The Quest for the Perfect Cake

I've been revising my cake recipe since I began creating these pawty cakes. I dream about peanut butter and the perfect cake. Eggs and honey, mixing it all together, how to get it just right. I watch as the cakes rise in the oven and opening the door to a cake that is just right is an experience that I can only compare with possibly hitting a golf ball with just the right lift, and watching it plop with a gentle thud on the fairway exactly where you want it to fall. It's beautiful. The aroma of a fresh baked peanut butter cake is just delicious. For those of us who love peanut butter, it's a sliver of heaven that gently wafts in through your nostrils, tickles your mind with a warm fragrance of peanutty goodness that makes the mouth form a tiny circle of "ohhhh." It's THAT good. I think the satisfaction of baking is truly my relaxation. It's my yoga. It centers me and it keeps me focused on my passion. I adore it. I can sit for hours reading through my cookbooks and searching for tips on baking. I love blogs that are about baking. I'm reading one now that is about cupcakes. There is a following for cupcakes that would astound those who do not share our interests. I welcome you to the world of cupcakes...take a look at these blogs:

http://dontmesswithcupcake.blogspot.com/

http://cupcakestakethecake.blogspot.com/

This site lists a whole lot of cupcake blogs:

http://www.squidoo.com/cupcakes/


What do you do on a beautiful day?
I've got a billion things to do including bills...oh what fun. But truly I have a list of fun fabulous things to get done including:
1. bills
2. change my watch battery
3. design my new promotion cards
4. bake apple cupcakes
5. devil's food cupcakes (none for Katie)
6. haircut
7. go through mail from this past week
8. read Sunday papers (Newsday and NYT)
9. blog
10. catch up with friends
11. write press release
12. get new cake pans
13. work on new recipes
14. clean out one dresser drawer (Martha Stewart made me feel guilty!)
15. read four magazines
16. Plan Howl-o-ween parties for October
17. design gift baskets
18. finish cake models for displays
19. Read a chapter of Cesar Millan's book.
20. Finish business advice book.

Okay. Now you know that this list is absolutely impossible to do in one day. Yes, but I do that. I plan way more things to do than I could possibly do and then it overflows to the next day.

I did run 2 1/2 miles yesterday and that was really cool.

Imperfections

I made a cake this week that was perfect except for one thing. The top tier was just too big. It looks like a mesa more than a two tiered cake. I now realize that the people really like these two tiered birthday cakes. They look really cool but since the tier on top is too big, I now need one size smaller cake pan and I cannot find one. It seems like there are no cake pans that are smaller than the size I've got and big enough to write a friendly "Happy Birthday [Your dog's name here]." So I'm cake pan hunting today amongst the other 20 odd things to do today.

Controversies

Last Sunday, there was an article in NYT about Pit Bull Laws in certain towns. I remember how difficult it was to find a dog friendly apartment but imagine what it would be like to buy a home and then be told that you cannot keep your dog? As well, there are places in the U.S. that have euthanized dogs of the pit bull breed due to a ban that was started in May 2005. The CDC has statistics on the pit bull that state the breed was responsible for 66 of the 238 dog bite fatalities during the period of 1979-98. Rottweilers were next with 39 deaths. There are other communities that require leashes to have a minimum of 300lbs of strength and be kept at most 3 feet in length. As well, the requirement of $100,000.00 liability insurance sounds fairly reasonable. I think that any dog can be considered vicious if not taught appropriate social behavior or not being socialized with other dogs or people. Being a responsible dog owner takes effort. Bringing a dog into the community means understanding that we all must be considerate of everyone that lives in our community and I strongly encourage people to socialize their dogs, read about appropriate behavior, follow dog park rules and enlist the help of a trainer like Andrea Arden to help make your dog a good citizen.

Thank you!
I wanted to thank Tracie Hotchner, author of The Dog Bible for that wonderful message she put in my book. It was a present to me and I really loved it. I cannot wait to read through and learn more. I've heard so many wonderful things about this book and it has come highly recommended by many including a whole bunch of people I met at the last AKC dog show I attended.

Special thanks to Arden Moore for sending me a copy of her wonderful book "Dog Parties" I'm so excited and want to say it has some really funny illustrations so if you don't already have a copy, go get one because it's really a fun read!

http://blubandoo.com/product_info.php?cPath=20&products_id=42&osCsid=45f093123a11d40abd9414e6193a74a2

I gotta get going...so much to do and already the day is passing by!