Bakin' with the Hippie Chick

Potential Allergens in food

2011-03-14T13:41:00.003-04:00

I got this from a friend this morning, it is a link to everything the FDA has under recall.
Food and drug recall list

I have to say, it came as a huge shock to me, that many products being recalled due to undeclared allergens - peanuts, soy, Milk, food colorings....the list goes on!

Even more shocking, some "big name" companies that are on there, companies that you would normally trust. But there it is - "Keebler", apparently recalling all products sold under that name for undeclared peanuts.

This is a list I will certainly be checking quite often!

A Cautionary Tale

2010-06-07T20:45:00.002-04:00

A decorator friend recently emailed me this, her own personal experience

"This past weekend I delivered a cake at 8am. They needed more tablecloths so he went across the street to the ‘sister’ location- which is the high end location on the water. He came back to say they were having a cake disaster in the kitchen. I went over to see if I could help. An aunt had bake a 14” and 12” tier, blueberry filling yellow cake. No damming was done to keep the filling from coming out. The cakes had not been leveled so they still had the crowns on them and she had used store bought frosting so you could see the cake through the frosting. There was no support inside of the cake and the cakes were not on cake boards so it was sliding and imploding on itself. The layers were held together with 3” wide outside ribbon- what you would use at a gravesite- very appropriate. They had placed it on a piece of plywood- it was a casual wedding and the cake was held in place by sheet rock screws. I know this because they were sticking out through the cake that had moved.

It gets better.

The father had kept the cake in the trunk overnight thinking it would be ok. She had brought 2 8” cakes to be cut into. These were separate, crowning, yellow cakes with the blueberry oozing through the store bought frosting. The wedding planner was almost in tears as it was not 8am yet. (She recently has ACL surgery and had fallen and torn the reconstruction and was limping painfully) I took the 2 cakes home (I live 2 miles away) and threw them in the freezer. I cut one of them into a 6” (after scraping all the frosting off both) and leveled them out. I found some leftover green ribbon and made a 2 tiered cake with ribbon at the base and placed it on a 12” round styro covered in different white wedding ribbon. (Leftover) One hour later the bride had a basic cake to cut into. The location chose to throw away the cake in the kitchen do to food safe issues. 1)exposed plywood 2)sheet rock screws 3) cake left in warm trunk over night.

The FOTB was then charged $8/person at their casual wedding of 100 people (hall minimum) for a standard dessert. I posted this on my blog to remind brides that it is not always the best idea to skimp on something that could poison all your guests. Ditch the favors and get a decent cake!

With the proliferation of cake decorating shows that make it look so easy, people that decorate cakes for family and friends for special events, and the cost of weddings in general, couples can be lured into the idea that a great way to save money is to have a friend or family member do the cake (or even do it themselves!!). As a professional wedding cake decorator that did her own cake, I strongly suggest that you not do that! I do this for a living, but making my own wedding cakes was extremely stressful, and a huge time suck when I wanted (and needed!) to be doing other things.

While that story was from a friend, I have had a few of my own, the one I most remember is the MOB that came in to my shop in tears the day before her daughters wedding, begging me to finish the cake she started and then realized she just did not have the skills or knowledge to finish - when problems arose with the icing, she just did not have the experience to know what to do.

As my fellow decorator so succinctly says "ditch the favors and get a decent cake!" Find somewhere else to save, and entrust not only the quality of the cake, but the health of your guests - to a professional.

Act now to protect small local farms!

2010-03-10T10:36:00.003-05:00

Our local farmers need your help!!!

I am sure many of you are aware of the organic bill that passed a few years back, which made so many small farms unable to get certified organic due to the prohibitive cost. Funny how that worked out to favor the large industrial farms in the end.

