Archive for April, 2010

Cake World and Cake Girls, move over, here comes Lena!  Ok, maybe not now, but later.

This cake is real and edible.  It is a sour cream cake with pineapple and apricot filling, covered with butter cream frosting, and royal icing flowers.  Two oblong cakes were used for this project.

There is nothing mystical about cake decorating; however, you’ll need a good teacher, lots of patience, fairly steady hands, and a very keen eye.

This cake is evidence of my understanding of the many techniques taught during eight weeks of cake decorating classes. I have acquired many techniques which will better enhance my cake decorating skills. As you can see, my final project displays flowers, leaves, birds, basket weave and rope patterns… all incorporated into the decorating of this delightful looking cake.  The classes were enjoyable; working with a fun group of students and a great teacher, made my experience well worth the time spent together… acquiring new techniques and becoming a more confident cake decorator. I plan to make delicious cakes, nicely decorated, and irresistible to the eyes.

By the way, while in the classroom, decorations on the original cake looked much better, but traveling back home with the decorated cake was not the easiest thing to do; hence the nicks and dents on my beautiful cake.  Nonetheless, I am proud of the results of my efforts and feel thankful for the experiences gained, during my eight weeks of classes. 

I will be taking course #3 to learn more techniques and further enhance my cake decorating skills.  The advanced classes will be offered sometime in June.

Cherry Blossoms in Washington, DC, 2010

We would like to express our sincere condolences to the family of Ms. Daisy Doram, who passed away on Monday, April 26, 2010, in Brooklyn, NY.  Ms. Daisy who migrated to the United States of America several years ago, was originally from the village of Marigot in Dominica.

Ms. Daisy was a very close friend of our family and her presence will certainly be missed.  May her soul rest in peace.

The funeral services for Ms. Daisy Doram, will be held on Thursday, April 29th at 4:00 p.m., at the Flatlands Funeral Home in Brooklyn, New York.

FLY….. BABY….. FLY  

J

BVI Airways Announces Ticket Sales

Just what we have been waiting for…. another Airline to help us arrive at our destinations in a timely manner. 

According to DNO, “Tortola based BVI Airways has announced that final preparations have been completed and online ticket sales have begun via its reservations website, www.goBVI.com.  BVI Airways inaugural flight is scheduled for Wednesday, May 5.”

Flights between Tortola and Antigua on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

Flights between Tortola and St. Maarten on Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays, and Sundays.

Flights between Dominica and St. Maarten on Fridays and Sundays.

Most of us are familiar with the problems we experience flying back and forth to Dominica, having to overnight in Antigua, Puerto Rico or St. Maarten, due to airline availability or competition. 

With 50 years of operational experience between BV Airways, Inc., founded in 2009, and BVI Corp. a leader in the caribbean, the hope is that these added flights to the caribbean will help alleviate some of the delays we often encounter, during our many travels to the islands.  

While this is very exciting news to the ears, we will have the opportunity to better judge the results of BVI Airways’ performance, during our upcoming holiday events on the Island, especially the 2010 World Creole Festival, for example. 

Photo compliments of DNO.

Lately, I’ve been keenly watching cake decorating programs, such as cake work and cake girls.  It is amazing to watch different designers use their techniques to create unbelievable cakes for engagement, weddings, and other occasions, by using the customer’s patterns.  Interestingly, the combination of butter cream frosting and royal icing works wonderfully together to create astonishing patterns, while preserving the fancy decorations. This really encourages me to continue learning all that I can about cake decorating, because eventually, I want to master the art of cake decorating and create my own unique designs. 

This is a sour cream cake which I made for my sister, Olive and my niece, Rebecca.  As you can see, I have tried showing off  some of my newly, acquired techniques, which I have learned in my Course #2, cake decorating class. A bit busy, but the cake is delicious, so that’s alright. I am taking the cake to Leesburg, VA where they live, hopefully, it arrives in one piece.  I know my sister will not eat the frosting, that will be too much sugar for her, plus she really doesn’t like butter cream frosting, and neither do I.  

Olive loves planting zinnias in the summer…. that’s my reason for attempting to create some  yellow zinnias or zinnias look a like, on the cake.  I also made a pink rose, because everyone loves roses.  The stars, shells, leaves and other designs are some of what I have been practicing in course #2.  I hope to further improve the techniques during my next three sessions. The art of cake decorating is a bit challenging but really a fun thing to do.  I look forward to becoming more creative with my future designs, especially when using royal icing, because I’ll be using royal icing most frequently when decorating caribbean fruit cakes.

Cherry Blossoms come from cherry trees, a gift of 3,000 cherry trees, originally given to the city of Washington, DC, in 1912, from Mayor Yukio Ozaki of Tokyo, to signify the enduring friendship between the people of the United States of America and the people of Japan. The Cherry Blossom festival marks the beginning of Spring and an influx of visitors to Washington, DC.  This year’s Cherry Blossoms festival is from March 27 – April 11, 2010.  This is a good time to visit the city and enjoy nature’s best. 

This was a beautiful and enjoyable Spring day in Washington, DC.  I ditched my car, dunned sneakers, grabbed my camera and headed towards the exotic cherry blossoms. As I walked slowly among the crowd, tourists as well as natives, took photos, gazed at the river, and enjoyed the live steel band music which played in the background. I walked up the steps of the Lincoln memorial where I took several photographs.  Inside the Lincoln’s memorial, I observed a young man proposing to his girlfriend who smiled brightly as she accepted his proposal.  I continued my journey through the park with the World War II memorial on my left and the reflecting pool on my right.  I gazed at the Washington monument with the Capitol in the background.

Planes flew overhead scooping down through the trees like big birds. I made several attempts to photograph an airplane as it flew over the cherry blossoms, but I was always out of focus and the plane disappeared faster than I could shoot.  In the distance I took a photo of the Kennedy center surrounded by Cherry Blossoms on one side and green foliage on the other.  Even further in the distance, across the bridges, was the newly constructed Pentagon memorial.  Pictures of the Jefferson memorial surrounded by Cherry Blossoms, viewed from across the river.  The Washington Harbor, a very famous, outdoor, hang out spot at this time of year, has lots of  great seafood restaurants and a spectacular view of the city.  A beautiful waterfall, surrounded by an interesting wishing pond, makes the area even more attractive. The area also has offices, several shops and other establishments, which adds to the attraction of the Washington harbor.  

Spring is truly a time to rejuvenate, reflect, and realize our dreams….. like the new leaves which sprout from the branches in preparation for Summer’s foliage.  As I ended my journey, I walked along the Potomac river and gazed at the boats as they sailed up and down the river….. I couldn’t help but remember the recent snow storm which blanketed the city and cause the river to freeze. What a difference a few weeks has made.