rubyjeansfamily

The Strawberry Cake

Mom has been making this strawberry cake for years.  When we hear of this cake we automatically think of this being made for one of her grandchildren.  In most cases it is the male grandchildren in our family that favor this cake.  This is the most frequently requested cake order that mom receives.

This cake was given a make-over.

Make no mistake, there was nothing wrong with the classic “Ruby Jean Strawberry Cake”.  Not one complaint logged about the recipe or the appearance of this cake in the 20 or so years that she’s been making it.  The timing was just right for a change.  Gran planned to spend an extended period of time in the Dallas metroplex, Marc requested a strawberry cake from Gran while she was in town, Gran is taking cake decorating classes and needing to practice her techniques.  Everything aligned and the result is a self-directed redesign of Mom’s classic strawberry cake.

Let’s begin with the end.  Here’s the cake that Marc received from his request.  Wow was his response also!! (I just know you said it…)  Enjoy some of the photos that show mom creating this masterpiece.  I witnessed it all – and tasted the icing also.

Note the chunks of strawberries in the icing.  Looks like the       classic strawberry cake so far…    Just hang on…

Enough said!  I’m proud of Mom and I know you are also.  Like what you see? Let Mom know this by giving her a call or leaving a comment here.  I’ll make sure she gets every comment you post!

Carolyn

Cake Decorating Basics – finishing the class!

Where did the time go?  We are now at week 4 – the final week of our Wilton Decorating Basics class. 

There was a lot to do to prepare for this class and a lot to do in the class itself.  This is the class where everything that we’ve learned in the earlier weeks come together in what should be an impressive cake.  In the previous weeks we’ve learned to create drop flowers, rosettes, shells, pompom flowers, leaves and the Wilton rose.  We also learned to apply multiple boarders to the top and bottom of the cake.

We had to show up at this final class with our cake baked, leveled and iced and/or filled.  We were also to make drop flowers and roses throughout the week and bring them to class to apply them to our cake.  We also had to bring our homemade buttercream icing to class prepared by adding colors to it as we needed to complete our cake design.

I was tired before beginning the class prep.  I gave up.  I let mom do her cake, icing and flowers and I would cheer her on instead of working on a final class project of my own.   I’d also apply the continual buttercream tasting that is required to monitor the freshness of the completed project.   I thank God that you can’t fail a class like this one!!

As you can imagine, Mom was so excited for this class just like all the rest of them.  She spent time every day on making buttercream, creating flowers and cake baking. 

On class day we learned to create the classic rose and picked up additional tips on cake design and finishing. 

Mom’s cake for this class was for Eboni.  She filled the cake with chocolate and decorated it with drop flowers that were made fr0m buttercream icing.  Many delicate flowers of many colors were used to top this delicious confection.  Wow!!

Mom earned a Wilton Certificate of Completion for this course.  This was presented to her by Ms Joyce, our instructor.  

Mom learned a lot in the class but that wasn’t enough.  It was at that point that she spoke with Ms Joyce about the next course in the series.  By the end of the class Mom had decided that she would stay in Dallas another month and we would be ready to take the next Wilton course during the month of July. 

I also recieved a Certificate of Completion from Wilton.  Don’t you say nothin!! 

Carolyn “buttercream” Williams

Commencement Speaker… How could I forget???

In sharing about the 2012 Commencement for Dallas Theological Seminary, I didn’t share with you one of the major highlights of the ceremonies – THE SPEAKER!!

We were blessed to hear a message by Dr. Charles R. Swindoll – more commonly know as Chuck Swindoll.  Chuck is known to many as Pastor, Author and radio broadcaster/teacher.  Chuck is also a graduate of DTS and has served as the seminary president and chancellor.

Chuck delivered a uplifting and encouraging message for the students and ceremony guests.  We truly enjoyed it!

Sorry that I missed this speaker highlight in my earlier mention of this topic!!

Carolyn

Commencement 2012 – Dallas Theological Seminary – We were there!!

Carolyn Gilleylen, a very good friend of mine completed a major achievement by completing her studies at Dallas Theological Seminary to earn a Master of Arts degree in Christian Education.  She has worked hard on this for the last few years and I’ve watched her sacrifice in her personal life to complete these studies.  I, along with her blood family members are extremely proud of her for this accomplishment!  I had planned to attend the commencement exercises and since Mom was here with me, she also got a chance to join me in the celebration.

Throughout the seminary’s  history, it has steadfastly maintained its allegiance to biblical truth.  A doctrinal statement articulates the beliefs of Dallas Theological Seminary and each year the faculty and members of the Board reaffirm their agreement with this statement.

The commencement exercises were held at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Tx.  This church is huge!  Mom and I commented on how beautiful and spacious the facility is on the inside.  It is one of the largest megachurches in North America and the worship center seats 7,000 people.  This is huge by any standards!.

The ceremonies were organized and well executed.  With the screens in place we were able to see Carolyn very well as she received her honors.  It was a blessing to be able to share this joyous occasion with Carolyn and her family.    

And Mom can say that she’s attended a Seminary graduation and visited Prestonwood Baptist Church!  Great experience!!

Carolyn