Happy 7th Birthday to Russell

Well, my son turned seven today (do you like his big toothless grin?). He has been counting down the days for months now, and after much MUCH waiting patiently today was finally the day. Yes, he got up early. Yes, he remembered that THIS was his birthday. And yes, I gave him one present early to tide him over until his party this evening. I had ulterior motives, in that I wanted to use the gift for his birthday cake. Thus, the Hot wheels track in the middle of his cakes.

You see, what he wanted and what we planned and what we ended up with were all different things. He originally wanted a chameleon cake but when he started shopping for party supplies he fell in love with Hot Wheels. I'm glad to see his interests branching out, but I live in a small town. After five stores we discovered that no one had Hot Wheels party stuff and rather than have his dad get some in Phoenix, Russell decided that he wanted Army party stuff. I think it was more of a, "I'm not shopping any more," rather than a love for camo print plates. Now it was up to me to make cake, Hot Wheels, and Army all work together. Hah!

I think we did OK. I was going to work the chameleon in somewhere but flat ran out of time and steam. After spending all day Saturday sewing wedding stuff for my mom, Saturday evening helping in nursery ("Put that down!" "Don't bite him!" "Hey, stop running the cars on the walls!"), Photoshopping the birthday invitations at 4:30 Sunday morning, and finishing the wedding dress Sunday afternoon, I was whipped. And I lost my voice. I usually find a lack of voice rather peaceful, but I also had a screaming headache and no energy. This did not bode well for an ambitious birthday cake. I was going to put flames down the sides of the cake, but did I mention that I lost all power this afternoon? And that without power I don't have any water? Ah well.

All in all, it turned out all right. The square cakes were fresh strawberry (hulled and pureed just this morning) and the oval cake was white with sour cream baked in. I really liked the flavor of them both, but I'm getting frustrated with the strawberry. I really want a berry punch and a little pink, but fresh berries tend to shift brown and keep seeping liquid after they're baked, so no matter what the cake tastes moister than I like. I might try a freeze dried berry or something next time.

This was the first time we had a birthday for either kid at Peter Piper Pizza. I've been there for other parties but the game thing is just not my cup of tea. However, I'm not seven. And since there were 14 other kids there that heartily disagreed with me and whipped through 360 tokens in less than 2 hours, I think the party was a hit. Pizza was consumed, soda guzzled, and cake wolfed down faster than you could say, "Happy Birthday!" Here's to next year, and to the next cake.