Duff and Geoff - The Dynamic Duo

Welcome back, sweet readers…. So you want to hear more about the cake superhero, Chef Duff Goldman, and his merry minion, Geoff Manthorne?? Well, you have come to the right place.

This past Tuesday was such an incredible experience to be able to celebrate with one of our customers, A&P, along with 50 contest winners and their guests, and – of course – Chef Duff Goldman and Geoff Manthorne (of Charm City Cakes in Baltimore, Maryland) at the A&P 150th Birthday Party, hosted by Blue Bunny® Ice Cream.

The night before (Monday night), we were informed by one of Duff’s staff (his brother, to be exact) that the cake was to be finished around midnight and that one of the bakery employees would hit the road, cake loaded in the van, bound for New York City. His arrival time? 2:30 a.m. Meanwhile, Duff and Geoff would board a train Tuesday morning, arriving in NYC at approximately 8:50 a.m. We later were informed by Duff that because of our project, a new rule has been established at Charm City Cakes:

“No more cake orders for delivery on a Tuesday.”

By 9:30 a.m., we began to grow anxious at the word of Duff’s arrival. The report finally came around 9:45 a.m. – “Duff is in the Park!”….meaning, Chef Duff Goldman – The Food Network’s “Ace of Cakes” – had called to say that they were driving around Central Park in an attempt to find the Boathouse and that he feared his driver was a little lost.

Moments later, the Charm City Cakes van appeared, followed by Chef Duff, himself, and Geoff, along with Mark the road-weary cake transporter. The three of them carefully carried the main cake in – a vintage ice cream delivery truck. Then, armloads of cardboard flats containing each piece of the cake, molded from fondant icing and gum paste. Once everything was settled inside, the real work began.

The three of them set to work to finish the cake, carefully placing each piece, wiring the cake for lights and sound, smoothing out edges, shaping, molding, fussing. It was like watching a fine sculptor as he worked his medium. Two hours later, we were posing with each other next to the finished cake and Duff proudly displaying the mechanics of the dry ice smoke mist and the working horn: “Aah-ooooo-ga! Aah-ooooo-ga!” It was priceless. He was so proud of himself and we were speechless.

Duff and Geoff graciously interacted and posed with corporate executives and laughed and joked with everyone. They posed, unflapping-ly, for nearly 200 photos with our party guests (everyone got a personal photo of themselves with Duff, Geoff, and the cake). They signed autographs, listened to stories and humbly reacted to swooning fans.

The thing that amazed me the most was the number of young people who are impacted by Chef Duff and the work that he does with Charm City Cakes. Young children, fans of the show, tried to contain their excitement as they met the dynamic duo and told them how much they love the show and how much they want to grow up to be a pastry chef, too. I am also wildly aware of the impact Duff has on these kids because I see it in my own home. My own two boys and I love to watch the show. Both of my sons ask questions about culinary schools and how did Duff get his start? The thing about Duff is that he is a great role model…..he is edgy, cool, a talented artist. In fact, he makes art cool. He inspires our youth to think about career options that are not necessarily the standard doctor-lawyer-engineer-stockbroker (not there is one single thing wrong with these careers!) types but to also consider careers in art, culinary skills, music, and the like.

He wears a backwards baseball cap and an assortment of sports jerseys, baggy jeans, and steel toed shoes. He looks more like a character off of the Discovery Channel’s “Orange County Choppers” or “Ink” than a cake-decorator. One of my co-workers commented that Duff just seems like “your favorite drinking buddy”.

Geoff is an artist-type. Quiet. Un-assuming. Quirkily dressed. Humble. Thoughtful. Sincere. I would liken him to that quiet friend you can always count on to be there for you.

This pair definitely puts the “charm” in Charm City Cakes and we were honored to have them involved with our program. We look forward to working with them again and there is some talk of future meetings and grand ideas…so stay tuned. You never know when these guys might show up again in a future blog post.

Keep reading “The Sweet Life”…..next week’s posts include a funny take on “those kinds of emails” (you know the ones!) and another birthday……but we are just three posts away from a really fun blog entry……you won’t believe it until you read it.

Until next time, I remain….1SweetMama

Having My Cake And Eating It, Too!

Happy Birthday to me!
Happy Birthday to me!

