Caking with Mom: An Introduction to the Series

There comes a time in a young woman’s life where she begins to see her Mom within her own being.  As I sit here typing this, my face is reflecting back at me behind my words.  I see my Mom in me….a lot.  It’s not just in the beauty I see reflecting back at me that I see her, but in my heart, in the very depth of my soul.  I see the love of inspiring others with my own kindness and generosity.  I see the hope for a brighter tomorrow, and yet still see the brightness shining on the current day.  I see the desire to please everyone, but still know how to take care of my own needs at the same time.  I see the beginning of a woman I can only dream of becoming one day…a Mom that can heal the most painful of boo-boos on the body, and yet can reach deep into a broken heart and mend it.  It’s my Mom I see in me, and I feel blessed that God gave her to me to guide me through this sometimes rough life…she makes my life beautiful……(Ok, let me dry my eyes.  I need to get to CAKING!).

With the above in mind…know that my Mom and I are very close, and she knows me like a book.  So, when I write that she complained every time there were dishes to do during this process that I “conveniently” needed to go do something else…daggumit, she’s right.  I thought I could get away with it, but my plan was always foiled….*sigh*.  A book I tell ya, like a book.

A little history and introduction on the Caking part.  On every single birthday (I mean it, never missed one), Mom would always make me a cake.  In the beginning she decorated them…sure.  A one-year old couldn’t hold an icing thingy (can’t think of what they’re called if they aren’t a bag at the moment, so we’re going with “thingy”).  But, as soon as I could hold one, it was on like a fat kid at a cake icing extravaganza…oh wait, that was what it was.  Yeah, I was chunky growing up, so what?…I was cute, and my Mommy loves me.  *smiles*  It seemed every year the icing got thicker on the cakes, until one day I started doing actual designs on the cakes.  They got prettier with each year (still a ton of icing all the time).  I love icing, what can I say???

Then, in September 2005, I was engaged and was to be married in December 2005.  What did Mom do???  She immediately began taking cake decorating classes in those short three months.  She went to all sorts of classes.  You know what the best part was???  THE HOMEWORK!  Honest though, our whole household did get caked out at one point.  But, we recovered well from our three-month sugar rush.  Below you will see my wedding cake that she made with love.  Her first “official” cake. 

Now, Mom doesn’t quite have the stamina in her body to stand over a cake for hours on end and decorate them.  It’s very sad to me.  It’s a pastime of my own lifetime that I hold very dear in my memories.  It’s also something I can’t wait to hand down as a tradition to my own future offspring.  I would have been an ignoramus (I believe that’s what Cracker Barrel uses as a term for loser in their tabletop game) to pass up documenting this most recent cake. 

So, enough of the sappiness, and on to the happiness!  I promise the rest of this is going to be cheerful and entertaining.  Who knows…you might learn something along my journey.  Although, there are some tricks she told me I couldn’t share.  We will refer to these as a Southern Mom’s Special Touch throughout this series.  *smiles*  Every true Southern woman has a special trick up her sleeve only to be passed down through generations.  My Mom has hers, and I, my friends, have been passed the torch…

These are a few shots of things we will cover along the way…

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