Wilton Course - Final Cake Fondant and Gumpaste

Um, so remember those pesky camera features I know nothing about? Well apparently I took all the in-class pictures with my camera set on vivid colour. Which is apparently another word for freakishly bright-glowy colours. Seriously they hurt my eyes to look at when I uploaded them. I toned them down a bit, but they're still a bit wonky in my mind. I snapped a few more on my counter today so I wouldn't hate all the pictures of my final cake.

See? Kind of glowy daisy centres. And this is after the tone down! Though the cake yellow is more accurate than below...

I retook some of my cake on my kitchen counter in fading light, so hopefully it's not too bad for you to get a true understanding of the colour. But just know none of these are quite true to colour! I will read that camera manual very soon, I promise...

Here are some of my class mate's final cakes as well. And my instructor's. I taught HIM how to make the drape. Ha!

This one her cake cracked and so she iced it together. It was quite lumpy. And then she had trouble with the fondant cracking from drying out. I'm impressed with how much a person is able to hide with flowers and borders!

 We decided that the most impressive fondant cake is a pure white, square cake with nothing on it for embellishments (used to hide all our "sins").  Some day I will be able to make one.

Well, I have now finished the basic wilton classes and made a fondant cake. That's two more off the list, people! Go me!

Wilton Course - Fondant and Gumpaste

I meant to write a post about each of the class nights and show you my mad fondant/gumpaste skills each week. And by mad, I mean, how mad I got at the fondant and gumpaste. Ha! Not really... But then in order to show you that means taking pictures.

Mark gave me a new camera for Christmas. I still haven't figured it out. Like even the basics like how to delete pictures. It shouldn't be hard, I know. But I can't figure it out without the manual. Which is on CDrom, which means I have to sit down without the girls distracting me and actually figure things out. So who knows how my pictures are going to look when I upload them.

And that's the reason why I haven't blogged about a lot of things. That's a terrible excuse, I know. But my sister challenged me to do one of those photo a day things starting next week, so hopefully that will help me learn a bit more about my camera.

In the mean time I took some pictures of the flowers that I learned, save for two of them. Which actually makes me sad. I went down to get them from my stash to take pictures of them for you today and I accidentally dropped the container and my carnations and calla lilies shattered. Sad day.

But I have Mums to show you. Well, I mum. I think that's the name of the flower when there's only one. Or is it one of those things that the name itself sound plural?? I don't actually know. Now I'm babbeling.

I also made daisies. Let me have a little wilton rant. They give you these crap plastic cutters in your kit. They suck. They leave little thin edges on all your flowers that make them look "hairy." I learned from another classmate that the trick to overcome this is to put the cutter under the fondant and roll your rolling pin over it instead of pressing down. This was learned after making all my flowers, so I still have to try it. But why the heck can't wilton make a metal one?? And don't they know that if they give us the cheap plastic one that sucks, we'll all go buy the good one and thus make them more money? Who is in charge of their product department. They obviously need some guidance!

Oh and we learned another rose. Wilton sure loves roses. But gumpaste is the easiest one for me, by far. Pretty hard to mess up. That's how I like it.

And of course the calla lilies and carnations that are picture-less. And we learned about borders and covering cake boards (total waste of fondant if you ask me) and how to actually cover a cake (well the round ones, we're on our own for learning square, which I hear is a beast).

Tune in tomorrow to see my final cake. Which I'm going to finally cut into tonight. I've been admiring it on my counter all day. I was even a mean auntie and didn't offer any to my nephew who was eying it this morning!

WIlton Class Fondant and Gumpaste

In keeping with working on my 30 before 30 list, I signed up for a fondant and gumpaste class at Michaels this month. This will complete 2 items on my list because it will be the end of the wilton classes and it will hopefully have me successfully ice a cake with fondant. If it doesn't we can chalk this class up to an epic fail. Ha!

I'm having a ton of fun learning how to make flowers out of fondant. And I think I've got 2 items now for my 35 before 35 list! Eventually I would love to take the tall cakes class and the advanced gumpaste, but I have way too much to do on my current list, so I'm not letting myself do it now. :)

Our first class we made the bases for roses, mums and carnations, kind of boring stuff, so I didn't take pictures. And then we learned that famous cake topping bow. Which is actually quite simple, and yet finicky to actually get to look nice. Mine was decent for a first attempt, but it will need additional work so as to not crack and to actually fit all the loops into the bow evenly. But then of course I went on-line looking at cakes this week and saw a whole bunch that have a regularly tied-looking bow on top of them and now I want to learn that. Thank goodness for YouTube...Otherwise I'd be cake classes for eternity!