Now there is Senate Bill 510, the Food Safety Modernization Act, intended to strengthen federal food safety oversight and enforcement. Unfortunately, the bill’s heavy-handed approach to accomplishing this endangers the continued existence of the small and medium-sized family farms that make up our local and regional food systems.
As currently written, S. 510 would not differentiate between large factory farms that have been implicated in national foodborne illness outbreaks and small local farms that have not. This bill will turn even small farms into FDA-regulated facilities that would need to meet potentially crippling requirements and pay large fees that they could not afford.

This bill is supposed to be directed at farms that go over state lines, but as you can easily imagine in an area like ours, farmers can literally be selling in farmers markets in 3 different states and never drive more than 30 minutes.

THIS IS A BIG DEAL!! PLEASE contact your senators and tell them you do not support this bill! This link is the best I have found on the subject, and you can find the contact for your senators there. Make it a point to contact them today, and support your local farmers!

Wendy's Marathon

2010-03-09T09:03:00.004-05:00

Wendy is not only a longtime customer, but a simply amazing person, and truly inspiring.
She is a bone marrow donor, and is now celebrating her 5th YEAR running the Boston Marathon to benefit Childrens Hospital Boston. This year she has even upped the challenge by running Boston2BigSur, running 2 marathons on opposite ends of the county in one week.

I know there are so many places asking you to give right now, so I am upping the ante. Donate to Wendy, and I will match the amount of your donation with a HCB gift certificate, up to $25. You can use more than one certificate at a time as well, so I am sure there are some couples out there that can get friends and family to donate - there are not many times you can say your wedding cake was tax deductible!

Please check out her page and after you sit there in awe of her for a few minutes, consider donating.

Good Luck Wendy!!

How did it get to be PIE TIME already!!

2009-11-11T13:31:00.005-05:00

Well, I don't know how it happened, but here it is! The Thanksgiving Day menu is up, peruse away and please place your order by Sunday November 22nd!

We will again be baking pies for delivery by Boston Organics, so if you are a customers of thiers, be on the lookout for the Thanksgiving menu.

Boston Veg Fest - October 31st and November 1st

2009-10-21T20:09:00.008-04:00

Hey everyone, it is that time of year again - Boston Vegetarian Food Festival time that is!

If you haven't been before, this is a great, TOTALLY FREE event at the Reggie Lewis Athletic Center in Roxbury. There is plenty of parking, and easy access for the T. This year the festival will be expanding to 2 days, 10AM-6PM on Saturday, and 10AM-4PM on Sunday.

Come hungry, because there are TONS of companies giving out samples of every kind of food you could imagine. There is also great vendors selling everything from jewelry to books, to tofu makers...it is huge and fun and well worth the trip.

There is also a great slate of speakers - unfortunately we never get to get away from the booth to catch them, this year they run the gamut from cookbook authors to comedians...including on Sunday our favorite, Lauren Ulm, who we were lucky enough to have made a wedding cake for her wedding.

This year we will have our full spread as we have done in years past,

ranging from muffins andscones to cookies, brownies, cakes, cupcakes and biscotti.

Of course, it wouldn't be veg fest without our hand rolled and dipped vegan sugar cookies - spooky ghosts and fall leaves! Also, as we did last year, we will also be bringing some gluten-free vegan items. And as we do every year, look for a few treats and suprises that we make as time allows. In the past we have made French apple tarts, chocolate chip cookies, pumpkin pies, and more....we will have to see where inspiration takes us this year!

For more Check out the festival page here. Hope to see you there!

Star Wars, Nothing but Star Wars (cakes)

2009-08-23T20:45:00.009-04:00

I have been wanting to put these on for a while, just never seem to think of it when I am posting. No commentary necessary from me, I think they are all pretty obvious (or maybe that is just because I have a Star Wars geek for a husband)

I know there are more out there - so does anyone have a picture of a Star Wars cake we have done for you? Add it on our Facebook page!

Plugging some great causes

2009-06-15T21:13:00.002-04:00

We have a few causes that are near and dear to our hearts, and try to help fundraising efforsts as often as we can. We have 2 events this week, maybe you can make it to one (or both!)

