The Making of Santa

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‘No new posts or pictures’

There’s a saying that there’s time for everything.
You might have noticed that there were ‘No new posts or pictures’. Why?

I don’t know if it has ever happened to you. But it seems that as we go through life:
• we come to understand our strengths and weakness
• we just realize that the timing is not just right for certain things or
• we just need to pull back a bit.

Read More »

Emily's 1 year birthday

This is a cake to mark my niece’s 1 year birthday. She was about two months old when this picture was taken with her cousin. The little chicks (or birds) are not made from fondant. They are left-over Easter decorations which I bought from a shop.

 One pineapple, remove the skin and cut into triangular pieces. In a pan, melt 1/2 cup sugar, add one table spoon milk, one teaspoon  butter and a drop of lemon juice. Stir till it bubbles. Drop pineapple pieces into pan, stir for 3-5 minutes. Remove pineapples and allow juice to drain. Then arrange around cake as desired. Here they are set inside buttercream.  Delicious!!!

Tips: Bake your usual rectangle shaped cake. One for the screen and two for the keyboard.  Place cakes on separate boards. Fill and coat cakes with buttercream then cover with fondant and decorate. Apple logo: I first used royal icing (colour flow), but then decided to use a thin layer of fondant. I must say it worked out well. I’ve kept the colour flow logo for another cake.

 Below: How to get the screen to stand.

 The picture above shows how I propped up the screen.  The same way a photo frame is made to stand.

 Special delivery. If you have questions, please feel free to ask. See you soon.

How to create bridges or ridges on cakes using Royal Icing

• Cover you cake

• Above: Using a tailor’s measuring tape or something that can easily go around your cake; get the circumference of your cake (the roundness of your cake if it’s a round cake).
 Use the measurement to cut a long strip of grease paper or brown paper (used in tracing) and some centimeters or inches in depth. Fold the paper into half, fold again (depending on the size of your cake and what you want the curve to look like) and again. Using pencil, draw a curve or line depending on your design. Cut out, open and position on cake with pins.
 Using the pin’s tip, toothpick or edible drawing ink, trace/indent marks along the curve around the cake.

 At the top of the cake, use a ruler to  indicate desired spaces between the lines. Do this around the cake. I used dotted lines in a cone shape (check picture 5). Now you can remove the paper and pins.

• Below: Use royal icing (nozzles 1.5 – 2) to pipe lines as shown on picture around the cake.

• Below:  Continue to pipe the rings 4-5 times to create a ridge.

• Below: Using nozzles 1.5 – 2.5, pipe straight lines from top to tip of ridge. Continue the process around the cake.

• Below: Finish off by tidying up the edges with your favourite design.

Join us next time to learn how to make the finishing trimmings. Rmemeber to share your designs with us.

Gingerbread wonderland

 He told us that he and his team took several days to bake and decorate the cake. He leaned over a corned at the table, touched a switch and a train started moving round and round the cake’s platform. It was lovely. Jimmy had been baking professionally for about 20 years and had travelled to different parts of the world inlcuding South Africa as a pastry chef. He loves  his work.

Gingerbread wonderland

View from hotel window

Surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea - day and night one can hear the whistling sound of the wind as it clashes with the sea. The sound is thunderous but it whispers ‘this is the place to be’.

Out in the country

My water bottle - out in the country

 The experience in Malta was amazingly graceful -   ‘Amazing Grace’.

Dear Readers & Fellow Bloggers,

Greetings from Malta. We are but a few hours away into the New Year. Join us in 2011 to explore exciting ways and ideas on self-expression through hobbies and/or vocations.

Don’t forget to check our courses and events sections for updates. Join and contribute to the discussions, your impute might be the lifeline to pull someone to shore.

Eclipse of the Heart

Happy New Year – 2011  I used royal icing with basic icing technique called filigree to make this beautiful eclipse. Working with royal icing  can be time consuming but the result is exotic.

Eclipse of the Heart

 How to: Royal Icing Mixture for filigree – (please increase ingredients accordingly if you intend to cover cake with royal icing). I used fondant to cover the dome.

250 grams confections’ sugar (sifted)

1 egg white (whip until foamy)

Place sugar in a bowl, add egg white bit by bit and mix with an electric mixer until a fine consistency of paste is formed. Scoop some into a small dish and add colour. You can mix with hand since the quantity is small. Now you’re ready to decorate the dome or any other shape of cake.

Method: Use number 0, 1, 2 or 3 nozzle, plastic piping bag and royal icing. Fill piping bag with royal icing and fix nozzle.   

Hold the tube lightly against the surface of the cake. Pipe a continual line of random ‘m’ and ‘w’ shapes in a long string.

For the border, use coloured fondant, roll out, cut into strips and attach, then decorate with petals of flowers (optional) and finish by piping green coloured icing on to the petals. To complete the design, I placed an already made gerbera flower on dome’s apex.

