Happy Halloween!

Oh poppets, how I've missed you so! I have few excuses besides the same ole' same ole': renovations, work, and general fatigue. I must admit that after sitting at a computer all day every day, the last thing I want to do when I get home is blog.

I've also undertaken a more personal project that has absorbed the lot of my focus these days...ME! I've been trying as best as possible to eat right and exercise, building strength and pushing myself beyond my historical limits. I ran my first 5K on Sunday at the CIBC Run For the Cure in support of breast cancer research. On Saturday I will be running a 7K obstacle course called the Badass Dash with my friend Jen (this one is not charitable, but sounds like a metric buttload of fun). I've lost over 20 lbs over this past year and have kept them off, and am sleeping better, have less pain in my neck and shoulders, and am generally more well.

It has been, as always, very difficult to balance my love of baking and eating sweets with a healthier lifestyle, and I've definitely not always been successful at it! However it has occurred to me recently that it has made me miserable to avoid doing something I love so much, and decided I'll just have to figure it out. But I digress.

This past weekend was Canada's Baking and Sweets Show, and it was so good that I've already got next year's show in my calendar. Beyond getting lots of fabulous free samples, there are some excellent deals on supplies, informative and entertaining demonstrations, and best of all...hands-on workshops with teachers from the Bonnie Gordon College of Confectionery Arts and other well-known chefs for only $60! I signed up for two, but I swear...if I had more time that weekend (Louis CK on Friday, Sweets Show all day Saturday, 5K run on Sunday PLUS building our deck--phew!) I would have been in back-to-back workshops all weekend long. I also spent waaaaaaaaaaay too much money on fondant, Disco Dust (edible glitter) and all kinds of other goodies.

Anyway, one of the workshops was making a Halloween-themed "cake" (it was a cake decorating class, so we covered styrofoam cake dummies with fondant) and I made Bubbling Cauldron:

I was so pleased to have gotten to do this, because most of my fondant work has been with wedding cakes (I find it incredibly strange that my cake-making career bypassed celebration cakes and jumped straight to weddings). I haven't had many paid opportunities to truly flex my fondant muscles. So while I was working away on this cake, I'm feeling all jazzed about doing elaborate cakes and putting out into the universe that I want to do more of these...and BAM! I get an email from a friend of a friend asking if I could make her son's birthday cake. It was a rush order for Saturday, but how could I say no?

Now, I don't know anything about Minecraft, but this kid loves it and wants a Minecraft cake...so like always I jump in the pool to learn how to swim!

I'll keep you posted...