Wednesday, we will be providing desserts for a fundraiser at the Wang Theatre in Boston, the theme is "The Color Purple", which is the current production there,and attendees will be treated to a buffet of all purple desserts from area bakeries...sounds like a blast!

Looking for something to do this Saturday?

Enjoy a fantastic New England clambake and auction at Nicholson Hall in Newburyport, all to benefit Humanitarian Aid in Ethiopia Up for bid is some Hippie Chick Bakery Gift Certificates, as well as other fantastic items! Don't miss it! Check this link for more info (click on the 2nd item down, 6/20 event)

A little catch up

2009-06-11T10:35:00.030-04:00

As happens way too often, I have been so busy I have not had a chance to post. I thought a nice way to catch up would be to post some pictures along with the thanks I received from the customer - so here goes....

"I had a "Twilight" theme 30th birthday party, and I just want to say the cake you made was ridiculous - it was the cover of the first Twilight book. I could not have been more surprised by my friends and how absolutely perfect it was. I didn't want to cut into it! We took tons of pictures then pigged out. Thanks for making my 30th so special! "
- Christina

" As promised (albeit a little late) here is a photo of the

beautiful and delicious cake you made us. People raved!
- Ginger and Marion

Photo credit Johnson Photography http://www.johnsonphotography.com/

Also, CONGRATULATIONS to Ginger and Marion, who were also chosen to be featured in Veg News as one of the featured couples in the wedding issue this year! This marks the 7th year in a row that one of "our" couples was included.

You can read about their wedding here or find Veg News at your local bookstore

"Just wanted to take a minute to tell you how much everyone loved the cupcakes! Not only did they taste good, but they looked beautiful in the terra cotta pots, with the real pansies on them and on top. As people entered the room they immediately migrated over to the cupcake table. Everyone thought they were great!"

- Jane

Alright, I am out of time, but for more pictures, please check out our new Facebook page!

Congrats to the Boston Green Wedding Giveaway winners of 2009!!

2009-05-05T21:35:00.003-04:00

Drumroll please........(actually, that may be a little dramatic, since it was announced a week ago)

Congratulations Heather and Dan!!!!

We are just pleased as punch to be helping them celebrate their big day!

All of the entries were interesting, inspiring and very, very worthy - but as the saying goes, we could only pick one. Heather and Dan really exemplified what it means to live every day making choices of what is best for the earth. They have both sold their cars, and pledge to never own another. They do all the little things that can be done, changing to flourescent bulbs, not using a clothes dryer, making their own earth friendly cleaning supplies, and (I LOVE this one) bringing their own containers to restaurants to bring home leftovers!

Not only do they make the commitment in their own lives, but bring it to work and convert others "When Heather started her current job, she started keeping a trash bin for recycling paper under her desk and another for plastic disposable water bottles (this was before Dan got her to switch to metal water bottles) now everyone in her office is recycling paper and using metal reusable water bottles. And if that is not enough, the entire building (not just her office) now has a recycling program and going to install solar paneling! "

I mean, Wow. just wow.

So congratulations again you 2!

Awwwwwwww, you guys!

2009-04-12T20:40:00.005-04:00

I am really touched, and not just in the head like people always say....
I am touched because my lovely customers have voted us into the Best of the Knot for New England!

Funny enough, the only way I found out was when some fellow bakery owners sent emails congratulating me! One even sent me a copy of it
Thanks again Denise! Denise heads a group of owners/decorators that invited me to join thier group a while back, where we trade ideas, pass along prospective customers, and share each others great news - a very rare thing in this industry!

So who is more awesome? All the couples who took the time after thier wedding to praise our service and vote us in, or this fantastic group of women that support and encourage a fellow cake maker? I can't decide!!!

So thank you to *all* of the above, we truly appreciate it!!!!

We're Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaack

2009-03-31T21:48:00.003-04:00

We apologize again to anyone that was looking for a cake while we were closed!

