Year of the Dog

I have two complaints, I went to the movie and the movie itself was kind of ruined because:

A. The frame was messed up for the first ten minutes of the movie and the manager was unable to be located by the movieviewers and when it was restarted, most of the beginning had been missed already.

B. A fly or some other bug flew onto the lens and died right in the corner of the movie screen and so for the rest of the movie, about halfway through, there was the shadow of a dead but, legs up and everything in the bottom right corner of the moviescreen. Grosssssssss!

The review

The movie was...so-so. I never say that. I can't bring myself to say it was bad because I love Molly Shannon and I think that the story itself was good but it could have ended sooner than it did, the last scene was useless to the story and there was some editing that could have made it better. There were too many scenes with the same idea. I think in terms of Indie Flicks, this was thought provoking, worth a discussion and had some really funny parts.

I give it a B-though and that's just not normal for me to rate a movie that way.

The American Cancer Society Dogswalk Treats

Finally, the Yankees win. Not that I was able to watch the game, some of us gotta bring home the bacon right? Especially on Saturdays, I work the weekend and I'm proud to say that I do. Well blah, I am sad that I missed the winning of my favorite baseball team after that heart/gut-wrenching losing streak that was turning my hair even more gray than it already is...(Yes, thank goodness for L'Oreal:)

I digress once more...

So here I present to you, the wonderful treat that I have created for donations now. It looks remarkably like that little doggie for the American Cancer Society's Dogswalk that was...oh yeah, today! What a gorgeous day too. I'm happy that they were able to have such fine weather for this fun event. Sad that I missed it but I was definitely there in spirit and our treats were donated to the cause so they made it there:)

The treat made just for the American Cancer Society's Dogswalk 2007.
(a.k.a.- The bonus treat to be sent to anyone who orders a pound of treats in May as well!)

Alright, so that is pre-wrapping and pretty bow tying and hole punching and card attaching. Yeah, so my little assembly-line, Henry Ford is the greatest inventor, routine was starting to get really OLD by the time I finished the last treat. Oh my aching joints! Thank goodness for Aleve...But boy were they purty:))

One down, 149 to go...when am I going to hire someone to help me?!

Yay! I'm finished!

What more to say except, it's the actual packaging part that is the hard part. I have come to terms with bow tying and pretty package making. It's all part of the drill. Well, at least I can have a good job tying shoelaces someday...

You laugh but...

I kid you not...Happy Barkday is the most common phrase these days...

Seriously though, it's pretty isn't it? I know I showed you this one but I was just going over cake designs and I realized how much I love the Peanut Butterflies border. It's just adorable. Plus, the peanut butterfly cookie is very popular with the little dogs. Especially the Poms and the Pugs. Oh right, yeah, Pugs do eat just about anything but my little pug meetup group did enjoy these little peanut butter treats the best I think.


I lied.

Yes, I know I was supposed to debut the new flavor for this event but I couldn't. I really didn't have time to experiment with it enough and the combination is really kind of tricky. It really isn't that tricky but I do need to tweak the recipe before I expose it to the general public. I realized something though that my Peanut Butter Banana treats can be absolutely perfect if done in just under the time that I was previously baking them. Yup. They come out utterly perfect and beautiful. Unfortunately, that means I was really overbaking the previous batches and that made me a little sad. I hate realizing that something wasn't quite perfect when I thought that they were. I feel like I owe my customers a freebie. In fact, I will offer the free bag of Nuts About Bananas to customers who have purchased it in the past only because I do guarantee satisfaction with all purchases and if your dog ain't happy, neither am I. Truth.

I've blabbed or rather blogged enough.

Ciao bellies:)

Dogswalk Against Cancer
Saturday, April 28, 2007 at 11AM
in Flushing Meadow Park, NY

The American Cancer Society is having their Dogswalk at Flushing Meadow Park this Saturday, April 28, 2007 from 11AM-3PM.

Here is the link for more information and how to participate.

http://community.acsevents.org/site/TR?fr_id=3180&pg=entry

I was there last year with my cousin and I had donated a huge amount of treats for this amazing event. All of the proceeds go towards the cause. I'm looking forward to our newest treats being enjoyed by all the participants this year.

