Days Of Cake

It's been cake, cake and more cake at my house over the last few days as I've been working hard trying to make the best celebration cake for my friends Marc and Michael's 10th wedding anniversary today.

They have been so supportive and easy going about me making it, basically saying, "Heidi we would like you to make our cake and anything you do is fine." Seeing the finished cake will be a complete surprise and I so hope they will be pleased.

I promise to post a picture of the finished cake later today but until then, here are a few pictures of what I've been up to:

Another Leisurely Lunch

Today's Meal.

For the second week in a row, we served a rather leisurely lunch at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral's Wednesday Community Meal.

There was a line to get in at the start but once the doors opened, we were able to seat everyone right away and for the rest of the two hour service no one had to wait very long. In the end we served 241 meals.

Most of the guests got roasted pork loin, crispy potatoes, green beans, marinated tomatoes and baked apples as their entree. The meal looked beautiful and pleased our guests.

We also served salad, soup and dessert which was an assortment of sweet treats donated by Starbucks which has been so generous to us. We glean baked goods from multiple downtown Starbucks locations each week and besides utilizing them for dessert on Wednesdays, we hand them out daily at the church from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. along with cups of hot coffee and bags of canned food.

An assortment of Starbucks treats for dessert.

I have much respect for Starbucks Coffee Company and their willingess to distribute leftover food instead of tossing it which in reality would be much easier than managing the gleaning. When I hear negativity about the company being too big, being everywhere, taking over and not being local, I'm quick to share what they do for us and other nonprofits in our community. I am grateful for their benevolence.

Coming Soon...A Tiered Anniversary Cake

Anniversary Cake Supplies.

For the last month I've been working on a design for a tiered anniversary cake for a celebration this coming Sunday. Since showtime is quickly approaching, I'm doing my best to stay organized and trying to get as much as possible done ahead of time.

Over the weekend I finished getting all my supplies in order and the first task I knocked off my to do list was covering the cake boards.

I say cake boards because in addition to the tiered cake, I'm making two large cakes that we can slice into first so that the centerpiece cake can remain intact, at least for a bit.

For cake boards, I use 16-inch wood rounds that I cover with fabric and trim. I purchased the boards at the hardware store and I love that they are sturdy and reusable. When the party is over, I just remove the fabric and trim and set them aside for next time.

When it comes to choosing what fabric to cover the boards in, I like neutral and simple since the cake should be what stands out. For this event I'm using muslin since I'm trimming the cake boards with a burlap trim and thought they'd look nice together. The materials I chose also add a bit of texture to the cake boards which I like and feel is perfect for a fall celebration.

Here's how to cover a cake board:

Lay the board on the fabric and simply pull the fabric taut around it and staple into place. Don't worry if the stapling looks messy. This is the underside and no one will see it.

See how nice this looks.

To add the trim, measure the circumference of the board and add one inch to this to get the length you need. Cut the trim.

I used a glue gun to adhere the trim to the side of the board, working just a bit at a time until the side is completely covered. When you get to the end, cut the trim neatly so that it overlaps just about 1/4 of an inch.

Here are my completed boards. Notice the seam of the trim on the bottom board — It doesn't look too bad but I always make sure it's on the backside of the finished cake.

Cookie Borders

My recent batch of barn owl cookies. The cookies with a border look better to me and more complete.

A piped border whether it be dots, a line or a combination of the two, is a really nice way to finish off decorated cookies.

I just think a border makes a cookie feel really complete, it's a frame for your art — And that's why I added a variety of them to my recent batch of barn owl cookies.

When adding a border you want to use icing that is piping consistency and holds its shape yet isn't so stiff that it holds a peak and you can see your stop and start points.  You want icing that holds yet settles to a smooth surface. This might sound complicated but it really isn't and just takes patience and practice.

Having the correct consistency of royal icing when piping borders is the key to success so it's important to take your time to get the consistency right. Always test icing first by piping onto a plate before adding it to your cookies.

Once you have your icing right, it's time to add the borders. Here are a few ideas:

A line following the shape of the cookie is the simplest design.

A dot border. Practice making even-sized dots before adding them to the cookie.