My mother in law and sister in law were visiting on the weekend and both of them have birthdays this week (Happy Birthday!!), so I made them a cake and we celebrated their birthday's a bit early. I didn't have enough of the pink fondant left to make the ribbons to "tie" the cake up, so instead I pulled out some of my Royal icing rose buds. I'm kind of seeing why people keep stashes of flowers on hand. It could be very useful for decorating last minute cakes. Maybe one saturday I'll just make stuff. It would probably good for honing the skill.

Week two we finished our roses, carnations and learned calla lillies. I'll share those in the next day or so. Those are actually pretty cool.

Christmas Crafts

Are you ready for some Christmas crafts? I'm ready to show you! This is some of the stuff that has taken up a bunch of my time. These things have actually been given away or are on display, the rest are gifts, so you have to wait another week. :)

This wreath is made 100% out of paper with the exception of the bow and the wood ornament that is covered in paper. Even the form is paper. I twisted kraft paper and spray painted it black to make the form. It used to be a better circle. But then at some point during the drying, it turned kind of heart shaped. The rest of the paper strips, dipped in (a lot of) modpodge, and twisted and then glued to the form. I got the idea from Whipperberry.

 These silver and pearl napkin rings are something else I made to give away. I love them, so I'm going to have to make a set for myself. I got the idea here.

These ornaments are some of the many I made this year. The back one is filled with part of a red feather boa (I need to make some like this for myself, because I really like the look), I wish you could see it better in the picture, but I was dealing with night light. Then there is, going down clockwise, the music ones with a jingle bell. I made a bunch of these. One for each of the girls, as well as one for each of my students. The last one, is done with paint. It's red and white (you can kind of see the white stripe on the left), but the pinkish side is showing more. Mady and I made an ornament for her using the same technique. I really should take a picture of it. But if you're at my house, it's the only coloured ornament on my entire tree. :)

All of these crafts I gave away to a special friend, surprising her with little care packages. Which crosses another item off the list. But I didn't do it to cross off the item, I just noticed it was on the list and that technically I completed it. :)

Those are a couple of my craft efforts this year. What have you made?

Birthday Card for my Brother

So the end of November my baby brother had a birthday (he's not a baby. He's 22. But he'll always be my baby brother). He's the last birthday of the calendar year, which means in sending him a card, I finished my goal to make birthday cards for each member of my immediate family. Yeah for finished goals! Another one to cross off my list.

I liked the design of his card in my head, but I think, maybe due to colour choices that it came out more feminine than I imagined. Sorry, Ian.

Apple Cider Caramels

So you know how some things are so good looking you just have to make them RIGHT. THIS. INSTANT??

Well, that's kind of how I felt about these caramels that I found on Pinterest.

Except I didn't own a candy thermometer.

And I couldn't run out that day and get one because it was on my Christmas list and I hate people who put things on their Christmas list and then buy it for themselves. Thank goodness my mother-in-law got me one for Christmas. AND we had Christmas with that side of the family early so I could make these in time for Christmas (not like I couldn't make them after. And don't take THAT to mean I'm not going to make a 3rd or 4th batch -because that will be the batch number by then- after Christmas). It's more just about the joy that I can make them sooner rather than later.

So yesterday I opened up my fridge and saw a jug of apple cider. AND a jug of whipping cream. And I actually had corn syrup in my cupboard. I had a free afternoon and my candy thermometer. Which meant I was set to make these. So I did.

This is her picture. Mine are still cooling in the pan as I write this. And it's dark here. Her picture does them justice much more than my flash-induced, still-in-the-pan, not-so-creative-that-I-would-pose-it-with-cinnamon picture would ever give you.

Goodness Gracious me.

Please go make these right now. The recipe is here.

The only tip I have for you is when you reduce the apple cider, don't just set the timer for 20 minutes and walk away. I tested mine (poured it into a measuring cup) at 12 minutes in and was at 1/2 cup. Put it back in the pot and 2-3 minutes later was at just under 1/4 cup (it had gone almost syrupy). I cheated and poured in some more cider to make 1/3 and stirred it around. Seemed to work well enough.

oh hey, and guess what? I successfully made something with a candy thermometer. Check another thing off the list!

