One of my favorite things in the world is birthday cake. My MIL used to make me a pound cake on my birthday, back when I still ate eggs. My mom used to let me make my own, and she'd do the dishes afterwards. And now I really enjoy making my boy's birthday cakes. They all take hours of careful decorating, and all end up with that "lovingly made at home" look we all prize so much in baked goods. :) I'd like to take a Wilton class, maybe brush up my piping skills.
Yesterday I tried making fondant for his cake. First batch, marshmallow, I didn't bring to temperature and it stayed syrupy. Second batch, I foolishly used the same platter for cooling, without washing it because I'm lazy and stupid, and it grained. And it is raining with no plans to stop before Thursday, and you can't make candy on a humid day. So no fondant on his cake this year. Oh well. At least I can reuse the failed fondant for fudge.
I also made about 3 lbs of buttercream icing, and it was proclaimed the tastiest I've ever made. We need it all and probably more, because he is having two cakes. (Caillou, and a chainsaw. Unlikely pairing, but whatever he wants...) This year we are having two parties, one at each house. It's so stupid to ask my parents to drive down there when we just live 30 minutes away, and his family is unlikely to come here on a Thursday so I didn't even ask. Since we technically don't know anyone here, it's just going to be my parents and maybe Adam on Thursday. I had planned for us all to swim, but the weather is going to prevent it. Too bad.
I asked him what he wants to eat, and he said, "Boca chickn, rice, pizza, cherry tomatoes" and I forget what else, but it was a whole list of foods that don't go together. Mellow Mushroom it is. It's really hard to think of food that fits all the criteria for our parties:
- Appealing to vegans and carnivores alike
- Eaten with fingers
- Easily transported
- Not disgusting even if it's been sitting out for almost an hour
- Not $124232 a serving, because my SIL alone has a family of 9 and I'm not willing to spend $3000 on a fourth birthday party.