As some of you may know, we spent 2 weeks in Ethiopia to pick up our younger son, Tariku.
Ethiopia was *so* fantastic, and we are completely in love with the country. As many people our age, who grew up in the 80's, we had some preconceived notions of what we we find there. While it is true that it is a country without a lot of personal wealth; the history, culture, people, landscape....well, we could go on and on, but suffice it to say...all that makes Ethiopia, makes it amazing.

So while I generally keep this blog to bakery related stuff, and not personal, I do have to share a pic of our newest family member (and best souvenier ever), with his older brother, CJ.

Calling all you Eco-concious Engaged Couples!!

2009-03-02T22:47:00.004-05:00

We are pleased and honored to be a part of the 2009 Green Boston Wedding Giveaway
Take a moment to look over the website, and make sure to enter soon!

The Green Boston Wedding Giveaway wedding prize package includes:
A full service wedding coordination package from Swank Events
A photography package from Anne Ruthmann Photography
A gorgeous, organic wedding cake courtesy of the Hippie Chick Bakery
An elegant, organic wedding gown by Natural Bridal
Eco-elegant floral design courtesy of Faxon Green
Recycled Paper wedding invitations from Rugg Road Paper Company
Transportation in the Hybrid Tahoe Stretch Limo from Christopher Limousine
$500 towards recycled metal wedding bands plus free processing of any myKarat gold submitted ($250 value) courtesy of Green Karat jewelers

Pretty fantastic, huh?

We can't wait to read all the thoughtful and inspiring submissions - so put on your thinking caps kids and get to work!!

A few pictures to catch up with...

2009-02-16T23:02:00.018-05:00

Since I have been neglectful of my blog :( Bad baker.

So let's go! I did a post a while back about" nature"

cakes, and how popular they wer becoming last year.

Well, this year they have truly exploded, so many

couples come in with pictures of the cakes in that post.

Here is a little one in the same vein with a twist, the

"branches" are whole vanilla beans, twining up the side

of the cake.

BTW, this smelled SO GOOD.

This was one for a wedding shower, I love the natural shades and the abstract buds/leaves/flowers.

And lastly, a *really* natural look cake, a topsy turvy stacked cake with mountains, a forest and a field of flowers on the tiers

On a completely different note, these are a few cakes that were just so darn pretty! The first had a ivory outside, with pink bows and sweet little pink flowers.

The second was a hexagon cake, with peach edible ribbon around the base of each tier, and fresh flowers.

Both of these cakes were completely Vegan as well.

The last cake was just gorgeous - buttercream iced tiers, encircled with

pink and black satin ribbon to match the invites.

It was topped off by a crystal initial of the wedding couple.

Generally this is the slow time of the year for cakes, especially for weddings. This year though, we have already done several, and have one coming up that I really think will be a stunner - I can't wait to do it!

I will hunt and gather some pics of all that has been going on, and be back soon.

See you then!

As December comes to a close...

2008-12-27T15:00:00.003-05:00

...as well as 2008, we say a big thanks to all of our customers for your business, your inspiration, and your great ideas, that keep our work a joy and an unending font of creativity year after year. Thanks to all of you, there is always something new to look forward to every day here.

Congratulations to all of our brides and grooms of 2008, we hope the beginning of your lives together was wonderful! I enjoy meeting and working with each and everyone one of you, and realizing your vision in this medium.

Thank you to everyone who dealt with us in the days following the ice storm, which notably included over week without power, internet, or phone...your understanding made a bad situation a lot easier to deal with at such a busy time of year!

The picture to the right is just one of the MANY trees that were

damaged, and the cleanup continues!

Thank you to all of you that time time out of your busy lives to send us a note or an email thanking us for something that we made for you...I treasure each and every one.

We hope you all have a wonderful 2009, filled with wonderful, joyous moments - we will be honored to provide the sweet ending whenever we can.

Sincerely,

Amy and Carl

Goodness it has been busy!

