Some of you know that back in June my dad suffered a stroke during surgery. He was in the hospital for 7 weeks and just last week came home. He is doing very well, he can walk with a cane, he has a brace on his leg, he has little movement of his left arm. All his speak and thinking skills are fine!
Now, for 30+ years my dad has worked as a maintenance man for a poultry company until it went out of business and 5 years for a hog plant. He is a very well respected, hardworking man. Mom got a call last night from a friend of his at work and they have decided (if it was okay with Mom) that the whole maintenance dept (1st, 2nd, and 3rd shift) where coming out to their house on the 24th for a BBQ. They are bring the grill and all the meat. They want this to be a surprise to Dad. Mom and I and my sister and sister-in-law are doing things like potato salad, baked beans, chips and such. Okay, I want to do a cake as well (of course anytime to to a cake!) I want this to be very special, my dad has always been very supportive of my cakes and is always bragging! I would like this to be tiered but I'm at a loss of ideas. It can be either round or square, but I'm just stuck. Any ideas?????


Thanks so much

Missy

What about a cake that looks like a BBQ grill with pork chops and something chickeny (grilled breasts? drumsticks?) on top. That would tie in with the event AND your dad's jobs.


Like these amazing cakes in the gallery...


http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&meta=search&type=full&search=grill

I am thinking if you want to do it tiered, it might be kind of cool to tie in both of his jobs - and since it is a BBQ, cover your cake board with a red and white checked tablecloth material and then do fondant cookie cutter cut-outs of chickens and pigs going around the sides of the tiers. Colors used could be red, yellow and black (pink for the hogs of course!) Anyway - I can envision it in my head, but don't know if I can explain it how I see it! I like to grill idea above too!

Does your dad have any hobbies (fishing, hunting, camping, etc)?
Also, does he have any interest (trains, birds, etc)?

I would find things that he has loved through his life and include them onto the cake. Since your doing a tiered cake, you should have plenty of room. Also include things from his children and your mother that have made him proud.

For example, If I was doing a cake for my father, I would include:
Norman Rockwell painting, Harley Davidsons, male ducks (he loved their colors) water and snow skiing/windsurfing and Penn State Univ since thats where I grad. from.

Show your father off in this cake.
Good luck

How about a pig roast pig..ya know the kind with an apple in it's mouth, that would cover the 'hog' part.

What about a tiered cake with chocolate shaped tools,(candy molds) and if you have excess to a editable image system or if you have some place to get pictures made you can take a picture of the companies he used to work for and add it to the cake even put figures of a chicken and a pig just incorporate a lot of things in his life and top it off with a man fishing or laying in a hammock or something he really loves to do make the cake all about him you could put a quote on the cake like "From what we get, we can make a living; what we give, however, makes a life." -- Arthur Ashe make it colorful and fun even maybe whimsical. Just an idea. Donât forget to post Iâd like to see what you come up with.

Molly2

My Father (a very hard working and loyal man) had a stroke many years ago and has since passed. If I had had a chance to make a cake for him I wouldn't have put images of the company he worked for because he wanted to go back to work so badly but never would so I am afraid that would make him sad. I would have, however, made him a pick-up truck cake with greyhounds because he was a hunter and always drove a pick-up truck. That would have made him smile. So my suggestion is to design it around a hobby or something other than work. Good luck with the cake and I wish your Father a speedy recovery and improvement.

Molly 2, sorry if you took my comment the wrong way. It was only my opinion of what I would have not done and probably would have chosen to do if I had had the chance for my father. I would never accuse you and saying anything to hurt someone.

How about taking this in a fun direction. Since his last job was in a hog plant, how about making a lu'au cake. If you lived in the south it would be a boucherie (a whole roasted pig). Hope he continues to recover fast.

Thank you all for the ideas they are GREAT!

Mom called a little while ago and told me that the hog plant that he had worked for sent him a letter stating that his FMLA is up and unless he returns to work by the 19th he is terminated. We did expect this but the letter seemed pretty cold. But then again it is a coperation and to "big wigs" he is just a number. So I might try to stay away from the work part. Right now I'm thinking of doing a tool box with some mmf tools and maybe a baseball hat (St.Louis Cardinals of course) next to it. He was always building something before all this happened. For Christmas last year he built my brother, and 3 son-in-laws gun cabinets plus 3 daughters and a daughter-in-law hope chests. He also was in the middle of building Mom some more kitchen cabinets when this happened.

If anyone has any additional ideas please let me know. The idea I had is not set in stone by any means!!

Missy

Missy,

I think your ideas are great! As always, the daughter knows what's best. I hope your dad continues to improve and what amazing friends he has to do this for him.

To me that idea sounds perfect! Sounds like he would really enjoy it. Who knows maybe he will be able to get back to building things and it would be great physical therapy for him. Thank God he wasn't damaged mentally. My Father was so he couldn't do anything he could before and he was only 49 (1975). He died when he was 75 so he had a long, difficult life. He thought I was his baby Sister most of the time. Enjoy your Father as much as you can and tell him you love him EVERY day.

AlamoSweets - I'm so sorry that your dad lost so much metally. It is really hard to see someone that has always been a big strong man go through this. He had to relearn to walk and daily living. We are very lucky that he didn't loose anything mentally, they only thing is that he is more emotional and that is a change. His mother had the same surgery 7 years ago and had a stroke as a result. But her's affected the right side so she was unable to speak and she lost a lot mentally. She lived just short of a year.