Gamma Susie's This n That

"Window View" (San Jose de los Jemez Mission Church}

2026-09-23T15:32:39.531-07:00

My grandson David took this picture when we went on a day trip to Jemez Springs. There are old ruin of a monestary there. This is a view through the window of one of the rooms. I had this in the New Mexico State Fair Fine Arts Exhibition in September 2026.

Jemez Springs, More Beauty to Paint

2026-04-26T07:01:00.000-07:00

16 X 20 oil on canvas, $650.00 (sold)

My daughter and I drove to Jemez Springs in New Mexico to see the beautiful red rocks, Jemez River, and Soda Springs. It was a beautiful drive. Along the way we stopped and took pictures to use as resources for future painting projects. We also took our Plein air kits if we had time and the weather held to possible do some painting.

I love the red soil and rocks that line the roadway. When the sudden rain comes there are areas where the water rushes down across the road. Rocks shift and become exposed. Along with the greenery, trees, and flowers that spring up among the rocks it creates interesting and beautiful subjects for painting. Across the road and south a bit was the picture I painted of the Jemez River in the previous post.

This is what I saw on the way to Jemez Springs. I recommend visiting here. The town itself is quaint, and the springs are pleasant and relaxing. There are art stores, rock shop stands, and a few restaurants with decent food.

I'm currently working on another painting that I am doing of the "Jemez Historical Site." I'll give more info and pictures when I post the final painting of it. I recommend visiting it. Deep history and beautiful scenery make this a fun excursion.

Where Have I Been

2025-11-01T07:45:00.000-07:00

Wow, I just looked at this blog, and I haven't written anything in years. A lot has happened since I last wrote. Both my parents died in 2014 within six weeks of each other. Then Don's dad died a few months after mine. Lots of going back and forth from Colorado to California to handle estates and funerals. However, his mom is still alive and living in Southern California with Don's sister.

In 2015 we sold Mountain Air Oxygen Service (which put me in the hospital over that deal). I had been doing that business for 28 years. Dealing with the state and federal government programs was impossible. I was so relieved when we finally were able to see. That story is a miracle in itself that I will share sometime later.

In 2016 our daughter, Casey, contracted Hodgkins Lymphoma and had to go through two stem cell transplants. Don was her caregiver, and I took care of the boys. Lots of traveling back and forth to Denver. After her second transplant, Casey got remarried.

Back in 2010 Don had a terrible bout of diverticulitis which you can see some of the updates in earlier blogs. This almost killed him. But God spared him for me. In 2017 he had an abdominal hernia and had to have that surgery during the same time Casey was getting treatments in Denver. He was pretty sick. I was running between the Blood Cancer Center where Casey was and Swedish which is where Don was. It was crazy and scary, but God is good and brought them both through it all.

We remodeled our home (as if we didn't have anything else on our plate). It turned out beautiful and I was content to live there the rest of my life. However, Don husband retired and wanted to move to a smaller place in a warmer climate. Casey was living in New Mexico teaching so sold our home in 2021 and moved to New Mexico to be close to her and help with the boys. However, two years later our Casey got a job in Nebraska and moved. We are still in NM. We like the weather here and our friends. Not interested in moving again until we have to. Lesson: Don't follow your kids around.

We love our church in Corrales. Sandia View Academy is there, and I found myself teaching music for three years to the high school kids. Then I added an art class. I enjoy the students very much. I love teaching. This leaves me very little time to bake cakes. Plus, my beautiful kitchen in our previous home is not in this house. Our house is quite small now and no room for all the stuff needed for fancy cake making. I don't have a second fridge either which was essential when I did cakes.

Jemez Creek, New Mexico

Since I have been here, I have made two or three cakes. I just did a chocolate cake with strawberry filling and stable whipped cream frosting. I had never done that before. Not sure I like working with it, but I was able to do it. Advantage, it isn't overly sweet, and not greasy. The person I made it for loved it so I guess it was all good. Just go online and find a stable whipped cream frosting recipe. Most come with videos which I always find helpful.

Because of budget cuts at the school, I was furloughed until there is room for me again. Since I am semi-retired, I have gotten my paints out again and am really enjoying it.

My daughter, Callie, is also an artist. She and I get together and go "painting" somewhere. Fortunately, she still lives in Colorado and plans to stay put. It is only 3 hours from our house so we can get together often. We are making plans to do some painting trips together. I'm looking forward to that and will share our adventures.

