Janice Hanna's Blog, page 21

Cake Montage

I’m wrapping up a full month of celebrating cakes by putting together this video montage of all the cakes I’ve baked in recent years. Enjoy!

Loving Lucy, Day Two: The Diet

It’s September 2nd, Labor Day! We’ve had such a fun family day. We ate hard, played hard and loved hard. Not that it’s hard to love, but you get the idea! I’m going to post today’s “Loving Lucy” clip.

The episode I’m showcasing today is dedicated to my sons-in-law, Kevin and Zach, who are both starting a 24-day weight loss challenge tomorrow. We’ve made a commitment (especially after our carb-loading day today…ha!) to keep one another accountable over the next 24 days!

Another reason I’ve chosen this episode is because of my character, Scarlet, in “The Icing on the Cake.” If you’ve read the story, you know that she’s “pleasantly plump” and hopes to drop a few pounds. It’s so hard, considering her line of work! (She’s a cake decorator/baker.) She’s nuts about Lucy and especially the (attached) episode.

To bring you up to speed, the Lucy episode is titled “THE DIET.” Here’s the storyline: Ricky provides an incentive for Lucy’s diet by telling her she can appear in his show if she can fit into a size 12. Can Lucy resist the temptations of eating?

If you saw the Lucy episode you know that she almost kills herself trying! (Maybe you’ve walked a mile in her shoes!) When you want something bad enough, you work hard to get it. That’s why “balance” is so important. Scarlet learns this the hard way, ala Lucy style.

What about you? Having trouble keeping things in balance? If you’re interested in joining several of us over the next 24 days we’re going to hold one another accountable. Just let me know. And if you’re looking for something to take your mind off of eating, why not read “The Icing on the Cake.”

Hmm. On the other hand, the book will probably tempt you TO eat. That’s what I’m gathering from the reviews, anyway! Still, it’s a fun story, sure to make you smile. Get your copy at amazon or B&N online or at your local bookstore.

Happy (and healthy) eating, y’all!

Loving Lucy. . .Day One: Hello Out There in TV Land!

I can hardly believe it, but September is here! Wowza! Can it be? We spent last month on a Cakewalk (browsing through photos of my cakes). This month we’ll spend thirty days together “loving Lucy.”

I’ve been a Lucy fan for as long as I can remember. My favorite non-fiction book in highschool was titled Lucy, Ricky, Fred and Ethel: The Story of I Love Lucy. I read it over and over again. Just couldn’t get enough.

I’ve chosen to highlight various episodes of I Love Lucy because the heroine in my latest book (Scarlet/The Icing on the Cake) is nuts about the wacky redhead.

I can’t help but start with the most famous episode of all, one you’re sure to remember. It’s titled LUCY DOES A TV COMMERCIAL. In this now-infamous episode, Lucy does a “Vitameatavegamin” health tonic commercial. The tonic (which is 23% alcohol) makes her more than a little tipsy. In fact, she ends up completely intoxicated. Hysterical!

I’m sure Scarlet could really relate to this episode in particular because something similar happens when SHE appears on TV for the first time. Oh, she doesn’t get drunk. Not exactly. But she gets overheated and (after going without food) passes out cold in front of the television audience. What a mess! Check out the scene where she faints dead away with Armando at her side:

I could feel Armando’s stare, even with my eyes closed, so I opened them and peeked at him.

“And again I ask. . .are you all right?” He took hold of my arm. “Your face is really red.”

I put my hands on my cheeks and could feel them burning “It’s just so hot in here. It’s hot to you too, right?”

“Yeah, it’s warm, but not the kind of hot you’re describing.” He gestured to a chair in the back of our little area. “I think you need to sit down, Scarlet.”

In spite of the spinning room, I could not—would not—sit. Not with a wedding cake to bake in front of millions of people.

            Wedding cake.

            We are baking a wedding cake, right? Not a birthday cake?

            Wait. I think we’re baking a turtle cake for a little boy, right?

            No. A baby shower cake. That’s why I have blue fondant gel in my pocket.

Strange. I couldn’t find the bottle of fondant gel in my pocket. Forcing myself back to the task at hand, I made a conscious decision to keep going with this Italian-themed wedding cake. No matter what.

