1,2&3 - Together At Last! ...In Person and Not In a Line

I had a really hard time picking my favorite title for this, because the day was just that awesome...
We had ideas everywhere from "My Day With #1 and #3" to "From Eugene to Camas" to "Bakerella Byproducts."

I assume you are probably wondering what's with this numbering business...  Remember the Bakerella Book Signing I went to?  Remember, how I was #2 in line?  Well, ever since then, I have kept in touch with #1 and #3 in line and we planned and finally had a whole day in the kitchen together!

I hopped in my car early Saturday morning and met #3 (Laurie) in Albany, Oregon about an hour later.  She, her daughter, her mother-in-law, and I then drove up to Camas, Washington (about another 1.5 hours) and met #1 (Deborah) and her daughter.  And then the fun really began!

First on the agenda was the BANANA BREAD THROW DOWN!  #1 had seen my banana bread post a few weeks ago and challenged my claim that it was the best...Game on!  hehe.

We found a third recipe for #3 to try - just to be in the competition with us.

We were moving so quickly all the pictures are blurry!

The day wasn't without mishaps...and the spilled walnuts were only the beginning (quickly followed by my big hips deciding to start the gas stove on their own).

We had to make sure they were all labeled properly, of course.

 Now to distract ourselves with something else while they bake...what to do?

What better than a fun lunch with all the ladies!...Too bad I forgot to capture all the fun-ness...I did, though, snap a photo of one of the very few healthy things we ate that day...veggies or sweets?  Hmm, that's not a hard one for most people...

So, the next big goal for the day was to learn how to make #2's famous caramel corn.  #1 had been raving about it and wanted to learn the secret!  We've all had lots of caramel corn in our lives, but after I finally tasted #3's, it was like a whole new level of taste bud partying was going on.  I am SO saving this recipe forever...

After we mostly watched #3 make the popcorn while constantly munching on random goodies (including my pumpkin seeds), we moved onto sugar cookies...

Honestly, we were really starting to slow down at this point.  A big tasty lunch combined with constant sweet yummy goodness all day long was catching up with us.  But we were determined!

The two pros (#3 & #1) picked out the proper tips for the cookie piping...

and picked out pretty colors...

and started piping!

Oh, and flooding...is that the right word?

I even tried to do it - my first time doing anything of the sort.

And, once again, I forgot to take photos for a while there - I don't have a single photo of a final finished cookie!  Boo.

I do, however, have a shot of the finished banana breads...or did you forget about those already?

Guess who won??

I Am Just Slightly Famous Now

Or maybe not at all....

Regardless, check out this link.  I am in the FIRST photo and I show up in her Oregon Slideshow 3.5 times!  hehe.

Bakerella Book Signing

Honestly, I was afraid to blog about this.  I didn’t want to get my hopes up.  But now that it actually came true, I have to tell you all about it!!

One of my top favorite blogs to follow is Bakerella – you’ve always seen it linked on the right. 

The photo that made her famous.

 Well, she recently published a book on her Cake Pops, which I made back in July for the first time.  It was an immediate hit within my circle of friends and is still talked about.  I keep telling everyone I’ll make them again, but continue putting it off – a little salivating torture is good for them sometimes!

When I heard Bakerella had added a stop in Oregon on her book signing tour, I was happy, excited, thrilled, you name it!

Fortunately, I am blessed with a mom who let me drag her along.  She was my designated photographer for the day and also the one to guide my star-struck self out of the store after I had finally met Bakerella!  Hehe.

Look, I was literally number TWO in a huge line of Bakerella fans.

I’ve never done anything like this.  Never been such a fan of someone/something.  Never gone to meet a famous person on purpose.   But here I was…

This is me after I actually yelled, “Look!  There she is!” as she was walking toward the store.  I mean, who WAS this crazy redhead who, until an hour before, was probably the quietest in the whole line of fans.  The entire line then looked across the mall at her and started clapping as she walked by.

Before the actual signing, we were able to crowd around her table for a Q&A time.  Being at the front of the line, I was able to be at the front of the table!  Literally, I had to keep telling myself to snap out of it, stop the grinning, and pay attention to what she was saying!

And here I am with Bakerella herself!

Oh, it was just a wonderful day.  Sigh.