If you want to make your dreams come true, the first thing you have to do is wake up. ~J.M. Power Courtesy: www.quotegarden.com

1. Search: ask yourself, ‘What Would I Like to Do?’ and ‘What do I think I’m good at?’

• List 10 things that you would like to do and 10 things you think you’re good at.
• Ask 2-3 people (e.g. friends or family members what they think you can do or what they think you’re good at).
• Narrow your points to 5 on each list.
• Conduct a research on the points through the internet, books, library or interview people that are already doing those things you want to do.

 2. Result: you will discover 2-3 things that you’d like to do or 2-3 things that you’re good at.

3. Select: because You can’t do everything. Select ONE.

4. ACT: this is the Time – give it all you’ve got.

How does it feel to be on the move? You see, it wasn’t that difficult. We’ll continue from here next time. See you.

Picture: Courtesy – google cartoon image

by -Ada (cake designer)

What can I say? Pictures speak volume. The  picture at the right is the creation of an amateur in the business of cake baking and decorating, so please don’t be too fast in grading.
I was motivated or rather inspired to venture this road because of my baby girl. A couple of months before her birthday, I decided I want to bake and decorate her 1st year birthday cake. This desire took me to Dedells, where I took a couple of classes. After the classes, my first decorated cake was for Christmas, which I shared with friends and family.

by -Ada (cake designer)

I got so much praise from the Christmas cake, that one of my friends who was privileged to taste the cake asked me to bake a cake for her baby’s birthday, which was a week away at the time. I was beside myself with joy at her request, because not only will I be practicing my newly acquired skill but was also getting paid for it. I accepted the challenge; I call it a challenge because I am a green leaf in the business, as you now know. At the end of the day, the end product of the challenge is the picture above.
Now, you be the judge, did I conquer? (Waiting for your answer)
I am still learning and will be baking my baby’s cake in a couple of days. Please wish me luck. By Ada-

Follow  Ada on  http://nobelbookclub-nbc.blogspot.com/

Carl Rogers said “Each of us is always in the process of becoming.”

The story of HousHous Jewelry is a personal pursuit of becoming.

Several years ago, I was a stay-at-home mom with two little children. It was great for me to be close to my children, being part of their growth; on the other side, I always felt the unease of not working. So when my older child started kindergarten, I started to look into opportunities of working at home. I knew it was not possible for me to go back to a 9-5 job since my priority was family and children. One day, my husband told me “Why don’t you set up an online shop?” This idea inspired me to explore my educational background (master’s degree in Computer Information Systems) and resources (network in trade industry). The result was HousHous Jewelry (www.HousHous.com).

The beginning of my business was actually a self-improvement process. I designed the website from scratch; I learned the process of e-business from goods procurement to business administration…  I did not make much profit and I did not care about it. It brought me back to the current technology, boosted my confidence and most importantly, it made me become a better person with a balance between work and family.

It is my great pleasure to watch my carefully selected jewelry pieces chosen and enjoyed by ladies. I love the feeling that the jewelry pieces bring delight to our daily lives. I aim to create an online portal to provide quality and beautiful jewelry at affordable price. To reach this dream, I will work as hard as possible until its wings grow into full shape and one day it will fly high and far.

http://houshous.com
Follow HousHous on Twitter
Follow HousHous on Flickr
Follow HousHous on Facebook

Jealousy or Envy?  … can blind you to your own strengths … [ScienceDaily]
One of those things that we have to battle with on a day to day basis.

Why do we need to tackle it?
- morally frown upon
-destroys relationship
-negatively impacts on our emotions which can lead to resentment, hatred or malice or all.

How to recognize it
- upset when the individual is promoted, or has qualities you feel is undeserving
- you feel worthless in the presence of the individual
-when you feel you’re better then the other person.

How to overcome

- be honest to yourself that you can be a victim and learn a bit of self evaluation

- get to know the person. You will probably understand why the person seems to have it over you

- remember it’s hard to have bad feelings for someone you like

-learn to develop and appreciate your own special qualities because that’s what make you stand out

- always put the person in your shoes and ask yourself how you will feel.

I’ve come to realize that life is what you make it .
Keep your heart light and you’ll have less to worry about.
We as individuals have the capacity and opportunity to shine without overlapping or shadowing another person’s gloss.

Watch out for this monster, it will still, kill and destroy your ideas, visions, creativity … it will drain you.

Look out for my next nuggets on forgiveness.

We just concluded basic fondant classes – happy viewing participants’ cake designs.

No time to waste – learning began immediately.

Putting to practice.

Getting some work done.

by Thes

Wow!!! I can’t believe it.

by Sal

Artistic!!! summer days - I knew I could.

by Ali

I did it!!! – I’m ready to go another round.

Thanks Ali, Thes, & Sal for sharing your designs. It was nice having you in the class. Hope to see you again.

Dear readers, join our next class (go to www.dedells.com to register or send a mail to info@dedell.com). Hope to share your cake soon.