the final chapter of the wedding cake.....

and now the final chapter can be written!



just over a week ago (last Thursday, to be exact) this is how the cakes looked.

On Wednesday I had taken them all out of the freezer and put a glaze layer on them all after trimming so the tops were flat.

Thursday morning, I did the "fill", putting in the raspberry jam (seedless, of course) and stacked them up.

So far so good!









and so we begin to ice.

Three full batches of buttercream frosting (all faintly flavored with almond).

The tier that I expected to be a problem (the chocolate one) went quite well, the jam glaze served well and the icing went on easily.

The same could not be said for the smallest layer. In fact, at one point I wondered if we would end up having to bake a whole new top tier, but it finally came together.

We used mostly white -- a shell border around the bottom and a sort of star border around the top. Then scroll work across the top and cascading down the front of the cakes. Lots of the white roses that I had spent a Sunday afternoon creating, then little "vines" of pale green and tiny lavendar dots here and there.




And so on Saturday afternoon we began to set it all up.

Each tier had traveled in its own individual box lined with "non slip" rubber matting. The traveling was actually safer than being in our kitchen as all of the layers arrived safely in the car and I had actually put my fingers into the icing on one of them in the kitchen and had to repair it before we packed the box.

Using 3 risers of different heights all covered with a piece of lace fabric, we set it up as a kind of spiral of cake.



But the top layer was not done giving us trouble.

In the kitchen we had made an imprint on the top of where the cake topper needed to go so we would know how to place it. Just one problem....that tier was so tender that the topper began to actually sink into the cake!

Fortunately, we traveled with a repair kit -- containers of buttercream, pre-loaded bags (with the same tips) of the colors we used, spatulas, etc., etc., but in the end it was the creative use of a broken off plastic fork that saved the day -- we broke it the right height (just a bit shorter that the cake) and inserted it into the cake just behind the flowers and scroll work on the top. It supported just enough of the weight of the cake topper that everything stayed level.

And so the saga of the wedding cake is complete. Some time I might be willing to do this again, but there are definately things I would do differently!

Wedding Reception Mints

While I'm waiting for really good pictures of the wedding cake all set up to arrive, I thought I'd share the recipe for the mints we made for the reception.

We didn't have any real plan to do these, but when my friend from California was here she was talking about it and almost before you could say "how do we do that?" a phone call was made to her house and her son was digging the recipe out of her "wedding recipes" file in her kitchen.

Actually, this was a fun project, something that wasn't so crucial to the success of the day as the cake and the flowers, so there was really no stress involved. (something that was desperately needed at that point in last week!)

We did these in the colors we used for the wedding, and I sprinkled them all with the edible glitter that is available from Wilton.

So then, here's the recipe:

Wedding Reception Mints

1 egg white
1 tbls water
2 tbls canned milk
5 cups (1 pound) sifted powdered sugar
1/8 tsp mint
1/2 tsp vanilla
color as desired

Blend egg white, water, canned milk and flavoring, mixing well. (If you're making a batch that is all one color you could add the color here as well.)

Add sugar slowly and kneed the mixture well. Cover bowl with a damp towel.

Pinch off small balls (about the size of a marble) and pat them out in small circles on waxed paper. Allow to set for about 5 minutes then make imprint on top with a damp fork.

Notes:
1. If you don't want to get food color on your hands, wear disposable gloves to do this project.
2. You could use a clean rubber stamp to make an imprint on the top of the mints.
3. After the imprint, sprinkle with edible glitter if desired.
4. These transport best if you leave them on the wax paper in a flat pan until you are ready to put them in the dishes at the reception. After that, store in an air tight container to keep them from absorbing moisture.

We got about 80 mints out of this recipe.

its just Peachy, thank you.....

Last Saturday we went up to Denver and picked up 2 boxes that looked like this.

MMMMM, nothing quite like the sweet smell of FRESH peaches in a hot house in August.



Yesterday we hauled up the necessary number of pint jars.

