Cake Decorating - Won't be Quitting my Day Job

I've never wanted to be a professional baker, but I sure do love to host. AND I love to eat cake.  So a cake decorating course sounded up my alley.  A few weeks ago I roped in a few friends, especially since they were serving wine throughout the course, and we tried our hand.  The food and beverage head at the country club (who is also a pastry chef) made all the cakes beforehand, plus a huge vat of butter cream, so all we had to do was ice and decorate. Easy right???

For the record, that is not what it's supposed to look like when you do a "quick and dirty crumb coat".  Brian had to come by and redo mine before we moved on to practicing with the pastry bags.  

Now, I surprised myself with the different tips, although my scallops looked a little too "Georgia O'Keefe" for my taste...

And, since it was Mother's Day weekend, I decided to decorate it for myself.  :)

These ladies cheated a bit and decided a yummy, blank cake would make a better impression at their upcoming parties.  

So I learned a few tricks but, more importantly, had a blast!  Love these ladies and the fun memories from the day.

(Plus, so thankful that this cake did not turn over on the 1 mile home. James would have rung my neck!)