Oh, wait….it isn’t my birthday! But no birthday of mine in recent history (okay, my 16th birthday and the cheese-ball and Jello® Jiggler food-fight that ensued during the party is probably my best birthday memory EVER) can top a day like the one I had yesterday.

Cheese-balls and Jello Jigglers aside, Tuesday was spent celebrating many birthdays other than mine. We celebrated one of our retail customers, A&P’s, 150th birthday, along with 50 winning birthday memories submitted by contestants to the Blue Bunny® and A&P Best Birthday Contest promotion. Contest entrants had to submit their favorite birthday memory and the top 50 were chosen (from over 800 contest entries!) and those winners were invited to our Birthday Party, celebrated YESTERDAY (coincidentally, on National Ice Cream Cone Day, in honor of the birthday of the ice cream cone!!) at the Central Park Boathouse in Central Park, New York City. These fabulous people with stories as great as they were joined us as we carved into the incredible birthday cake, designed and sculpted by The Food Network’s Ace of Cakes, Chef “Duff” Goldman.

There was speechmaking and gift-giving, the ceremonial singing of the “Happy Birthday” song, cake and ice cream….a real “festivus” for all involved. And Duff and Geoff?? They were the (dare I say it??) “icing on the cake”! More on these two in FRIDAY’S blog entry…tune in to “The Sweet Life” on Friday for more!!!

The cake, itself, was, in a word...awe-inspiring. The cake, created to honor the 150th birthday anniversary of A&P Stores was a one-of-a-kind creation by the Food Network’s “Ace of Cakes”, Chef Duff Goldman, and was commissioned by Wells’ Dairy, Inc., makers of Blue Bunny® branded frozen ice cream and novelties, in honor of partner retailer, A&P’s (Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company) 150th birthday celebration. The cake was designed by Chef Duff Goldman (while we watched over his shoulder…see my blog entries dated August 11 and 14, 2009) and was created by him, along with the talented artists of Charm City Cakes, Baltimore, Maryland. The cake size was 3.5’ long and served 200 people.

As the photo shows, the cake featured a sculpted vintage A&P delivery truck placed within a cobblestone street scene; a background created with fondant icing of the first A&P store in operation, located on Vesey Street in New York City, served as the backdrop to the truck. The delivery truck was wired for electricity, sound (the horn on the truck actually honked!), and dry ice “smoke” which misted out of the back of the truck, where stacks Blue Bunny product were loaded for delivery to the store. The cake also featured a modeled newspaper vendor (“selling” the Le Mars Sentinel (our local paper)) and a Blue Bunny delivery man, created in the likeness of Blue Bunny Senior Vice President of Marketing and Research & Development, Jim Reynolds.

To sweeten the cake offering, we served each piece of chocolate and yellow marbled cake with 20 containers of Blue Bunny ice cream (1-2 scoops per piece!). Flavors? Blue Bunny® Bunny Tracks and Premium All Natural Vanilla.

After the party, my colleagues and I boarded our jet plane bound for home in “The Ice Cream Capital of the World®”.

So…after 24 hours of suspending my South Beach Diet regimen and replacing low-fat and high protein meal choices with great New York food and Chef Duff-made cake and Blue Bunny Ice Cream, I am exhausted and a little bloated but oh, so very happy to have been involved with such a great project and so many wonderful and remarkable people. Remember to come back and check in to “The Sweet Life” on FRIDAY for more on Chef Duff Goldman and his incredible side-kick, Geoff – who loves eating Blue Bunny ice cream! Who knew??

Until next Friday, I remain on Cloud Nine and….1SweetMama

The Birth Of The Ice Cream Cone

Photo: Blue Bunny® Ice Cream wwww.flickr.com. Find it at http://www.flickr.com/photos/bluebunnyicecream/3179408525/in/set-72157612280082067

Speaking of birthdays and birth days…Who REALLY “birthed” the ice cream cone?


There are so many stories surrounding the birth of the ice cream cone and, in my attempt to create a slow build of excitement to the Blue Bunny®/A&P® Birthday party with Food Network’s “Ace of Cakes”, Chef Duff Goldman, one week from today (let me hear ya say “Woo-hoo!”), I happened to realize that the actual DAY of our party to celebrate A&P’s 150th Anniversary is also the nationally celebrated birthday of the ice cream cone!

