my life in cake

My Life in Cake has moved!

2011-11-13T17:42:00.001-05:00

Check out our new and oh-so-beautiful blog layout, now integrated with the Short Street Cakes website here! My wonderful friend Michael Frey (the LA-based designer who you might remember from my posts about his wedding earlier this year) created it. Thank you, Michael, and I look forward to seeing y'all over at the new and improved My Life in Cake!

Mississippi Delta

2011-11-06T21:57:00.002-05:00

Here, on the eve of my departure from New Orleans to head back to the mountains and home, I'm realizing that book tour really is very similar to band tour. Duncan often affectionately refers to my book and various other extracurricular pursuits as my "band," and, while I've never actually been in a touring rock band, I imagine that life on band tour is very much like mine has been this past week. I've had many meals consisting of bad coffee, sour cream & onion potato chips and beef jerky, and listened to more than my share of christian radio in the bible belt. I've also made it through hours of driving listening to some of the best country stations I've ever heard- old songs I haven't heard in decades, played by warm and interesting DJs who truly love the music. I've felt addled from driving long stretches through miles of cotton fields and small towns, and felt joyful from the oases of welcome at my gigs in between. Touring can also be lonely and taxing, and I'll be glad to get home to my boys, but in the meantime I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to visit some of my favorite places, meet new friends and old, and share this book, so long in the making, with them. My first stop was Oxford, Mississippi, at the beloved institution Square Books.

I had first been to Square Books in Oxford when I was in high school, because my brother went to school at Ole Miss. I loved that bookstore immediately. Later I returned to Square Books on a road trip with my friend Elliott, and now I was there as an author. That felt really good, and it made me think about the importance of bookstores in the life of a town. So just a little side note about buying local: local bookstores are in peril right now due to the rise of internet book sales and electronic book readers. While these things are an inevitable and sometimes useful aspect of technology, please remember that, like buying food locally, buying books locally is an investment in the health and well-being of your community. And even though, like local food, local bookstores can be more expensive than big box alternatives, that is because when you source locally, you are paying closer to the true value of the item, rather than having the burden of the true cost invisibly passed off to other communities or workers. At any rate, we had a wonderful event at Square books. The owner, Lyn (on the far right in the picture below) was gracious and very helpful with my first official bookstore signing. I met a lovely young woman named Jane (second from the left) who came to meet me and wrote about it on her cake blog. Highlights include the compare/contrast between myself and Paula Deen, where she deems me to be cooler. She also later tried her hand at Mary Moon's Fresh Coconut Cake, and blogged about that, too. She had some wonderful things to say about food and community, and her blog is a very ambitious attempt to bake 99 different cakes, and blog about it, in one year.

The woman on the far left was a student at Ole Miss who interviewed me for her class.

Also in attendance was my new friend Ace Atkins, a writer of Southern mystery novels, and also my dear friend Carrie-Welles' cousin (the South is truly like one big small town). We had a great time, and he gave me some advice on the writing life, and alot of good words about the Cake Ladies book.

After that, I hightailed it to Natchez, Mississippi, a very quiet town on the Mississippi River. My wonderful friend Mindy's wonderful Mom owns this wonderful bookstore there, Turning Pages Books. She made some cakes for the signing!

Then, there was New Orleans. I arrived at the home of Cake Lady Elyse Manning, also my BFF. Elyse's house is like a home away from home for me, and I felt so happy to be there. She is truly a woman after my own heart: on every surface there are stacks of books like this:

Elyse is now working at the fabulous Satsuma Cafe in the Bywater, which is funny because I wrote the entire Elyse chapter of Cake Ladies while drinking coffee in the Satsuma, before she worked there.By happy accident, there happened to be other houseguests at Elyse's house this weekend: Justin and Nick of the Compass Green Project rolled up about an hour after I did, and we became fast friends. These guys, originally from Iowa, are travelling the country in their bio-diesel truck with a greenhouse on the back, teaching school groups an others about bio-intensive agriculture.

So, while Justin and Nick provided us for the weekend with ample tomatoes, herbs, peppers, and composting facilities from their truck, we taught them to bake. Saturday morning, Nick and I baked two pineapple upside down cakes for the book signing that day at the Southern Food and Beverage Museum, while Elyse made a Myer Lemon and Dark Chocolate Trifle, AKA a Gold and Black Whodat Saints Trifle! I had so much fun teaching my friend how to bake. Here's a link to my recipe (even though we baked the one from the book).

And here is Nick, triumphant with his first-ever cake from scratch:

And then we went to the signing, which was the culmination of this trip. Michele Burton-Oatis and Melissa Woods, the Cupcake Fairies featured in the book, were there with many family members and friends.

We had a wonderful day. It was so great to see these women, whom I have come to love, thriving so beautifully with their business and their families. It was great to be in New Orleans, and it was great to eat these exceptional cakes. It was wonderful to introduce this book, which I love and believe in, to folks that had never seen it. And, the presence of a flasher exposing himself in the back of the museum notwithstanding (this is New Orleans, after all) we all had a great time. I love this city, and I always find it hard to leave. I love the people, I love the food, I love the landscape. I love the ladies that go to brunch on Sunday dressed in gold lame in honor of the Saints. (and I love that every business has a sign telling customers to "be nice or leave").

I love kids who love cake:

and I love being here, and I love this book that has made it all possible. And now I get to go home, to a life that I love, and I feel grateful.

Sugar Skulls at Short Street Cakes, and more Dias De Los Muertos Celebrations!

2011-10-27T12:09:00.000-04:00

From now through Wednesday, November 2nd, Short Street Cakes will host our 3rd Annual Dias De Los Muertos altar to celebrate Day of the Dead. We have blank sugar skulls for sale ($5, with a portion of proceeds to benefit COLA- Coalicion de Organizaciones Latino-Americanas), a table with icing, glitter, and sequins to decorate the skulls, and an altar where participants can leave offerings to the souls of the departed. Please feel free to join us, and bring your family to participate in the sacred act of honoring the dead.

From Wikipedia: "Day of the Dead (Spanish: Día de los Muertos) is a Mexican holiday. The holiday focuses on gatherings of family and friends to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died. It is particularly celebrated in Mexico, where it attains the quality of a National Holiday. The celebration takes place on November 1st and 2nd, in connection with the Catholic holidays of All Saints' Day (November 1) and All Souls' Day (November 2). Traditions connected with the holiday include building private altars honoring the deceased using sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favorite foods and beverages of the departed and visiting graves with these as gifts.Scholars trace the origins of the modern Mexican holiday to indigenous observances dating back hundreds of years and to an Aztec festival dedicated to a goddess called Mictecacihuatl. In Brazil, Dia de Finados is a public holiday that many Brazilians celebrate by visiting cemeteries and churches. In Spain, there are festivals and parades, and, at the end of the day, people gather at cemeteries and pray for their dead loved ones. Similar observances occur elsewhere in Europe, and similarly themed celebrations appear in many Asian and African cultures."

I first learned to make sugar skulls two years ago from Suzie Millions, and I blogged about it, along with the recipe and more history of the holiday, here.

The lovely and wonderful Miss Glo will be hosting her altar again this year in the back courtyard at Mayfels on Tuesday, November 1st, starting at 5pm, and we will be bringing the altar at the Cake Shop there to join in the festivities. You can see photos of last year's celebration here, and read the write-up of the festivities from this week's Mountain Xpress, here.

Also on November 1st, Nuestro Centro, Asheville's Latino Community Center, located at 441 North Louisiana Avenue, in West Asheville, will be hosting a Noche de Alteres/Dias de los Muertos Celebration. I feel grateful and excited to be part of celebrating the season of honoring the loved ones who have passed on. I feel we need their guidance now more than ever. It also feels really wonderful to continue to root the Cake Shop in a community where we are building traditions and have moments throughout the year to come together and remember the cycles of the seasons and our souls. Each year that we celebrate Dias de Los Muertos, I feel more grounded in our families, our community, and our rich and beautiful history. Much love and many blessings,Jodi

Cedar Grove Pig Pickin: Cake, Music, and Homemade Love.

2011-10-19T21:30:00.000-04:00

This is Keri. Keri and I were freshman college roommates at the University of Georgia. 17 years later, we are still best friends, and our children are like cousins to each other. Last year, due to a long, complicated, and of course very serendipitous turn of events, I met the Cake Lady Betty Compton through Keri and friends at the Anatoth Community Garden in Cedar Grove, NC.

Last night, I returned to Cedar Grove, for a book signing I had scheduled to take place at the garden. I got to reconnect with old friends, like Meghan (pictured below) and I sold and signed copies of the book, both of which I expected.

What I didn't expect, however, is what an amazing event the community would come together to create. Completely unbeknownst to me, Betty's family and community was so excited that she was featured in the book, that they took my little book signing in the garden and turned it into a full-blown, country-style Pig-Pickin', Cake-Walkin', dance party. Betty brought her famous pound cake:

And eight other people brought cake for the cake walk, like this one, which was later won (and eaten) by Keri's son, who graciously shared it with the rest of his family, me, and Jasper.

The music group that Betty has been playing and singing with for the last 10 years, "Pickin' and Grinnin,'" not only provided the musical accompaniment to the cake walk, but they delighted everyone with their renditions of songs by Patsy Cline, Johnny Cash, and other traditional country and bluegrass artists. Betty herself, even though she was the guest of honor, managed to find time to sit in on a few songs.

And then there was the pig.

Betty's husband, Dwight, bought a whole pig, and her son roasted it, starting at 5am yesterday morning. Betty's sisters made the two hour drive from Nash County to be there. Friends and family brought side dishes: all manner of baked beans, breads, banana pudding, green beans, mashed potatoes, macaroni salad, green salad. It was nothing short of an extravagant feast, and it was delicious. I was absolutely blown away by the generosity of each and every individual that gave to this event, and it reminded me of some of the wisdom I had learned from Betty: "when you are in a community, you know each other's gifts, you wrap around each other's gifts." From the set-up, to the eating, dancing, celebrating, cake-walking, and clean-up, there was a natural and spontaneous sense of that wrapping around each other's gifts, and the responsibility was shared, and therefore lightened, by everybody. In this time of social and political uncertainty, dare i say, upheaval, I was struck by how the simple act of creating fun and celebration with your own head and heart, and the things and the relationships you have available to you, can create a richness that money can never buy. I think this is sustainability in its highest sense, and I think it is healing. The garden has a history of this healing; as Anathoth's website explains: "The story of Anathoth Community Garden began in 2005 after a murder occurred down the road from the Garden site. Cedar Grove United Methodist Church held a prayer vigil for healing and peace at the site of the murder. Mrs. Scenobia Taylor was present at the vigil and had a vision that she was to donate 5 acres of her land to the church for the healing of the community." This has become what Anathoth is today, and I experienced a little bit of that healing last night. Thank you to keri, Betty, Dwight, Anathoth, and the community of Cedar Grove, for wrapping around each others gifts. I am grateful to be a part of it.

And later that night, Keri and I enjoyed some cake:

The next morning, Jasper and I enjoyed that distant cousin of cake, the Pancake, and meandered around Hillsborough until we found the local bookstore, The Purple Crow. The proprietress, Sharon Wheeler, was happy to learn about the book, and ordered some for her store. So here's a footnote about buying local: most any bookstore you walk into will order a title if their customers ask for it, so asking for Cake Ladies in a store that doesn't carry it is a great thing to do. And if you want the convenience of online ordering while still supporting your local bookshop, you can order on indiebound.org and have it shipped to you through your local bookstore.

The end.xo

October Cake Shop Newsletter!

2011-10-11T10:53:00.001-04:00

Click here to read our October newsletter, with lots of fun info on Sugar Skulls, news from the Cake Shop, and, of course, a little thing called "Cake Ladies."

Fall 2011 Book Tour: Pig Pickin' in Cedar Grove, NC

2011-10-10T21:12:00.001-04:00

My friend Keri and the community of Cedar Grove,NC, home to one of the Cake Ladies from the book, Betty Compton, have puttogether the following event down east in Cedar Grove, NC to celebrate CakeLadies. This people of this communitygarden have been a friend to me and to the Bountiful Cities Project here inAsheville, and I feel so deeply honored to be in such fine company. I feel so grateful, too, that the communityput this together on their own, to celebrate this wonderful woman Betty who hasgiven so much to their community. I'mgetting a little teary again.

You Are Invited to a

Book Signing, Cake Walk & Pig-Pickin’ Potluck:

At Anathoth Community Garden!

On Tuesday,October 18th

From 5:00 p.m.to 8:00 p.m.

Please bring adish to share!

The book, Cake Ladies, Celebrating a SouthernTradition, written by Jodi Rhoden will be available for purchase at theevent as well as one of the featured cake ladies, Betty Compton! Jodi and Bettywill be there to sign your copy of this amazing new cookbook, featuringdelicious cake recipes, inspiring stories, and beautiful photography. Betty will be the guest of honor at thecakewalk with her famous pound cake. You can also bring a yummy cake to put inthe cakewalk.

There will belive music with fellowship, fun and great food.

Come join us andbring a friend!

Directions: Hwy 86North from Hillsborough - 7 miles; take a left onto Carr Store Road; go 1 1/2miles to flashing stop sign. Continue straight on Carr Store Rd. approx. 1miles & take a left on Mill Creek Rd. & 1st right onto Lonesome Rd. TheGarden is on the Right.

(In case of rain, theevent will move into the Cedar Grove UMC Fellowship Hall at the corner of CarrStore Rd. & Efland Cedar Grove Rd. - next to the post office.)

For more info go to www.anathothgarden.org or call thechurch office at 919-732-8405.

Cake Ladies Book Release Party, Sunday October 16!

2011-10-06T20:48:00.000-04:00

Please join us for a cake-filled, kid-friendly, cocktail-licious celebration of the publication of Cake Ladies. This will be my home-town send-off before a few months of travel promoting the book, and I would love to see your beautiful face before I go. We're gonna raffle books, flowers, cakes, and t-shirts; Calliope Cut Flowers decorates, Miss Glo pours and Michael Tangelo DJ's. $3- $5 suggested donation for the raffle, no one turned away for lack of funds. Books will be on hand for purchase and signing; a few of the book's featured Cake Ladies will be in attendance, too! The venue is the lovely, renovated church on Forsythe Street, in the 5 Points neighborhood. From Downtown, go down Broadway and pass 5 Points, take a Right on Woodrow. Take you first left on Forsythe and park anywhere that's legal. Respect the space and the neighbors; we gonna have a good time!

Welcome to the World, Cake Ladies!

2011-09-19T22:05:00.000-04:00

I am grateful and happy to announce that my book, Cake Ladies: Celebrating a Southern Tradition, will be on the shelves in two short weeks! I will tell you more at the end of this dispatch about events and purchasing information, but first I want to reflect on what an incredible and beautiful journey it has been to bring this project into being. I never set out to write a book. I merely was interested- I knew what a beautiful part of my life baking cakes had become, and I wanted to meet other women who had a similar experience. I was given the opportunity to do just that when Nicole McConville from Lark Crafts took a chance on me and went to bat for my idea- and then the idea became a book. Nicole- I am so grateful to you. As a result, I spent the better part of 2010 researching and writing this book. I sojourned through the South meeting friends new and old. I sat at the kitchen tables of dozens of women who graciously shared their wisdom with me, not just about cakes, but about love, family, and community. I was at a crossroads in my life, in my marriage, and in my work, and the adventures I experienced last summer lit the path for me to a way forward, in my life as a writer and a business owner, and in my heart, too. I will be forever grateful to every friend and angel I encountered, and the joy I felt in crafting this book. One of my culinary heroines, Irma S. Rombauer, said in 1931 about her book, The Joy of Cooking, that "this book is the result of a long practical experience, a lively curiosity and a real love for cookery." Though my book contains roughly 741 fewer pages than hers did, I think I know how she felt. I finished writing the book last October, and largely set it aside, content to work in the Cake Shop, spend time with my family, and journal about my discoveries. The experience of writing the book was so beautiful, that just doing so would have been enough. Happily, though, I get to embark on a whole new adventure: I get to share it with others. One of the best things about this limbo time before the books come out has been hearing the reactions of the Cake Ladies in the book as they receive their advance copies, and hearing the updates on their lives and their work. Michele Burton-Oatis, of the Cupcake Fairies in New Orleans, wrote: "I sent you a text the moment I saw the cover. I was so emotional I couldn't speak. Melissa and I are in awe of you and Susan's talents. The book is amazing and the stories are so personal. It make you feel like meeting the other ladies and baking with them. Wow this is really happening. I'm so ready. Whatever you need please let me know."

Peggy Hambright, of Magpies Cakes in Knoxville, Tennessee, said: "Can't really believe it's been over a year since this all started. A lot has happened in that short time. I'm taking half the day today to cook dinner for a friend and start reading (i have two strawberry rhubarb pies in the oven!) and I finally got to start on your book. I started crying at your introduction. Geez. The book is lovely. I can't wait to get to the whole thing ~ all the ladies' stories. It was funny reading my "story" and realizing how much it has changed just in the past few months."

