Birthday-Bash Eve.

 Friday was a day of baking and decorating--I've learned another lesson from this experience: DON'T CLEAN YOUR KITCHEN THE DAY BEFORE YOU ARE HAVING A BAKE-A-THON.  It's just not worth it.  My counters had sprinkles and icing stalagmites all over them.  My floor must have too, but before I knew the icing was down there, I smeared it around with my shoes, creating a wonderfully sticky surface to walk around on, and track all over the house (this is just an assumption, but of course, now I will be thoroughly cleaning the floors all over again later this evening).  I baked the cupcakes first and decorated them using instructions from the McCormick website.  I used the colored sugars that I also planned to use on the cake so everything would match.  The cupcakes were very simple to decorate.  However, the marshmallow cutting business for the petals is not recommended for someone who has serious tactile issues.  Following the first marshmallow that was cut up, the scissors were too sticky to really cut through the marshmallow properly, and the marshmallows were either stuck to the scissors or to my fingers.  And, the more I tried to shake them off of myself, onto the baking sheet, the more they stuck themselves to me.  I had to take a time out and wash my hands.  I wet a paper towel, wiped my hands and scissors and started anew.  Well, to my surprise, the moisture on the scissors caused them to cut through the marshmallows like a dream, and since my fingers were still wet, they didn't really stick to me either.  So, every few marshmallows I simply wiped down myself and the scissors and was okay with life again.  They turned out to be pretty, just as I suspected they would.  Looking at them makes me want spring-time even more.

The cake was a whole other story.  I must say I was frightened pretty much right from the point that I pulled the two 9 and 1.5" cake rounds from the oven.  I combined two cake designs from Betty Crocker's website: one for the shape, and one for the general design and color scheme.  The Betty Crocker recipe I was using only called for one of those rounds.  Once I cut it up, it looked so tiny--they must really ice up their cakes, because the one in the picture, all prettied up, looked nothing like my little naked cake round.  So, I decided to take matters into my own hands and stack the rounds.  Also, the wedges cut from the wings are used for the center body of the butterfly.  Upon close inspection of the diagram I was using, I noticed that the shapes of the wedges magically morphed from triangles to pentagons.  Since I don't have magic powers like the cake-makers at Betty Crocker headquarters, I took matters into my own hands, and stuffed the empty space between the two triangles with pieces of the extra cake tops.

I had refrigerated the cake prior to applying a thin layer of icing to "lock in the crumbs".  I wound up taking off lots of crumbs with nearly every stroke of the knife.  Eventually, after getting more icing on my hands, counters, and floors than on the cake, I had coated the crumby parts with a thin layer (it took an entire container of icing--what thin layer of icing does that...I KNOW--the thin layer on my kitchen floor!).  Back into the fridge the cake went, and still terrified because it was more mess than it was butterfly.   Did I mention that icing cakes is not for people with tactile sensitivity either?  Every few minutes, when I couldn't take anymore of that slimy, gooey icing on me, I had to wipe my hands on a wet paper towel.  While the cake was resting in the fridge, I rested by searching for a solution to the "thin icing" layer on the cake, for all the cakes I will be baking in the future.  I found the answer here.  About an hour later, I removed the cake for the official icing layer.  This went much more smoothly.  The cake was thick and white in no time. I used the extra icing to mix up the colors for the design on the cake and brushed it on.  Then came the gel outline.  My hands always seem to shake when I need them to be steady--it could have also had something to do with the three cups of coffee I consumed.  Finally, I got to apply the sprinkles, candy, and the fruit-by-the-foot antenna.  The candy was my favorite part, because I could do it flawlessly.  In the end, the cake turned out pretty enough, although, in my perfectionist mind, it was not to my standards, but I got over it.

I, of course, had to leave the cake on the hideous shiny tinfoil-lined tray.  When it was time for cake at the party, I just surrounded the cake with cupcakes, minimizing the shininess of it all.

