"Sunday Dinner" and the "Sunday Dinner" Cakes

When I was growing up, my mom and dad and I went to eat Sunday dinner with one of my two grandmothers. Sunday dinner was immediately after church and consisted of what is typically referred to as soul food or country cooking. Usually, we had fried chicken, turkey and dressing, or hamburger steak along with fresh vegetables or vegetables that my grandmothers had frozen or canned during the summer months. Dessert was always the finishing touch to these meals and was a special cake, pie, or pudding that my grandmothers made from scratch.

As we have become busier, those special Sunday dinners are either nonexistent or held at one restaurant or another. When families do gather for a special meal, desserts often consist of cakes and puddings made from a box. To my Southern sensibilities, a cake from scratch and a cake from a box are just not the same. Though our lives are hectic and crazy-busy, good food should still be a must. In honor of those Sunday dinners, The Tipsy Bee is introducing "Sunday Dinner" Cakes. These are the cakes that Southern cooks have whipped up for generations. To start off the series, I am beginning with a classic chocolate cake called "Chocolate Birthday Cake" and the signature cake of The Tipsy Bee, "White Velvet Cake."

The Sunday Dinner Cakes are perfect for a family get-together or small luncheon. The cakes are 8-inches in diameter and 3 layers in height. Prices are $30 for cakes that do not use cream cheese filling or frosting and $35 for cakes that do. Over the next several weeks, pictures of the flavors featured in the Sunday Dinner Cake series will appear on the website and the facebook page. These flavors are available year-round. So when you need a classic cake with made-from-scratch flavor, give The Tipsy Bee, Inc. a call. Best! Christian

Happy New Year

Happy New Year!

I am so excited about the new year. 2010 held so many surprises. One of the greatest gifts of all arrived in the form of The Tipsy Bee. I always liked baking and thought in the back of my mind that a baking business would be so neat. Until I took a cake decorating class for fun over the summer, though, and someone asked if I would bake a few desserts for her, I never really thought that it could be a business. Though the business is small and just getting off of the ground a little, it is still the most rewarding thing that I have ever done. I have met neat and interesting people, learned a few things about starting and running a business, and had the chance to work with my family. I have had to work outside of my comfort zone some and occasionally bite off more than I thought that I could chew as the saying goes. Yet, this little business of mine is the thing that consumes me. I am always thinking about it and hoping to figure out ways to improve it and make it bigger and better. There is still a long ways to go in making it so that it can support itself but then the roller coaster that starting a new business is about is part of the fun! So as I said goodbye to 2010 and the many gifts it gave me, I thought about how much I am looking forward to 2011 and the challenges and rewards that it will hopefully present.

And as we begin the early days of 2011, I thought that it would be a good time to tell you about the things that I love and that inspire me and my baking... to help you get to know me. So as the song goes from The Sound of Music (a favorite movie... I love the classics), here are a few of my favorite things: cake, pie, chocolate, fresh whipped cream, eggs from a local farmer, raw honey (raw is key here), butter that I make myself from fresh cream, cookies, my family, pecans from my family's farm, fresh cut flowers, the colors red and black, NC State, Hallmark movies, books, and my truck. You might notice that many of the items on my list are food items. I love food, and I love to cook, bake, and eat. Food is social in that it brings people together and has always brought me together with my family and friends, and it is nourishing when it is produced with minimal interference from humans. To me there is something wonderful about fresh ingredients that lack all of the added junk that so much food contains these days. Local and/or natural ingredients make me feel all tingly inside... lol. Freshly made butter and eggs from a local farmer are fresh and pure. I really love the feeling of things that are wholesome and natural and the ability to name the person who produced them.

I also like things that are simple... playing with my dogs after a long day of work. Driving a truck that doesn't have lots of gadgets and gimmicks. NC State that doesn't always have the best ball team but certainly has the most loyal fans... and one of the few campuses where you are as likely to see a tractor instead of a truck in the middle of campus. And red and black, not just because they are NC State colors, but because they are passionate colors. Hanging out with my grandmother who is 93 and sharper than most 33 year-olds. The new gadget on the market is the Nook, but I prefer an old-fashioned book and the feel and smell of its pages. And though it may not be an Oscar performance with lots of suspense, I love the movies on Hallmark where in the end the guy gets the girl. So here is to a few of my favorite things and an exciting 2011! Best, Christian