I would like anything from a good bakery. My birthday sometimes falls on Thanksgiving and mostly just before or after. I have had my share of supermarket turkey shaped cakes and cakes with pilgrims. I used to ask for ice cream cakes as a kid because they at least had ice cream and usually weren't awful.....The worst was when I was 16. I wanted something grown up and beautiful. My sister talked my boyfriend and my parents into going to a amusement/arcade park for a surprise. The place was a castle themed park called Camelot. All the kids at my school called it "scam-a-lot" I was horrified. When the girl brought out the cake badly frosted and with day glow icing clowns and balloons I asked them to get it boxed and we went home to have ice cream instead. At least none of my friends saw it all. No I am not stealing this from the show Golden Girls. This actually happened to me! I had another cake disaster for my graduation. My sis and I got the freshest ingredients and made a cake from a cake bible cookbook from the library. I had spent a week prior making frosting roses for this masterpiece had saving them in the freezer. We made the cake and tasted the trimmed off parts it was fantastic! The next day we frosted it and that evening when the family tried it it was so dry no one wanted to eat it. After that I always ordered a cake from the European bakery I love in Pasadena. The other cake fail I was involved in was my cousin's wedding. She knew I could do frosting flowers well so she asked me to come over and decorate her wedding cake. She wanted me to use this lavender icing she made. I decorated the whole thing and we set it by the window. After an hour into the reception, the purple icing in the sunlight faded to blue and was melting a little. My part of the family was out drinking and laughing on the grass. My cousin's husband's family was inside being shocked at the drinking going on outside. The cake suddenly started to lean and lucky her husband's brother was sitting close by and grabbed for it. The top 2 tiers were saved but the lower ones crashed. She didn't put in any supports inside. But, great sport that she is, she just laughed and served her husband's family the upper layers and our family the toppled ones. We didn't mind a bit. She's a great gal and can laugh through anything. One of the weddings I can say I really enjoyed. Sliding color changing cake and all. Please no one get a bright colored cake for a birthday. At my granddad's 90th, my aunt ordered a NASA themed cake with dark blue icing. My Grandad worked in the space program after being in the air force during WWII. Everybody had a dark blue tongue and blue teeth. All these old people with blue lips and teeth! I love a simple cake with almond extract and some fresh ripe strawberries or peaches and whipped cream. I had a fantastic cake once made with 4 different pastel fruit flavored layers and also a very good Black Forest cake by a Belgian pastry chef who used to have a bakery in my city but has now retired. I'm too wary to try a special cake again but I love to make pies and decorate cupcakes with fresh flowers.

Happy Birthday Ashley! AB, you have a lovely family, and Ashley looks gorgeous with her new hairstyle which goes so well with her oval face. Looks like a razor cut, is it? I did quite a few of those cuts during the punk era, and I always wanted to try a similar cut, but was afraid I'd end up in the emergency room if I attemped do it myself, and never trusted anyone else to do it for me. So Ashley wanted cash for her birthday? If it'll make you feel any better, Sammi wanted a gas card for hers - What Le F? Makayla and Bruvver are still precious, but growing up way too fast. Quit it. Sol

This post has had more replies than all others I have ever posted, added together, and many more than average. Guess we all like cake! Flamey, thank you! senior gal, I'm right here in your shadow; always enjoy your stories. mamagoose, I got my first computer a little before Spike (Bless his heart!) began the KT, and was one of the first 3 or 4 to jump right in. sherwoodva, based on your screen name I would guess you are only about 2 hours away from the shops. I think posting a business addy is a no/no. Thanks to JoAnn Fla, for telling me how to post a picture!! Thanks, folks.

Thank you for the compliments, everyone! I don't think dad has eaten a slice yet, nor has mum (as pineapple is something I really don't care for). He's not feeling the greatest right now (cold or flu), but hopefully he will eat a piece soon. By the way, this cake was NOT from scratch. Found a very easy recipe using Duncan Hines Pineapple Supreme cake mix online. We thought it was going to be a disaster when the cake pan we were melting the butter in sprung a leak and dripped in the oven, sparking flame, but briefly. Luckily, no one or anything was hurt or damaged, save for the 9 x 13 pan with a small hole. It was a little scary to say the least. However, this is a prime example of turning a positive into a negative! :) Brad AKA Moonwolf