We had a cake walk for the school carnival and they were looking for donations. Donations of baked good. Store bought or home baked. So I signed up of course!
I love baking for others! They always say "thank you" and "please" and "it's delicious." It's good for a mother's heart!
So I was excited and perusing recipes thinking of mousse cakes and trifles and then I thought . . . no refrigeration.
Then I thought of flourless chocolate cakes and homemade pies . . . and I thought this is for CHILDREN!
My kids expect me to bring something they're proud of to school! I expect them to behave at my functions. This is essentially THEIR thing. I needed to cater to their desires on this occasion.
So I asked them "Tastes great? or Looks cool?"
It was unanimous, "LOOKS COOL!" won the vote. No politician has ever had a mandate as strong as this one! I needed to make something edible that looked awesome.
The problem is that beauty in food isn't my strongest point. I'm always serving dinner in the pans I cooked it in. My cleanup crew loves me for it! Heck, my family has a tradition of getting extra "fancy" paper plates for Easter and Christmas dinner! We're saving water! Those plates are biodegradable! WE'RE BEING GREEN! There's little hope for us. We're incorrigible.
What to do? Cupcakes are always cute. We've a new cupcake bakery in town and cupcake shows on TV! Let's go for it! Besides there's always the Internet! After a little research I assembled my tools. I purchased boxed cake mixes, canned frosting, gum drops, mini marshmallows and a piping bag and "catcakes" came to life!
Thirty minutes into the carnival we went to the cake walk and they were already gone!
I find that I love cooking for others because it pleases them. So why make them something they wouldn't like? The following are some dinner party/cooking tips developed by my mother!
Who?-Who are you cooking for? My mother was always very careful to think about who she was cooking for. Being in a military family she often had guests that were total strangers to her. So she'd cook simply! My oldest son would have all his buddies over for his birthday. His buddies happened to have all sorts of unusual dietary restrictions! So we always had some form of poultry! "Who are you cooking for? What do they LIKE? What might please THEM?"
Don't scare the dinner guests with "challenging" ingredients! Well, unless they like that sort of thing.
What?-What's on sale? What's in season? Do not plan a caprese salad in the middle of winter! In fact don't plan a caprese salad until you've got the actual beautiful tomatoes in hand! Ugh! Wouldn't you think you'd be able to get beautiful tomatoes in July? I couldn't at any price one year.
Where?-Is this a picnic? A buffet? A formal dinner? Do you have to transport the food somewhere? Are people going to be eating at a table or on their laps? I was asked to make a dessert for a baby shower once. When I found out it was going to be a potluck BBQ I decided to bring cookies! People were a little disappointed at first but realized by the end of the BBQ that cookies were perfect. A cookie is a portable, non-messy, and delicious buffet food!
When? Do you have time for last minute preparations? Can you cook all day? Is this dinner after a day at the zoo? Do you need something light? Is it a Friday during Lent? You might want to skip chicken the day after Thanksgiving!
Why? Are you celebrating a birthday? If so, there should be something cake like. Is it a pre-game day dinner? Maybe spaghetti would be in order. Are people going to be dressed in gorgeous "dry clean only" clothes? NO TOMATO SAUCE!!!
I'm so glad I didn't make flourless chocolate cake for the cake walk. It would of broke my heart to see it sitting there throughout the evening! The cakes were on display all day at school and the kids had fun walking past them saying "MY mom made that!" Well at least that's what my daughter said.
That little wiggle in my "technique" gives them all a little different expression, don't you think? It's what I tell myself!
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