The Magic of a Shoe Box

I love the magic of opening up a shoe box. The smell of a new pair of shoes is just something else. New shoes adds a bounce in your step and can breathe life into your wardrobe and make it feel brand new. My shoe collection isn't what is used to be, and somehow my girls seem to have more shoes than me (I think because their shoes go on crazy sales for less than $5. If I could find cute shoes that cheap I would have hundreds).

But what about another type of shoe box? One filled with love and joy for a child who doesn't have much. For them it can be the highlight of their year. It can be the gesture that shows someone cares when they are feeling forgotten.

One of the goals on my thirty before thirty list was to make a really rockin' shoe box for Operation Christmas Child. My family started putting them together when I was just a kid, probably one of the first years that the program existed in Canada.  I haven't made a box every year, but pretty close. One year I even got to help at the warehouse where they go through the boxes and make sure that everything is going to go through customs.

It's bulging. I'm going to have to secure it down with a good quality elastic!

It was here that I learned some of the really cool ideas for boxes. I didn't apply all of them because the best ideas were more geared for boys and Mady was helping me and wanted to make a box for a little girl. So maybe another year. But how about these for some inspiration:

-Instead of the standard cardboard shoe box, you can use other containers of similar size. Someone packed a hard plastic toolbox. How cool is that?
-Someone deflated a soccer ball and then put in a hand pump! What a great idea! (Just make sure the pump is good enough to actually re-inflate the ball)

We filled our box with hair bows (Mady had a blast picking those out), a hair brush, a toothbrush (in Canada we can't include toothpaste so we didn't), soap, a slinky, pens, pencils and pencil crayons (and a sharpener!), a colouring book, a book of note paper, a puzzle, a jump rope, bouncy balls, and a little stuffed animal. All of this we packed into a plastic shoe box because I figured that would last longer than cardboard and I've heard that the kids keep the boxes for other uses.

All we need to do now is write our letter and get a picture printed of our family and it's good to go.

Do you fill shoe boxes? What do you include??

Wilton Cake Class #3 - More flowers!

I discovered last night that if your royal icing isn't thick enough, then your hand doesn't cramp while piping. I also discovered that this can make flowers either really difficult to make or really easy, depending on the design.

Basically daffodils are impossible.

Last night we worked on the wilton rose. I tried it with a different tip for a "victorian" rose. Truthfully, I can't tell the difference. I think the outside ones are victorian, but I don't know for sure.

We also learned how to make daffodils, violets and lilies (probably my favourite).

This week I have to decide what my final cake will be covered in and make a million of them. Or at least enough for the design I choose. Hmmm. Suggestions??

These were still soft when I went to take pictures so I had to leave them in the forms.

We'll also learn the basket weave piping and I'll get to "graduate" and be 2/3 done another thing on my 30 before 30 list. Yea!

Stampeding

What does a holiday Monday give you? 

A cutie-patootie in a cowboy hat? Yes. And a really late blog post...

Actually, it's because I had company here and I didn't pre-schedule today's post in order to accommodate for that. So, we're a little later than usual today, but that's kind of the theme for today. 

Late posts.

Really, I'm posting this because it was on my 30 before 30 list and I wanted to document it. I don't usually talk about things that happened nearly a month ago.

So, remember when my sister was here and we put on a joint 1st birthday party for our little girls? Well that same weekend was the Calgary Stampede. It's kind of a huge deal in this city. I grew up going to it (only missed one year when I was sick). I have fond memories of going to the Stampede Parade and so I wanted to share some of those same memories with my girls.

I couldn't take pictures of her during the parade very well since Mady was either on my lap or a few people down (and, you know, there was a parade going on, so I couldn't just get in front of her or I'd be trampled by a horse!). But here we are waiting for the parade to begin!

What is with the string on my hat? It was windy. That's the only
explanation I can come up with. Just look at the sweet face
beside me instead.

My parents (and my brother and his girlfriend) were super sweet and decided that they would get up at 4 in the morning in order to get downtown early enough to get us sweet curb side seats. That meant Jen and I could "sleep in" with our kidlets and meet them just after 6. Yes, you really do have to go that early.

Josiah waiting for the parade. He's from a small town where they
have parades with every vehicle in town so I think he was
pretty impressed with our two-hour long parade.

It just so happened that Will and Kate were in Calgary as part of their royal tour to Canada and so they started the parade (sort of, they went through the route backwards and drove much faster than typical parade speed). Mady was very excited to see the Princess (we watched her get married on TV and since then Mady has been ridiculously obsessed with everything princess). 

My sister Jen and Adalya (and Calgary Peeps, look who's beside us. It's D-Lo! What are the odds?)

