Oh, my ganache!

Today's topic: culinary hurdles met and conquered.

When I asked Marissa what kind of cake she wanted for her birthday, she requested a blue or green pig. I turned to the ever-trusty internet and saw the best pig cake ever. I couldn't resist and had to try it. But it required some things I've never made or used before.

a) ganache
b) fondant

Don't you think just the sound of both of those is intimidating? But I decided to press forward undeterred. I found a recipe for ganache which looked simple enough and turned out divine. I don't think I can go back to regular frosting. Then, because I'm cheap, I didn't want to go out and buy fondant, so I tried a recipe for homemade marshmallow fondant. And it worked! The next step -- the fun part! -- was molding and assembly. The end result brought me great joy. Marissa was pretty happy with it, too.

Pigs in the mud

My pretty [and one of a kind] 12-year-old

This was a major milestone birthday for sure. Marissa graduated from elementary school, entered young women's, had a sweet birthday party, went to girls camp [which I also attended as assistant director], and got her ears pierced. In the same time frame she has played soccer as one of the team's top scorers, went to basketball and volleyball camps, participated in a piano recital, danced in the end-of-school La Fiesta, and I've-lost-track-of-who-knows-what-else. It's fair to say she's been hopping. And she's still nice. Phew!