I didn't expect my work to sell but I am pleasantly surprised that it has. My most recent painting was from a picture I took on one of our excursions up to Jemez Springs. The drive is beautiful especially in the fall. I whipped out my phone and snapped this picture. I just finished painting last week and it will be in a show tomorrow at the Fall Festival for Sandia View Academy.

New Mexico Road Runner

I love birds. I finished this little guy a couple of weeks ago. He is also in the show.

I will post more artwork and maybe a cake or two. I plan on decorating cookies with the girl next door. She is excited to learn how to decorate sugar cookies with royal icing. That is always fun and very artsy. I'll post something when I get it done.

So much more happened during this time but it just gets to be too much to put it all down now. Maybe later. What I am happy about is that we are doing well. Our son, Josh, is going to be a father in December with his beautiful wife, Isa. This is their first child and our 6th grandchild, another boy. We have two boys and three girls right now. God just keeps on blessing us every day.

I hope you enjoyed this post. Make a comment and let me know how you have been doing while I was away. Stay connected. You are loved!

Graduation Cakes for 2021

2021-06-17T18:59:00.002-07:00

The above cake was made for an Alamosa High School graduate. I hand painted the logo on a thin sheet of gum paste. I used food coloring for paint. It took awhile but I did it. Turned out great.

This cake was done for a high school graduate who is planning to go to Texas Tech. I hand painted their logo on gum paste as well.

Sebby’s 8th Grade Graduation Cake

2021-06-17T18:49:00.001-07:00

Seb likes Andes mints. This is a chocolate cake with Andy’s mint filling. His mascot is a knight and I used mint candies to make it look like a castle. He loved it.

I used a triple chocolate boxed cake mix. I soaked it with a bit of sugar water (1 sugar to 3 water) to keep it from drying out as buttercream tends to do that to cakes. I melted the mints and poured them into my buttercream frosting. I whipped it up pretty and it acted like a mousse. Tasty!

Gracielyn’s 2nd Birthday Cake, Hedge Hog Cake

2021-06-17T18:42:00.001-07:00

My little friend is turning 2 and requested a Hedgehog cake. It is a vanilla cake with strawberry filling and vanilla buttercream frosting. I soaked my cake a little bit with sugar water so that it wouldn’t dry out. I have to say it was pretty tasty,

I have clients send me a picture of what they like and the colors and flavors. They found this one on the internet at littlepeachcakery.com. Mine turned out fatter but still really cute.

I used a 2 boxed cake mixes and made my own filling and frosting. Recipe below:

2 sticks of softened butter

2 cups white shortening

1 tsp Wilton butter flavoring

1 tsp Wilton vanilla

1/4 tsp Almond flavoring

1 pound powdered sugar

2 tablespoons of Wilton Meringue powder

1/4 tsp salt if using unsalted butter

3 tablespoons heavy cream (more for softer frosting)

Place softened butter in mixing bowl and beat until smooth and fluffy. Add a cup of shortening at a time to butter and beat well. Add flavorings and mix well.

In a separate bowl sift a one pound bag of powdered sugar with 2 tablespoons of Wilton Meringue powder (and salt if needed). Add by the spoonful on low or stir at a time until half is added. Add 3 tablespoons heavy cream and mix well. Add remaining powdered sugar. Scrape bowl until blended and then turn up the speed and beat until fluffy. Make sure you scrape sides and bottom of bowl.

Frost and fill 8 to 10 inch round two layer cake.

For strawberry filling chop a cup of fresh washed and diced strawberries. Add to two 1 1/2 cups buttercream. Add two tablespoons of your favorite strawberry jam. Mix well and fill cake.

Music Box Cake

2020-01-09T20:55:00.000-08:00

A neighbor of mine is moving and gave me this cute music box. She thought I could use it as a cake topper. You can use anything as a topper. As you can see from many earlier posts I have used toys for my grandkids cakes so that they have something special to remember their day by.

This particular cake was requested of me by a nine year old friend of mine. I have lots of kids call me Grammy Sue. She asked if I would make her cake for her. She loves horses and has a couple on a small ranch. This music box was perfect. Unfortunately it is all made of wood not sealed. I had to figure out a way to set it above the icing so that it would get grease spots on it. I used a plastic that was the perfect size.

Butter cream frosting has made a big comeback. Fondant is used less and less. There are so many creative ideas out there for butter cream. I wanted to try the multi color look. I took my time to make sure I got the layers even and smooth. Watching YouTube really helps me see the different techniques used to achieve this look. In any case, it turned out adorable and my little friend was ecstatic.

