Lunch Box Chronicles Day One Hundred Thirty (Lord of the Flies 14 Year Old Birthday Party)

Themed birthday parties are the craze - My Little Pony for pre-schoolers, Glee Sing-a-Longs for Middle School Girls, 80s Rock Oldies for High Schoolers, but for middle school boys - YOU DON'T NEED A THEME....Chaos simply prevails - Dare I say, "Lord of the Flies" absent cannibalism was our unplanned theme for Spencer's 14th birthday.

I should have known that we were heading in that direction when Spencer mentioned that he simply wanted to invite friends to BURN their middle school homework.  And, Tim added fuel to the fire when he gifted Spencer a real CROSS BOW.   Mother Nature continued with the theme when she mysteriously planted a HORNETS NEST in a bush which the kids proceeded to trounce with pitch folks, hard rakes, and shovels.

It was chaos!

It was amazing to watch my young cake boss who expertly created his own spelt birthday cake earlier in the day transform into a member of a roaming gang within a few hours.  With flames rising, arrows careening, and angry wasps swarming, it was nothing short of miraculous that there were no major injuries.  At the conclusion of the chaos, there were only a few scrapes, loads of mosquito bites, and happy full bellies.

Luckily, these boys were not stranded on a deserted island with nothing to eat.  Instead, they had at their disposal endless amounts of Spelt Right pizza and the heavenly spelt chocolate cake made by a devilish kid.

It was a long three hours.  One that I do not wish to repeat, BUT....

as Shakespeare reminds us "All's well that ends well."

Spelt Right Pizza Dough - Perfect for Birthday Parties- Theme or No Theme

Heavenly Spelt Right Pizza for a Devilish Crowd

Someday we will convince Spencer to turn over the recipe for these divine cakes

Lunch Box Chronicles: Day One-Hundred and Twenty Nine (Happy Belated Birthday Emma)

It's been awhile since I have written as I have been working diligently to find the perfect partners to help Spelt Right grow while making our bagels and breads the best ever.   Life has been challenging - not challenging in a life or death sense - but challenging in a balancing the many pieces of a perpetually busy life sense.  Good thing I have good people in my life to reign me in at times.

My time this summer has been split between home and AWAY.  The kids' birthdays are one way to anchor me and those anchors have been one of my links to sanity.

Our cake boss days continue - Spencer has been on a cake making mission.   He made one in early June for his older sister's birthday - Emma - 19 years vibrant.

As always, the cake was quite amazing - soft, tasty, chocolatey - simply out of this world...On a recent business trip, I brought a piece of cake to my business associate from AWAY.   Perhaps not the best move.....We have created another addict to spelt chocolate cake - his simple request each time I return on a business trip - BRING A PIECE OF THE SPELT CHOCOLATE CAKE.

Enough on cakes and more on birthdays - I am very proud of my 19 year old.  She did a stellar job her first year in college, and now is doing a stellar job as an intern at the VIA advertising agency in Portland.  I like to take some credit that perhaps she learned some of her work ethic from her mom while making bagels at Spelt Right during the past three summers- but maybe I am taking a little too much credit.

Perhaps, this kid, now woman....is just stellar.   Happy Belated Birthday Emma.