Stupidity or Perseverance ?

I don't know what to call this...my act of stupidity or my strength to persevere. This was the first time I almost gave up and cancelled the family dinner........ this is what happened.
My daughter wanted to have a party for her birthday but was not really in a position to have a big party so decided to call just a few family members just to keep her happy. That's how it started.....

 

As usual decided to do two cakes one for the actual birthday and one for the party, only problem this time was I kept everything till the last minute and didn't plan this cake properly. The soaring Ballerina cake I planned a bit 'cos I knew it will be hard and wasn't sure whether it will work out. With this cake I did the board early but cut corners ,cos of my hands. I was going to have four little girls this time on the cake like the three princesses on last year's cake. Finally I got around to making the cake a day before the party. Then my problems started....First as I was covering the board, realised that the fondant was not enough so decided to make some more, once I finished that and as I was stacking the cake, noticed that the board was sagging on one side...I was like oh God what am I going to do now...removed the cake made the board a bit more sturdy by doing a bit of drill work. I had another option that is to change the board completely but that involved more work and time so opted for the easier option. Phew second one solved.  So back to cleaning up and stacking the cake....now the next problem....you guessed it right.. the cake was not enough.....by now I am thinking of  calling everybody and telling them I am cancelling the party but 'cos of my daughter decided to plough ahead so baked two more trays of cake and then put it in the fridge to cool down. Also realised that I was running out of buttercream icing.....I have done all this so why not make that too. By the time I finished all this it was 3am and my body was aching and my head was not working, decided to sleep for a while got up at 6am and slogged away at the cake till 3pm. Mind you I had not cooked anything for dinner till then, left the cake as it is luckily I had done one of the girls so put that on and also the mushrooms I had made earlier. Started my express cooking of  6 curries + fried rice for the kids, Jelly . Finished it except one and cleaned the kitchen by 7pm. Not bad for perseverance on my part ehhh??

Did I mention that the cake was enough to feed a village. Thank you so much to everybody that helped out. Pure underestimation  and laziness on my part brought on all this problem.

Right now as I am writing this every bone in my body is aching, I can't stand straight without pain , my heels and my spine and hands are the main culprits.  In my heart of hearts.... HAPPY but NOT HAPPY......happy because I finished the cake and cooked dinner against all odds....and not happy because the cake didn't have lots of elements from my original design , the detailing could have been so much better and also for not planning this cake properly. So is this an act of stupidity, height of madness or my Perseverance to cover my stupidity....Either way it is all that kind of  ends well I guess............. Both the cakes ...a Labour of  Love for my dear daughter :-)

Our Dreams

My daughter had a DREAM...........she dreamt of a Ballerina and so she went around telling anybody who would care to listen to her that Mum is going to make a Ballerina cake for her birthday......she just wanted to drive home the message......If she wished and wished it would become true :-)

I heard the message but I was a bit down in the dumps and a tad bit LAZY to start....and I had a new hobby that I was bit more interested in than cakes added to the mix this time.......PHOTOGRAPHY.

I did end up making her realise her dream ( what are mums for ???? I ask you ) but I didn't plan so well ahead like I used to with all my previous cakes for my kids. Besides with this one because of my hands I needed my hubby's help in making the board ( drilling, cutting etc.. bits) . So we only managed to do the board the day before her birthday.... tsk....tsk.. so after a sleepless night .....ooops I modify that.....what had happened was I was GOING to stay up but went to put the kids to sleep and guess what I slept off too......but obviously I must have had some nightmare or the other ( maybe my daughter crying 'My mum didn't make the cake for me, she doesn't love me'????) 'cos I woke up and It was 1: 55am . So from then on till 2pm I was rushing around making it, then had to clean the house and make some snacks 'cos some kids were coming over from school. Luckily I had made the face and body couple of days back, a saving grace.

I still wasn't happy with the cake  and also didn't get a proper chance to take photos of the birthday girl and the birthday cake. So can you guess what happened????

I gave cupcakes to the kids and the next day patched up the cake again , the cut bit, to look good as new and added few details like happy birthday tag etc, fixed up the hand that kept falling and took these photos...

Like my daughter , I had a DREAM too......what if I can make a Ballerina look like she is playing with a ribbon and  jumping off and flying in the air........a SOARING BALLERINA... and now will YOU all be kind enough to tell me whether I have realised my dream or not ? :-)

A Quick Cake for my Loving Neighbour

My lovely 70+ year old neighbour had her birthday recently.  Such a sweet lady she is , I always remember her coming over when my son was born with a big box of all white knitted sweater, mittens, hats... the whole works all made by herself ( she started knitting when she heard I was going to have a baby but she didn't know whether it was a boy or a girl so she made it all white )  and my daughter got a cute teddy bear her size when she was born. 

Every year I used to do something....this year I thought I will make a cake for her. Last minute decision as always  on the day of her birthday hee...hee..... So in between going to my son's presentation, school runs, violin class, station runs....... This is what I came up with.... a simple cake, with a rose I had made long time a go, finished at 9pm ( a bit late I know and didn't get good photos either) but she was over the moon :-). That's what matters I guess.