It's the day of the party today and already I have decided that if we do anything at all for him next year then it's going to be very low key.
I spent all of yesterday baking. I knew it would be a big job but I had no idea just how bad it would be. My big cake I knew would be a bit of a project but it hadn't occurred to me how long it would take just to get the separate sections baked, never mind levelled, cut, filled and iced. All I can say is - many blessings on the folk at Regal Ice (shameless plug alert) as their top quality product meant that the icing job, although still tough, was possible and actually ended up looking quite good though I say it myself. Top tip - buy good quality fondant icing as it actually works and can be rolled out thinner than you think so you need less. Also, buy it on a day when the packs are 3 for 2, especially if you're making a Very Hungry Caterpillar cake with a fruit cake head and three rounds of Victoria sponge and two of chocolate for the body. I used a lot of green icing and I had to buy a whole pack of purple just to make his ears, but I think it was worth it. I've never make a cake like it before and given the amount of effort involved I don't think I will again for a considerable length of time.
There are biscuits, many biscuits. Interesting cookie cutter shapes may seem like a good idea at the time, but after you've mangled several of them trying to separate the shape from a flour encrusted work top you begin to think you've been a bit more ambitious than is sensible. I really was feeling that way as I put the last of the icing on the last biscuit at 8pm last night. I'd started at 10am with a brief break to go and buy savoury food for the party.
Hey, another top tip - don't be too ambitious with the food. Home baking is great fun and I enjoyed every minute but if I'd been daft enough to want to do all the savoury stuff as well then I think I'd probably still be at my Mums house, slaving over a hot cooker. My poor parents would have got up this morning to find a slightly manic looking woman with crazy hair decorated with small bits of green icing waving a spatula saying "You can't come in here! I'm still making the sausage rolls!"
Be creative. Know your limits.
I will be popping into the hall early today to put up a few decorations and to line up the savoury food as some of it does need heating up. I had originally intended to avoid this but there just wasn't enough choice with cold food. Still, all I have to do is bung it on a tray and shove it in, it's not exactly rocket science.
My plan has been to get all the really stressful stuff done yesterday, so that today there isn't anything heavy duty and I can relax and enjoy the party. The only dampener in the works is that my mind is still going round and round which made it very difficult to drop off to sleep last night and woke me up at 4.44am this morning. Try as I might there is no more sleep to be had so I think I will relax and watch something on the iPlayer with a nice cup of tea. Will blog again later to let you all know how the whole thing went!
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