2008-12-03T12:12:00.006-05:00

Sorry for the time lapse!
We wrapped up this year's wedding cakes last weekend with the lovely cake you see on the right. Unless something pops up that is it for this year!
I have a soft spot for the "song of solomon", because, as any stalker of mine knows, I dearly love Kate Bush. On the "Red Shoes", she has a song so named, where she recites part of it...anyway, I am off on a tangent - This cake has the most known line from the Song of Solomon, "I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine" on the side in english and hebrew.
A lovely cake for a lovely couple, I hope they had a wonderful day and I know they will have a wonderful life together.

As you may have noticed, last week was Thanksgiving too! For the second year, we teamed up with Boston Organics to offer thier customers completely organic, freshly baked pies made from scratch delivered right to thier door....MMMMMMMMMM! This year we are offering a holiday menu as well, if you are a customer check thier website for more info.

In honor of Thanksgiving, I have to show you a picture a friend sent me...everyone talks about "food porn", this is "pie porn". I die laughing everytime I look at it.

In other news, I just put up our Holiday Menu, so check it out when you get a chance.

All items are available the whole month of December, and of course for pick up on Christmas Eve and New Years Eve.

I have to share this

2008-10-20T22:10:00.002-04:00

I *literally* squealed when I saw this.
I debated putting it on here, because if someone buys this before I get a chance, I am going to be a sad little cake decorator.

If you are a fan of patisserie, I don't have to tell you this, but if you don't recognize these little bites of heaven, they are macarons...except these little guys are made of polymer clay, and are a bracelet! CAN YOU STAND IT!?? I MAY START SQUEALING AGAIN!!

So that you can enjoy the lovely work of this artist your self, check out her Etsy shop "Le Pink Chocolat"

But don't you dare buy this bracelet - it's MINE!!!!

This may seem like a random post

2008-10-19T19:33:00.002-04:00

since it features our new driveway :) There really is a reason for showcasing this baby though! read on...

So this may look like a gravel drive, but in fact, it is comprised of crushed cement. Normally, when constructon requires removal of cement, that is something that would end up in a landfill. Someone had the ingenious idea of crushing it, and selling it to be used for things like gravel drives. Huzzah!

I really wanted to include it in the blog, because sometimes there are options for being "green" that you aren't even aware of. I certainly had never heard of recycled crushed cement, but I am glad we learned about it - it fits right in with our philosophy.

The best part is, not only was it less expensive (!!! How often would you love to choose the "greener" option, but find the cost so prohibitive you can't), it looks absolutely beautiful.

BTW, we would like again to say a HUGE thank you to our installer. He was a dream to work with, and the only cost was to give him a place to sleep. Thanks again, Dad!

I never get tired of these

2008-10-17T19:01:00.004-04:00

Topsy-turvy, alice in wonderland, whimsy, whatever you like to call them, I just love them. I could never do enough...which is good, because I do about 3 a week :)
Here a pretty one for fall, with some fall leaves. Actually, another cool thing about this cake is that it was made with 100% "white" whole wheat flour, which is all I use at my home. It is not heavy or dense like regular whole wheat flour, and it is not noticable taste-wise either. If you want to eat more whole grains, try this stuff. It is truly FANTASTIC.

I do a bit of poking around on the web when I have the time, and I love to find blogs or wedding sites from brides and grooms that have one of our cakes posted. I don't post links to private sites like that (although if a couple would like to provide a link in the comments I would love that!) Here is one that happened to be on a wedding photography site, which I have c+p to protect the couples privacy, and if you are getting married, and like the photo as much as I do, check out thier work at http://www.hinkleyphoto.com/ I feel like I am supposed to post something Red Sox related, but we do *so* many Red Sox themed cakes I don't usually take pictures of them. These are the only ones I can find, sorry!

Go Sox!

Catching up on pics

2008-09-29T21:01:00.022-04:00

I haven't posted many pictures lately, so here is a few to catch up...