I love the look of those jars all lined up and waiting to receive the peachy, syrupy goodness.....



And here they are .... we got 18 pints of peach halves in medium syrup.

The point of this exercise is our own little family canning project: my sister gets the peaches from the Knights of Columbus in their parish that use it for a fund raiser every year; my DH & I (mostly the DH, his hands handle the heat much better than mine) put up the peaches and we give a lot of them to my folks, especially my dad....



There were a few of the peaches that had major bruising. We never throw anything away that we can use, so the bad spots get cut out and the rest get made into peach jam.

There are 13 half pints of this yummy stuff! We'll be taking some of that to my dad too.

what do you do with all this extra zucchini?

you just have to make pickle relish!





A quick read of the pickle relish recipe revealed that I had everything needed in the house to whip up a batch, so that produce wouldn't be wasted.

So here's what I used
from the garden where some things "got away" and became too big for my usual cooking:  1 large zucchini, 1 large yellow squash, 2 large cucumbers -- all of these got grated on the biggest hole of a standard hand grater

from the drawers of the 'fridge: 1 red onion, 3 small yellow (sweet) peppers -- these were chopped in very fine dice

Put all of those veggies in a large crock (yup, I have an OLD McCoy crock that was my grandmother's that we use for this purpose). Cover the whole batch with a mixture of 1/4 cup salt and 1 quart of water. Let soak for 3 to 4 hours.

Drain. Cover with 1 quart of fresh water and sprinkle 2 teaspoons of tumeric over the top. Let soak for another hour.

Drain completely (I pressed it into a sieve to squeeze out the water).

from the cupboards: mustard seeds, brown sugar, cinnamon stick, whole cloves, vinegar

In a sauce pan, combine 2 cups vinegar, and 3/4 cup brown sugar. Create a bouquet garni by using a piece of cheese cloth (or part of an old, clean dishtowel) tied with a piece of thread or kitchen twine and include: 1 cinnamon stick, 2 teaspoons of mustard seed and 1 teaspoon of whole cloves. Drop the bouquet garni into the sauce pan and bring to a boil. Pour mixture (including bouquet garni) over the veggies. Let stand for another 12 to 18 hours.

At the end of the "steeping", remove the bouquet garni and pour the remaining crock contents into a large pan and bring to a boil. Simmer for at least 10 minutes.

Pack into hot glass jars and put on seal and ring. Set jar on a towel UPSIDE DOWN for 5 minutes, then turn right side up.

Let cool completely before moving. Test jars for seal before storing.




And this is the result.

Oh yes, because I had so many yellow veggies in the mix, it just didn't look quite right, so I dropped in 2 drops of green food color....yellow pickle relish just looks wrong to me!!

it looks like a flower shop.....

Lillies, morning glories, petunias and poinsettias. All created from Royal Icing!

We learned how to use a lilly nail in class, and these were all done in the next to largest one. There is one that came in the kit that is the size to make lilly of the valley, but I have no clue how that is done. Someday we'll play with that idea. The lilly nail should also make for some awesome poppies!

This class was a lot of fun. I'm going to play with doing some more flowers with the frosting left from class, then its into the roses for the wedding cake again.

Making the royal icing this time was much easier. And I think I will forever associate royal icing with angel food cake. All of the flowers for the wedding cake are almond flavored, and since royal icing is egg whites (meringe powder), water, sugar and flavoring, the only thing missing would be the flour!

Pizza, Pizza

I love pizza. I've loved it since I was a kid, and I've used it for feeding guests as well as breakfast (yes, COLD!), lunch (slightly reheated on a paper towel in the microwave) and dinner (fresh out of the oven).

I've given my daughter the addiction too....sorry kid!!

