Cakes

We have had some interesting weather lately from the ridiculous heat to last week’s deadly spring tornadoes. Luckily we came out without any personal damage. The only thing that went haywire is the PC. The power kept knocking it on and off and now it’s on its last leg. I have had a few pics that I wanted to post but we seem to have lost the photo software and It won’t let us install it so I can’t do anything with the pics I took. So I decided to provide some helpful information.
People love cake and I’m one of them. Here are a few tips on ordering cake no matter where you order it from. If you want to know how many people the cake will feed there are cakes serving size charts that will give you a standard serving size based on the pan size.

Cake Sizes and Serving Charts
A serving size is a 1" x 2" x 4" slice. The serving chart and sizes below are industry standard. I use the Wilton Serving Guide to determine the amount of servings per cake size. If you want bigger slices, you need to account for that and choose a larger size cake to accommodate the serving size you want.
SQUARE CAKES
6" square = 18 servings (cut 3x6)
8" square = 32 servings (cut 4x8)
10" square = 50 servings (cut 5 x 10)
12" square = 72 servings (cut 6 x 12)
14" square = 98 servings (cut 7 x 14)

ROUND CAKES
6" round = 12 servings
8" round = 24 servings
10" round = 35 servings
12" round = 56 servings
14" round = 78 servings

SHEET CAKES
Single Layer, no filling (serving size is 2x2x2)
9x13 = 24 servings (cut 4x6)
11x15 = 35 servings (cut 5x7)
12x18 = 54 servings (cut 6x9)

9x13 = 52 servings (cut 4x13)
11x15 = 75 servings (cut 5x15)
12x18 = 108 servings (cut 9x12)
There are a few more that are similar such as Heavenly Divine Cake Chart and Wilton's Cake Chart also Dream Cakes by Pam that are good places for size and cost reference so that you wont feel like you are getting ripped off.
There are a few things that can cause the cost to rise. One is if the cake is covered in fondant. In most cases a baker will use butter cream under the fondant and you get charged for the use of 2 icings. Another up charge is for handmade décor such as figures, flowers and freehand art work. Those items can be time consuming and the materials like fondant, gumpaste and pulled sugar can be costly. Hope this ends up being a helpful reference.

Success!

This week has been a little busy. And I am so glad. My quilt sold! Yea! Ok,I know that it is only one item but you have no idea how worried I was. It took 11 days and then it was gone. I hope the person that purchased it liked it. I haven't had any feedback yet. Hopefully I will soon and that it's good. I asked a friend if they liked it before I put it online and the response was less than gratifying. I guess we all have different taste.
I gave myself a deadline this week to put out a girl version be for my birthday tomorrow and I've done it.
See below.

The only problem is that now everything I have on Etsy is pink. As soon as I finish a gift for a friend whose baby decided to arrive a few weeks early I will try and balance the gender colors in my Etsy shop. Wish me luck! Oh and if you know someone that needs a gift send them to SarenaVictoria.Etsy.com I'm thinking about adding special orders.

Etsy

I made this boys quilt from a pattern that was featured in BH&G Quilts and more publication. I placed it on Etsy.com last week for sale. A few people have viewed it but no hits yet.
I'm not the best at taking photos. I need to think of ways to put myself out there more. Let me know what you think and if you have any ideas.....

Lisa's birthday Cake

A friend Lisa turned 50 last week! She hosted a fund raiser for Performance Edge Inc. Core programming for Performance Edge is designed for students, grades six through college freshmen. Participation is open to any musically talented students in Wake County and surrounding counties. Their goal is to have a balanced blend of boys and girls, ethnic diversity, and a broad range of socio-economic backgrounds.

This was my first time using a stencil on a cake. I think that it came out very well. The cake had to be very cold in order to lay it on and smooth the icing over the top.
I think that I may get it better at it with more practice. The gum paste roses came out well also. I used white chocolate for the base of the roses. I believe that it made them more sturdy.

I am not the boss of me....

You know what they say about making plans and making god laugh........
Well I made plans to run 13.1 Tobacco Road this weekend. Then I got knocked off my butt by my Asthma.
I was doing really good until I was forced to walk The Porter twice a day for 3 days. His regular walks just so happen to be at the same time of day when pollen counts are the highest. (I didn't think about that until after the fact) I'm not clear on the why and how but, his regular walking buddy managed to drop my treadmill on his big toe so he was not available.
I cant remember going down hill so fast with an allergy onset asthma attack. Now I am stuck at home with out of control asthma, an upper respiratory infection and a right ear infection. I now know why babies scream and pull at their ears. This hurts, itches and there is this nonstop high pitch ringing. Not to mention it has me off balance.
The Doc said that its probably best to try to get it under control during the tree pollen season and that if I wanted to do the race I would most likely need to come across a miracle....
I think Kit got that one. His toe is fine he melted into his big toenail with a hot needle and let it drain for a couple of days and he is up and running. Literally! Although the toe is really ugly.
Im not the boss right now but I plan on taking control back from this disease.

PSA : Asthma

This may seem a little odd but I feel like I should explain a few things because I may have offended a few people. I have Asthma it is not new to me I have always had it. I may have assumed that family and friends were aware of it. My bad. People come and go out of our lives and I didn't take that into consideration. My 3 big triggers are my allergic reactions to pet dander, tobacco smoke,and roaches(what they leave behind that you don't see)

I know that its weird that I have a dog and pet dander is at the top of the list but I take a drug every day (365) that allows me to be around him. Not to mention that he has to have a bath every week and he is not allowed in sleeping areas or on furniture. Also most of the carpet at home has been removed. If not for all that Porter will cause a flair up. My bodies reactions to cats is swift and crazy so I usually stay away from homes where they live.

It's not easy working at limiting exposure to my triggers. So far so good I haven't been in the hospital for Asthma in years.....

I'm saying all of this because I don't want you to think that its you when I say that I would love to come to your dinner party or come and visit but I can't this time. And I never come...... It's not that I think that your dirty or that I think you have bugs..... Or that I don't like you because do. Frankly I think you are fantastic!

It's mainly because I like to breathe. I've been doing it now for 35 years and I would like to continue to do it. I know that it is common for people to confuse allergies and asthma but please keep in mind that Asthma is the one that kills over 200,000 people on average yearly.
It is really sweet of the people that say I just cleaned everything from top to bottom. I appreciate the effort but that doesn't help. Its been tried and mainly stirs things up in the air.

So If I have put you off by staying away then this is one of those times that when I say Sorry, it's not you it's me! Seriously, Its me.

The Gift that keeps on giving…

When "The Parents" drove down last fall they brought with them a gift from Kit’s Grand Eleanor. It was a Viking Husqvarna Sewing machine. Eleanor said that she was having tension problems with the bobbin and that I should fix it and keep it. It’s the one on the right.

The one I had already is a Singer on the left. I have to say that on the heaver things it preforms better than what I have now started to call my Wal-Mart special. (Singer) It doesn’t jump around and it also doesn’t break 3 needles per project. It is also a lot more quiet. They really dont make things like they use too. The quilt in between the machines is my first completed project on it.
The goal is to sell it on Etsy.com. I don’t think that the quilt would have gone as smoothly as it did had it not been for my new machine.(new to me)
Thanks Eleanor.