Working Sucks!

So that's why I have today off, I decided a four-day weekend would be better than a three-day one, and I'm getting absolutely nothing accomplished.

I went up to Maine for the most beautiful wedding *ever* for my brother Smelly and his husband D. On the way up I got to visit my BFF from childhood, and then when in Maine I got to see tons of my family, but in particular my niece and nephew. That was just great. I also got to see my grandmother up there, but it was way too brief.

My mother and I decorated the cake for Smelly and D's wedding by making individual blueberries out of fondant, and leaves out of marzipan. I colored the blueberries with royal blue icing, a little bit of violet, and a little bit of black. Then I rolled them out like making snakes in Kindergarten with play-dough, then cut the line into little pieces which we then rolled into balls. After that, we took an icing tip, poked it into the blueberry, twisted, and pulled back out. They looked awesome, as you can see in this close-up posted by another attendant in the wedding. The leaves were made of marzipan, and were considerably easier. I have decided I hate fondant. I had to get my hands dirty (don't worry, I washed them thoroughly before I touched anything!!). I tried originally to keep plastic between me and the food but it just isn't practical.

Anyway, for the leaves, my brother (not Smelly, but a different one named Bubba [he has no black teeth as far as I know]) suggested I get real blueberry leaves and use those as a model. What a great idea! So I got some real blueberry leaves, took my dyed marzipan, and pressed it down onto the leaves. I covered my hands in butter, and the leaves as well, so they wouldn't stick. That gave them a shiny look, too, which is closer to the real thing...you just wouldn't want to do that too far in advance as butter has cream in it and could spoil quicker with all the handling involved. Using real leaves was good, too, because it allowed me to make sure my leaf-color was as close to the real thing as possible.

Seriously, fondant is horrid. And marzipan tastes so much better. Not that I LOVE almond paste, but in comparison, good god. But...a slight nod to fondant...marzipan blueberries would have been more difficult to do, because doing the poke-twist-pull method wouldn't have left the same impression on marzipan, as it has a slight graininess to it.

Anyway, the cake looked awesome, and it tasted even better. So I decide to try a cold-oven pound cake from my mom's recipe. "You'll know when it's done," she said "when you reach into the oven and pat the top, it'll feel right." Horseshit! It was done in a bundt pan, and it was starting to get a crust on the top, which is all good. But when I pat it, I really couldn't tell anything, I had no idea. So I did what anyone would do, I poked it with an ice pick.

It fell. No pictures here, ladies and gents.

But it tasted FABULOUS anyway.

I will be trying again.