Time Management

These past couple of weeks have flown by. That said, I have to remind myself that time always moves at the same pace. Life is what speeds up and slows down. So, as life happened at lightening speed, I realized I needed to get a better grip on my time management skills.

First there was JoAnna's wedding. I offered to make mini cupcakes for her rehearsal dinner. I asked that we keep it to two flavors, considering the guest count was roughly 35 and I could bake two sets of 48 cupcakes with relative ease. JoAnna loved the idea, but had one condition: no chocolate. Arg. First off, I like chocolate, it's the best. Second, it keeps longer, which means I can make it the day before. I just have a hard time making white and yellow cakes the day before because I know how much they dry out; they're still delicious, but I know in my heart they tasted better yesterday. But, the bride wants what the bride wants and I didn't object. She decided on lemon cake w/ raspberry buttercream, and coconut cake w/ coconut cream cheese garnished with sweetened coconut , and I decided I would make them the day before anyway. Self-rebellion feels so good sometimes.
The night before the rehearsal, she and Sara came over to finish up wedding favors while I baked. They showed up at about 6pm, but before we could get to work, we had to pick up all the booze for the wedding. Then we had to go to Safeway to get what they didn't have at Costco. It took much longer than expected. We got home around 8:30 and I realized I had no mini baking cups. So all I could do was make the buttercream and cream cheese frostings, and as I watched the girls make favors, I concluded I was not in the mood to do anything crafty with paper and bows and candy, so I had a stroke of genius and toasted a bunch of coconut for garnish on the mini coconut cupcakes. Originally I was just going to use regular old coconut, but as the smell filled the house with warm happiness, I knew I made the right last minute choice.
The day of the rehearsal, I made all the cupcakes. I kept running out of things and can't remember what, but it was a race to the finish. I ran to meet the bride and groom for a mani/pedi, and barely made it back in time to curl my hair and put on makeup. I really wanted to find a cute new dress to wear but there was no time, NONE! Everybody seemed to be running behind that day. Sara and I showed up late to the rehearsal, and the bride and groom even later.
Finally it was time for dinner and I got to show off my mini cupcakes. Everybody loved them, especially the coconut. But unfortunately, I was so rushed, I did not even get a chance to take a photo, and neither did anybody else. Tear.
JoAnna's wedding coming and going was so bittersweet. I had so much fun helping her with her plans, throwing parties and doing girly things with my best friends. But I also felt relieved to have life go back to normal, slow down, and have time to enjoy the things I missed, such as gardening, lazy Saturdays and going to the beach.

Then I realized Deema's shower was coming up, and I committed to making the cake.. the weekend after JoAnna's wedding! Ah! I was excited to do it, but just a little burnt out. I thought I had the wedding stuff behind me, ha.
Deema never expected me to bake and thanked me a million times over for even agreeing to do it. She is one of my biggest fans and I love her and baking so much, baking her shower cake could never feel like a chore. It was just the lack of time and energy on my end that slowed me down.
Once again I spent a Friday night in baking. Which is not a problem, in fact, it's amazing, but friends just sometimes don't get it.. oh well. I had Ashley over for dinner that night. We talked until about 9 and I was like, ah, I have to bake! She was excited to watch. I busted out my square pan for the first time evar. Guest count was 25 so I went for a 12" pan. I didn't really know what I was doing, but hoped that one recipe of white cake would do the job for one 12" layer. It ended up being fine, although just a little short- each layer was 1" which meant I'd have a 3" cake. I made note to learn pan size to batter ratio better- really need to work on getting a 4" tall cake!!
By the time I was done with the first layer and cleaning up, it was 11pm. I had an early morning so I opted to go to bed. I started baking again at 9am. I didn't have a square cake board, anything to put it in for carrying, or even a gift for Deema. I don't know what I was thinking. I baked the second layer, made the strawberry buttercream, chopped up some fresh strawberries for the filling, and ran out of the house to pick up the things I needed. I got back home at 12 and the shower was set to start in an hour. ACK!!! I cut the board, frosted the first layer, made a "stabilized" whip cream for the filling, threw on the strawberries, added the second layer, whipped out a crumb coat, and threw the cake in the fridge to harden a bit while I did my hair and makeup. Came back to work on the cake and I was completely flustered. I had 10 minutes until the party started and the damn corners of the cake would not stay frosted. The bar stool was in my way so I shoved it as hard as I could and it hit the wall slightly. Brad began telling Jeepers and Fiona that "Mean Colleen" was here and to watch out. Looking back it was funny but I had to use all my mental strength to ignore him while I struggled. He reminded me that this happens a lot- me frosting at the 11th hour, which of course only made me more upset. But I'm glad he pointed it out because it is true and something I definitely need to work on. Baking is not much fun when you're in a rush.
Due to the lack of time, the decor came out elementary. I'd say I'm embarrassed but that wouldn't help anything. However, please note the pointy umbrella, funky short sleeved wedding gown, sad little gifts, and size 18 ring. They are pretty hilarious.
In the end, I produced a square foot of delicious white cake w/ whipped cream and fresh strawberries frosted with a supreme strawberry buttercream, decorated to unperfection. I'm still happy because this really was about the process... and boy did I learn! As we cut into the cake at the shower, we all discovered that stabilized whip cream is quite the opposite of stable. The layers split apart so it looked like each person had two slices of cake, haha! This is the second time Rose Levy Berenbaum has failed me, so she gets only one more chance before I sell her book on Amazon.

With weddings officially behind me, and a lack of enthusiasm for the next Iron Cupcake (alcohol theme), I have so many options for my next baking adventure! I'd like to work more on the square cakes and really study the steps of baking so I can plan better for my next event.

a square foot of cake: