Well, here is my official position on the things:  whatever those professional Cakeballers charge you, they’re darn well worth it.  What a bunch of work!  My dad and his wife are the official cake decorator and baker (respectively) for family birthday parties (and they are awesome!), but this year, they cannot come to Atticus’ birthday party because of a major annual work obligation.  So, he told me that a while back, and I started this brief era of delusional thinking that evolved into the fantasy that I was going to teach myself how to properly decorate a cute little birthday cake for my boy.

Fast forward to this week.  Birthday party is coming up on Saturday, and I have lost the urge.  To bake and decorate an entire cake, that is.  So, what do I come up with instead?

“I’ll make cake balls.”

Mind you, before I hatched aforementioned scheme, I had never so much as tasted the little buggers, nor had I really wanted to — they seem a little too sugar-bomby for me.  Let such nonsense not stop me, a woman of creativity, drive, and determination.  So, yesterday, I go to the local Hobby Lobby, and I set about looking for the basic supplies for Cakeballing (I will call it this because it sort of makes it sound really aggressive and competitive, like Lazer Tagging or Paintballing — neither of which I’ve ever done {nor shall I}).  Anyway, I’m trying to make the things gluten-free and peanut-free so that all can enjoy without worries.  So that presents a minor set of obstacles, but I gather all I need to do so, and I return home.

Perhaps because I had had my fill of sleep . . . or because the Sunflower Markets Piñon Nut organic coffee beans are SO delightful on my summer mornings . . . or perhaps because, I admit, I was a tiny bit excited about learning something new (imagine that), I woke up at 4:45 this morning, made coffee and baked a gluten free vanilla cake.  I smashed it to bits, glommed some gluten-free frosting into it and mashed it into a dish to chill — the Cakeballing ladies at Dallas’ The Cake Ball Company had dispensed some of their experience and wisdom in an article in the Dallas Morning News a while back, so I followed their “timeline.”  Now, I’m not sayin’ . . . I’m just sayin’ . . . their advice stretched the process into a good 8-9 hours or so, and whilst I was following it all, I kept searching for Cakeballing wisdom on the internet, and most other folks’ advice would have had me eating those little sugarbombs within the hour.

Their strategy worked.  I totally get why people would pay upwards of $3.00 to get one rather than spend an entire day and part of a night making their own.  I’m going to try the Cliffs’ Notes version tomorrow — and maybe do a little more decorating.  My sister has opened her home up to me tomorrow night so that we can have more space to spread out and get our Cakeballing on.  (I’m not sure I like how that sounds, but it give me a little street cred, which I have been sorely lacking for what seems like a decade now.)

{Aside:  I like how the little word count at the bottom of the “New Post” window tells me how many words I’ve written.  It’s like having a tiny little visual reminder of accomplishment every 10 seconds.  Some days, I need it just that often.}

Got any good cakeballin’ stories.  I’m dropping the “g” now just to keep it real.  Share them with me.  Now.