Cake Decorating!!

I've signed up for my first cake decorating class!  It's a fondant basics class on Friday night and I'm SUPER excited!  I'm a little overwhelmed at all that I have to do to prepare for it, though.  I need to bring 2 cakes, 5lbs of fondant, buttercream frosting, filling... So, now the big decision:  Do I make all of that, or purchase?  Any thoughts?  :)  I'll keep you updated! 

Working on my baking :)

I just finished reading the book "Cake Boss".  I have never actually seen the show, but was fascinated by His story.  Buddy Jr. started working in his father's bakery when he was just about 6 years old and ended up having to take over the bakery due to his father's death at the age of 17.  He is now a pretty famous cake decorator, but prides himself in being able to make cakes that taste as good as they look.  It just inspired me to really continue to work on my baking skills.  Since I am not a very experienced baker, I started with Carlo's Bakery's famous recipe for Vanilla cookies.  It is tough to bake a "famous" recipe when you don't really have a comparison.  I would love to taste the original and then be abe to compare it to mine.  These cookies were made with no butter at all, only vegetable shortening and they are cooked just until they are slightly browned on the bottom, but creamy white on the top.  The final result is a mix between a biscuit and a light vanilla cookie.  My daughter gave them a thumbs up and so did Ethan!  :)  I'm not a cookie expert... they taste great to me with some coffee!  As you can see, my presentation leaves a lot to be desired.... got to work on that!