake many of these too far ahead of time or they'll go stale, like the mini cupcakes. So last night I started baking the mini cupcakes due today and the two birthday cakes. I also did one cake that is the start for all the cake pop cakes I will bake.

My oven was on from 5:30pm to 8:30pm. Vince was even sweet enough to run get me some more eggs. I used 21 eggs last night. I finished decorating all the mini cupcakes by 10:30pm. It was a long evening of standing on my feet, but I got a lot done. Tonight will be similar. Lots to decorate & bake! I'm going to need a massage very soon.

The Missing French Fry

Yesterday I had a board meeting for the Girl's Home during lunch. After the meeting, I swung through the drive-thru at McDonald's for a number 11 (Filet-O-Fish & fries). I ate the french fries in the car on the way back to work. After I arrived at work, I ate my sandwich.

We have a little bit of an issue with gnats here so I always try to throw my food bags away in the large bins on the other side of the room, which I did. I walked around the complex one or two times that afternoon to go see different people. When I got back to my desk, I kept smelling the french fries. Hmm...that's odd. I didn't even throw the bag away in my trash can...it was on the other side of the room. Gee, I guess that smell really lingers.

Around 5:15pm, after I left work, I drive to Michael's to use a 40% off coupon and get more cake decorating supplies. As I'm checking out, something kind of yellow catches my eye. I notice a large french fry sticking out of my dress jacket, between the two buttons I had fastened. Nice. So for the last 4 hours, I've been walking around with a french fry sticking out of my jacket. Not one person told me. And I smelled it all afternoon.

No, I did not eat it.

Visit with Family

Last Sunday Vince & I went by his Uncle Bill's house to visit with some family. Bill's health has been poorly lately so it was good to see him again. Vince's parents, Aunt Peggy, and Peggy's daughter-in-law Lisa all joined us.

Motorcycle Show

Last Sunday, my Uncle Alan & Aunt Linda drove down from TN to join Vince & me at the motorcycle show in Greenville. This is our second year to attend with them. I enjoyed just walking around & talking with them, but seeing the bikes was nice, too. I even ate a chili cheese hot dog for lunch while there. I have to say that I enjoyed the campers that tote the bikes more than the bikes.


I found one bike that was just my size!

Aunt Linda liked the color of this one.



This one had two seats in the side car.

And the best part of the day was when I got my custom made ear plugs. They molded them especially to my ears so I can sleep better at night & not hear Vince snore or other noises like dogs barking. I used to sleep like the dead and now I tend to wake up at any little sound. These help me block out all the noise and sleep more deeply. Yeah!

News Worthy

Vince & I made our picture in the Herald Journal's photo gallery. The Tinis & Tapas party was a huge success. I know we exceeded our fund raising goal, but we don't have a total yet. Here's the link to the online photo gallery. We're picture number 7.

http://www.goupstate.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=SJ&Dato=20110301&Kategori=PHOTOS05&Lopenr=301009998&Ref=PH&pl=1