By Tanya Brown
I'm competitive, that's no secret. Anyone who knows me well knows I have fun with the idea of competing to win. I will say I may beat you. I will do a happy dance when I do. I will eat my words when I don't.
It's all in fun.
When I was young, my parents took my brother and me to Gainsborough, the town where my mom grew up. They were having their annual fair. Because of my competitive nature, I wanted to enter the nail hammering competition, so I did. I was eight and a city girl from Calgary, going head to head with the likes of 15-year-old farm boys. My grandma said I didn't have a chance. I won.
Now, being a woman who is more comfortable handling a hammer than a spatula, it's natural for me to burst into laughter when asked if I want to enter a cake decorating contest. My first thought, after I dried my eyes from the tears of laughter rolling down my cheek - 'I wonder if I can decorate it with a tube of silicone?'
This is a fundraiser for Icing Smiles. The cakes are to be decorated in public. IN PUBLIC? At the Festival of Leaves Craft and Trade Show and Sale, I, along with my baker/cake consultant, will decorate a cake in direct competition with UFC Coach Ron Frazier and UFC Fighter Mitch "Danger Zone" Clarke.
I'm in trouble.
The cakes will then be auctioned off at Prestige Fight Club of Regina's MMA event "Fall Out" on September 28th.
A tube of silicone just won't work. I'm going to have to use icing. Real icing, and fondant. Fon-what? What is fondant?
All I can figure is it's something like Play-Dough. The ladies at work have been talking fondant at the office, and as I listen, I learn. If I can mould stuff with Play-Dough, surely I can make fondant stick to a cake.
And if all else fails, I'll nail it.
