Best wishes, Bryn!!!

Bryn, the receptionist at work, is leaving the zoo after 10 years.....

I was asked by my manager if I could make a cake for Bryn's going away party, but I didn't have time to do that much. I did offer to make a small keepsake topper for her, and the picture included was the result. Bryn, with her faithful friend Willie the Schnauzer. Willie's dressed in his favorite hat, and bandana, ready for the wilderness!

We're all going to miss her, but she's moving to eastern Oregon to follow her dream. Lucky woman! She'll be opening an animal sanctuary near the town of Mitchell. Stay tuned for more of Bryn's endeavors to help the animals! Kudos to you, Bryn, for all you've done for the Oregon Zoo, and may you have much happiness and success in your future!

Engineer Greg's birthday

I have the pleasure of working with some of the greatest people at the Oregon Zoo. We laugh, we kvetch, conspire, all as a part of a fun family of sorts.

For a fun surprise for a coworker and friend, another of the family hired me to create a birthday cake. The recipient of this cake is an engineer on our Zoo Train.

I designed the cake, and had a lot of fun (and a REALLY late night) finishing it. The "topper" if you will, is a sugarpaste (rolled icing) cut-out replica of the train logo, with a figure of the birthday boy in his engineer garb, also made from sugarpaste. It's all edible, with the exception of his wire glasses. It was SO much fun to do! My friend was so happy when she saw it. The birthday boy hasn't seen it yet, so I'm anxiously awaiting word on his reaction to it.

Introductions

Ok, so this is my first real blog. I'd like to do this "right", but I've never done this before. Go easy on me, all right?

I'm Scott. I'm a 40 year-old self-taught cake decorator of 26 years (yikes!) Cake decorating has been a hobby of mine for a long time, and even a lucrative one for the most part. I've been to culinary school and trained as a pastry chef, but those jobs are hard to come by. So, I bake a lot, mostly just for friends, family and coworkers. I'm glad to do it for 3 simple reasons; one, the practice. I love trying out new ideas, techiques, and all; two, the smiles it brings to peoples faces when I arrive at work or a gathering with home-baked goods; third, and most importantly...I'm not tempted by sweets sitting around the house all the time! :)

I live in the City of Roses, Portland, Oregon. I've been a "transplanted" Oregonian since 1986, and I don't think I'll ever leave! The seasons change nicely here. It's easy to get from one place to another. Food, shopping, art, theater, nightlife, and the beautiful surroundings of the Pacific Northwest, all right here. I won't complain!

Currently, I'm working at the Oregon Zoo in Admissions. It's not what I'm "trained," nor went to school for, yet it's a GREAT place to work! It pays the bills (for the most part.) The people are fantastic, the zoo itself is beautiful, and getting more so all the time, and the animals....that's ANOTHER blog for another time (Animal Tails, coming soon!)

One animal I will talk about regularly is my pup. His name is Scharffen Berger. Yes, it's a mouthful. And yes, he DOES respond to such a long name! He was born a chocolate dachshund, but has grown into his wire-haired roots just a bit. He has short hair, mostly chocolate in color, but with the double-coat and lighter markings on his shoulders and haunches. He's SUCH a handsome boy! And GODS, is he ever smart!!! More on him later....

Ok, that's pretty much it for a start. How'd I do? I guess we'll find that out soon enough...