Treats to treasure...
I knew I needed to get out of the house more often when I sat down to help my son with his homework and he told me he didn't have any. The problem? I was actually disappointed.
When you're a really committed parent -- and believe you me, many friends have told me I should be committed -- sometimes you need to do something just for yourself.
So the next day I got a brochure from the local recreation department and scanned the offerings, thinking that maybe I would take a class. I looked for something where I could unleash my repressed creativity, enhance my personal growth and meet new people I didn't have to drive to the mall or whose TV watching I didn't have to limit.
But after I eliminated anything that required physical coordination or concentration for more than 15 seconds, cake decorating was the only class left. My family looked surprised when I announced my decision.
"But your idea of cake decorating is ordering a cake from the bakery and telling them what color frosting to put on it," my daughter said.
"Exactly!" I said. "After this class I'll be able to customize birthday cakes for the entire family. Someday, I'll make your high school graduation cake, your wedding cake, your first job cake ..."
"My first job cake?"
I ignored my daughter's blank look. Suddenly, I couldn't wait to get started.
GRANDVILLE, Mich. - For the budget-minded bride and groom, a new business is offering a less costly alternative to buying an expensive wedding cake: renting a fake one.
The idea is to have an elegant, multitiered pretend cake for show while serving guests slices from a real, tasty and inexpensive sheet cake.
The inside of a faux wedding cake crafted by Fun Cakes in Grandville contains mostly plastic foam, with a secret spot reserved for a slice of real cake to be shared by the bride and groom. Everything is covered by gum paste and fondant, a frosting-like confection made from sugar and water often used in cakes and pastries.
After a bride and groom take the traditional first slice of their real wedding cake, it's often wheeled away from guests, out of their sight, to be cut up and served on plates. Do the same thing using a fake cake and a sheet cake, and guests will be none the wiser.
By Ann-Marie Williams - News Editor
On April 27, 41 women from 15 rural villages, relatively strangers, met for the first time at the Y.W.C.A. in Belize City for 60 hours of skills training to improve their lives and circumstance; in short make them independent.
The Belize Rural Development sponsored programme, administered by the Y.W.C.A. introduced the ladies to four areas of training: Food Preparation and Hospitality, Cosmetology and Sewing.
Most of the women chose areas in which they had some prior knowledge but not Edelene Smith, who has five children.
She knew absolutely nothing about the parts of a machine, let alone sewing 101, but after six weeks, who knew.
“I chose sewing and today I can make a dress for my daughter who is graduating. I feel I can now open a business and make my own money,” Smith asserts.
Read the Full Article here: http://www.reporter.bz/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=2062&Itemid=2