Biting Off More Than We Can Chew...

                                                       

It was such an adorable cake pan. And the birthday boy loved snowmen. Perfect! We would make him a snowman cake.  I couldn't find a flat Wilton pan in the shape of a snowman, where you just decorate it flat. No. So I discovered this three dimensional guy who stands up. I thought, "Cool. That will be adorable." It was only after having placed the order on Amazon that I thought about what I had done. I had never made a three dimensional cake that stood vertical before. How would I get it to stand up? What would steady it? It would probably fall off the tray with a lit candle on it, just as we brought it to him singing Happy Birthday.

There would also be no extra time. The pan would arrive the evening we would have to start baking. Oh dear. I solicited the help of my clever daughter Mary. That took some of the pressure off.

We had to bake him the night before, glue him with thick icing to the cardboard and refrigerate him overnight. I started referring to this guy as Frosty, of course. With great trepidation we lifted him, undecorated on the cardboard, with only wet frosting holding him vertical. After he made it into the fridge I started calling him, appropriately I think, Steady Eddy. The next morning we started the decorating. The snow was mostly done as stars, the hat and the scarf with a ribbon tip, I think.

My daughter, who has much less experience than I in cake decorating, turned out to have quite a natural knack. Thankfully!

And here was Steady Eddy, on his little pedestal, the prince of the hot chocolate table (which I will write more about tomorrow.)

 When my one-year old grandson saw it he started laughing and pointing. (Heart throb!) It was worth every effort just to see his face.

As moms and grandmoms we have to be careful about overextending. Generally, I've found that, for me, it is not a good idea to take on too much.

But sometimes it just works! This was one of those times. There was stress, yes. But it was a good stress, the kind that propels you forward and uses creative energy, powered by love.

May we all learn the right boundaries on what we ought to try and ought not to try. May the Spirit guide us. And if the Spirit says, "Go for it," may we go for it. Blessed be God.