Only one problem—the little white stars. I saw them every time I blinked. When I looked at the cake, there they were. And when I shifted my gaze to mama’s face in the television audience, I still saw them. After a minute of two, I felt sick. Really, really sick. My stomach did the hula, and the stars morphed into magnificent, shiny orbs floating in front of my eyes. Before long, they consumed me. A surge of nausea gripped me just as the camera swung round to get a close-up of our cake. Panicked, I tried to decide what to do. If I bolted, everyone would know I was sick.

Okay, not that I could bolt. My vision—blurry as it was—had now disappeared completely.

But my stomach—oh, my stomach! The cameraman, likely sensing my problem, swung the camera around to the Alvarez family just in time for me to grab a mixing bowl—an empty one, thank God—and empty the contents of my stomach, feeble as they were, in front of everyone in attendance.

At this point a gasp went up from the audience. Not that it mattered. By now, my vision was nothing but stars.

Stars, stars, and more stars.

I gave myself over to them, floating away on a cloud of white.

***

If you want to find out what happens to Scarlet, I suppose you’ll just have to get a copy of the book. I will leave you with a little clue, though. . .she ends up just as humiliated as Lucy. Maybe more so!

Cakewalk, Day Thirty-One: Worthy of Celebrating. . .Twice!

I can’t believe this day has come at last. Welcome to the FINAL DAY of my August Cakewalk, where we’ve been celebrating the release of my latest romantic comedy, “The Icing on the Cake.” What a bittersweet moment this is! Sweet like homemade cream cheese frosting. Bitter, because this campaign has drawn to an end.

The photos that I’ve chosen for today are very special to me. I deliberately saved them for last. Both of these cakes were made for the same granddaughter, Brooke Ryleigh and both were made just weeks ago.

You see, we recently celebrated Brooke’s third birthday. . .twice. Our little doll was very sick on the original party date. The celebration was canceled and a handful of us (family members) gathered around her to share cake and a couple of presents so that she wouldn’t be disappointed. I’d planned to make the cake with the topper for her party, but (in the end) decided to scale back and do the pink cake, instead. It took less than half the time. (Have I mentioned that Brooke is a Minnie Mouse fan? She loves Minnie!)

One week later, we had another party for our (now healthy) little girl. Finally! With friends and family gathered together, we celebrated. . .again! I brought the cake you see with the topper. Brookie loved it! So did the guests. I loved the idea of using York peppermint patties for the Minnie “heads” on the side of the cake. (Thanks, April Upton, for the idea!) Best of all, I loved the colors. There’s something so exciting about those bright neon colors!

Instead of tying this story to my novel, just let me say that (like Scarlet) my family means everything to me. I’ll bake a hundred cakes for these children and grandchildren, if the Lord permits. I hope when I’m old and gray (not too long from now, in other words) I’ll still have the strength and imagination to come up with creations for those I love. There’s nothing more satisfying than the smile on a grandchild’s face as he/she sees a well-thought-out birthday cake for the first time. They might think that Nina has done them the favor, but really, it’s the other way around. These cakes are a gift…to me. What a blessing!

Thank you for sticking with me over the past 31 days! I’ve had such a blissful time sharing photos of my cakes and talking about the book. Scarlet’s story is near and dear to my heart and I’m so glad that readers are enjoying it.

Starting tomorrow (Sunday) I will begin a new campaign to promote the book. (Just one more reason why I titled this post “Worthy of Celebrating. . .Twice.” I love Scarlet’s story so much that I’m doing TWO marketing campaigns.) Each day in September I’ll be covering a different “I Love Lucy” episode. We’re going to have a wonderful time together!

Thanks for your support, readers! I’m so grateful.

 

Cakewalk, Day Thirty: It’s Complicated. Or, Not.

Welcome to DAY THIRTY of my August Cakewalk, where we’re celebrating the release of my latest romantic comedy, “The Icing on the Cake.” I can’t believe the month has almost drawn to an end! Tomorrow I’ll post my last cake photo. Then, on Saturday (the 1st) I’ll begin a month-long tribute to “I Love Lucy.” Woo-hoo! Can’t wait!

Some things in life look more complicated than they really are. Take the cake in today’s photo, for instance. I’d just baked a piano cake for my oldest daughter’s birthday a few days prior and the process wore me out! The time came to make this cake for Megan’s birthday and I thought, “Man, how am I going to pull off another two-tiered cake so soon?” I decided to go with my new square pans and a light green frosting to mimic a picture I’d seen. Everything else you see here–and I do mean everything–took less than an hour to do. All of the little “bits” were made from a fondant mold. (I own five or six of them and they come in SO handy!)

