Father's Day home stretch: What your guy REALLY wants

As the weekend approaches, the world of consumerism is focusing on the next occasion to separate consumers from their money. Father's Day is on Sunday and all week I've noticed the never ending pleas in commercials and flyers to 'Get Dad what he really wants' or 'Treat dad this Father's Day' with this, that and the other. These phrases are often found on flyers for things dad would never, ever want, like, oh, a new patio set. Or that new polo shirt. Heck, even Pottery Barn was offering a free crafting event for Father's Day. The only thing I have to say regarding that one is I hope the intention was to offer a way to get the fam out of the house so dad can have time -gasp- alone!

And this brings me to the point of this post. If you really want to give your man, the father of your children, a fabulous Father's Day, I have a no-fail way to deliver. It consists of two things and two things only. The first is time alone. After the cute kid cards and coffee in bed (and at a decently-late hour I might add), what dad really wants is a day to himself with nothing to do and no one to interrupt this nothingness. Now, don't be offended. Think of Mother's Day. We like to be pampered. We like to be adored. Then we like to be left alone. The same goes for dad. He doesn't want at picnic at the park with the family. Or dinner at your in-laws, no matter if his favourite meal is in the cards or not. No, he wants time to be without the pitter patter of kids and animals and absence of the honey-do list that normally hangs on the fridge, and all in the silence of an empty house.

The second thing that will make your man's day is something that is hopefully part of your life anyways, but if not, it'll really blow his socks off. I'm talking about sex. Yes, those three little letters can carry a huge amount of happiness. That is really what he wants. And not the rushed quickie kind or with a feeling of obligation. A really honest-to-goodness fun time with fewer time constraints than usual if possible, and a genuine interest in making him feel supa dupa. Afterall, he is the man you chose to father those gorgeous little gems of children, so isn't he worth the time and effort? And with that, I throw to this blog post which I really think says it all, and very well: Give a guy some nookie.

Happy Father's Day!

Ice cream fondant cake

This is the most recent cake that I made and decorated. It was for a cake raffle fundraiser for the kids' school and I really look forward to this event every year. My inspiration came from a lovely cake I found on Pinterest. I made the two layers using this fantastic recipe (I will have to make a cake of our own to enjoy - my taste test consisted of the paper-thin layer I sliced off the top to even up the layers). I also used the ever-indespensible Duff's White Buttercream Fondant. Yes, it's pre-made but it works so well and a butter flavouring adds, well...flavour! It's available at Michael's craft store (and really affordable if you use their weekly 40% off coupon!).

Before: Here is the two-layer cake with Duff Goldman's Buttercream Fondant

After: Ta-da! Here's the finished product!

It was a lot of fun to put this together. Everyone chipped in too. My husband saved my sanity at 2 a.m. by coming in and making the little white pearls/beads that sit around the base. By that time I had limited patience to make them as uniformly perfect as he did!

Bead trim at base of cake makes the edge seamless.

 My oldest daughter helped model some of the treats, also made from fondant coloured with gel food colouring by Wilton. I bought a combo pack of 12 colours from Bulk Barn for around $20 - a great investment because I can make virtually any colour I need now by blending the different shades.

Here's a closer look at the details:

Swirly pops, straws cut to size for the sticks.

Chocolate bonbon - all fondant.

Mock sugared-citrus slices

And the crowning glory is a "melting" ice cream cone with sprinkles. This treat isn't entirely faked. The cone is a real sugar cone and the inside of the scoop of ice cream is a hidden goodie - I made Rice Krispie balls and used one for the base and covered it with fondant (a trick I learned from watching Ace of Cakes)!

Hidden goodie inside.

I was really happy with the result and I hope who ever won this cake at the school enjoyed it! Interested to learn more? Reach me on Twitter @MissNancyC or email me: nceresia@rogers.com. As always, share the link and your comments below.

Thanks for visiting!

Sometimes the hardest part of parenting is stepping aside

Today I had the chance to make my daughter super-duper happy but I was torn about it. Why? Not because I wasn't sure I wanted her to be happy. And it wasn't because I was having second thoughts or misgivings about giving this particular thing to her that I knew she wanted coveted. It was because I wanted to be the one to make her happy. I wanted to be the one to swoop in and give something to her I knew her little heart would love. Needless to say, in the end, I was not in the position to get it for her, but someone else was, and though it hurt me to do so, I stepped aside because I knew that in the end what mattered most was her happiness. Sometimes being a good parent really sucks.