Wednesday, November 24, 2021

Cake Stories part 2 – the baby shower

 



There have been many memorable stories over the years as I baked and decorated cakes.  I wanted to share a few of them this week as a reminder to be thankful in all situations…

As I mentioned in yesterday’s blog, I took on many new challenges when making and decorating cakes.  I tried to see how far I could push my creative talents.  I judged if it was done before, why couldn’t I try and do it myself?

Once a customer requested a baby shower cake for her upcoming shower.  She issued me the creative license to make what ever I wanted.  I decided to make a baby buggy cake.  How awesome would that be in a shower?  A 3D baby buggy cake with all the frills!  I wanted to bless this new mom to be and started on the project. 

This is an example of what I created.  

Note this is NOT what I created, but an example 😊



I had an idea in my head, but wasn’t sure how I was going to execute it.  I did a great deal of research in the books I had on hand.  Remember there was no Google at that time.  As the project idea grew, my nervous feelings also grew.  I didn’t take into consideration all the moving parts needed.  My project management skills took over and I made a game plan.  I pushed through the fears knowing I would have to assemble it onsite when I arrived. 



The morning of the shower the cakes were baked and left to cool in the kitchen.  The icing was made and ready to decorate.  Each part of the buggy was starting to come together.  I became more excited as I saw the form take place.  Cookies were purchase for the wheels and rods and a stand were ready for the assembly.  Each piece had multiple flowers and basket weaving.  The handle would be a simple plastic wire with a ribbon for looks.  The final pieces looked like a do-it-yourself assembly at Ikea, but it was ready to go down the road.

I carefully put the pieces in the front seat of our car.  I put the accessories in the trunk for complete assembly later.  I buckled the kids in the backseat.  We were ready to go.  Carefully I pulled out of the driveway and headed down the road.  The baby shower was only 15 minutes away from our home.  We were on time and ready to bless this new mom to be.

As I headed down the road, I carefully took every turn slowly to make sure the precious cake cargo was safe in the process. 

This is where things took a turn.  Driving down the road a car in front of me decided to suddenly hit his breaks and make a quick left hand turn down a road.  There was no way I could have stopped in time slowly even though I had enough room behind him.  Protective mom came out and I hit the breaks hard to make sure we were safely behind the car instead of plowing into his trunk.  The car made his quick turn and went on. 

We were safe.  However, in the process of slamming on my breaks to avoid any collision, the cake was not.  The entire cake, all pieces were now secured in the floor space of the passenger seat.  I pulled over and assessed the damage.  There was no recovering from this.  The kids sat silently in the back seat. 

I regrouped for a minute and then turned the car around and headed to the nearest grocery store.  I then went in a purchased a couple of basic cakes for my customer.  I delivered the cakes a little late, along with a deep apology.  She was so sympathetic and more worried about paying me for my services or the new cakes.  I declined. 

I then took the kids to the nearest fast-food place, and we ate lunch there while the damaged cakes remained in the car for the moment.  After we came home, I spent the next few hours cleaning the inside of the car.  It smelled like frosting for many months afterwards.

Why am I telling you this story?  Well for one, not everything goes as we plan.  And secondly, we need to give thanks to God for everything, good and bad that happens to us.  God knew that was going to happen.  My feelings of frustration were there.  There was no controlling my feelings.  However, my actions with my frustrated feelings were in my control.  To this day, my kids remember this incident and how I reacted.  That was one of the times I came through with a good example to my kids.  It wasn’t always like that.  But that time I passed. 

 

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Copyright © 2022 Peggy A. Priest. All Rights Reserved.

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