If you’ve read Scarlet’s story, you know that she often frets, thinking things are going to be more complicated than they actually turn out to be. Take the fundraiser, for instance. She’s trying to pull off a variety show fundraiser to raise money for her church’s upcoming missions trip to Nicaragua. Things start to look complicated when Armando (who’s supposed to be working in the tech booth) neglects to show up for the dress rehearsal. Talk about a problem! Only, it doesn’t turn out to be.The fundraiser goes smoothly in the end. All of that fretting…for nothing.

What about you? Ever get really worked up, fretting about something that hasn’t happened yet? You might want to let go of that anxiety. Most of the time, the things we worry about turn out just fine!

Speaking of things turning out fine, I hope you enjoyed this month of cakes. I think it’s gone well! I’ve enjoyed spending this time showing off my sugary-sweet creations. I’ve had a blast talking about Scarlet, Armando and one of my favorite topics of all…CAKE! Yum!

Cakewalk, Day Twenty-Nine: Colorful Characters

Welcome to DAY TWENTY-NINE of my August Cakewalk, where I’m celebrating the release of my latest romantic comedy, “The Icing on the Cake.” The cake I’m sharing today was my first carousel cake. I made it for a baby shower (for a baby boy). I loved putting together the colors on the various animals. That was my favorite part! Oh, and I had a lot of fun doing the flowers at the bottom, too. As you can see, I went a little crazy with the colors there, too!

If I had it all to do over again, I would change a few things. I would situate the animals above the cake on longer poles. Still, this wasn’t bad for a first attempt. The colorful cake was whimsical and I know the mommy-to-be enjoyed it. (So did the grand-mommy-to-be, who is one of my dearest friends.)

If you’ve read “The Icing on the Cake” you know that Scarlet has a l-o-t of colorful characters in her life. Aunt Willy, for instance. And Hannah. And Bella. And Armando. Add to this, the fact that she’s next door to Parma John’s, where all of the colorful people hang out. Talk about a kaleidoscope!

What about you? Is your world filled with colorful people? Instead of complaining about them, just turn them into characters for your next book! Oh, you’re not a writer, you say? No problem. Just enjoy my characters. Get a copy of Scarlet’s story and dive right in. I promise, a rainbow of color awaits!

Cakewalk, Day Twenty-Eight:

Welcome to DAY TWENTY-EIGHT of my August Cakewalk, where I’m celebrating the release of my latest romantic comedy, “The Icing on the Cake.” There’s a very special young woman in my life named McKinsey. I’ve known her since she was five years old. She’s grown and married now and has a little boy named Oliver. Late last summer she found out she was expecting again. In December she contacted me to make a gender reveal cake. What a fun day that was! McKinsey went for her ultrasound (along with her husband) but wouldn’t let the tech give them the results. Instead, the tech called me, (the cake baker!), on the phone and said, “It’s a boy!”

Wow! Can you imagine being the first to know? I was terrified I would slip up and let McKinsey know before showing up at the restaurant that night with the cake. I baked, baked, baked, adding the appropriate blue gel/coloring to the white cake batter. The cake came together just fine. I decorated it very simply with a “?” made of Jordan almonds.

When I got to the restaurant, everyone was a nervous wreck! The whole family was there (about 15 people or so). We ate our meal, but everyone kept staring at that cake! Finally the big moment came. McKinsey and her hubby took a knife and sliced into the cake until the saw the color BLUE! At that point, the news was out! What a celebration!

There are plenty of celebration moments in “The Icing on the Cake,” too. Scarlet celebrates the opening of her new bakery on The Strand in Galveston. She also celebrates her first appearance on television. One of her favorite celebrations takes place at her BFF’s wedding. And then, of course, she celebrates falling in love with Armando, who offers her the biggest celebration of them all–the chance to begin a happily ever after together.

What celebrations have you enjoyed this year? If you could bake a cake to celebrate what would it look like? Let’s talk about it!

Cakewalk, Day Twenty-Seven

Welcome to DAY TWENTY-SEVEN of my August CAKEWALK, where I’m celebrating the release of my latest romantic comedy, The Icing on the Cake. Ironically, I’m featuring a cake today that wasn’t covered in icing at all. This was a fondant-covered cake.

For those who don’t know, my oldest daughter Randi is very musical. She’s the worship leader at our church (The Light Community Fellowship in Willis, Texas). I’m very proud of her musical abilities and happy to see her carry on the legacy. (I used to sing/lead worship, as well.) For her birthday back in January I made this special cake. The bottom layer is decorated with individual fondant piano keys. The top layer has musical notes that I free-handed. Randi and her hubby Zach both wanted to dive right in, as you can tell from the photo!