When we lived in California the place we usually ordered from had a slick system. They had caller ID on their phone system and a computerized list of what folks had ordered before. So ordering a pizza was a conversation sort of like this:

As soon as I dialed the number I'd hear: "Mountain Mike's Pizza"
ME: Hi, I'd like to order a pizza
MOUNTAIN MIKE: You want the medium half and half with mushrooms and sausage on one side and pepperoni and black olives on the other?
ME: Yup
MOUNTAIN MIKE: That'll be $14.95 and it'll be there in about 40 minutes
ME: Sounds good
MOUNTAIN MIKE: Thanks for calling, enjoy your pizza
ME: Thanks, we will
and usually in less time than they said, the pizza delivery guy would be at the door and we'd give the fellow a $20 and go off to eat our pizza (I think the delivery guys used to fight over who delivered to our house!)

Here in our new abode, we haven't ever found any place with pizza as good as we got there, so when we have pizza, we usually make it at home. I use some shortcuts along the way, but it is pretty good.

PIZZA
1 loaf frozen bread dough
1 cup shredded Italian cheese blend (or more if you want extra cheese)
1/4 cup pasta sauce (or more if you like really saucy pizza)
2 tbls corn meal
1 tsp olive oil
toppings (see listing below)

on the morning of the day you want to have pizza, take the frozen bread dough out of the freezer and put it in a pan to defrost (be sure to oil everything so it doesn't stick and cover it with plastic wrap so it doesn't dry out)

in the evening:
Organize all of your toppings. If something needs to be precooked (like hamburger or sausage), do it first. Once you start messing with the dough, you need to be ready to put this all together.
Preheat oven to 475 degrees
Prepare a large pan to bake pizza on (I use a jelly roll pan), use the olive oil over the entire surface of the pan, then sprinkle with the cornmeal

In the prepared pan, spread the bread dough to make a crust the thickness you like. Be careful not to put holes in it. Use a fork to prick the dough (otherwise it will make big bubbles as it cooks).

Bake dough for 4 minutes -- this gives it a chance to start forming a crust so the toppings won't make it soggy

Remove dough from oven. If any air bubbles have formed, use the fork again to poke holes in them.

Using a pastry brush, spread the pizza sauce evenly over the dough. Arrange toppings over the entire surface of the pizza. Finally put an even layer of shredded cheese over everything.

Bake for an additional 8 to 12 minutes (time depends on your oven, how much stuff you piled on, and how brown you like your finished product).

Cool for about 5 minutes before cutting.

Eat with caution -- that first bite will still be HOT!


Suggested toppings:
bulk italian sausage, "scramble fried" and drained
hamburger, "scramble fried" and drained
pepperoni slices
canadian bacon
thinly sliced fresh mushrooms
sliced black olives
thin slices of green pepper (or any other color you like)
sliced water chestnuts
pineapple (goes with the canadian bacon)

For toppings just put on whatever YOU like!

practicing for the BIG day

As I'm starting to pack tubs full of things we'll need for the wedding, I decided to test my risers and make sure that the size cakes I'm making will fit on the risers (figuring that having a mismatch on the big day would be a major faux pas!)

This was my little "test shot" complete with testing to be sure that the cake top would fit properly on a 6 inch cake.

Lovely isn't it? The plan is to drape all of those lovely plastic risers in a piece of white lace (which was in the laundry when I took the picture) I think it looks pretty good!

Maison de Gateau -- verse 2

See? Its another cake!

Class on Friday nights for some reason is more difficult for me than on Tuesday. Maybe the fact that I had spent almost all day Friday working on wedding stuff had something to do with it!

At any rate, I got to class and had forgotten to bring some of the stuff that was on the list and had to borrow from my classmates. {sigh!} Fortunately, by this time we get along quite well and borrowing back and forth is pretty common.

This cake is covered with fondant. It does have that wonderful smooth finish that only fondant can provide, but our main complaint is that it doesn't taste all that good.

It was fun to learn how to do this, but unless someone someday specifically asks me to make one with fondant, I won't be doing much with this stuff.

We did fondant roses in class too, and I'll have to spend some time this week making a few more of those.

