Outside my "9-5" I have, of course, been baking. I had a four-cake weekend, all birthday cakes for friends. Friday's cake was for brothers Patrick and Sean, sons of family cousins Danny and Mary. My camera battery was recharging so no photo of that cake. It was a big round marble cake frosted in Hershey Chocolate frosting (the recipe on the back of the can). I didn't want to do the typical flower-y cake thing for these two strapping young men, so I made more of a celebration cake with confetti sprinkles. There was a problem, though, because I didn't have sprinkles and I had to make my own. So I took fondant, divided it up in small portions, and made different colors. I rolled each color out and cut it into little squares. I tossed all the colored squares together, and taa-daa!: I had sprinkles, home-made, colorful, and pretty! Here are the other three cakes I made with my home-made confetti:
For Kim's Family, One Cake for Six Birthdays!
For the Kane Girls, Kendall and Morgan!
Before you say "yikes" or "eccchhh" at the intensity, please know that these colorful custom cakes were requested to be bright green and bright purple. I don't just go around dumping vats of food coloring in my frosting -- no, these were special requests and I honored them, and they're pretty darn cute! When I stopped by the Kane house to drop them off, the girls were giddy with happiness at their individual cakes, which made me very happy. The color show went beyond the frosting to the interior of the cakes, which were marbled in white, hot pink, lime green, and purple (also their request). If it made two little girls happy, that's enough for me.
Prior to Saturday's cakes, I had a crushing headache (started as an ocular migraine) and had to sleep. By Friday night, I was recovered enough to attend the CD Release Party for Skeletons in the Piano. Jeff Ayers, my daughter Tricia's boyfriend, is the keyboardist and also plays a wicked electric violin! The party was at the Putnam Den in Saratoga Springs, an eclectic venue that draws all types of people. Though I was one of the few older people in the crowd, I was very happy to be there. Tricia had a table set up selling t-shirts, CDs, and her own beautiful silver-wrapped jewelry (we're both wearing her jewelry in the photo below). I always knew Jeff was in a band and that he plays often; I'd just never heard or seen them. A lot of talent in this band. Jeff was trained as a classic violinist and though his artistry as an electric violinist is 180-degrees distant from his early training, that foundation laid the groundwork for something wonderfully different. He is an incredible showman. After the show was over, he ran up to Tricia, dipped her, and gave her a big kiss! They are a very happy couple, laughing all the time. I am in awe of their unique talents.
My daughter, Tricia
Jeff at the Keyboard
Tricia and Me, Wearing her Jewels!
Jeff on Electric Violin
CD Release Party, Putnam Den, Saratoga Springs
By Sunday, I wanted nothing more than to spend a relaxing, summer day. My nephew Will (such a great kid) and I drove up to Bolton Landing to swim at my favorite beach on my favorite lake. Rogers Memorial Beach on Lake George is so beautiful. It's hard to believe that it costs nothing to spend time in such a terrific place. Will and I jumped off the end of the dock and swam, got out until we were so hot we had to jump in again, and did that four times! We had sandwiches from the deli across the street. On the way home, we drove with windows and sunroof open, talking about what a good day we'd had. We stopped at Martha's Dandee Creme for ice cream cones. We ran into my brother Steven and sister Ginny there (quite a coincidence).
Beach at Rogers Memorial Park, Bolton Landing, Lake George
(Sagamore Hotel in the Distance)
And a cone to top it all off!
My brother Steven O'Farrell and nephew Will Bishop
Hope you enjoyed you week as well. I promise I won't stay away from the blog this long again. I missed it, and I still have a lot to write about!
Photos: by me
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