This is a cake we have done many times, but I this seemed very apropos for fall, with accents in bronze and gold

Not a great shot, but a neat cake because the sage green buttercream was colored with spinach. We have done this by request several times, and it doesn't taste like spinach at all, I swear!

These 2 cakes were for a wedding, and I just really really love the grass one on the right. "Nature" wedding cakes just continue to grow in popularity - branches have been especially popular this year...I just love the simple natural elegance of this design

Isn't this pretty? The trees, oak leaves, and acorns were design elements from the invitations, and are scattered in the layers as well as one the cupcakes surrounding the main cake. I love the design only being in brick red - I have done plenty of cakes with natural colored fall leaves, and I always like those, but this was different and just as lovely. Do I need to point out the moss they decorated the table with? Gorgeous.Ok, this cake is actually from a few years ago, but it has acorns, so I will fit it in here. The bride and groom supplied me with this lovely pic, which I will now debut.

Tahdah!

I hope this isn't a repeat...I know I posted the rehersal dinner cake from this wedding, but I don't think I ever posted the wedding cake picture. If I did I will take this out later, and you can all mock me for being so oblivious.

And finally, just a cute little 2 tier cake, look at me with my crazy avant garde camera angle! Oh my, cake decorators are so edgy these days!

Many weddings this weekend, a busy, busy week all around...I will post the pics as soon as I can, check back soon!

Veg Fest is November 1st

2008-09-03T17:17:00.003-04:00

I know a lot of you were disappointed that we were not able to make it to Veg Fest last year, and I have been fielding a ton of emails asking if we will be there this year. Mark your calenders kids - we will be back at Veg Fest this year!

If you have never heard of it, or never been, it is a free festival jam packed with all sorts of veg vendors and groups, tons of free samples, great speakers, and an all around great day. Check out the Boston Vegetarian Society link for more info.

We are planning on the usual assortment of vegan goodies, cake by the slice in several flavors, biscotti, muffins, our famous SCARY GHOST COOKIES (hoooooooooooooooo - that is my scary ghost sound, fyi) and maybe a few more goodies as time allows. As we have in years past, there will be a few gluten free items as well.

So plan on it, and make sure you come by to say hi!

Congratulations Melissa and Nicola!

2008-08-15T14:14:00.002-04:00

I just finished your cake :) I really like it, so I had to share.

Have a wonderful wedding tonight, and a long and happy marriage!

I swear I am not slacking off!

2008-08-11T14:37:00.001-04:00

Even though I am slacking off on this blog, it is only because how busy this wedding season has been!
So I will have to pick out just some of my favorite photos of the last couple weeks, off of only one of our cameras. My computer is evidently in a fight with my other camera, my computer tells me it is "not communicating" :( Sadly, until they make up, I can't get at my other pics.
So we will start with this cake, which is based on the Rock Band video game guitar...this cake was actually a few months ago, I didn't realize I never shared the picture! A grooms cake from this last weekend, of Wrigley Field
And to the left, a just lovely cupcake display - I think my favorite of all time

A pretty little pentagon cake,

with flower appliques and

sugar paste cymbidium orchids

A jack in the box, I think he is just adorable

And last, but not least, a simple but pretty cake, this one happens to be gluten-free too, and I love the colors

And one additional photo, of my greatest creation ever- my Jr. baker CJ, and my great (as she will tell you, GREAT) Aunt Ruth. We took advantage of a recent weekend to scoot out to upstate NY and annoy her, and she was lovely enough to pretend she enjoyed having us. Thanks again, we can't wait to come back!!!!

In the good ol' summertime

2008-07-22T23:10:00.000-04:00

Life is good by the seashore, and we tend to have a lot of ocean theme cakes. Here are a few cute recent ones.

The first one was a donation for a Piers Park Sailing Center fundraiser, a great non-profit group that "uses Boston Harbor and the seas beyond to provide year-round recreational, educational, and personal growth opportunities for people of all ages and abilities" They are very nice folks, were very patient with me since I was so busy it took me days to return phone calls, and I hope they raised oodles of dough! (hey, dough, get it? Cake, dough....oh forget it.)