Summer "Smell" Patrol

It can be fairly said that summer can stink. Or at least that the heat of summer can make your kitchen smell bad.

There's nothing like walking into your home sweet home after being at work all day and being assaulted by that unmistakable reek of something “dead” in the kitchen.

There are several likely culprits for this problem and our kitchen (and possibly in yours too) and this is how we deal with trying to keep them under control.

Dishes in the sink
I know, it’s a pain, and you’re running late for work, but take the time to RINSE! If you make a habit of emptying your dishwasher right after the load is done drying, you can rinse those dirty dishes and use the dishwasher to stash them in until it’s full enough to run it again. By rinsing those dishes you’ll get rid of all the little pieces of food that spoil quickly and smell even faster. Special culprits for “the stink” – anything with a dairy product involved (you know, milk, yogurt, ice cream). Be sure to wash the dish rags frequently and throw your sponges into the dishwasher about once a week (or more often if they smell sooner) to further eliminate the “sink stink”

Mop up that spill
Remember the Petri dish? Nothing is quite so close to that perfect thin layer of growing medium as a spill of something on the counter, stove top or floor. We keep a stack of bar towels (those 15” x 15” terry squares) on the counter so we can easily grab and wipe whatever gets spilled. (I know, you could use paper towels, but I just hate adding to the land fill that way, so bar towels are my substitute for just about everything short of bacon grease and pet barf). Be sure to rinse the towel out or toss it into the washer right away or the bar towel becomes one more stink machine!

The Trash
Empty milk containers, packaging that meat was wrapped in, empty food cans, watermelon rinds and corn cobs are all major players in the Stinky Trash Can Syndrome. Empty that can frequently! No standing on it like a semi-automatic trash compactor just to get one more milk carton in there! And a little spray of Lysol or some citrus based air freshener after every emptying helps too.

Grog (aka: the garbage disposal)
I can’t remember when it was that we first started calling our garbage disposal Grog, but it just seems to fit. The garbage disposal is a wonderful thing, and it’s also a great incubator for “summer stink”. One of the very best things to clean the blades and freshens the air in the whole kitchen as well is any kind of citrus peel. I like to cut them into about ½ inch strips and feed them down one at a time (I’ve even been known to cut the strips and lay them out on the window sill to dry then use them one a day in the times I don’t have any citrus – just watch them carefully for infestations of mold or 6 legged friends). Failing the citrus peel, try this: first run some really HOT water down the disposal, then pour in a good dose of baking soda and let sit for about 5 minutes, finally, take a tray of ice cubes and run them through the disposal. Here’s how that works: the hot water will melt away any lingering greasy deposits, the baking soda neutralizes the smells and the hard ice will clean away any little particles that are still laying around in there.

So, that’s my list for today…..anybody got any additional tips?

Maison de Gateau reprise.....

This week will begin the marathon of cake baking for the wedding, so over the weekend I decided I should try out some of the new techniques I have been reading about.

One of my issues with one tier of the wedding cake is that it will be chocolate, and as such creates a major issue if crumbs show through the white frosting.

This week's cake was used to test the idea of a jam glaze over the cake, and I can tell you it worked wonderfully.

So, here is how I did it.

Bake cake in normal way, and chill in the 'fridge overnight.

Select jam of choice (I used raspberry). Bring jam to a boil in a small sauce pan. Strain out the seeds (I didn't do this step and it was a problem -- minor -- later).

Take cake from 'fridge and rest on a rack over a jelly roll pan. Be sure the tops of the cakes have been trimmed to level.

Using a pastry brush, spread strained jam over tops and sides of cake.

Return to 'fridge for at least 24 hours.

The jelly sets up like a firm, slightly sticky shell over the cakes, seals in the crumbs and is sticky enough for the frosting to cling to.

I forgot to do the strain part, so I had little bumpy seeds to deal with, but it still worked well.

I will definately use this for the wedding cakes!

