      
Archive for September, 2009
Wednesday, September 30th, 2009
I’ve been chomping at the bit to get this little tidbit out, and I can’t handle the wait anymore!
Recently, I increased my involvement with Twin Cities Pride Festival.. and I’m so thrilled to announce that I’m the new Commitment Ceremony Coordinator for the event!
The Twin Cities Pride Festival has been a yearly highlight for both my husband and I, and we’ve been involved in various sponsor/volunteer/vendor ways the past 3 years. It’s such a great event – and there are SO many wonderful people involved – I’m ridiculously excited about the whole thing!
This past weekend was an event planning retreat up north, and it also marked my official start in my new position. A lot of fun was had, and a LOT was accomplished as far as the planning goes… now it’s time to roll up my sleeves and get this party started!
I will be making announcements (and calls for minions.. er.. volunteers..) here periodically between now and the event, but want to get some basic info out there now.
First and foremost, this will be a much, much bigger event this year. There will be a lot more events involved, both at the festival itself, and in the time leading up to the event. It will feature much more of a wedding *experience*. Bachelor/Bachelorette parties, a marriage retreat/session(s), and a RECEPTION!
If you’re part of a GLBT couple who’s looking to take the plunge next summer, get ahold of me, and ask to be added to our event contact list. This will be the best way to ensure that you’ll be notified of upcoming events as they are planned.
If you’re a fellow GLBT-friendly wedding vendor, are a lot of fun to work with, and would like to get involved, shoot me an email! We are looking to partner with businesses in all aspects of the wedding industry, from photographers to stationery design, decor, and more. If you think you’ve got something great to bring to the table, I’d love to hear from you.
I can tell you that we have got an amazing team started, and the possibilities are endless. This is going to be an insane amount of fun, very meaningful for all involved, and is a great opportunity for the right vendors.
For now, please contact me via the contact page on this site. As soon as the next round of web updates happens, I’ll have a pride-specific email on the contact page at Twin City Pride’s website.
With such a great canvas to work with, and so many awesome people involved with Twin Cities Pride.. I just can’t wait for next summer. This will be epic!
Posted in Announcements, News & Events, Twin Cities Pride Festival | No Comments »
Monday, September 28th, 2009
I’d like to share some photos of a recent wedding cake.
Oh, who am I kidding, I’d like to SHOW OFF these photos, because I think they’re completely awesome!
Lambeth is a very old school way of decorating cakes, from the early 1900s. It requires hours and hours of overpiping intricate details – and is a challenge for anyone. Definitely a change from my normal style, but it was a challenge I was excited to take on. Not only does it feature way more piping than I’ve ever done (perhaps even cumulatively so!), but imagine piping this sucker with ADD!
Without further ado, here are a few pics of my Lambeth wedding cake:
Definitely hardcore.
Posted in Cakes | No Comments »
Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009
My husband LOVES corn… I mean in a fanatical, almost absurd way. On one of his birthdays, we went so far as to craft a “day of corn”, where every main dish, side, snack, and even DESSERT (ice cream) was made with corn. He could survive on the stuff.
So of course, when the state fair rolls around.. he looks forward to going for the roasted corn, etc. I just think of all the crazy amounts of people, the heat, and the nasty smell of grease (which he loves)… and the urge to hermit wells up.
This year I was particularly not in the mood to brave the crowds, so I made him a deal. I will come up with a recipe to batter corn on the cob IN a corn based batter and deep fry it.. if we don’t go to the Fair.
I lived up to my end of it, and we were both *very* pleasantly surprised by the results. Here’s how you can make the same at home!
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Posted in Budget Meals, Farmer's Market, Kid Favorites, Recipes, Side Dishes, Summer Favorites | No Comments »
Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009
A cake based on Tremors!
I’ve been daydreaming about this for awhile. A big birthday, wedding, or groom’s cake featuring Val, Earl.. and graboids (grabboids?) coming out of the sides! With gel goo spilling out! Maybe some gory limbs laying around on top of the cake.
As a cake designer with a primarily wedding market, I spend a lot of time fashioning pretty things out of gumpaste, fondant, etc. What I wouldn’t give to spend a day fashioning grabboids out of sugar.
Oh, THAT would be awesome.
Posted in "You know what would be awesome..?" | 1 Comment »
Monday, September 21st, 2009
This cake was too cool NOT to have a blog post dedicated to it!