The next one is a rehersal dinner cake for a couple who also got married this past weekend (Congrats Christy and Jed!), I haven't downloaded the wedding pics yet, but I love this one with the chairs and flip flops - which, incidentally, they gave out as favors at the wedding!

The next one is not necessarily "beachy", it is Bruce from Finding Nemo....that involves and ocean, right? I needed an excuse to add him, because I just love him, his teeth make me laugh.

On a completely unrelated note, someone shared this link with me today, it is a blog called Cake Wrecks. I laughed, I gasped (oh, you will know at which one when you see it) and I doubled over in laughter. You can thank me later for the link.

Stay cool kids.

Our Girls (and a couple boys)

2008-07-13T20:59:00.000-04:00

How could you not love a face like this? This is Minnie, just one of our rescued shelter chickens. She is, quite simply, hilarious. She knows we are good for treats everytime we come outside, so she will come running at full speed, all her flockmates trying to keep up. She was found wandering the streets of Lawrence, and if you met Minnie this would not suprise you at all...she is the one we find off visiting the neighbors, in the front garden, coming over to visit as I work in the yard...she is just a little chicken bursting with personality. She figures into the story later.
This is just one of her friends, Ms. Figg. They both came to us by way of the MSPCA at Nevins Farm. People often think of adopting cats and dogs, or even rabbits, from the SPCA, but many have units where they adopt "farm" animals...chickens, goats, sheep, llamas, cows, horses, and more.

So to get on with the story, we have a flock of 16 rescue chickens and 2 peacocks. The peacocks are not as friendly as the chickens, but they are very protective of the flock, and whenever they think there is danger, the first thing we hear is the alarm call of Bluepea (pronounced Bloo-py)and Snowpea.

So one evening, a couple days before vacation, I heard a very alarmed call from Snowpea. I got up to look for him and saw him in the front yard, obviously in distress, flying low and screeching. As I ran out, I finally caught a glimpse of his attacker, a coyote. The coyote ran away, with so many white feathers in his mouth that I thought he had run away with Minnie- I was just devastated. Carl checked the flock, and thankfully, Minnie, as well as everyone else was safe and sound...we were so relieved! That is, until then the neighbor told us he could see the lifeless form of Snowpea in the woods.

Carl made his way thorough the underbrush, and although he was still, Snowpea was panting, and very much alive. We bundled him up in a towel and brought him to a dark place in the house to calm down. Just the fact that he allowed himself to be picked up by us was worrisome, this is not a bird that loves humans. Shockingly, he had no visible wounds, although he was terrified and had huge clumps of feathers ripped out, which we knew must be excruitiating for him. He also did not want to put any weight on one leg. Since he is happiest with the flock, we calmed him down, put everyone in the coop for the night, and hoped that a nights rest would be the best thing.

Unfortunately, the next day was no better, so off he went to the vet. Several hours and a steroid shot for the pain and swelling later, we were sent home to hope for the best. We set up a small "recovery pen" as part of the coop, so he could be with the flock, but was in easy reach of food and water. We arranged for his daily care while we were away, and hoped there would be some improvement by the time we returned.

Happily, it seems to have worked! Snowpea is back with his girls as of today, and though he is hobbling, he is much better. The first good sign was that he fought the whole time I tried to check him out. Hopefully it is just a matter of time until he is back to his normal, skittish, contrary self....just the way we like him.

Farm Sanctuary needs your help

2008-07-02T13:22:00.000-04:00

I seem to be having a very farm-animal-centric week...I was going to post about our lovely flock of rescued shelter chickens, but we had a little incident here last night (more on that in the next post) so I put it off until today. Just as well, because I got this email today from Farm Sanctuary, and I have to put out the word!