Stuffed Flank Steak

This is a recipe that began with a dish my mother used to make, and has been liberally "tweeked" over the years.

The prep work takes a bit of time, but there is really nothing very difficult in any of the steps.

Set aside about and hour and a half (from start to table) and try this one, you'll be amazed at just how elegant a dinner you can make!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 to 2 pound flank steak
1 large carrot
1 shallot
1 cup raw rice (I use Basmati)
2 cups warm water
2 tbls olive oil
2 tsp beef bullion
4 to 6 medium mushrooms

Mix the bullion with the warm water in the measuring cup.
Peel the shallot and the carrot (or just scrub the carrot), cut both into fine dice (about 1/4 inch pieces).
Clean the mushrooms and slice very thin
Heat oil in heavy sauce pan; saute shallot, carrot and mushrooms slightly
Add raw rice and "toast" for about 3 minutes -- keep the rice moving so it doesn't burn
Add bullion/water mixture to pan and simmer until rice is cooked and all the liquid is absorbed (about 10 to 15 minutes)
Cool rice mixture for about 10 minutes

While the rice is cooling, heat oven to 350 degrees



On a cutting board, lay out steak covered with plastic wrap (the plastic wrap keeps the mess level down while you beat it)



Use a meat pounder WITHOUT teeth (those just tear the fibers). If you don't have one of these, a wine bottle will work, or the edge of a heavy pottery platter.




Pound the meat to tenderize and thin it out.



Once the meat has been pounded, spread a layer of the cooled rice mixture over the meat.

Roll the meat with the rice mixture inside like a jelly roll and tie with string.

(There will be extra rice mixture left, save it to use as a side dish)



On the stove top, heat a heavy skillet (I use my large cast iron one)

Transfer meat to the pan and brown



Be sure to brown all sides of the roll. Use tongs or a large spatula to turn the meat so you don't poke holes in it and let the juices "leak" out.

Once all sides are brown, bake for about 30 to 40 minutes (depending on how rare you like your beef and how thick the roll is -- we like our beef pretty rare)





When the meat comes out of the oven, let it rest for about 5 minutes, then slice in about 3/4 inch slices for serving.

You can make a pan gravy with the juices and serve the extra rice mixture on the side.

A green veggie or a nice salad (or both!) go well with this and make a very attractive and healthy meal.

The left overs reheat nicely in the microwave. From time to time I've cut up the left overs and made "at home" TV dinners for the freezer for those evenings when we don't feel like cooking.

2 in one day!

At the request of my reading public, here is a recipe for sopapillas:

2 c. flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. shortening
1/2 cup warm water
Oil for deep frying

Sift dry ingredients together in bowl.
Cut in shortening until crumbly.
Add 1/2 cup warm water gradually, stirring with fork. Dough will be crumbly.
Turn onto lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth.
Divide in half. Let stand for 10 minutes.
Cut into 3" squares. Fry, several at a time, in deep fat at 400 degrees for 30 seconds on each side.

Yield: 40 sopapillas.

Serve with honey!

In a pinch you can take a package of commercial biscuits, roll them out flat, cut them into triangles, let them set for 10 minutes then fry as above. Makes fewer (about 20 small ones), but they are pretty good.

We interrupt this commercial for the Maison de Gateau...

(not to be confused with the Maison des Lunes -- or perhaps they are the same!).

It has been brought to my attention that the cookbook has been devoid of any recipe content for a while now, and I need to make amends!

So today I will share another summer dinner salad recipe.

This one is direct from my good friend in California, and I have noted my own additions/changes.


Amma's Taco Salad
1 pound ground beef browned, drained and cooled (I usually add some chili pepper to the meat while I'm frying it)
1 head of lettuce, shredded
4 tomatoes, chopped
1 avocado, diced (this isn't mandatory, but its really nice to have)
1 chopped onion (I usually use green onions)
3/4 to 1 pound grated sharp cheddar cheese (or Mexican blend)
1 15 ounce can kidney beans, drained
4 to 6 ounces thousand island dressing (ranch dressing is very nice too)
sliced black olives
hot sauce or salsa
1 bag tortilla chips, broken into pieces

Generally at our house this is served in a buffet "make it yourself" style so each person can create their own version.