Callie’s POP Up Gallery Birthday Surprise

2019-12-14T21:30:00.000-08:00

Callie is an artist and so am I. She turned 40 this year and her brother and sister wanted to do a Pop-up Gallery for her to display her art work and invite friends. It turned out really nice. I made this artist cake and painted the miniature paintings to put on it to resemble the gallery. The top is lemon with lemon filling and the bottom tier is chocolate cake and chocolate filling.

Practicing butter cream flowers

2019-12-06T18:30:00.000-08:00

I am learning how to do butter cream flowers. I watched You Tube videos to learn which is how I learned to make cakes and decorate in the beginning. Anyone can learn if they have a desire and you don’t have to pay for school or classes. However, I would like to go to a class or two eventually.

This cake was made from left over cakes I made for a wedding. I took it to our church potluck and it went fast! It is the white cake with raspberry filling.

Rose, Thin Blue Line Wedding Cake

2019-12-06T18:23:00.003-08:00

A delightful bride ordered this small wedding cake. She just wanted a cake to cut. She had mini desserts to serve at her reception. Her new husband is a police officer so I put a black ribbon with thin blue ribbon for the border. It is a white cake with raspberry filling.

White cakes can be dry and not cut well. I soaked this with some simple syrup to help keep it moist. They loved it.

Lizzy’s Birthday

2019-12-06T18:17:00.000-08:00

My granddaughter, Lizzy, turned 5. She loves Paw Patrol. So I made her a girly, flowery Paw Patrol cake. I was practicing my butter cream flowers. Butter cream is more desirable now than fondant. It tastes better to me.

I always like to put a toy on top of the cake so my kids have something to play with. Thus, Sky and her helicopter.

Davy’s Birthday

2019-12-06T18:11:00.000-08:00

My Grandson, Davy, likes to fish. I made this cake from a picture I took when he was at the lake fishing. He is wearing a coon skin hat.

Secret Agent Cake

2019-12-06T18:00:00.000-08:00

My Granddaughters birthdays are close together so they decided to have a Secret Agent party. It was super fun. This Secret Agent brief case came out really cool. The handcuffs are real but the res is cake covered in fondant.

Baby Showers and Birthdays

2019-05-07T11:03:00.002-07:00

I made a baby shower cake for my friend Winona. She is a beautiful woman and her baby is going to be a stunning baby girl. So fun to make this cake.

I also made a cake for my granddaughter Lizzy. She is so cute and just loves Paw Patrol. I was practicing my buttercream flowers so I made this cake. She loved it. I always put a toy on top of the cake for their present.

Graduation Cakes

2019-05-07T10:49:00.001-07:00

These are some of the graduation cakes I did last year. I hand painted on the school logos or what was unique to the graduate like the theater and music symbols.

Practicing Buttercream Flowers and Piping

2019-04-24T07:55:00.000-07:00

I have been watching a lot of You Tube videos on making buttercream flowers and piping different borders and decorations on cakes. Buttercream is back in big time. I'm glad I get the chance to practice this skill. So here are some examples of my work. My recipe for buttercream is below.

Buttercream Frosting recipe:

2 sticks butter softened to room temp
2 cups vegetable shortening (white)
1 tsp Wilton Butter Flavoring
1 tsp Wilton Vanilla Flavoring
1|4 tsp Wilton Almond Flavoring
1 2-pound bag powdered sugar
2 tablespoons Wilton's powdered meringue
2 to 4 tablespoons whipping cream (you can also use half n half)

Beat butter in a stand mixer with whisk attachment until smooth, no lumps. Add shortening and mix until smooth and fluffy. Add flavorings and mix well. Add entire bag of powdered sugar along with the powdered meringue and cream. Cover the mixer with a towel or plastic wrap so you don't send sugar all over the place. Start slowly mixing the ingredients together and then speed up once it is blended. Mix on high speed for a minute or two until it is creamy and fluffy.

One recipe covers a 10 inch layer cake with frosting in the middle. I make two recipes when I am doing this size so that I have enough for flower making and piping. I usually have a little extra but it keeps for several weeks in the fridge.

Cate and Abby's Patriotic Cake

2018-08-10T22:57:00.000-07:00

Cate and Abby, my granddaughters, birthdays are in the first week of March. They had their party together with a patriotic theme, The Revolutionary War. I hand painted the medallions of different people and items of historical meaning and even the inside of the cake looked like a flag when cut. Needless to say, it was a hit with the party goers who dressed in the period and played games to match the history. It was pretty cool to say the least. By the way, I got the idea for the cake from Betty Crocker.

