cracked ice never looked so good

 I was surfing the internet this morning looking for ideas to renovate a diner I like downtown. It has so much potential but trapped in between the 70's and 80's with a splash of 90's. If only the owners would renovate...this baby could be good! Their fight is that not enough business comes as it is to justify renovations BUT like in the movie Field of Dreams, I say that if you build it they will come.

I love old vinyl and reproduction "old" vinyl is even better because it's not falling apart. That's why I like
barstoolsandchairs.com. Here's what you can choose from to redecorate your diner....

Cracked Ice Red Vinyl

Cracked Ice Grey Vinyl
and imagine if you had the tables to match....beautiful!









Cracked Ice Yellow Vinyl


For those of you with a wilder imagination you might opt for something along the lines of these....

Zodiac Burgandy










Zodiac Gold











Zodiac Silver

everybody likes turquoise

everythingturquoise.com is a blog my friend came across and sent me. It's like finding all the products you've ever wanted in your favorite color, listed nicely on the screen for you. Thank you for this.

Post after post I was in aw at the site of these beautiful things - until I came to my hearts one desire...

 

KitchenAid Artisan Martha Stewart Blue Collection 5-Qt. Stand Mixer

I was googling cupcake information today and came across this site...Cupcake Provocateur.
Now someone was thinking! If I'm going to spend most of my day baking/cooking in the kitchen, then I better have some good looking aprons to wear while doing it. See?...now we both win!

Why Martha? WHY?

Let me start by saying that I loved Martha's  Ruffle Tower Cake.  Just look at it.
Inspired by ruffled tap pants AND pink...what genius came up with this?
To me it is true baking beauty and I would bake it - oh yeah, it became my mission. HOWEVER my hopes and dreams were smashed into a million pieces, (like when you spill those candy sprinkles out of their container), when I tried making the frosting. The instructions look oh so easy but have you ever tried making Swiss Meringue Buttercream? Don't. 2 cups of butter and 6 egg whites later I was whipping away so anxiously waiting to start piping.

It never happened my friends because I didn't get beautiful creamy buttercream, I got a bowl of wet curdled disaster! It was like I'd poured orange juice in with eggs and tinted it pink. How was I going to frost my friends cake with this? I cried harder then I remember crying before. At this time I looked at the recipe I printed from her website and I thought, "I hate you Martha". Yeah I said it. How dare she let me waste all those ingredients AND have to use a chocolate glaze for a three tiered cake!

Oh Lordy...

someone recently celebrated their 40th birthday and got a double chocolate cake.  I went easy on the decorating but holy cow this cake was delicious! I would love to share it with you but a girl has to keep some things a secret :) 

LG Goes Retro, Introduces New CRT TV

Do not adjust your screen! Yes, it is 2010. And yes, this is an all-new CRT display from electronics giant LG.
The cutesy 14-inch set, known as the Serie 1 Retro Classic, makes use of the now-outdated cathode ray tube (CRT) display technology.
Over the last decade, the bulky and somewhat fragile CRT technology gave way to more modern, more efficient display technologies such as plasma or LCD. However, it seems LG want to satisfy any retro vibe consumers may be having.

According to Technabob, LG's new Serie 1 Retro Classic TV features all the usual characteristics of an old television set, such as an extendible antenna, rotating knobs to change the channel and adjust volume, and even detachable legs.
Yet despite its throwback charm, this new set also packs in some modern features, including an updated digital tuner, composite video inputs, and a (wireless) remote control. If all those modern features are too much for you, LG has included an extremely retro feature: the ability to watch TV in black and white or sepia.
LG's latest fashionable effort is currently only available in South Korea with no word on whether the company's new $215 TV will make its way to our shores. Do you miss the retro look? Or does the love of old have no place in your 21st century home?
[LG Korea (Korean) via Technabob] and retro renovation

Cake Walk

What I miss most while my kitchen is being renovated is baking. No place for my stand mixer just yet and although everything's back in the cupboards, it still feels a bit chaotic for some reason. Today I decided to post the cakes I've made to date...well the cakes that survived anyway.

First novelty cake. Blue's Clues was huge back then. I was so happy with the way it turned out. I realize now just how elementary the idea was but it took me all day to make it.

Spiderman was pretty nerve wracking and I could really taste the red coloring. After this cake I learned I should buy "no-taste" red color next time.

I love the idea of baking in bowls so the Ladybug cake was fun! I'm still happy with the way it turned out.

Everybody eating cake that day had red mouths. At this point I was still using boxed cake mix so they were probably quite tasteless but the kids didn't care.

The rainbow cake was meant for a Wizard of Oz themed birthday party but most of the kids attending had never seen it! I had all green plates and cutlery, some Oz related coloring sheets....oh well. I played the movie and now they've all seen it :)

Kindergarten graduation!
How cute was this? The inchworm
was the most popular part of this cake with the graduates. Unfortunately there were only seven mini cupcakes so the other half of the class had to settle for regular cake.

My version of a Hostess cupcake. Homemade chocolate cupcakes with a pink buttercream centre and a ganache top. Mmmmmm.


Avril Lavigne was big the year I made the heart with cross bones. Simple but it totally fit.


Probably my most favorite cake EVER would be the pink elephant!
Two different types were needed for it. A chocolate 13"x9" and a confetti 9" round. The cake and icing were delicious!

It was so big I needed an extension!

and other than birthday cakes I've made one for a baby shower....