Jessica Grossman, of Jestines Sweet Shop in Charleston, wrote this to me:"Hi Jodi!We received our copy of Cake Ladies and are completely thrilled. You must (and should!) be so proud!! I'm looking forward to reading every word. It's a wonderful and charming book! I am so honored to have been included. You have a lovely way with words and a very respectful and gracious manner in telling everyone's story."

So I wrote a book, it comes out in a couple of weeks, and I can't wait to see what fate has in store for me on this next leg of the journey. I really love these ladies. And I feel proud to be counted among their number. And without further ado, I will give you the details:
In Asheville, starting in the first week of October, the book will be available at the Cake Shop, at Malaprops Bookstore, and at Barnes and Noble, as well as online.

If you live outside of Asheville, I believe that most Barnes and Nobles will be carrying the book, but please do encourage your local independent bookseller to carry the book. Also, when my dear sweet friend Michael Frey is finished revamping my website, I will be selling signed copies of the book online as well.

I am still working to finalize plans for travelling with the book this fall, but my (almost) confirmed book party schedule so far is this:

Sunday, October 16th: Book Launch Party at Forsythia Hall in Asheville!

Tuesday, October 18th: Pig Pickin' and Cake Walk, Cedar Grove, NC

Wednesday, November 2: Book Signing: Square Books, Oxford, MS.

Thursday, November 3: Book Signing: Turning Pages, Natchez, MS

Saturday, November 5: Book Signing and Reception: Southern Food Museum, New Orleans, LA

Wednesday, November 9: Book Signing: Montreat Books and Gifts, Black Mountain, NC

Tuesday, November 15th: Homecoming. Or: Marietta, GA book release party with my hometown Cake Lady, Johnnie Gabriel, at Gabriels Desserts in downtown Marietta.

Friday, November 18th: Athens, GA: stay tuned for details.

Friday, December 2nd: Magpies Cakes, Knoxville, TN.

Sunday, December 4th: The Big Crafty, Asheville, NC.

Thursday, December 8th: Cakehead Bakery and Hub City Books, Spartanburg, SC.

Sunday, December 11: Charleston, SC.

You can see updates on the facebook page here. More to come! I love you and I thank you.

Today, In Cake.

2011-09-10T20:56:00.000-04:00

First, let me say, Happy Birthday to Jasper!

I am so incredibly lucky to be the mom of such a thoughtful, loving, curious, and fun creature as my son Jasper. We had a great birthday party yesterday with friends and family at the fair! I love you, Jasper. I'm so happy that, for the rest of my life, even when you are grown, these earliest of fall days, when the leaves are still green and the sky is still blue and the first sharp cool breezes of autumn come in, will remind me, first and foremost, of you, your sweetness, and your birthday.Ahem.And, in other news, I have so much to tell you about the Cake Shop! First: The Shelves.

We now have these awesome shelves, built by my dear friend Peter Parpan!

We've been putting things on them, to sell! Like these Short Street Cakes T-Shirts, that my friend Tubbs printed up so excellently! We're selling them in Ladies, Youth and Mens Sizes, for $15 each.

We're also putting Hannah Dansie's artwork and magnets, and when my Cake Ladies book is out in just a few short weeks, we'll have those on the shelves, too. And here's a little photo essay I did today of the most recent rearrangement of furniture in the Shop, along with bonus shots of Anna and Lucy ruling:

And one more announcement: NEW MENU DROPS ON TUESDAY.

AND:I love you forever, dedicated cake ladies, Emilou, Anna, Lucy, and Hannah (not pictured)! (And I've got a lot of love for the newbies too)

And: One more thing.I just went by Push Gallery to see the group art show that my friend Ursula Gullow put together. And I think it is amazing. Tara Jensen, Anna Jensen, Lauren Whitley, Courtney Chappell, Lisa Nance, and others explore the layers of process behind making art. Here is a shot of Ursula's work, a collection of small, contiguous canvases with drawings on the wall connecting the narrative:

I don't hesitate or exaggerate when I say that art saves lives, makes lives richer, and often makes life worth living. And speaking of art, here's Lucy and Anna executing their creative inspiration in the form of cake, today:

I know I say it again and again, but it bears saying another time: I am so grateful for the Cake Shop, and the ladies therein. Together we are doing something that is greater than the sum of its parts. And I guess, also, what I'm really trying to say is that I had a good day at work today.

An Invitation.

2011-09-02T23:29:00.006-04:00

For the last few months, I've been really excited to be working with some folks in the community towards forming a food policy council for our city and county. This is the continuation of work that I've been doing in the community gardening realm for over 12 years now, and it feels like a culmination of many years of work among many people and groups. I feel really grateful about the critical mass of individuals in our community who realize that a true foodtopia (as the Asheville Convention and Visitors Bureau calls us) is one in which ALL people have access to affordable, nutritious, culturally appropriate food, not just those that can afford dinner at a farm-to-table restaurant. A true foodtopia is also one in which the food supply is local and sustainable, which makes us more self-reliant as a community. (this is referred to by the term Food Sovereignty).

The process we went through this summer led to the creation of a White Paper that makes a recommendation for a Food Policy Council. I and City Councilman Gordon Smith will be presenting this paper at two different venues in September: on the 16th as a part of the Eat Smart, Move More conference on the campus of UNCA, and at the Burton Street Agricultural Fair taking place on September 24th. We hope you will join in the conversation, and lend your voice to help form a cohesive way forward in regards to poverty, public health, local commerce, and sustainability through food security.

Check out the Press Release here, and read the entire White Paper here.
I think it will work, if we work together.

How To Make Blueberry Fig Tarts in 16 Easy Steps.

2011-08-10T19:52:00.018-04:00

(Or: On Baking with Two Five-Year-Olds and a Puppy)
Step 1: Steal figs from your neighbor's yard:

Step 2: Go try to buy a lemon from Tod's Tasties, because you can't bear to get in the car on your day off:

(Tip: if you are accompanied by two adorable children and a puppy, they might just give you the lemon)

Steps 3-6:
Make the dough. I used a recipe from a cookbook my bank teller gave me, Heirloom Baking with the Brass Sisters:
Whisk together:
1 egg
1 Tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar

Combine in Food Processor:
1/3 cup sugar
3 cups flour
1 cup cold butter

process until mealy; add liquid and process just until mixture comes together. Knead, wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour.

Step 7:
Take an arty picture of your ingredients:

Steps 8-10:
Make the filling:

I used my tried-and-true filling method:
4 cups fresh fruit (in this case it was contraband figs and some blueberries that had been in my fridge for a little too long)
1/2 cup sugar
zest of one lemon

juice of one lemon
generous pinch of salt
Stir together and let sit.

Step 11:
Now back to your dough.
Cut your dough into 6 even sections, and roll each one out, on a floured surface, into a square shape of even thickness.

Step 12:
Place a good sized dollop of filling in the center of your rolled out dough.

Step 13:
Fold and press the edges of your dough to seal in the filling.

Step 14:
Egg Wash.
Gently beat one egg in a bowl and coat the dough with a pastry brush dipped in the beaten egg. Now, say, for example, that you own a Cake Shop and all your home baking utensils have absconded to said Cake Shop, and so you can't find a pastry brush? Well, fear not, dear reader, you can just as easily use one of your 5-year-old son's watercolor paintbrushes. Its totally clean, I promise.

Step 15:
Bake tarts at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes. Ignore that black stuff on the bottom of the pan- its not burnt, its "caramelized."

Step 16:
Eat the tarts, and enjoy one of the last true days of summer.

Love.
ps. It's hot.

This Weekend in Cake: Paris of the South, Old School Cake School, and, of course, Weddings.

2011-07-24T21:29:00.011-04:00

I love summer. I especially love this lush, deep part of the summer, when the Crape Myrtle is in bloom, the cicadas are loud and obnoxious, and the storms are fast and furious in the afternoon. I love it because its my birthday time (Thursday!) and because I love swimming and because things just seem a little lazier. More things to love about summer: we've got peaches and raspberries and blueberries and wineberries- and lovely friends visiting from far-flung places.

Why, yes, it is Elyse Manning, one of the cake ladies featured in my book, Cake Ladies, which comes out in a mere 3 months from now!

Here's some highlights of our hot summer weekend at the Cake Shop:

1) Paris of the South Flea Market!

I love this little flea market. You will too. Food truck heaven, thrifty paradise. Cheap tables, live music, good times. Oh, and we're there too, selling cupcakes!

Phillipe, the fawn that stole Elyse's heart:

And some more scenes from the flea:

Paris of the South Flea Market is open Saturdays and Sundays, down on Lyman Street by the river, just past the candle factory.

2) Weddings.

Check out these from Oh, Darling! Photography, taken at Claxton Farms.

Then there was this wedding cake at Brahma Ridge:

Which, I hear tell, held up even in the summer mid-day heat.

3) Cake School!

We had our second installment of Old School Cake School Classes at the Cake Shop today! I'm very proud of today's three graduates, who successfully baked a cake from scratch, start to finish, for the first time in their lives!

However, I think the best part of Cake School was the mimosas.

Next installment of Cake School is Sunday, August 14th.

Thanks to everyone for such a beautiful weekend, especially the magical and amazing Cake Shop Cake Ladies, like Hannah, who made this awesome cake:

And Anna, who makes the Cake Shop awesome. Love.

Pretty Pictures!

2011-07-16T09:24:00.010-04:00

Lucky for us, you can't swing a cat in Asheville without hitting a photographer. Even luckier for us, they really like to photograph cake. Here's some recent work of our work that some artists have shared with me.

Marc Tickle:

Short Street Cakes baked Marc and his wife's wedding cake last year, and they live in the neighborhood and frequent the Cake Shop. When I was looking for contact information online for him, I found his website, and discovered that he makes these beautiful kaleidoscopes from hand-made glass, japanese paper, and mirrors! His work is truly beautiful and magical and I was happy to have stumbled upon it.

Tracie Acreman, Image Asheville:
Tracie is a sweet woman with a lovely accent (a Tasmanian accent, I came to find out) who created this great set of photographs at The Big Crafty, Asheville's bi-annual indie craft fair. Tracie's blog is full of vibrant images of events and people around town, including these pretty shots of Hannah's Sugar Two Shoes lollipops and good ole Short Street Cupcakes.

Asheville Indie Weddings Artist Collective:
The brainchild of Asheville wedding photographer Jennifer Callahan, Asheville Indie Weddings is described as "the first bridal blog to focus on unique local artists in our community, showcasing businesses brides might not come across otherwise." Jennifer recently conducted an interview with me and took some shots of Aunt Tissy's Italian Cream Cake:

Cade Bowman Photography:
Cade recently sent me this link to the wedding of Brandon and Jen that took place this past spring. His work is truly beautiful, and he got some great shots of the cake buffet a la Short Street:

And finally, thanks to Brandy Bourne, Co-Creator of the Big Crafty, for these shots of our fun day slinging (all-natural, scratch-made) cake and candy to the people and pilgrims of Asheville.

As I peruse all these images, I feel so very lucky to be a part of this community, and to be able to have a livelihood that brings me into contact, (and relationship) every single day with creative, powerful, imaginative, soulful, lovely, lovely people. I'm so grateful for all the places this path has taken me. Thanks everybody!

Three Newsletters of Note.

2011-07-08T19:47:00.004-04:00

Hey Friends, I would like to spread the word about three newsletters this week I find to be interesting:
1)Short Street Cakes- our sort-of monthly email newsletter, including info on Summer Old School Cake School and other upcoming events;
2)Slow Food Asheville, with a really interesting article about the recent Indigenous Terra Madre Summit in Jokkmokk, Sweden: "Delegates shared their stories about keeping food traditions alive and fighting to maintain rights to self determination, land, and water. Observers, like me, learned how they can be allies to indigenous communities as they (like many of us) seek to decolonize their food traditions and ensure their food cultures are taken up by the next generations." Word.
3)Community Food Security Coalition. This email is chock full of really dense and really relevant food policy information at the federal level. Just in case you are a big dork like me and you enjoy reading stuff like that.

The Big Crafty! this Sunday, July 10, Noon-6

2011-07-06T14:55:00.005-04:00

We will be there, and we will have CUPCAKES.

And... we'll be sharing our booth with none other than Hannah Dansie of Sugar Two Shoes and Two of Hearts fame.

There will be literally hundreds of awesome, handmade vendors, and many of them are new to The Big Crafty. This is my 3rd (or 4th?) Summer Crafty, and I'm proud to be a part of it.
See you there, lovelies!
xoxo

I love you, My Drunk Kitchen.

2011-07-05T21:59:00.001-04:00

I love you, My Drunk Kitchen, and I thank you, Oso Wallman, for the introduction.

Petit Fours, for Fun and Profit!

2011-06-09T16:10:00.010-04:00

Or: Southern Petit Fours: An Illustrated Sort-of Recipe (with instructional video)

In Europe and elsewhere, all manner of small, elegant desserts are known as "Petit Fours." In the South, the term usually refers only to the category technically known as "petit four glaces," tiny cakes, glazed with soft cooked icing, and decorated with small, elegant icing designs. French for "Little Ovens", petit fours developed in 18th century Europe, as a means of taking advantage of the last, slow heat of coal ovens in the process of cooling down.

One of my inspirations for the Cake Shop was the Pat-a-Cake Bakery in Marietta, Georgia. I don't know if it still exists, but when I was little, Pat-a-Cake was where we sometimes would go to pick up rolls, cakes, or pies for special dinners. I don't remember it very clearly, but I remember that the place was very clean, and had wide, bright cases full of pastries. I remember the Folgers Coffee in the styrofoam cups for the grown-ups, and when we would go in and wait to get our order from the folks behind the counter, I could have a colorful petit four, a treat I relished.

I've often thought about Pat-a-Cake in creating the Cake Shop, in that I respected that it was not a cafe, but a special-order bakery. I liked the formality and deliberation of the arrangement of ordering a cake, much like arranging to get your shoes fixed, or picking up the dry cleaning, or getting your hair cut. I wanted to bring some of that formality into the Cake Shop, and the attention that can be paid to the cakes, and the customers, when you have that kind of arrangement. While trying to come up with a use for the tops we cut off of the cake layers to make them level, I remembered the petit fours at Pat-a-Cake, and decided to try my hand at using scraps of cake to make them.

While many recipes will point to sponge cakes as the base for petit fours, really they can be made with any combination of leftover cake, icing and filling, layered and sliced, and then coated with glaze.

To Make Petit Fours, I used the icing recipe from the beloved Southern Heritage Cakes Cookbook:

To begin, combine in the top of a double boiler, over boiling water:

6 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon water
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
food coloring and/or flavoring of your choice (optional)

Stir until mixture is very hot, melted, thin, smooth and glossy. Add water if necessary to achieve desired consistency. Leave it aside while you work on the cake:

Today I used some cake from a batch of Strawberry Cake that was accidentally made with some of the sugar missing- not our normal Strawberry Cake recipe, and therefore not sell-able as such, but still tasty and moist.

I spread macerated strawberries between the layers, sliced the cake into small squares, and then poured the hot icing over the little cakes, coating the top and sides. When the icing solidified, I scraped the petit fours off of the rack and onto a cupcake liner, and then decorated the top with different colors of cream cheese icing in an icing bag with a writing tip. (Candied or fresh flowers would be a worthy substitute to icing, too.)

Here's a demo:

Voila! Happy Eating. I think next time that I will make them a little smaller, but I like the rustic, irregular look of them too. And, yes, we will be selling these from time to time in the shop, and yes you can order them. Yay! Call us at the Cake Shop at 505.4822 to order. xo

Speaking of Receiving...

2011-05-27T15:39:00.004-04:00

I was honored today to receive the Mountain Bizworks Entrepreneur of the Year Award! Here's the footage of my acceptance speech, tears and all:

Thanks to Duncan for filming!
And afterwards, we all went and saw Jasper graduate from Preschool.
Life is so very sweet...

Garden Update: Happy Mothers Day!

2011-05-12T10:07:00.000-04:00

I am happy to report that, as per my vow in my previous post, my garden is planted!
I owe this to the help of my family, who, after making me Mother's Day breakfast on Sunday, proceeded to spend 5 hours in my once-abandoned garden, weeding and turning the soil. On my day off with Jasper, we went to the greenhouse, bought some starts, and put them in the ground.

This year, we're going to have fresh basil, cilantro, squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, okra, marigolds, snapdragons, black-eyed susans, and green peppers for the kitchen garden.

I'm so glad to have a garden again this year. Back when Short Street Cakes was based out of my home, I grew all the flowers that I used to decorate the cakes, but couldn't keep up with it while opening the shop. This year, I can supplement the local farmer's flowers we buy for the cakes with fresh herbs and blooms from my yard, bringing the Cake Shop full circle and closer to home.

Much love and gratitude, especially to Duncan and Jasper. Happy Spring, Happy Mother's Day, and Happy Gardening!

