Ultimate Cake Off!

On February 15, at 10pm. on TLC, the team that I was lead assistant for, will be featured on Ultimate Cake Off. John Auburn from JW Desserts on Whidbey Island, WA, http://www.jwdesserts.com/ was our team leader and when I say team, I mean team.

John treated us all with respect and listened to our ideas. He felt like it wasn't just about him, that it was about the whole team. He treated us as a team, not just as assistants to help him win a title. The communication between John, Martha, Eric, and I was phenomenal. Well over 100 emails and a trip to Seattle lead to our final design. John incorporated ideas from all the teammates which made us much more accountable and excited for the final cake. We all knew what jobs we were responsible for and John made sure that we also knew how to do the jobs of everyone in case of any 'issues' or set backs.

Eric Woller back from a shopping trip. It was an honor to be able to work with the mighty Eric Woller, armature king! The genius that man has in his head is incredible. Not only can he put together the most amazing armatures, he's a sculptor and artist.

John checking on the many things we had to do. Notice the huge pile of modelling chocolate in the corner of the photo.


Martha and her mad skills with a sawzall! Martha's skills as an artist came into play with her work on our project. Can't say just what yet, but her talents were a tremendous asset to our team. She also has great problem solving skills.

The team at breakfast.

I felt like a movie star when I arrived in Los Angeles. I was greeted by Ryan, one of the Production Assistants. He was holding a sign with my name on it! IN TYPED letters! I had to take a picture because I've never even been picked up from an airport by anyone other than my husband or family member. Ryan was so nice and friendly. A chatty guy who let me be a total "dorky" tourist as I took pictures of the Hollywood sign and downtown LA as we drove past.

From the time they said "Your time starts NOW!" to the time they said "STOP" we were a non stop swirl of work. We worked our asses off. There was icing flying, modelling chocolate all over the place and piping gel stuck to our fingers. John made sure to continutally check on everyone's progress and was encouraging throughout the whole competition. We laughed and had fun during the competition and just had a great time, even through the stress of putting together a 7 fooot tall by 9 foot wide cake! We were working like we'd always been working together. And it was the first time we had all been in the same kitchen at the same time.

I have also never laughed as hard as I did on this challenge. We met up on Tuesday and laughed for 5 days straight! By the time it was competition day, my abs hurt so bad that I thought I couldn't take anymore. Of course, by the time the competition was over, my legs hurt so bad I didn't know how I was going to walk the next day! People don't realize the amount of stress these challenges put on a body...especially an out of shape body like mine! LOL

The whole experience was something that I will never forget, nor would I ever want to. I loved meeting George Duran, the new host and seeing Margaret Braun and Leah Grode again. This was my second time doing an Ultimate Cake Off. Even the judges had us laughing. :)

Watch next Monay, February 15 at 10pm on TLC to see how things worked out. Just remember...editing is not always in everyone's favor. It's for the drama of it all...

And a great big THANK YOU to John Auburn for making us all feel like a team!