Let them eat cake...all of it!

I've spent the last 5 days making what felt like hundreds of 6", 10" & 14" cakes, and tons of Swiss Meringue Frosting. Literally tons of it. My arms will vouch for me. And I cannot thank 'Sis enough for letting me borrow her Kitchen Aid (hers-red, mine-blue...very patriotic.) Saved me hours of washing out the large bowl to beat egg whites into submission.

I do not own a turn-table. My creativity kicked in...what does BubbaLou own that spins? She's got to have something...think, think, think.
The infamous Sit-N-Spin!Flip it upside down, place over two chairs...voila! Instant turntable.
And if you accidentally bump the "top" of the red part, it plays a jaunty little tune.
Damn near lost the cake the first time it went off.

Final result:

Not as perfect as I would have liked, but over 80 degree temps and no A/C in the reception hall was not very kind to the frosting (all that butter.) Touch-ups were almost impossible, especially with no running water (cold or otherwise) in the place to be able to cool the spatula down. Groom and Mother of the Groom were very pleased (not as type-A, OCD, perfectionist as me.)

Very happy to be done. Tomorrow will finish cleaning the kitchen and mopping up the floor (scraping up dropped frosting & dried bits of cake trimmings.) Will also throw away any leftover cake so I don't eat it all. The thought of eating cake & frosting kinda makes me sick right now anyway.

Running out of time

Where does it go? How does it fly away so quickly? How am I going to get 75 more apricot cookies baked before Friday? Not to mention clean my house and grocery shop for holiday dinner. My only day off is Wedndesday, and BubbaLou has gymnastics. If the lessons weren't so expensive I'd say screw it, but we missed one last week due to the storm. I can't stand to miss two that I can't make up.

Abbie, your whoopie pies will hopefully go in the mail tomorrow. I ate one last night. Oh. My. Gosh. I am warning you now, I am not responsible for the calorie count in these treats, nor am I responsible for how many you eat. I will however go shopping with you so we can both buy new pants. Or treadmills. Your choice. I think new pants will be easier.

My holiday shopping is just barely starting. I'm hoping one of the gifts for Sy shows up before the holiday, but no bets. Some night this week I have to go do stocking stuffers.

Have I mentioned I also have to finish two knitting projects by Monday?

Yes, I'm a little bit crazy.

Missing

Between working full-time, a million birthday parties, and Thanksgiving, I've been busy. BubbaLou recently turned 3, so a party was required. 8 (maybe 50?) small children running around my house. Their parents, some Aunts, Uncles, cousins, friends...I had a party with 25 or so people (4 days before Thanksgiving.) I just love a challenge, and birthday cake. Red velvet with the most amazing frosting in the whole wide world. I could eat it by itself in a bowl, and I'm not really a frosting girl. Just give me the cake.

Bubba's favorite gift, a REAL, pink guitar. I can't tell you how many renditions of
"Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" I've heard.

I've also been busy on the sewing front. Here's a scarf I just completed with some extra fabric from a quilt I'm doing for the couch. It's a super-soft flannel in beautiful holiday prints. A little whimsical without being childish. The quilt and scarf have exposed seams on one side that get clipped and then fray in the wash, making a little fringe around all the blocks. I saw the quilt in progress at the local quilt shop and even though it's a little too "country," I thought it was pretty and it gave me a good excuse to buy the flannel I had seen on my last visit. Yes, I need an excuse to buy fabric. This is a taste of what 336 quilt square blocks looks like. I think I actually cut out closer to 400, but only needed 336. My kitchen looked like it was covered in a film of fuzz after I was done. Well worth it, though. I just think these colors are so soft and pretty. And it will be nice to have something seasonal on the couch to snuggle up in.

I do not need an excuse to buy yarn. In fact, my local shop was having a coupon sale...how convenient. I bought some wonderful washable wool for a new hat for my Dad, and some bulky, 100% silk yarn in a beautiful, shimmery silver. Perfect for a holiday scarf. Taa-daa. As if I've got nothing better to do.

The holiday baking season has begun, after all. And my darlin' Sy gave me the three BIG King Arthur Flour cookbooks for my birthday. I told him I might as well just paste the pages to my thighs. These cookbooks have centerfolds, for crying out loud. I wanted to lick the pages, it's baker porn.

Abbie, do you want some more pumpkin whoppie pies? I can't be the only one eating this stuff.

Yummy in my tummy!

This is what I do when I'm not knitting or chasing BubbaLou.

My Dad brought over 2lbs of blueberries, the result was 2 dozen muffins and a prayer that I don't need to go buy bigger pants! I got to use my new convection oven for them...I baked them all at once and they were so evenly done I almost fainted in shock!

The front of the Rowan Orchid sweater. Lots of mindless, boring knitting. On little needles. The end result will be worth it, I hope.

"Waist Cincher Sweater" from Knitting Lingerie Style

I cast on the back on Monday to give me some relief from all the boring stockinette and endless white. I'm using JoSharp Silkroad Aran Tweed in Posie. It's a heavier yarn than the pattern uses (classic elite "lush" a very fuzzy angora blend), but the gauge is right...I think it's coming out beautifully.

I really need to find something lighter color to photgraph against...all the floors in my house are dark, chocolatey brown. Very rich, but not the best backdrop (at least they're clean!) The photo on the right was taken on my laundry room counter, it's the only shot that didn't look like the sweater was floating in mid-air!