Closeup.

Alternating dots and lines for a border is another option.

Adding dots all over the cookie creates a wide border and also helps "frame" the owl.

Barn Owl Cookies

I made these double-decker barn owl cookies by using the brushed embroidery technique to add texture and details to the owls and then later added the color by painting them with food coloring.

The cookies weren't difficult to make but they were definitely labor intensive. I achieved the pretty blue color for the base cookie by mixing four colors -avacado green, electric purple, violet and royal blue.

Here's how I made them:

Make a batch of sugar cookie dough and get your cutters ready.

Base cookies ready for the oven.

Outline the base cookies with medium consistency royal icing using a #2 tip. Wait for the outline to dry before filling in the cookie.

While you are waiting for your basecoat outlines to dry, outline and fill the owls with flood consistency royal icing using a #2 tip.

You might need to use a skewer or scribe tool to evenly distribute the icing.

Wait for the iced owls to dry completely.

Using flood consistency icing and a #2 tip, fill in the base cookies.

Once again, you may need to use a skewer or scribe tool to help evenly distribute the icing.

Let the cookies dry completely. This takes anywhere from 8 to 12 hours depending on the humidity.

Once your owl cookies are dry, you can add the brushed embroidery details using piping consistency royal icing and a #2 tip. First, outline the face.

Use a square tip brush to pull the icing from the outline in towards the center of the face. Rinse your brush after every few swipes.

Add the eyebrows and nose by piping them and using the small brush to maneuver and tweak the shape of the icing.

Also add wings by piping two sets of waves on the owl and using the square tip brush to pull the icing towards the edges of the cookie.

After adding the details, the cookies need to dry completely before painting.

A plate with the food colors I used. To thin them, I used plain water. A little drop of coloring goes a very long way and I added way too much to my plate.

With a soft brush begin adding color to the owl. To keep the color from being too dark, I swiped my brush a few times on a paper towel first to remove some of the excess coloring. Then go on to add two black eyes and a touch of light pink at the end of the owl's nose. I also added some black spots to the owl's chest.

A finished owl. To attach the cookie to the base cookie, just use a few drops of stiff royal icing.

I decided to embellish the cookies with decorative borders using medium consistency royal icing. If your icing is too stiff, your dots will have peaks.

Make sure the cookies are completely dry before packaging.

Another owl cookie with a different decorative border.

A cookie closeup.

I like that every one of these cookies is different. This was a fun and satisfying cookie decorating/art project.

Baked Potatoes

Some of the 120 pounds of baked potatoes we served today. We made them extra good by rubbing them with oil and sprinkling them with Kosher salt before baking. Volunteers Cheryl and Mary worked hard today prepping all of them for the ovens.

Baked potatoes were a hit today at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral's Wednesday Community Meal. The 120 pounds that we used came free from The Oregon Food Bank and we turned them into a full meal by topping them with chili, cheese and sour cream.

"Everyone is so happy when they see we're serving baked potatoes," said longtime volunteer Carol who serves in the dining room. "Their eyes just light up when they see what's on their plate."

Today's meal.

Alongside the potatoes we served oven roasted tomatoes that we seasoned with salt, garlic and fresh basil.

I think our guests liked the baked potatoes because they are delicious, comforting and easy to eat. Most of our guests can't afford dental care and because of this, quite a few have difficulty eating anything that's tough to chew.  How easy a food is to eat is something we always have to consider when we are deciding what to make.

I learned this years ago when I offered a guest an apple to take home and he said "Now Heidi, do you really think I can eat that?"  Then he smiled and revealed a mouth full of missing and broken teeth. It really hit me that having dental care is something I shouldn't take for granted. I wish so much that it could be made affordable and available to everyone because having it improves the quality of life.

In addition to the potatoes we served soup, salad and dessert. The dessert was an assortment of tasty cakes and pies donated from the Trader Joe's on NW Glisan Street. 

Lemon tart slices that were just one of many desserts from Trader Joe's that we offered today.

We weren't too busy since it's the very first of the month but we still served 214 meals and saw a lot of smiles in the dining room.