Homestyle

2011-04-20T23:30:00.011-04:00

Some of our first wedding cakes of the season:

Vegan Raspberry Almond Cake for 100

Cake wonderland at Brahma Ridge

Spring wedding season is here! We are busier than ever, and we are so excited to bust out the most beautiful, delicious cakes for the wedding feasts taking place all over these mountains. But, at the moment, as I am wont to do, I am feeling pensive, and want to share with you some reflections on my life as it relates to working hard. Here goes:

Spring is a time of year that, in recent years, has typically brought chaos. As a business owner, I've had to adopt the "make hay while the sun shines" approach to my work, and work 16 hour days for weeks in a row to meet the increased demand for wedding cakes, festival cupcakes, and birthday parties. I enjoy working hard, and have learned a tremendous amount about the value of hard work in my life. Money has been tight in these early years of the business, as every business owner knows, but I have been determined to make the shop work. I am happy to work hard, because I am glad and grateful to have work to do, a place to do it, and people I enjoy working with. But working full-tilt can take its toll, and I've continued to remind myself that work, while it has a value in itself, is also a means to an end: having a stable and sustainable life. I've tried all along to remember my original intentions for Short Street Cakes: I wanted to stay home with my son, and my cake business was going to be my cottage industry that would allow me to do that, along with gardening, spending time with friends and family, and the other things that make life worth living. I wanted to have a business that created a simple, just, and generous abundance for myself and my family, and when other people came on to join me in that endeavor, my intentions towards a healthy, happy home and business extended to include them.

I've kept those goals in mind while working on growing the business, meeting my obligations to my clients and my community, and going through the process of writing and publishing a book, knowing that, at some point, those wishes towards my own personal sustainability would take root.

Now, I am really happy to say, I am beginning to see the fruits: these past several months my home life has been so sweet, the Cake Shop has been flourishing, and the staff at work have stepped in as the most competent, talented, self-directed individuals I have ever had the pleasure to work with. So, in addition to my usual one day off a week to stay home with my son, I've been taking Sundays off too. Spending Sundays at home with my family is a revolution. I have worked through the weekend almost every week for the last 5 years, and now, I work with a team of bakers that not only CAN handle anything that comes their way, they actually WANT TO. So I've stepped back, a little. I'm taking time away from the shop to write. I've stepped more fully into my role as a board member of Bountiful Cities. And I am so grateful. I have come to appreciate brunch and cleaning days at home, together with my husband and son, as the magical gift they are. There were times that I didn't think that those kinds of days could happen for me, and times that I wouldn't allow them to happen because I couldn't slow my pace long enough to enjoy them.

But something that I am learning as a business owner, as well as in my personal life, is that blessings of support and love are all around us, if we have the ability to recognize them and receive them. This has been a hard lesson in my life. For some reason, I have often operated under the assumption that I have to do everything myself- and have over-burdened myself in the past with other people's problems, the world's problems, and feeling that I had to solve my own problems without any help. But that is not the way the world works. None of us can survive without leaning on each other, and giving is a natural human tendency that wants to be received. Those of us who are natural "givers" sometimes deprive those around us from the pleasure of giving to us, and we deprive ourselves of the pleasure of receiving, without conditions, expectations, or control.

This year, in my personal as well as my professional life, I have chosen to focus on the concept of receiving- allowing those in my life, at home, at work, and in the community to bring love and support to my life, if and when they choose, and to gratefully and gracefully receive it.

This, too, has been a revolution.

Learning to trust the bakers at the Cake Shop, that they can do it, that they want to do it, and that they take pride in their work and they feel supported by me in doing their jobs right, fills me with such gratitude. It makes me want to work that much harder to support all of our well-being: continuing to grow the business so that we can move towards a more democratic, empowering, economically sustainable and supportive workplace for all of us has become my immediate and long-term goal for the shop.

But in order to do that, we all have to be whole people. And being a whole person means that I spend my time doing more than just working. I need to garden, I need to take long baths, and I need to engage in this ritual of spending mornings in my pajamas writing. I need to take walks and ride bikes and go to the woods. I need to travel and visit family and friends, and I need to have time to commit to community work, because those are the things that feed my soul. And if my soul is not healthy, then I cannot work from a place of love. And that is what we are all here to do.
And so, I want to say thanks.

(thank you cake by Emilou)

So... I'm setting a goal: I want to have a garden this year. It seems obvious that I would have a garden, considering the amount of time and energy I spend thinking and writing about food security, community gardening, and urban agriculture, but the truth is that I have not had a home garden for years. In the early days of Short Street Cakes I had a flower garden where I grew all the flowers for the cakes. As the business has grown, I have had to streamline and cast aside almost everything in my life besides work and mothering. And I don't regret it: hard work can be a refuge when things seem uncertain, and busting ass to build and create something beautiful is one of the most rewarding things one can do. But now, thanks to the help and support of the community that supports the Cake Shop, the superhero crew at the Cake Shop, and the love of my family and friends, (and my new-found ability to receive that help and support rather than feeling guilty about it) I can now set about having a more balanced life. And I'm going to put my money where my mouth is towards sustainability, family, and community food security, and I'm going to start with a garden.

So this week, on my day off, I hung laundry on the line:

Jasper and I ate eggs from the chickens at our friends Braden and Mindy's homestead:

And I bought this basil plant that I'm going to put in the ground, dammit.

It doesn't mean that I'm not going to continue to work hard at the shop most days (I would miss the thrill of successful heavy production days at the Cake Shop if I didn't), or that I can afford to go on weeks-long yoga retreats or pay someone to do my job. It just means that the future is now, and we all have the power to create for ourselves, right now, what we want for ourselves, despite the chaos that might seem to be around us. And that we have to be able to gratefully receive the blessings of the people around us who want to give us love and support.

Happy Spring!

Rites of Spring!

2011-04-20T21:41:00.003-04:00

On Sunday, May 1st, at the French Broad Food Coop in downtown Asheville, from 4 to 10 pm, Bountiful Cities, Asheville’s urban agriculture and sustainability organization, and French Broad Food Coop, Asheville’s community-owned natural grocery store, will co-host Rites of Spring, an outdoor celebration of spring featuring food, beer, wine, live music, children’s activities, and an old-fashioned Maypole dance celebration!
May Day has a rich history. It began as an ancient celebration of fertility and new growth, and, more recently, is known as International Worker’s Day, celebrating organized labor movements all over the world. The communities that make up Bountiful Cities and French Broad Food Coop think that it’s the perfect holiday to celebrate 35 years of our community-owned grocery store and 10 years of community-based urban agriculture in Asheville!
Colorful Palate will cater the event with savory veggie sides and Hickory Nut Gap Farm and Carolina Bison Meats. Miss Glo and David A will pour tasty brews from Wedge and Pisgah Breweries, as well as wine from Marco’s Pizzeria and French Broad Food Coop, and Short Street Cakes will provide cupcakes. Festivities begin with a May Day ceremony at 4pm. Music opens with the May Day chorus at 5pm, followed by Jason Daniello of Clouds of Greer playing a solo set at 6pm, Shane Perlowin of the Aleuchatistas playing a solo set at 7:15, and Silver Machine headlining at 8:30.
Wristbands to drink are $2 and drinks are by donation. Food is $10 per ticket and kids eat free with purchase of adult ticket.
Proceeds from the event will go to paying Bountiful Cities’ last mortgage payment on the Pearson Drive Community Garden in Montford. The mission of Bountiful Cities is “to create, on urban land, beautiful community spaces that produce food in abundance and foster a learning environment for social justice and sustainability.”
Other sponsors include Marco’s Pizzeria, Jack’s Boxes, Asheville Grown Business Alliance, and Peter Parpan illustration and design.
Rain Location is the pavilion at the Pearson Drive Community Garden in Montford.

Old School Cake School Take 1

2011-04-05T16:08:00.004-04:00

This past weekend, I had the great pleasure of teaching our very first "Old School Cake School" Baking Class at Short Street Cakes. The idea of Cake School is for students to bake a cake from our menu, from start to finish, while getting instruction on the ingredients, tools and methods used, and then to take the cake home with them. (What I forgot to include in the syllabus was the requisite sharing of feelings and emotional processing that comes with people baking together- what we at the Short Street Cakes call the "feelings in the Cake Shop" part of the day- but luckily, all of the students seemed to be okay with that).

Ada chose the Strawberry Cake, Heather chose the Fresh Coconut Cake with Seven Minute Icing (a challenge, which she mastered), and Amy chose the Italian Cream Cake, all venerated items in the Southern Cake Canon.

What resulted was an amazing day where three women who had not previously ever baked a cake from scratch went home with a beautiful, delicious cake, a recipe, and (hopefully) the confidence to continue baking and experimenting with homemade cakes to bake for themselves, their friends and families.

Congratulations, graduates! I'm very much looking forward to May's Old School Cake School (dates, times, and cost TBA). Here's to spreading the Cake + Love!

Asheville Grown's Video on Woman Owned Businesses!

2011-03-30T17:55:00.002-04:00

Springtime!

2011-03-24T21:52:00.019-04:00

Herewith: Various up-and-coming goings-on in Asheville and environs.
AND: A Synopsis of the most beautiful nuptials of beloved friends C. Michael Frey and Timothy Campbell.

1) Cupcakes for Cures!

Short Street Cakes will be competing again this year to raise money for the American Cancer Society. The competition begins at 1pm this Saturday at the Grove Park Inn. While I will not divulge the details of our submission, I will tell you that we're baking this year in honor of our friends Patrick and Danielle Fitzgerald and their two sons. This month Pat celebrates 10 years in remission from Leukemia and a bone marrow transplant! This cupcake's for you, Pat, for being a warrior, and for you, Danielle, for being a warrior priestess. We love you and are so grateful for you in our lives.

[editor's note: We are proud to have won first place in the Retro Cupcake Category for our Banana Pudding Pound Cake. Winning!]

2) Old School Cake School Baking Classes at Short Street Cakes!

Short Street Cakes is now offering Cake School! This one-time, 2 1/2 hour class will take you step-by-step, hands-on to create your favorite cake from the Short Street Cakes menu. All tools and ingredients are provided by the Cake Shop, and you get to take your creation home with you! Classes take place on:

Wednesday, march 30th 5:30pm - 8pm
Sunday, April 3rd 3pm - 5:30pm
and Wednesday, April 6th at 5:30 pm to 8 pm

Registration is $75 per person per class, all tools and materials included. There are just a few slots left!
Call 505-4822 to register.

3) Palm Springs, baby.

Last weekend, I was lucky enough to attend, and bake the cake for, my dear friends' Michael and Tim's wedding in beautiful Palm Springs, California, at the Ace Hotel. The Ace Hotel is like what would happen if the Admiral took over a giant Howard Johnson's hotel from the 1950's: It's uber-mid-century-modern, with excellent food, comfy beds, really strong cocktails, and nobody seems to care if you go swimming at 1am in your underwear. But I digress.

Michael and I are from the same town in Georgia, though we didn't meet until 1997, after we had both moved to Athens, GA (actually, it was Michael who introduced me to Duncan that same year, but that's another story). We've been lucky to enjoy a friendship that has endured over several cross-country road trips and relocations, lots of tears and laughter, and much more growth and change.

Michael also has been gracious enough to create ALL of Short Street Cakes' designs- our logo, our menu, our business cards- and I am so grateful to him for his generousity and amazing talent. (oh, he also once did this live painting thing for Conan O'Brien:

Also, Michael is an amazing painter)

But, ANYHOO, Michael Frey has been intimately involved in making Short Street Cakes what it is today. (by the way, if you would like Michael to be intimately involved in YOUR graphic design project, go here) I am deeply grateful, and was so happy to have the opportunity to repay him in some small way: I made a cake, with the help of my friend Carrie-Welles. It was a Lemon Pound Cake marbled with Buttermilk White Cake, with a Lemon Curd filling and a White Chocolate Ganache (the White Chocolate was Michael's idea- I would never have thought of it, but it worked perfectly).
I flew to LA on Monday and spent some time visiting friends, and catching up on sleep. Michael and I went to the LA Flower Market to get succulents for the arrangements for the rehearsal dinner:

And then Carrie-Welles and I were off to Palm Springs to make the cake in the luxurious Palm Springs rental house that Tim and Michael's families were so gracious to provide for us.

Friends came from far and wide, and the ceremony was gorgeous. It was exactly what a wedding should be: a tribute and a celebration to each one as an individual, and a blessing on their lives together, with their friends and family there to bear witness.

Dinner and dancing were magical, and then there was the cake:

And my date for the evening. Thanks, CW! Girlfriend knows how to throw down for cake, and for friends.

I feel blessed to have been a part of this beautiful ritual.

4) Gratitude.
And, I feel so grateful to Duncan for being such an awesome dad that I have the space in my life to journey to distant lands for fun and profit. I also want to take this opportunity to express my deepest gratitude to Emilou, Lucy, Hannah, Shannon, Anna, and Adam at the Cake Shop for creating the space for me to go on this adventure: not only did I come home to a beautifully clean, organized, happy, and well-run Cake Shop, but I came home to this:

And it reminds me again that I adamantly refuse to buy in to the cynical belief that work and community relationships, even within a variety of structures of leadership, cannot be loving, reciprocal, and mutually beneficial. But again, I digress. Thank you, Thank you, thank you.

To Life and to Love,

Jodi

PS: Thank you to Dawn Campbell and Charlotte Frey for some of the images used in this post.

PPS: Also, there were these strange and beautiful windmill farms all over the place:

And the day after the wedding I got to go on a margarita-soaked picnic to Joshua Tree with Michael's entire family. (it was really cold)

Post Script: Here is a video Michael made of the "photo booth" that was set up at the wedding. Which I, obviously, mistook for a "kissing booth." Because I love love.
xo

Beignet Day!

2011-03-08T15:23:00.003-05:00

I've been promising my little one that I would teach him to make beignets for quite a while now. But now that he is currently obsessed with "The Princess and the Frog," a Disney movie set in New Orleans with a Mardi Gras plot theme and beignets figuring centrally in the story, he's become more persistent. Today being Tuesday AND Mardi Gras (my day off coinciding with a holiday for once!) we decided it was the perfect day for Beignet making. It's Beignet Day, if you will.

My mom taught me how to make beignets- most every Saturday morning growing up we would make them for the family. It always delighted me how the little fritters would flip themselves over when they were done on one side (if the fat was deep enough in the skillet), and making, and eating beignets was such a special treat that signified long, lazy pajama mornings. Making them today, and sharing it with my son, was a special treat, too. Here's my mom's recipe, and its wonderful. (we're from Georgia, so we make no claims to be making authentic, NOLA-style beignets- my understanding is that traditionally, beignets are yeasted, whereas Sally's is leavened with baking powder. Well, my mom's recipe is awesome so I don't want to hear about it.)

Sally Rhoden's Beignets (or French Doughnuts, as her recipe is titled)

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup sugar
pinch salt
1 tablespoon melted butter
1 beaten egg
1 cup warm milk

Fill a deep skillet with vegetable oil and set on medium high heat. (you'll know the oil is hot enough to fry when a drop of water dropped into the skillet pops)

Sift together the dry ingredients.
Add all other ingredients, beat with a wooden spoon until combined but still a little lumpy, and drop by spoonfuls into the hot oil. Fry until golden brown on both sides. Remove from skillet, drain, and sprinkle (actually, douse) with powdered sugar. If you are out of powdered sugar like I am today, cinnamon sugar works just fine.

My first batch, the oil wasn't hot enough, so the dough sort of broke up in the skillet and didn't fluff up (but was still delicious in that funnel-cake kind of way). The second batch was PERFECT, making fluffy little pillows of soft, moist, light crumb. Observe:

The perfect specimen, along with one that was shaped like a duck:

The next generation of Beignet makers, eaters, and appreciators:

Joyeux Mardi Gras!

King Cakes!

2011-02-24T18:27:00.002-05:00

Our all-natural, scratch-made King Cakes are available now through March 8 (Mardi Gras). Featuring a cream cheese praline filling, fresh, natural glaze, and Mardi Gras Beads (and of course, the requisite baby jesus trinket), our King Cakes come in two sizes:

Medium serves 15 and costs $25

Large serves 30 and costs $45.

Please place your order 48 hours in advance.

Happy Mardi Gras, Y'all!

Happy 2nd Birthday to the Cake Shop! (And: New, Expanded Hours!)

2011-02-24T17:30:00.004-05:00

You are invited to join the Short Street Cakes family in celebrating two beautiful years at 225 Haywood Road! The shop will be open 10am to 6pm with specials on King Cakes and Cupcakes, as well as live music and free Mardi Gras beads.

Beginning at 6pm, we clear the tables in the shop and make way for DJ Steadylove to take us into the evening with an old-school dance party, with light snacks, wine and beer.

We want to thank you for the tremendous love and support we have received from the community over these past years, and we look forward to many more years of Love and Cake in Asheville!

Our Anniversary Party also marks the beginning of our new, expanded offerings (a variety of whole cakes on hand every day) our new, expanded hours (Monday through Saturday, 8am to 6pm, and Sunday 10am til 2pm) and our new, expanded events and services (Old School Cake School Baking Classes and Birthday Parties for Kids!)

And on Sunday, March 6th, starting at 2pm, We will Roll as the Krewe of Cake in Asheville's Downtown Mardi Gras Parade (There are rumors of Cupcake Throws, yall)! The theme of this year's Mardi Gras is "Homegrown, Fancy, and Free!" As for the Krewe of Cake's theme, well, you'll just have to wait and see!

Happy Mardi Gras Season, and Happy Birthday, Short Street Cakes!

