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Beautiful Cakes

I heard about the White Flower Cake Shoppe in Ohio on a Food Network Challenge. They were creating Sesame Street Cakes, and they were awesome. I enjoy that show and especially like the cake competitions. It's amazing what they can do with various ingredients and techniques.

I went to White Flower's website and was browsing through their wedding cakes. They do some gorgeous work, and I wanted to share a few pictures here. They have photos of the cakes along with a short description about their inspiration.

The Jessica, based upon a bride's gown and her bouquet


The Amy, for a nautical-themed wedding


The Darcy, "inspired by bold bright colors and patterns"


Art Nouveau, inspired by artist Gustav Klimft


The Marianne, "inspired by the bride's favorite colors, patterns and designs"

So many gorgeous cakes! Each cake in the wedding gallery on their website is shown in two photos, one of which features a closer look at the detail work. They're worth checking out. I look forward to exploring the other categories in their online gallery.

I'm Such a Slacker

Okay, I have not been keeping up with posting on this blog. Obviously. I think once Rachel starts Kindergarten, I'll be able to post much more easily. But still, it's kind of sad that I haven't taken a few minutes here and there to post occasionally. I hope to improve on that, even before school starts in September. (September 3, woo! Or rather, September 4, woo! Since September 3 is a short orientation day and I'll be there, too.)

But I do have good news to report. Of the last 9 days of Body Tests on the Wii Fit, I have shown a weight loss in 8 of them. I feel like I'm actually finally starting to make a little progress, and it's inspiring me to do better with my eating, too. I'm not completely cutting out sugar or fat or doing anything particularly drastic. But I'm trying to make sure I'm eating more vegetables with my meals, and having some protein in the morning, and not going overboard with sweet treats.

I feel like I've turned a corner in my weight loss efforts, in that I'm actually taking them seriously, especially now that I've started to see progress. It's odd to me that seeing progress makes me want to try harder, when you'd think that *not* seeing progress would make me want to try harder in order to see said progress. I guess the progress itself is the motivator for me.

With that in mind, James sent me an article from Readers Digest about portion control. There are probably some tips that you've heard before, but it has some good common-sense hints. My favorite, and one I don't think I'd heard before, is to remove a portion of the food in your dishes before you sit down for the meal, saving your leftovers ahead of time. It helps cut down on the temptation to overeat since there's less food sitting before you, and you don't want to take more than your share. Plus you're ensuring that you have enough for a second meal, so it actually stretches your budget, too.

I really like that tip and think that I'll be using it when I make casseroles and other meals like that. Those are probably the ones where I'm most tempted to just put another big ol' spoonful on the plate.