Umm, let's just say the whole royal part was very, very lame. We couldn't even see what Kate was wearing they were driving so fast! At least she waved out the window. And at least we were on her side of the car and not Will's. Mady pretended to be excited. Mostly because I just tried to act like it wasn't as lame as it was. Ha!

After that the parade finally started (which was totally late. For the couple who had their wedding planned down to the second they sure can't get a parade going on time...), Mady LOVED it. Well, except the parts that were a little loud. Ha!

Kate had a hat, but refused to wear it. Maybe next year.

It was a super long morning (we got home in time to eat a quick and late lunch before nap time) but it definitely left an impression. For weeks now Madelyn still talks about the stampede and cowboy hats and even sets up parades with her dolls. It's pretty cute!

 I love this picture. If I was witty I would come up with a funny caption, but I can't, so I leave it to you. What is Josiah saying to Mady? What is Mady thinking? You fill in the blanks!

A Farmer's Market Meal

I love farmer's markets. I think it's because my mom used to sell bread at one and I literally spent hundreds of hours of my life at them. One of the items on my 30 before 30 list was to make an entire meal out of food from the farmer's market. I had to go get something from there today anyway so I decided that today was the day I would make my farmer's market meal.

On the way into the market we saw some friends coming out who told us they come for Flat Iron Steaks from one of the butchers. Mark immediately started drooling so our meat was decided. And oh my goodness it was SO good. Mady wasn't a fan (though she doesn't like most meat) but Kate couldn't get enough.

Mark thought I should get a clean plate. I told him I had no problem sharing with the world just how rare I like my steak!

We got baby potatoes (why is it mini veggies always taste better?)

 Green beans,

These look like normal green beans, but they were perfectly crisp-tender with such an unbelievable taste. I love things that are truly fresh!

 Multigrain and garlic bread (uh, we ate the entire loaf. I will buy this bread every time I'm at the market. Every time.),

I will dream about this bread until I can have it next. I love "things" in my bread. Look at all that yummy goodness up on top!

Finlandia cheese (totally just picked because Finlandia is one of Mark's favourite songs - he picked it)

and for dessert Rainier cherries...

The vendor cashier popped in a dark cherry for a sample. I didn't bother to tell her that I don't really like them. It kind of makes for a fun picture.

and Caramelized apples with cream croissants. Mmm, Mmm good!

My family thought I was totally weird taking pictures of all of this before we were allowed to eat it. They forgave me when they tasted it because it was SO good.

And then we were so stuffed we could hardly move all night.

Farmer's markets are quite expensive here (or at least the stuff I like to eat is!) so I don't purchase a lot of stuff from them, but when I do I always love it. Since I suck at growing things myself (it would help if I actually got things planted...) I have to rely on other people to do it if I want to taste food that actually tastes how it's supposed to taste (I will never understand why carrots always taste SO different coming straight from the ground rather than the store. I know it's an age thing, but really, nothing should be allowed to change taste THAT much!).

Are you a farmer's market shopper? What is your favourite thing to get? And if you live in Calgary, what do I need to pick up next time I go??

Sock Hop Outfits

For our Sock Hop party (covered in posts here and here) I made outfits for myself and the girls (Mark is not exactly a "dress up in a costume for a party" kind of guy so I didn't bother making something for him.

Before the party started we got some pictures of us girls together. I've discussed before how difficult it is to get everyone looking in the same direction and smiling. This is made worse by a slow shutter on the camera. It was during this photo shoot that Mark was convinced along with me that we need to upgrade our camera!

can you totally tell Madelyn is my daughter? We have the same smile!

The girls each got a poodle skirt and then I made dog-bone appliques which I put onto felt and glued on a pin for their shirts (I didn't make the shirts, that's still above my skills!). For Mady I made a number 3 as well. I decided to pin them on so that: When they outgrow the shirt before the skirt, they can still match. Should something happen to the shirt (Kate is amazing at filling diapers up the back and only getting the shirt) I could easily switch the applique to a different shirt no problem. And if the shirt/skirt still fits Mady when she's 4, she can still wear it, without it having a weird 3 on it (and when Kate gets to that size at age 2 it won't be weird either). Is that too much over-thinking? Probably.

The hair bows I made for them worked quite well. Except Kate has decided she no longer wants her hair done. Which sucks because now she actually has enough hair to do something with. And she doesn't forget that clips and bows are there. She'll pull at them until she gets them out. Which is pretty much what she was doing in this picture...

 For me I wore my 50's apron which also means I can check number 1 off the list! Whoot!