We hope you will be there to support the cause.

For Driving Directions:

http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?searchtype=address&country=US&addtohistory=&searchtab=home&formtype=address&popflag=0&latitude=&longitude=&name=&phone=&level=&cat=Flushing+Meadow+Park&address=&city=flushing+meadow&state=NY&zipcode=

I found it!

Cake cake cake...

Unfortunately, although I love how this cake came out, I still need much practice with my cake writing. But the letters did look nicer here.

Notice the Peanut Butterflies on the edge of the cake. The cakes lately have been getting a lot of treats around the edges, hence the reason for the price increase recently. But they look really great and the dogs love the extra treats!

Mini Mega Cupcakes!

So this is what I'm talking about! The huge cupcakes that I made for a recent party, they were topped with creamy cinnamon vanilla and honey frosting and topped with Granny's Apple Pie Mini Bones. They were adorable! Plus, I found these great platters to put the cupcakes on for the party and those adorable little flowery cupcake papers. I was actually so happy with the presentation of these cupcakes. I heard the party cakes were a huge success and the dogs gobbled them off the table!
So cute and festive on the platters! These mini cupcakes were a huge success.

This is an example of my smallest barkday cake. It's supposed to be a 3" cake for miniature dogs and it is really actually very cute. The treats I used to decorate it were Granny's Apple Pie and Ruffy Road Dots. The cake was 2" high and so it was a tall cake and I managed to write on the cake but I didn't charge extra for it because I wasn't sure how it would look. Now I know I can write on my smallest cakes too!

Yes it has been a busy time since Spring started. It's party cake after party cake. I have even done emergency orders on the same day but that is really hard because I have to let the cake cool before I frost it. Since I work fulltime, I cannot do that all the time. I can only do it on my day off so if you plan on ordering a cake, please please please give me 2-3 days notice or at least 1-2 days notice so I can bake the cake and frost it with enough time and care to make the best cake possible for your dog!

The Year of the Dog


Ooh. A new movie with Molly Shannon, The Year of the Dog, looks promising but I have yet to find it in my area.

A couple of sites that describe the movie in detail.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0756729/

http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/movies/349771,WKP-News-dog20.article

Boxes and Bags

My usual issues with packaging have been coming up more and more because of the fact that I simply cannot find a bag that I really like. It's almost like shopping for a purse or a handbag because I need to really know that I love the bag in order to commit to it. So I found some nice ones and ordered them but I had to send them back because they looked like industrial bolt or hardware bags and putting my pretty little dainty gourmet treats in a heavy duty big old boot slugging type bag simply would not do. Goodness do I sound like a pretty prissy or what?! But seriously, I had to send those back and get on the phone with the C.S. operator to order what I really wanted, which I wasn't even quite sure I wanted until she described it AND sent me a link to locate on the website. So now I've got the right bags...yay! It's the little things that make me so happy:)

But back to the boxes now, I've got so many box issues it's ridiculous. I have a lot of varieties of sizes for my cakes and unfortunately only one big old box. I ordered these fantastic boxes and I love them but then realized, duh...that my teeny tiny little bitty cakes for miniature dogs literally SWIM in these boxes. So what do I do? I put tape on the bottom of the cake plate so the cake would survive it's journey home. As of yet, I have not heard a single complaint of destruction of these small wonders of a cake creation. Yes, I haven't posted any recent photos of my cakes because I cannot find the cord to connect my digi camera to my computer. Ugh. It's so...frustrating. Technology is so great yet so annoying all at once.

I created some really great little cakes but I think that I made them a lot bigger than I previously had made them so now the mini cupcakes look like small tennis balls and the top of the cake puffed out like a superdome. Seriously. I came back to take them out of the oven and literally did a Minnie Pearl, "Oh my goodness!" Yep. I'm turning into an old country baker...what the heck. That can't be too bad for the treats but my friends have been laughing at my "Oh my goodness!" and "Oh darn!" exclamations. If I start talking like Ned Flanders, please someone stop me...yikes.

