a rainbow cake for sonnashine

My freshman year of college, I was assigned work study in the cafeteria. The first day I showed up in this room with fifty other students and they started calling out areas they needed help in. "The Grill. The Wok. The Pasta Station. The Bakery." And up my hand flew. So then five of us went to the bakery and they listed off other tasks, "Cookies. Bars. Cake Decorating." I was the last to pick and they said, "we'll put you on cake decorating."

It was awesome. I had a whole counter with every color imaginable. I had five gallon buckets of frosting all around me and a list each time I showed up of students who had a parent order them a birthday cake. There was every tip you could imagine for the piping. There was every color frosting in the world. It was like a little playground for me.

Only trouble was that I had no idea what I was doing. And those first cakes were horrendous. I had a great time making them, but my lesson was brief and the bags felt huge and I was awkward. My signature cake became one with confetti and big balloons because once the bag hit an air pocket and burst unplanned frosting all over my cake, I had no choice. Confetti and balloons covered all.

No one knew I was the cake decorator and I always thought that was a good thing. And no paying customer (the parents) ever saw the cake they paid for. Another good thing.

All this to say, I kept thinking about my days in the Gustavus bakery as I decorated this cake because this one, though it took time, was so easy to decorate. I used a large tip and made little imperfect circles, just going for texture and color. It's my favorite cake I've made. And has my head swimming with new ideas for the next one.

It took four recipes of Aunt Jan's cream cheese frosting. It took two white cake mixes to make the six layers. It took one day to make. It took seven minutes and thirteen six year olds to consume. And it was awesome.

I was planning on pastels on the inside, but wow that food gel is potent. I kept trying to use less and less but it wasn't meant to be. For the frosting I figured out how to just use a toothpick drop of color for each layer, and that gave me the pastels I was going for.

Sonna was my perfect client. She was thrilled and told her thirteen kindergarten friends, "Everyone has to close their eyes when my aunt cuts it, because there is a surprise inside! Ready. Close them!"

So Happy Birthday Sonna! We love you so much. You are the perfect colorful personality to have such a colorful rainbow cake.

tonight at bedtime

Me: Ivar, tomorrow is a very special day called Mother's Day. Who is your mother?

Ivar: Elsie.

Me: Nope.

Ivar: Baby Elsie.

Me: I am your mother. Your mama is your mother and tomorrow is a special day to say, "good job mother."

Ivar: Oh. (quick pause) Who's my dadder?

I kid you not. Verbatim. Stood up to write it down as soon as it was said. 

***

And now, for some awesome Motherly Wisdom from years ago, click here.

sneak peek at the chicken coop

We've got a fun weekend ahead including a dance recital, two birthday parties, church, mothers day and finishing the chicken coop. That would be quite the mothers day gift: to see my six sweet chickens find a new home in the great outdoors so I can get my downstairs bathroom back. 

I'll leave you with a picture of Elsie, showing me that chicken feet are not scary and I don't need to fear them. Thank you brave Elsie. I am so proud to be your mama.

this is happening right now...

This is what is happening in my kitchen right now.  It's my dream come true in birthday cakes, half way done. A rainbow cake with rainbow frosting, special request from the birthday girl Sonna. Since the moment Sonna asked me if I'd make her a rainbow cake, my thoughts have been dreaming of this beauty. And now she's coming together. It's tedious and requires a lot of cleaning between each color of the rainbow, but my oh my is it lovely.

You may remember I made my first rainbow cake for Sara and Lisa. And they seemed to love it. I was pregnant with Ivar at the time.

I made my first rainbow cupcakes last year for Sonna's fifth birthday. I was pregnant with Elsie at the time.

This time around I am not pregnant, but while trying to bake all six layers of Roy G. Biv goodness with both kids awake, I sort of realized how much easier this rainbow cake thing is without a two year old helping and a 9 month old crying out for attention. It was a bit more challenging this time, hence the frosting late into the night while the kids are sleeping. A much better idea.

a family picture

Behold. You are looking at the only five pictures we have of the four of us since Elsie was born. Thousands of pictures have been taken, but only five of just the four of us. And none of them are winners. They're decent, but as I told Rory, "if one of us were to die tragically, the real tragedy would be that the other would have to frame one of these five and look at it the rest of their lives..."

Did you notice my side bar? It only took me nine months to update our family picture to include Elsie! Hooray! And I added a few quick links to our chickens, maple syrup, the grovestead and my yearly favorites. It's been a long, long time since I've done any blog updating and it feels good. Enjoy!