bandrouais's Photobucket media

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bandrouais — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 18:21:39 MST

bandrouais posted a photo

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To start your birthday surprise, I preheated the oven. Oooh! What's going in the oven? :O

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bandrouais — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 18:20:14 MST

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And now you know... Indeed, I add the contents of the box to the plastic container...

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bandrouais — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 18:19:00 MST

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Now, combining the afore-viewed measuring cup with water coming out of this tap, we obtain...

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bandrouais — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 18:18:09 MST

bandrouais posted a photo

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... to add this ingredient. The box calls for vegetable oil, bit a little research on the internets told me I could substitute vegetable oil to achieve the same baking effect. Strangely, it said nothing about taste...

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bandrouais — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 18:17:04 MST

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Because you can't apply a layer of this wonderful chocolate icing to the cake if the cake is too hot.

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bandrouais — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 18:15:58 MST

bandrouais posted a photo

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This is cooking icing. It's not meant for writing letters on cake. But it was the best I came across, so I made do.

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bandrouais — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 18:15:13 MST

bandrouais posted a photo

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Next up, I use this measuring cup...

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bandrouais — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 18:14:14 MST

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Whatever's going in the oven is going to be mixed in here first. The mystery continues...

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bandrouais — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 18:12:38 MST

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...to come up with this.

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bandrouais — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 18:11:12 MST

bandrouais posted a photo

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Oil + cake powder = the above photo.

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bandrouais — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 18:09:42 MST

bandrouais posted a photo

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...this lovely effect. Tasty-looking, isn't it? (grammatically, that sentence is incorrect - but I have long thought words ending in -ly too, could be followed by hyphens when used as modifiers - but that's neither here nor there - on with the project)

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bandrouais — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 18:08:33 MST

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Next, I call on my friend, Mr. Previously Greased Red Cake Pan (disclaimer: name assigned temporarily for the purposes of this project), and I pour the mixed cake ingredients into it.

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bandrouais — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 18:06:37 MST

bandrouais posted a photo

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Eggs are up next to go for a swim in our concoction.

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bandrouais — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 18:05:46 MST

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Woohoo! We have all our ingredients! Now we're ready to mix. But we have a slight problem: the plastic container is too small to accommodate the vigorous stirring required to mix all the ingredients together. No one wants a cake tsunami.

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bandrouais — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 18:04:05 MST

bandrouais posted a photo

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Big mixing bowl to the rescue! I honestly thought about using it at first, but dismissed it as being too large.

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bandrouais — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 18:02:36 MST

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But in reality, the bowl is a very good size for my stirring needs. So I set to vigorously stirring, whipping, beating and - insert verb here - the cake ingredients.

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bandrouais — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 18:00:59 MST

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This is the beautiful result. I admit, I spent a few minutes admiring the effect, until I awoke out of my daze to realize that I needed to do something further with the mix to make it more cake-like. I was not done.

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bandrouais — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 17:59:29 MST

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Enter Mr. Oven (disclaimer: name assigned permanently). I inserted Mr. Cake Pan into Mr. Oven. Mr. Oven was hot. He knew this fact, but still blushed when Mr. Cake Pan told him of it. I worried about what would happen to the cake if I left it alone with them, but closed the door to the oven without much further thought.

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bandrouais — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 17:57:58 MST

bandrouais posted a photo

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And set the timer. It's what the box called for.

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bandrouais — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 17:56:49 MST

bandrouais posted a photo

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But the box lied. The cake only looked like this after 35 minutes. That's what I get for trusting a box. Let this be a lesson...

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bandrouais — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 17:55:34 MST

bandrouais posted a photo

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Eventually, with the help of a conceding Mr. Oven, the cake turned out like this, once I got it out of the pan. But that's not all. Mr. Cake had to cool off.

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bandrouais — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 17:53:38 MST

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In due time, I was able to achieve the above effect. Mmmm, looks ready to eat! But we're not done.

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bandrouais — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 17:52:16 MST

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And voila! The desired result. But wait, what *is* that blurb at the bottom? Is it supposed to be a green bug, making its way up the cake?

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bandrouais — Mon, 23 Feb 2009 17:50:38 MST

bandrouais posted a photo

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It was supposed to be a :* symbol, with which you and I are so familiar. Reference the earlier statement about the cookie icing, and realize what must have happened to my nice, neat lines. Yes, they spread. So the :* / bug was scraped off, to achieve the message I was going for. HAPPY 28TH BIRTHDAY, BRETT!!!

Beijing 2008 - Scrapblog

bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 21:16:36 MDT

bandrouais posted a photo

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Created in Scrapblog

Beijing 2008 - Scrapblog

bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 21:16:34 MDT

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Created in Scrapblog

Beijing 2008 - Scrapblog

bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 21:16:31 MDT

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Created in Scrapblog

Bird's Nest

bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:17:03 MDT

bandrouais posted a photo

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This is a view of the Bird's Nest from the fence in front of the National Indoor Stadium.

New recycle/trash bin

bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:16:56 MDT

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I was tickled to see a trash can left unwrapped outside the National Indoor Stadium. After all, there had been test events at the stadium a few months before, so what happened to the old trash bin, or was there one before?

Fencing hall/IBC

bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:16:43 MDT

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This building, seen from the northwest edge of the National Indoor Stadium, is the Fencing Hall on the south and the IBC on the north.

moon over Olympic hotel

bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:16:28 MDT

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This is the moon in an early evening sky over the last building in the hotel across from the Olympic green.

MPC

bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:16:20 MDT

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A view of the MPC, which is housed in the Intercontinental hotel, from the west of the National Indoor Stadium. The hotel stretches for a while up the block.

National Indoor Stadium

bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:16:12 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:15:56 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:15:37 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:15:22 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:15:15 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:15:07 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:15:00 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:14:36 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:14:21 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:14:13 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:13:56 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:13:42 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:13:35 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:13:23 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:13:15 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:13:00 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:12:53 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:12:47 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:12:39 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:12:28 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:12:18 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:12:12 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:12:04 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:11:48 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:11:40 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:11:22 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:11:14 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:11:06 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:10:58 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:10:40 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:10:27 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:10:12 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:10:05 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:09:47 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:09:36 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:09:28 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:09:14 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:08:59 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:08:41 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:08:23 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:08:06 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:07:51 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:07:43 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:07:30 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:07:21 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:07:08 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:06:57 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:06:49 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:06:35 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:06:19 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:06:06 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:05:54 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:05:46 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:05:32 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:05:21 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:05:10 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:04:53 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:04:37 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:04:30 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:04:18 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:04:05 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:03:51 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:03:35 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:03:22 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:03:14 MDT

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bandrouais — Mon, 8 Sep 2008 15:03:04 MDT

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