Chiffon Is A Lovely Word

What does it mean to you? What colour do you see? Chiffon. The feel of the word leaving my lips is sheer and wispy and soft; a hush of sound. Sensual. Yummy. Chiffon brings back memories. Was it your prom dress or honeymoon lingerie? Did you learn to bake a lemon chiffon cake in 'home ec' or your Bubby's kitchen? (Speaking of home ec, I wish they'd bring that back don't you? For boys and girls.) When you think of chiffon do you visualize fashion couture and Paris or Hollywood glamour? For some I've spoken to, chiffon conjures up tackiness, cheap and passe. I picture a chiffon cheesecake; light and airy. The kind that melts on the tip of my wet tongue. I long for photo shoots on breezy beaches, capturing billowing yards of chiffon flying above and over the foamy shore. Chiffon makes me happy. Nostalgic. My Mother sewing dresses in dim light, late at night on the dining room table. Chiffon is a lovely word. What does it mean to you? What colour do you see?

White Dog White Snow White Pot 'O Cupcake

A happy activity on a snow squall Canadian day.

525,600 Minutes

Five hundred twenty-five thousand

Six hundred minutes,

Five hundred twenty-five thousand

Moments so dear

Five hundred twenty-five thousand

Six hundred minutes

How do you measure,

measure a year?

In daylights,

in sunsets,

in midnights

In cups of coffee

In inches,

in miles,

in laughter,

in strife

In five hundred twenty-five thousand

Six hundred minutes

How do you measure a year in the life?

How about love?

How about love?

How about love?

Measure in love

Seasons of love

Seasons of love

Five hundred twenty-five thousand

Six hundred minutes

Five hundred twenty-five thousand

Journeys to plan

Five hundred twenty-five thousand

Six hundred minutes

How do you measure the life

Of a woman or a man?

In truths that she learned

Or in times that he cried

In bridges he burned

Or the way that she died

It's time now to sing out

Tho' the story never ends

Let's celebrate

Remember a year in the life of friends

Remember the love

(Oh you got to, got to)

Remember the love

(Remember the love)

Seasons of love

(Measure measure you life in love)

Seasons of love

Seasons of love

Cake Spy

As you know, my favorite food group is cake. Now I don't eat cake every day, although if I was in charge of the national food guides, I would definitely have 1 slice on there! I have written about my 'cake love' here and here and here and I have gotten real good about feeling 'cake satisfied' by just looking at 'cake photographs'. Did you know that the calories (of cake pictures) are 'zero'. Z-E-R-O. Here's the icing on the cake: I discovered Cake Spy. Cakespy.com is a Dessert Detective Agency dedicated to seeking sweetness (literally) in everyday life. They do this by writing about bakeries, conducting baking experiments, and picking the brains of bakers and food artists, and finding awesome products for lovers of baked goods. The Cakespy crew is comprised of about 6 or 7 Cake Gumshoes throughout the US (yoooohooooooo....how about eastern Canada - Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Kingston, The Maritimes?...I'm available - libertypost at gmail dot com....here's a sample.), and is headed up by Head Spy Jessie Oleson. Jessie O is a freelance writer and illustrator (shop), whose writing appears on DailyCandy.com, and who has illustrated for various companies including Microsoft, Chelsea Paper and iPop, and regularly provides illustrations for the publication Taste of Home.

The Cupcake Girls

Think running a bakery is a piece of cake? Well, try out this recipe: Two best friends, one set of bickering parents, 50 young, unpredictable female employees and a team of franchisees with differing opinions. Stir in a healthy dose of high maintenance customers and a handful of miserable contractors, and you've got a day in the life of The Cupcake Girls.
A 13-episode docu-soap, The Cupcake Girls follows entrepreneurs and best friends Heather White and Lori Joyce on a deliciously dysfunctional and often hilarious journey to build a cupcake empire. Produced by Force Four Entertainment in association with W Network, the series started production this past June and will premiere in early 2010.

W Network is owned by Corus Entertainment Inc., a Canadian-based media and entertainment company. Corus is a market leader in specialty television and radio with additional assets in pay television, advertising services, television broadcasting, children's book publishing and children's animation. The company's multimedia entertainment brands include YTV, Treehouse, W Network, CosmoTV, VIVA, Movie Central, HBO Canada, Nelvana, Kids Can Press and radio stations including CKNW, CKOI and Q107. Corus creates engaging branded entertainment experiences for its audiences across multiple platforms. A publicly traded company, Corus is listed on the Toronto (CJR.B) and New York (CJR) exchanges. Experience Corus on the web at www.corusent.com.



Footnote: I used to work for Corus Ent. Yes, that's right. They wrote my paycheques. I love that company. I really do.

