...And Eat It Too

I dabble in cake decorating, making--or attempting to make--custom cakes and cupcakes for family and friends. In this, as in so many of my endeavors, I am self-educated, having followed a curriculum built of instinct, curiosity, joy in a challenge and the occasional instruction manual or internet video.

Sometimes, I'm pretty satisfied with the results. For example:



Snowman cake for a coworker

Spaghetti & meatballs cake for a fundraiser

Zebra cake for the daughter of a friend

Skittles-filled rainbow cake for Seventh Niece

Sometimes, though, the cakes fall into a whole other category. After so many years of "perfecting" my craft, I hardly ever have out-and-out failures anymore, in part because I have learned to give myself lots of leeway time-wise so that the ones that take a sharp left turn toward failure end up in the garbage can and are replaced by something at least presentable. And also because I've learned that enough frosting can cover up all sorts of horrible mistakes.

Still, there is plenty of room between the garbage can and "pretty satisfied" for cakes like this one:

Jeff Gordon car for the husband of a coworker

 

As I was putting the finishing touches on this cake last weekend, I declared to Hubby that it was another one I'd file under "Not as good as I'd hoped, but not as bad as I'd feared."

Being the pathologically philosophical sort, it hit me that all sorts of things in my life could be filed under "Not as good as I'd hoped, but not as bad as I'd feared." And it hit me, too, that learning to not only live with, but embrace "Not as good as I'd hoped, but not as bad I'd feared." might be a valuable life skill.

C is for Cake