Charm City Cakes Bronycon Class

In keeping with my New Years resolution of the "year of creativity", I'm saying yes to anything where I can use my hands artistically. I seriously lucked out when Mary from Charm City Cakes invited me, via Instagram no less, to the Bronycon Cake Decorating class. She posted something about a family from Australia who signed up for the class, knowing nothing about Bronycon. See here and here for more information on this generous and kind group of people who have flown into Baltimore the last few summers for the "con".

The ages of my classmates ranged from 16-55. This fellow and his Pinkie Pie back pack, kind of says it all. Bronycon is for Bro's who like My Little Pony. But it's not just for bros. Women fans are called Pegasisters.

I knew nothing about costume play until Otakon hit the Baltimore Convention Center. Bronycon is very similar, but with much friendlier, and more colorful costumes. Don't get me wrong, Otakon has some seriously colorful characters. I just saw many with swords and daggers who represented Anime. Our fearless teacher Mary asked us to sketch when we first arrived to get an idea of what and how our cakes would look like. She reminded us to be frugal with our creativity as time was of the essence. 

We were given all the tools needed to make a kick a$$ cakes in two hours.

The lovely Mary.

The Aussies who signed up and were attending another conference.

Mary made it look so easy.

Measure your cake with the rolling pin so you know your fondant will fit.

Then you "robe" the cake. Pressing the air bubbles out of the fondant and pulling it gently as you press down the sides, working in a circle. Seriously, way harder than it looks.

Then we went to work. We got to pick our fondant colors and mixed it ourselves.

I choose Rainbow Dash. She flies and has a rainbow. How great is that? I've never seen an episode but Mary sent me a note asking what Pony I wanted to make. Naturally I created a Pinterest board for inspiration.

They baked the cake part for us and gave it to us with a crumb coat. 

I may have overdone it choosing Rainbow Dash. I had to mix all of the colors of the rainbow. It was awesome though and I got it done in 2 hours.

We even got to use the airbrush station. Seriously, it was so much fun! I brought the cake to work the next day and it was layered with, you guessed it, Rainbow!!!

There were three of us who picked Rainbow Dash.

Mary and Charm City Cakes I can't thank you enough for such a fun evening!

The Hundred-Foot Journey

We sucked the last minute out of this Friday night. We were exhausted from an exhausting week. But we rallied and had dinner in Harbor East at Lebanese Taverna, outside on this perfect no-humidity night in Baltimore. I looked up the movie listing at Landmark and we had 20 minutes before The Hundred-Foot Journey began. Dinner and a movie. Score.

We absolutely loved this movie. Both of us. It was a $25.00 trip to France. The landscapes. The food markets. The colors of the spices. Oh our weary end of the week souls were lifted. I've worked in the food industry for years. My parents and grandparents owned a gourmet gift shop. Food is such a big part of who I am. I'm not kidding, I wept three times to the point I needed to pull out a handkerchief (yes I had one in my purse) and my eyes stung from the tears. Oh how I wish I could have taken my grandmother to see this with me. Just like I loved Julie and Julia, I will buy this DVD and watch it over and over again. 

Mom. Dad. Susan. Mary T. All of my people. You must go see this movie. It is an absolute delight. Now, where to go spice shopping in Baltimore? 

Parts & Labor

When E. and I first visited our new home in Baltimore, six and a half years ago, we got a flat tire. Ironically, the new (spring 2014) restaurant Parts & Labor was the former garage we went to for the repair. It looked nothing like this. I'm so glad Spike and Amy Gjerde of the Woodberry Kitchen family of restaurants saw past this once ugly building and restored it. It is a gem and so is the new restaurant and butcher shop. We went the last week of April.

The location is so convenient for us. It's right across from Charmington's and a great addition to the Remington neighborhood. There is a huge free parking lot caddy corner from it which makes the parking/valet issue no problem.

George Marsh is the head chef and came over from Woodberry Kitchen. We sell our figs to WK so he greeted me with a warm hug upon arrival. It's fun to be upfront and in the face of the kitchen action. Maybe the most open kitchen plan I've seen next to Wit & Wisdom in the city.

The seating is casual with communal tables, a great large bar and some wonderful sunken booths.

E had the pit beef. The handsome gentleman with the handlebar mustache sliced it a la minute. I suggested they needed to sell mustache wax and his girlfriend is in the process. 

I asked George to pick the leanest item on the menu and was offered the tender steak. I think it was called the flat iron or skirt steak. I can't remember and the menu changes based on what the nose to hoof concept prepares. I went again and had a quick steak with crab meat that was out of this world.

We sat at the bar and I asked about the beer pulls and mosaic tile. The tiles are original to the building from the 1880s and Greg the bartender turned the pulls himself. I love these fine details that Spike and Amy put into their spaces.

The tiny trays, glassware, original stone and even the fridge covered in reclaimed wood caught my eye.

It's really fun to be able to see all of the action in the kitchen and drool over what's coming out of the "window".

You can also buy cuts of meat, chickens, cured ham and house made sausages. The prices are higher than an average grocery store, but you are paying for the local farm raised products. I think it's worth is for special occasions.

Welcome to the neighborhood Parts & Labor!