So, we made it through the 2 year old's farm animal birthday cake. The making of it, that is. It turned out adorable! I had never even been that creative with play-dough as a child. That's kinda what it reminded me of though. I loved watching these little animals come to life! The pigs with their round snouts and curly tails, the cows with their chocolate brown spots and pink noses, and the rubber duckies with their tiny little beaks. As we assembled the cake and started adding flowers even they seemed to come alive. One thing that we didn't get to use were the sheep. They ended up looking like white turtles made out of marshmallows. :) When I tried standing them up on straws, planning to form chocolate legs around the straws, I realized that no matter what you do to chocolate, it's still going to melt. That's why all the animals were lying around taking it easy. That is, except for the cows peeking over the fence. I learned a lot about modeling chocolate on this cake. I just wish that fondants tasted better. Maybe next time I'll try another edible modeling clay type medium. I'm thankful for this opportunity to follow one of my dreams with my mother.
I got to include my mother-in-love on this one too. I made an extra chocolate pig especially for her. :)

Let's go!

Just last week my Palmer turned 5. I can hardly believe it! He was such a surprise, but such a gift. When I think back to the many steps that brought Chad and I together, then the wonder of this unexpected blessing. The many moments of his five years that seem like about six months, then the way he gets excited about learning and discovering things on his own since starting preschool. I'm counting my blessings and dreaming for the future.

For Palmer's birthday party that he requested to have at Pizza Hut, my mom and I made a cowboy boot and hat cake. Strawberry cake covered with chocolate buttercream and modeling chocolate. We got a little crazy before we finished at 3:30 A.M. Saturday. The funniest thing I can remember was the fat legged boot. In the course of the carving the leg ended up larger in proportion to the foot. We were able to hide some of the awkwardness with a bandana, and the stitch work detail free-handed by my mom was so realistic. this was the first time either of us had attempted to carve anything extravagant or intricate in anything. I must say that I was quite grateful that we were able to make something that made Palmer proud. While it wasn't perfect, it was a learning experience that I got to share with my mother.


Thanks to Emily Fenimore for requesting a food blog. :)