With Much Love and Gratitude,

Jodi and the Cake Shop Krewe

Short Street Cakes Cupcake Wars Audition Video by Peter Parpan!

2011-02-13T18:48:00.003-05:00

So, I got a call on Thursday night from the Food Network, asking me to submit an audition video for their 3rd season of Cupcake Wars. Being that I don't believe in war, and I don't have cable or watch television, I think I'm the perfect contestant. My friend Peter Parpan recorded and edited this little video in a day and a half, all on his iphone. I am so lucky to have so many talented and amazing people in my life. And I'm having lots of fun, doing silly stuff like this. I'm grateful for the opportunity, and I wonder what the future holds?
xo

Welcome to the Neighborhood, Anam Cara Theatre Collective!

2011-01-31T11:31:00.003-05:00

The Cake Shop is so excited to welcome our new neighbors, the Anam Cara Theatre Collective, to the neigborhood! In just the past week or so, we've watched the hardworking women of the collective move, paint, clean, and shine up the former Beach Bingo space just a couple of doors down the hill from us, as they prepare for their February 5th (this saturday) Grand Opening!

The space is awesome, with the front end being occupied by a small and adorable local art/craft consignment area, the middle area consisting of a stage/showspace, and the back area housing rent-able studio space, a small kitchen, and the bathroom. I'm so excited to see what can happen with such a welcoming space for creative work and celebration, and to see all the awesome performance art that can thrive with a space to showcase it.

Saturday's Grand Opening starts at 7:30, with free admission, Live Music by Nikki Talley, refreshments, and door prizes! (and afterwards, you can go see Hooray for the Riffraff at the Get Down). From their flyer: "Come see what Asheville's newest indie theatre company is all about! We are joining forces (performers, musicians and artists alike) to create the ultimate creative space on Haywood Road! Interested in selling YOUR creative, crafty wares at our shoppe? Looking to volunteer or want to get involved in the arts? Need a space for YOUR class or workshop? Shoot us a line or give us a call! We'd love to have YOU be a part of it all!"

Call:
828.545.3861

Or Email;
anamcaratc@gmail.com

Bakery Boy Blogs about Short Street Cakes!

2011-01-30T11:39:00.003-05:00

Check out this awesome article on the Bakery Boy Blog about Short Street Cakes! The article is so generous in its descriptions of the cakes, the Cake Shop, and my story; and great photography, like this picture, abounds:

I had a great time visiting with Bakery Boy, and the highlight, for me, of our visit was when he pointed out that the ceiling of the Cake Shop is painted "Haint Blue," a traditional color for ceilings in the South (especially porch ceilings.) There are alot of differing theories about Haint Blue, but the general consensus is that it is a color that wards off evil spirits- some say by tricking them into flying out of the building, thinking they are under the open sky. I was really excited to hear that lore, and happy for the accidental magic of choosing a lucky color for the ceiling without even knowing why.

Thank you, Bakery Boy!

At Short Street Cakes, We Are All About Love.

2011-01-26T19:59:00.006-05:00

(or: How to Celebrate Valentine's Day with Cake)

Here at the Cake Shop, we love love. We love it alot. And the kind of love that is celebrated at Valentine's day, sexy, flirty, lovey-dovey kind of love, is our favorite kind of love. And we're here to help you celebrate your love, and your loved ones. If you are interested in some history on Valentine's Day, check out last year's epic post. If you are interested in purchasing sweet, cake-y goodness for your lover (or your inner lover, yourself) this Valentine's Day, read on.

Valentine's Day Special #1)
The Sweetheart Cake: $20 including Delivery.

This is sweet Lucy, displaying the teeny tiny little Sweetheart Cakes that she invented for the Cake Shop. We've decided that they are the perfect expression of Valentine's Day love- perfect to share with one special someone, and perfect to have delivered, to your sweetheart on Valentine's Day, along with a heartfelt message (we can help you with that), a paper flower from Two of Hearts, and a handmade Lollipop from Sugar Two Shoes.

$20+tax gets you a Sweetheart Cake in your choice of Mexican Chocolate, Raspberry Almond, or Bacon Apple Flavors, Boxed, Delivered anywhere in 28801 or 28806, with a Handwritten, Heartfelt Note, a Paper Flower, and a Lollipop. (yes, you can use your groupon). Please place your order by Friday, February 11.

They will Swoon.

Valentine's Day Special #2)
The Classic: An 8" Heart-Shaped Chocolate Cake, covered in rich Ganache, accompanied by a heartfelt note (again, we can help you with that), and adorned with fresh sweetheart roses. Delivered anywhere in 28801 or 28806 for $30. Please place your order by Friday, February 11.

In the shop:

Extended Hours: We will be open from 10am until 6pm Saturday, Sunday and Monday, February 12th, 13th, and 14th for all your last minute Valentine's needs.

Sweethearts and broken hearts:

(a subtle way to show that special someone exactly how you feel)

And rumor has it that there's going to be a cupcake peep show- with some X-rated cupcakes behind an 18-and-over curtain in the case. Just sayin.

Nobody Doesn't Love Hannah Dansie. (Or: More Beautiful Things You Can Buy at the Cake Shop)

2011-01-23T15:09:00.014-05:00

This is local artist Hannah Dansie, who also happens to work at the Cake Shop (lucky us!) I first met Hannah almost two years ago, when she was a vendor in our Craft Market, Howard Street Handmade. There she sold beauty in multiple forms under the name of Two of Hearts.

Hannah, among many other things, crochets, makes buttons and pins, and is a painter. She creates works like this painting:

And this painting, behind her candy display at the Cake Shop (we'll get to that in a minute):

And, now, lucky us, Two of Hearts has been making things to sell at the Cake Shop!

Like:
These Amazing Paper Flowers:

And These Amazing Magnets!

Next time you come in the Cake Shop, pick up a little gift, a paper flower or handmade card to go with your cake, perhaps! And come back soon, because she's working on new ideas for more handmade loveliness for the Cake Shop. Yay!

But, that's not all. As if all that weren't enough, she's been working on another project: her new local, handmade, all-natural line of Candy, Sugar Two Shoes!

Hannah debuted her new business at the winter Big Crafty, and the response was immediate and huge: people want their candy!

Sugar Two Shoes offers a variety of lollipops and hard candies, in ridiculously good flavors such as: Black Cherry Rose, Raspberry Almond, Banana Cream, and Egg Nog. She's making up more tomorrow, so come by the Cake Shop on Wednesday and see what new beautiful treats await!

Hannah is renting the kitchen at the Cake Shop for her candy production, and I'm so excited that Hannah has chosen to display and sell her candy at the Cake Shop, too! I am also really excited that the Cake Shop is living the dream of supporting small-scale crafting (craftivism?) towards entrepreneurship and empowerment, especially for women.

Thanks, Hannah! You rock and we love you.

The Witch Cake!

2011-01-19T17:14:00.003-05:00

This Christmas, my very favorite gift that I received was a signed copy of this book, from my friends Julian and Noelle:

Julian was so thoughtful to find it for me; I had seen a copy of it at his family's home in Brevard- I spent an hour poring over it, relishing its weird, 1940s-era story of a "Doughnut Girl" who came to life in Dutchman Hansnoodle's bakery, and "bewitched" the rest of the baked goods. And he remembered, and being that he has his ways with books as the manager of Asheville's famous Downtown Books and News, he was able to procure a signed copy, in beautiful condition. (THANK you!) Its a wonderful story, sometimes rhyming, sometimes in prose, of the doughnut girl wreaking havoc on the town.

Since we made the Gingerbread People for Christmas, I've been fascinated with the stories across all cultures about different foods that come to life. Baking is magic and baking is alchemy, so its no wonder that people all over the world have wondered, when they leave the bakery at night, if their handiwork will come to life and have a party.

The story begins:

"There once was a baker of wonderful fame,
A fat, jolly Dutchman, Hansnoodle by name;
A Doughnut Girl he did skillfully make,
and put her away with the other cake.

He laid the girl down with the greatest of care
And went to his baking away down stair,
All was as quiet, as quiet could be,
till up jumped the Doughnut Girl and cried she:

Come on, Pies and Cakes, lets have some fun
While Fritzie's away, finishing his bun!
The Pies, Cakes and Cookies rolled down from the shelves
And danced all around like merry young elves."

It goes on to describe the attitudes of the various baked goods:

"The Cream Puffs, puffed up because they were rich,
Said, "we won't play with a common old Witch!"
Remarked Macaroon, "I guess we're rich , too;
If we play with her, then why shouldn't you?"

Then a little girl (Flossie Lea) buys the Witch Cake, and the Witch Cake proceeds to wreak havoc on Flossie's home as well. The story follows Flossie and the Witch Cake through various troublesome antics, and many gruesome attempts to reign the Witch Cake in (beheading and dismemberment, for example).

The Witch Cake bewitches a flower garden, a zoo in New York, a pig farm, a music store, a fancy ball, and takes Flossie on a trip to the moon, much to the chagrin of all the grown-ups, all of whom want to either destroy her, or enslave her to do their bidding. But in the end, Flossie and the Witch Cake, and their friendship, survive. (A pleasant change from most other Baked-Goods-Coming-to-Life stories, which usually end with the hero being eaten by a fox).

It ends:
"I've had such a happy time, dear little Witch Cake," said Flossie sleepily, nestling the girl closely in her arms.
"Then I am happy, too, little girl," the Witch Cake told her. "And I promise to be your Good Fairy, to guard you carefully, and to stay with you always."
"You-are-so-good-to-me." Flossie breathed softly, "Good-night-dear-little-Witch-Cake."
"Good night, Flossie, and pleasant dreams."

Its a sweet story, with the moral appearing to be: Girls (and Witches) just wanna have fun. If anybody wants to take a look at it, just ask at the counter at the Cake Shop; we'll keep it on hand here.

Or: anybody up for a storytime?

xo

Winter Time.

2011-01-16T13:39:00.031-05:00

(Lucy, outside the Cake Shop on a snowy early morning)

I love this time of year, in all its cold, snowy, melancholy darkness. Though, for all intents and purposes, I am a summer girl, winter holds a special beauty for me, especially the time after the holidays. All is quiet, the days are short, and the mind turns to more contemplative matters. For me, its a time to regroup after the mad rush of Christmas, at the shop and in family life, to set goals and priorities for the year, tidy up corners and loose ends, and begin anew.

And, its a time for sledding.

(Jasper and Hana, on our way to sledding at the Montford Amphitheater)

We've had so many snow days off from school and work this winter that its beginning to feel like a way of life. Between the sledding, the shared meals and time with friends and neighbors (and new neighbors that have become wonderful friends, yay for Peter and Hana!), the card games and general merriment, it feels like Christmas has lasted for a month and a half. We had lovely friends visit from Colorado, we had family up from Charleston and from Atlanta, and Santa came and brought Jasper a transformer and some treats. And while we all need to get back to work and school at SOME POINT, this Summer-Camp-in-Winter feeling is certianly lovely.

(On the one warm-ish day we had in the last 6 weeks, Jasper and Stella hung out downtown)

We had a gathering on New Years Day, with Hoppin John and collards and wine and friends and kids, and we made wishes for the new year and put them on a garland in the kitchen.

We burned last year's Christmas tree, along with the slips of paper on which we had all written down the things we want to release and let go of from last year, in the bonfire in the backyard.

When we burned the old tree as the yule log on New Years Day, in my heart I hoped for the best and brightest for every one this year. I think 2010 was challenging for many of us. I know I've got alot on my mind, trying to balance the beauty and the difficulty of the experiences I've had this year with the long view of being grounded in my home and family, and balancing the joy and creativity of my work with the sobering reality of the hard work that giving my life to a specific path entails. My Cake Ladies book is complete, and will be coming out in the fall, and I'm so proud and excited. But right now, with the snow on the ground and the house warm and cozy, I'm not in a big hurry- the book (and wedding season) will come soon enough. For now I'm going to enjoy the winter, and life with my family.

And, speaking of family, Duncan's home! That's right, we got the band back together. And I won't go too deeply into that story right now, but I'd just like to say that I'm incredibly grateful, and that I'm learning: about teamwork, about appreciation, and about the giving and receiving of love. All year, as I journeyed and wrote a book and experienced magical adventures, my heart kept returning to the things that were here all along: my home, my sweetheart, my baby boy, my Cake Shop. And now I'm learning that life doesn't have to be an either/or situation: that I can have my happy, healthy home and family life, and have my soul journey too. Integrity is a word that comes to mind: a wholeness, a sense of being yourself no matter where you are, and of believing that, everything, joy and sorrow, solitude and togetherness, creativity and good ole hard work, are not opposites, but co-exist in proper measure, one to the other. This is what I think is expressed in this image from Tarot:

And that's what I've been trying to incorporate more of into my life. Temperance and balance have been tough lessons for me. I've been working hard in these years since Jasper was born to create more balance and stability in my life, but sometimes it seems life's changes keep coming at me so fast that its hard to take a breath, much less put own solid roots. Sometimes, I do get a little bit affeared. But I'm learning that, when we feel affeared, that maybe what we need is stability not in the form of security, because nothing is truly "secure," but that actually what we need is just a little bit of shelter, a respite for a minute before we pick up and keep moving. I've learned that we each carry a little bit of shelter around with us- sometimes we find it with friends, sometimes, it's in our home; but most of the time, its in our own hearts. And that we have to look if we want to find it, and we have to appreciate it where it is, and that nobody is going to do it for us, and that we sometimes have to work to accept and receive it. Luckily, right now, I'm feeling it in so many places- in my home, in my work, in my relationships, and in my heart. And I'm learning to believe it and to recieve it.

Another couple of images that come to mind are:

The Benjamin Long fresco of the Prodigal story, from the Chapel where Duncan and I were married 9 years ago.

And the ten of pentacles, a symbol of stability and family, which carries with it a reference to Odysseus, who was only able to return home to his family after a long journey.

So Duncan and I returned home to each other, and our love and our home and our son are healthy and happy, and it took us being apart for a while to get there. And the Cake Shop is strong, and I'm appreciating each of these things like never before, with a presence that I am just now learning.

I am grateful for my community, and for the friends and family that love and support me. This year, my intention is to give and receive, in equal and reciprocal measure, that love and support in all my endeavors. My hope for all of us this year, friends and family and the world, is that we learn to truly give and receive love. And so may it be, and so it is.

Post Scripts:

-There is tremendous personal power in letting go. I'm now an advocate of breaking up if that's what you need to do to figure out how to make it work, or to figure out that you need to move along. (sort of along the lines of, "If you love someone, set them free.") We are each responsible for our own happiness, and for doing what it takes to make things right for ourselves, even if it means taking a seemingly terrifying leap. And its OK to be alone.

-Standing in your own power and opening your heart only benefits all of those around you. You do not diminish anyone's else's light by shining your own.

love.

When Art Imitates Cake

2010-12-27T12:58:00.003-05:00

A neighbor of the Cake Shop, Camille Cummings, shared this painting with me, and said that she was inspired to paint it by the Sugar Skulls and Day of the Dead festivities at the Cake Shop:

She's having a show at Ananda Hair Studio on Broadway, Downtown, starting on January 3. Thanks, Camille!

Happy Solstice! Here's How to Make a Buche De Noel.

2010-12-21T17:36:00.015-05:00

This holiday season in the Cake Shop has been busy, bustling, warm, and cozy! I keep feeling this rush of joy when making new recipes that I haven't perfected before: the Gingerbread People that Lucy figured out, the Sweet Potato Spice Cake making the perfect base for Bread Pudding. But the one thing that has brought me the deepest sense of elation, dare I say, triumph, is our mastering of the Buche De Noel, or Yule Log Cake.
Here follows an illustrated recipe, taken from the beloved Southern Heritage Cakes Cookbook (Oxmoor House, 1983).

Grease and line with parchment paper a quarter sheet pan. (roughly 15 x 10)

To make the cake:
Combine in a mixer and beat until light:

4 eggs
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Slowly add:

3/4 cup sugar

beat again until light.

Fold in by hand:

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cocoa

and then pour into the lined pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes, until the cake springs back when touched with your fingertip or until a knife inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.

When its done, it should look like this:

(except smaller, because the Buche De Noel that we make in the shop is double this recipe)

Immediately flip the cake onto a tea towel, a-like-so:

Then peel the paper off like this:

And roll it up like this:

Then set it aside for a few hours to cool completely.

Make a batch of whipped cream:
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup sugar
beat with the whisk attachment of your mixer until it can hold a soft peak.

Carefully and gently unroll your cake, and spread the whipped cream all on the inside.

Re-roll the cake, securing the bottom edge, and refrigerate.

Make the icing:

Melt 3 1-oz squares of unsweetened baking chocolate.

Whisk together with 1/3 cup of coffee and 1/4 cup of butter until smooth.

Set the mixture aside to cool. When completely cool, beat (in the mixer) 2-3 cups of powdered sugar until spreadable consistency.

Spread the icing on the roll:

And then cut the edges off with a serrated knife, and attach to the sides by globbing the icing around the joint.

Decorate with fresh holly, from your neighbor Peter's yard, for example, and, voila: (or viola, as we sait it back in Georgia):

A Buche De Noel.

