{vendor appreciation} best bakery in town..

ok, so i may be biased..but in my opinion, publix bakery rocks. let me tell you why...

that saturday in nashville, my crew (me, fh, mom, aunt kerry, and fmil) all show up at publix (in brentwood for you local gals) in the middle of the afternoon. it was valentines day and the bakery was rockin'. we walked up to the counter and i explained to the lady that i was hoping to talk to someone about wedding cake. diane smiled real big and asked if i'd like to make an appointment for a future date. oops. i explained that i would not be available since i live 2000 miles away, but my fmil might be able to come by to taste the cake for me..well, diane wouldn't have that. she asked if i could come back at 2pm that very day...she would set up a tasting for me. what?! for real?

sure thing...we came back at 2pm and she had it all set up..different little cakes (chocolate, vanilla, red velvet) and different little fillings and frostings (2 fruity ones..i think strawberry and raspberry, cannoli, cream cheese, custard, chocolate, and vanilla buttercream). we all sat around and ate cake like it was going out of style!

in the middle of stuffing my face with tasting cake this tiny lady pushes thru our little crowd..no smile, no explanation..just a serious face intent on tasting some cake herself. she started to reach for a piece of chocolate cake - i just watched her..i mean, it was sample sunday after all - and just before she was able to nab her a piece, another bakery lady came dashing across the room in what seemed like slow motion, and informed the lady that it was a private tasting. the cake-snatcher just turned around and started to walk away. i told her she was more than welcome to try a piece, but she refused and left. poor lady. i know how it feels when you can smell cake but can't have any...

after choosing our favorite flavors, i showed diane the picture of the cake of my dreams. we worked out the size..and viola! i will have cake!

what flavors did we choose? the best kind: vanilla cake, cannoli filling, and ivory vanilla buttercream frosting. and the best part? we will have a beautiful, tasty cake that will feed over 150 people for less than $500 (including delivery!).

so ladies..don't forget your local grocery stores if you are watching your budget...you might just find a gem.