When I worked in advertising, I was especially bothered by emails suggesting my calendar be blocked off for a “postmortem.” After a campaign or new business pitch, we’d gather in a conference room to discuss the breakdown of communication, the toes stepped upon, everything that went wrong. There was always room for improvement, an opportunity to “fail better” next time. Only, we’d have the “cause of death” discussions even in the face of our successes. Just because the client is happy, doesn’t mean everyone else is. At least, that was the souvenir I took with me when I left the advertising amusement park. (slideshow of flickr photos from the party below)
After L. Beckett and Abigail’s recent birthday party, where they were both over the moon, I had zero desire to autopsy anything, though a little dig through cake leftovers would prove mildly regrettable. The cakes were by far my biggest regret. I ordered two, very straightforward, plain Jane cakes from A Taste of Home Bakery, (voted best of Long Island Bakeries), $100.
1) A blackout cake with chocolate ganache “frosting”, blue fondant lettering
2) White cake with lemon curd filling and lemon buttercream, yellow fondant lettering
The decoration, I told them, I would supply. Sewed cake bunting, searched store upon store for the proper Hello Kitty and dinosaur, coordinating ribbons. All I wanted was cake as good as the ones I ordered from Planet Bonnie, in Austin. Not even close. The lemon filling of this Taste of Home cake wasn’t made with fresh lemons, but with that filling you buy in bulk at a cake supply shop. There was no lemon zest, nothing fresh tasting about it. The chocolate cake was better, but it wasn’t death by chocolate bliss, no. It was ordinary. Mind you, it’s only a sixth birthday party, and who cares? But I might as well have ordered a cake from Costco (because those cakes look mighty tall at least). Oh, Planet Bonnie, I miss you so. You with your hidden chocolate bars (inside cupcakes and cakes!), and with your white chocolate curls and cooling white chocolate fillings. I need the recipe for my own personal well-being. How is it that I’m in NEW YORK and I cannot find cake as good?
The frosting of my cake: my true love bean
COMMENTS:
Leave a Reply
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Looks like a wonderful party. You may have been unhappy with the cakes, but I’m sure the kids were happy. Kids just like CAKE. And costco makes great ones. Don’t know how they do it, but I’m always taken aback by how much better they do it than most of the small bakeries near me.
Hi Stephanie, how did you style your hair in these pictures? It looks great!! Please share some tips!
Thank you, Mara. Basically, you use a curling iron and pretend it’s one without a clamp (you never open the clip part). Instead, starting at the root of your hair, sectioned, you grab the end of your hair section with one hand. With the iron in the other hand, slip the iron closest to the roots of your hair, then using the hand that holds the end of the hair, wrap wrap wrap all the hair around the barrel (the iron tip is usually facing the floor)… sounds way more complicated than it actually is.