February 2010 Archive

2010 Wedding Cake Trends

Today I would like to share with you five of the top ten wedding cake trends for this year!  Hope you find it helpful!  Check back for the rest of the top ten in a subsequent post.

1)  Fondant Covered Cakes – Still popular.  Although many appreciate the look of fondant, many don’t like the taste.  Remember, flavourings can be added to fondant to make it taste more like candy.  Cherry, mint and passion fruit are just a few that are available and can be a nice compliment to your cake, frosting and/or filling choices.

 Courtesy of Bella Baked Goods

2)  Cupcakes/Petit Fours – These can be arranged on a stand to have a stacked look like a tiered cake would.  They can be a more economical yet beautiful choice and are perfect for less formal weddings.

Courtesy of Bella Baked Goods

3)  Cakes accented with black or bright colours such as orange, hot pink, chartreuse.

Courtesy of Bella Baked Goods

4)  Tall Cakes – In past years, we have seen two and three tiered cakes but are seeing five to seven tiers a hot trend for 2010.

Courtesy of BrooklynCake.com

5)  Blue is the hot overall colour for 2010.

Courtesy of WeddingFavorsUnlimited.com

Bakefully Yours,

Shannon

Snow, Snow and More Snow!!

Good Morning!

Well, it’s snowing again in Eastern Canada!  Today has already been quite a mixed bag and supposedly going to get worse this afternoon.  I am tiring of winter, and getting the blues so I jumped on the treadmill this morning for the first time in a very long time in an effort to increase energy, get some of those feel-good endorphins going and maybe shed a few pounds in the process!  It felt GREAT!  I started out easy with 20 minutes, ranging between 2 and 4 incline. 

After my workout, I had a yummy sandwich. 

Tuna on Vitality 14 grain bread, with a whole plum tomato :)   YUMMY!  The tuna was a new kind called Lemon and Pepper and it was just delish!  It had soya oil so it was very moist and didn’t need much in the way of condiments added.  I did add a bit of mayo (and feeling a touch guilty) but come on, I really am trying to clean up my eating and I have to allow myself a few guilty pleasures.

So I’m headed off for a shower, then a little cleaning and laundry before the weekend gets here.  Hope you all have a fantastic weekend and get to stay inside where it’s warm and safe for the rest of today :)

Shannon

Posted by Shannon in Chocolate Kisses

Request for Suggestions and T-Shirt Giveaway!

Hello!

Wow!  It’s been too long!  Since my last post, a few things have happened with Bella and personally…..some good, some bad.  I’ll get the bad out of the way first.  My beloved oldest cat, Gracie passed away VERY unexpectedly on February 1, 2010.  She had renal failure.  Looking back I know there were symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, increased water intake…..but I always had an explanation of what it could be.  Something else that seemed to make more sense.  She was still eating well, played, was her usual cute self until a couple of days before she was diagnosed.  So that’s that.  I am dealing, but I really thought of her as my little girl, and it’s going to take awhile to really get over the loss.  Maybe I never will fully get over it.  But I know it will get easier.  My other cat, George has coped better than I expected.  But we have had a few difficult nights recently.  He is lonely at night and keeps us up with his incessant meowing…..even when we let him sleep with us.  I think he just misses his cuddle buddy but in time he will heal too, I am sure.  If anyone has any suggestions on how to make it easier for a pet left behind to cope with the loss, PLEASE let me know!  You can respond to this post, or send me a private email to Shannon@BellaBakedGoods.com.

So on to some of the goods things that have been happening…….I am in the process of adding a shopping cart to the website.  This will make it easier for all of you to place your orders for both merchandise and baked goods!  Shipping can be calculated immediately in the shopping cart and will be via Canada Post instead of Purolator as I had previously announced.  Rates seem to be better, so savings for you!

Another good thing……….the latest 3D cake created by Bella Baked Goods.  It is not yet posted to the website so you are getting the premiere viewing of it :)

It was a smashing success at the Baby Shower according to Victoria of Live, Love, Laugh Event Planning and Consulting.  I am so glad, Victoria!  Congrats to you and your husband!  I was pleased to be a part of such a special event in your lives :)  

T-shirts are in!  They can be viewed on the website……they come in chocolate brown and bella pink.  They are very good quality and very pretty!  Make sure to place your order soon, spring is just around the corner and these t-shirts would look fabulous with jeans, shorts.  I am looking into adding more merchandise to the line and would LOVE it if you folks would let me know what type of swag you’d like to see offered by Bella Baked Goods!

I have also had the opportunity over the past several weeks to think about the blog and have decided to take a new direction with it.  I would like to have more baking education, recipes, possibly even cooking stuff……since I love that aspect of the culinary world as well!  I have gained alot of knowledge over many years of experimenting, reading, watching TV programs and would love to share that with you.  If you have particular items you would like to see discussed here or questions about some aspect of baking/cooking please reply to this post.  I am always looking for new material to talk about on the blog!!!

The last item I want to put out there is that I would be very interested in helping to promote other baking/cooking blogs and sites so if you own a site and/or blog and have a product or item such as a cool kitchen gadget you would like me to review on my blog, please contact me. 

Can’t wait to hear from you with your great suggestions for topics, merchandise, etc.  To show my appreciation, I am holding a draw for a Bella  T-Shirt (your choice of colour) on March 31st!  Each comment you submit will get you entered in the draw!  Good luck!

Bakefully Yours,

Shannon