My easy bake oven days are here again...

Oh how I miss the days of my easy bake oven. How simple it was then. Now, as a mommy I am terrified of my "not so easy" oven and I stay away from it as much as motherly possible. I am the Mommy that resorts to those fancy little bakery's when it comes to my kids birthdays but down deep inside I wish I could muster up the courage to bake a cake.
So you can imagine how thrilled I was when a little birdie pointed me to Parenting.com and their segment on 31 Awesome cake designs. You must check them out. It's not your tipical cakes either. They have great ideas for cake designs and to my delight "easy" step by step how to's. Thank you Parenting.com! Thank you! Thank you!



Do you bake? Check it out and let me know if it really is as easy as it looks.
I am digging this one! (Pun intended)

image: Kenneth Chen


Parenting.com

Ahoy Matey-part2 The Captains Menu

When it comes to food for a children's party it is best to just stick with practical menu items. Nothing too outrageous and something that you know most kids will enjoy. However, you must be creative with the presentation. Take this opportunity to rename items with fun or silly names. You can incorporate a menu board, menu cards or food label cards to let all your guests see what is in store on the Captains Menu.

Hot Dog Ships (attach a wooden skewer through a small piece of paper to make a sail and then pierce it through a hot dog; served with gold fish)

Captain Crunch chicken; served with Peg legs (carrot sticks)

Ocean with sunken treasures (blue Jell-O with diced peaches)
Pineapple Limeade and Sharks Blood

Now for the piece de resistance...the cake! I like this one from Studio Cakes. I mean, what else could you ask for?!

if you have something else in mind? Then Please check these out and if you are more of a cupcake fan, well here you go. I personally love this one from clares cupcakes Wow who new Pirate parties could be so cute!

See you tomorrow for what is my favorite part of the planning process...The decorrrrr.
Sorry, BAD PIRATE impression

Real Life Confections- Case 1123

Meet Abigail Barnes. She is a wife, a mom and from my last count she has 3 Blogs {Piece of Cake Parties, Paper and Cake and See Jack Draw}. Where does she find the time?Who knows, but if that wasn't enough, well she also happens to bake. These are her confections...

A little self into from Abby herself..

My two sisters make fun of me. My own mother thinks I'm nuts. My husband rolls his eyes. I can't help it but to plan the party and figure out every detail, with relish! I always start with the most important element, the cake, and from there everything always falls right into place.

and what do you do when you are not baking?
When I'm not baking, I'm either cleaning the kitchen to make room for baking, or on my computer trying to discover what I would like to make. Aside from that, I have two crazy kids – my 6 year old daughter and 3 year old son – who love to "help". I also have a graphic design business that takes up a good chunk of time.
When did you first become interested in baking?
My mother made the BEST banana cream pies. The best. She would make them on a regular basis, for no reason other than it was everyone's favorite. My mother would also get together with my two aunts just before Christmas, and make hundreds of dozens of Christmas cookies to give out as gifts. My cousins and I would be locked out of the kitchen, only able to peer through the kitchen glass door, smell the wonderful scent of cookies, and hear, every few minutes, the "cookie ding" letting us all know that yet another batch was ready.
So what do you enjoy most about baking?
I love baking because there is no daily expectation. Baked goods do not need to be on the table every single night at 6pm. Baking is not cooking… I don't cook. I love baking because it is for me, when I want to do it, what I choose to make, and I get to sit back and watch the enjoyment.
Have you ever taken a class?
Yes, just recently, I took a cake decorating basics class with Melody Brandon (of mysweetandsaucy.com) at PREP Kitchen Essentials in Seal Beach. I couldn't stop talking about it for weeks. What is the first thing you ever baked?My mother is sitting here next to me as I answer these questions… I can't remember the first thing specifically, but she tells me my first project was probably cookies, and was probably a "group" project with my two older sisters.
My first "signature" baked good was (and still is) the cream puff. I made it the first time in celebration of my Grandmother's birthday almost 15 years ago. I still make it, and it still has that WOW factor.
What has been your biggest masterpiece?
My biggest (most painful) masterpiece has got to be the teapot cake I did for my daughters 5th birthday party. I found examples of it and tips on making it online on several different websites. The directions called for angel food cake baked in a round Pyrex glass mixing bowl. After the angel food blew up, I switched to regular cake (box of cake mix) and baked cake in the mixing bowl 3 times. What a mess! I just wasn't grasping the idea that the regular cake was to heavy to hold itself up. At about 11 o'clock the night before, I gave up, and told myself I would order a cake the next morning at 10am. At about 7am, I gave myself one last chance to put it together. I slowly assembled the bottom and top halves with a sliver of the third round in between. About a ton of buttercream later, I had done it! I will never do this cake again. Phew!
Do you have any other creative interests/hobbies?
You name it. Design, typography, fine art, photography, coffee, quilting, fund raising, scrapbooking, reading, interior decorating and any craft project of any kind.
Any words of wisdom for anyone wanting to get into baking?
Wisdom… I am a big time amateur, so there really isn't any wisdom to bestow. If you don't love it you won't do it, so why not hit the bakery instead?

Thanks Abby!

Images: Abby Barnes

Real Life Confections- Case 1122

Louise Dueholm is from Denmark and also happens to be the creator of the Cake Journal. She is a wife, a mother and oh yeah she is an AMAZING baker (self taught).
These are her confections:

more on this brilliant baker:

What do you do when you are not baking Louise? If I am not baking I am spending time answering emails and checking out other cake blogs. I do a lot of online research to see if there are any new cool cake pans, cupcake cases etc. I also love to read cake books. But because I am a stay at home mom I'm in charge of the daily household and with two kids it can sometime be hard to have time for everything at one go.
When did you first become interested in baking? I have always found baking interesting. But it started for real when I decided to make a cake for our wedding back in 2002.
What do you enjoy most about baking? Decoration!! I find it rather peaceful to sit and make sugar roses, flowers and figurines.

Have you ever taken a class? Yes and I can highly recommend it. You learn so much from it. What is the first think you ever baked? Hmm I think it was a chocolate chip cake...?
What has been your biggest masterpiece? My biggest masterpiece has to be a large wedding cake with fresh strawberries for some of our best friends wedding. The only bad thing was that I was extremely tired at the wedding reception because I hardly slept all night.
Do you have any other creative interests/hobbies? I like to paint, draw, and make fun creative activities with my kids.
Any words of wisdom for anyone wanting to get into baking? Just jump into it and keep practice and most of all have fun.

Thank you so much for participating Louise!

You can find Louise and her amazing work at Cake Journal. It is a great place to talk cake or find inspiration for your next shindig. Make sure you visit!

images: cake journal

Starting Monday...