Do you remember?

Turning thirteen?

Being a teenager, what fun!

Well most of the time...

...with a few a lot of awkward moments

sprinkled in between.

Here's to being 13!

Burger anyone?

I mean, cake?

Happy 13th, Justin!

So this guy was 13 at one time

but this cake isn't for him

but he did grill up some AMAZING

bleu cheese burgers on this day!

Chocolate cake, anyone?

Yes, please!

Happy 13th, Rebecca!

70 years

70 years of marriage!

A huge accomplishment in today's world.

But we are meant to grow old together,

to fall in love all over again,

day after day,

through tears and pain,

laughter and joy.

Yes, till death do us part.

It takes commitment and is not for the

weak at heart.  Its hard work, but worth it.

And so,

I had the privilege of

celebrating with my

grandparents, 70 years.

And of course,

making a cake!

My grandpa has had a favorite

kind of cake for as long as

I can remember.

Chocolate cake with chocolate icing!

And my grandma's favorite flower is

carnations

and so this cake was

made just for them.

Happy 70th Anniversary,

Grandma and Grandpa!!

Coffee time...and cake!

So as a family living in Costa Rica we have found many places we love to visit.

And since Mr. Sweet and I

enjoy drinking coffee each day,

We needed to find our favorite coffee shop

with fresh roasted coffee.

Coffee beans are dried in the sun and turned every 15 min.

The first week after living here we found it...

our favorite coffee comes from a little shop

in Central Market,

that roasts their own coffee.

While drinking a fresh cup of coffee one day

sitting at Cafe Central

my husband mentioned that I make cakes.

So for more than 8 months everytime we go for

coffee

they ask,

"Where is our cake?"

Yesterday, Mr. Sweet delivered

their CAKE.

They were super excited and were showing

all the other venders

around them.

And in return they gave me a large

burlap coffee sack.

Yes, that made me happy!

Graduation at ILE

Since Mr. Sweet was in charge of the graduation reception for this trimester,  he ask if I could make the cake.

Top layer- chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting.
bottom layer - yellow cake with dulce de leche
filling and toffee nut buttercream.

I was excited to have the chance to make a cake for many of our friends that were graduating from The Spanish Language Institute here in Costa Rica. 

With the help of other students we had plenty of sweets to satisfy all, and a beautiful graduation.

Congratulations to all the graduates!!

A teenager is in the HoUSe

While spending a year in Costa Rica at language school,

we became the parents of a teenager.

WOW!

REALLY??

Yes, our dear daughter turned 13 in Costa Rica!

We celebrated with roller skating party and of course, CAKE!

Cody's Birthday

My son turned 8!

Where have the years gone?

My baby is growing up and becoming
a little man.  We love him and are so
proud of him.

Happy 8th Birthday, Cody!

We all love you!

Cake in Costa Rica

Excited?  Yes!

I was so excited when one of

the missionary families needed

a cake for their daughter's 5th

birthday.  I was loving "playing"

with cake again.

I only brought a small amount of

my cake decorating supplies along from the US

and so I worked with what I had

and.... I found a cake store within walking distance of

our house.  Yes, I was excited!

It was a challenge to find all the ingredients

but with serveal trips to several different stores

I found all I needed and this is what I came up

with. 

Have a great weekend!



Linking up:
Sundae Scoop

Sugar and shoes...

What's not to love about a lovely pair of shoes?

This weekend I had fun creating a shoe out of fondant.

A lovely lady was celebrating her

40th birthday.

and she loves shoes and wine and

so a themed cake was in order.

 

The cake was a moist chocolate cake with

strawberry filling and vanilla buttercream.

Then covered and decorated in fondant.

I love wearing heels,

and if I could find this shoe in leather,

I would wear it.

But this one is totally edible!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Cupcakes for the party!

Turning 40 isn't all bad!

Linking up:

httphttp://www.bubblynaturecreations.com/p/linky-parties.html://http//tatertotsandjello.blogspot.com/

http//makingtheworldcuter.blogspot.com

Eighty-five ~4~ Five Hundred

 

With the snowflakes falling we headed off to the fair with a chocolate cake for judging.

My dear husband dropped me and my daughters off at the door with my cake in hand.

after finding where we needed to take the cake

we headed off in that direction and "signed-in" my cake.

Much to my surprise I got a goodie bag just for entering in the State Fair,

I was so excited.

An unexpected gift - what a treat!

An apron, Hershey's cocoa,

chocolate chips,

a spatula,

and measuring spoons!

After entering the cake we had some time till the judging so off we went to watch the Rodeo.

So fun for us to take our kids to something that was

a highlight to us when we were growing up.

Time for the judging:

There were five judges and they each judged 17 cakes and picked their top two favorite cakes.

Judge #3 was the one that judged my cake.

With each judge picking their top two cakes,

they then announced those cakes as the top 10 cakes.

This is where the competition ended for 75 people who did not make it to the top 10.

At this point the competition was over for me.

The top 10 then were judged on appearance and presentation.

And wow, some of them cakes were decadent looking.

By this time my family was ready to go see some of the other sites and so we did.

We came back just as they were getting some final pictures of the winners

and I quick snapped this one.

The winner received a check for $500.00

I learned so much!

And what a fun experience it was for me.

Out of 85 cakes

only one got the $500,

but we were all winners to be there with our chocolate cakes.

Today started with me in the kitchen baking my very first cake for competition. This one was not about the decorations but it was all about HERSHEY'S COCOA. A chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.

So I got out my favorite chocolate cake recipe and chocolate fudge frosting recipe. 4 hours later I had a cake ready to take to the local fair for the contest.

So off we went to the fair and registered the cake in the competition and then the waiting began. After two hours the judges had made their decision. And I got second place!!! I was super excited, my first competition and I got 2nd place along with a $20 prize.