Amy Atlas Altars (ahem...tablescapes)

Who said an altar needs to be a religious event? Not anyone who has had a sweet awakening when they laid their eyes on an Amy Atlas event! These sugary vignettes are enough to make anyone happy.

Sloane Crosley Thurber Prize Finalist

NEW YORK (AP) -- New Yorker contributor Ian Frazier and best-selling essayist Sloane Crosley are among the finalists for the Thurber Prize for American Humor. Prize organizers say Frazier was cited for his book on parenting ''Lamentations of the Father,'' and Crosley for her popular essay collection about the 20-something life, ''I Was Told There'd Be Cake.'' I laughed and laughed and laughed reading Sloane's book. She must win. Yes, she must.

Slather That Icing On

Thick, thick, thick. I saw Julie & Julia last night and I promise I will not spoil the film for you. This is an official unspoiler post! I just want to share that for anyone who loves Paris and cooking and design and food and interiors and French cafes and Queens and that New York state of mind and the agony of a 'job' and farm fresh markets and passion and styling and determination and butter and writing and finding a literary agent and book publishing and hope and dreams and perseverance and frustration, this movie is for you. There is also a scene that has the most beautiful depth of field; gauzy loveliness in cinematography. I fell into a trance. (Just a tidbit: It's the part when they are at a wedding.) If you are a blogger, you will just die-chuckle at the commentary and experience of blogging. It is also uncanny how Julia experiences the exact same blogging phenomenon through post-war pen pals. (Ms. Streep deserves an Oscar Nom) Dear Blogging friends. Go see Julie & Julia. It is a visual feast like no other. LPxo Did I mention that Nora Ephron is a creative genius?

BREAKING NEWS

I just experienced visual overdose. It was delicious. I dedicate this post to my Mom. She loves to O.D. too. Wanna try it?

Blue-Eyed Daisy

In my Sunday morning dream world I'm standing behind these people waiting to place my order for a skinny latte and a red velvet cupcake. The Blue Eyed Daisy Bakeshop is a casual neighborhood eatery serving a variety of breakfast items, classic sandwiches, salads and snacks. The bakeshop is stocked with scrumptious treats such as cupcakes, pies, cookies, and tarts. Located in the heart of Serenbe on Selborne Lane. (1/2 hour south of Atlanta, Georgia.) www.Serenbe.com. Serenbe reminds me of Creemore, Ontario.

I Was Told There'd Be Cake

So here you see it. What I've been doing for the last few days. Cuddling with my sweet 'Joyce Hannah', sneaking a few sleepy moments to read my new book. To say Sloane is hilarious is an understatement. I was guffawing (is that spelt right? oh, who cares...snort) constantly and even stopped several times to read aloud to my Daughter, the new Mom and a 'summer camp' freak. (refer to Chapter 2 to get that) Even though this writer is a few years younger than I, I relate to her so much. You can get your very own 'mattress' looking book copy at my very own shop - The Liberty Post Amazon store. (safe and secure and full of funny books) LP xo

Happy Birthday Valentine Bro (Pete)

Have a sweet day. (And love, kisses and hugs to the ones I love...and that's a lot of people...including 'you'...and the silly ol' pets of course...and my first love....cake...well cake isn't really a person, but I love cake first all the same.)

Persistence and The (Bad) Economy

“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan "press on" has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race” — Calvin Coolidge

My 2 Favorite Things

Cameras and Cakes. Perhaps I should change my business card tagline to : Will shoot for cake.

Liberty Too Far From Billy's Bakery NYC. Now What?

Make it myself and share the recipe with you! So, as a child my Mom would make the most delicious and delectable cake just like this.

Hint 1: Make ahead even overnight so the whip cream softens the chocolate wafer cookies to supreme yumminous.
Hint 2: Don't sweeten the whip cream too much. Subtle sweetness is best, plus the cookies are tenderly sweet enough.
Hint 3: You can layer it like this or end to end like a 'log'.
Hint 4: Place a tiny piece of plastic mistletoe on the top for a festive dessert
Hint 5: Make it secretly and eat the whole thing yourself. (I'd do that....oh yes I would and I'm not ashamed to admit it)

Recipe: (Similar to NYC Billy's Bakery Famous Ice Box Cake)
Sweetened whipped cream, accents of vanilla, and layers of crispy chocolate wafers create a mouthwatering combination that few can resist.

Lots of freshly whipped cream with a bit of sugar (to your taste satisfaction) Whip in an ice cold glass bowl for best results.

1-3 packages of Christie's Chocolate Wafer Cookies (depending on size you need)

Layer
Refrigerate Overnight
Voila!

