"Para El Amor Que Se Baila"

Have you ever been consumed by a desire to do something? And not just anything, but something so spectacular and challenging and something you've never done before.

I don't know why, but I am mesmerized by the Argentine Tango. Perhaps it was seeing Ricki Lake do it on the recent season of Dancing With the Stars with her amazing partner, Derek Hough, that inspired me to learn this sexy dance.

This particular song by a group called "Otros Aires" was something I stumbled upon on Youtube. The song title translates to "For The Love of Dance." The couple in the video is entangled in a quick and complicated choreography with lifts and leg wraps that make their limbs look like Swiss Army knives on fire, like legs fueled by a Bunn coffee maker. I love the added touch of theatricality by the dancers, the flirty use of the hat.

The day after Christmas, my family and I went to Rockefeller Center just to see the Christmas Tree. It was my baby niece's first time. We had parked in a facility close to the Argentine Consulate which I thought was some sort of sign. If Ricki Lake can do it, so can I!

I should have asked Santa for Tango-ready, lithe legs. And since it takes TWO to Tango, a dance partner also. 

Thanksgiving Cake

Wow, my blog posts are becoming spasmic and far in between. I apologize, but I am still here. Mostly on Twitter nowadays, shamelessly exposing my love-sick lamentations and some random rhymes.

However, I present to you my latest cake creation for the recent Thanksgiving celebration!

I really wanted to sculpt a turkey figure out of fondant, but I was pressed for time since I was also doing the turkey stuffing and spaghetti for the Thanksgiving dinner. I ended up making mini pumpkins instead.

Some of the things I'm grateful for this year:

The gift of cake craft--and the means to afford it; for the sweet smiles I get whenever I bake it. For the gift of travel: the chance to see the world unravel! For the gift of dance, the chance to get on the floor; for all the wonderful reasons that make me love life more! But most importantly, for the love of family and friends...the real icing on the cake!

Foot LOSE!

A day after I danced my heart and hips out for my father's 60th birthday party, my bare foot landed on a belt buckle on the floor at home, right smack in the middle.The pointy thing was sticking upward, like it was just patiently waiting for that freak accident to happen, and it did.

The darned metal penetrated my skin. It meant having to get a tetanus shot, and two days later my shoulder still hurts from the vaccine; meanwhile, I'm limping at work and propping my leg up on the recycling bin in the office. It's not the sexiest sight.

What's sexy, then? A smile that's meant for you. Because really, it starts with a smile. Hello only comes second. The rest is Cheese-tory.

Ladybug Fondant Birthday Cake

Here you have it, folks: the end result of all those Wilton Cake Decorating classes I took during Spring. The reason why I even took them in the first place--to create my baby niece's First Birthday Cake!

I went with a Pink Ladybug theme, because she is our little ladybug! The top tier of the cake is strawberry and the bottom layer is dark chocolate. We had her party by the lake on the last holiday of the summer: Labor Day Weekend.

I must say that the Wilton Color Mist food color spray was a real time-saver on the base fondant! I didn't have to knead the yellow color into the fondant! I just sprayed away!

I made the gumpaste flowers a few days before the cake itself, as they need time to harden. I discovered that I could use the clear lid on our egg trays from Costco to hold the flowers in!

Now what should I learn next? Should I learn guitar? Wait, maybe ballroom dance? Ballroom dance to pop songs like they do in "Dancing With The Stars!"

Quebec: Je Me Souviens!

I was in Quebec last weekend for a cousin's wedding in the charming, "UNESCO World Heritage Site" City of Quebec, or Vieux-Quebec (Old Quebec). We drove 9 hours to get to that French-Canadian region. It's my second time to be in Quebec, but it would be my first time to actually step inside the famous Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac, as seen on the right side of this postcard which I mailed to myself. The hotel was where the wedding guests had cocktails and a dinner reception after the simple ceremony at nearby Notre Dame de Quebec Basilica.

It was like stepping into the setting of an old movie. I half-expected for my surroundings to turn noir et blanc (black & white), or at least sepia.

There were hors d'ouvres served on spoons and shot glasses. Tres fancy! (Fancois?) There was live music as we enjoyed the breeze from the St. Lawrence River just beyond the Terrasse Dufferin.

The after-party drinking session with the newly-weds, however, felt like a Quebecois version of the "Jersey Shore," the way most of them got risque from being too drunk. And when they found out that we were from Jersey, they kept chanting "Fist Pump!!!"

Pardonnez-moi, but I'm not Snooki. And I hardly watch "Jersey Shore" on our Panasonic home theater system.

Cake Contest Runners-Up

Back in June, my friend and I boldly decided to join our first cake decorating contest. It was hosted by our local Michaels store, where we had met at the Wilton Cake Decorating classes.

The theme for the contest was revealed only two days prior to the actual contest day. It was "Four Seasons." We brainstormed and agreed that we would cover our cake with fondant, then stick with a simple design that would show the four seasons in four tree branches spread out evenly around the cake.

The rules said we could have 25% of our final decorations pre-made at home, so my friend started making the cherry blossoms out of gumpaste which she dusted with pink shimmer dust. Edible, of course. We had 3 hours to work on our cake. The teams were scattered throughout the store so that nobody could spy on each other's work.

I rolled out the branches from fondant and shaped the summer and autumn leaves. The autumn leaves were cut and shaped by hand, not by a leaf-shaper. Hand-painted with icing color, as well.

I handpiped the winter snowflakes with royal icing. My friend molded a snowman with a scarf as a topper for the winter part of the cake.

There were four teams altogether, and the cake on the right won first place. The intricate icing work earned them the most points. The cake to the left won 2nd place. Ours was the smallest cake compared to the rest that it looks like it might stand perfectly on a fireplace mantel. Turns out we were supposed to make a three-tier cake, but our copy of the rules never said that.

We were First Runners-Up, which essentially meant last place, but the experience itself made us winners in our right. And hey, my friend and I each got this cool fondant-cutting tool set from Wilton as consolation prize.

My teammate who's a mother of two reportedly had her son tell her before leaving for the contest that if we win, he will hug her. And if we didn't, he will give her a BIGGER hug.

When she went home that night and told him the news, her son gave her a really big hug.

And it was the sweetest thing.

Presto, It's Kresto!

I love grocery-shopping when in a different location. I like to see what local products are available, what brands the locals love to consume. Being a chocolate person, I brought home a small can of this Puerto Rican powdered chocolate called "Kresto."

Wish I was able to prop it on some rustic star furniture for a cuter photo, though.

I love the vintage cartoons on the label. It sure looks like Puerto Rican children have been enjoying this chocolate drink since the 70's, judging from the art.

Flavor verdict? Delicioso! It's akin to my own Ovaltine childhood, minus the granule-y texture.

What edible souvenir have you brought home from a trip which became your favorite?