This is a meal that can be put together in less than half an hour and will easily feed 4 to 6 people.

flower power!

Since next week is our last class for Course II, we are supposed to bring flowers to decorate our final cake.

I was not happy with the look of the violets I did in class, and since I had frosting to "play" with, I decided to change the color from what I used for pansies to a deeper shade and make some more violets.

I think these look pretty good.



And then there was the issue of single color roses. The ones we did in class were all just yellow.



Peace roses have always been one of my favorites (my grandmother had a hugh peace rose bush that my grandfather would cut way back every fall and by this time in the summer it would be up taller than the porch and loaded with beautiful blooms)



Since I already had pink frosting and yellow frosting, I figured I could at least experiment with the idea of putting both colors in the piping bag and give it a shot.

These, I think, are neat!



As we were headed off to the grocery store yesterday morning, we drove past a house in our neighborhood that had a whole corner covered in poppies, all in full bloom. There weren't any instructions in our class book for poppies, in fact there aren't any templates for them either, but I decided to give it a try anyway.

I used the rest of the pink frosting and added a lot of orange color to get a deep orangy shade (if I do these again I will put in a little more red too). Then I took the rest of the violet and added a lot of black.

I did these on the flower nail, used the basic petal tip upside down! Pretty neat!!

poppies, poppies will put them to sleep....sleeeeep.....sllllleeeeeeeppppppp

by jove, I think she's got it!

Third night of Class II in cake decorating was last night.

After being totally disappointed by my failure to "get it right" on last week's frosting, I was a little apprehensive about yesterday's batch.

But, SUCCESS IS MINE!!

That one little tip in the book about the stand mixer and the amount of water made all the difference.

So, these are what I did in class:

I can tell you that I'm really happy my daughter doesn't want daffodills on her cake...these are a total pain to do....

first off you need 3 (!!) bags with different tips even for the ones that are all one color and then after you get done piping, you have to "pinch" each of the petals to give it the proper "daffodilly" look....

No wonder my mom said if you can do these you can do anything!




The pansy, on the other hand, was a joy.....

The pretty purple and yellow color combo is pretty nice





These are the really important flower (along with the daisy) for me to master.

My teacher says I've got these nailed! (she used my frosting to do her demonstration at the beginning of this section of the class, then when she came by later to look at what else I had done, she couldn't pick hers out of the bunch!)

Because Royal Icing can be made up to 6 months (or a year even) ahead of time, I can start making the roses for the wedding cake as soon as I want to. (and probably will!)



and these are the daisies.

I think I will be practicing a few more of these before I start in on the ones for the cake.

They make this really neat edible glitter for cake decorating and I think for the wedding cake I'll get some of the white one to use just on the flowers.

Next week's class is the last one, and we get to put all of the flowers we've made onto an oval cake and learn how to do basket weave piping with butter cream frosting.

Yumm!

Royal (PAIN!) Icing....

This week in our cake decorating class we had to do our first batch of Royal Icing.

I carefully followed the instructions in the book (and from class)

One little detail was missing however (as I found out AFTER class from the new book on wedding cakes I just got).....when you make Royal Icing in a big stand mixer like my KitchenAide, you are supposed to use a tablespoon LESS water...

So as you can see, my apple blossoms and violets and leaves were much too soft, and they look a little "blurry" and out of focus (no, it was NOT my camera)

{sigh}

I get to try again next week





The color flow icing, on the other hand, worked pretty well.....I still need to finish these up, but this is the beginning of my bluebirds.....

not bad

trial cake.....