Snowflake Baked Goods

The Snowflake Cake: This heavenly creation from the artisans at Cakework starts with red velvet cake wrapped in white chocolate, and ends with a flurry of snowflakes drifting over the top. 3.25 lbs., 7" diam., twelve to fifteen servings

Let It Snow Cookies: The weather outside may be frightful, but these cookies are so delightful. Works of icicle art in butter cookie dough, icing and crystalline sugar. Snowflakes and an entire snow family. From Eleni's® in New York City, purveyors of handcrafted cookie collections. Thirteen cookies, 9.4 oz. total

Vanilla Bean Raspberry Cake: Four buttery layers of fluffy white cake are flavored with Tahitian vanilla beans and spread with thick layers of homemade raspberry preserves and white chocolate buttercream. The same buttercream wraps the entire cake in richness before being covered in Callebaut white chocolate shavings. From Pâtisserie Angelica. 3 lbs., 6" diam., eight to ten servings

One serving of each = 3 credits towards your PhD Snow.

This is waiting too

Just for you. To enjoy with your hot chocolate. O.K. I'm telling a little white lie. But can you resist this holiday cake from Dean & Deluca? I say not. (tell me....is the price inflated for these economic times? I'd like to hear your opinion.)

Baked

When you meet two men who come from a glitzy, high profile ad agency, but now put little reindeers onto home baked cupcakes, you immediately fall in love...with their bakery & goodies that is. I was introduced to these bakers by Grace and as you must know by now 'cake' is my favorite food group. I'm overdosing on their website. Meanwhile, in other news: Billionaire Warren Buffett told congressional negotiators that if they can't agree on a proposed financial bailout, the nation will face "its biggest financial meltdown in American history." I want to know this, should 'Baked' have financial business trouble in the future, will the President bail them out too. Come to think of it, I could use some money now. A new camera? A good one. Alas, let's get back to the cupcake headlines.....How sweet. Truly.

Sidebar: It is hilarious in the design difference between the website of Baked and the 2nd richest man in the world. What does that say?

Hula Loving in the Country (Canada's Hamptons)

Saturday evening brought the swirl of bats kissing above the lai, mixed with copious amounts of liquor beside a fire the size of a five storey inferno. You see, in the country; a good old fashioned silver anniversary party, everyone is welcome. You may be an outlawed biker, born again baker, just-walking toddler, dancing girl or rough and ready boy. You may be rich. You may be poor. You may have wrinkles earned with years of laughter or dewy skin anew. You are all the same and wonderful and hugged and fed and jigged and horseshoed and decorated. Upon the fresh cut lawn, the sound of grunting pigs, fireflies, green tomatoes, hissing frogs, laps of the Mad River and squawking roosters -you feel happy. Celebrating on the shores of the Mad River is nothing short of goosebump marvelous; a babbling, shallow stream overhung with cedars, its banks lined with ostrich ferns. Several rare ferns, including Hart's-tongue fern, smooth cliffbrake fern, northern holly and green spleenwort, grow further up the slopes. A tributary of the larger Nottawasaga, the Mad River is a cold stream which provides ideal habitat for brook trout that you can see glowing in the sparkling clean water. We are, were at peace. Joyful. Exhilarated and alive. Thank You. Thank You. Thank you for inviting our family to your historic celebration. 25 years. I signed the guest book with two words: My God.

Death by Cake = Muerto Por Un Pastel

Some people want to die in their sleep. Not me. Thank you Julia Fuentes. (And if one of the things on your 'Bucket List' is to learn Spanish, visit her daily.) Read/Learn how to make me a fabulous cake here. Also, let me introduce you to the Canadian Queen of Cakes too. (read her business success story here) "Dufflet Rosenberg's anonymity is surprising. After all, it's not as though she's made herself inconspicuous. With her mop of curly red locks, Toronto's self-styled "Queen of Cake" is hard to miss riding to work on her vintage purple Moulton, a miniature bicycle with tiny wheels. Like her bike, Rosenberg is also diminutive, standing only four feet 10 inches. But don't let the pint-sized stature or eccentricities fool you. Behind the quirky façade lies the business mind that has already built Dufflet into one of the largest and most respected purveyors of fresh, premium confections across southern Ontario and parts of Quebec. Now Rosenberg - along with Bertrand, Dufflet's president - is trying to repeat a local brand success story across North America with new lines of packaged and frozen goods, including cakes, cookies and tarts. The goal: to double sales over the next five years."-National Post. Yummmmyyyy. Oooooh, I've gone sugar mad this morning...how about a calendar to keep folded in your wallet. All the good days to have cake in 2008! (I must confess, it is my firm belief that if a day ends in the letter 'y' then it's a good day for cake.)