The Meals Family

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

I'm a Martha!

Yes, I'm a Martha...I would love to be a Mary AND a Martha, just balanced! When people come over I'm hastily cleaning trying to make my house look somewhat presentable because it's obviously not done before they pop over unexpectedly. I need to clean with joy in my heart, knowing that what I am doing is providing a safe and comfortable home for my family. But I'm disorganized, a perfectionist, and a procrastinator. That's a deadly combination for a homemaker! Hopefully I will be able to get some great tips with this new book, 31 Days To Clean. I need encouragement, and a plan to stick to! Really, I need a schedule (or a maid and a nanny? Just kidding!). Maybe soon I will be on my way to "having a Martha House the Mary Way!"

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Raising Homemakers Giveaway!

There is a great giveaway going on right now at Raising Homemakers, and I'm really excited about it! I am definitely a Martha except you couldn't tell by looking at my house! I wish I was more like Mary but with the pride Martha took in her home. I hope this book will give me some insight on how to balance that.

Friday, March 5, 2010

Cake Classes

Ok, so I've been taking cake decorating classes at Hobby Lobby. I took Wilton Course 1 and 2, and I've made a few cakes. Keep in mind, I'm just learning! They're not perfect, but that's ok! I guess that means I'll just have to keep practicing...what do you think Colby will think of that? Oh darn!!! I plan on taking the the last two courses, but the teacher is leaving Hobby Lobby and going to open her own shop in a couple months. We'll see about taking them from her when she gets squared away. Anyway, here are my projects so far:

This was my first cake...it was supposed to be a birthday cake, but since it was nobody's birthday, I just put Caleb's name on it! That black icing started out deep purple, but the icing darkens within about 30 minutes after coloring, so I got it way too dark and didn't realize it. Oh well, lesson learned!

Then it really was someone's birthday...Donnie's! So I made this one for him.

Just for fun, I made these cupcakes. I got the grapes idea from a Wilton book. They were chocolate mint with buttercream icing...soooooooo yummy!

This cake was the final project for Course 1. I had to miss class because I was in Abilene and it was the weekend before my dad's birthday, so I made it for him and he helped me. We had so much fun! I had leftover batter so we played around and made some cupcakes and little cakes from molds we had at the house. I tested out my new tip that makes cool grass. I think the grass technique would look awesome on any kind of Easter, spring, or sports themed cake (or cupcakes).

For Valentine's I made some cupcakes. I had trouble with the roses previously and it turned out my icing wasn't quite right. The petals cracked instead of being smooth. This time they were beautiful! I decided to put them on the cupcakes, but I wanted to play around with other tips, too, so I made the swirly ones, and on the rest I made them look like those message hearts you get on V-Day. Still practicing writing...it's hard to get it straight!

This was my final project for Course 2. We made flowers and the bird out of royal icing and color flow icing. They are pure powdered sugar, and although they are edible, I don't like to eat them. I prefer buttercream. So this cake is iced with buttercream; the basketweave is a new technique for me that turned out okay, but the rope border still needs work...it's not very tight and even. More practice = more buttercream = me very happy! I probably eat more than goes on the cake! Ok, just kidding! But seriously, who could help from eating the mistakes...can't let that icing go to waste, can we? I gave this cake to Kaelan for her birthday!