Delivery

I've got an issue with deliveries. My aim to bring gourmet treats to the world has been squelched somewhat by the fact that I don't like to drive a whole lot and I like baking more than driving and yes, I will admit...I am really really bad at directions. I can give directions but when it comes to following someone else's directions I really need a lot of Yahoo Maps or Mapquest assistance in addition to an hour of poring over the satellite images of wherever it is I am going. Yes, it is sad. I know that but I have a terrible fear of getting lost. I've always had it. Ever since I was a child and my mother never let me ride my little red bicycle beyond our Dead End street, I've always had an issue with being a little bit wary of exploring new territories. Is that a real fear? I have heard from many friends and peers that they too have this fear of getting lost. "I'm afraid I will get lost!" Is an extremely common statement amongst my women friends. I hate to categorize or generalize or put a gender label on it but I do find that my men friends do not have this fear or do not vocalize it. Ever. In fact, men seem to be the root of all "getting lost and into big trouble" type situation movies as in the latest movie, "Vacancy?" Yes, Luke Wilson, one of my favorite eye candy actors is in that movie with the lovely Kate Beckinsale and ooh what a doozy of a theme. It's very scary but I might very well go and see this one because it just looks intriguing. Oh, but I digress. I wanted to say that I am so...happy that people are willing to travel from near and far just to get cake from me. It's just heartwarming...brings a little tear to the eye. Makes me think...hey, you know maybe my cakes are making a difference. Cool.

I like that.

Bubble Cakes

Look at the cutest little box I found! I had a cake to do today, a little one for a cute little dog, a Yorkie. I baked about seven cakes today in advance, to be frozen for the weekend cakes. This cake was a new design as you will see below. I had to limit the lettering to the two letters, "HB" which conveniently stands for both "Happy Birthday" and "Honeybark Bakery" cool marketing ploy eh? I didn't even think of that when I created Honeybark so it was just a wonderful coincidence.

Adorable mini cake box I found.

A mini cake with HB on it.

Notice the paper under the cake to easily get the cake out. Nice touch eh?

The cakes came out "bubble-tacular" today. I don't know why. Maybe it was the weather but they ballooned to the sky with such a magnitude that it was really dome shaped. I was watching them bake as I always do and it was just bizarre. Like a little alumninum Jiffy Pop popper, those little cakes all did a bubble dome thing. Well, the cake itself was marvelously successful as per my little cake tester. Katie came stumbling down the stairs to my little bakery area out of a sleepy nap state and then sat staring at me while these cakes were baking. typically, she will wait patiently for me but this time, she paced, she drooled, and she poked me with her big wet nose until I finished decorating the cake that was ordered for today. I gave her a cake and she took it in her mouth and went all the way to her special spot and ate the entire thing then searched feverishly for the crumbs or even a memory of the cake. Wow. That was impressive. I was cleaning up the kitchen when I turned around to see her waiting for another piece of cake. Yeah...NO. See, I am okay with Katie getting a treat or two but with cake, she gets maybe two pieces of the small mini cakes per day at most. So this was just too much. She sat while I cleaned and then followed me, poked me several times and is still waiting for cake right now as I type my blog. I think this cake was a hit.

Am I breaking the rules?

I normally stick with my guns about the 2-3 days notice rule. I have turned down customers who have called requesting a cake one day before because I just did not have the time. Today I had a day off from work and was doing errands when I received a call from a nice young lady who needed a cake for her dog's first birthday tonight. Luckily, I was almost done doing all my busywork and driving in this horrible downpour and flooded road conditions. I was soaked to the bone and chilled as well but I did manage to crank out the cake. And as you can see, it was a cutie. It was a mini cake, 3" diameter, decorated with Granny's Apple Pie Mini bones and the same delicious creamy cheese, cinnamon, vanilla, honey icing. The "HB" is done in carob/peanut butter frosting. I love the mini cakes but the big ones are more fun to decorate because of the amount of room to write a message on top. I am developing a new script for the cake writing so I can't wait to work on this weekend's cakes.

My latest cake was really cute, yes, I liked it! HB Abbey!

Note the similarity in style of writing between the cake above and this one.

Nothing like a box waiting to be opened. Look inside!

The Writing on the Cake.

