Texas Sheet Cake, to Thrill a 5-Year Old

Years ago, I learned to decorate cakes and thought it would be so wonderful to do special cakes for my kids as they grew up.  My hot old hands (even when I was young) would melt the icing in those bags so quickly, so I had to resorts to other methods.  Wish I had figured out how to use this "pouring"  candy frosting a long time ago. 

TODAY'S PREPAREDNESS LESSON:

Learn to roll with the punches, make it easy on yourself!  Creating special memories can be fun and easy!!Now I can just have the kids guide me and give them what they want.  It is often no where near as grandiose as we imagine.  I have adopted the motto, " don't impress the adults, thrill the kids,"  I had more than one question about how I made this cake.  Smart moms, smarter than I was!!  

Texas Sheet Cake  and Candy Frosting  click HERE  This will also show the cake I made last year for Garrett's 4th birthday.  

So anyhoo, here is the low down on the birthday of our big 5 year old boy!!

The cake started with talking about fractions with Gabriel ( 6 year old brother).  This is how his mother and my other kids were also introduced to fractions. . .  cooking.  The idea got mixed reviews from the kids, but Gabriel thought it was OK since he got to help me make the cake . . after which, I taught him the "fine art of scraping the bowl". That of course is a VERY important part of baking.



Next night, Garrett (birthday boy) got to help me frost the TX Sheet Cake.  He made the same mistake that I tend to do, and went over the same spot too many times.  Poor little guy looked up at me with such great big eyes full of panic.  he was so sure that he had ruined his own cake.  It was OK when I told him that we could put the requested island full of dinosaurs over it.  The light blue frosting was poured over a coat of white frosting that was blocking out some of the brown from chocolate showing through.  Garrett loved the spray that gave the "water" a little more dimension.  Garrett was shown the fine art of scraping the pan after making the candy frosting for the cake . .  also a VERY important part of baking.

The island needed to have some height so that there could be the requested water fall on it, so I made the second cake in various pans and bowls.  It was supposed to be light chocolate so that would look better under the "sand".



We made a second batch of the candy frosting, tinted it a bit to make it tan colored and poured it over the "island".  Garrett was getting pretty excited at this point as he could see his dream cake coming together.  It was his job to place all of the fishes in the water and dinosaurs on the island.  I did have him leave some space on that one area for a surprise shark that Gabriel had helped me find.  It was BIG!! and had great teeth.

Garrett is talking about volcanoes a lot these days, so along with the shark, and water fall, I added some hot lava . . .  he seemed excited when he first saw it over at the park, just before his party and then all of a sudden, got upset and wanted it "off right now"!  It was just too late and then the guests started to arrive . .  what to do, what to do.

He finally accepted and went to play with the rest of the kids.  Whew!!  You really can't tell, but there is a little Tiki hut on the backside of the volcano.  I had hoped to put the five little candles at the top like fire coming out of the volcano, but he wanted to have the "five" candle up there.  Oh well, it was his cake.

Tire Gardening . . The Next Chapter

I have realized that this is not for the faint of heart.  Cutting the side walls was hard work, even with a big supply of new, sharp blades and using the saws all.  By taking my time and pacing myself.  If I sound a little wimpy, I am 61, had health (breathing, asthma and other issues) since 2006.  Though that has left me a "wimp" compared with what I used to do, I am thrilled to be able to physically accomplish what I have done this Spring.

It is dark, but in the morning I will take more pictures and talk about:

• Where to find free tires.
• Figuring the amount of soil that you will need.
• Placement
• What to plant in them
• Some advantages of using them.
• Using them for Winter Gardening

Because it is a little late for planting here, I have just purchased plants instead of starting with seeds, a little expensive, but after shopping around, I hope that I will be able to make it pay off in the long run!

New Category . . . . Thriftiness

I am addicted to weddings and bridal or baby showers.  I love to help at the celebrations surrounding these happy occasions.  One reason I help with these is that it should be a wonderful happy time for those involved in them.  I have offered my assistance many times to help out friends and it evolved from there.

I now have many materials to help create a base for decorating and fluffing.  Arches, tulle, lights, greenery, table cloths, serving dishes, you name it.  I am working on boxes to give lift to the serving tables for interest and create ease in self serving.

Why am I bringing this up?  Have you ever watched the shows on "reality" TV that deal with weddings?  It's insane!  Now is the time to think out of the box if you are involved with one of these wonderful occasions in your life.

If you have or as you attend other weddings, start making calls if there were things that you could use in your event!  When I go to a wedding, I am always looking for new ideas and what colors they have.

As you may be shopping, look at the "outlet" stores for serving and decorating pieces.  Most of my crystal trays and bowls have come from Ross, Marshal's thrift stores.  My goblets came from Costco, a real "splurge"  for me.  But they were a gonga deal or I wouldn't have bought them.

My arches were bought for half price after Christmas when my daughter got engaged that month.  They have been used in so many weddings and parties that I have lost count.

I need to go out and work before it gets too hot.  Can you believe I am saying that in April?   I am, we have been over 90 degrees several time and even in the 80's is hot to me  ;- ]

Out to my tire cutting . . . !

TIRE GARDENING , , FIGURING IT OUT!

Today, as I was struggling with my little tools, OK, not so little, I realized that some people might not always know what I am taking about.  So I have some more little pointers to share tonight

Tire with steel belted side wall.

