Happy New Year!

Wishing all my friends and followers all things good in the year ahead. Cheers!

Rudolph the red-nosed deer

Look who appeared on my trail cam that's posted deep in the woods...Merry Christmas one and all.

A few cakes...

 So fun to do cakes in the winter when I'm not worried about humidity! This one was for a friend who celebrated a milestone birthday a few weeks back. She loves flowers and is passionate about her garden. As well, she's an accomplished artist. So I thought I'd do a different sort of floral cake. Instead of classic buttercream roses or fondant flowers, I piped them from coloured chocolate and put them on a quadruple layer chocolate cake. Death by chocolate!

Another friend celebrated a not-so-milestone birthday but since we missed the big one last year, we decided to celebrate anyhow. Dane absolutely loves Cherry Blossoms so I made a cake that looked like a giant Cherry Blossom. I hear he really liked it. 

Woods close up

 The first snowfall took us into the woods. Funny how this poplar is still growing but is missing half its trunk.

 Look at these teeny weeny mushrooms growing on the tree trunk. My sis said they looked like mini-pancakes.

 I love how the base of a few trees had frills of moss. So dynamic against the white snow backdrop.

Another green frilly skirt.

Love the detail of the moss. Wonder what's living in there?

 I also looked really closely at the trunk and noticed all the lichen growing there. Mini-lives on the trunk. Cool.

Critter cam -- deer action!

 My critter cam was in the woods all spring, summer, fall  and we finally brought it in this weekend.

 I was delighted to see photos of mama and baby...

 ...and just baby, a bit bigger than the last pic.

 This is a fun series of three photos. Here's the mum...

...baby goes by about 20 seconds later...

 ...20 seconds later, here's dad!

Isn't this fellow a handsome boy! I sure hope he made it through hunting season.

And probably my favourite photo of all...the ultimate photo bomb!

Hospital fundraiser

 I made this cake for our local hospital's annual fundraiser and auction held last night.

It was so much fun making the teeny tiny cards, bouquet of flowers and of course, try of food -- all made of fondant.

 And here's the poor little soul, lying sick in his hospital bed while everyone enjoys dinner around him!
I'm happy it got a good price at auction with the funds going to the hospital.

Super Beaver Moon

 The super moon rose over Dunvegan at about 5:30 last night.

 My little point and shoot camera really doesn't do it justice. It was huge!

November's moon is traditionally called the Beaver Moon and this one was as close to Earth as it's been for a while. Super Beaver Moon!

Hail Caesar!

 I made this cake for Richard's birthday. Yes it's a cake!
I saw a salad cake on the Internet and just knew I had to make Richard one because he just loves Caesar salad.

 And he did love it! Kinda strange to put birthday candles in a salad? Naaah.

But once I served it up, it was pretty obvious it was a carrot cake disguised as a Caesar salad.

And this is what it looked like after a few days...two slices left for our lunches tomorrow.

Surprise over, all we're left with is yummy carrot cake and lemony buttercream.

Happy birthday to Richard!

So long dear friends...

It's tough to say goodbye to dear friends who have been your neighbours for 28 years.
There was a potluck dinner at their place this weekend where friends gathered to say so long.
I brought the cake.! I figured saying goodbye in many languages would be a way to wish them well.
Thank goodness for Google! And thank goodness for the countless hours I spent hand lettering at art school all those years ago...

Autumn in full bloom

 For Thanksgiving weekend we headed up through Algonquin Park to spend time at Richard's sister's cottage in Muskoka.

 I grabbed my watercolours and did a quick sketch of the scenery.

 The night before we left was mighty cool -- we had to scrape ice off the windshield -- and when the brilliant morning sun broke out, the warm water created a photogenic mist.

 Near Huntsville, we went for a walk on the Grandview Trails.

 At the summit, the view wasn't so grand. Couldn't see the view for all the trees!

On our way home, each twist in the road revealed another "ooh" and "ahhh."

Thanksgiving leaves

It's cooling down out there; the leaves are changing and the acorns are falling.
This year for Thanksgiving, I made a carrot-nut cake, slathered with cream cheese frosting and topped off with maple leaves, oak leaves and acorns made of fondant.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. We have much to be grateful for...

Hit the Jackpot!

I made this slot machine cake on what I figured was one of the most humid days of the year. And my kitchen doesn't have air conditioning, so it was a challenge to say the least. In the end, I was happy with the one-armed bandit carrot cake, to feed 35 guests. And I got a kick outta the gold foil-covered chocolate coins. So did Claire! Many happy returns to her on her special day.

Famke's calico cat cake

 For little Famke's sixth birthday, she wanted a cat that looked like her calico Liko.

Here she is! The body is vanilla cake, the cat's head and balls of yarn are made of Rice Krispie treats.

Nothing like celebrating your birthday with a pool party in the hot sun. Ahhh, summer.

I thought where Famke's mum Anick had placed the candles was brilliant! Happy birthday Famke.

Sue & Mike get married

 Months ago, my friend Sue asked me to do her wedding cake. It was for an outdoor, summer wedding to take place at her country place. We decided  that a naked cake with fresh flowers would fit the bill.

It was perfect. The couple loved it and so did their 80 or so guests. A perfect day for a perfect couple.

 There were hors d'oeuvres made by friends and served by friends.

 Those dumplings were the bomb!

  The food was served in Sue's greenhouse, turned into a dining room for the occasion.

One large table to fit 75 guests, seated on covered hay bales.

The food? Oh my! Smoked turkey, ribs, pulled pork, kale salad, Turkish carrots with a garlic, yogurt sauce, bean salad, Greek salad. Wow.

 It was a perfect, sunny day and a great day spent with friends.

 On our way to see the cake (it stayed at Sue's sister's Sigrun's house next door because it was cool), I snapped this sweet pic of Sue.

And here are the silliest and sweetest couple ever. Happy days Sue and Mike.