Thursday, June 9, 2011

Sweet History


Our fair city was incorporated in 1886. That means this year is Pasadena's 125th birthday. The big birthday bash is this Saturday, June 11th, at the Pasadena Museum of History.

Last year, for the 124th, we had a cake in the shape of City Hall made by the students at the Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts. This year the students are in the process of topping themselves, creating an edible history of Pasadena in sugar and cake.

Saturday's free event at the museum goes from noon to 7pm and features "nonstop entertainment, activities, and refreshments." Certainly those refreshments will include some of that history-making cake.

16 comments:

dive said...

Happy Birthday, Pasadena! It's refreshing to meet something older than me.
An edible history of Pasadena in sugar and cake sounds an awesome way to celebrate, Petrea. I hope you'll be there with your camera and give us a guided tour before it all gets eaten.
Great photo! More of that delicious "superfluous detail" we admire so much.

Steven said...

Another birthday to celebrate this week. Great photo. I love that building. Mission style with a flair? May she stand another 125 years. I will wager that the wait for the cake will be worth it.

Petrea Burchard said...

I'm going to try, Dive. I can't imagine what it's going to look like so I have to see it all in one piece. And you're right, City Hall has some of the best superfluous details in town. The one in the foreground is of terra cotta.

Steven, they call it palladian if you're looking from the front, but the courtyard has a cloister-like feel that could be called missionesque, if we want to.

I'll link you here to a very good article about City Hall's history and construction.

http://ww2.cityofpasadena.net/cityhall/history.asp

John Sandel said...

Bakers topping themselves? That frosts my—um, never mind.

wv: icabless: life in the big city.

Petrea Burchard said...

Funny.

Bellis said...

The cake's even got a Fork in the Road in it - though the original Fork is no longer there, alas (it was deemed a hazard). The cake pieces we're getting are slabs of white, brown and dark chocolate, very Pasadenaish. I hope my piece will also come with superfluous detail, and not of the terracotta kind.

Petrea Burchard said...

Bellis refers to this bit of guerrilla street art
http://pasadenadailyphoto.blogspot.com/2009/11/put-fork-in-it.html

Anonymous said...

How sweet.

TheChieftess said...

What a fun party!!! Love the shot of city hall...it's a hard subject to do well...but this one...ohh la la!!!

Tash said...

Oh, my, what an outstanding photo!
I like the Pas. Museum of History. Sounds like the event will be a blast.

Petrea Burchard said...

Thank you. Honestly, though, it's hard to take a bad shot of City Hall, it's so pretty.

Susan Campisi said...

Fun! I love cake. I wonder who will get the piece with the Fork.

Ms M said...

sounds like a fun event! And I would guess you'll be there with your camera? It would be great to see the birthday party through your lens :)

Petrea Burchard said...

I plan to be there. I hope to make it before anybody messes with that cake.

Thal Armathura said...

Hi Petrea,
Pasadena was incorporated in 1886, not 1876, as I was here for the 100year celebration in 1986.
We live in a much different city than we had in 1986, I can tell you.
Regards,
Dale

Petrea Burchard said...

Thank you, Thal! How embarrassing. I fixed it in the post.