Hostess Cake

 I love birthdays. 

I love cake. 

Therefore...

 I love giving (and eating) cake on birthdays

Logic was one of my favorite classes :)

More than the perfect gift... which is very hard to do year after year - I've learned that some sort of baked good pretty much makes everyone happy on their birthday. 

Not surprising...

This year, a good friend of mine was celebrating his birthday... driving a van behind 30,000 + people running a marathon through the streets of San Antonio. He was in what we call the "tail vehicle". No it's not quite as racy as you might think... ha

 It's a very long day... driving at a very slow speed. He's also responsible for making sure that all the runners are on the right path and that no one gets left behind say... in a port-a-pottie, or in a restaurant, sometimes in bars... Rock n Roll Marathoners are a pretty fun group :)

 It's a very important job, but a pretty thankless one as well. Certainly not the most relaxing or glamorous way to spend your birthday (opening hundreds of port a pottie doors), but that's the kind of guy he is. 

We stayed at a very nice hotel in San Antonio - the Westin on the Riverwalk, but unfortunately in our room there weren't any ovens, or mixers or bowls either and so getting a cake on a Saturday night after we had been working all day, without having a car to get me somewhere... wasn't easy 

But it had to be done, and I was desperate.

I contemplated some restaurants, but with 30,000 runners plus their friends and family in town, and other tourists there... scratching their heads wondering why this random weekend in November was so popular... restaurants were running out of desserts entirely! Let alone had an entire cake in reserves to sell to me...

My scavenger skills quickly took over. The most resources we had within walking distance were pharmacies or convenience stores. Walgreens, was closed... Gas stations weren't very close and so it was CVS. 

I was hoping they'd at least sell the disposable cake tins - no such luck. 

When the beverage distribution guy looked away I snuck one of his cardboard boxes. 

And then I stood in the cookie/candy section for a good 30 min. 

I recalled that the birthday boy had a hankering for doughnuts... At another race I remembered him stopping for some and so I thought he might actually enjoy a random smattering of some good old school pastries...

I was trying to imagine how we could incorporate some stuff with a little bit of a theme. I'm sure if I had had more time I could do better (I hope anyway)

I loaded up on Hostess cupcakes, Twinkies, Doughnuts and Raspberry Zingers (for a little dash of color)

I snuck a clean napkin from Room Service to class it up a little and set to work. 

It wasn't my finest creative moment, but it sure hard not to eat half of it in the making... and that's always a good sign!

The Raspberry Zingers were supposed to be a heart in the middle... I have a lot of improvement in that area...

The next morning I ran to the "lead vehicle" and put the box in the truck. It would make it to the start line before I would so they would safely tuck it away on the announcers stage. 

We sang to him as he made his way across the start line that morning, but he had no idea what was waiting for him at the end!

I got a message that said it had made it's way to the finish and was under the table. 

I'm one of the announcers at the Rock n Roll Marathons so when I got to the finish line I grabbed a microphone and headed down to start high fiving and cheering all the runners in. 

The next thing I know I'm in the midst of a dance party and one of the other announcers asks about the goods under the table. I tell them it's a surprise, someones birthday. The looks on their faces gave them away. 

"You didn't eat any did you?" I asked

Silence. 

This is what it looked like... hours before the birthday boy even made it to the finish...

Luckily, the birthday boy, as I mentioned, is a pretty awesome guy. He was pleased with a little bit of a sugar rush after a long day of shaking port a potties...

So was I :)

Happy Birthday to one of the nicest guys I know. 

We love you John!!!

Love, 

All the Rock n Rollers