Most histories of ice cream will tell you that that the ice cream cone was invented in 1904 at the St. Louis World’s Fair, a fact that 1SweetMama, a native St. Louisan, is VERY proud to proclaim. Syrian immigrant, Ernest A. Hamwi gave some of his “zalabia” (a waffle-like pastry) from his pastry cart to neighboring vendor, Arnold Fornachou, who had run out of paper dishes to serve his ice cream in at his adjoining ice cream cart at the fair. Another version has Hamwi teaming up with a different ice cream vendor named Charles Menches, who also ran out of dishes. Who knows for sure….perhaps a little case of “cone envy”??

There are about a hundred other stories that sound much the same but involve different ice cream and waffle vendors….and there were, likely, a hundred ice cream and waffle vendors at the St. Louis Fair (or the Louisiana Purchase Exhibition). Whatever the story, whatever the claim…..whoever the vendor….. certainly, the one singular GIVEN is that the ice cream cone became universally popular after this date. Despite the number of claimants, most ice cream experts and associations DO give the credit to Hamwi. Way to go, Ernie!

But, for the sake of humoring me with the “September 22 in New York City” tie in - let us also consider Italo Marciony – who claimed he created the ice cream cone on September 22, 1896! He sold his cones from a pushcart in New York City, and his claim may be the best, since he had a patent for a waffle mold, granted in December, 1903, eight months before the St. Louis Fair!
So…. Seven days before my Blue Bunny colleagues and I trek off to New York City to celebrate cake and ice cream with Chef Duff and A&P, I must pay homage to the ones who gave us the foundation to do so. Cones and ice cream; cake and ice cream. No matter how you scoop it, I still find myself all giddy as a school girl. September 22 is growing ever-closer!

And, speaking of cake and ice cream…..tune in next FRIDAY as I tell you about how I learned about the male anatomy from birthday cake. You KNOW you will want to read that one!

Until next time, I remain….1SweetMama

Aunt 1SweetMama Will Always have Gum!

I told you previously that there is a slight difference between birthdays and birth days and here is that subtle nuance.

Early Thursday morning, just 3 and one-half hours past the “lucky” 09-09-09 date, my sister, “Little A” gave birth to my VERY first nephew. For now, I will call him “Squeaker”, because that is what he mostly does. I only met him for the first time for just 45 minutes yesterday and he squeaked and squawked the whole while, melting his “Auntie’s” heart. His fingers and toes are long and purplish but soft to the touch and oh, so dainty. His poor little head is misshapen and bruised from hours of stress and pressure of a long and painful labor and birth.

I must tell you that, while many cultures boast the good omens of the 09-09-09 date, the best omen for our family was to finally meet this little guy. My sister, a petite (but strong marathon runner) suffered 20 hours of labor, including 4 and a half hours of “pushing” before her doctor must have finally “done the math” and realized that a 5’1” girl may not be able to successfully push out a 7 and a half pound baby. Near total exhaustion, she finally underwent a C-Section and….

Welcome “Squeaker”!

He was born on 9-10-09…maybe not the lucky date that everyone talked about on Wednesday but the luckiest date for Little A and her hubby, “Banan-er” (pronounced like “banana with an “er” at the end). He is their first-born and a definite keeper.

This little angel joins the ranks of my two nieces (from my brother and his wife) as holding a very special place in 1SweetMama’s heart. These are the people who I hope will always know that they may come to their “Auntie” for advice and, most importantly, GUM.

That is right. Let it be known that if they ever have want for gum and I am in gum-giving proximity…..I will be ready to hand it over for their pure chewing enjoyment. Advice will also be dolled out in the same fashion, should they ever decide they need it.

I know that aunts play important roles in nieces’ and nephews’ lives and I hope that I will be able to fulfill this duty with courage, dignity, humor, sweetness…..and a piece or two of Juicy Fruit gum.

So, you see there IS a slight difference between birthdays and birth days and in this instance, this particular birth day is a wonderful moment in 1SweetMama’s life.

…..and, while I am at it, how about a “shout out” to all those who I love who also celebrate September birthdays….

Corey, Maggie, Jayne, Evie, and Peanut. Congrats on another beautiful year!!

Tune in next Tuesday when we will start the countdown to Chef Duff Goldman and my “Ace of Cakes” encounter in New York City!

Until then, I remain….”Auntie”1SweetMama