First I will share a few pictures of the tools that have worked for me.   Since the steel belts ate up the blade on the jig saw, I drilled several holes in it.

JIG SAW

To join them and make slot long enough for the saws-all  blade to fit through, I cut through them with the jig saw.

When I fit the saws-all blade through the slot, I had to ease it in to keep from bending it.  A bent blade makes it hard to control the piece being cut.

 




I don't know if they all have adjustable handles, but his one does.  I have always used it with the handle bent down, but when I straightened it today, I could put more pressure against it and cut through the tire faster.  I finally figured out how to keep the plate (that the blade goes through)  resting on the tire to avoid vibration.  Makes it so much easier to get the job done!


Next I turned it around so that instead of pulling it so that it was coming toward me, I was pushing against it.  I could line it up and cut straighter and cut much faster!  I was able to remove the side wall from a big tire, truck sized, in less than 10 minutes.

I hope that these tips will be a help to those who want to garden and have limited resources.

In a couple of days I will be picking up a load of good garden mix.  It will be 1/3 native soil, 1/3 manure and 1/3 sand.  I will also be picking up some good quality compost to mix in.

More soon, I hope!

Can You Sleep At Night?

I ran this story about two years ago, but with all of the natural and man made troubles through out the world, I feel it is worth asking ourselves this question again. 

A farmer needed an extra hand to help on his farm. One young man came to interview for the job. "What are your qualifications?" the farmer asked. "I can sleep when the wind blows," the young man said. This simple reply confused the farmer, but he was desperate for help and the young man was hired.

The young man was a diligent worker through the harvest season, but the farmer still questioned his answer.

Autumn ended and the first cold storm of winter came late one night. The farmer panicked as the winds began to blow. Calling the young man for help, the farmer grabbed his coat and pulled heavy boots on his feet. He was disappointed to find the young man asleep in bed at a time like this. Grudgingly he ventured out alone planning to shuffle all of the animals in the barn and then fix that last hole in the roof. He mumbled about the young man sleeping and was sure all the farm equipment was left standing in the field, collecting rust from the snow.

However, when the farmer reached the barn all the animals were tucked safely inside. In fact, clean hay had already been set out for the new day. Not a single hole could be found in the roof, and the tractor was parked perfectly in the shed.

"Who could have done it?" the farmer wondered. And then, he realized what the young man's answer meant, 

"I can sleep when the wind blows."

Tire Gardening . . . More Adventures!

MY GOAL !

I was delighted yesterday to see how easy it was to cut the side wall from a tire.  It only took about 5 minutes per tire . . . THEN I went for one of the bigger tires.  Did you know that in the big ole' tires, the steel belt goes all the way form the tread to the bead that is against the actual rim?  Not funny!

I noticed a difference when I drill the pilot hole to put the jig saw blade in.  The blade wouldn't fit, so I drilled a second one on the edge and made it longer.  Then I started to saw away, or so I thought.  I had to push that saw a lot harder and it went very slow.  Then the smoke started  sneaking out of where I was trying to cut . . . . . aw nice, burnt rubber .  . every one's favorite . . .  P-U!

I finally took the blade out, grabbed it with the fingers of my other hand . . . OUCH . .  that baby was HOT!  The good news is that I now realize that my numb finger has more feeling in it than I thought.  I took a look and saw little sparkly things in the rubber of where I had managed to force the blade through.  Ah ha moment here.  The steel belt went farther than I had realized.  So it was time to drill lots of exploratory holes.  They all did the same thing, in all of the tires that I have left to cut.

This morning I took my third little grandson and he helped me pick out some saws all blade that are hardened to cut through metal and just as soon as it stops raining out there, I will go and try one of those .. .  or see if I can sweet talk my main squeeze into doing it.  It is only about 63 degrees here today, after having several weeks of over 80 and even 2-3 days of going over 90 degrees.  All of us desert rats are going into a little shock here.

In the meantime, here are some pics of my first, successful, attempts at this new gardening adventures!




I just used an ordinary 1/4" drill bit to make the hole for the jig saw blade.












Using the blade with the larger teeth for metal cutting went around an average sized tire for a passenger car in about 5 minutes.  There was no belt in the side wall.








Wah La!!  Ready to be cleaned up and filled with a good garden mix!














The next tire was a large pick up tire with a steel belt up the entire sidewall.  When you drill the pilot hole in the side wall, it will kind of catch as it goes through the steel belt.  You will hear the wire break.  If you hear that, see if you know someone with a saws all if you don't have one.  I found the hardened blades made for metal at Home Depot.  I have also seen them at Lowe's, so they shouldn't be too hard to find.  Using those in the saws all, it took about 10 minutes to cut the side wall out.  the saws all takes more hand strength to hang on to but don't let that scare you gals off from getting this done if you need to.

The metal cutting blade for the jig saw didn't have the hardened blade and the teeth were worn almost all the way off by the time I had cut about 12"-14"in that steel belt.  Lesson learned.  Good blades pay for themselves.

Tomorrow is Sunday, so this project will be completed on Monday.  "See" you then!!

FIRST TIRE GARDEN IN THE FAMILY

My kids beat me to the draw.  I am proud of them for doing that.

I understand that it was pretty hard to cut straight with all the vibrating from the saws-all.  Though it looks pretty good to me!  


Mine isn't working right now, so I will be using a jig saw. . . . or maybe my husband will be able to get the saws-all going . . . and he, like my son, has stronger hands so will be able to help me . . . . I hope?