The Yule Log is a symbol of the warmth and light of the hearth in the dark of winter. On this Solstice, as we honor the darkness and welcome the light in our lives, I wish to extend to you love, warmth, and ample fuel for your fire.
xo
jodi
PS. If you wish to eat a fresh Buche De Noel, and do not desire to make one on your own, a 20-serving Yule Log is available for $50 by advance order at Short Street Cakes by calling 505-4822. Tomorrow (Wednesday, December 22) is the last day to order a Buche De Noel for pickup on Christmas Eve.

Twelve Days of Christmas at the Cake Shop!

2010-12-12T18:32:00.008-05:00

Today was a snow day. I woke up late to the soft, quiet white of snow everywhere. I came into work to fill the orders for today, Hannah and I were in the Cake Shop, and, though Winter Hours dictate that we are open by appointment only on Sunday, I thought it would be fun to go ahead and open the shop, make some cider, and sell some cake and cookies. I sent out an email to the Hall Fletcher Neighborhood email list, telling the folks that we were having a Snow Day Party. We had an awesome response. Families, friends and neighbors came in, one by one, shaking the snow off of their boots, catching up, making things, and drinking cider. It made me really happy. Simultaneously, I've been having a hard time figuring out what to do and say about Christmas at the Cake Shop. As usual, the holidays have crept up with a quickness; I feel a little rushed, I haven't put up decorations, I wasn't sure what specials to run or how to talk about it. But after today, I realized: what we need is a twelve day party at the Cake Shop. We need friends, neighbors, and loved ones to come by, eat cake, and take cake to their friends. I realized that every day until Christmas should be a Snow Day Party at the Cake Shop!
Traditionally, the Twelve Days of Christmas refers to the days between Christmas and Epiphany. Instead, at the Cake Shop, the Twelve Days of Christmas refer to Monday, December 13th through Christmas Eve, when we will be hosting a Christmas Party every day!

Here's what you have to look forward to:

Decorate-Your-Own Gingerbread People!
We are making fresh Gingerbread Cookies every day ($1 per for mini people; $2 per for GingerGentlemen and GingerLadies) and will have a decoration station where you and your family can sit, sip cider, and decorate your people with naturally-colored icings.

And, speaking of cider, we will have fresh, hot, mulled apple cider a la Sally Rhoden on the stove every day (BYO Amaretto). ($1.75 per 12 oz cup).

Christmas Cookies!
Every day, we will be making an assortment of fresh Christmas cookies. Varieties include: Waffle Cookies, Gingerbread, Shortbread, Oatmeal Raisin, and these totally insane little Caramel Pecan Chocolate balls we started making the other day. And probably lots of other stuff we're just going to make up as we go along. Its a party. (please place an advance order for a dozen or more)

No-Advance-Order Cakes!
We had such an overwhelming response to our Cakesgiving Cake Sale. I get it now, people, you want your cake, and you don't want to place an order two days ahead of time. Duly noted. During the Twelve Days of Christmas, we are going to stock the case with as many Medium Sized Italian Cream Cakes, Mexican Chocolate Cakes, and Sweet Potato Spice cakes as we can make. They are yours for the purchasing, while supplies last, for $28, $25, and $28 each, respectively.

Fresh Lemon Curd!
Jars of our Fresh Lemon Curd (made famous as the filling on our lovely Daffodil Cake) will be for sale for $5 each. Lemon Curd makes a gracious and sustainable stocking stuffer or hostess gift. Just sayin.

Bread Pudding!
We are making and selling, by the slice ($3) or by the pan ($25), our ridiculously good Sweet Potato Spice Bread Pudding. Makes a great gift, or a great dessert. (Please place an order for 6 or more slices.) Bourbon Sauce Sold Separately. xo

Special-Order-Only Christmas Menu Items:

Peppermint Candy Cane Chocolate Cake
Our Classic Deep Dark Chocolate Cake, with a Peppermint 7-minute Icing and Crushed Candy Cane topping. Available in all sizes and priced as a deluxe cake on the menu.

Black Forest Cake
Chocolate Cake, Whipped Cream, and Cherries, people. Available in all sizes and priced as a deluxe cake on the menu.

Buche De Noel
The Classic French Yule Log. Nothing says "Solstice" like a cake replica of a piece of wood.

Please know that when you come in the Cake Shop, or you place your special order, you are not only going to have the yummiest treat ever, you are allowing me and the seven other awesome people who work at the Cake Shop to continue doing something that we have, at times, thought was not possible: to go to a job every day where we love each other, love our work, love our customers, and we get the opportunity every day to shine; creatively, personally, and as a community. I'm not exaggerating. We're having that much fun.
Thank you for your love and support.

Other pertinent information:
We will be closed from Christmas Day (Saturday, December 25) through Thursday, December 29th, for Christmas Break.
We will be OPEN Thursday, December 30, and Friday, December 31st, for New Years Eve orders and retail cupcakes.
We will be Closed on New Years Day.
After that, we commence our regular Winter Schedule: Open noon to six Wednesday through Saturday, we are open by appointment/special order only on Sundays and Mondays, and we are closed on Tuesdays.
Seriously, I love y'all.
Love,
Jodi

CLOSED FOR THANKSGIVING BREAK TIL DECEMBER 1ST!

2010-11-25T14:24:00.008-05:00

Hi Friends!
Cakesgiving was overwhelmingly exhilarating, super fun, and totally exhausting. Thank you so much for all the Cake Shop Love! We had a record day on Wednesday. Here's what our production list looked like:

That's right, we baked over 17 flavors. We kicked ass.
I enjoyed harassing my co-workin' friends at the cake shop, like Nathanael and Anna:

and to top it all off, they put my picture on the cover of the Mountain Xpress!

So I'm feeling a little bit famous, even though the article was about Thanksgiving Turkey, not Cakesgiving or Cake (though there was a mention of Cakesgiving in Small Bites- Thanks, Mackensy and Mountain Xpress!).

We've had a great few weeks since Halloween and Day of the Dead- including two great events at Malaprops Bookstore-
The Local Foods Cook-off Rocked, and, as a judge, I got to eat the winning entry for dinner: a super-yummy all-local veggie quiche!

Then, I was lucky enough to meet (and introduce) Nancie McDermott when she came to town to promote her new book, Southern Pies (which came on the heels of her 2004 release, Southern Cakes- an awesome compendium of traditional cake recipes).

Nancie was delightful and baked a ton of pies for us to taste. So, lots of eating in the bookstore this week. Thanks, Nancie, and Malaprops!

I'm also looking forward to a break:

The Cake Shop will be Closed for Thanksgiving Break until Wednesday, December 1st!

Feel free to call the cake shop at 828.505.4822 and place an order for Wednesday or later on the voice mail; someone will call you back to confirm your order on Tuesday. Okay? Okay.

And once we get all rested up, we'll be ready to tell you all about our Holiday Specials.

So, I'm signing off for a week or so, but before I do, let me just say that this Thanksgiving, I am so grateful for my family, my Cake Shop family, and this beloved community that I feel blessed to be a part of.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Cakesgiving!

2010-11-16T13:44:00.002-05:00

Beginning on Sunday at Noon through Thanksgiving Day, Short Street Cakes will be offering four of our best-loved flavors of cake for pick up without an advance order! Seemingly Millions of Medium-Sized (2-layer 8") Mexican Chocolate, Italian Cream Cake, Georgia Hummingbird, and Classic Coconut Cakes will be on hand every day during Thanksgiving Week, and they'll be ON SALE! Our regular menu will be available, at regular prices, with the regular minimum two days notice!

Cakesgiving Hours:
Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, November 21st through 24th, open Noon until 6.
Thanksgiving Day open 10 til 2, while supplies last!

Now, you can have your cake AND forget to order it, too!

Halloween and Day of the Dead... In pictures.

2010-11-02T00:11:00.003-04:00

Trick or Treating!

The Altar at Mayfel's.

Lovely Lucy.

The cake we made, with Glo.

The cake we made, with me, with the mask we made with Peter.

Me and Lucy, talking to a dead guy.

And, Finally, as always, Family.

I am grateful for this fall season, for remembering the ancestors, and appreciating this life that we've been given. xo

Sugar Skulls!

2010-10-29T10:38:00.004-04:00

Hello Friends!
The preparations for Dia de los Muertos are almost complete!
We've made dozens of sugar skulls:

And whipped up some royal icing, dyed with natural pigments like turmeric and beet powder:

And we've prepared a station for decorating skulls with icing, sequins, and glitter. This is a skull I decorated for my sister, who passed eight years ago. She had a beautiful singing voice, and a great sense of humor, and and I put the skull on the altar in her honor.

The altar is set, and ready for offerings... in Mexican tradition the souls of the dead have to travel a long way to get back to this world, so they are weary, thirsty and hungry. Please bring offerings of food, drink, and treats that your loved ones who've passed enjoyed in this life (I need to go get some candy corn, because that was my friend Charlotte's favorite Halloween treat, cigars for my Papa, Pabst Blue Ribbon for my Granddaddy, and some chocolate for my Mopsey) and pictures, flowers, and other things to beautify the space and honor our ancestors.

Blank sugar skulls are $5 each, and a portion of proceeds will benefit Defensa Comunitaria, a local grassroots immigrants rights organization. We will decorate the altar and sell skulls from noon to six on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday. On Monday night, we are going to bring the contents of the altar to add to the one at Mayfels, where we will feast and dance with the dead, in costumes!
I feel so happy to be sharing this celebration with the community at the Cake Shop for the second year in a row, and, already feel how important repeating rituals and celebrations is for rooting ourselves in time and place.
Much love!
xo
jodi

Autumn News from Short Street Cakes!

2010-10-20T08:49:00.002-04:00

Click here to read our Autumn Newsletter, which is full of useful information such as: Winter Hours, Halloween Cupcakes, Kitchen Space for Rent, and three new books involving Short Street Cakes!

We thank you and we love you.

Bookish Happenings

2010-10-06T20:38:00.004-04:00

Well, Hello there! Now that I've completed the writing portion of my forthcoming Cake Ladies book from Lark Books (due out in October 2011), I will have more time and energy to give to my old friend, My Life in Cake. So, without further ado, let me first turn your attention to another project I participated in by the lovely folks at Lark, Craft-In!

Craft-In, by Kathleen McCafferty, is a "box-set of 12 craft booklets featuring all indie crafters. Each booklet features a craft project by a different indie designer, with step-by-step photos, tips, inspiration, and suggestions for your own crafty gatherings. Projects include jar lid masterpieces, natural cupcake makeovers, cruiser hula hoops, sock creatures, crochet cacti, pet portrait embroidery, mint tin worlds, felt strawberries, shrinkable plastic jewelry, terrariums with sheep, retro paper dolls, and culture logs."
Indeed. And guess who wrote the book(let) on cupcakes? That's right, little old me. The Cupcake booklet, with photography by Steve Mann and design by Suzie Millions, features recipes and inspiration for making and decorating all-natural cupcakes.

Craft-In is available now from your local bookseller (like Malaprops, for example, if you are in Asheville) or online.
To celebrate the release of the book, Lark is hosting a Craft-In Book Release Party at Barnes and Noble, by the mall.
Kathleen also made this lovely little video about it:

And can I just get an Amen for Lark? Lark has been employing crafters, artists, writers and thinkers in this town for as long as I have been here, doing their part to make Asheville a place where artists can survive and thrive.
Thank you, Lark, and Thank you, Asheville!

Short Street Cakes + Dripolator = Love!

2010-09-24T09:18:00.003-04:00

Hey Friends!
I just wanted to let you know that I will be bringing two dozen cupcakes over to the Dripolator today, thus inaugurating our relationship with Dripolator as the exclusive downtown location for procuring Short Street Cakes Cupcakes! We will be bringing in fresh cupcakes daily, in a variety of flavors, meaning you can enjoy a Short Street Cupcake from 7am to 9pm every day!

Also, don't forget that Short Street Cakes by the slice are available at these fine local Asheville establishments: Marco's Pizzeria, 444 Gallery Cafe, and Carmel's!
Thanks and love!

Happy 5th Birthday, Jasper!

2010-09-12T13:42:00.008-04:00

This week, we celebrated Jasper's 5th birthday! We started the day with birthday pancakes:

And made birthday decorations with his friends.

We had birthday dinner:

Consisting of Jasper's preferred menu of cheeseburgers, oatmeal, and "soft carrots with honey." And cake.
The next day, we went to the FAIR!

And had a party, with many of Jasper's besties (and their moms and dads) in attendance.

We had more cake! (Jasper chose Strawberry Cake with a Ganache Topping)

And there were presents (with a definite Star Wars theme).

We rode rides and ate fair food. I was giddy... I love the fair. And this birthday seemed so much to me to be a milestone- for Jasper and for me. I feel like I'm catching my breath and marveling at the beautiful child he has become in just 5 short years. At the same time, I'm marveling at the fact that 5 years seems so LONG- sometimes it feels like just months ago that he was born. In keeping with that theme- that five years is a long time- I'm realizing that the past is over, as much as I keep trying to go back and make sense of the whirlwind of the last couple of decades. I'm ready to make some changes in my life- to get more grounded in the here and now, and to grow my business and my relationships. I feel so psyched about Jasper and the adventures we have ahead of us! And I'm grateful to our family, and family of friends, for giving him such a web of love in which to grow.

So Happy Birthday to the coolest, sweetest, loveliest 5-year-old Jedi Knight in the universe. So much love!

Late Summer Cake!

2010-08-18T12:30:00.007-04:00

We made these cakes today in the shop- there's a Raspberry Lemonade Cake by the slice, and Fresh, Local Fig Spice Cake Bundt Cake and Cupcakes!

The fresh figs came from my neighbor Sharon's backyard on Short Street in Montford- my son helped her pick them. So they're totally super local. And so fresh. And so yummy. As you can see, I'm excited about the figs.

Lemon curd filling and raspberry buttercream icing on sour cream pound cake layers!

Thank you, Sharon, for the beautiful figs!

Introducing: Community Coupons!

2010-08-12T15:58:00.004-04:00

We're really excited to launch a new community endeavor here at the Cake Shop: "Community Coupons!" Here's the deal: every couple of months, we will chose a different non-profit group in the community as our Community Coupon recipient. The non-profit will distribute Short Street Cakes coupons, and, when you bring one in to the shop, we will donate 10% of your purchase price to that organization! WE love it when YOU come in and buy stuff from Short Street Cakes. YOU love supporting local non-profits while eating delicious cake! Win/Win, right? From now until October 31st, Our VOICE will be the recipient. Be on the lookout for community coupons starting next week. And, hey, if you are a business owner, you can do it too!

Grassroots Revival this Sunday!

2010-08-12T15:43:00.004-04:00

This Sunday, from 4-8 pm at the Pearson Garden in Montford, Bountiful Cities will be hosting our annual Grassroots Revival- a chance for people and groups working for social change and sustainability to get together, socialize, and foment creativity and change in our communities! Bring a dish to share, beverages, and your own eating utensils. Rain or shine... see you there and spread the word!

Vote for Short Street Cakes as Asheville's Best Bakery!

2010-08-04T12:15:00.007-04:00

Click here to go to the ballot.

Friends, it's that time of year again, when the Mountain Xpress conducts its annual Reader's Poll to find the Best Of Western North Carolina. We here at Short Street Cakes would be so very grateful if you would take a moment or a few to vote for us in the Best Bakery category. Now, its not just that we at Short Street Cakes enjoy participating in the ancient and sacred art of competition, although we do. Its also important because voting for your favorite Asheville establishments gives us much needed visibility and support. Voting for your favorite local businesses is a way to support them if you live far away, and to recognize those businesses and organizations that you believe are having a positive impact on the community.
Thanks to you, Short Street Cakes won #3 in Best Bakery category in 2009. We'd love to get even more votes this year! Seriously, this means a lot to us. Thanks so much.

Voting in the poll requires that you:
1) enter your email address and confirm your email address to validate your vote, and
2) vote in at least 30 categories.
3) complete your ballot and email validation by 11pm on Wednesday, August 18.

To make requirement #2 a little bit easier for you, I've compiled a list of my recommendations for 2010. Please note that I don't eat out very often, and usually go to the places where I know the menu and the servers. I'm a little bit stuck in 2001 when it comes to dining options, and shamelessly vote for my friends and their businesses whenever possible, and you should do the same! If there's a business you love that you think I should have mentioned, by all means, post it in the comments section!