Butterfly Paper Craft

This project originated out of the need for a craft at Le Foo's birthday party.  This craft can be done by any age group that can handle paper and glue.  The materials can be adjusted to make the project more simple or more complex.  For younger children, an adult will need to do some prep work (cutting, handling a hobby knife.  You can also omit the frame altogether).

Materials for ONE Butterfly:

• Card stock for main structure

             2-4 contrasting sheets for wings, body, and frame (the frame covers the body of the butterfly, but

             I chose to use a contrasting color for the body anyway, since my frame included "windows" on  

             the body).

• Scraps of paper, magazines, card stock for collage/assemblage
• Embellishments (pom-poms, googlie eyes, buttons; pretty much anything your creative heart desires...just remember that heavier objects will weigh the piece down, so it should be mounted on foam core, cardboard, or book board).
• Glue stick (craft bond glue preferred)
• Liquid craft glue; ie:SOBO  (optional)
• Hobby knife

Instructions:

• Sketch/find a butterfly shape for the wings (and body/head if using) on card stock
• cut out templates
• Trace original butterfly wing pattern for frame of the piece
• Cut it out, making sure you cut it slightly larger than the original
• Assemble the wings, head, and/or body if using

• Create an assemblage on the wings of the butterfly

• Coat with watered down craft glue (optional)
• If the project is warped, weight under books for several hours, or until you are ready to continue working
• Cut off any materials that exceed the edges of the butterfly shape 

• Cut the inside of the frame to create "windows" for the assemblage using a hobby knife.  These cut-out sections can be as simple or complex as you would like.  Remember to make sure that your frame is thick enough, so that it can be attached to the main structure.
• Attach frame (you can use glue, but I chose to use 3-D glue dots), mount on heavier backing material if necessary.
• Weight piece under books to secure backing, if used. 

VOILA! Now you have a pretty piece of art.  You can frame it, or mount it to the wall as it is.

dinner disaster (almost)

After a day filled with laundry, cleaning, and mothering, I started to prepare dinner.  AJ was off of work for an interview, and was home by around 3.  Dinner preparations began at about 4:30 because I had to go to Mason Gross to model for an art class from 6 to 9.  Cooking was not the usual zen experience.  I baked some tofu slathered in soy sauce for the stir-fry, and crisped leeks and garlic for the garnish.  I attempted to begin “stir-frying” the broccoli, before I needed to get ready to leave, so I turned on the burner.  I made an incorrect knob selection, turning on the front left burner, rather than the front right one.  This front left burner was being used as counter space that i so often find lacking in our kitchen.  I must say, I learned my lesson regarding the use of a stove as countertop for things-other-than-pots.  I heard a clinking noise, like a heavy metal utensil, hitting what i thought was the counter.  AJ was assisting in the cooking process by heating the rice.  I thought he had used something to stir the rice and it was dropping off of something he had propped it on.  I heard it again.  And again.  It wasn’t until the plate cracked in half and the paper towels went up in flames, that I realized I had a potential catastrophe on my hands.  The flames were minor at first...For about one second.  i couldn’t find the right words to get AJ’s attention, due to the fact that Le Foo and two of her friends were in the other room, and I did not want to draw any attention to the “happening” in our kitchen.  All I could think of was “EMERGENCY.”  AJ came in, grabbed a pan, and tried to smash the fire.  No success.  All I saw was my freshly cooked garnish glowing from the approaching flames.  I grabbed what was left of the paper towels , dumped ‘my precious’ onto the remaining half of the plate, and set the paper towels, fire and all, into the sink.  I turned the water on, which immediately put about 75 percent of the fire out.  I just stepped back and watched, so relieved to see the flames being smothered.  They were low enough for me.  AJ, in a much better frame of mind, took the hose on the sink and sprayed down the remaining flames.  In the end, we wound up with a nice medley of stir-fry vegetables and tofu served over rice with, of course, my slightly singed, but salvaged garnish on top....and our apartment still in tact.