If you’ve read The Icing on the Cake, you know that Scarlet has musical abilities, too. There’s a funny scene where she gets roped into singing with the “Splendora Sisters” at her church. She’s so afraid to “exercise her gift” that she almost misses the opportunity!

What about you? What gifts have you been afraid to exercise? Maybe you could think about that while reading Scarlet’s story. Perhaps, while reading, you will garner the courage to try something you’ve only ever dreamed of!

The The Icing on the Cake is available at local Christian retailers and online at amazon and B&N. Speaking of B&N, I just stumbled across a review from Library Journal on their site. Check it out:

“Bella Neeley, the premiere wedding planner of Galveston, TX, pairs up with baker Scarlet Lindsey, who is enjoying the popularity that Bella Neeley’s stamp of approval offers her. Enter Bella’s hunky brother, Armando. Now Scarlet is faced with a real challenge. Should she break things off with her beau for a chance to make a go of it with Armando? What if things don’t work out? Where will that leave her—and her business? VERDICT This breezy, fun-filled romance is sure to please readers who have been eagerly awaiting the second series installment (after Picture Perfect).” – Library Journal

Cakewalk, Day Twenty-Six: Grandiose Ideas

Welcome to DAY TWENTY-SIX of my August Cakewalk, where I’m celebrating the release of “The Icing on the Cake” (book two in the “Weddings by Design” series from Revell). I can’t believe the month is nearing an end! So many cakes to share and so little time! This month has pretty much wrecked my diet. (Okay, not really…but close!)

The cake I’m sharing today was made for a baby shower a few years back. This was really a pretty simple one to make…with one exception. I decided to use my flower-shaped pans. Sounded like a lovely idea, especially considering the fact that we were celebrating a baby girl. Until I started the frosting process I had no idea what I’d gotten into. (Have you ever tried to frost a cake with so many twists and turns?) Oy! What a challenge. I couldn’t iron out all of the bumps and wrinkles, but the mommy-to-be didn’t seem to mind the end result. The cake tasted yummy, after all: white on top, strawberry in the middle, lemon on bottom.

If you’ve read “The Icing on the Cake” you know that Scarlet often has grandiose ideas that almost end up derailing her in the end. Maybe you can relate. You set out to do something that looks pretty simple. Not long into the project you realize it’s going to be a l-o-t more work than you’d originally thought.

Yep. We’re a lot alike. Scarlet. Me. You. We don’t always count the cost before agreeing to take on a challenge. Then again, that’s probably why they’re called “challenges,” right?

If you want to know more about Scarlet’s challenges, pick up a copy of “The Icing on the Cake.” I’ll be back again tomorrow with another cake story. Until then, happy reading (and eating)!

Cakewalk, Day Twenty-Five: Happy Birthday, Kathleen!

Welcome to DAY TWENTY-FIVE of my August Cakewalk, where I’m celebrating the release of my romantic comedy, “The Icing on the Cake.” Today is a VERY special day! It’s my precious friend Kathleen Y’Barbo Turner’s 29th birthday!

Okay, so maybe it’s not her 29th, but it IS her birthday. She’s in Tulsa. I’m in Houston. I can’t bake her a cake. So, I decided the next best thing would be to dedicate one to her. Most of the people close to me know that I’m best known for my Oreo cake. It can be done a number of different ways (with either chocolate frosting or white) but I usually break it down like this:

Start with three layers of cake: Chocolate, white, chocolate (like an Oreo)

In-between the layers of cake, add cream cheese frosting with broken Oreo pieces. When you get the cake put together, frost the whole thing with the cream cheese frosting, then set (whole) Oreo cookies around the bottom, and break up the remaining cookies to put on top. Yummmmm!

Working this hard for a good friend is what makes life so sweet! If you don’t believe me, ask Scarlet, the heroine in “The Icing on the Cake.” She works so hard to put together a cake for her BFF’s wedding. It’s a ton of work, but Hannah (her friend) is SO worth.

Kathleen, if you’re reading this, you’re so worth it, too! Wish you were here so we could share a slice of Oreo cake together. Because you’re not, I might just have to bake one of these and eat the whole thing, myself. (Hahahahaha! Pretty sure this post just wrecked my diet!)

Happy birthday, my friend!