Here Goes:

Barbecue
12 bones

Bakery
Short Street Cakes

Breakfast/brunch
Sunny Point

Burger
Jack of the Wood

Burrito
Mamacitas

Caterer
Lauries

Cheap lunch
Clingman Cafe

Diner/home-style
Silver Dollar

Favorite restaurant
Marco's Pizzeria

Ice cream
Two Spoons

Italian
Marco's Pizzeria

Indian
Mela

Japanese
Heiwa Shokudo

Latin American/Mexican
Veracruz

Pizza
Marco's Pizzeria

Pub grub
Jack of the Wood

Sweets/chocolate
French Broad Chocolate Lounge

Thai
Little Bee

Vegetarian
Rosetta's Kitchen

Favorite bar
DeSoto Lounge

Gay bar
Cookie LaRou's

Upscale bar
Sazerac

Hipster bar
Admiral

Dive bar
Broadways

Bartender
David Alexander at Mayfels

Barista
Jay Weatherly

Coffee shop
Dripolator

Local brewery
Wedge

Local art gallery
Phil Mechanic

Local visual artist
Ursula Gullow

Favorite local band
Pilgrim

Local busker/street performer
Blind Boy Chocolate and the Milk Sheiks

Local comedy troupe
LaZoom

Local performance artist
Silver Drummer Girl

Local DJ (non-radio)
JRR Foolkiller

Local poet/author
Tamiko Ambrose

Local filmmaker
Courtney Chappell

Local video store
TV Eye

Local arts writer
Ursula Gullow

Local blog
My Life in Cake

Local website
Ashevegas

Alternative healing center
White Pine Acupuncture

Computer repair
Charlotte Street Computers

Hair salon
Adorn

Tattoo artist
Rob Hunt

Tattoo/piercing studio
Forever Tattoo

Bookstore
Downtown Books and News

Clothing: men's
Parlour

Clothing: women's
Custom

Clothing: consignment or vintage
Honeypot

Local farm
Hickory Nut Gap

Garden supply/nursery
Farm Girl Flower Shop

Local fashion designer
Brooke Priddy

Record shop
Harvest Records

Tailgate/farmers market
City Market

Arts/craft fair
Dry Goods Shop

Beer store
Bruisin' Ales

Day care
Odyssey Community School

Kid-friendly restaurant
Tod's Tasties

Place to entertain kids
High Flight Gymnastics

Place to learn outside of school
Health Adventure

Entertainer
Jolly Balloon Smiths

Toy store
Dancing Bear Toys

Rescue organization
Brother Wolf

Veterinarian
Pet Vet on Patton

Local festival
LAAFF

Bumper sticker
Love Asheville- Buy Local

Local environmental group
Dogwood Alliance

Local do-gooder group
Bountiful Cities Project

Neighborhood
East-West Asheville

Thing you'd like to see local government do
Focus on Affordable Housing

Thing downtown Asheville needs
A Playground!

This Weekend's Weddings!

2010-08-01T17:33:00.004-04:00

It's so good to be back in the shop, rocking wedding season like a champ. Here's some pictures of this weekend's weddings: all FOUR of them! Correction: I neglected to take pictures at Tashi and Meredith's beautiful gathering, because I was so happy I forgot to.

First, I was all like, Imma bring this cake to Lake Eden.

Then, I was like, Here you go, Greenville! Here's a vegan Peach Cake for ya!
(I think its still pretty even though I had to take the pictures in the walk-in cooler at the Poinsett Hotel)

And then, well- actually this wedding was the first of the day- these cupcakes went to a lovely mountaintop wedding in Old Fort.

And then we feasted at Tashi and Meredith's Wedding! Big love, Asheville (and evirons) xo!

Dispatch from Chicago: Short Street Cakes Meets Bake and Destroy!

2010-07-27T18:51:00.008-04:00

While in Chicago on my Cake Ladies journey- and yes, there are Southern Cake Ladies in Chicago- I had the opportunity to meet up with friend and fellow blogger Natalie Slater of Bake and Destroy. Bake and Destroy is the blog where Natalie expounds upon her love of cake, as well as zombies, punk and metal, tattoos, her native Chicago, being a mom, being a writer, and just generally being a badass. She regularly posts quality recipes, complete with how-tos and images (and, importantly, stories of her baking fails in order to assure readers that they are not alone in effing up recipes sometimes).

I was inspired by Natalie in the early days of Short Street Cakes- Bake and Destroy was funny, genuine, and genuinely useful for baking information- and when I started My Life in Cake I made many connections with other cake bloggers around the country as a reader of Bake and Destroy. And not only does Natalie bake- and destroy- she also works full time for reuseit.com, a company that offers products to replace disposable things in our lives with reuseable things, blogs about donuts, zombies, and has another awesome food blog called Brutal Snack. Natalie has gotten a lot of recognition since the beginning of Bake and Destroy: she was a judge on the Food Network's pilot for Cupcake Wars, she's a regular on Chicago Tonight, and has been featured on tons of blogs and in magazines (or, as she says on the press page of Bake and Destroy, "no one can keep my name out they mouth!").

Natalie and I were in touch a few years back when she interviewed me for an article she was writing about vegan baking- we talked on the phone for hours, and I felt happy that, not only did we have baking, blogging, and child-rearing in common, but I genuinely liked her, too. So I looked her up when I came to Chicago, and we promptly ate some cupcakes together.

Natalie and I met at More Cupcakes, which is a super-fancy, sleek, and minimalist (in terms of the decor) cupcake boutique in downtown Chicago. I felt a little intimidated by the place at first, what with all the glass and chrome and gold-garnished cupcakes, delicately displayed like jewelry. But once we sat down to eat (Natalie and I both chose the Salted Caramel cupcake), and enjoyed the 79-degree weather (sorry, Asheville), I was content. The cupcakes were delicious (of course), obviously from scratch (which I'm learning, to my surprise, to be true of only a minority of cake shops), with a gooey caramel filling and a truly lovely, silky, and fluffy (swiss Meringue? Italian Buttercream? I dunno) icing.

And then, Natalie and I sat and talked. For THREE HOURS. I was really happy to find (though I wasn't surprised) that Natalie was as sweet, sincere, and lovely as she seems. We talked about the pros and (mostly) cons of competitive baking, and about Natalie's realization about the fact that most people had never had the experience of eating baked goods that weren't processed. Then she got a job at a small Italian bakery in Chicago called Leticia's where she learned how to bake, and to appreciate handmade foods: "When I first started baking, I was obsessed with baking a yellow cake that was perfect. And everything that I made was coming out what I thought was too heavy. And I was like, 'what is wrong with me? Why can't I do it? Why can't I get this fluffy, sticky, yellow cake that I grew up eating and that I'm familiar with?' And I read this article about how people don't relly know what cake is supposed to look like or feel like or taste like [because they are used to eating cake from a box mix]. And that was awesome for me to be able to rethink the way I was baking things, and its funny because people ask alot how I can bake so much and eat at bakeries so much and stay thin, and I'm like, I'm eating butter and sugar and flour and things that my body knows what to do with, and I'm not eating stuff that's wrapped in plastic and filled with high fructose corn syrup and margarine."

Natalie and I talked alot about the experiences we have both been through as bloggers and bakers and moms, and how our lives have changed since we started each of our creative outlets, and how our work has created so many opportunities and connections that we wouldn't have had before. We talked about how cool it is to inspire and be inspired by other women. Natalie says: "For me, the best part about Bake and Destroy, of all the cool stuff I've been able to do, the coolest thing is hearing from people who were either stay-at-home moms, or maybe they were just right out of high school, and they were a little bit lost, people that were bored, just like I was, and maybe didn't know what they were good at or what they were interested in. I think its amazing when I get those emails from people who [were inspired to] start a business or start their own blog. It makes me blush to think that anybody would look at my blog and think, 'that's a success story,' All I wanted to do was just eat, and celebrate eating, and give people some ideas. And its just nice to have girlfriends. I never had that before."

These days, Natalie has plenty of girlfriends, and fans, and she's working on ideas for a book sometime in the not-too distant future. I can't wait to see where she takes Bake and Destroy- and her life- in the years to come.

Thanks, Natalie, for being a beacon of self-made awesomeness. You remind me that we all can create a world where more people get famous (or happy, or make a living, or whatever they want) by being authentically themselves and doing what they love.

Watershed Restaurant, Decatur, GA

2010-07-23T13:36:00.004-04:00

Last night my mom took me out to dinner at Watershed, the Decatur restaurant owned by Emily Saliers of the Indigo Girls, where, until recently, one of my culinary heroes, Scott Peacock, was the head chef. (Peacock resigned to work on documenting the food culture of his native south Alabama- a project which I'm also super excited about!) The new chef, Joe Truex, did some special things with mushrooms, bacon, goat cheese, and grits, and the grouper and okra that I had was awesome too.

And, of course, there was cake:

Thus launching the beginning of my birthday week.
Thanks, Mom! I love you!

2010-07-16T14:34:00.005-04:00

Friends, I am pleased to announce that I have completed the first half of the Cake Ladies book. Thus far my soul journey has included: Open Doors, Welcome Tables, Voodoo Priestesses, Benevolent Witches, Cowboys, Farmers, Best Friends, Indian Chiefs, Belles-of-the Ball, Cherokee Grandmothers, Boys-Next-Door, Bad-ass Business-ladies, Great-Aunts, Adventures at the Corner of Pineapple Highway and Banana Street, Cupcake Fairies, Cake Shop Elves, Beautiful Homecomings, Getting Lost, Finding Lost Treasure, and the Milk of Human Kindness, among many other magical things. Not to mention the cake: Oh, dear God, the cakes I've eaten! I feel like the luckiest lady in the whole wide world.
I'll soon embark on the next leg of the journey- the Gullah Coast, Chicago, and the Sunshine State. I can't wait to see what these travels will bring- and I'll keep you posted. Meantime, thanks to the crew at the Cake Shop for holding down the fort so capably and gracefully.
And thank you, everything and everybody, for the love.
xo
jodi

Local Blackberries are in!

2010-07-09T10:25:00.005-04:00

Today, I picked up some beautiful local blackberries over at Mountain Foods!
Adam blended them into some icing to make Vegan Chocolate Blackberry Cupcakes.
Then Shannon decided to take it over the top- she made a strawberry-blackberry-cherry reduction sauce to top the local blackberry with. It will make you go a little bit crazy for a minute; in a really good way.

The Cupcake!

The Baker!

Shannon, looking wistful.

And me, not doing a damn thing.

Drygoods Shop Opens Saturday, July 3!

2010-07-01T09:23:00.004-04:00

The Drygoods Shop, located in the former Meadows Dry Goods space at 474 Haywood Road (and next door to where Dustin Spagnola recently set up studio) is having a party! This Saturday, July 3, from 5-8pm, the ladies of the United Craft Front will be opening their doors and celebrating the creation of this center for all things handmade! A description of the Drygoods Shop from their blog:

The DryGoods Shop is a place to buy handmade and a new gathering space for people to learn how to make stuff for their lives. Bring your projects and work at our community tables, meet other folks and have fun making. We aim to create a modern link with the rich crafts heritage of the Southern Appalachians, offering local and handmade products, with a respect for the vintage, recycled, and totally unique. Welcome to a shop for the creative independent in all of us...

I'm really excited to see what United Craft Front will do; there's lots of new (to me) faces, and it is totally awesome to see some of the rad vendors from last year's Howard Street Handmade (the Craft Market the Cake Shop hosted next door to us- in what is now the Farm Girl space).

Come out to the party- live music, drinks, snacks, and I will be hustling my craft- Cupcakes!

NOLA Dispatch Part III: The Southern Food and Beverage Museum

2010-06-27T16:56:00.006-04:00

The exhibits at the Southern Food and Beverage Museum, on the river in downtown New Orleans, were interesting, though sparse. Noticeably lacking was information on the high art of Southern Cakes, although this replica- and the corresponding description- of a Maryland "Smith Island Cake" was informative if somewhat... um... creepy.

As was this repica of a King Cake:

I did like the replicas of the Italian Saint Joseph's Day Altar and the Dias De Los Muertos Altar, although seeing those lush ritual altars on display in a museum, devoid of the people and celebration that lend them meaning, made the experience somewhat one-dimensional to me.

The big winner with me, however, was the museum-within-a-museum called the Museum of the American Cocktail.

Learning the history of drinking in America seemed to me time well spent, and all those classy vintage drink menus and photos of swanky prohibition speakeasies made me happy.

There was also a beautiful-tragic photography show called "Spoiled" - a collection of Tom Varisco's photos of the messages that Katrina survivors spray painted onto the refrigerators full of spoiled food that were left out on sidewalks after the storm.

Also impressive was their vast collection of Southern food cookbooks- and a file cabinet full of thousands upon thousands of index-card-sized, handwritten recipes.

The Southern Food and Beverage Museum is relatively new, and I bet that in the near future they will expand and flesh out some of the very worthwhile exhibits- and, who knows, maybe I can help create a Cake Ladies exhibit one day.

NOLA Dispatch Part II: Edible Schoolyard New Orleans

2010-06-27T13:20:00.007-04:00

I also had the opportunity this week to visit Samuel J. Green Charter School, the home of The Edible Schoolyard New Orleans. ESY NOLA's website explains that:

based on the original Edible Schoolyard founded in Berkeley, California by chef and food education activist Alice Waters, ESY NOLA provides students with engaging hands-on learning experiences through weekly gardening and cooking classes and school-based seasonal events that promote the food traditions of New Orleans. Students in grades K-8 participate in lessons that reinforce classroom coursework and core subjects (science, social studies, language, and math). At the Edible Schoolyard, the garden and kitchen are interactive venues where textbook lessons come to life. Through these experiences, students become stewards or our land and natural resources, and discover that teamwork yields genuine benefits in the garden, kitchen, and in life.

The work of teaching the connections between growing food, cooking fresh food, and preserving cultural food traditions is important everywhere, but couldn't be more critical in this city where most residents do not have access to supermarkets, and where, since Katrina, and now the BP disaster, residents are justifiably worried about the quality of their air, water, and soil.

The garden at Samuel Green.

A bower laden with grapevines frames the entrance from the school building into the garden.

Garden teacher Rahn Broady teaches students how to grow food as a part of the school's math, science, social studies and language curricula.

The lush demonstration garden at Samuel J. Green is planted in sunflowers, eggplant, garlic, canteloupe, basil, perennials, zinnias, strawberries, and okra, among many other crops. The harvest is used in the Edible Kitchen, where Chef April Neujean teaches students how to prepare culturally appropriate, nutritional dishes from the yield. April was also recently chosen to help Michelle Obama design the "Chefs Move to Schools" initiative. The Edible Schoolyard New Orleans is one example of how this resilient and beautiful city is empowering itself towards food security in the face of uncertainty, and serves as a model for other communities to do the same.

NOLA Dispatch Part I: Buttermilk Drop Bakery

2010-06-27T11:37:00.010-04:00

New Orleans, Louisiana, has a special hold on my heart, and it's going to be hard to leave. I've been here since Tuesday, chronicling the lives and recipes of Southern Cake Ladies for my forthcoming book from Lark Books. The journey here was amazing, and I feel so lucky to get to travel the south this summer and document the people, places, and foodways that I love.

(view from the West Bank of the NOLA skyline far in the distance)

I've also gotten to relax a little bit with friends- Elyse has a serious kiddy pool in her backyard, and the Cake Cafe is always a welcoming and delicious place to hang out. Spending time with beautiful friends, old and new, have made my visit lovely.
But, lest you think that the past week of my magical Cake Ladies journey has solely consisted of lounging in kiddy pools, eating pastries in various New Orleans coffeeshops and watching the World Cup at the Lost Love Lounge...

(ahem, for example)

...I bring you this review of the Buttermilk Drop Bakery!

The Buttermilk Drop Bakery and Cafe is a busy, bustling bakery at the corner of St. Bernard and Dorgenois Streets, in the Gentilly/7th Ward neighborhood of New Orleans. last year, owner Dwight Henry closed Henry's, his well-loved bakery on St. Claude, and opened Buttermilk Drop on Dorgenois with the same crew. Dwight's an interesting dude: in addition to owning a kick-ass bakery, he's also working on a movie, "Beasts of the Southern Wild," described as "an epic comedy, where a ferocious ten-year-old girl refuses to evacuate her home in the Louisiana Delta without her dying father as the Southern Apocalypse descends upon them." Find out more about the movie, and the grassroots film army Court 13, here.

Dwight Henry, Owner of the Buttermilk Drop Bakery.

Yesterday, I bought a half a dozen Buttermilk Drops, and they were hot out of the fryer. I ate two right away, gave the rest to my friends, and an hour later I was wishing I had bought more. I went back today, bought more, and they're gone too. Here's a picture of the last one before I ate it:

The Buttermilk Drops were so freaking good that I'm having a hard time describing them, but Elyse summed it up perfectly when she said, "they're crunchy and tender in all the right places." And I would add to that, perfectly fried, perfectly sweet on the outside and perfectly not-too-sweet on the inside. Damn.
Dwight makes 30 different flavors of King Cake during the Mardi Gras season, and he claims they are the best in town. If the doughnuts are any indication, I'm inclined to believe him. Buttermilk Drop Bakery also serves breakfast and lunch, and various pastries in addition to their doughnuts. Buttermilk Drop Bakery is located at 1781 N. Dorgenois in the 7th Ward, and the phone number is: (504) 252-4538.

Oh, and they also sell Sno-Balls:

And here's some sage advice from another New Orleans bakery, Adrian's:

Mr. Okra got a new truck!

2010-06-23T17:34:00.001-04:00

Oh, yeah, I'm in New Orleans.

Fresh Cake, Fresh Camera!

2010-05-29T20:33:00.008-04:00

Here are some photos taken with my (by which I mean, their) NEW CAMERA from Lark Books, for use during the production of my forthcoming book on Southern Cake Ladies! For real, this camera does not take a bad picture. Observe:

Thursday's Wedding Cake.

