Hurricanes and so much more!

What a week we had - an earthquake, aftershocks and Hurricane Irene.  We barely felt anything in Centreville and Manassas.  I happened to be in Centreville rolling a few of our flour bins around and was surprised by my strength.  Then the settling noise made me think twice about someone jackhammering away!  Victoria called to check in since her chair was shaking in Manassas.  We realized it was an earthquake when the light fixtures were slightly swinging.  But no harm was done and everyone was safe and sound.  In honor of all that happened last week, I thought you would enjoy a fun story about my brush with Hurricane Isabel in 2003.

Zachary is my firstborn, so as you can imagine, I was a very nervous first-time mother.  He was born on Monday, September 15.  While waiting upon his arrival at the hospital, the news coverage was about a Tropical Storm Isabel that was turning into Hurricane Isabel.  We thought it was funny since we considered the name Isabel if the baby was a girl.  It wasn't meant to be, we had a beautiful and healthy baby boy, Zachary, who passed all the tests, so we got sent home after a few days of recovery.  Just in time for a Thursday night Virginia Tech football game and a hot dinner cooked by my father.  I remember sitting on the couch resting, my father cooking away in my kitchen, and my husband, Ray, anxiously setting the television for his beloved football game.  Then our electricity went out.  Hurricane Isabel was knocking on our door and she was not going away easily.  We quickly got some flashlights and ate the parts of dinner that were cooked and put away the rest.  My father and Victoria went home for the evening, but my mother stayed to help us through our first night home with an infant.  That's when the fun began.

We suddenly heard a huge crash on the back side of the house.  Ray and I went to check it out and we discovered a neighbor's very large tree had fallen into our yard, breaking the fence and clearing the house by about 10 feet.  We were very lucky and thankful.  That was the scene all over the region.  We didn't sleep in any bedrooms at the rear of the house since there were a few more large trees.  Yes, we slept on couches and pullout beds while Zachary got the changing table pad on the floor next to us.  What a sight we must have been.  The hurricane had us down for about 10 days - we had no electricty due to some trees hitting the poles, no phone service due to the amount of water, and no safe water in Fairfax County due to the power outage.  What an unforgettable time in our lives!

The bakery was more fortunate than us.  The electricity only flickered, but remained on.  Since we also use Fairfax County water there, we had a slight problem - safe water for our baking and cooking.  Well, we raided all the stores for bottled water.  We brought it in by the casefuls!  So for Zachary's first birthday party, we had to put this history onto a cake.  We had a serene blue sky with the sun shining through, an upright tree with birds in it and some flowers underneath.  If you look at the bottom corner, you can see the wind currents of the soon-to-be Hurricane Isabel!

Come join us for another fun-filled week.  I am ready for the school year to start.  But until then, come try our special chicken salad of the week.  We decided to take our already fantastic chicken salad to another level this week - we added some champagne grapes and pecans!  The combination is delicious.

Yes, just keep on reading!

I am back from vacation and running around like mad to catch up.  I think this next cake was too funny and that you would surely enjoy the story.

Katie called a few months ago about a cake for her aunt's 65th birthday.  In her family, they do things a little differently on milestone birthdays.  They throw a theme party with something the guest of honor dislikes immensely.  Her aunt believed she was having a Hawaiian themed party, but she didn't know it was going to be overrun with cockroaches!  So Katie thought it would be funny to make the cake as a large dead cockroach and even provided a picture for reference.  We were happy to help.

We were all getting the creeps in the kitchen looking at the photo and designing the cake.  One team started work on the wooden floor boards for the delightful creature to have its final rest.  They started out with a lemon cake and vanilla buttercream.  Once they had the cake iced, they started adding some layers of various shades of brown to give it a stained wood look with a few dark swirls for the grain to stand out.  They then used chocolate ganache to pipe the seams and they were ready for the second team to do their part.

During all this, the second team made a lemon cake roll for the body of the cockroach.  They used a reddish brown fondant in different shades to cover the belly portion and back.  Once that was done, the real fun began.  We had to attach all the legs and cover them with little hairs.  Those big ugly eyes got us all laughing and feeling sorry for Katie's aunt at the same time.  Then the two big long black antennae and we were done.

We apologize for those of you who were visiting us in Centreville last weekend and thought bugs of unusual sizes were running loose.  We promise we run a tight ship!  And to Katie, I hope you watch out on your next milestone birthday, you never know what could be in store for you!  So join us for a good laugh and thank goodness that cockroaches DO NOT live to get that big!  Celebrate the last little bit of summer we have left with a cupcake on us through Sunday, August 21 when you mention our blog.  Until next week.

Wedding at the beach

What happened to the week??  Before I knew it, Victoria announced that it is Thursday.  So I am sorry for such a late blog, but I promise I was eating well those extra two days!  Victoria and I attended the Women's Wedding Network luncheon yesterday and the Farm at Broad Run.  Their outdoor pavilion is just gorgeous.  I am afraid to bring my husband out there, because once he sees their outdoor kitchen, I can just see the wheels turning around in his head as to how to make our backyard just like it!  Lunch was fabulous, we ate local foods catered by A La Carte Catering.  I really enjoyed their corn relish and their bruscetta was outstanding.  Go visit a farmer's market this weekend and pick up some fresh veggies.

I am dreaming of my vacation at the beach next week, so I think this next cake is just what I need to get me through the rest of the week.  This cake was for a bridal shower a few months ago.  They were having a beach themed shower, so the maid of honor brought in the invitation for inspiration.  The blue was so warm and inviting and the white designs just sparkled.  The maid of honor wanted to incorporate some tropical orchids, and left the rest up to us.  We decided to ice the cake in that lovely blue so that the white orchids would stand out.  After putting on the orchids, we decided they needed a little sparkle.  So we brushed them with an edible white glitter.  We added a few fondant seashells around the bottom of the cake to tie in the theme, but we thought it was missing a little something.  Eureka!  Two starfish, to represent the bride and groom, would be the perfect compliment to the cake.  Once those were on, the cake looked beautiful.  We finished it off with Congratulations Kelly and her special date, 9/18/11.

Come cool off with us in Manassas or Centreville.  We just made some death by chocolate cake pops, and they are good!  Come in through Sunday, August 7 and mention the blog for a complimentary cake pop.  I will try to get online at the beach next Tuesday, but if the waves keep beckoning me, I'll be back the week after with a new tale.  I also welcome any photos of cakes we have done in the past that you would like for me to highlight.