Fun with Cakes

I had the pleasure of taking my kids out to see the new 3D movie " Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" ! We enjoyed the movie. It was not much like the book with the same title but still entertaining and I was laughing at many parts. When I was little there were three books I'd always check out at the library every time my mom would take us there. 1. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. 2. Amelia Bedelia books and 3. Cake decorating books. I LOVED looking at the big color photos of cakes made to look like hamburgers or bowls of spaghetti or castles .... My grandma gave me a cake decorating kit for my 12th or 13th birthday and I had fun messing around with that.

( KN 's 4th birthday cake. She wanted it to have Belle from Beauty and the Beast on it. ) My mom always made it a point to bake and frost our birthday cakes herself. She'd usually ask what color cake and frosting we wanted. I have distinct memories of my brother David's 2 year birthday cake. A round cake with blue frosting sitting way up high on the dining room table. Just out of reach. ( I was three. )

I have always baked my children's birthday cakes and find it so much fun to come up with ways to decorate and create things out of frosting. I too, always ask them what color cake they want and what theme they'd like for their cake. Then I see what I can come up with. This dinosaur land cake for CT's 4th birthday is one of my favorites. The photo is blurry but it had a volcano with lava flowing out, a palm tree, toy dinos and a waterfall.

This one is for MN's 3rd birthday. She wanted a purple coconut cake with strawberries.

Below is her 5th birthday cake. She wanted yellow everything. I make it a point to make their cakes for 3 reasons, 1. Several people in the family can't have any dairy products and you won't find a cake in a bakery without some type of milk or butter in it - so I have to make a cake from scratch to ensure there won't be any dairy in it. 2. It's tradition - my mom always did it for us, it never occurred to me to not make a birthday cake for my kids. 3. It's WAYYYYYYY cheaper!

The girls and I were invited to a birthday party for my cousin Michelle's daughter last Sunday. I don't get to visit with Michelle often enough as it is a 2 hour drive to her house from mine but I really wanted to make a point to get out there and see her newest baby and have a visit! People, including my husband, have always said Michelle and I look alike and have the same mannerisms. I've never thought we look much alike - I would love to look like her - she's a beautiful blond. We did go to the same orthodontist which is probably why our mouth and teeth turned out so similar and we are cousin's after all. I arrived at her lovely home on Sunday and going into the kitchen, saw the fantastic " Littlest Petshop" themed cake sitting on the counter. Assuming it was store bought, I was completely surprised when her husband told us Michelle had baked and decorated it all herself that morning! I was truly impressed and even more pleased to find there was someone else out there - related to me even - that made their child's cake and had so much fun decorating it!! I WISH I'd brought my camera and taken a photo of it. Then, after the party ended and guests had left, Michelle invited us to stay and eat dinner with them. She'd made taco soup. AH! Another thing we have in common! I make taco soup all the time. We love taco soup! Of course I would stay! Her taco soup was delicious.

I guess we are more alike than I'd thought. I also noticed some little things that she would worry about or obsess over while trying to entertain that were so much like myself. It's always nice to find you're not alone out there!

( CT's John Deere tractor cake. ) So hey, next time you're about to run out to get that $30 cake from the bakery - think how much fun it might be to mix up your own cake ( sure, you can use a box mix! ) and then blend the food colorings - any colors you like, create your own piping bags out of zip lock bags and go to town! Top it with your child's favorite toy or a new store bought toy to keep after the blowing out of candles and make a wonderful memory for your loved one!