Since I had a batch of buttercream frosting all made up from class on Tuesday and we won't be using it in class again for 3 weeks,I decided to make a cake and try out some of the ideas that I have for edging the wedding cake.
These pictures are of the 3 different attempts I made at doing straight lines down the sides of the cake either with an arc from the top, or from the bottom.
Also a new rosette edging which I actually like better than the shell thing. (the shell is at the base of the cake, the rosettes are on top)

My conclusion on the lines down the side is that if we're going to do that I need to add the piping gel to the frosting because those long "drops" tend to "break".

I've also decided that I may need a pair of those support gloves to get through a whole wedding cake....after working with the frosting bags two days in a row, my hands were pretty sore.

Summer Salad Time

In the summer there are a lot of days when I just don't want to cook.

One of the easiest ways to handle this for us is a pasta salad. On a recent weekend I used it as a side dish the first night with bar-b-que, then put in the protein additions the next day for a full meal salad. It is also one of those things that you can use to clear out little bits and pieces of fresh veggies that are hanging out in your crisper since you can toss in a lot of different veggies.

This is also a great thing to make and take to an outdoor event in the summer as there is no mayonnaise (so you won't be killing the guests!)

Here's the way I do it:

Required Ingredients:
1 pound of shaped pasta -- fusilli (twisted), farfalli (bowties), shells -- I like the ones made with veggie paste because they are pretty too, but just plain is fine

1 small bottle of Italian dressing (I like the low fat variety best)

Cook the pasta to slightly more than al dente, and use some salt in the water or the pasta will taste "flat", when its done, rinse with cold water until its all room temperature or cooler

Add in veggies:
carrots
celery
mushrooms
pepper
olives
broccoli
zucchini
peas (fresh are great, but defrosted frozen ones work good too)
radishes
green onions

Cut the veggies in small pieces. Try to use a variety of shapes and colors for visual interest too.

Add in proteins:
cheese -- cubed or shredded
ham pieces
salmon
tuna
grilled chicken pieces

When all of the ingredients are in the bowl, pour the bottle of dressing over the salad and mix well.

This gets better the longer it marinates together, so having some left to take in a lunch the next day is a good thing.

If you think of something that makes a good addition, let me know what it is in the comments!

I finished the class!

Last night was the last class of course I, so we were given our certificates.

This actually was a lot of fun, and I learned an amazing amount of useful things in just 4 weeks.

I hadn't originally planned to do the next two classes, but since they are still doing a half off the tuition deal, I am going to do the next one where we learn to work with royal icing and do all kinds of flowers....including daisys.

This is the cake we did last night.

The top has a whole cluster of roses, then there are little sweet peas and a shell border around the bottom.

While I was working on it in class, the teacher showed me that the tip for doing flower petals has changed over the 20-some years since I got my set.


While the new tip is actually easier to learn how to do a rose with, the tip I have makes more realistic looking flowers, it just takes a bit more work.

I think I'm glad to have that old tip, but I may actually buy one of the new ones too.

A few thoughts about smart shopping

I used to think those ladies that said they could cut one quarter of their grocery bill off by smart shopping were nuts. But that was back in the day when we had two good paying jobs (and worked the hours to go with them), so a trip to the grocery store did not constitute the most important chore in our weekend.

Now days we must pay a lot closer attention to where every penny goes, and it has become a sort of "can I beat them" game.

Since I'm armed with a list of what's in my freezer and my pantry (you did do that this week didn't you?), shopping is a sort of five part exercise in beating the system.

Part 1: The List
If you are trying to save your pennies, never, NEVER go to the store without a list (never go when you are hungry either.....its deadly to your health and your finances!)

The List begins with a sort of running note during the week of those things that we are out of or we're close to out of.....milk, bread, etc., are the basis of this part of The List.

Additions to The List really grow when the weekly ads arrive (see Part 2)

Part 2: Weekly Grocery Ads
You may have thought of this part of the newspaper or the bulk mail as just something else to recycle. If so, you need to revise your thinking.

I start out with a sheet of notebook paper and the ads for the three stores that are in our area (close enough that we can do all of them in one day without having to take a cooler with us).

