Baking, Making and Creating - Play With Your Food

Let Them Eat Cake

Is there anyone out there who doesn't like cake?

If there is, I just don't understand . . . because I LOVE cake. And, I don't  just love to eat it. I love to make it and bake it and create it. To me, making a cake is a lot like playing with playdoh (and here's a quick homemade recipe).

Here are just a few photos of the cakes I've made (two of them my daughter-in-law was pitching in...a lot) but these are creations you can have fun making and eat them too ;D

So, if you want to make, bake and create here's a fun way to do it by creating a cake using . . . whatever frosting, fondant or  fancy foods you want to use. But when you're baking, remember the most important thing is to have fun because we really should all play with our food.

LEGO MANIAC

THE ART OF THE BRICK

We got up early on a Saturday morning to go spend the day at OMSI because we all wanted to see  The Art of the Brick  and see the works of the Brick Artist Nathan Sawaya

Plus, we wanted to learn all the Brick Vocabulary

And while we were there, we saw dinosaurs

Skeletons

and more Skeletons

until it made me want to SCREAM

But in the end it was all a  lot of fun.

Did you know LEGO is a Danish company and it is an abbreviation of "leg godt", which means "play well" and coincidentally, "Lego" is also a Latin verb which means, "I assemble".

And, if  you want to check out more about LEGOS and how they can help equip kids with the necessary skills to advance in the STEM fields, check out this site here.

May the Forest Be with You...Happy Earth Day

Here's a link to fun Earth Day Activities :
http://bestlifemistake.blogspot.com/2013/04/earth-day-activities.html

HELLO KITTY CAKE

Anyone who knows me, knows I love to bake, create and decorate ;D And if you have a little girl or just someone who loves to have fun cakes for a birthday, here's how I made this Little Kitty cake for a friend.

I started by frosting the cake with a butter cream frosting, which you can make with a cube of butter and some powdered sugar. It's simple.

Then, I rolled out the fondant and  laid it over the cake. (The frosting works as glue).

I pressed the fondant tight to the cake to make it show the form. Then I  started to decorate the eyes, nose and bow.

Oh and the whiskers...you can't forget the whiskers.

The little dash of pink added quite a lot...I  thought.

I cut away the excess and lined the edge with a pink ribbon of fondant.

It was a very simple design but turned out pretty cute. This is a cake anyone could make.

And, if you do make one, let me know. I'd  love to see pictures.

Finding Fun in Hobbies

I have lots of hobbies. I love to read, write, bake, sew, knit and crochet and those are  just a few. I also love to run, play tennis and hike.

But, lately, I've been  focusing on  my knitting a  little more. I love  to visit yarn shops and walk around  and look at the beautiful colors and touch the textures  and fabrics. Plus,  I've been  looking at youtube videos on-line.

Here's one new site I just found that I'm enjoying:

Michele Wang's  website.

She lists patterns, shows designs and even has youtube videos where she shares monthly favorites.

I've spent some time finishing a few  projects I was working on. Mine aren't anything fancy. I just knit for fun. But I finished a scarf I was  working  on for my son.

I bought this beautiful, chunky, bluish-purple yarn at The Stitching  Post in Sisters Oregon, which is really famous for their  Quilting  Festival in July but they have some beautiful yarns too.

I started  the  project when I went to my niece's wedding in January and when we got back home I put it away. But I figured if I didn't finish it soon, the warm weather would roll in (I hope) and my son would never wear the scarf. So,  I pulled  the project out of the closet and went to work.

You can't  tell by the photo above, but this is a really lush wool, so soft and thick. Perfect for cold, wet, windy Portlandia days.

HERE’S TO A SUPER HALLOWEEN

I don’t know about you but I LOVE Halloween. How many other days in the year can you get free candy and sweets simply by asking?

And, dressing up and decorating is like being a star in a movie. You can create the character you want to be and make your own setting. What could be better than that?

So for this year, I’m planning a SUPER Halloween, with heroes at my doorstep. And it’s simple to make this dream come true…with a little paint, time and patience.

Here’s how I’m doing it.

First I started by sketching on some pumpkins. Don't worry if you make mistakes, the paint will cover that:

Then I paint them

And, my theory is one is never enough...

Then I started  on some  standups

You do the same thing as with the pumpkins. First sketch the character then paint

Then I had to make my costume. First I went to the fabric store to find some material on sale...

This was going to be a simple skirt with an elastic waist. So I fit it to me and then cut it out. Next,  I ironed the seams to make sewing easier.

And all I  needed  was  some gold duct tape to make my fingerless gauntlets, crown and shirt (which I used a running tank top for)

The gauntlets were simply plastic drinking cups after I cut off the bottoms

My lasso of truth was a strip of cording I bought at the fabric store and duct taped to my shirt.

It was all SUPER simple ;D

I hope you have a SUPER Halloween too ;D

Halloween is Right Around the Corner

With Halloween coming around the corner,  I had to paint my fingernails and then stick on some  little skull stickers because  what would this holiday season be without a  few  skeletons lurking about on the tips of our fingers.

And, just wait, I'm only beginning . . . because I LOVE HALLOWEEN!