If you are not aware of Farm Sanctuary, they are a simply fabulous group that has 2 shelters for rescued farm animals. We try to do fundraising for them whenever we can, or donate to events they may be doing. Here is a pic of our table of vegan goodies at the '06 Gala in NYC event.

As everyone has heard, there is major flooding issues in the midwest, and they are doing all they can to save farm animals there, in particular, pigs. They are looking for homes, but even if you can not provide a home, why not make a donation to this great organization, or sponsor a pig to come to a farm animal sanctuary in your area?

Check out this link for more info http://farmsanctuary.org/actionalerts/alert_erf_appeal08.html

If you are one of the first 20 people to let us know you are doing your part with a confirmation email from Farm Sanctuary, and we will make your decision a little sweeter with 2 dozen Farm animal vegan sugar cookies shipped fresh to your door!

Send an email to us at info@hippiechickbakery.com, with "farm sanctuary donation" in the subject line. Please include your name, address, phone, email, and c+p the receipt for your donation, or confirmation from Farm Sanctuary of you providing a home.

We made it through!

2008-07-01T21:02:00.000-04:00

What a week! And quite a few cakes that I simply loved!

Congratulations to all our newlywed couples, which ranged from a wedding to the south on the Cape, to the west in Groton MA, to the north in York ME. In addition, there were many special occasions where we were honored to provide a cake for the celebration.

Phew!

So here is a few pictures - I am sad to say that I forgot my camera on my delivery run on Saturday, so I did not get good photos of a couple of absolutely lovely cakes, in particular one little jewel in Portsmouth. I am also counting on one of my pickups to provide an assembled photo of the cupcake display with the cutest darn chicken topper made of fondant - I will add it to the blog when I get it!

The first cake was actually not a wedding, it was a 25th anniversary party. I love gold and silver on cakes, a soft burnish is simply gorgeous. I think this cake was just so pretty, with a subtle organza silver ribbon bow, and some soft silver piping. May I add, they did a lovely job with the function site as well, and the silver looked so elegant, especially on a rather overcast day.

The next one was a 90th birthday party for a man who had been in the navy. We used the navy seal as our inspiration and jumping off point, using the chains and anchor motif, and finishing it with a jaunty gold "rope" border.

Then we have one of my favorites of the week, based on a design from marthas' mag. Well, marthas' may have been pretty, but this one is all that and vegan to boot!

Last, another fun vegan cake

...we have all seen the topsy-turvy "alice in wonderland" style cake, but this was a bit of a different spin on it, with a muted peridot green and silver instead of the bright colors we usually see. Purty!

This week coming up has some interesting stuff going on - including some cakes going to a Bat Mitzvah in upstate NY, and a wedding in North Conway NH (and people think we are kidding when I tell them how far away our cakes go!)

We are taking advantage of the North Conway delivery for a little R&R, and will be closed for vacation until 7/14. I will update with pic's after we return!

Hey There!

2008-06-17T22:01:00.001-04:00

This is probably the worst possible month for me to start blogging, but evidently I live for insanity.
Welcome to the new blog for Hippie Chick Bakery! I hope to use this space to tell you where to find our stuff, congratulate some special people who are celebrating special occasions, debut some new cake pic, and whatever else comes to mind. Maybe I will even do a little recipe sharing, if you catch me on a good day and I need some victims to test recipes for that in-the-works cookbook.

If you are in Boston for some convention for gluten-free, dairy-free folks, you may be eating some of our stuff right this instant! Isn't that exciting?? I feel so connected to you all!

Other than that, sadly for you, you are probably not eating any of our goodies right now. If you are lucky enough to know Thom and Megan, they might have invited you to Thoms' birthday party tommorrow, and then you will get some cake. Happy Birthday Thom!!

So next week is absolutely the busiest week of the year, and we have quite a few couples that we are honored to say have chosen us to make their wedding cake. I will post pics soon after the mayhem is over, and you can see some new pics before they make it to the website.

Until then, my little hopped up sugar addict friends, enjoy summer!