So... June's Almost Over

It's hard to believe that we're into summer & June's almost over already.

I've been keeping busy, obviously.  I'm working on another washcloth for the shop, and taking breaks to knit something for myself for the very first time, a sweater!

I've actually done a bunch more since this photo was taken; it's at about 9" now.  In 5" I'll have to start accounting for the armholes.  Yikes!  This is my first article of clothing aside from scarves.  Eric is happy I'm doing something for myself, though.  It seems I really do make everything for everyone else or the shop, not much for me.  And this is an easy way to start; it's just a sleeveless shell which will be great with jeans or even under a suit jacket.

I've also been watering the wildflowers I planted.  There's a lot of green happening & the occasional flower.  I was kind of hoping for this burst of color... besides green.  At least they seem to be healthy, which for a brown thumb like me is huge.

And we had our annual Mardi Gras in June party, at which we serve crawfish & other Louisiana-themed food.  I made two pecan pies and two dozen cupcakes.

And it was fun to watch the two-year-olds.  Our nephews (center and right) and the next door neighbors's son, also 2 (left) were completely enamoured with the fish.

That's all the fun stuff.  On the not-so-fun side, I got into a car accident that's had my car in the shop being fixed for over two weeks now, and it's driving me crazy (I'm fine, don't worry).  And we found out we have to move, so we're house hunting.  I hate moving, so I'm not looking forward to this.

So... that's been our June.  Hope yours has been all fun with none of the other stuff!

The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men...

(... often go astray.)

This turned out to be not bad, despite my frustration levels and snappishness.  And Eric was great about it.

See, we again held our annual Mardi Gras in June party, which I posted about last year.  It's always a big hit, and the guest list keeps getting bigger and better.  This year, in addition to my traditional southern pecan pies, I decided to try my first ever topsy turvy cake, since I'd taken that class.

I knew I'd need practice.  Thing is, covering a styrofoam practice round with fondant is a lot easier than actual cake.  And with a topsy turvy cake, the tiers are cut with the sides angled inward.  Not easy.  But I want to be able to do cool cakes for my nephew's birthday and other events.  So this was my first, and we'll sort of consider it practice.

It started off well.  I chose red velvet, since it's Eric's favorite.

I piled up the layers into the two tiers, and cut 'em to shape.

So far so good.  Then I filled and crumbcoated them with a cream cheese frosting recipe I got from this blog.

And therein lies the problem.  Not the frosting or the recipe, because holy crow was it good!  The problem is that it's a very wet type of frosting.  And fondant just loves to absorb moisture.  So... yeah.  There I am trying to cover the cake with fondant I colored and rolled out nice and thin, and it's getting all wet and sticky while I'm trying to get it to lie smooth and flat.

Frustration makes me snippy.

And Eric was really so awesome.  He kept getting things for me, and taking trash away, and asking what he could do to help.  And I was kinda snarly.

See, this was my plan.

Nice sharp edges, which if you look at the cut, shaped, but uncovered cake, were successful at the time.  Feathers, beads, a mask.  And those squiggles were to be fleur de lis.

Yeah.

In the end, I fought through, and came up with this...

Not as smooth as I wanted, obviously, and I got too tired to do beads for the top tier too.  The fleur de lis were a little misjudged.  And it got kind of ... bulbous rather than sharp.  Well, I tried.  And it's not bad, I suppose, for a first attempt.  I am, I have to say, really happy with my gum paste mask and feathers.  This was the first time I ever made or used gum paste.  And I'm happy with the Mardi Gras beads around the bottom.

Just... I need practice.  I know that.  And never again will I do cream cheese frosting with fondant.

It was a hit anyway, friends wouldn't let me cut it until they took a sufficient number of photos.  And of course they devoured it.  We were left with this.

Don't worry, we ate it.  But what of the leftover cake, the parts I had to cut off to shape it?  No worries, those became red velvet cake pops!

Yum!

Leave it to me to start with dessert first.  We did have crawfish too, I promise.  What's Mardi Gras without crawfish?

And etouffee, still my favorite food in the world.  It was such a hit last year that we ordered five pounds of tail meat this year instead of one.

Also devoured.

And drinks and platters, corn and potatoes.

In addition to the bubbles, balls, and sidewalk chalk we had for the kiddos...

... my friend Emilie pulled out her face painting kit.  There was one request for a tiger, though, so Emilie suggested I take that one.

He is my friend's son, and was hysterical.  He proceeded to run around the party roaring at everyone!

And to finish up, the photo I call "Aftermath of a Party."

Another success, in the end!

Other Successes

Like our party!

Every year, we have a Mardi Gras in June party.  Well, I say "every year," but this was the third one.  Thing is, they keep getting bigger, better, and more organized, so I know we'll keep doing them.  Plus, Cajun food is my favorite, and I've already mentioned how Eric and I love to cook & bake.  And Eric brews really good beer.

So... this year for the party, he took the freezer that he uses for his kegs, and made a wooden collar for it.  The fancy corners were done with the router I got him for Christmas.  That raised up the lid of the freezer and allowed him to run the tap lines.  The name he's chosen for his beer is Laughing Lemur, so he brewed an Extra Special Bitter and had Laughing Lemur beer to serve.  Plus, he got 1787 Abbey Single Ale from a new local microbrewery, the NJ Beer Company.  If you haven't tried their stuff, ask your local bar to get some; it's great!  The very nice guys there also gave us a tap handle to use.  We bought a chalkboard to do the "on tap" list, and I wrote it up and drew a lemur to go with it.

The theme of the party is Mardi Gras, so we went with green, gold, and purple for the tablecloths, plates, cups, and napkins.

He got to have fun boiling crawfish, which was absolutely fab!

And of course he had to make crawfish etouffee (my favorite food in the world) and cornbread!

Meanwhile, I was in charge of the pecan pies.  The one on the left was black bottom, with chocolate chunks.

Everyone had a great time!

The party sort of ran in shifts, from 3 p.m. until everyone left; the people with kiddos go there earliest, of course.  Our farthest visitor came from Massachusetts for the shindig.

This week... back to soap!