Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Hotlanta Field Trip & Giveaway

Even though we live in a very small town, we are lucky enough to be about 20 minutes from Chattanooga, TN and only about an hour's drive away from Atlanta, GA.  This past weekend we didn't have any cakes on the books, so I decided that a field trip was in order.  You enjoy reading about my baking adventures, so I thought you might enjoy reading about our cake field trip.

CAKE ART
Our first stop of the day was at Cake Art.  You can get the standard Wilton stuff from Michaels or Hobby Lobby around here, and we have one or two small cake shops, but Cake Art is a decorating Mecca!

SO many impression mats to choose from!
A whole aisle of sprinkles!  One of each, please!

YOUR DEKALB FARMER'S MARKET
YDFM is probably the closest thing to experiencing shopping in another country.  This place is a no-frills warehouse piled from floor to ceiling with some of the freshest, most exotic ingredients that I have ever seen.  Row after row of spices, specialty flours, and various sundries from various countries doesn't even start to scratch the surface.  There's also a huge produce section packed with fruits and veggies, some that appear to have been cultivated from other planets.  And then there's their seafood and meat department!  It's the only place I have ever seen where you can buy fresh octopus!!

Photography was not allowed (?!?) But we managed to snap a quick pic!


HIGHLAND BAKERY
If you have ever looked at cakes on the Internet, or watched a Food Network cake competition, then you have probably seen the amazing work of Karen Portaleo from Highland Bakery.  I wasn't sure I was at the right place at first.  I walked in to a very small bakery area with a huge restaurant.  We were hungry, so we decided to grab a table and get some lunch.  Where we were sitting, I could see into the kitchen, and I had convinced myself we were at another Highland Bakery.  But when I asked the waiter, he told me that Karen did indeed work there and that there was a huge baking kitchen behind the bakery counter.  Karen wasn't there, but I did have a great lunch!  Their peanut butter french toast was the bomb!!

TRADER JOES
If you have a Trader Joes in your town, consider yourself lucky.  Whenever we get a chance to go to one, we always bring a cooler.  Needless to say, we filled the cooler and then some.  Look at all that loot!

I know it looks like a full buggy, but to be honest, the buggies are really small!

IKEA
We really weren't planning on an Ikea visit, but we were still feeling energetic, so we spent the last of our energy there.  I actually think I made it though there in record time!  Here's a little something I scored that you will be seeing in future cake pics!

Still thinking about painting this guy chrome!

All in all we had a super great day traipsing around the big city. As always, Cake Art was my favorite stop.  I shop online every week for cake supplies, but there's something very cool about seeing the items and holding them in your hand.  Once we got home, I collected our Cake Art haul all together...


There's actually a lot of stuff there!  And since I scored big, I saw no reason why I should leave you guys out!  So... I picked up an extra pack of impression mats to share with one of you guys.  The pack I'm giving away features a chevron pattern, plus some other stuff.  If you're interested in winning, leave a comment on this post and make sure I have a way of contacting you if you win.  You have until midnight (EST) on Sunday January 13th to leave your comment and enter the giveaway.  I will announce the winner on Tuesday January 15th.  Good Luck!

15 comments:

  1. How awesome of a field trip! So jealous! I just moved to Arkansas from Virginia...and the store I was saddest to leave behind was Trader Joe's. I had so many staples I would buy there. Hoping they'll decide to put one in my area someday.

    bekita21@hotmail.com

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  2. Cake supplies stores are amazing, I feel like there needs to be more around, it's just one of those store you can spend hours in. And how very generous of you do do a giveaway! Wishing you all the best in 2013!

    Jewelswhipple@gmail.com

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  3. I would literally have a panic attack looking at all of that. I can't contain myself when it comes cake related items. Thanks for sharing.

    kiwana.mccullar@gmail.com

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  4. Thanks for sharing

    Laurie
    Bhcljc@gmail.com

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  5. J just moved to Philadelphia and there is a Trader Joe's and Whole Foods here so a field trip is on order.
    Kima
    Kima0920@gmail.com

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  6. I love Cake Art!!!! I have relatives in Atlanta so everytime I go down I always sneak out and spend a few minutes, okay more like hours, there. The sprinkle aisle is THE best!! Hope you guys are doing well!

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  7. OMG I would lose my mind in Cake Art and end up spending way more than I need to. Looks like you had a lot of fun.
    P.S. Found your blog through SugarSweet Cakes and Treats.

    alpha2nu@yahoo.com

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  8. We need a Cake Art here in MN. The cake/candy store, Sweet Celebrations, we had nearby closed a couple of years ago. I was so sad. I loved that store. I'd go there just to look around and add stuff to my wishlist. Now I have to get most of my cake stuff at Michael's, JoAnn, and Wal-Mart.

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  9. Ohh I am jealous also!! But thanks for sharing the trip with us. The giveaway is awesome!!

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  10. I'm a hobbyist cake decorator and I plan to try out your buttercream recipe soon..I've watched your youtube videos, and I'm excited to attempt something different than the crusting buttercream/Viva look! I'm on "maternity leave" right now, but my 3-month old twins are starting to be on a better schedule, so plans are in teh works to get back into baking! Thanks so much for the tutorials! I hope I win the prize package to give me an incentive to play with new "toys"!
    ~Steph (steph@imroot.com)

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  11. Oh I'm so jealous!! We have nothing like this in Mississippi!!

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  12. I would love to win! I have always wanted to visit Cake Art but it is a little far of a drive for us!

    sweeteatscakes@gmail.com

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  13. It would be AWESOME to win these impression mats!! I have really been wanting to try my hand at using them. I really enjoy your videos. Your video on icing a cake with all butter buttercream is THE one that finally made it all click for me. I am now able to ice a cake smooth and feel confident in it. Thank you so much! sassysweetonline@gmail.com

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  14. I would love to win! The store looks amazing!
    akazsuk@hotmail.com

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  15. Oh wow - lots of great shopping! No need to enter me in the contest, but I just wanted to say hello and say that you have some fab hair in those photos!!

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