180 days...

Steve had Friday off. After running a few errands and changing the locks of the condo on me, he drove over to Tag's Bakery in Evanston. this is one of the bakery choices that the Skokie Holiday Inn works with for the wedding cakes. Steve walks in, while he's checking out the selection a lady comes up behind the counter and asks if he needs some help. Steve explains a little bit why he is there and the lady says, "oh i wish i knew you were coming. i literally would have baked you a cake."



Steve explained that he wasn't there for a cake testing, just checking out the selection and using it as an excuse to buy some sweets. He spends about 30 minutes chatting with the lady, who turns out to be one of the owners. Steve picks out a few things for us to taste and gets the phone number to arrange a cake testing for us in the next couple of weeks. This really is the best part so far. it's probably good that we only have two bakery to choose from, other wise I might not fit into my dress in six months. These were wonderful options that Steve picked out. Our favorite were the two totally chocolate looking ones. the most plain one, just covered in chocolate frosting had yellow cake and a smooth white layer. The other one with the piece of chocolate on top with the swirls and jimmies on the side had three smooth chocolate mouse type layers with chocolate cake. Steve had a much better, warmer experience at Tag's Bakery than I did at Rolf's Patisserie.

I went to Rolf's a few weeks ago at lunch time. First of all it was located next to the dreaded car dealership. That should have been the first clue. Next I walked into a very plain store, this is not a cute cafe bakery where you go to meet and eat goodies. This is a place where you call to order your cakes and goodies to be picked up. I was greeted by the only person in the place. I walked around for a minute checking out the selection. When i came upon the fun looking cakes, I asked what each of them contained. The lady spoke so quickly, I choose by looks since I didn't catch her fast explanation of each one. They were as yummy as they looked but were not cakes at all. We still enjoyed tasting them but I was turned off by the appearance and the reviews of the bakery. The cakes were good but the cake tasting experiences were not good, very cold and rushed.

I think it won't be hard to choose between the two for our wedding cake.