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Most of my long-time readers have probably heard my bakery story but quite a few of you asked questions when I posted the cake picture last week, so here is the story...

Way back in the late 70s, I took a Wilton cake decorating class at Montgomery Wards, in Rockville, Maryland.  I wanted a creative outlet and thought cake decorating sounded like fun, and it was!  I did cakes for friends at work and for the family now and then.  I didn't charge anyone because it was a fun hobby. 

I got a divorce and moved to Virginia where I continued to do cakes for special events.  Joe and I met, got married, and I continued to do cakes now and then, for fun.  Then we moved to Florida. (Just an aside... in Virginia, you can run a home business without a license and health department - at least you could way back then.  That was not the case in Florida, where you had to have a separate kitchen approved by the health department and have a qualified food manager present, and business licenses.)

I found a part-time job working for Alicia Harner, at The Wedding Cake, and worked with Joe the rest of the time to get his CPA business up and running. He brought a few clients with him from Virginia, to work long-distance but things were lean for a while.  Having a paycheck was helpful and I was having fun learning "the business".  

Alicia was a trauma nurse in the  ER at Tampa General Hospital.  She worked three days a week in Tampa and did cakes the other four days.  Her husband was not employed at the time and he did a lot of the baking and delivering so Alicia (and then, me) could do the decorating.  

After six months or so, Alicia asked me to buy the business from her because she was tired of it.  She had borrowed money from her mom to buy equipment and still owed a small four-figure amount to her mom.  She said if I took over the payments to her mom, she would walk away.  What a deal!! She also gave me the cakes still on the books and let me keep the name and the phone number.  She was renting the space from her aunt who was fine with me taking over the lease.  Without those, I wouldn't have been as successful as I was.  It was a very easy transition.  

I did it for almost four years before I was getting tired of it too.  Food service is a hard business and you have to be committed 24-7.  Joe helped and we were both there sometimes at 2:00 a.m. cleaning up.  He helped me deliver cakes on Saturdays (most wedding cakes had to be delivered on Saturdays).  My grandmother was still living and helped me sometimes too.  But I was at a place where I either needed to find a bigger space and hire help or just give it up.  I was doing five and six weddings a weekend and the last Valentine's Day weekend I had 10 cakes (four were small and could be picked up).  I was tired.

Mickie (the aunt who owned the building) knew someone who might want to take over and he did (yes, he).  He did cakes and catering.  I let him keep all the equipment (it was old!) and the phone number. I had paid off Alicia's mom after the first year.  He did change the name of the business to All Occassion Cakes & Catering.  

I had a new full-time job at Santa Fe Catholic High School as the business manager. I was there for four years before I went to Polk Museum of Art.  So, that's the story and below are some of the cakes I did.  It was fun and I'm glad I did it.  It was a great learning experience.

Please note that fondant wasn't a thing back then. I only used buttercream icing for all of my cakes. Also, brides were crazy for fountains and stairways.  I tried to do what the client wanted me to do, even when I wasn't crazy about their vision.... the customer is always right!  LOL

Also, sometimes the bride would send me a picture from the wedding. Always nice. And I did all kinds of cakes, not just wedding cakes.  Some of these that look rather plain got fresh flowers on them at the venue and I didn't usually get to see them "finished".

I painted the little plastic dolls, over and over, to match color schemes.

The bride wanted a chocolate cake with chocolate icing.

See the little heart cake in front?  I always made what I called a "honeymoon" cake (free) for the bride and groom to take with them.  It had a separate box with napkins, forks, and a knife. Always appreciated and commented on.

This is the last wedding cake I did, 6-7 years ago for my friend Fran and her hubby Bob.

I have a big photo album full of pictures. These are just some of them and remember that it was back in the early 90s.  Thanks if you made it this far!!

Peace and hugs!

Praise Jesus!