Selling Candy in a Barn

It's that time of year again -- the White Barn Winter Fair is next weekend! Just imagine the scene: you drive out of the crazy Bay Area traffic and down highway 29 through a tunnel of towering eucalyptus trees. Vineyards and fields of yellow mustard surround you on both sides as you continue through the Napa Valley. Then, you take a turn down a dirt road thinking, "am Ireally allowed here?" But you keep driving around the curves and past the family-run wineries until you reach the end of the road. There it is. The White Barn -- alone in an otherwise empty and vast field. And inside? Jewelers, painters, glass-blowers, screen-printers, potters... all displaying and selling their art. And then there's me, selling candy in a barn.

Simplicity meets Hydrangeas

This cake was so satisfying. Three tiers of pure, milky white, smooth, fondant-covered cake balanced like a yogi comfortable and confident in her standing tree pose. I felt content shaping my hands gently around the curves of the round cake forms over and over until the fondant surfaces were so smooth they started to glow like well-moisturized skin around taut muscles. I placed the cake out on my patio and just let it sit and breathe outside in the garden.

Then those hydrangeas I bought at the Farmer's Market earlier in the morning beckoned from their twine-tied bouquet. I added one purple blossom to the edge of the cake, like a sparkly brooch on a black dress. The splash of color was exciting. I brought the cake back into my kitchen. I added another blossom... and another...

Happy Spring!

Easter couldn't come and go without some sweet pastel indulgence. This year the festive desserts of choice were Robin's Nest cupcakes. Each little (gluten-free!) chocolate cake had a selection of malted candy eggs nestled into a nest of toasted coconut.

Check this out: I have my very own Easter Bunny! A tiny 3-pound rabbit named Charlie was in fine spirits on this special bunny-centric day -- and as always, very curious about all the sweet treats around my (sorry, I mean our) kitchen...

Trucks and Trains at Tutu

When the director of a pinker-than-pink children's ballet school decides to have her 2-year-old son's birthday party at the studio, some pretty major construction is required to transform the space into a "boy-friendly" zone for a birthday bash. Luckily, the director/mom was up for the challenge! Yellow plastic hard hats were hung over the pointe shoes mounted on the wall, train track decals were temporarily stuck on to the dance floor, and giant colorful paper lanterns were taped up and over the life-size tutus that usually dress the walls, dutifully covering all the glitter, rhinestones and frills. Instead of magic-wand-making crafts, there were wooden trains to paint -- In place of the usual pitter patter of ballet slippers, plastic trucks with 2-year-old drivers barreled and collided into one another. To top it all off -- a chocolate with butter cream frosting cake and fondant trains choo-chooing around the top tier. Happy Birthday, Sullivan!

I Love You, Too.

Blanca comes to clean the house I live in every other Thursday. She has been in training since she moved to the United States a few years ago under the tutelage of her mother-in-law, Margarita (who used to clean this house until her business grew too large to handle alone). Despite the fact that I speak no Spanish and Blanca is still learning English, we have built a friendship based primarily on warm, happy smiles and enthusiastic nods. We don't know much about each other but we seem to be equally impressed by the other's work. I work from home, so Blanca sees and compliments my cakes and culinary creations; I am always in awe of how she makes the kitchen sink seem to actually glitter and sparkle. When we see each other, we don't really share stories or jokes. We jump right to the unspoken punch-line and spend our time laughing together.

On the biggest, most important holiday of the year -- Valentine's Day -- I make gifts for all my friends. Since I knew Blanca was coming on Thursday, I made her gift ahead of time. As I handed her a little transparent jewelry box filled with four heart-shaped strawberry pate-de-fruit candies, she stared at me without speaking our laughter language. I worried that somehow I had made her feel uncomfortable with this gift... but just then she proclaimed in a slow, strong, earnest voice: "I love you!" Perhaps her intended message was a little transformed in translation, but I'll take it.

Dear Holly: Happy Birthday!

My dear friend, Holly, is unlike anyone else I know. She's sweet, generous and smart -- like most of my friends. But she seems to genuinely like most things -- she's always finding some beauty in everything. This is a special ability (one I certainly have not been able to cultivate) and it flows so naturally out of her. Even though I know she's such a lover and would appreciate any simple cake I wanted to give her on her birthday, I found myself wanting to make her something special. She's not one for globs of frosting and flowers made of sugar. I went to my local produce market, bought as many berries as I could, and focused on the fruit instead of the cake. I piled golden raspberries, red raspberries, blackberries and currants on top of just a single layer of cake and a thin spread of passion fruit frosting (Holly's favorite). Shockingly, Holly loved it!