My favorite pie of all time is pumpkin.  Plain, simple baked pumpkin custard, with cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg, maybe a few ground cloves (sorry mom, I know you prefer pumpkin chiffon...).  Sweet potato and pecan pies are are also nice, and so is apple. But I'll take pumpkin pie any day over just about any other dessert.

These lovely organic pumpkins are from Snow's Bend Farm.  We roasted them today, and pureed them.

Thursday we'll have savory pumpkin soup.  Then the rest will be made into pies for Thanksgiving.

And, just in case you do not have the same holiday pie preferences as me...we're also making sweet potato, pecan and fudge.  And two lovely combos -- sweet potato-pecan, and fudge-pecan.

You know where to find them...

What a great week for cakes.  A Daphne Blue Fender guitar for Debbie Bond (of the Alabama Blues Project), a Star Trek cake (invitation said "Costumes Encouraged"), and a pretty black and white stacked cake.  These were just the tip of the iceberg.

In case you cannot tell from my photo of the Star Trek cake, the top tier looks like the uniform, with a black collar, blue torso, and logo.  The bottom two tiers are covered in black ganache and decorated with galaxies.

We also  had four weddings -- two on Friday and two on Saturday (Alabama plays Mississippi State in Starkville today).  One of the groom's cakes had a tree stump theme.  The acorns are made from marzipan.

 Plus a four tier cake for a 21st birthday (with sparkle dust), three football and/or "Alabama" themed cakes.  Several other cakes either matched the deco on custom invitations or just can't be easily described.

We have five cake decorators in the shop now , which is pretty amazing.  Ben and Rain have joined Pat, Kristi and me.  We can almost always leave the shop at a decent hour, even on busy cake days.

Next week is the last home football game of the season.  The Iron Bowl, held Thanksgiving weekend, is in Auburn this year, and the SEC playoff game on December 5th will be in Atlanta.  After that, who knows...

We're gearing up for Thanksgiving pies and cakes.  We'll make pumpkin, sweet potato, pecan, sweet potato-pecan, fudge, and fudge-pecan pies.  We'll also make cakes (to order), mainly red velvet, caramel and carrot cake.

Dickens Downtown is Tuesday, December 1 from 5-8 pm, which starts the Christmas season of cookies and other sweets.  We'll be giving away bread pudding outside the shop and we'll have cider, hot cocoa, soup and other goodies for sale inside.  Debbie Bond and the Creme Brulees will perform from 6-8 pm.  Dress up and come early to have your picture made with Father Christmas or the Queen Mother.

You have ordered a cake and now you are coming to pick it up.  Without overstating the obvious, here are some basic DO''S and DON'TS:

• DO tell us if you like your cake when you see it for the first time.  We love our cakes, and you will really make our day if you are as excited about your cake as we are.  We encourage "oohs" and "ahs." "Wow" and "awesome" are also perfectly acceptable.
  
• DON'T wait until you get home (or later) to tell us if your cake is not what you expected.  The best time for us to add, remove, or change something on your cake is while it is still in our shop.
  
• DO clean the junk out of your car before you come.  You do not want shoes, umbrellas, books and other heavy or unappetizing "stuff" falling on your cake.  We often have to prop the lid of the cake box up to accommodate a tall cake, flowers or a bow.  The plastic wrap covering the opening of the box is no match for your your gym bag, soccer ball or magazine collection.
• DON'T come in a compact car if you have ordered a large cake.  A cake box fits best on a flat surface such as the front passenger floorboard or the back of an SUV.  Placing a cake box on a seat or holding a large cake on your lap, even as a passenger, is dangerous for you and the cake.
• DO let us carry the cake out to your car.  We will find the safest place for a cake in your vehicle.  And besides, if we carry the cake out, then you are not responsible for it until after we hand it over. If we cannot find a suitable place in your vehicle for your cake, we can usually deliver it for a nominal fee.  Think of it as insurance.
• DON'T drive like a maniac with a cake in your car.  Now is NOT the time to show off your racing skills.  No two wheel turns or slamming on the brakes.  That means you should drive slow enough when approaching a stop sign or light that you can stop smoothly.  Remember the basic laws of physics...a cake in motion tends to stay in motion...