Candy Explosion

2018-08-10T19:49:00.001-07:00

All the cakes I make are fun but this was extra fun because Maggie loves candy, cake, and cookies. She is an artist and musician so I put musical notes on and made a "Tie Dyed" cake on the top. She loved it! I also made a candy bouquet for her. That turned out cool as well. Happy Birthday Maggie.

Audrina's Melted Ice Cream Cake

2018-08-10T19:34:00.001-07:00

I wanted to do one of these "ice cream melt" cakes for sometime now and finally got the chance with Audrina's Birthday Cake. I have been making her cakes for some years now. Love doing it. This was chocolate with butter cream filling. Tasty!

2018-08-10T19:21:00.000-07:00

I got the wonderful chance to make a barrel of flowers cake for an 82 year old sweet lady who loves gardening and flowers. I wanted a chance to make butter cream flowers and this was the perfect project. Chocolate cake with chocolate mousse filling, Kit Kat bar barrel and butter cream flowers. She loved her cake and I loved making it for her.

Tarts, Tarts, and More Tarts!

2018-08-10T19:10:00.001-07:00

A friend of mine asked me to make something other than cake for her daughter's wedding rehearsal dinner. I suggested tarts, especially fruit tarts as this is the season. My friend is also vegan so I made a vegan raspberry tart for her. Making these was time consuming but when I finally nailed the type of crust that worked best or me I was able to move along pretty easily. They make for a beautiful display on a dessert bar. They were a hit for sure!

Vegan Raspberry Tart with Date Nut Crust

Chocolate Brownie Tart with Chocolate Ganache and Chocolate Strawberries

Vanilla Yogurt and Fruit Tart

Lemon Custard Raspberry Tart

Chocolate Mousse Tart with Whipped Cream and Walnuts

Lemon Cream Tart with Raspberries

Paula Deen's Fresh Peach Tart

Casey Gets Married

2018-01-11T08:26:00.000-08:00

I had the wonderful opportunity to make my daughter's wedding cake. She is a Hodgkin's Lymphoma cancer survivor and to have a wedding instead of a funeral on December 24, 2017 is a miracle. God saw this journey through and we had a wonderful celebration of life!

Jonathan and Casey wanted a rustic cake, kind of the thing right now. I made a three tiered caked with the bottom being chocolate with chocolate ganache filling, the middle was butter cake with chocolate icing filling, and the top was lemon with lemon curd filling. The frosting is butter cream.

I put real roses on the cake as requested and topped it with a Willow Tree cake topper. Each layer was delicious and it cut well. I'm always worried about it getting crumbly with just butter cream frosting as it tends to suck out the moisture. However, this time I sprayed each layer with simple syrup to avoid drying out.

It was an Irish theme wedding, but they incorporated both of their likes. It was beautiful.

Casey and Jonathan Harris and their boys David and Sebastian.

Cupcake Garden

2017-07-10T19:59:00.000-07:00

I was asked to make cupcakes for the La Puente staff appreciation dinner. As it is summer I chose to do flowers and make a garden. It's always fun to get creative. I like how the roses and the hydrangeas turned out best. The daisy's are okay but I will do something different next time.

I wish I had a proper picture that displayed these. They were set up on terra cotta pots with ribbons and bows tied on each pot. It was pretty cute.

Daisies - Lemon with lemon curd filling.

Roses - Chocolate with Truffle filling.

Hydrangeas - Vanilla with chocolate ganache filling.

A Unicorn for Audrina

2017-05-08T01:38:00.001-07:00

My little friend, Audrina, got a surprise when I came out with this beauty. This unicorn cake was fun to make and not hard at all.

I watched several You Tube videos on decorating with multiple colors in a pastry bag to get the affect on unicorn mane. The cake is a chocolate cake with chocolate ganache filling and covered with white fondant. The ears and horn are made out of gum paste and the center of the ears are painted with gold luster dust and gold sprinkles. I hand painted on the eyes.

Lizzy's Puppy Cake

2017-05-08T01:29:00.000-07:00

My 3 year old granddaughter turned three this past week. She loves animals so I made her a puppy cake.

I did a variation of the puppy tutorial I found on You Tube. It wasn't hard and she loved it. The cake is a Duncan Hines Strawberry cake and I used strawberry jam in the middle. It was pretty tasty and there was none left when the party was over which is the way I like it!

I covered the cake with a butter cream crumb coat and white fondant. I spray painted the pink around the bottom of the cake and on the number 3. When we served the cake I put strawberries around the base to coincide with the flavor.

I also made some cupcakes using silicone flower pot baking cups. I made them to match the cake.

When we started to sing Happy Birthday I guess it was too loud for Lizzy. She did enjoy the cake.