Friday's Wedding Cake.

More Friday Cake.

My new friend Ashley Adams English. (check out her blog and her newly published books on Chicken Keeping and Canning and Preserving! However, don't buy Ashley's books online if you can help it, buy them at a local bookseller, like Malaprops)

My old friend Nathanael Markham. We've been friends for 8 years and I love him so much. I'm so lucky to work with these two, and all the other badasses that work at the Cake Shop.

This camera also takes video. What this means is that we now have the capacity to make videos of ourselves dancing to Lady Gaga while baking, which I'm really excited about.
xo

Hindsight Bride, I love you.

2010-05-29T20:02:00.003-04:00

Recently, I was approached by the Hindsight Bride, a local blogger who is FER SERIOUS about her blog. She wanted to do videos of Short Street Cakes, and post them on her blog about Western North Carolina DIY wedding style. As a Leo, I love to be on camera, so naturally, I agreed. I knew that Hindsight Bride (we'll call her HB) had a nice blog; what I didn't know is how stylish, professional, consistent, technically savvy, and dedicated she is as a blogger. Her blog, Hindsight Bride, is smart, hip, and pretty, like HB herself. She came to the shop, interviewed me, and created these three videos:

Interview with Jodi Rhoden of Short Street Cakes from Hindsight Bride on Vimeo.

Southern Cakes Explained from Hindsight Bride on Vimeo.

Short Street Cakes- What to Expect from Hindsight Bride on Vimeo.

Thank you, Hindsight Bride! I can't wait to see what you will dream up next...

8th Annual Bountiful Cities Project Birdhouse Auction and Garden Party!

2010-05-09T21:48:00.004-04:00

And it's not too late to turn in your birdhouse! Awesome prizes awarded to the top three birdhouses!

Held at Christopher's Garden in East West Asheville (around the corner from the Cake Shop, and behind the Rocket Club) our 8th annual birdhouse auction will feature birdhouses by local artists bid on by real live people, and auctioned off by the fabulous Jen Lauzon of LaZoom Tours! Beer, wine, refreshments from Slow Food, community and a good cause. Come on out... it will be lots of fun! Rain Location: Inside the Rocket Club! The BCP Birdhouse Auction raises funds to support work at the Pearson Drive Community Garden, Shiloh Community Garden, Joyner, Burton Street, Dr. George Washington Carver Edible Park, and other gardens all over the city of Asheville. The mission of Bountiful Cities is "to create, on urban land, beautiful community spaces which produce food in abundance and foster a learning environment for social justice and sustainability."

Nobody Doesn't Love Marco's

2010-05-08T20:52:00.004-04:00

As you may know, I have a special place in my heart for Marco's Pizzeria. Not only do they have the best pizza in town (case in point: I've eaten Marco's for the last four meals I've had. Wedding season gets pretty crazy and its awesome to have a giant pizza in the fridge at such times), but my personal devotion comes from the experience I had as a a waitress there way back in 2007 and 2008. As I've said before, and will continue to say, and will continue to tear up about as I talk about it to total strangers, Marco's was the most loving and supportive job I've ever had. Marco and Chris (and all the kids and staff) fed me, supported me, and loved me during a time when my baby was small and my business was tenuous. I will be forever grateful to them for their advice, support, and continued friendship. So... it is with great pride that I announce that Team Marcos was the top fundraiser for the April 24th Our Voice fundraiser, "Walk a Mile in Her Shoes"! As a feminist, I have some critiques of the premise of the event, what with the complicated relationship that the iconic red high-heeled shoe has to the issues of gender roles, sexuality, and sexual violence. And, as a feminist, a social worker, and a former board member of Our Voice, I'm super proud that my friends worked so hard to raise funds to support a totally badass organization!

Our VOICE (Victims, Outreach, Intervention, Counseling, and Education) operates direct services to survivors of sexual violence through their 24-hour crisis line, case management, individual and group counseling, accompaniment services, and information and referrals.

Our VOICE is based in these very rightous core beliefs:

1. We believe that all people deserve to experience healthy sexuality and personal safety regardless of sex, gender identity or sexual identity. Our programming stems from this belief, and seeks to promote open communication and informed choice.

2. People who experience sexual violence are not to blame. Perpetrators of sexual violence are to blame.

3. We believe that with information and support, clients can explore options and alternatives and make their own decisions. All reports are taken seriously and believed.

4. All information received from clients is strictly confidential (except in cases of child abuse or neglect, or when clients are a danger to self or others).

5. We see sexual violence as a widespread public health threat with historical and cultural origins, rather than the isolated problem of a small margin of people. Sexual violence is one aspect of gender-based oppression, and is inextricably linked to other forms of oppression.

6. We believe that healing is possible – both on an individual and cultural level.

7. We believe that most people, of all genders and backgrounds, see sexual violence and sexual harassment as wrong. It is our goal to unite across boundaries to address this problem together. We reject thinking that says rape is a woman’s issue, or that denigrates men as the enemy.

Thanks to Marco, Dominic, Brian, David, Robert, Richard, Frank, Martin, and all the lovely men of Marco's for showing up and doing their part to support an organization in town that supports social change to end sexual violence. You worked hard and you worked it! It makes a girl proud.

Rites Of Spring

2010-05-04T20:22:00.009-04:00

As in: spring-related things happening in Asheville, not as in the DC Hardcore band of the same name.

Mother's Day!

As the internet tells it, Mother's Day (this weekend, y'all, don't forget!) finds it's origins in the ancient Greek rites of Rhea (also associated with Cybele) mother of the gods, and daughter of the Sky and the Earth. A holiday in England dating back to the 1600's, Mothering Day, was a continuation of the feast, and often included the tradition of people bringing the Mothering Cake to their mothers. (I'm not sure that we will make Mothering Cake at the Cake Shop this weekend, as the idea of adding handmade marzipan to our new repertoire makes me a little flustered, but we would love to make you something special from the current menu to bring to your mom).
In the United States, Mother's Day as we know it was created by Julia Ward Howe just after the Civil War, as a call for an international congress of women for peace. Which is kind of weird considering that Julia Ward Howe also wrote The Battle Hymn of the Republic just before the Civil War. But, you know, people change.

From her proclaimation:

Arise then...women of this day!
Arise, all women who have hearts!
Whether your baptism be of water or of tears!
Say firmly:
"We will not have questions answered by irrelevant agencies,
Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage,
For caresses and applause.
Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn
All that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.
We, the women of one country,
Will be too tender of those of another country
To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs."

So Mother's Day is a holiday of peace. Love your mama on this special day, whether it be by a visit, a cake, or some flowers and plants, a-like so:

The Cake Shop's sweet and lovely next-door neighbors, the ladies of Farm Girl Flower Shop, are hosting a Mother's Day Plant Sale this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 10-5. Your mom (or baby-mama) would probably really appreciate some fresh, local flowers and fresh, local cake on her special day. And then: a footrub. Just sayin.

Also upcoming, is the 8th! Annual! Bountiful Cities! Birdhouse Auction!

Located at Christopher's Garden (just around the corner from the Cake Shop, behind the Rocket Club and across the street from Harvest Records), the Birdhouse Auction is BCP's primary fundraiser for the year, which pays our mortgage on the Pearson Drive Community Garden in Montford, and funds programs, (like the Strong Roots Youth Program) that happen in other gardens around town (like the Dr. George Washington Carver Edible Park at the Stephens-Lee Community Center). Food will be provided by Slow Food Asheville, birdhouses by the illustrious artists of Asheville, and Jen Lauzon of LaZoom Tours will emcee the auction. Beer and wine tickets provided with an auction paddle- what's fun is to get into a bidding war with your friends. Come on by, y'all, its going to be lovely! Oh, and if it rains, the auction will be inside the Rocket Club. And one more thing- even though we said that the deadline was May First, we will still gratefully accept your lovely handcrafted birdhouses, bathouses, and birdbaths up until the day of the event.

I totally love May. I love weddings, like this cake buffet this past weekend at Claxton Farm (hopefully the boys of Blend got some better shots than me):

(although I do like this last one of the hardcore rustic banana pudding cake. Unapologetically homestyle. Yum.)

Take Me to Your Cake Lady!

2010-04-26T21:48:00.023-04:00

Or: The Official Call-out to Find Southern Cake Ladies.
Or: I'm Writing a Book!

I am very pleased, happy, and proud to announce that, by the forces of serendipity, good luck, and clean living, I have signed a book contract with Lark Books! This summer, I will be researching and writing a book about the lives and recipes of Southern Cake Ladies. This is an idea that has been germinating for quite some time, and there will be more information about it to come, but for now, I will just say that I really do feel that it was a magical alignment of the spheres that led me to this point, aided by the support, advocacy, and general awesomeness of Lark Books in general, and Nicole McConville in particular. I'm very grateful, very honored, and very excited to take on this project, and I vow to put my heart into it, to do my very best to represent the beauty and depth and breadth of what it means to love people in this one particular way.

But.
I need your help.
All my cake ladies live in Georgia.
I need more.

I need names, phone numbers, and directions to the women in the backwaters and big cities of the South who are making cakes for their families and loved ones; the women who hold the culinary secrets passed down to them in deathbed confessions by the matriarchs of their families. I need introductions to the women who brought their recipes to Chicago, Detroit, and New York City when they moved there mid-century to build a better life, and the women who know the history of your hometown because they've made every single birthday cake for sixty years. Rural and urban, young and old, professional and labor-of-love, of every one of the many cultures- Black, White, Latina, rich, poor (you get the picture) that make up the South- I want to meet them, interview them, bake with them. Jasper and I (and hopefully Gracie and Susan) are going to Texas and New Orleans and Alabama and Miami and Virginia, and everywhere in between and beyond. We're going on a soul journey to hang out with Mountain Cake Ladies, Piedmont Cake Ladies, Atlanta Cake Ladies, and Bayou Cake Ladies. I hope to spend some time camping and hanging out in rivers, lakes and streams, too, along the way.

So... I need your help, in two ways.

1) Would anyone like to lend me a camper for this very worthy endeavor? Something like this, perhaps:

Just putting it out there.

2) But very most importantly: take me to your cake ladies! Below find a brief questionnaire. I would be so grateful if you would fill it out and return it to me if you know a special Cake Lady that you think I should meet. Also, please pass the questionnaire along to friends and family who you think might be able to put me in contact with special Cake Ladies. Really, y'all, this is going to be amazing. And don't worry, the Cake Shop will be in very capable and competent hands during the days when I'll be on the road, and I'll be there to bake your wedding cakes on the weekends.

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Family, Love and Community

2010-04-21T21:54:00.006-04:00

Friends, you may have noticed the conspicuous absence of my husband from these pages in the past year, and you may have read in the very excellent recent article by Barbara Blake about my history that my son's father and I are no longer together. I am choosing to acknowledge the end of my marriage here because, as the story of my life in cake unfolds, I cannot totally separate my work from my life (it is something I learned at summer camp)- so much of my inspiration in my work with the Cake Shop is rooted in my home and family that it would be disingenuous not to briefly and respectfully address it here.
My son's father and I separated this past July. We shared a beautiful and successful thirteen-year relationship that culminated in the birth of our son, and we have now chosen to let go of each other and our relationship in order to continue on the divergent paths that we have forged. Obviously, this loss has been deeply, profoundly, and cataclysmically painful, and that has taught me a lot: so many people around us every day are experiencing exactly the same kinds of grief and loss, and we may not know it, and we have to be tender with each other, and the things we think we know we might shouldn't be too sure of. Life can get very surreal when your foundation unravels, but I know that we will all be OK and that many good things are to come.
What is to come for me? I'm getting to know myself. I'm loving my home and my son, and I am kicking ass (along with my totally excellent employees) at the Cake Shop. This summer I am writing a book that involves travelling the South to meet Southern Cake Ladies, my 4-year old in tow (more on that to come). I'm thinking of it as my soul journey. My definitions of community and family have changed. I feel a greater sense of aloneness in some ways, but at the same time, a greater sense of togetherness within myself and with others. I am grateful to my son and to Short Street Cakes for grounding me. My apologies to those friends and family members who might just be hearing the news in this venue, and my thanks to the many friends who have loved and supported me through this process. And my deepest love, respect, and gratitude to my friend Duncan- for the time we shared and the things I have learned.

Footnote: as I was contemplating publishing this post, I browsed into the My Life in Cake history, which I never do, and I found this little interesting gem from a year and a half ago.
Love.

Thank you, Citizen Times, for profiling "The Woman Behind Short Street Cakes!"

2010-04-20T10:40:00.004-04:00

This article appeared in the living section of Sunday's Asheville Citizen-Times. I feel honored to share my story, and I know that we each have a beautiful story to tell.

Click to view the full article:

"From scratch, with love: The woman behind Asheville's Short Street Cakes cooks up community with her creations" by Barbara Blake

Spring Cakes

2010-04-20T10:19:00.005-04:00

Wedding Season is upon us and I'd like to share with you some of what we've been up to!

Cupcake wedding at the Grove Park Inn

Cupcake Wedding at Table Rock State Park in South Carolina

May Baskets!
Last weekend at the Grove Park Inn, the Cupcakes for Cures Competition ruled. Our entry (for which we won an honorable mention for flavor) was the celebration of spring that is the May Basket. Here is the explaination that was included in each May Basket:

May 1st, or May Day, has been celebrated since ancient times as the beginning of spring and started as a feast in honor of the goddess of flowers, Flora. It is a time to celebrate the joy of spring and the sweetness of love. Celebrations have grown through time to include dancing around the Maypole, crowning the Queen of the May, and honoring the Virgin Mary with flowers. In 19th century United States, celebrants would leave May Baskets, small baskets filled with sweets and flowers, on doorsteps, knock, and then run away. The recipient of the basket then would try to chase the giver and, if they were caught, the giver would have to give the recipient a kiss.

(Let us know if you would like for us to create a May Basket for your mayday shenanigans, by the way)
Love, and Happy Spring!

This Weekend in Cake: Green Drinks and Record Store Day!

2010-04-15T07:41:00.006-04:00

From the Lovelies at Asheville Grown, who will be presenting at Friday evening's Green Drinks at Bobo Gallery on Lexington:

Come out this Friday after work for some local brew, local treats, good company & good conversation. Asheville Grown Business Alliance will be presenting. Find out how you can get involved in the Buy Local Campaign!

We'll also be presenting ideas and ways in which we can help grow the local economy, boost local business and create more job opportunities.

This is a free event open to everyone, so bring your friends and show your love!

From those boys over at Harvest Records:

THIS SATURDAY, April 17th, 2010
OPENING @ 10am SHARP

Harvest will be participating in the 3rd annual "Record Store Day" in a major way this year...

First & foremost, there are literally almost 200 different exclusive & very limited releases, only available in indie stores on Saturday -- on any format imaginable (LP, CD, 7", DVD, book...)
Examples include Modest Mouse's "The Moon & Antarctica" reissued on LP, Flaming Lips doing "Dark Side of the Moon" on limited vinyl, Budos Band & Sharon Jones splitting a 7", Bon Iver &Peter Gabriel covering each other, and on and on and on...

We will also be providing you folks with some major freebie action. Not only will the first customers of the day receive a free bag'o'swag with all sorts of interesting nuggets, and not only will we have some treats to snack on while flippin' thru the stacks, BUT we will be giving away free raffle prizes including a
"Beatles In Mono" 13-disc limited box set (retail price = $274.99!!!)...

And of course, the cherry on top is (most likely outdoors) live performances by Drive-By Truckers and Langhorne Slim!

PS- the treats? Cupcakes.

Short Street Cakes' Brand New 2010 Menu!

2010-04-07T08:08:00.002-04:00

The long-awaited menu has arrived! View and print it as a pdf here, or check it out on the website here, or read it in plain old text below. We're really proud of our new menu items, and happy to build on the menu we have created through the 4 years of Short Street Cakes! Let us know if you have any questions, feedback, or comments.

