Alex abandoned me . . . but she left a chart.

You may have heard of Alex’s plans for fall break, and since she was to be leaving, we naturally received  a call for one of the biggest cupcake catering (did I mention we cater?) orders we’ve had yet. . . .  So guess who’s flying this one solo?

The days we had for preparation were spent writing—and re-writing—list after list . . . chart after chart . . . after chart. . .after doing several inventories of our current supplies.  And then doing more inventory-ing.  You see, we like to be thorough.

Still, the morning finally arrived (after a restless night spent saturated in dreams of cupcake disasters  and tardy awakenings) and I stepped into the kitchen armed with a single oven, a spare mixer (can’t be too careful, can we Alex?), and high hopes (we’ll ignore the anxiety at this point and go for the optimistic angle).

Sure, it wasn’t all that bad, and with the help of our resident barista-fairy, Alissa—more about her in chapters 4 and 5—we dominated that birthday cake (the chocolate ganache, red velvet, and banana puddin’—you’ll be relieved to know—were dominated as well).  And while there was somewhat of a mix up concerning whether or not raspberry tea was supposed to be involved (by the way, I’m chalking that one up to not being my fault), it all played out quite smoothly—and by “smoothly,” I (of course) mean:  “as planned.”  Never had a worry. (See last paragraph.)

But in all seriousness, I love what I get to do and I love seeing it all come out beautifully . . . and I love that Alex is back.