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DFTBA

Last week a musician stood on stage in front of me and shouted at the crowd, “Hey, I’m just a guy  who likes a good beat and thinking about life’s biggest questions!” Don’t we NEED forces like that in our lives? Muses who create great art to inspire and to challenge us.

When I bake, I listen to a lot of audiobooks. I have always enjoyed the writings of John Green and the vlogbrothers videos Hank and John launch onto YouTube to make the world a little more nerdy… a little more awesome. Then came TFIOS. The Fault in Our Stars is about a couple of kids that meet in a cancer support group. (You can read the first chapter here.) After a year walking alongside friends and family struggling with cancer and other unexplainable illnesses, God brought me tremendous joy, humor, and healing through this story. When I heard John Green was coming to DC for the National Book Festival I had to go and say THANK YOU.

Admittedly, I am not toiling away in a laboratory working on a cure for the evils of the world, but I do believe that creating something pretty– that brings joy– is a gift I can give. In the words of Augustus Waters, “I enjoy looking at beautiful people, and I decided a while ago not to deny myself the simpler pleasures of existence.” And what simple pleasure can rival a cookie?

tfios-cookie

When I presented the cookies to Mr. Green he thanked me and asked a simple questions- “How did you make this?” With great intellectual prowess I responded with something along the lines of “I bake cookies in my oven.”  Mmmmm hmmm. Not untrue…  Eventually, I recovered use of my wits and was able to express a shadow of gratitude.

Yes, cookies do bake in the oven. Using a complicated series of chemical reactions for gluten formation, sugar breakdown into monosaccharides, and the interplay of baking soda and water creating CO2… viola! Cookies! After cooling, they can be layered with icing (more sugar chains), fondant, and chocolate (don’t even go there) to replicate any design. The most challenging part is color-matching the blue tones and getting the shapes just right. I used a tiny brush and food coloring to apply the font on the cover.(Americolor Bright White food tint is one of my favorite discoveries in all of bakingdom.)  So there you have it.

An unexpected pleasure of the day was meeting the 1,800 nerdfighters/fans who came to the booksigning. I am not even exaggerating here. Shout out to  the readers who shared inspiring stories, hysterical t-shirts, and a ton of great book recommendations.

Take a peek at the mayhem and hear John’s thoughts on DC, government, art, and our specific squirrel situation here:

VLOG: John Green at the National Book Festival

Library of Congress Podcast: John Green’s reading and discussion of TFIOS

ps- John, be glad you did not encounter a notorious DC midnight-black squirrel because those creatures will growl and steal your popcorn before you even know what happened! Show no fear.

Don’t Forget To Be Awesome.

Posted in Cookies.

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Cupcake Camp DC 2012

One more reminder that TODAY is the last day to register for Cupcake Camp DC. Need more information? Check out the CCC DC blog for the latest news.

If you want to hear the whole story about the event and the 2012 Charity, DC Candlelighters, check out this article in the Clarendon Patch: Eat Cupcakes for a Cause at CupcakeCampDC

You may recognize the photo in the article– Honeybee Bakeshop’s Salted Caramel Pear Cupcakes!

Pear Cupcake

Posted in Celebration Cakes.


Java Rush

This week I made my annual pilgrimage to New York for the US Open. Between some tough tough competitions and a sprinkle of rain delays…  we enjoyed some late nights of tennis. Luckily, Starbucks had my back with a new wave of seasonal lattes for Fall. Hallelujah! So my flavor choice for Cupcake Camp DC seemed obvious.

psl1

Pumpkin Spice Latte

So come on over to Cupcake Camp DC on Saturday at 4pm. It’s at the Continental in Rosslyn, so there will ALSO be skeeball. Just sayin’.

Posted in Announcements, Cupcakes.


Cupcakes Anyone?

 

 

We are neck deep in frosting, sprinkles, baking liners, and mini cupcakes. It is glorious!

 

fall-confetti

 

 

Tonight is the 2nd Annual Cupcake Challenge and we are celebrating a Taste of the Seasons.

    • Winter Wonderland
    • Spring Spectacles
    • Sweet Summer
    • Fabulous Fall Flavors

We have 71 flavors entries across the competition. with 9 dozen cupcakes in each sampling, we are clocking in with just over 7,650 mini cupcakes. Sugar insanity.

If you have tickets in hand, I will see you at the National Capital Area Cake Show at 7pm. We are sold out online, but if you feel lucky, there are still some tickets left for sale at the door.

 

Posted in Celebration Cakes.


2012 National Capital Area Cake Show

 ncacs-cake

 

It’s time again! This weekend is the 2012 National Capital Area Cake Show.  Tons of gorgeous cakes, an epic bake sale, classes that will get the creative juices flowing, educational cake tours, and hundreds of fellow sugar fiends to hang out with.

What more could you want? How about a television-style live competition, and cupcake challenge with over 6,000 little cupcakes waiting to be tasted.

But wait… there is more. This year we are adding fresh microbrewed coffee, food trucks from Eat Sauca and the Bratwust King, and more free-to-view challenges on Sunday.

Excited yet?

Stop by and say hello!

Saturday & Sunday  March 24-25, 2012
Ernst Community Cultural Center
Northern Virginia Community College
8333 Little River Turnpike, Annandale, VA 22003

Saturday 10-5    &       Sunday 9-5

 

 For more information, check out these websites:

NCACS Main Site— www.cakeshow.org

Cupcake Challenge— www.cupcakechallenge.org

See you there.

 

 

 

Posted in Announcements, Musings and Inspiration.

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