The dilemna now is whether I should be block printing or practicing my calligraphy for the cakes. My birthday cakes have been coming out much better than the original ones lately. Though, the cake recipe itself and the frosting is basically the same, my handwriting or rather cake writing has become much much better. But, lately I've been printing on cakes and I don't know if I just started doing it because I wanted to try to change it up a little or if the icing that I've created for the cake writing is a little more liquid and less of the chunkier thicker frosting that I was originally using that would blob a little bit on output. Plus, I've found a great decorating device that I will share as a tip...squeezeable ketchup bottles that you can find in any kitchen supply store. It's no big secret really, it's been used by decorators and for plating for years but I finally broke down and stopped using my decorator tips to do the cake writing because I kept getting spurts of frosting that would create a blob of frosting in the middle of a letter just like those old Papermate pens that I used to use in school, the kind that would make a really great, medium point type line when you wrote with it but also ended up all over your hands after you had done your homework. Ah, the good old days...when you actually had to write with a pen and looseleaf paper rather than doing it on your laptop. Ah, but I digress...just take a look for yourself at one of my original cakes and then one I did recently and tell me whether you think the writing should be block print or script. I think the pretty script is the way to go. Which means for me, practice, practice, practice....

Script writing back in the day.

Block print is a little bit plain in my opinion though I love this cake style.

Okay. I think I get it. The original cake writing was really much better. I looked at the cake again and although I really loved the cake itself, the mini bones along the sides were just an adorable little touch to the cake. That was extra treats but well worth it because it looked just so cute.

I'm thinking of a new recipe for cake now. It's called, the flourless birthday cake and it is an alternative to a wheat flour cake. It would be essentially the same cake only with soy flour. For those dogs with allergies to wheat, this would be perfect.

Rain

Ugh, my joints are hurting and so are Katie's. The rain is the worst for me because I get really bad joint pain. It used to be just one knee, now it's not my knees, it's my fingers. They get really achey and tight when it rains and my shoulder, the right one will just throb. I can bake and roll out treat dough but it just really slows me down. Ah boy, is it time to hire someone to help me? No, I'm really just a one woman show here. Other than my brother, the PR/web guy, I'm just doing a little bit here and there. I've got another cake to do early this week and one at the end of the week too. It's nice to get regular cake orders because it does keep me busy on my days off from work. Now if it would only just stop raining, I could be a little bit more productive.

Sad about the pet food scare.

I was watching the news and saw that there's more problems with processed foods for pets. Ugh. I could see it coming because we are just relying so much on others to make our lives easier and for what? Why can't you just make your pet something to eat when you cook too? Really, like Christie Shaver is doing with her company, one should really just cook and eat healthy. So what's my problem? I've got a slow metabolism and less time than I'd like to exercise. But I try to eat healthy and keep Katie's snacks healthy. Since I use organic ingredients in the treats, I feel much better that Katie is not being subjected to too many chemicals in her diet. The same goes for my cake recipe. I stick with as many organic ingredients as I possibly can and then the rest of the stuff is either low fat or no fat and all natural.

I just wanted to say that I'm really happy to be able to do what I do. I love baking and I love dogs. Is what I do a little over the top? You bet. I'm happy to be the one to be able to make these celebrations possible for all dogs everywhere.

It's a piece of cake.

The fact is that I like putting treats on top but then I can't write anything on the cake. Oh it is such an artistic dilemna to just want to decorate but also to have that blank canvas to write on. I like them both. I think Katie could care less as long as she can eat her frosting first and the save the cake for last. She still does that. It's cute.

It's like a proud parent or something...

I love this cake so much I wanted to share the edges with you. Notice the flower and leaf border around the edge of the cake? This was made from mini chicken snaps and minty kisses. I also did a dot border around the top of the cake. It was just an added detail but I did like the effect it had of highlighting the writing on the cake. Unfortunately, the "d" and the "a" decided that they should kiss and so the letters ran into each other before I could allow it to set and dry. I always need help with blocking out my letters. I always think I am going to run out of room and then have to start all over when I'm writing the word "birthday." That's why I like writing "barkday" because it's shorter. Not by much, but it's enough to keep the word from causing much angst when I am writing it on the cake.