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Gearing Up For My First Cake

I have been studying cake and sugar art for the past few months. Reading, researching, watching “how-to” videos, cake shows, and more. Thanks to my hubby, I put in an order for some of the remaining supplies that I needed in order to create my first little work of cake art and they arrived today. I am soooo excited! :)

While I know it isn’t even close to what I will need to do this full time, I wanted to share with you what I received today:

The Books:

These include, The Well-Decorated Cake, The Confetti Cakes Cookbook, Confetti Cakes For Kids, Fun & Original Character Cakes, 50 Easy Party Cakes

The Supplies:

Mario Batali Italian Kitchen Silicone Pastry Mat, KitchenAid Nonstick Rolling Pin with Red Silicone Handles, & Wilton Flower Former Set

Wilton Cutter Embosser, Wilton Gum-Paste Modeling Tools with Storage Case & Ateco Fondant Smoother

OXO Good Grips Pastry Scraper & Ateco Marker Style Food Color Kit

Needless to say, I am in pastry chef heaven right now! LOL! I can’t wait to dig into my books tonight to decide which cake I want to make first. After that I will go shopping for my ingredients, and then it is off to the kitchen to start baking. Woo hoo! :)

I’ll keep you posted as to my progress, and will be posting pictures as I go along.
I hope you will join me!

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Garment of Praise

Isaiah 61:3 (NIV)
… to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.

I love that reference to a garment of praise.

Merriam-Webster’s definition of the word garment is short and sweet: An article of clothing. Can’t get much plainer than that.

It says to me that God wants us to don praise. Put it on. Wrap it around us. He wants us to wear it like a costly garment, spread it over our minds, fit it close to our hearts—and in the doing, we will glory Him…“display His splendor.”

Why do we wear clothing? Adam and Eve figured out the first and foremost reason the second they sank their teeth into that forbidden fruit.

It covers our nakedness.

Praise .. to cover the bare ugliness of our sins? To guard the privacy of our innermost beings against the prying eyes and fiery darts of evil?

Clothing also protects against the elements…heat and cold, wind and rain, sleet and snow. Firefighters wear flame-retardant clothing to protect them from excessive heat and flames. Eskimos wear heavy parkas and fur to shield them from the freezing cold temperatures in which they live.

Welders. Cowboys. Laboratory workers. Any occupation that places people in harm’s way also provides proper gear—yes, that’s right…clothing…garments—to keep them as safe as possible from the inherent risks of their professions.

Praise…as a protective barrier between us and the harsh, soul-destroying elements of the world? A guard against the enemy we fight on a daily basis?

It has been said that “the clothes make the man.” Indeed, most of us tend to place enormous importance on what we wear. Proper clothing is a bolster to confidence…it makes us feel good about ourselves. Wilhela Cushman, 25-year fashion editor for Ladies Home Journal, is often quoted as saying, “Just around the corner in every woman’s mind is a lovely dress, a wonderful suit, or entire costume which will make an enchanting new creature of her.”

Oh, my!

Praise…making new creatures of us? Praise…bolstering our spiritual assurance? Praise…making poised, protected, powerful Christians of us?

Imagine that.

Father, we so love to worship You! You are our Creator, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. You are great and greatly to be praised…and we do praise You, with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. We wrap ourselves in our garment of praise, and we thank You for turning it into a cloak of protection, a cover of righteousness, and in the end, a wedding gown unlike any ever seen by man. Amen