Angels Above

Hallelujah! I've got the cake bug back! Thanks to my cute Sister In-law Ginny who helped me bring out all my tips and decorator bags once again.

I haven't decorated a cake in over a year, mainly because I had reached the limit of my frosting knowledge and needed to do some major studying. Which as my mother can attest, I've been trying hard to avoid doing since Jr. High. I know its a lame reason but I don't learn from reading I learn from DOING, but every time I tried to Do i would fail and then get furious and then.. well the cake would end up.. say for the sake of the Blog Title, In cake Heaven.

Also I don't like decorating cakes without a reason, and as I've said before Grant and I don't eat cake much so if I made one for fun it would just sit around the house not getting ate*! Not wanting to waste cake I just would wait for a reason, and surprisingly the world really doesn't have many events where a cake is needed, well at least not in my world.

However this bug really bit hard, so I pulled out our oldest cake mix (Spice! ::shivers::) and proceeded at my own pace to create and decorate a cake!

Four days from the initial Bake I now have this displayed on my kitchen table:

Cute Huh?!

To me she is NEARLY PERFECT, from the leveling of the cake to the tip of her wings! Its the best frosting job I've ever done! I should have taken a picture of that!

Nearly? yes Nearly. She is also the product of many experiments:

Ex #1: though you can't see it I've tested out a new butter cream recipe

Ex #2: The Fondant is Marsh mellow made! YUM

Ex #3: If you notice, the blue is a bit...off in places. I used a spray coloring instead of directly coloring the fondant. I don't like it, but I'll have to practice some more

Ex #4: the swirls are made from me still experimenting with the spray coloring.

Ex #5: Which isn't actually an experiment, just a miscalculation. She is supposed to be looking down on the world.. however for the size the world is, she should be amongst the stars.. which means she can't be on a cloud, but she is, and I wasn't going to change it. So what did I do? I did THIS:

Now she's looking down at a hill with a house on it and the blue is water not sky.

I don't really care though because I'm still very proud of my angel!



isn't she the cutest?

And this is just the beginning! I have many more planned! ::ignoring groans from Grant:: However while this cake has lived its 2 week old life on my counter the proceeding ones will not. I've come up with a solid strategy: The Doorbell Cake ditch!

~See you later~

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The Worst Cake I've Ever Seen...

Or at least it was until I became a victim of the wonderful http://www.cakewrecks.blogspot.com/

Have I ever mentioned that I used to decorate cakes! No? Well that's a down right sham for I am the fondant and butter cream Guru. Marzipan extraordinaire! I Create utter Masterpieces that I deigned to shared with the world! ~and when I say masterpieces I mean Uniquely made, completely original, truly one of a kind, oddish cakes made by me:

isn't it a treat? (I hope you all hear the sarcasm in my voice..)

On ward and up ward, for Christmas this year I received an awesome cook book from my Mother in-law. Now I'm a Baker not a Cook (yes there's a difference) so I eat up recipes, heavens knows Hamburger Helper wouldn't be the same without one! So I'm browsing through and I stumble upon a recipe that makes my jaw drop!

Queen Anns Lace Cake!

Life isn't complete with its little ironies, and here's mine: I'm not a fan of cake, I would much prefer a pie to most any sweet-breadish confection. But this one, this ones special. And here's why:

~ It's a Chocolate Pudding Cake!

~ It has Whipped cream AND Cream Cheese frosting

~Its name sake was a person of some high standing

I think a little explanation is in order: You see sports fans it looks the way it does because I didn't really want to decorate this cake, its all the frostings fault, it was the deciding factor in the creation, so it would have been pointless to leave it out. So for all intents and purposes its decorated ok!

And for all you cake critics out there thinking: TISK* She's a sloppy one, letting crumbs into her frosting like that! To that I say BOO! I'm fairly proud of my frosty job thank you very MUCH, what you see are chocolate bar shavings, not cake crumbs.

Though my pride didn't stretch to far, as you can see the cakes a bit lopsided.. a little bit.

After the whole ordeal I had to apologize to my inner perfectionist. I think she's been traumatized. She kept trying to make it look nice, and to be fair that's her job. I'm not entirely heartless I tried to comfort her: 'No ones going to see it but Grant (which wasn't true Jason and Aaron both stopped by, and for good measure had a taste) 'It will taste the same no matter how it looks! (she didn't like that one) 'You have neither time nor room to make it the proper way so get over it already!!! Shes still refusing to claim it. But I'll have you know it was mighty tasty!!!

