And the First Place goes to... ME!!!!

Feeling a little experimental...

I entered my first bake off contest this week sponsored by our local library. Since I saw the advertisement for the contest, I have been pondering on which cake to bake because I have a few favorites. My first thought was to make a Red Velvet cake but this is the South and that is a very common cake around here. Alas, I decided against it. Then I thought, perhaps, I could bake my Signature Strawberry Dream Cake. Well, considering that strawberries are plentiful and abounding, I was sure someone would make a cake containing strawberries.  I finally settled on making a Key lime cake with cream cheese frosting. Making this cake can be tricky because it contains various citrus flavors outside key limes.

Ok, moving on... So I baked the cake the night before and decorated it the next day a few hours before the competition. I load up my car and head to my destination. At this point, I am a nervous wreck!!! I turn in my registration form and place my cake on the table for the moderator to label. I have to leave the room because my heart is thumping. As I walk out of the room, I notice some of the other entries. I am thinking, "There is some real competition in here."

Before:
My "award" winning Key lime cake

Judging is now over. While the scores are being tallied, the floor is open for all the contestants and spectators to enjoy the dessert entries. My ever loyal children make a beeline to my cake and that was all they wanted to eat. :) The moderator now has the list of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners and she is ready to let us know the results... The moderator calls my name for first prize and I am completely surprised. I am given a blue ribbon, a recipe book on baking and I will be featured in our local county newspaper.

After

I simply can't stop smiling about my win. I am so proud of myself. I was actually going to talk myself out of entering because I didn't want to be disappointed. That is the one thing that I have learned about life, it goes on regardless of whether I actively participate and engage or not. I am stepping even further outside of my box and I am now on the hunt for my next competition....

Ciao,

Mission: Summer Break!

We have had a lot of fun 3 weeks into summer break. The girls have enjoyed a puppet show, a few water days, outdoor festivals and picnics. I had a bright idea today... I should note every fun activity that the girls and I do week by week, just in case someone else needs some inspiration. I have found that my days go alot smoother when I have a schedule of activities and lots of interesting opportunities to learn something new.

So this week fresh off of Memorial day, we stuffed ourselves with an impromptu Pizza Picnic on Wednesday. The weather on Thursday called for hot weather and high humidity translation: Find some water to get into! Our first stop was story time and crafts at the library. Next, we headed over to Centennial Park for a music during the Music @ Noon series and then the girls cooled off by jump in and through the Fountain of Rings. I plan on keeping this outing in my back pocket, in case I run out of ideas or fall behind schedule for another event.

After all of my errands were complete, I rewarded the girls for good behavior with a free donut in honor of National Donut Day from Krispy Kreme. Believe it or not, we were able to pick whatever doughnut we wanted, not just one of the original glazed. We loaded back into the car and headed to the library so that Makenie and Payon could turn in their reading logs for a prize as part of the Clayton County Dream Big - Read! program.

Stay tuned for our next installation of Mission: Summer Break!