Oopsy

So, I didn't get more pictures up that week. Whenever that was, in whatever alternate reality that was in.
I'm coming back to reality, slowly. It was a great two weeks. Great wedding. Great family reunion. Lots of cake. That's what really counts.
Pictures will come. Sooner or later.

In other breaking news the government is cracking down on Christians here, slowly. You know, wouldn't want to upset the tourist trade over summer and all. Definitely something to keep praying about.
Please pray for my brother-in-law as well as he has had extremely high blood pressure recently (hereditary) and could have severe side effects without some good health care (hard to come by here). He has some meds for the moment, but need a proper analysis still.

Oh, and PS. Kostia did make it to the wedding! :)

Kostia and Mattias

Mattias is home safe from hospital and doing better.
They diagnosed him with high levels of "acetone", which here at least, has something to do with the pancreas, but in adults leads to diabetes. Kids here get this diagnosis all the time and are put on strict diets to help. It is one of those things that I just don't get, but always makes me wonder if Chernobyl is still having some effect. Or if it is just the general poor quality of food that people are eating (the good stuff is expensive). It is waaaaaaaaaay too common for kids to get sick here (they close school every winter for two weeks because of the flu/cold).
Please continue to pray that Mattias will get well quickly. He is weak and of course needs to rest, which is difficult for a five year old boy. But praise the Lord that he is getting better!

Prayer for Kostia

I got a call late Sunday evening from Kostia, our translator who lost his wife last year, his son was put in the hospital Sunday morning with an extremely high fever. Mattias is about five years old. I'm not sure what the problem is that was causing the high fever, but they couldn't do any tests because it is a holiday weekend (gotta love socialized medicine).
I just talked to Kostia and he said he brought Matt home about an hour ago and that he is stable but weak. Apparently, it is something with his pancreas.
I'll try to keep you posted, but please do pray for Kostia. Thankfully, his mother-in-law has been here the last couple of weeks and so she was able to stay at the hospital with Matt when Kostia couldn't be there. (Although, from what I hear, being able to stay in the hospital with your child means that you get to share the bed with them.)

All Roads Lead to Cake

Lately, that has been true for me. I've been practicing for my brother's wedding cake and taking as many opportunities as I can to make and decorate cakes. Most recently that has involved actually piping the flowers for that cake and making some mini cakes to practice my piping skills on. I think I still need more practice, but it is getting there. (The really cute piped designs are by my roommate, Julie--who is quickly surpassing my piping skills. Oh, and these two pics are courtesy of her too. Thanks, Julie!)
These mini cakes were all sponge and filled/iced with different flavors, including lemon, mint chocolate and cream cheese. My personal favorite was the coffee one. They turned out a little on the sweet side (read, everyone was bouncing off the walls after two bites), but with a few modifications I would do it again. I also made the fondant myself, which was fun and actually quite easy. Although, it has also reinforced my desire to make fondant free cakes. I mean, really, who needs a layer of sugar over your layer of icing? Unless it is fruitcake, in which case, a little layer of marzipan and then a fondant layer are just the thing!


I've also been doing some prep work for the actual wedding cake. I piped about 800 of these little suckers. There are three sizes, ranging from about a 1/2 inch to close to one inch in diameter. I think it would have gone faster if I hadn't chosen to watch shows while I did it. :D Cake shows, of course.

Royal icing definitely has its perks. You can keep what you create pretty much forever. Very handy for working ahead.
I also made some of the flowers in red. And then I hand painted about half of the flowers with petal dust (edible sparklies), just for variation and fun.
Yes, it was time consuming. But fun. :D


PS. More wedding previews to come in the next week. ;)