So if your wondering why I'm posting my biggest failed cake to date, your not alone I'm also a bit curious.

Exhausted.

After seeing nothing but memorials for three days solid now, I have come to the conclusion that some of these just don't make any sense at all!  Some of them are really meaningful.  The Lincoln Memorial is an awesome place, and there are many others that just make you appreciate, and want to give honor to the people they were built for.  Then there are some that just make you say, "What!?  I have no idea what that is supposed to be depicting."  Just so you know what mean, I took a picture of one such monument.  If after seeing this picture, anybody wants to shed some light on it for me, please feel free.  I admit, I am kind of intrigued.  

Both Amber and I have kind of reached that point in this vacation, when you are having a lot of cool experiences and enjoying yourself, but your own home is starting to sound pretty darn good.  I think everybody reaches this point at one time or another unless you REALLY love traveling.  We are still excited about what is ahead, it is just a little harder to get out of bed in the morning.   Plus it is still better than having to go to work 8 to 5, so we are still really happy we are out here.  Home=Good.  Work=Bad!!!

The next picture is a dead giveaway to anybody who has gone and seen the new movie "Bolt."  I saw the archway and just couldn't resist.  For your enjoyment and mine........

"It's a good day to die!"

The Washington DC

Really cool place.  There is just a reverence at the Lincoln Memorial.

Amber in front of the Lincoln Memorial.

Nice of them to remember to name something in Arlington Cemetery after me!

The Hills!

The changing of the guard at the Arlington cemetery.

Wow that is a good looking jacket.  No idea who that could be, but great jacket!

Amber for Amber.

The Hope Diamond.

After everything we saw today, The White House, Arlington Cemetery, the christmas lights in front of the White House, the Museum of Natural History, etc., by majority vote, this was the most beautiful thing we saw today.  The DC Temple is enormous and it is beautiful with it's Christmas display of lights.  Plus the traffic is a LOT better around it than in downtown DC.

ANTIETAM NATIONAL BATTLEFIELD

Gee Whiz Fact #1: They ruined a perfectly good cannon by filling it with cement! What injustice!
Gee Whiz Fact #2: The trail known as the sunken road was filled up with so many bodies that you could walk straight across from right to left without dropping down. The fallen soldiers bodies filled the entire length and width of this road.


















Gee Whiz Fact #3: The bloody cornfield. The entire crop of corn was completely mowed down during the battle through the sheer amount of bullets flying around. Not a single plant was left standing.



















Gee Whiz Fact #4: Amber is REALLY cute!!! It's okay, this is Grant typing, not Amber, so I can say that!


















Gee Whiz Fact #5: The Burnside Bridge was an area of great loss to the Union soldiers. They lost thousands of men trying to take this bridge. 500 Kentucky sharpshooters were placed at elevated positions along the opposing bank making this part of the battle a mere shooting gallery. The entire first union campany that tried taking this bridge was obliterated with minimal casualties to the confederates.




Gee Whiz Fact #6: When Amber and Brent get bored, they have no problem trespassing in the search of the next great adventure!!!

Ye Olde Homestead - Cumberland

In the year 2000! In the year 2000!!

In the year 2000, Grant Biesinger will return to the land of his childhood, but more importantly...THE FRUIT BOWL!!!

Today we backtracked from Hagerstown to Cumberland, MD...see!

These lights are at a Christmas lights show at Rocky Gap State Park. See...

It has been one of those surreal experiences. For years I've had memories of this place far far away where I used to live. Memories of catching garden snakes, and pulling rocks out at the rock pit. Shooting up an old abandoned house with a bb gun. All of the fun stuff that an 8 year old would remember. Now I've officially revisited the land of my memories. We took off at the 68 and went up Long Dr, then Shortest Day Road, turned up Butler Drive and to the house of mischief!Anyway, without making a long story even longer, we went to (deep breath) the Fruit Bowl, Bob Evans, The Bowler, Country Club Mall, Downtown Cumberland, Cash Valley Elementary, our old church, saw the County Market was out of business, and just saw the area in general. Whew! And speaking of the elementary school...

Surprisingly enough, in the mind of a 6 to 9 year old the name of the school got changed to "Trash Alley." Yeah pretty clever. I know.