As always, the cake is entirely edible – the only non-cake portion is the “lens”, which was fashioned out of Rice Krispie Treat!
Posted in Cakes | No Comments »
Sunday, September 20th, 2009
On an almost daily basis, I find myself completely in awe of the fact that my husband and I found each other. We have both have completely warped, twisted senses of humor, and the frequency with which we come up with weird ideas in line with each other.. always amuses me. He is the Butthead to my Beavis.
Till now, any of our weird cake / wedding industry thoughts & ideas have pretty much been left between us. I think it’s time for that to change, and this blog provides us with an excellent vector for sharing such insanity with the world!
The catalyst involved here was an ironically appropriate one – we were watching the first disk of Quantum Leap, season 1. Can you believe it’s been 20 years since the show debuted? Crazy. Makes me feel old, but I digress.
Anyway, I had this idea in my head. You know what would be awesome? Showing up to a bridal consultation, and answering every question with “Ziggy says…” or “Well, according to Ziggy, there is an X% chance that….”
Of course, I don’t have the fortitude to do that and be able to keep a straight face, but.. the thought tickles me. THAT’S what would be awesome… and that inspired this new category for the blog! Expect strange ideas and general weirdness from anything posted under this category in the future
Posted in "You know what would be awesome..?" | No Comments »
Thursday, September 10th, 2009
As promised, here is much more “guy friendly” cupcake recipe – a great counterpart to our Pink Grapefruit Daiquiri Cakes!.
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Posted in Adults Only! (Boozy), Desserts, Entertaining Ideas, Recipes | No Comments »
Tuesday, September 8th, 2009
I came across a gorgeous detail shot of some of my custom, handpainted sugar lilies this morning, and thought I would share:
The nice thing about being married to a photographer is that I have an insane amount of photos of everything I’ve ever made. The not-as-nice thing about that is that there are many, many gorgeous photos that never make it to the site!
The 3 basic types of photos I choose from are:
“Straightforward” – These are the photos that you see in my galleries, and in my print portfolio. Straightforward shots of the entire cake, everything in focus.
“Artsy” – You see these sort of photos on the other pages of my site. It may be a partial view, it may feature a low depth of field (background looks fuzzy), etc. As I have only a finite amount of “other” pages, and each of those only has a certain amount of text to accent, I don’t get the opportunity to use many of these photos. They sure are pretty to look at, though!
“Detail” – These are some of the coolest to look at… but unfortunately I have the least amount of actual use for them. Photos of a very small part of a cake, really highlighting the beauty of a specific technique or design element.
I think it’s about time that some of these photos get their time in the spotlight!
As always, all photos on this site are courtesy of Happenstance Photography. If you need any product or food photography done, be sure to shoot him an email!
Posted in Cakes, Photography | No Comments »
Monday, September 7th, 2009
I’ve been promising my husband a beer-based brittle for a very long time. After letting the idea stew for awhile, I finally came up with a recipe for his new treat! Using roasted, salted peanuts along with a dark, flavorful beer and jalapenos makes this a very “guy friendly” snack.
The way the jalapenos cook in the syrup gives the brittle an even, “low, slow burn”, not so in-your-face with the jalapeno kick. Very tasty, even though I can’t stand beer!
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Posted in Candy, Entertaining Ideas, Recipes, Snacks and Appetizers | No Comments »
Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009
This site wins for offering the *most* personalized gifts out there!
DNA 11 Gallery offers custom artwork, based around a few of the elements that make each person unique – DNA and Fingerprints, for example! No, I wasn’t abusing the word “unique”!
On this page, DNA 11 Gallery details some of their products that would be particularly great for gift giving. For example:
The blissful union of two loving people is more than just a joy; it’s a relief! When you find that perfect couple (especially if it’s your own), bless their union with a DNA SplitScreen artwork. Visually stunning, unarguably romantic, SplitScreen artwork combines the DNA of two people onto a single canvas. The presentation is intriguing, the effect is inspiring, and the colors actually match your carpet (if you want).
Want!
They also offer kiss portraits and fingerprint portraits! Also, if you don’t know what you want to give, they offer gift certificates! How awesome is that?
Thank you, amp59, for tweeting such a cool discovery!
Posted in Gift Ideas, Inspiration, Interesting, Random | No Comments »
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