SIMPLE CAKES
Buttermilk White Cake
Classic Vanilla White Cake, with your choice of Vanilla or Ganache Buttercream Icing

Deep Dark Vegan Chocolate Cake (V)
Rich, Chocolate Layer Cake with Silken Dark Chocolate Icing

Vegan Vanilla Cake (V)
Rich Vegan Yellow Cake with Vegan Vanilla Buttercream or Cream Cheese Icing (can be made Lemon or Almond flavors, too)

Sour Cream Pound Cake
Buttery Vanilla Yellow Cake Iced with Vanilla Buttercream or Cream Cheese Icing (can be made Lemon or Almond flavors, too)

Ashevelvet Cake
Our version of the classic Light Chocolate Buttermilk Cake known as Red Velvet. Naturally reddish-brown, without the food coloring, and with a Cream Cheese Icing

Mexican Chocolate Cake (V)
Deep Dark Chocolate Cake, with fragrant cinnamon and a hint of Cayenne

CLASSIC CAKES
Lavender White Cake
Vanilla Cake and lavender blossoms, Vanilla Buttercream Icing

Classic Coconut Cake +
Coconut White Cake with Cream Cheese Icing and Toasted Coconut Garnish

Georgia Hummingbird Cake*
Pineapple, Pecan, Strawberries and Bananas baked in a rich cake with Cream Cheese Icing

Sweet Potato Spice Cake*
Rich Spice Cake with Flecks of Fresh Baked Sweet Potato and Cinnamon Cream Cheese Icing

Carrot Spice Cake*
Carrots, Raisins and Walnuts, 5 spices, and Cream Cheese Icing

Strawberry Short Street*
Fresh Strawberries baked into layers of Pound Cake with a Strawberry Cream Cheese Icing

Aunt Tissy’s Italian Cream Cake
Buttermilk Coconut Cake, Cream Cheese Icing, Pecans

German Chocolate Cake
Chocolate Buttermilk Cake with a Cooked Coconut Pecan Icing

Blueberry Lemon Cream*
Lemon Pound Cake with Blueberry Cream Cheese Icing

Triple Chocolate Ganache
Dark Chocolate Layers with a Ganache Buttercream Icing and Ganache Topping

Marble Cake+
Marbled Layers of Dark Chocolate and Vanilla Pound Cake, with Cream Cheese Icing and Ganache Topping

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake+
Dark Chocolate Layers iced with a Peanut Buttercream Icing

Raspberry Almond Cake
Almond Pound Cake with a Crushed Fresh Raspberry Filling and Almond Buttercream Icing

DELUXE CAKES
Fresh Coconut Cake
Coconut Cake with Fresh Grated Coconut and 7-minute Icing

Wedge Brewery Community Porter Cake*
Chocolate Cake baked with Local Wedge Brewery’s Porter with Cream Cheese Icing

Bacon Apple Cake*
Pound Cake baked with Bacon Drippings, Iced with a Fried-Apple Cream Cheese Icing and Garnished with Crumbled Bacon

Banana Pudding Cake
Banana Cake with Pastry Cream Fresh Bananas and Vanilla Wafers

Mardi Gras Queen Cake
Pineapple Butter Cake with a Bourbon Soak and Coconut and Pecan Custard Icing

Caramel Apple Cake*
Apple Cake with a Cooked Caramel Icing

Daffodil Cake
Marbled Layers of White Cake and Lemon Pound Cake, with Lemon Curd Filling and Lemon Buttercream Icing

SINGLE LAYER CAKES $25
These cakes are only available in a single-layer, 8” round.
Pineapple Upside Down Cake
Skillet Baked, with Pineapple Rings and Pecans
Flourless Chocolate Gateau
Incredibly rich, mousse-like Chocolate Cake with Ganache Topping (gluten-free)

*DENOTES THAT LOCAL INGREDIENTS ARE USED WHEN AVAILABLE

+DENOTES THAT A VEGAN OPTION IS AVAILABLE

PRICING
Size/Servings/Simple/Classic/Deluxe
Mini Cupcakes 1/2 $1 $1.25 $1.50
Cupcakes 1 $2 $2.50 $3
Small (2-layer 6”) 8-10 $20 $22 $24
Medium (2-layer 8”) 10-15 $25 $28 $30
Large (3-layer 9”) 15-25 $40 $45 $50
Quarter Sheet 25-30 $45 $52 $56
Half Sheet 40-50 $80 $90 $100
Full Sheet 80-100 $130 $145 $160

ORDERING
Please place your order at least 48 hours in advance by calling the Cake Shop at (828) 505-4822. Please tell us the date and time you would like to pick up your cake, your full name and phone number, the size and flavor that you would like, and the message that you would like written on the cake (writing on the cake is included in the price).

DELIVERY
Delivery is available at the rate of $1.25 per mile round trip, with a minimum fee of $5. At this time, we do not offer shipping.

GLUTEN-FREE INFORMATION
Any of our menu items (with the exception of the Banana Pudding Cake) can be made gluten-free, for an additional charge of approximately 50 cents per serving. Please be aware that we are not a dedicated gluten-free kitchen, and can therefore not guarantee a 100% sterile gluten-free product.

Short Street Cakes uses 100% all-natural ingredients and bakes each order fresh daily. Please check our blog for seasonal specials and inquire about other flavors that you would like; our in-house cake and cupcake flavors change daily and we will do our best to accommodate your request. Please call to set up a consultation for wedding cakes or for wholesale pricing. Our cakes are 100% scratch-made and represent the very best in the classic tradition of Southern Cakes. We thank you and we love you!

SHORT STREET CAKES (828) 505-4822
225 HAYWOOD ROAD, EAST-WEST ASHEVILLE, NC
WWW.SHORTSTREETCAKES.COM

A Bevy of Blogs, a Plethora of People, and a Plenitude of Pleasurable Places-to-Go.

2010-03-26T18:29:00.019-04:00

A Compendium of People, Places, Things and Events that are inspiring me right now:

1) Asheville Grown

This now-ubiquitous image is the work of the Asheville Grown Business alliance, an organization directed by Franzi Cheren (co-owner of Hip Replacements on Lexington) whose mission is to increase awareness of the positive impact on communities when we choose to spend our dollars at locally-owned businesses. From their FaceBook page:

Asheville Grown Business Alliance is a grassroots organization whose mission is to support independently owned businesses in the community, to continue growing a vibrant local economy while preserving the unique character of Asheville and to educate consumers on the critical importance of thinking locally first when considering the impact of national and global chains.

You can learn more, and buy the t-shirts, here.

2) The Sloppy Joe Circus

Many of the performers in the Sloppy Joe Circus are artists who have been honing their funny craft in a very serious way for many years now; from trapeze to accordion, clowning and miming and vaudeville and juggling and more. It's nothing short of DIY magic, and it reminds me that one of the best things about being in my 30s is getting to watch as my friends, each in different ways, get REALLY, authentically, magically good at what they do.

Also from FaceBook:

Asheville’s own Runaway Circus will be presenting their 4th annual winter circus at the W.C. Reid Center for Creative Arts. This year, Runaway Circus is drawing on memories most everyone will understand….Middle School. Dubbed The Sloppy Joe Circus, the event will use acrobatics, juggling, clowning/slapstick, hula hooping, trapeze, a live band, and many other talents to explore the various cliques, eccentric teachers, and awkward social exchanges that define those wondrous years.

Dates and Times:
Fri. March 19th at 8pm
Sat. March 20th at 8pm
Sun. March 21st at 2pm
Fri. March 26th at 8pm
Sat. March 27th at 8pm
Sun. March 28th - 1pm parade starting at French Broad Food Co-op and 2pm show

Tickets are available at the door for a $10 suggested donation, but in line with the troupe’s belief of providing affordable, quality entertainment to the community, nobody will be turned away for lack of funds. Additionally, half of all proceeds from the March 21st show will go to support other local, non-profit organizations.

The Runaway Circus & the Loose Cabooses is a not-for-profit group based in Asheville, NC. Their mission is to entertain and inspire the community with their breathtaking performances. With extraordinary feats of acrobatics, juggling, slapstick, and musical talent, they are sure to leave any spectator with their jaw dropped and their stomach aching from laughter.

This is the last weekend, so check it out if you can. Also, tonight's (Saturday's) and tomorrow's shows feature "The Fascinating World of Mammalian Lactation," a pre-show by Julie and Nathanael!

3) Congratulations to Chef Shannon Ginn!

This Spring, Shannon (who has been a part of the Cake Shop since she interned here last summer) graduates with a degree in Baking and Pastry Arts. Thursday's Capstone was a showcase of the skills that the students acquired over the course of their studies. Shannon's Dr. Seuss themed display featured the many talents she has cultivated: breads, tortes, occasion cakes, truffles, petit fours, and many more. Congratulations, Shannon! We love you and we're so proud of you!

4) The Paraplegic Chef and Tattoos and Cupcakes

A few weeks ago, I was asked to speak about my experience in starting my business at the YWCA Tribute to Women of Influence Reception, due to the fact that the free drop-in childcare for women in transition was a critical stepping stone for me to be able to finish my Mountain Bizworks class, and consequently my business plan. I will be forever grateful to the YWCA for helping me on my path to being economically independent, and am always happy and proud to be their poster child. The event was an amazing and humbling opportunity for me to stand before a group of incredibly accomplished women, and many of the recipients of the award are women I already know and respect in the community, and many were new to me. One of the recipients, Megan McCauley,

and her partner, Shannon,
were particularly inspiring. Megan is a chef who broke her back in an accident at age 22, and is now in a wheelchair. She has continued to hone her culinary craft and her love of sports, and is now helping newly paraplegic people to learn how to cook adaptively, has an awesome food blog, The Paraplegic Chef, and is seeking donations and sponsors for her 3-day, 180-mile hand cycling ride from Charlotte, NC to Myrtle Beach, SC. The fundraiser benefits the Adaptive Sports and Adventure Program of Carolina's Rehabilitation- offering low-cost programs for youth and adults with physical challenges. Megan's partner Shannon's blog, Tattoos and Cupcakes, is a visual feast of photography, craftiness, cakeyness, wittiness, and love. These girls are young, fierce and BADASS. I was glad to have met them and can't wait to see what they'll do next! Rock on, Shannon and Megan!

5) Build a Birdhouse for the Bountiful Cities Project!

May 1st is the deadline for entries of birdhouses, birdbaths, bat-houses, and yard art for BCP's 8th annual Birdhouse Auction. The event this year takes place on May 15th at Christopher's Garden in East-West Asheville (the beautiful garden on the corner behind the Rocket Club) and will be emceed by Jen Lauzon of LaZoom Tours! This is a super-fun fundraiser that helps us pay for the community garden spaces that the organization owns and holds in trust for the community, and supports the work of Urban Agriculture in Asheville, our Strong Roots Youth Programs, and the creation of new and exciting Food Security initiatives.
Birdhouses can be dropped off at the Cake Shop or at Honeypot on Lexington Avenue, Downtown.

6) Pilgrim!

Sweet friend Jaye Bartell releases his new EP, Dog's Dinner, tonight in Buffalo, NY, is having a show at Static Age records on April 1st, along with Tartufi and Judas Horse, and will be having the Asheville Dog's Dinner EP Release on April 15th at LAB. Jaye makes beautiful music, sometimes alone, often with others. His music breaks my heart, in a good way. And he's another friend who I've been lucky enough to see develop artistically through the years- totally inspiring.

7) Edible Books!

8) Cupcakes for Cures!

Cupcakes for Cures is Asheville’s Cupcake Faceoff created a group of cupcake loving, cancer fighting Ashevilleans.
Professional bakers, amateur bakers and youth bakers compete for bragging rights and fantastic prizes all while raising funds to find cures for cancer. Bakers can enter multiple culinary creations in true Asheville categories like Best Beer Cupcake, Best Gluten-Free Cupcake, Best Holiday and Special Occasion Cupcake, Best Birthday Cupcake and Best Local Foods Cupcake.

Oh, Yes.
BRING IT.

OK, thus concludes the whirlwind. We've got lots to look forward to and lots to be grateful for! Thank you, Asheville! Thank you, Friends! Thank you, especially, SPRING! Stay tuned for next week's big news: The New Short Street Cakes Menu! drops on April 7th. Hell Yes.
Love,
Jodi

Short Street Cakes in the News

2010-03-22T22:02:00.002-04:00

Check out the Mountain Xpress' roundup of local businesses featuring dishes with bacon here, and below I'm reposting the Asheville Citizen-Times Young Professional of the Week Profile (featuring yours truly). We're psyched for all the great media coverage we've received!

Young Professional Profile: Jodi Rhoden of Short Street Cakes

Name:
Jodi Rhoden

Age:
33

Residence:
Asheville.

What I do at work:
I am the owner of Short Street Cakes in West Asheville, which started in my home four years ago. I bake Southern-style, all-natural birthday cakes, wedding cakes and cupcakes.

What I do on my time:
I am Mom to a totally rad 4-year-old boy, so I spend lots of time doing laundry and talking about outer space and dinosaurs. I commit my community time to serving on the board of The Bountiful Cities Project, which works to promote food security and urban agriculture in Asheville. I'm also interested in documenting and preserving food traditions of the region.

Why I work and live in the Asheville area:
I moved here from Georgia with a degree in social work 10 years ago, hoping to be part of the nonprofit world here. I was soon too busy with grassroots community work and mostly waited tables to subsidize that work. As a mom, I discovered that the best way to make a livelihood here is to create your own way, and I love and appreciate the sense of loyalty that the Asheville community has to its mom-and-pop businesses.

My WNC secret:
I love Marco's pizzeria with all my heart. Not only do they make a great pie, but when I was a waitress there with a baby at home and a fledgling business, they were my strongest support network. I also love and appreciate Mountain BizWorks and the YWCA for their help and support along the way.

I'd love to have lunch with:
I would have loved the opportunity to have lunch with the late, great Edna Lewis, one of my culinary heroes. Actually, I would have loved the opportunity to make
lunch with Edna Lewis.

Blackberry or iPhone?
Face to face.

Its time for another installment of: Featured Cookbooks and Bibliomancy!

2010-03-13T15:41:00.007-05:00

Today I will be reviewing the classic Southern Heritage Cakes Cookbook! (Southern Heritage, Oxmoor House, 1983)

Jenne gave me this book a few months back, which, as you can see from the picture, she purchased at Mr. K's Used Books for four dollars. Mr. K's, which is located at River Ridge on Fairview Road, is apparently awesome- though I have never been there.
I fell in love with the book immediately. Not only are the recipes dead-on, but the pictures and clip art are rich with cake love and lore. There is historical context given for many of the recipes, and many of the recipes are illustrated with step-by-step photos.
Like much of our history as Southerners, there is some painful stuff, too, like the recurrent images of Black Mammies that were so prevalent in literature about the South for the last century. Complicating the story further is this historical tale of the Sam Houston Cake, whose namesake was adopted by the Cherokee nation, then became a soldier and slaveowner, and then the governer of Texas.

I particularly like the entries on cooked icings, as there are no mainstream cookbooks (even my beloved Joy of Cooking) that correctly treat the steps for popular Southern cooked icings (such as Cooked Caramel Icing, Seven Minute Icing- called Divinity in other parts of the country- and custard-based cooked icings such as German Chocolate Cake Icing).
All in all, the Southern Heritage Cakes Cookbook is a gem- which is probably why I see it on the shelves of many of my crafty, culinary colleagues (I'm talking to you, Ashley Adams English!)
This book is easy to procure used and will serve you well.

And now: for the bibliomancy- a form of mystical divination where I flip through the pages of the featured cookbook with my eyes closed and randomly choose a recipe or passage. (this one's for you, Egg!)

"'Early rising is also essential to the good government of a family. A late breakfast deranges the whole business of the day, and throws a portion of it on the next, which opens the door for confusion to enter.' In spite of what Mary Randolph admonished in 1831, these coffee cakes are delicious for a late breakfast- and are guaranteed not to ruin your day."

And there you have it.
xo

Order by Sunday for St. Patrick's Day Designs!

2010-03-10T13:07:00.003-05:00

We created this lovely green from natural pigments and can decorate your cake or cupcakes with it for St. Patty's! (or Sheela's Day, if you prefer, wink wink) Just call the cake shop at (828) 505-4822 by this Sunday.
xo

Call to Artists! Bountiful Cities' 8th Annual Birdhouse Auction is now accepting submissions!

2010-02-28T20:20:00.007-05:00

The Bountiful Cities project is now accepting donations of handcrafted birdhouses, bat houses, birdbaths, and yard art for its 8th annual birdhouse auction! Deadline for submission is May 1st. This year’s auction will be held on May 15th at 307 Flash Studios (behind the Rocket Club in East-West Asheville) and will be emceed by Jen Lauzon of LaZoom Tours! Submissions can be dropped off at Short Street Cakes, 225 Haywood Rd. in West Asheville; or at Honeypot at 85 N. Lexington Ave Downtown. Artists most fill out submission form at drop off location. Submissions will be displayed and juried: prizes will be awarded for the top 3 birdhouses. For specs on creating birdhouses for specific species of birds, go here.
The mission of the Bountiful Cities Project is to create, on urban land, beautiful community spaces which provide food in abundance and foster a learning environment for social justice and sustainability. Ashevillebcp@gmail.com 828.257.4000 www.bountfulcitiesproject.org

Asheville's Second Annual Edible Book Festival!

2010-02-25T22:53:00.003-05:00

April Fools Day, Y'all!
On April First, 2010, Asheville Bookworks will celebrate its second annual Edible Book Festival! According to the call for entries on the Bookworks website:

BookWorks is soliciting participants for the Edible Book Festival to create entries that are “bookish”. Qualified entries will successfully integrate text or literary inspiration and/or appear “book-like” in form. Entries must be entirely edible and properly prepared according to food safety guidelines. Please provide a list of ingredients with your entry.

Thankfully, they've asked me to be a judge. Therefore I won't have to think of something cooler than my entry last year: 350 mini cupcakes spelling out a paragraph from the introduction to the Joy of Cooking.
I can't wait to see what Asheville will come up with!
xo
jodi

Cake Shop First Birthday Party: In Pictures.

2010-02-15T20:41:00.006-05:00

We had a blast on Sunday. Thanks, everybody! More later on the beautiful, all-natural, scratch-made fondant work in some of the pictures that follow.