I go through each ad and write down the items that I might be interested in and what the price is at each store. You'll discover that more than one store may have the same item on a sale. This is where it gets tricky and it becomes more important to write this all down before you go.

Just because two stores have romaine lettuce on a BOGO (buy one get one) free special, it does not mean it makes no difference which store you get them at. This week at two stores in our area they had just such a special running. At one store I would have paid $3.69 for two packages under the BOGO, at the other store it was only $3.29 ... its all good! Read all that fine print and choose the store that saves you that extra $0.40 on top of getting that free package!

After I know what all the specials are I go through the whole list and highlight which price is the best on items that are available in more than one store.

All of this data gets transfered to a new sheet of paper with sections for each store. I write down what the items are at each of the stores and what the prices advertised are (it pays to make sure you actually get the price that was advertised).

Part 3: Coupons
Now when you get that Sunday paper, there are usually some little packets of coupons in there. Once again, these are not just to go in the recycle bin! Read those sections with a pair of scissors in hand. Clip out the ones that are for stuff you actually use (don't bother with the rest of them, there's no point saving coupons for baby food if your youngest child is 24--unless they have a baby of their own!)

After you have created your master list in Part 2, go through the coupons you have and see what coupons you have that can be used for anything that's on your list. My favorite thing is to find something that's on a great sale that I also have a great coupon for....its like found money!! And a lot of stores in our are will double your coupon up to $1.00, so it can be like getting free food.

Make a note on your list if you have a coupon to use for something. If there is a particular store that you know has a better deal on something that was on your list in Part 1, make a note of that too.

Remember, The List is your roadmap to saving $$$!

Part 4: The shopping
Do this part right after breakfast in the middle of the week if you possibly can. You don't want to shop when you're hungry (your brain doesn't function well, and everything looks good so you'll overspend every time). In the middle of the week you will get the best selection on the items that are on sale and might be limited in quantity.

Take your own cloth bags with you! The grocery stores in our area give us $0.05 per bag that we bring in because they aren't using the ones they have to pay for. Besides, why do you need all those plastic bags.....adding to the landfil is not what I have in mind when I do my shopping. I even take my cloth bags with me when I go to Walmart....they may grumble, but they will use them (they won't give you any kind of $$ off tho').

Stick to your list! Buy what you know you need. Don't buy 6 cans or packages of something you've never tried just because its on sale, that doesn't save you anything if no one in the house will eat it. And watch for expiration dates on EVERYTHING that you buy.

When you're picking up the things on your list, compare the prices of different sizes, watch for the coupons that are right there in the store in those little dispenser things on the shelves and the ones that are right on the packages (I bought a bigger jar of pickles for less than the smallest jar by picking up the size that was on sale and using the coupon that was with the display).

Usually our only departure from our list is a trip through the markdowns. My mother (who has been doing this for years!) calls this "used meat" when it is at the butcher counter. Since we usually will not buy pre-ground hamburger (who knows what's in there!), we look for quality pieces of beef that are marked down. A chuck roast that is well aged makes some of the best hamburger you'll ever eat, so if you have the ability to grind your own, consider this option.

Part 5: The Reward
The reward is more money in your pocket and eating well. As we have shopped over the last two weeks, I have gotten $211 of groceries for $136.14 -- we saved 35.5%!! over the three stores. In one store I saved 46.4%. We have also earned two $0.10 per gallon off on a gas fill up, which will save us another $5 or so.

My favorite "save" for this week was this one: we needed coffee, and one store had a particular brand of bulk whole bean coffee on sale for $8.99 a pound. I also had a coupon for a FREE 12 ounce package of the same brand of coffee if you bought either a pound of bulk or 2 12 ounce packages. I bought a pound and a quarter of bulk beans and got the 12 ounce package for free.....total savings of $8.20!

Yes this all takes some time, but its worth the effort, and it makes me feel like I'm winning somewhere!