How we do it...
When we have to deliver a cake, we always put it on a flat surface (such as the back of my PT Cruiser).  I keep a non-slip cover over the carpet, and we use spongy shelf liner for extra traction.  I drive slowly and carefully, repeating to myself "there is a cake in the car" after every stop.  The "Cake on Board" signs on the sides and back of my car remind me (and everyone else) to be mindful of the task at hand.

When you get home..
And remember, cakes with cream cheese icing should be refrigerated or the icing will spoil after several hours.  However, cake tend to dry out in the refrigerator.  Since we do not use any egg products in our buttercream icing, refrigeration is not necessary for a buttercream cake.  That said, if you plan to keep the cake more than a day or two, wrap the cake (or cake box) securely in plastic wrap and put the whole thing in the freezer.

We've all been there.  You've had a bad day.  Maybe the stress of party planning has taken a toll.  Maybe you're getting a cold or you have a toothache.  Maybe you are just plain tired.

We understand.  Everyone has a bad day from time to time.  We work very had to be sure every one of our customers gets the cake they were expecting. Sometimes things go wrong, and when they do, we make every attempt to make it right, even if that means working late, delivering a cake that has to be re-decorated.  Or whatever it takes.

A customer orders a 3-tier birthday cake in teal, brown and white.  Teal may be a slightly subjective color, but we happen to have many bottles of premixed gel colors (straight from the factory), including TEAL.  "THIS IS KELLY GREEN" she screams at us, insisting we scrape all the offending icing off the cake and start over.

A customer orders a cake with the instructions to write "Happy Birthday Mom" in either yellow or pink.  The decorator, not sure which color to use, calls the number on the order sheet to ask the customer.  The phone is answered by her mother (the subject of the cake), who happens to have the same first name, and tells us pink is her favorite color.  When the daughter comes in to pick up the cake, she informs us "YOU SHOULD GIVE ME A DISCOUNT FOR TOTALLY SPOILING MY MOTHER'S BIRTHDAY SURPRISE."

A mother planning her child's first birthday party gives us an invitation to use as a guide to decorating the cake.  On it are at least twelve animals in a Noah's ark themed design.  We copy three of them on the cake.  One of my employees delivered the cake.  While her husband looked on helplessly, she screamed  "IS THIS THE UGLIEST CAKE YOU HAVE EVEN SEEN?? WHERE IS THE TURTLE?? HER FAVORITE ANIMAL IS THE TURTLE??" He brought it back to the shop, we added a turtle, and everyone was happy.

A 3-dimensional cake does not have the exact design the customer wants so we proceed to take the cake apart to fix it.  As we are putting the cake back together, it no longer stands up straight all by itself.  The customer walks out of the shop, irate that she has to witness a work in progress.  A few minutes later, the phone rings. I AM SO ANGRY THAT I AM GOING TO DRIVE AROUND FOR A HALF HOUR.  IF I AM ABLE TO CALM DOWN, I WILL BE BACK TO GET THE CAKE, OTHERWISE I WANT MY MONEY BACK.  The cake is fixed five minutes later but she never comes back.

A 21-year-old goes off the wall because the "turquoise" dots on her cake were not the color turquoise she was expecting.  While she rants, the phone rings.  It's her mother, who has stepped outside, apologizing for her daughter's inexcusable behavior.  "SHE HAS HAD A BAD DAY."

The mother of a 10-year-old comes in, on the way to the party, to pick up a square stacked cake that looks like a package. Her face says it all, but she still screams "THE BOW IS NOT BIG ENOUGH.  I SAW A CAKE HERE WHEN I ORDERED THIS ONE THAT HAD A MUCH BIGGER BOW."

Days, months, and years later, we still talk about these customers and sigh...