Wayback Wednesday

This one isn't even cake! I bake other stuff too. And even better, this one isn't a giant wreck like the last two throwback posts have been.



My friend Kristen was having a birthday and we all met at Chili's and then went to see a performance of Stomp. I was at a loss for an appropriate gift. I'd given her herpes for Christmas already. So I baked. This is what happens when you have a friend who 1) is cheap 2)can't think of anything better and 3)likes an excuse to bake. I've done it with family at Christmas too.



But you see, I wasn't exactly thinking well when I started and just used whatever cookie cutters I had.



Rockets, stars, and round planet-ish objects because she likes space:

dinosaurs because they're awesome:

Cats because her roommate had four:

Texas because it's awesome

And somewhere along the way I came up with this whole scenario and a story about the whole thing where evil Barney was trying to take over the world and Sara's four cats, led by Onyx (RIP little guy, you were awesome) had to save the day with karate training by Chuck Norris.

 

(Onyx cookie not to scale, he was the fattest cat I'd ever seen!)

This story had to be told!!! It couldn't stack locked in my brain! So there was a PowerPoint. I don't know how to do Flash animation, but I'm pretty good with making things move in PowerPoint, so there was a whole movie involved. With sound effects like meows, ringing phones, and karate chops. I've since lost the file, maybe Kristen or Sara still has it. But I came marching into Chilli's with a box FULL of cookies and my laptop and I made everyone watch it. I was laughing the whole time, can't say much for anyone else.

 See Onyx driving the blue car?

[This is the rambling of a sick, sad mind but I blame it on the fact that I was a grad student at the time and this was better than research. THIS IS WHAT GRAD SCHOOL WILL DO TO YOU! BEWARE CHILDREN! PROTECT YOUR LOVED ONES! A B.S. REALLY IS ENOUGH! FIGHT THE PEER PRESSURE TO GET AN ADVANCED DEGREE!]

UPDATE!: Sara totally still had the PowerPoint file! So you can totally see it if you just ask. :)

Wayback Wednesday

I shared my first fondant cake last week. Let's see another pathetic cake! It isn't as bad as the last one, but it ain't much better.  You've met my friend Melinda a few times, like here, here, and guest appearance here, plus some others. Years ago, Melinda had a birthday. And it's pretty close to Cameron's birthday. You met him and his son a long time ago.



To celebrate their birthdays, we went out tubing on the river, a summer ritual around here full of all sorts of adult fun!  And I decided to use this as a cake theme. And this was my first try at fondant figures! I bit the bullet and bought the Wilton's precolored stuff. This was the result:

I apparently hadn't quite got the leveling thing figured out yet. It looks decidedly lopsided. And the writing? Text looks okay if you're drunk or have Taco Neck Syndrome.

 This tuber really shouldn't be out here. Gingers burn awful fast.

 This little guy was an homage to Erik, Melinda's hubby. See the six pack?

There isn't enough sunscreen in the world. What's up with the Wilton's skin tone choices?



The beer cooler, an integral part of the tubing experience. Beer and sunscreen.



The scenery along the river. Notice the beans? They're supposed to be rocks. They just don't look like it much, do they?

Headless Erik.



We've come a long way, haven't we? Next week is cookies!